An idea I've always had in mind. Make a TF series in the style of the TV cartoons but focusing on Elita One and a bunch of random Autobots as the main cast as they end up on Earth. Largely inspired by various TF universes but this is an original universe with my own twists and turns.

Chapter 1: Going in Hot I

Cybertron, Our home planet-

War-

Megatron and his Decepticons-

Heroic Autobots-

A great wall that separates Autobots and Decepticons-

Currently, there is a stalemate-

Long-lost key to Vector Sigma-

Few who make the daring find now hold the fate of Cybertron in their servos...

Hot Rod sits at the Bridge of the Freestyler, bored out of his processor, randomly flipping through whatever videos they have, all of them are recordings of some kind.

"Why is every recording on this ship so boring? I thought we had more entertaining stuff!"

The Freestyler had landed on some rocky minor planet somewhere in space investigating a random distress beacon that they had received, which could mean all sorts of things. Searching for the key to Vector Sigma, was their main mission but that doesn't mean they're ignoring other tasks, while the war may have changed priorities and loyalties, responding to distress beacons regardless of who it is (Autobot, Decepticon, neither) it was still courtesy to respond to them, even if you're not their ideal rescue.

"Hot Rod"

The sudden use of his name caused him to nearly fall off his chair but with his trained reflexes means he recovers quite swiftly.

"Eyy... What's up doc?"

"Hot Rod, you could at least act like you're doing something productive?"

"Don't spring a leak Red Alert, This bridge is in tip-top shape and I haven't wrecked it. (yet)"

Red Alert, already exacerbated by Hot Rod's usual antics, merely rolls her optics behind her visor it's not the first (or last) time she's caught him slacking off again on his assigned duties onboard the ship, while bridge duty is boring, keeping a track of everything that's happening is still an important task, one which Hot Rod performs terribly at.

"Hound this is Hot Rod, anything new?"

Not too far away from the Freestyler, Hound the explorer is conducting some routine perimeter checks whilst also checking out the local scenery. It's rather bland and bleak, a dark rocky and mountainous environment with not a whole lot to offer.

Checking his holographic display, which shows a miniature map of the Freestyler and its surroundings. Said surroundings are being monitored by a drone he usually keeps for surveillance purposes anyway

"Hound this is Hot Rod, anything new?"

"Hot Rod, this is the third time you called, don't tell me bridge duty is too much for the Elite Guard's chosen one"

"Uhhh I wouldn't say that, I'm just doing a checkup, that's all"

"Uh-huh. Has Red caught you slacking again?"

"Oi don't out me like that! Totally not cool!"

Hound didn't need to know (or could tell) that Hot Rod was shocked by such allegations

"Right, right, my findings haven't changed from the first time you asked"

"that this place is on "the low tier of planets explored by team Athenia" list you made some time ago?"

"Yup. Let's hope that 'Lita, Moon and Percy have a better time than us"

Further out the situation was different. Three individuals stood in front of a shipwreck. One was a tall red and pink femme with armour and kibble that suggested a rugged utility vehicle alt-mode, a petite greenish-grey femme with rounded armor profiles and between them, a large contraption seemingly made out of a black wheeled vehicle of some kind, which has said wheels facing downwards and a cylindrical device strapped to the back, vaguely resembling a laboratory microscope, pointing towards a section of the shipwreck.

"Perceptor you got anything?"

Perceptor, the vehicle in question, transformed into his robot mode, the front end folding down into his legs with panels wrapped around his wait as hip-armour or a coat-tails, the optical device swivelled and relocated to his right shoulder, the rest of his vehicle mode revealing a plain and generic form, with black panels on his shoulders and a squarish torso. His most distinct feature was a pentagonal monocle-style sight covering his right optic (or perhaps even replacing it?) which is also a targeting reticle as much as it is a tool for science.

"From the looks of it Elita One" began Perceptor, always speaking in full sentences "It must've been a crashed ship from an earlier Cybertronian conflict but I can't quite determine age or origins via analysis."

"You think there's any treasure inside?"

"By its current state Moonracer, I'd be surprised if anything of value remained so on this wreck"

"In other words, this ship is a total mystery as much as it is a maze" she sighs "I had hoped this would be a simple pick-up mission"

"Expecting an easy job commander?"Snarked Perceptor, his wartime experience showing "You know all too well that never happens"

"True but if we're gonna find this lost individual, who or whatever they are, they aren't being awfully convenient about it"

"So we go into the wrecked and possibly haunted ship by ourselves then?"

"No, I think we'll need the whole team for this. Can't tell what's gonna happen now. Also, knowing Hot Rod, he's probably slacking off on bridge duty again"

There was a brief snicker from Moonracer (and rolling of optics from Perceptor) as Elita One made a call to the remaining team.

"Attention Team Athenia, I need all servos present, turns out this job is bigger than I anticipated"

"Attention Team Athenia, I need all servos present, turns out this job is bigger than I anticipated"

"You bet I'm coming up for that Commander!"

"Well I'd love to hang out and chat Red, but duty calls!"

Hot Rod transforms into his car mode and speeds past the team medic to his latest activity.

"Hot Rod!-

No use, Hot Rod drives by (with reckless abandon) and leaves Red Alert in the dust and alone. I wonder what Elita One sees in you. She transforms into her boxy utility vehicle mode and pursues Hot Rod as he rockets out the ship's exit.

As Hound was packing up to meet up with the rest of Team Athenia he caught the note of a loud roaring engine noise that only one individual could make.

"Gangway!" Hot Rod speeds by nearly clipping Hound as he organises his kit

"C'mon Hound" he exclaims, doing a drift to have his front face Hound "Maybe we can move this planet up on that tier list" before turning around and driving off to Elita's location.

"Hot Rod, don't drive so recklessly! (sighs) Sorry for that Hound" said Red Alert passing in her vehicle mode.

"Aww don't be, I'm practically used to Hot Rod's shenanigans at this point. He reminds me of a fella I used to know"

"And yet I'm not, let's get going"

"you bet"

Hound transformed into his alt-mode, a (rather) tall, 4-wheeled armoured car with various interesting bits and bobs on the roof, all of which were leftovers from Hound's previous job in the Autobot army.

"Besides, I managed to find a shortcut that Hot Rod doesn't know about"

At the site of the wreck, Moonracer was told to keep an optic out for the rest of the team while Perceptor and Elita debate on how best to enter the ship in its wrecked state.

"Oh hey look!"

She saw two boxy vehicles in the distance, one green and camouflaged, the other a bright white and red. She casually walked forwards to them as they approached, both transforming to reveal the robot modes of Hound and Red Alert respectively.

"Hey Moon, missed us?"

"Hardly, C'mon" guided Moonracer, as they turned to face where Elita and Perceptor were are standing.

"Good to see you two here, where's Hot Rod?" Asked Elita, she'd always expect Hot Rod to show up first to any sort of "action".

"Taking his time," Hound replied casually

"Doubtful, he's probably hitting his top speed at this very moment"

In the distance, they could hear a distinct rumbling noise and see a large dust trail being kicked by something, or rather by someone.

"Oh, there he is!" Hound says pointing off to the distance.

A red Cybertronian sports car came rocketing towards the team, drifting around before coming to a stop (and kicking up even more dust), proving to be quite the display to everyone who saw.

"Showing off yet again Hot Rod?"

"Hey Boss" He spoke as transformed, somehow tired "Hey, how'd you two get here before me?"

"Shortcuts. I woulda told ya but you sped off before" Hound explained casually

"Shortcut? there was a shorter way here?"

"Perhaps if you didn't speed off in a hurry you might've known" injected the team Medic

"I was only late by like a nano-click or two!"

"Well either way we're here and accounted. We got a large shipwreck to explore and it's gonna be a lot faster and easier if we are all here, Perceptor explain"

"This ship appears to be a lot older than expected, I theorise it's either from an earlier conflict or a second-servo ship that was not as lucky as we were, I, unfortunately, can not determine any finer details without more specialized equipment. Or exploring the inside. And this ship is the source of the SOS call"

"Seeing as though no one's responding and the ship has crashed, we think whoever called it is stuck inside which means we need to get inside too"

"You know what this is right? Shipwreck Exploration, Terminated Space style"

"I doubt it would be as easy as the video games you and Moonracer play" quipped the scientist causing the red and yellow Autobot to exaggerated frown in the medic's direction. He merely gives an icy stare at him.

"Hot Rod try to be a little bit more professional when on duty"

"Alright Red, I will. But twenty Shanix says there's an alien or something crawling around in there and that caused the ship to crash in the first place"

"which means" he continues "that we'll be facing either a mob of enemies or a single boss battle"

Elita One facepalms, she wonders if that was a good idea to mentor the young bot. Hot Rod was a prodigy who had managed to rise through the Elite Guard ranks far earlier than his peers (somehow) becoming eligible to be assigned his own team to command. However, the Elite Guard wasn't sure about making someone so young take command just yet, so a compromise was found where he was instead under the guidance of a more experienced leader instead. Which just so happened to be Elita One.

Oh, Cadets. She begins to think. Before coming to realisation. Primus, I starting to sound like Ratchet now. Guess that's just another solar cycle with Team Athenia

"So if we're going in, how do we do so?" asked Hound, looking at the wreck and not seeing a way in.

"And what about the ship's security system?" added Red Alert "I doubt any ship likes being broken into by random strangers like us, it could be a hazard"

"Noted Red Alert, but I have determined that the harsh impact of landing destroyed or disabled the power systems such that any security systems are likely non-functional"

"In Perceptor-nese" Translated by Moonracer "The ship crashed, so did the security systems"

Unbeknownst to them all, from inside the ship. an entity runs through the halls, shrouded in darkness and brandishing its weapon, a double-sided bladed weapon as it takes to cover, hiding, from something

"There's a structural weak point over there that with some specialised gear we can breach into the ship"

"Say no more Percy, I got just the solution"

"Or we can have Hot Rod burn his way through"

Hot Rod rubbed both his servos in order to activate his special ability: pyrokinesis, which allowed him to set his hands on fire as he makes contact with the "structural weak point" Perceptor called out.

"Going in hot"

The wall melted and burned, leaving a large gaping hole that the rest of the team soon entered, with all turning on their onboard lights (some originate from their alt-modes, some specifically meant to be used in robot mode).

"Here we go team" Spoke Elita as they moved inwards.

A creature stalks forwards, getting closer to the shrouded individual before pausing, as if it noticed something had changed about the surroundings, and breaks off, deciding to investigate that and leaving the previous figure alone.