Author's Notes: Well, this is an idea I've had floating around in my head for a couple months now, but didn't know if I actually wanted to do it. The idea for this plot bunny came from the idea that in the G1 cartoon the Decepticons are all military equipment and the Autobots were all civilians. That got me to thinking...Warpath is a tank, and he's an Autobot, and no one ever explains why! So, this fanfic is going to be Warpath's unofficial origin story to explain how he got to where we see him in the cartoon. I hope you like it, and please remember to favorite, review, and follow if you want to read more :)

Chapter 1

I Hate My Name!

It was a beautiful day in Polyhex. The city-state was bustling with activity and the tower of Darkmount loomed over the metropolis like a silent guardian. Warpath was rolling along on his treads contemplating his life and how he had finally made it to this moment. He was finally moving out of his creator's house and into a dorm room at the Polyhex Military Academy!

As excited as he was about the move, he was also a little conflicted about his destiny. He knew he was a war-make, and all war-makes joined military service. He also knew if he ever wanted to be more than a grunt he had to go to the academy. It still didn't seem fair though. Why couldn't he be something else? Why couldn't he at least have a choice? Why did he have to be a war-make?

He had these doubts ever since primary school, but learned quickly not to voice them out loud. His teachers, rather than help him sort things out, merely punished him for going against the natural order. Other students just laughed at him. That wasn't news. He had Turrets Syndrome, a Cybertronian speech impediment that only affected war-makes, and the other sparklings would laugh at him when he randomly shouted words like BLAM or POWEE when he was trying to make a point.

Warpath didn't really have any friends back home in Helex. He tried to make friends, but other war-makes thought he was too soft, too short, or too noisy. He tried to make friends with other frame types, but that didn't work out either. Car-formers and other civilian frame types were afraid of tanks like him, and thought all military designed Cybertronians were just one misstep away from going postal on everyone.

It didn't help that his name was Warpath. His creator had given him that name because he wanted his son to be strong and fearsome, but that wasn't who he was at all! Warpath was a nice guy, and he loved to have fun and be accepted. He didn't want other mechs to be afraid of him! It never failed though. Warpath distinctly remembered the last time he tried to talk to a car-former…

Warpath had gone shopping to get some additives for his energon. He loved the taste of cobalt or magnesium in his energon, and had also bought a new flavor called Kaon acid water. He was checking out with his purchases and the line was so long! He got bored, so he decided to start talking to the mech behind him; a hover car.

"This line is so BLAM long!" Warpath had said after he turned around, causing the hover car to flinch a little, "You'd think they'd open another POW register! So, you live around here?"

The hover car's optics widened a little, but reluctantly he nodded his head yes.

"Me, too. I just moved here last orn, and have been staying at a rental parking facility. I get to move into a KAZOW dorm room at the military academy tomorrow!" Warpath said amiably, "So, what's your name, pal?"

"Um...Detector," the other mech replied nervously, "And, um, what's your name?"

"My name is ZOWEE Warpath!" Warpath replied as his mouth indicator glowed a happy blue.

The other mech nodded, smiled wider than what should've been possible, and slowly backed away from Warpath and the checkout lane. A minute later Warpath saw the mech run out of the store without his groceries.

He sighed at the recent memory. Such was his life. Mechs either made fun of his shortcomings or ran away in fear of his cannon or his stupid name! He hated the name Warpath! That wasn't who he was at all! He didn't want to go to the academy! He wanted to do something else! Still, as long as the council was in charge and as long as they enforced the caste system he was forced to be a military machine. He wanted more, but it looked like it would never happen.

Warpath took out a few little things from his subspace and placed them around his bunk in the barracks. There were 9 other students in this room, and Warpath was excited to get to meet them! He was starting to feel a little better about the whole ordeal. If he had to grow up to protect Cybertron, then he might as well enjoy his life while he was still young!

He hoped his new roomies were party animals! He couldn't wait for the full college experience! He imagined sneaking high grade energon past the guards, turning up the music really loud, and dancing until the planet rotated to reveal the nearest sun! It was gonna be a blast!

He unpacked a stress reliever toy and placed it next to his berth. His creator told him when he felt frustrated all he had to do was squeeze it and he would feel better. The thing worked sometimes, but other times he just felt silly for squeezing the life out of a lifeless toy. He also unpacked a photo his him and his creator at the Crystal Geyser in Iacon. It had been a walking tour, and one of the other tourists almost fell in! Their face looked so funny as they cursed out the tour guide, and Warpath and his creator had eaten energon goodies until they were both sick!

He sighed fondly at the memory and put the photo on a small foldable table next to his berth. He was happy he got assigned a bottom bunk. It would be harder to find places for his personal effects if he recharged on a top bunk.

He was looking for a place to hang his primary school diploma when the door opened with a silent swoosh and a broad red tank-former lumbered in and looked at him.

"You must be one of the new recruits," the red one said appraisingly.

"Yes sir, my name is ZAM Warpath!" Warpath said cheerfully.

"Warpath huh? I'm Luster, and I'm a senior cadet here at the academy," Luster informed him, "If you wanna stay on my good side, stay out of my way. Welcome to the academy, slagger."

Warpath was shocked into silence for a moment as Luster went to his berth on the other side of the room. He watched the red tank for a moment before he finally worked up the courage to speak again.

"So, um...Luster...It must be POW exciting to know someday we'll be the ZOWEE first defense for Cybertron!" Warpath said optimistically.

"What are you, a newspark?" Was Luster's rude reply, "We're military vehicles! Our job for the rest of our lives is basically going to be to drive around in circles until our energy runs low and then refuel when it actually does! There hasn't been a war here in millions of years! We're useless, and the council knows it! Why do you think our pay is so lousy? Trust me rookie, it's only gonna get worse before it gets better."

Warpath deflated and sighed in disappointment. He never did like the idea of being a military weapon, but the idea of being useless was even worse. Why even bother with formal training? He might as well just be a grunt for all the good this was doing him! He felt so defeated.

"Hey Warpath?" Luster called out to him, knocking him out of his own thoughts, "You want some free advice? Stay away from the seekers."

"The what?" Warpath asked, as he had never seen that frame type in Helex.

"Seekers," Luster repeated, "They're military jets. Watch out for them. They're the big mechs on campus and they know it. They have nothing but contempt for anything that can't fly, and that includes us."

"Wowee, they can fly?" Warpath knew some mechs could fly, but had never actually met anyone like that before, "That's so BLAM awesome!"

"Yeah, well don't tell them that," Luster warned him, "I'm telling you, the seekers are bad news. They're in the same scrappy situation as us, but the difference is they have this weird sort of superiority complex. They think they're better than us, but they're not. Just stay away from them, and focus on winning at all costs, and you'll survive just fine."

With those words Luster grabbed a data pad from his berth and stormed out the door. Warpath could already tell that Luster was the type of mech that was driven and always had to be doing something. It was strange to him that he could tell that after only having just met the guy. Still, Luster talked to him, and even if he was rude that was still better than Warpath was used to getting. He hoped he could be friends with Luster and the rest of his roommates.