Author's Note: Every Movieverse FanFic I've read so far has followed the same basic format. When a story set after the events of the movie, new characters are added with little to no back-story. I know that the movie did this with its characters, but there were prequel comics written for this reason. As both a reader and a writer, I can't stand it when a major character is thrown into a story without any back-story (either in the story itself or in stories that came before, unless the character is a Decepticon who's only purpose is to die, though even they should at least have a brief description). I started this story for that very reason. I intend to write a story that takes place after the movie, where I will throw in new transformers. This story is meant to serve as a back-story for three of the more prominent new characters to be in my movie sequel. In effect, it's a prequel to a sequel (with the movie in between).
Disclaimer: Transformers and all related characters are owned by Hasbro, not me. I own only the personalities of the non-movie characters, and the names of the characters I created.
Chapter One
The War Rages On
The war for the Allspark was taking its toll on the once peaceful Cybertron. Sectors where beautiful, pristine cities once stood had been reduced to rubble. Ground which had once been barren was covered with the twisted remains of the war's casualties. Some still twitched, trying in vain to relocate themselves. Others remained inert but functional, waiting for someone to find and repair them – though most knew that nobody ever would. But most did absolutely nothing, for they no longer functioned. The planet now mostly consisted of two types of terrain: quiet, forgotten battlefields and loud, active ones.
One major exception (though it would not be an exception for long) was not located on the planet, but rather one of the planet's moons. Early in the war, Optimus Prime had decided that the Autobots needed a fallback position, in case the Decepticons were able to gain the upper hand. The Autobot leader had decided that the planet's largest moon would serve that purpose perfectly. Unfortunatly, Megatron had anticipated this particular course of action, and had sent an army of troops to the moon in order to secure it for himself. Autobot recon units had detected this army, and Optimus had sent his own force to combat it. The Autobot troops had landed on the far side of the moon, opposite of their Decepticon counterparts, and slowly made their way towards the enemy. Under no circumstances were the Decepticon troops allowed to know of the advancing Autobots until the latter had begun the attack.
A lone Autobot scout was sent ahead of his comrades to scan the area beyond the large hill the Autobot troops had just come to. The scout, a rookie soldier who had just recently joined the war, was determined to show his commanding officers that he had the makings of a true Autobot. Running as fast as he could without making too much noise, he worked his way up the hill. Upon reaching a large outcropping of boulders, the scout ended his advance and hid behind the closest giant rock. Pausing to take a quick look around, to make sure there was no enemy between himself and his fellow soldiers, the scout raised himself from the crouch he had been in, lifted his head above the rock… and was rewarded with a pulse blast to the face.
The Decepticon rookie, gun barrel still bleeding heat from the recently fired shot, took a quick moment to give himself the Transformer equivalent of a self satisfied pat on the back. Had he not done so, he probably would have had time to warn his comrades of the Autobot presence. His inexperience, like that of his recent victim, would cost him his life. Panic mounting from the sight of the Autobot force rounding the crest of the hill at full speed, the Decepticon was able to take out two more foes before he was obliterated by a large volley of pulse blasts. Only a very small piece of singed metal hit the ground, the Autobots having fired way too many shots in their frustration over the loss of their planned sneak attack. Audio receptors ringing from the sound of battle, Decepticon soldiers pored out from their concealed positions and rushed for the advancing Autobots. The once quiet moon now rang with the roar of pulse blasts and the screech of metal hitting metal
The battle was on.
Watching the battle from the copilot's chair of an airborne troop transport, the Autobot known as Inferno fidgeted in his seat. He was the kind of Autobot who preferred the all out brawl of a ground battle to the sickening weaving and twisting of air combat. Being a mechanical being, and therefore not having the organs with which to do so, Inferno was unable to expel the contents of his stomach like he knew organic sentient beings sometimes did when they were in a similar situation. However, he was certain that, if he had contained a stomach, he would have "thrown up", as Jazz referred to the repulsive action. Thinking of Jazz, Inferno shuddered. He could understand why some of his comrades thought Jazz was humorous, even thinking so himself. But unlike some of his fellow Autobots, Inferno couldn't stand Jazz's antics for very long. He vividly remembered the last time one of Jazzes jokes was aimed at him, partly because of the severe humiliation he had endured, but mostly due to his inability to delete the memory file from his computerized brain. Jazz must have convinced Ratchet to do that to me, Inferno thought. That little pain in the circuits would never let anyone forget one of his practical jokes.
The pilot of the transport, an old (by Transformer's standards) Autobot nicknamed Rustbucket by his friends, had noticed Inferno's shuddering out of the corner of his optic. The ancient Autobot glanced over at his copilot and asked, "What eatin' at ya, Hosebot?"
"Nothing really," Inferno answered, smiling at the use of his nickname (Rustbucket had a nickname for every Autobot he had ever met. Sometimes Inferno wondered if Rustbucket even remembered anyone's real name), "Just thinking about Jazz."
Rustbucket nodded, "I understand. That Jazz can be a real trouble maker when he wants to be."
Inferno's smile grew larger, "When he wants to be? I was under the impression that Jazz didn't have a choice in the matter."
Rustbucket chuckled. This grew into one of his famous bouts of all out laughter. These bouts were famous for being extremely contagious, and within a few seconds Inferno joined in. The troops in the back of the transport heard the laughter through the wall that separated them from the cockpit, and instantly tightened their grips on their respective handholds. Within all of their mechanical brains, one thought rose to the surface: I hope that old timer doesn't forget to watch where he's going!
After about a minute, Rustbucket calmed down enough to finally reply, "You have a point. I feel sorry for Optimus. He actually has to spend time with Jazz."
"Yeah, poor Optimus. I can't imagi…"
"Hey, what's your problem? In case you've forgotten, we have a job to do!!" This came from one of the soldiers in the back, who had decided to let loose some of his pent up frustration at the two Transformers flying the transport. Being the Transformer in charge of this platoon, Inferno almost called the soldier out for insubordination. But, despite this urge, he did agree with the soldier. There was a time and a place for friendly conversation, and this situation was neither.
Inferno and his platoon were tasked with getting behind the Decepticon line so the Autobots could attack the large grouping of enemies from both sides. Flying with the transport were four Autobots with airborne alternate modes. These Autobots were more maneuverable and had more firepower that the transport, and their job was to make sure the transport reached its destination. So far, their aerial skills had not been required.
That was about to change.
The transport suddenly rocked from a Decepticon pulse cannon blast. Instantly alert, Inferno jolted forward and opened a comm. channel to their escort, "What in the name of Primus was that?!"
The leader of the escort Autobots replied, "We got ourselves a Decepticon. A BIG one! You go on ahead; we'll hang back and take care of him!"
"They can't do that, we need an escort!" Inferno yelled. He reached out to open another comm. channel, but Rustbucket stopped him.
"Let them go. If they stay with us and fight that Decepticon, we probably won't be in enough pieces to land," Rustbucket looked down at the sensor board, pondered the data scrolling across it, and looked back up. "Besides, we're close to our destination and I don't see any enemies between us and it. I think we can survive without an escort for the rest of our little trip."
Inferno thought this over for a few seconds. Seeing the wisdom behind the words, he opened the comm. channel and replied, "Affirmative. We can survive the rest of the trip without you." He paused for a second, then added, "Thanks for the escort."
"Any time, Inferno. It was a pleasure flying with you." As soon as the transmission ended, the airborne Autobots peeled off to engage their new target.
Inferno found himself gripping his seat tighter, almost digging grooves into the metal. He was more nervous than he had ever been in his entire life, which was saying something. He was in a battle, enemies everywhere, and he had just ordered his escort away. Watching the blip representing their ship on the sensor board creep closer and closer to the landing zone, he prayed that no enemy flyers would appear.
His prayers failed miserably.
Four Decepticon blips appeared on the sensor board. Frantic tapping of keys confirmed this: Dreadwing drones. Not intelligent enough for conversation, but smart enough to aim at a target and shoot. And given the size and maneuverability of their target, high intelligence was not required.
Inferno slammed his fist into the armrest of his seat, denting the metal, "For the love of Primus!" He turned to Rustbucket and asked, "Any chance of getting out of this alive?"
Rustbucket shook his head.
Turning back to the sensor board, Inferno watched as the enemy blips moved closer and closer to the transport blip. He waited for the moment when the shields would fail, leaving them defenseless.
That moment never came.
Inferno watched as, all of a sudden, one of the blips disappeared. Not fly away disappear, but blow up disappear. Then a second blip disappeared, then another. Turning to Rustbucket, Inferno asked, "Any idea what's going on?"
Rustbucket shook his head, but this time with a hint of a smile on his face.
As if to answer Inferno's question, the remaining drone flew passed the cockpit. It was followed by a flurry of pulse blasts. These were followed by a strange ripple, from which the pulse blasts originated. Upon seeing this, Inferno smiled.
Looking confused, Rustbucket asked, "What in the name of Primus was that?"
Inferno's smile widened, "Not what, who."
Rustbucket grew even more confused, but this ended after a few seconds of thought. "Oh," the old Autobot finally said, "Him."
Inferno nodded at the precise moment the final enemy blip winked off, "Sky Shadow."
Author's Note: Thank you for reading the first chapter. This happens to be the first fan fiction I have ever written. I hope you enjoyed it. I am willing to accept any criticisim, as long as it's not something along the lines of "this fanfic sucked and you are a terrible writer". I am also willing to accept any suggestions you may have. But just know that I have the story pretty much mapped out, so I probably won't accept suggestions for characters or major plot events. I am in need of someone who is willing to beta my stories and help me with the set up of my profile (seeing as I'm new to this site and anything that's not Myspace is alien to me). If you are willing, send me your email adress (or message me with the site if you can. Like I said, I don't really know this site), and your aid will be rewarded... somehow). Also, don't be misguided by the speed at which the next chapter will be posted. I uploaded this chapter when the next chapter was about half done.