First Impressions

Highbrow is overlooking the new recruits. Most of them have never seen a day of combat. The majority are young mechs only a few centuries old, who think that the prospect of fighting is romantic and daring.

Arcee doesn't fit the bill. For one thing – being a femme – she is considerably smaller than her mech counterparts, but what she lacks in strength she makes up for in agility and versatility. Still, when spoken to face-to-face, she is soft-spoken and kind, if a bit hot-headed and mouthy if you know what buttons to push. She isn't a soldier. She's a diplomat who doesn't belong on the front lines.

One day, Highbrow takes a small brigade of the trainees out for field training, Arcee included. All of a sudden, he feels something hot hit his back, followed by wrenching, blistering pain. He collapses forwards and belatedly realizes that he's been hit by a Decepticon blaster.

His first thought is: "Damn, what are the Decepticons doing out here?"

His second thought is: "Damn, and I'm out here with a bunch of new recruits!"

The trainees scatter in panic to preserve their own lives. It's what any Cybertronian would instinctively do.

But when Highbrow turns off, Arcee is standing over him, blaster in hand and shooting at the approaching Decepticons.

Silence

When Impactor accepted him alone out of fifty candidates for the Wreckers, Springer thought he was leaving behind the silence and inactivity of his own home.

He'd expected war would be brutally noisy.

Only now he stands in a field of corpses and it's deathly quiet.

White

'Why do we have to be painted white?' Ratchet asks at the last class.

'So everyone knows we're medics,' his classmate answers.

'I don't see why we have to be white,' says Ratchet. 'It only makes us easier targets.'

Risks

Springer goes back to his hometown one last time before he sets off with the Wreckers on a long-range mission. (They'll likely be gone for stellar cycles.)

'Brawn, just come with us,' Springer urges over a cup of Athenia's infamous dreaded oil. 'The Wreckers can use someone with your experience.'

'What, you sayin' I'm old?' Brawn demands gruffly.

'I'm saying that we can use everyone we can get.'

'…You don't expect to come back, do you?'

Springer shrugs. 'One of the rules of the Wreckers is "think positive." Don't expect death.'

He doesn't fool Brawn. Brawn is never fooled.

'I'm not going on a suicide mission,' Brawn says. 'I've been on suicide missions before. Why do you think I went home after the last one and vowed to never go out in the field again? Why do you think I still have nightmares about the good Cybertronians I saw die?'

'The war will spread,' Springer continues. 'Nothing will be spared – not even Athenia.'

'I'm not going, Springer. The risks are too high and you shouldn't go either; you'd be wasting your life.'

Springer doesn't tell Brawn how the situation seems to be contrary to what he says. Brawn seems to be the one wasting his life on this asteroid, hoping that the war will somehow spare his home. He's living in a fantasy that will soon be shattered.

Understanding

'You did what? !'

'Hey, he asked me to, and I did it,' Wheeljack defended.

'But you – but you – emotions? !' Mainframe exclaimed. 'How could you delete his emotions? !'

'He asked me to do it, so I did!'

'That isn't any reason to delete his emotions! (I didn't even know that was possible…)'

'He would've found a way to do it himself, anyways. At least if I helped him, it would been done thoroughly and correctly. I didn't want him to get hurt.'

'Jack, I don't think you understand the magnitude of what you've done! This is insane! What am I going to tell Ultra Magnus? !'

Mainframe walked away in frustration.

Wheeljack looked after him sadly. 'I do understand.'

Difference

After a while, some 'bots came to say that there was little difference between the emotionless Perceptor and the Perceptor before he became emotionless. But Wheeljack knew this wasn't true.

The old Perceptor had been introverted, but lively and passionate about everything he did. He poured his spark into his work, his dedication only matched by his dry wit that helped him survive the worst situations.

But now, Wheeljack found himself being the one who provided the passion, the dedication, and the wit, while Perceptor worked quietly in the corner and told him to stop with the senseless noise. The old Perceptor used to love the random experiment that had no apparent purpose; the new Perceptor only found them a nuisance. He was different.

Why?

From the moment Prowl is protoformed, he is tagged to be a soldier.

That's what all Autobots do, he notices. They're raised to be soldiers. From the start they're surrounded by a world that embeds the hatred of Decepticons into their mind and for the most part it works and within years, Prowl sees friends go off and be killed by an enemy they never see.

He then asks a question that makes heads turn and desecrates the badge he wears.

'Why?'

Selection

Highbrow looked at her with a mysterious and proud gaze. 'You've been chosen.'

'Chosen?' repeated Arcee. 'Chosen for what?'

'For a confidential assignment,' said Highbrow.

'Sounds serious.'

'It is. I should tell you this before I inform you of your assignment: it is extremely dangerous. You can decline now if you value your life and no one will hold it against you.'

'Why the heck would I decline? ! What's the assignment?'

He underestimates Arcee every time.

Resistant

'He isn't ready.'

'He's going to have to be.'

'He isn't ready.'

'We don't have a choice,' Ultra Magnus turned on him. 'Autobots are dying and Omega Supreme is the only one who can stop the enemy. It's time to put his training to practical use. You're thinking like a doctor, cadet, but we have a war to fight and as Omega's mentor, you have to start thinking like a soldier. Have him prepared to leave tomorrow.'

Ultra Magnus left Ratchet standing in the observation room, overlooking the place Omega had called home since he'd first come online. He was reading a philosophy book Ratchet had thought would encourage him to think beyond his programming.

Yet all the while, he was still a weapon of mass destruction. Ultra Magnus would make sure he stayed that way.