Author's Explanation of Story
Hello everybody and thank you for your interest in this unusual fanfic. The hugest thank you goes out to number one supporter roxie2120, whose reviews were a joy to read in the writing process!
As always, I promise to reread the story after some time and correct the typos I see. And before I forget, Azure and Skystalker are now on my Deviantart (EmperorKumquat).
I understand that since the story did not focus on beloved characters from the show *cough cough STARSCREAM* people were not inclined to like it. But I have always been fascinated by the ancient Predacons after the snips we hear about them in Transformers Prime and after I read The Covenant of Primus. The interaction between two intelligent races, one predatory and the other not, has always interested me and is the reason I dove into it in The Marred Pariah as well. The conflict and discomfort is rich, and I am amazed over how different modern Predacons are to the original ones.
Yet I wrote this story because more questions than answers arose. The Covenant of Primus seemed to contradict the canon, so I strove to create explanations to mend this. The very idea of the story came when I created the character Azure in my fanfiction The Marred Pariah. She was the last surviving Predacon discovered in a pod underneath Iacon, who somehow understood their language. She would become a main villain, influencing new Predacons with Skystalker's clone to start a war against the bipeds.
The questions:
The Predacons are shown to be unable to speak in their beast forms Transformers Prime. However, they speak a complex language in the Covenant of Primus. How is this possible? And how was Predaking able to speak perfect Cybertronian just after transforming?
I assume that the knowledge of Cybertronian is innate in the sparks of Cybertronians, since the books implied that they were forged with some base knowledge of the world. The Predacons saw themselves as different than the bipeds and never interacted with them in The Covenant of Primus. It was likely they spoke their own language, created by themselves. Predaking in modern times was raised by bipeds and understood them immediately, as we saw in the show when he reacted to Starscream's words.
How was Prima able to strike a deal with the Predacons through the language barrier?
The Covenant of Primus tells us that they could move through slow time and see much of what was happening on the planet. Prima and the other Primes could have watched the Predacons develop their language and learned it with them.
Twinstrike and Lazerback appear to be flightless, yet The Covenant of Primus describes them flying. How is that possible?
I wondered how this happened, but I find solace in the line describing Lazerback as having "vanes" and called only him the wingless one. Despite Twinstrike's toy, he probably does have wings that fold up into his body. Lazerback is obviously a freak among his kind for having vanes and no wings. With the lazer on his back too, it would make sense if he were able to hover in the air and control himself like a helicopter. I had him able to open fans from his body to fly.
Twinstrike talks about scientific things in the book, although Predacons are feral with no knowledge of science. How does he know what he does?
I introduced the bipedal character so that knowledge of science could spread to some individuals.
Lazerback mentions something called "Shrikebots" and calls them the fastest fliers. However, the book never says what Shrikebots are… what are they?
I made this up on my own. I made them Predacons, assuming that Lazerback would not talk to anything else. I chose the subspecies of Divebomb and Windrazor based on their toys, deciding that they could fly like peregrine falcons and become the Predaking's messengers.
In Predacons Rising, there was a plain of hundreds of dead Predacons, but all of them were flight-capable. How did they get there?
I imagined they died in a massive migration.
Why didn't the Well of Allsparks produce new Predacons after the Great Cataclysm?
This was tricky. The book says that it slowed down animal production to produce more bipedal, intelligent life. But Predacons are intelligent life as well, so perhaps Primus disapproved of them for their abuse of power. I decided to create Grimwing, a test for Predacon kind to right their ways. When he dies, it is decided that no more Predacons would be produced until they could prove themselves as worthy of living among the others. I believe that after the planet is healed in the show, it will start producing animal and Predacon life normally again.
Where did the personalities of the side characters come from?
I read the bios of the toys on Wiki to inspire events. Grimwing was honourable, Blackbeak cynical, Skystalker cunning, and Rippersnapper smart among his subspecies. I tried to include every toy Predacon into the story, adding in a few original characters to fill in the gaps. I even took their eye colours from their toy designs! Fangblade and Backlash are real characters in the book, but they are only mentioned. I gave them more story time as loyal followers to the Predaking.
Why are there symbols on toy Grimwing's wings?
After his death, he wakes as a clone with a powerful urge to promote himself as a peace-maker. The symbols are Cybertronian cursive spelling peace or something similar.
Why does it seem that the sparks of the dead Predacons go right back into their clones' bodies?
This is a mystical phenomenon that I know I cannot explain. I imagine there is some kind of draw. But then, what would happen if multiple clones were made from the same fossil? Probably different sparks would go inside who were never Predacons before. But in the show, Predaking gets flashbacks to ancient Predacon life. It seems that his spark was the original Predaking.
Why doesn't Shockwave use the same fossil to clone multiple Predacons?
I think he does, but he wants a variety of Predacons because they have different skills. Based on what they gathered in season three and if you look at the tubes, there are doubles and triples of the same Predacon.
How did the Predacons die on Earth? What did Megatron mean by "lost to the ravages of time"? Weren't they guarding energon reserves?
It seems that (according to the book as well) Predacons cannot digest raw energon. Even bipeds process their energon, so I imagine energon becomes impure as it crystallizes and comes into contact with the air. For Predacons, it must be more severe since they were made to consume other creatures to get their processed blood. They starved to death after they ate (!) the Autobots on Earth.
How did Blaster City get its name?
I imagined it was a kingdom with big blasters in the past.
Where was Orion Pax?
In the Northern kingdom that Hun-Grrr tried to attack. After he awakens from stasis lock, he travels and one days works in Iacon.
How did Hun-Grrr get that name?
Because he is stupid and mispronounces Hunger.
According to the toy bio, Blackbeak generates in the same cloning tube as Grimwing. How does this happen?
Their bodies fuse together in death and Shockwave accidentally takes a part with both of their CNA.
What happens to Storm?
With no memory of his past and a little quirky from radiation damage, he becomes Acid Storm.
Why did no Predacons survive by simply living underground?
Many did not go deep enough and died of radiation. Others starved when they could not track down enough hiding animals in stasis lock to eat.
Were there other TFP characters in the story?
Yes, I thought Ratchet was out there (because he says he is old!). However, everyone else was not forged yet. Megatron, Soundwave, and Shockwave would probably be forged soon after, I imagine, just in time for the Quintesson invasion (they were there by canon). I believe from the books that Starscream is much younger and was forged at the end of the Golden Age. Then Bumblebee and Smokescreen are even younger, forged just before the War started.
Are Predacons really superior?
I know people LOVE the Predacons for being badass dragons who kick everyone's ass. But I do not think they are unbeatable for being the strongest, and I do not like Predacon arrogance. They are not invincible. In their beast forms, they are less compact and their metal stretches out. If one trains in the right way to fight them or has the right weapons, they can be taken down.
And a lesson this story intended to cover was that it does not matter how strong you are. You are not worth more than anyone else. I wrote The Marred Pariah to challenge the idea that Predacons are superior by nature. Over the course of 200 000- 300 000 words, Starscream learns to become strong in his own way, acknowledging that his opponents will often be larger and physically stronger than him. (Yes I recommend reading this. I want to inspire anyone who thinks that they are weak, that you can find your own technique to win!)
What are these Transformers books?
So the Covenant of Primus is a lore book written by Justina Robson that you can buy on Amazon for like $90 (and it has pictures!) The chapter on the Predacons is very short though. Then there are three novels that do not describe Predacons, but the war before Transformers Prime begins. I bought them long ago at Chapters. Transformers: Exodus by Alex Irvine, Transformers: Exiles also by Alex Irvine, and Transformers: Retribution by David J. Williams and Mark S. Williams. All these books are kind of dry, but if you love lore, you will love them like I do.
My opinion on Predacons is…?
I love them and they fascinate me. Their designs are so cool, yet I don't put them above other kinds of Cybertronians. I appreciate the diversity of the Cybertronian races, and this is why Predacon arrogance annoys me. Cars are great! Fliers are great! Boats? Sure! Minicons, Insecticons, and weird animal things... it is fun that there are so many races.