Author's Notes: I'll just tell you, this has possibly been my least popular fic ever posted. My Portal fanfics got more attention! I guess that's one reason why I put this fic on the back-burner for a while. Then I got a lovely review from a user named MARSHMELLOWTOASTIE and it made me go back and read the other reviews I had received on this fic so far. I realized that the idea wasn't a bad one, it just wasn't popular. I suppose I shouldn't allow something like limited interest to stop me from doing the best I can do and telling the story I want to tell. So, MARSHMELLOWTOASTIE, this one's for you :)

Chapter 2

Rough Start

After the great feast was over the newly joined trine made their way to the surgeon's office in the back of the Unification Hall. Soon Thrust and Dirge would be Coneheads just like Ramjet, and then Ramjet would need to sign a few papers to get his trine transferred to his unit so they could stay together.

Thrust had to admit to himself that he wasn't looking forward to this. He liked his current unit and his current friends. He didn't want to be taken from it and transferred to a camp with a bunch of mechs and femmes he didn't know. He didn't even know what kind of unit Ramjet commanded! For all he knew they could be anything from snipers to infantry to street sweepers! It was yet another unknown in a life that had too many unknowns as it was.

Dirge didn't care about his old unit, but he did hope he wouldn't have to move too far away. His grandsire relied on Dirge to keep him out of trouble with the local Decepticon authorities. When neutrals were caught they were either recruited or killed, and nobody wanted to recruit a mech as old as Stereopticon.

They made it inside, and Ramjet clamped onto both their shoulders to encourage them to move on. Thrust and Dirge felt a little better knowing Ramjet was trying to bolster their confidence rather than bully them into submission. Thrust knew nothing of Ramjet, but Dirge had heard stories about the brutality of this seeker. Ramjet was known to beat up his own mechs for fun, and enjoyed slaughtering Autobots. Dirge was surprised such a mech could treat his trine fairly, but Dirge wasn't stupid. He knew once the newness of their joining wore off Ramjet would start smacking them around the same way he did to every other powerless grunt. Dirge accepted this fact with grim resignation.

"Ah, another pair of seekers to reconstruct," the medic, a neutral seeker with white and tan paint said amiably, "So, which of you is the trine leader?"

"I am!" Ramjet replied proudly, "Make 'em look like this!" He said as he pointed to his face plate.

"Oh my, such a shame," the medic said bluntly, "It's too bad the red one isn't the leader. That is a face plate I would be overjoyed to copy."

Thrust blushed at the compliment, and Ramjet crossed his arms over his cockpit and scowled at him.

"Stop acting like such a femme and get on the slagging table!" Ramjet scolded Thrust.

"Yes sir," Thrust said timidly as he rushed past everyone to get to the operating table.

Dirge noticed that Thrust was a bit cowardly in his behavior. This could pose a problem in the future. If Thrust abandoned them during a fight it could cost them their lives. Not to mention that having such a coward on the team would disgrace them in the optics of other Cybertronians; especially other seekers.

"Dirge!" Ramjet snapped at his right wing, "Are you just going to stare into space all night? Get on the table!"

"As you command, Ramjet," Dirge said formally as he walked casually over to the table.

Ramjet snorted at Dirge's overly-formal tone and took his place at the scanner so the medic would know exactly how to rebuild his trine. The green light danced over his frame starting with his pedes and ending at his pointed head. His trine mates were two very different mechs, he could tell. Still, they likely both would serve him well in the near future. He wouldn't admit this out loud to anyone, but he was grateful to have them. He was an only creation, and to finally have brothers to keep him company was something he had wanted all his life.

When they finally came out of surgery, Thrust immediately went for the mirror. Dirge knew he didn't really want to know, so he waited for his trine mate to finish before he walked up to the mirror.

Thrust saw himself, and he didn't know what to think. Part of him wanted to laugh at how silly he looked, but a bigger part of him wanted to scream and cry that he was now an ugly flying missile-headed joke. He settled for keening slightly and pressing his servo to the mirror in anguish. His life as he knew it was over.

Dirge took his time getting to the mirror, and when he saw himself he was surprised to not really feel anything toward the change. It was as if it weren't actually happening to him but rather to someone else. Part of him did dislike the orange fins, but not enough to actually say or do anything about it. They were mildly annoying, and that was all. At least this change would please his new trine commander.

Ramjet walked up to them, and when they saw him he slightly shrugged at them. It was as close to an apology as he could manage. He knew he wasn't handsome, but he had at least hoped Thrust wouldn't cry about it. Dirge seemed to take it well, so that was something at least.

"I signed the transfer papers while you were knocked out," Ramjet informed them, "You'll have to stay in my quarters for the first night, but after that I should be able to get you each your own rooms."

"We have to sleep by ourselves?" Thrust asked nervously, "In my house I slept in the same room as my father and uncles. We, um...We lived in a one room apartment."

"You are free to bunk with me Thrust," Dirge offered, "As long as you don't snore."

"I don't! Promise!" Thrust exclaimed quickly, "Thank you, Dirge."

"Well, if you guys are really that glitched about not being alone, I guess we could all stay in my room permanently," Ramjet said awkwardly, "I mean, it's big enough, I guess. As your commander it is my job to look out for you guys, so we might as well stick together."

The other two smiled gratefully at Ramjet. He didn't want to tell them why he offered his room to them, but the truth was he just didn't want to be left out. If those two were willing to stay together but not with him it made him feel excluded. Of course, Ramjet would never admit he was lonely or jealous. As far as they needed to know, he was just being a good commander.

That night they flew 80 mechano-miles to Ramjet's unit. Dirge smiled when he saw how gloomy the atmosphere was. If it was one thing Dirge liked, it was mechs and femmes being as miserable as he was.

Thrust was surprised to see that Ramjet was the commander of a prison camp for captured Autobots and neutrals. There were barracks for the troops and barracks for the prisoners, but poor Thrust couldn't tell which was which!

The camp was dead silent that night. The only one out was the night watchmech, and he didn't bother firing a shot when he saw it was just his commanding officer and his new trinemates. Ramjet landed at a small square building that had a sign that read "Ramjet's Quarters. Trespassers Will Be Shot". Ramjet unlocked the door and allowed his trinemates to walk inside before he did.

Ramjet immediately ran for the vanity mirror and started cleaning himself off and removing the day's filth. Thrust and Dirge both just stood in the middle of the floor, unsure of how to proceed next.

"I'll order Powerdown to bring in two more berths," Ramjet said as he wiped his face off in front of the mirror, "Go on, sit down. Curfew don't apply tonight, but don't get used to this. From now on you go into recharge at 42:00 just like everyone else. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," Thrust replied stiffly.

"Hey now, none of that sir stuff!" Ramjet snapped, "We're family! You call me Ramjet!"

"Yes sir, Ramjet!" Thrust replied nervously, and Ramjet sighed and shook his helm.

Ramjet comm'ed the watchmech and ordered him to bring two more berths from the supply room. Dirge was content to sit there and do nothing, but Thrust was starting to get a little antsy. He looked from Dirge to Ramjet, but neither one seemed to be paying any attention to him. Finally unwilling to be ignored any longer, Thrust turned to Ramjet and quietly asked "So, what will our assignments be?"

"I'll start you off on cleaning duty," Ramjet told Thrust, "I figure Dirge will make a decent guard since his sigma ability is literally designed to scare the daylights out of grown mechs. That was why my sire insisted on having Dirge as a member of my trine. He believed a trine's combined abilities was the key to true success among the Decepticons. If you want to be taken seriously, then you have to be the best."

"Oh," Thrust replied; disappointed both in his assignment and the fact that Dirge was more powerful than him, "So...why was I selected for the trine? I don't have any special powers."

"Your uncle bribed my sire," Ramjet replied sourly, "Apparently you're only here because my sire was a greedy slagger and didn't care who he sold me to."

"Oh," Thrust sighed.

Thrust hated this. Not only did his Uncle Puff Smoke have to offer a bribe to get him into a decent trine, but he had to bribe a trine with an ugly creation! Thrust felt so worthless. Dirge was accepted because he had something to offer. Thrust was only here because Puff Smoke paid his way in. Of course after screwing up his own trining vows like that, he began to think maybe he didn't deserve any better than this.

"You're awful quiet," Ramjet commented.

"Just thinking, Ramjet," Thrust replied quietly.

"Oh, does it hurt?" Ramjet teased him, but then noticed Thrust really did seem upset, "Thrust, I think I know what's bothering you. If it makes you feel any better, I feel used too."

"You? But you're the trine commander!" Thrust wailed pitifully, "You and your family could've had anybody. I don't deserve to be here. I don't deserve a trine. I've done nothing to earn my place."

"You're wrong, for a few reasons," Ramjet replied matter-of-factly, "First, my family could've had anybody, but I had no choice in the matter. You weren't the one that was sold to the highest bidder, I was. I'm not angry with you. I'm angry with my sire, but he's dead so it doesn't matter. Second, you haven't done anything to earn your place yet, but nobody does right away. We're a trine, and we have to earn our place together. Our successes and our failures belong to all of us. You haven't earned your place, but neither have I and neither has Dirge. It'll take a while, but we'll learn our strengths and weaknesses, and someday Cybertronians the world over will cower at the very mention of our names! Thrust, if you want to be good enough for this trine, then you start now! You do as you're told, you work hard, and you show no mercy for our enemies. Got it?"

"Got it!" Thrust replied excitedly, "Slag, with a speech like that you should be second to Megatron!"

"Yes I should, and someday I will be!" Ramjet declared, "And when I am, you two will be right there by my side! We will work harder than anyone else, unleash chaos like no one else, and someday we will be the elite seeker trine!"

"Yeah!" Thrust cheered and jumped up out of his seat, "We're gonna be the greatest trine ever!"

"That's great," Dirge said sardonically, "So, when does the greatest trine ever get those extra berths in here? I'm exhausted."

Ramjet laughed and playfully punched Dirge on his pointy new noggin. Dirge glared up at Ramjet and rubbed his helm, and Thrust laughed at his brothers' antics. It was a rocky start, but the three seekers had survived their first night as a trine.