I want to thank everyone for taking the time to review!

To Grimlock the King of Stories, Slipstream will make an appearance in later chapters, but I'm not going to give away how she'll react to Jack/Thundercracker.

As for the plotline, I will be closely following most of the cannon up to episode nineteen, but after that it will diverge from the original storyline. I won't be going into season two at all unless I decide to make a sequel, which is highly unlikely.

Some of you guys have asked if Jack will become a Cybertronian and he will, just not in a way that any of you expect.

Now sweethearts, I present to you the lovely chapter 4, enjoy!

~Energon is Thicker than Blood~

Chapter 4: To Lose is To Gain

…"You the new Procurer? You certainly don't look like much." A short and mostly red Mech said as he looked Jack up and down.

Jack had to bite his tongue so that he couldn't make a retort. He had just started out as a Procurer and it wouldn't be wise to make enemies so soon while having no allies to back him up.

He especially didn't want to make an enemy out of the Mech in front of him.

The Mech was old and cranky. He had a reputation for having a short temper and for jumping the gun most of the time, but he was also one of the best Procurers on Cybertron. His name was Gears and he was probably the shortest Mech Jack had yet to meet. As such, it wasn't a surprise that Gears did not like it when another bot made fun of his short build.

Jack watched as Gears circled him and they both studied each other. Gears had a ground alt mode, one of the speedier models, with a red paint job. His armor was covered in dents and scratches, things that could have easily been buffed away, but instead he'd decided to keep his battle scars.

Jack could respect that.

"You're certainly an odd Seeker model, aren't you?" Gears said once he finished his inspection and Jack looked down at his body with pride. While most Seekers were built slim so that they could be fast, he had modified himself. He had added more armor, making him stronger, but this made him a little slower.

Remodeling oneself was frowned upon though. Many bots thought it disrespectful to change what the Well of the All-Sparks had blessed them with. It was unnatural. However, he needed to become stronger, his new profession demanded it.

His legs were a deep dark blue as were his arms. His chassis was a dark grey and that same grey was highlighted throughout the rest of his armor. His servos, pedes, and face were a much lighter gray, almost sliver. His helmet looked like the skull of a Cybertronian. The exposed veins glowed a bright Energon blue against the black metal frame.

"I did what upgrades I needed to." Jack said flatly as he flexed his powerful body slightly, not to show off, but as a warning. Just like Gears, he didn't like it when others insulted his upgraded frame.

His fierce look put him on the receiving end to many disapproving stares. Many felt the need to look down upon him; like he was a savage compared to them and didn't fit in their civilized society.

But he had to look dangerous, like somebody that you wouldn't dare mess with. His new position as a Procurer demanded only the strongest and that was what he was. He'd never had the desire to become an Energon Seeker, he was a fighter. He hadn't wanted to become a soldier or a gladiator either. Soldiers took orders from others and he'd never been the kind to follow the rules.

He could never have been hired as a soldier anyways. His designation was to be an Energon Seeker; he was breaking the law by becoming a Procurer. The reason for why he wasn't being arrested right now was because the Senate didn't care what a third class citizen like him did.

He could only get work from jobs that were out of the Senate's jurisdiction, namely illegal jobs.

He, of course, could have worked in the Gladiator Pits, as a combatant he would be paid for every fight he won. A gladiator led the kind of dangerous life that he could enjoy, but he didn't like fighting for the amusement of others.

A Procurer would give him the freedom a soldier's life couldn't offer and it was more dangerous than fighting in the Gladiator Pits. Another bonus was that he would be exploring space more often than not. While his main occupation was to capture wanted criminals, he also caught alien organisms, and retrieved ancient artifacts.

"I hate Seekers. They always think they're so much better than the rest of us bots." Gears said as he glared up at Jack and he tried not to glare back. Stereotypes were not uncommon on Cybertron, but Jack could not stand bigotry. "You think a scrapheap like yourself can even last a day in this line of work? Go back home and let the real Mechs handle Procuring." Gears growled and Jack felt the last bit of his control slip away.

To the Pit with not making enemies.

"Real Mechs, huh? Then what are you doing here?" He growled at the smaller Mech as he stepped forward to stand over Gears. The Mech had to crane his head up to look him in the optics and Jack smiled as heard Gears growl.

"You know you got a face that only your Trine could love!" Gears all, but shouted.

"Humph, I guess the rumors were true, you certainly have a… short fuse." Jack said and smirked in triumph at Gears' furious look…

…Jack held back a groan as he shifted on the ground. His latest bounty was a Mech designated as Retrace. Retrace was a former gladiator who had just been too much for Jack to handle. He had sent out a distress call once he'd realized there was no way he was going to win, but it looked like he was on his own.

"You didn't really think that you could beat me, did you Seeker? Your kind wasn't made for fighting." Retrace taunted and Jack growled up at the approaching Mech. He hated it when his kind was put down. Most Cybertronians were of the belief that Seekers were only good for finding Energon or working in some remote Energon harvesting space station.

"He may not have been enough to beat you, but I think you'll find me to be more than you can handle." A Mech said from behind Retrace. As his enemy turned, Jack saw that his rescuer was Gears, the same bot he had met a week ago.

Jack watched the fight between Retrace and Gears with hidden awe. Even though Gears was smaller and older, he moved with speed that would have made Starscream jealous.

Gears soon won his fight and after he tied up Retrace, Jack saw the bot walking over to him. Jack looked up at Gears as he tried to lift himself off the ground, but it was no good. He was too heavily damaged and he doubted he would make it to a medic in time.

"Well you lasted longer than a day." Gears said as he halted before Jack. Jack's pride suffered a major blow at the Mech's words, but his honor overcame the bitterness he wanted to display.

"It would seem so. Thank you… for coming to my rescue." Jack said and Gears looked smug. "Now, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you bring my body back to Cybertron?" Jack asked and he saw Gears' confused look.

"What the Pit are you talking ab- Primus! You're hurt!" Gears shouted as he ran over to Jack and looked at the chassis wound that was leaking Energon. He smiled at the old bot before he retorted.

"And you're very observant…" He started to chuckle, but stopped once he started to cough up Energon.

"Slag! Hang on Rookie! Hang on!…

…"Rookie, get your aft over here now!" Gears shouted as he ducked behind some rocks to avoid the shots that had been aimed at him. Jack moved over to his partner and he smiled as he looked out at the three Mechs who were firing at them.

They were known as the Betrayers, for they had turned their backs on Primus to follow Unicron. Their leader, a screw-loose Mech named Sideways, lead the Betrayers as he tried to wipe out all Cybertronians. He had taken his small army out into the vastness of space in order to find his Master and revive him.

"So Short Fuse, what are you going to do with your half of the reward after we turn in Thrust?" Jack asked as he fired at the three Mechs in front of him. They had lucked out as Thrust, one of the Mechs they were fighting, was one of Sideways's most trusted bots and that made him a rather high bounty.

Gears shot him a glare for using that nickname, again.

Jack had called Gears Short Fuse since the Mech had saved his life all those years ago. It was now a term of endearment though. Gears too had his own nickname for Jack, though it wasn't very clever and he certainly wasn't a rookie anymore.

"Well Rookie, I'll probably use it for gambling and getting some high grade Energon. You know, the usual." Gears shouted as he fired a direct hit at the Mech standing to the left of Thrust.

Jack shook his head fondly at his partners' unhealthy antics. That was what he liked about Gears best though. The simple things in life brought him pleasure.

"I'll tell you what Short Fuse, how about we both head to the Gladiator Pits after this!" Jack called as he took out the other Mech and charged after a fleeing Thrust.

"I thought you hated those things?" Gears asked as he shot Thrust out of the air.

"I don't hate them; it's just that I would never fight in them. I'm not an entertainer, but that doesn't mean that I don't like to be entertained. Besides they got a new combatant, and he's supposed to be really good." Jack said as he put a clamp on a stasis locked Thrust.

"Really? Who?" Gears asked as he helped Jack drag the Betrayers back to their ship.

"His designation is D-16." Jack answered…

…"I heard you and Starscream got caught up in a fight between the Rebels and the Protectors." Gears said as he passed Jack an Energon Cube. Gears had retired from Procuring years ago; his age prevented him from keeping up with his younger partner.

Jack had yet to take on a new partner since Gears retired.

"Yeah, I had just brought a decent bounty in and I was going to treat Starscream to a special night on the town. Skywarp couldn't get out of his mandatory flight exercise so it was just the two of us. It must be Unicron's curse." Jack said as he drank from his cube. He paused to enjoy the burning smoothness of his drink.

Gears gave him an annoyed look before they shared a grin. They had run into Sideways only once a few years and the Mech had said that Jack was cursed by his Master. Now Jack said it was the curse of Unicron whenever something bad happened. Gears had played along at first, but he began to suspect that Jack really was cursed.

Gears had always been a superstitious Mech.

"I heard talk that Megatron seems to be interested in Starscream." Gears said and Jack shared a grim look with his old friend. It wasn't so much that Megatron was interested in Starscream, but in Jack.

"Starscream said he's considered joining the Rebel Forces and I honestly can't say I blame him. The corruption on Cybertron just seems to get worse with each passing day." Jack said as he stared down at his drink to avoid Gears' piercing gaze. If worst came to worst, he knew his old partner would join the Protectors.

"What'll you do if he does join them?" Gears asked and Jack looked back at him. They both knew that he would do exactly what Megatron wanted.

"Protect him."…

Jack stared at his ceiling in confusion, hadn't he just been talking to Gears? He looked at his surroundings and found himself in his bedroom. He was supposed to be here, he was sure of that, but why did his own room suddenly feel so alien to him?

Jack sighed as he shook his head. It seemed he didn't need Starscream or an Energon prod to have odd visions. As he stared down at his hands an image of familiar metal servos replaced them for a second and he blinked in surprise. He looked back at his hands to make sure that they were still flesh and blood before closed his eyes in despair.

He was losing his mind; it was as simple as that. Maybe the Autobots and Decepticons weren't even real? Maybe he was just having a psychotic breakdown and that everything had just been a delusion?

He went to stand up, but the sudden pain in his ankle reminded him that everything was real. He had met aliens, he had been tortured, and he'd once been an alien himself.

Primus help him!

Jack just continued to sit on his bed as he thought about the things he had discovered about who he'd once been. He had been a Seeker, a remodeled one. He had been a Procurer, a bounty hunter, and had loved his job. His partner and teacher had been a grumpy bot named Gears, but who he had called Short Fuse.

He had loved fighting and the taste of high grade Energon. He had been close to Starscream and another bot named Skywarp, but Jack didn't know how close he was to Starscream. Had they been best friends or had Starscream just been somebody to hang out with?

More importantly though, was that he'd been a Decepticon.

Jack shuddered at the memory of getting the Decepticon insignia on his chest, just like Starscream before him. The only good thing that Jack remembered from that vision was that he hadn't felt happy nor proud to bare the mark. There had only been a steely resolve to do what he must. Jack just didn't know what it was that he'd decided to do.

"Jack, honey? Are you up yet?" Jack heard his Mom say and he was brought out of his thoughts. He looked over at his alarm clock and found that it was nine o'clock. He was late for school!

He was already taking off his shirt when he realized that today was a Saturday. He had to go to work in a few hours; well maybe he would go to work in a few hours. Hopefully his ankle wouldn't stop him from working.

"Yeah Mom, I'm up." Jack called as he put on fresh clothes and headed for the kitchen. He found his Mom fixing breakfast, which was unusual. She usually didn't have time to make him breakfast, ever. Not that he was complaining, breakfast and lunch were the only meal times that he could avoid her tofu themed entrees.

"What are you still doing here? I thought you had the early shift on Saturdays." He said as he started to peel an orange, foregoing to mention that she had the early shift every day, as well as the late shift every night.

"Well I got someone to cover for me, but I won't be home until late tonight." She said as she placed tofu waffles in front of him. Ugh, he was going to need a lot of syrup.

"Okay, but why did you want the morning shift off?" He asked as she sat down with her own plate.

"To spend time with you." She said simply and he smiled at her.

"I love you Mom." He said and she gave him a watery smile. Last night had been a reminder to them both that terrible things could happen at any moment. She grabbed his hand gently before they returned to their meal.

~Energon is Thicker than Blood~

Jack grunted in pain and relief as he pulled into the K.O. Burger parking lot. Riding a pedal-bike with a busted ankle was a painful mode of transportation. As he moved over to his building, he struggled not to put any weight on to his foot.

He'd decided to forego his crutches, hoping to look less injured than he was. He didn't want to lose his job because of his latest adventure. He was still bruised and most of his upper body was wrapped in gauze, but hopefully it wouldn't impede his work.

As he went to step over the curb, he lost his balance and instinctively moved to put his weight onto his other foot. He let out a cry of pain and immediately brought his foot off the ground. Knowing that he was going to fall, he closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable pain he would feel as he started to fall back towards the pavement. Before he could hit the ground though, he hit something metal first.

"Why are you walking around without your crutches?" Arcee yelled and he looked down at her in surprise. He stood and righted himself before he mumbled a thank you to her.

"Look Arcee, thanks for he save and all, but Miko tried last night. Tell Optimus that I respect him big time, but if you're at war with the Decepticons then there's nothing that I can do to help." He said as he turned to look away from her.

He was a Decepticon, or at least he had been. He really didn't know himself well enough to know that he wouldn't betray the Autobots in the future. He suddenly realized that this was the reason for why he wanted to stop the visions. He didn't want to wake up one morning and find himself to be a bad person. He didn't want to end up like his Father; he just wanted to be Jack.

"Optimus didn't say anything and no one's asking for your help."

"Okay, so if we both agree I'm not warrior material…" He trailed off as he looked away from her again. He was a warrior; even now he was tempted to rejoin the Autobots just so that he could get some action. He looked back at K.O. Burger and grimaced, was he really ready to spend his days flipping burgers over fighting?

After that thought, Jack realized he was already changing. It seemed trying to stop the changes from happening was hopeless.

"Jack, I just lost someone I care about. Maybe it's the grief talking, maybe you're growing on me. Whatever it is, I'm just not ready to say goodbye." Arcee said and Jack knew she meant it.

He looked at her, studied her. He didn't know if Gears was dead, but what if he was and he just hadn't remembered yet?

Jack stared at the ground as he thought about his former partner. Gears had been important to him, like a Father to him. He blinked back tears and for the first time since his visions had started he wished to know what had happened in the past. He wanted to know what had happened to Gears.

Was he still alive out there? Wandering the stars like the Autobots had done before they had found Earth or had he died long ago in a battle on Cybertron?

Slowly, he walked over to Arcee and sat down. He wrapped his hands tightly around her handle bars and squeezed. He was starting to feel an aching loss that had always been there, just waiting to be realized.

"I lost someone too." Jack said as he looked at her right side view mirror. It was true, he knew that Mirage was gone and he didn't doubt that he'd lost other friends, maybe family, to the war. Only time could tell and even though he knew it was going to be painful, he wanted to remember the bots that had been important to him. "Maybe, I'm not ready to say goodbye either." He muttered as her engine turned on.

"Then let's head back to base partner." Arcee said and Jack smiled fondly at the idea of having another partner.

~Energon is Thicker than Blood~

As they pulled into the base Jack noticed that the other bots were getting ready to leave. A sudden nervousness wiggled in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't thought about how the Autobots would react to his coming back. He looked up at Optimus and gave an uncertain smile.

"Hey, guess whose back." He said and was relieved to see a slight smile on Optimus's face. He let out a breath he'd been holding and really smiled at the leader of the Autobots.

"Autobots, prepare for departure." Optimus commanded and Jack's smiled disappeared as he turned to look up at Arcee.

"Where to?" Arcee asked and Jack noticed Miko walk over to him.

"The final frontier." She answered and Jack looked at her in surprise.

"Space? I thought they didn't have any way to get there?" He asked and saw Bumblebee place Raf onto the floor.

"Well, they don't, not really." The young boy said and Jack was glad to see both of the kids unharmed, but then again he'd only been gone a day.

"Doesn't the Ground Bridge have limited range? Stretched all the way out to orbit could cause it to snap and scatter you guys across the universe." He said to Optimus and noticed the sharp glance he got from Ratchet.

He wondered why Ratchet was suddenly looking at him like he had two heads until he realized that what he said was something only a Cybertronian could know, certainly not a human boy.

Jack didn't know if he wanted the Autobots to know about his visions though. If he did tell someone, it would probably be Optimus. He knew how much Arcee hated Cons, so telling her would hurt more than help and he didn't know the other bots well enough to know how they'd react. Optimus seemed to be the most understanding.

"How could you possible know that?" Ratchet mumbled as he handed Jack the metal crutches that he'd left at the base. Jack looked up at the medic as he accepted them.

"Well, it's called a Ground Bridge for a reason right? It's only supposed to be used where there's ground." He answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He saw Ratchet shoot him a suspicious look, but the medic seemed to be satisfied with his answer, for now anyways. He'd have to watch what he would say in the future. Jack looked up at Arcee and shrugged at her.

"Be seeing ya?" He asked and she gave a slight nod as she walked over to stand with the other bots as Ratchet activated the Ground Bridge. Jack watched the kids say goodbye to their guardians and he shot another worried look at Arcee. She had better come back.

"Optimus, if you leave me stranded on a planet teeming with humans, I will never forgive you." Ratchet said.

"Until we meet again, old friend. Autobots, roll out!" Optimus commanded as he and his men transformed. Jack watched them drive into the Bridge and hoped their mission would not end in failure.

~Energon is Thicker than Blood~

Jack stood off to the side as Ratchet explained to Raf and Miko why the Decepticons would be unable to use the Space Bridge without their navigation dish. Jack wasn't buying it though. Even though Megatron may have lost one way to execute his plan, it didn't mean that the Decepticons didn't have a backup.

As Optimus said Jack's thoughts out loud, he saw Raf move to his laptop. Curious, Jack moved over to see what the younger boy was doing and barely heard Ratchet express his great disbelief that Earth had the kind of technology that the Decepticons needed.

"What about a whole bunch of linked radio telescope dishes, like the giant size A-ray in Texas?" Raf asked and Jack nodded his head. The combined power of frequency from those dishes would be able to do the job.

"Zip tab bab dat! This is not child's play." Ratchet said as he leaned towards them and made a "zip it" motion. Jack noticed the other kids flinch, but he hadn't moved a muscle.

He almost glared up at the stubborn Mech; Raf knew what he was talking about.

"Good thinking Raf. Ratchet contact Agent Fowler to alert the A-ray staff to the security standard." Optimus commanded and Jack almost laughed at Ratchet's surprised face. Once Ratchet called Fowler to tell him about the situation, it only took the man a few minutes before he called back with some bad news.

"Ratchet there's nobody at the base. I don't know where those men are, but the Cons have already locked the place down. We can't get them out of the system. We'll keep trying to override them, but it doesn't look good, Fowler out." Ratchet nodded his head grimly.

"I can't get past the raised fire walls, they're too thick." Raf said as he slammed his hands onto the table.

"You actually think you can keep the Decepticons out?" Ratchet asked in amusement and Jack shook his head at the old bot. Raf had already proven that he wasn't average when it came to computers, so why did Ratchet keep expecting so little from the younger boy?

"Maybe, if I could get in." Raf said and Jack shot his head up as he got an idea.

"Wait, Raf, what if we could get you all the way in? Like inside the building in." He asked as he placed his hand on the younger boy's shoulder. His blood was already pumping with the thought about actually doing something, something that helped.

"I could log into their internal network on the other side of the fire wall." Raf said and Jack smiled at the computer screen in triumph.

"The risk is too great. The Decepticons will be there, perhaps even on site." Optimus said and Jack stared down at the floor on thought. He could do this, even if there was a Decepticon there.

They had to do this.

"Optimus, with all due respect, you said it yourself. This is bigger than the safety of three humans." Jack said and Miko took it up from there.

"Yeah, if we let the Cons win; we're fragged, along with everyone else on our planet." She said.

"Raf?" Optimus asked and Jack turned to look at the small boy.

"I want to give it a shot." Raf said and Jack smiled down at the boy.

"You don't have to worry about them Optimus; I'll take care of them." He said in a hard tone and heard Miko snort from behind him. He looked over at Raf and the small boy looked up at him in some sort of awe that Jack couldn't understand. With the crutches he knew he certainly didn't look capable of protecting anyone, but he would do his best.

Ratchet sighed as he activated the Ground Bridge and Jack lead the other kids through the portal. Once they reached their destination, Jack had to jump down slightly and he noticed the other kids looked nauseas from the Ground Bridge's affects.

"Yeah, it takes some getting use too." It didn't bother him at all and he suspected it was because he'd done it often enough in his last life. He looked at the building and with a quick nod to the others, they went inside. Raf had downloaded the schematics for the building so they quickly found the room they needed and Raf started to hack.

"I'm in, and so are the Decepticons." Raf said and Jack just nodded his head.

"How can you tell?" Miko asked and Raf brought up some Cybertronian equations.

"Schematics with the same alien math we saw on their ship, but this time I can download it." Raf said as he stuck his hard drive into the computer.

"It's gotta be the Space Bridge." Miko said and Jack simply nodded his head in agreement.

"The Decepticons are syncing it to the dishes, but I can sync to them." Raf said as he started to type furiously.

"They'll know." Jack said simply. He knew from his visions that Starscream was smart, he would notice.

"Even if the Decepticons see that I'm in the system, they'll have no idea I'm in the house." Raf answered back, but it did little to ease Jack's worries. "They're locked onto Cybertron, but not for long."

Not even a few seconds later, the dishes moved back to Cybertron and Raf went to undo it once more. Jack didn't need any confirmation that the Decepticons were onto them now and he could only wait until they made their next move. Hopefully this battle would only be virtual. Jack heard a slight noise and turned to look behind him to see a giant tentacle.

Okay, not so virtual then.

As it lunged at him Jack shouted out a warning to the others and used his crutch to hit the limb that belonged to Soundwave. He didn't know how he knew, he was just grateful that he wasn't having a vision to distract him at the moment.

His strike did little to the Cybertronian limb and it quickly grabbed him and Miko before it flung them both at the wall. Jack groaned at the sudden onslaught of pain that his ankle was going through and noticed Raf just barely avoid from getting hit as the tentacle took out the computer. As he got up to move to Raf, he saw Miko run at the tentacle with an axe. It knocked her against the wall and stole the weapon she had been using.

"You handed it an axe!" He shouted in disbelief and he heard Raf say a quiet not good. As it raised the axe Jack was prepared to move, whether to dodge or to save the others. He noticed it retreat as the other two flinched and Jack chased after it, ignoring the excruciating amount of pain he felt in his foot. "Stay here!" He shouted to them as he followed the tentacle back to Soundwave.

He saw Soundwave getting ready to leave and he turned back to look at him. Jack heard a click from Soundwave, and he knew that the Con had just taken a picture of him, not that he needed to.

Jack doubted Starscream had forgotten about him, but at least Raf and Miko weren't in the picture as well. He didn't want the Cons to have documentation about the kids. As Soundwave flew off Jack noticed Raf move over to the power lines that Soundwave had cut.

"Why's he leaving?" Miko asked from behind Jack.

"He cut the hard line. The dishes are locked unto Cybertron, for good." Raf said sadly as he looked up at them and Jack sighed. It looked like their only hope was the Autobots now.

He looked down at his hands and couldn't believe how disgusted with himself he suddenly felt. Had he not been human and Cybertronian instead, he could have done something more.

"Miko, call Ratchet for a Ground Bridge. We're done here." He said in a harsh tone that made Raf and Miko flinch.

~Energon is Thicker than Blood~

Jack paced the walkway and ignored the worried looks everyone was sending him. Agent Fowler had shown up not too long ago and the Autobots had saved the day, but at a cost.

Being unable to shut down the Space Bridge after Megatron had launched the Dark Energon at Cybertron had left the Autobots with only one option, the destruction of the Space Bridge. They could never go home now; he could never go home now. Once Ratchet had said they could never go back, Jack had felt such a loss for the home he had only just started to remember.

Arcee had been able to reverse the current to the Bridge, causing its destruction, but now Ratchet was saying that someone had been hurt and Jack had a gut feeling that it was her. He was not going to lose his partner, not this one.

At least one good thing came out of the destruction of the space bridge, Megatron was dead.

Jack couldn't help, but let out a bitter smile at the news of the Decepticons death. He hated Megatron, though he didn't know why and it didn't really matter now. With Megatron's demise, Jack felt at ease.

He turned to the portal as he saw Optimus come through and made his way down the stairs as fast as he could with his crutch. As Bulkhead appeared, Jack knew his gut instinct was right. He ran up to Bumblebee, who held an unconscious Arcee. His mind flashed memory after memory of those that he saw die and images flew by so fast that he couldn't even distinguish the different bots.

"Arcee?" He asked quietly as he placed his hand onto her servo.

"Jack, really? There are other motorcycles in the world." She said quietly as she looked down at him and he smiled up at her.

"True, but I could never find a better partner." He said and she smiled back at him.

~Energon is Thicker than Blood~

"Decepticons, it is with deep sorrow that I note for the log, Megatron's spark has been extinguished." The silver Seeker said to the Cons that surrounded him.

Megatron had been a fool and finally it was his time, his moment to rule, as it was always meant to be.

"All hail Starscream."

~Energon is Thicker than Blood~

Thundercracker's color scheme is based off of Jack's clothes. He looks similar to Starscream, but think more armor, different colors, and a different helmet. I said Thundercracker's helmet looks like the skull of Cybertronian. The image I wanted looks similar to a human's skull, but make it black with glowing blue veins on it, like the circuitry on a microchip. I hope that makes the image of what he looked like clearer.

I took Thundercracker's colors from the clothes that Jack wears. The blue is the same color as his jeans. The dark grey throughout his armor is the same as his t-shirt. His face, hands, and feet are the same color as his long-sleeved shirt. His black hair is the same color as his helmet and his optics match his blue eyes.

When every bot is created, they are given a job by the Senate that they must do. Thundercracker refused to do a job he didn't want and became a Procurer. While it's true that it's illegal to change ones designation, the higher class could care less about what the lower classes did, so long as it didn't intrude onto their lives.

The Gladiator Pits are equivalent to the coliseum of Ancient Rome. Even though the Gladiator Pits were illegal and public knowledge, the corrupt Senate did not close it down because the made money off of the Pits.

I wanted Thundercracker to be taught by the best, and the best are usually the older ones. Gears was always a favorite of mine from the G1 series and when I think of an old war hardened bot I see him.

Retrace is my original character.

I made up the Betrayers, and Sideways is still around. No doubt the leader of Unicron cult would find his way to Earth. I always hated Sideways and I thought it would be best to throw in a villain who only Thundercracker had a history with.

~Hexalys~