Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"I'm Wildrider's replacement? Why, I find the very idea insulting, Breakdown."

The blue and white Stunticon chafed, biting his lower lip as Offroad stood with his back to him. The green and red-orange Decepticon was fiddling around with something or other on a computer terminal, and Breakdown couldn't see what he was working on.

"It's just that... well!" Breakdown fidgeted. "Since you came on, you've sort of - that is - filled the same... howdoyasayit... NICHE he has..."

Offroad laughed in response. It was a sort of patronizing laugh, that smacked of arrogance and derision. Breakdown knew it well; it's what he imaged people did when they talked about HIM.

"Oh, Breakdown, that's just your processor overworking itself. Of course I remind everyone of Wildrider... he's gone now, and I'm the new bot on the team, after all. Someone needs to fill the void."

"Yes, but... you purposely go for his favorite spot when we combine...!"

"And? Menasor needs a leg, Breakdown."

"We're a modular combiner. Each one of us can be a leg!"

Offroad looked over his shoulder, smirking. "So, does that mean you're ready to step out of YOUR comfort zone, Breaky?"

Breakdown's optics widened, before he quickly spat out "NO! That is- I! I mean... this isn't about me..."

Offroad only chuckled.

Breakdown's expression grew more firm. "That's not the only thing. Motormaster said you ordered the same drink at Octane... the same drink that was Wildrider's favorite...! A Polyhex Pulverizer...!"

"I'm an all-terrain vehicle," Offroad replied, tapping away at a few more keys. The usurper's shoulder panels kept Breakdown from getting a good view of what he was doing, even as he tried to peer over his shoulder. "I need a drink with some kick to it!"

"Yeah, well, you even used Wildrider's catchphrase..."

"'Either you're out of my way or you're  out of luck'? I prefer to see it as carrying on the legacy."

Breakdown fumed. "Wildrider isn't dead!"

Offroad looked back at him with a cruel smirk. "He might as well be," he said, pulling a chip out of the terminal's access port. "Deluge said that he wouldn't be coming out of stasis for some time..." Breakdown could now see that Offroad had closed out of whatever it was he had been doing.

Breakdown bit his lower lip. "I'm afraid to ask, but just what have you been working on?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Offroad replied, beaming as he opened up an access panel on his chest. "It's a new electronic paint job. I figured new team... it's time I got a new look."

With that said, Offroad replaced the chip that was already inside with a brand new one. Breakdown paled as before his very optics, Offroad's colors shifted to a disturbingly familiar dark-grey scheme.

"Dear sweet Primus," Breakdown whimpered.

Offroad just laughed, putting his arm around his fellow Stunticon as he began to lead him off. "It's great, I know," he said. "You know, Breaky, I think it's time you and I got to know each other better! Let me tell you about a 'Con I used to run with. His name was Ruckus, and he had the slickest suspension I ever saw..."

Chapter Text

"This makes me furious! Outraged! Sick with anger!"

Archadis sighed, and ceased to preen the dust from his plumage. Across from him, Injector sat, the Fuzor frothing with anger as he wrung a datapad in his chitinous pinchers. Archadis's fellow model was clearly perturbed by something, and Archadis had a sneaking feeling he knew what it was all about.

"I'm guessing this is about what they said about you in Venus."

"Of course it's about Venus!" Injector spat, viscous fluid flying from his fangs. "The whole thing is lies! Slander! Lies AND slander!"

"Libel."

"Huh?"

"When it's written, it's libel. Not slander."

"I DON'T CARE!" Injector croaked, throwing the data pad at his fellow Predacon, along with a portion of whatever organic substance he'd been eating. Archadis managed to dodge the pad easily enough, but the foodstuffs made him thankful that his beast mode feathers secreted a naturally occurring oil that repelled grime. "They called me insecure! Self loathing! THEY SAID I THINK I'M UGLY!"

"That's preposterous," Archadis responded, deadpan. "You're the picture of self-assurance!"

"I know, right?!" Injector warbled, mashing his fangs together. "Who the slag wrote that tripe?! I'll pour cyber venom down their glitching access port!"

Archadis promptly reached down, and calmly picked up the data pad. "It says here that the article was written by a Maximal named Escargon."

Injector seethed. "THEN ESCARGON IS A DEAD MECH WALKING!"

"Mm," Archadis responded calmly, with a nod. "But... you will be picking up the check before you go, right? It IS your turn"

Injector blinked, and smiled with his fangy maw, drool running down the side of it. "Oh, yes of course. That's the polite thing to do, after all!"

Chapter Text

Everyone always seemed to be confused about what brought them together. To most Cybertronians, two planes and a dragonbot seemed like an eclectic mix; essentially, a set where one of the things didn't fit in. But to the Clear Skies Team, their partnership was as natural as the natural splendor they sought to protect.

Of course, it wasn't that their meeting had no story to it. Thunderwing and Steel Wind were both Gigantion Mini-Cons, eager to explore the universe that had been opened up to them by the newly linked space bridge. A lifetime of aiding the bulks' construction projects had been rewarding, but there had always been a bit of wanderlust sparkling in their eyes. Not to mention, their alternate modes almost begged for the presence of an endless sky, and Gigantion had spent generations building ceilings over theirs.

Their journey led them to Jungle Planet, the planet of the beasts. This was a world unlike anything they'd ever seen before, covered in seemingly endless green that stretched from one horizon to the other. For Steel Wind, it had been a profound, life changing experience. Never had he imagined that life could take such a form. All he'd ever known was what the Gigantions had built, one after the other, as they filled their massive canvas. But this... this was a rich tapestry of green, that had grown all on its own.

Thunderwing saw similar value in this world, but for him, the exciting part was the adventure that lay before him. All his life he'd focused on the details, being a simple cog in a greater machine. Following others' blueprints, exacting the design of the architects above him. Jungle Planet was full of secrets, and hidden dangers – all of which could be experienced and shared with his best friend. Together, they embarked on a quest across the Jungle Planet, determined to see and experience as much of this world as possible.

What they found surprised them: other Mini-Cons. Hidden in the Jungle Planet's mountains, they'd escaped the raiders that once plagued the planet, and then eluded the might-makes-right rule of Scourge that followed. In turn, their existence had faded from the knowledge of Jungle Planet's people, and they'd been regulated to the status of myth, seen not as fellow Cybertronians but elusive, tiny spirits that dwelt within the shadows of Jungle Planet's trees.

They did not take kindly to Thunderwing and Steel Wind's presence.

“They are not like us,” said one of their number, a black-armored wolf Mini-Con, whose fangs gleamed in the darkness of their cavernous city. The duo learned that he was called “Scavenger”, and that he picked from the bulks' technology in order to fashion weapons to protect their people. “Their shape is not that of the beast! They are like the monsters that drove us into hiding!”

“That is no reason to fear them,” said another, a green-armored Mini-Con with scales. His name was Terrorsaur, and he was the captain of the city's guard. “It is said that the settlers of Jungle Planet once had the same shape, before the great Ignition...”

It was Nightscream who decided to hear them tell their tale. He was the oldest of the Mini-Cons, his lifetime stretching back to the original settlement of Jungle Planet. As such, his manner of speech was older and more refined. When he spoke, the wisdom and bravery was inherent in his voice. To Steel Wind, it reminded him of the knights he'd heard tell of Cybertron's most distant past.

And the duo told their story. They told them of their home world, of the endless cycle of building and rebuilding. The enormous, majestic spires. The vast underground labyrinths and engines. They told them of Cybertron, and of how Optimus Prime had twice challenged the Chaos Bringer, and finally united the four worlds. They told them about how they'd come to love Jungle Planet, and everything they'd found there.

Most of the Mini-Cons were fearful of their story. A world full of massive Transformers? To them, it sounded like the Gigantions were not the Mini-Cons' partners, but rather their slavers. And the colony worlds? Would this herald the beginning of new raids? Were more coming to exploit and pillage their world? Others doubted their story, believing it to be too far fetched. Thunderwing and Steel Wind had mentioned that Scourge, the Jungle Planet's dictator, had helped Optimus Prime. To them, he was a giant and a tyrant, a force of fear and destruction – surely no off-worlder could tame a rage such as his.

But Nightscream was different. In hearing their story, a sense of nostalgia came over the dragonbot. Nostalgia for an age he'd otherwise forgotten, and a promise of a future he'd thought been lost to him.

“For too long,” the aged dragonbot began, “I have hidden beneath a ceiling and behind walls. Forgetting where my people come from. These two... they speak the truth, and I for one am tired of hiding from the world they come from.”

And so Nightscream became the first Jungle Planet Mini-Con to step out into the outside world. Into the broader universe. For the first time in centuries – no, millennia – the Mini-Con felt a sense of wonder. With Thunderwing and Steel Wind, he met others of their kind from Gigantion and Cybertron. He looked upon the city of Iacon, and the colonies on Cybertron's moons. He ventured to Velocitron, and witnessed the latest racing competition where the planet's leader, Hot Shot, once again proved the victor. And then, finally, the trio ventured to Earth, and where they each saw the planet's vast blue oceans for the first time.

“What do you guys think of all this?” Thunderwing asked, as the three of them sat at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. “Exciting, right?”

“I'd describe it more as 'breathtaking',” Steel Wind replied.

“Everything is far, far grander than I anythingcould have ever imagined,” Nightscream replied. “I'd forgotten. Spending so much time hidden away, I forgotten... the universe is so much more than what I experienced on Jungle Planet.”

“I hear you,” said Thunderwing, nodding. “It's just...”

“Hm?” went both his companions at the same time.

Thunderwing sighed, and explained what he'd overheard at the Iacon Spaceport. Apparently, a new Decepticon force was amassing, based on Mars, in Earth's solar system. They'd somehow managed to get a foothold on each of the colony worlds, and were attempting to set up mining operations with the intent of exploiting each planet's resources. Needless to say, Steel Wind and Nightscream both didn't like what they heard.

There was only one course of action for the three of them. They couldn't allow the worlds they'd come to love, the source of their newfound freedom of spirit, to be exploited like this. They went before the Council of Sages, and in turn the Autobots, and joined the effort to fight this new threat. They became officially recognized as the Clear Skies Team, a unit whose purpose was to protect the natural splendor of the unified planets.

To each of them, this felt as natural a course of action as any other. Between the three of them, only Nightscream knew much of combat, and he was prepared to teach his teammates whatever he could to get them into fighting shape. It wasn't long before they were combat ready, and soon, they were flying into battle alongside forces led by Hot Shot, Jetfire, Crosswise, and Gigantion's interim leader, a mech by the name of Fortress.

There would be many hardships ahead, but for them it was worth it. Anything was worth it, to protect the wonder and splendor they'd attained.

Anything, for their endless clear skies.