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Just my own version of how Jolt came to Earth. He was the only Autobot not covered in Tales of the Fallen, after all, and I thought this was his due.

The Ark, ten years prior to contact with Earth
23:15
“Bumblebee, look out!”
Ironhide’s cry jolted Bumblebee’s focus back to his sensor readouts. The Ark was heading straight for an asteroid easily the size of Cybertron’s moon. Bumblebee made a slight course adjustment, and they passed it without trouble, “Don’t worry, Ironhide,” he transmitted digitally, “I’ve got this covered.”
Ironhide sighed, “Make sure you do. I really don’t want to have to explain to Prime why I let you total the ship.”
Bumblebee grinned and faced forward again. After so many years of searching for the Allspark, he had decided to learn to pilot the ship. It was something to do in his free time, which seemed excessively abundant, and one never knew when the skill would be useful. Ironhide trained him, and they had spent hours practicing in open space. Tonight was his first real challenge, though, as they were navigating an asteroid field.
“Are you sure this was a good idea, Ironhide?” Jazz was watching from engineering control, “As much as I like asteroid fields, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life trapped in one.”
“Everything’s fine, Jazz,” Ironhide said impatiently, “If you don’t challenge them, they never learn.”
“And what do they learn when they crash into an asteroid and maroon a whole ship of Autobots?”
Ironhide considered, “Never to do it again.”
Bumblebee ignored them as the argument continued. There was another asteroid coming up, and this time he was going to be ready. He shifted the ship slightly to the left, and felt a wave of satisfaction as it began to move around the rock smoothly.
Right into the path of the largest asteroid he had ever laid optics on.
The giant had been hidden from his view until now. Instinctively he jerked the ship to the right, out of its way. Any other time, the maneuver would have been the right thing to do. But now, when the first asteroid was still to their side, it proved disastrous. The ship lurched as it crashed into the rock, knocking both Bumblebee and Ironhide off their feet. Barely a second later, ship alarms began to sound.
Ironhide lunged to his feet. He grabbed the ship’s controls and wrenched them left, avoiding both asteroids and moving them safely into some free space. Once he was satisfied that their current position was safe, he powered down the Ark.
“Hanger bay has been disabled,” Jazz reported, “Sections seven, ten, and eleven have all taken damage. Part of section ten is completely exposed to space. All Autobots have checked in, and no injuries are reported.”
Optimus Prime burst in, “What is going on?”
“Just a failed piloting lesson,” Ironhide explained quickly, “Nothing critical was damaged, and no one was injured. Bumblebee and I were just going to inspect section ten.”
“Section ten?” Optimus echoed, “Where we keep all of the intelligence equipment?”
Ironhide stared at him for a moment, and then he smashed a fist into the closest desk, “Blast it! I forgot about that!”
“We need to get over there quickly,” Optimus was already heading for the door, “If we’ve lost any of that equipment…”
Completely forgotten by both Autobots, Bumblebee watched them leave. He turned a miserable gaze back to the ship’s controls, not daring to touch them, “Don’t worry about it, Bumblebee,” Jazz consoled, “If you had to hit an asteroid, you did a pretty good job at it. Things could be much worse.”
Bumblebee sighed, but chose not to respond. So much for his career in piloting.

6:07
“Jolt, I have a mission for you.”
The dark blue Autobot turned in surprise. Optimus Prime stood on the dock behind him, accompanied by Ratchet and Jazz. His leader’s gaze swept the hanger briefly, assessing the damage Jolt and a few others were working to clean up, “Name it, Prime,” Jolt said.
“You know that the classified intelligence section took a hard hit last night,” Jolt nodded, “Most of the devices are accounted for and, thankfully, are still functional. But there is one we cannot find. It contains a list of the Autobots still left on Cybertron, including their cover names and locations. Were it to fall into Decepticon hands, I fear they would be facing genocide.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t destroyed?”
“Almost positive,” Jazz affirmed, “It was supposed to let out a homing beacon should something like this occur. But we only received one pulse before the signal was gone.”
“Indicating that the device was still intact after it left the ship,” Ratchet added, “Whether or not it’s still in such condition remains a mystery.”
Jolt shook his head, “Can’t we just use the ship’s sensors to pick it up?”
“It’s not that simple,” Optimus replied, “There are several stars in the area generating sufficient solar wind to push the device off course. Even by now, our calculations indicate that it could be far out of our reach. And we must continue on our quest for the Allspark.”
“So you want me to recover it?”
“Correct,” Optimus said, “Wheeljack was always very complimentary of your tracking skills. We have the last recorded coordinates of the device, along with its most probable path. Ratchet will give them to you.”
Jolt nodded, “You can count on me, Prime.”
“Thank you, Jolt,” Optimus gestured for Ratchet to take over, “Good luck. I hope to see you again shortly.”
Ratchet led him to the engineering consul on the bridge, “Due to the numerous stars present in this region, there is a multiplicity of paths the device could have taken,” he explained, “I’ve programmed the most likely, but if those aren’t successful you’re going to have to get more creative.”
“Will there be any way to know if I’m close?” Jolt asked, “In space, I could fly right past it and not notice.”
“It should start generating a homing beacon again once you get nearby,” Ratchet answered, “Provided that function wasn’t disabled in the crash. The system is designed to alert any Cybertronian in the area of its presence, but to fall silent again once they are out of a certain range.”
“Any Cybertronian?” Jolt repeated, “Decepticon or Autobot?”
“Yes,” Ratchet sighed, “I tried to design it so that only Autobots would be alerted, but there’s really no solid way for the device to differentiate. We are the same species, after all.”
Jolt nodded, “So I’ll just have to get there first.”
“Indeed,” Ratchet sent the information from the consul to Jolt’s processors, “Do you have any more questions?”
Jolt took a moment to review the files, and then he shook his head, “No. This is hardly the most complicated thing I’ve ever done.”
“Don’t get cocky, my friend,” Ratchet warned, “Space is both massive and dangerous. Fail to pay attention to the details, and we’ll likely have to send you to recycling.”
“Me, cocky?” Jolt flashed an innocent smile, “You injure my dignity.”
“I’m sure it will survive,” Ratchet clapped a hand on his shoulder, “Good luck, Jolt. Contact us if you require assistance.”
“Thank you, Ratchet,” Jolt started to move off, “That device doesn’t stand a chance of escape.”

Upper Atmosphere of Earth, 11.5 years later
21:29
The pulses were growing stronger.
Jolt adjusted his sensors just slightly, and coordinates popped up on his screen. Finally, after years of searching, he had found it.
None of Ratchet’s projected paths had proven even close to correct, and Jolt had been forced to chart his own courses. It had been a long search, but not awful for an Autobot. Every time he got discouraged, all he had to do was think of the friends he had left on Cybertron.
This tiny planet wouldn’t have even attracted his attention under any other circumstance. But as soon as he had entered its solar system, alarms started going off from every tracking sensor he possessed. A homing beacon had been detected, far too faint for most others to have picked up. But Jolt had upgraded his sensors from every close encounter he had had with the device, to the point that he could sense it from millions of miles away. For an Autobot with normal sensors, Jolt mused, they could probably be on the same planet and not notice.
Jolt transformed into comet mode, preparing to enter the planet’s atmosphere. The sooner he could find this device and rejoin the others, the better. He was about to activate his propulsion systems when another alarm began to wail. Not from any of his tracking sensors, Jolt realized, but from his radar. One glance revealed a ship, unmistakably Decepticon in design, approaching.
He was here, but he wasn’t alone.

Diego Garcia
11:00
“Optimus, we have a reading,” Major William Lennox burst into the Autobot living area.
The Autobot leader was instantly alert, “Where from?”
“The southwestern United States,” Lennox responded, “They’re in Arizona now, and heading north. There are two readings, actually. Our techs aren’t positive, but they think that one is an Autobot and the other’s a Decepticon.”
“We’ll need to mobilize quickly, then,” Optimus said, “In case that Autobot needs backup. Ratchet, have we received any distress calls?”
“Negative, Optimus.”
“Then maybe that means our assistance is not imminently needed.”
“Or that they don’t know we’re here,” Ironhide offered.
“Perhaps,” Optimus considered, “Lennox, do we have any aircraft ready to depart momentarily?”
“One C-17,” the Major answered, “Two others are being prepped and should be ready within the hour.”
“Excellent. Ironhide, I want you and Chromia to take the first C-17. Track down the Autobot and, if circumstances permit, the Decepticon. Between the three of you, he shouldn’t be too hard to take down.”
“Of course not,” Ironhide looked offended even at the suggestion of incompetence, “Chromia and I can take about anything.”
“Up to and including Devastator,” Chromia added. Despite her comparatively modest size, Ironhide’s life partner was every bit as fierce as he was. They made a good team, “We’ll bring you back the pieces, should any remain.”
Ratchet shook his head, “Don’t bother. I know you two.”
“I’ll bring a team for backup should you require it,” Optimus continued, “We’ll wait for your signal though-the less Autobots we have in the area, the better.”
Ironhide nodded, “Are any humans planning to accompany us?”
“Not this time,” Lennox said, “We’ll stay with you over the coms, of course. Anything on top of that would just get in the way.”
“I agree,” Optimus said, “Stay safe, my friend. Don’t take on more than you can handle.”
“We won’t,” Ironhide promised, “We’ll keep you updated. See you soon.”
“And you as well. In two pieces, preferably.”
Ironhide and Chromia left the hanger, transforming to vehicle mode for quicker travel, “Why do you think an Autobot would choose to land in Arizona when we’re all here?” Chromia asked, “There’s nothing there. At least, nothing that should draw our attention.”
“I wondered the same thing,” Ironhide responded, “Any Autobot should have picked up our signals long before arriving to this planet. There’s no reason for a side trip.”
Chromia paused, “So do you think they could both be Decepticons?”
“I think we have to be ready for that possibility,” Ironhide said, “It would explain a lot.”
They boarded the C-17 and settled in side-by-side as it took off, “Don’t worry, Ironhide. We can take them.”
Ironhide laughed, “Who said anything about worry?”

Border between Arizona and Utah
11:45
Blast, this planet was hot.
Jolt dove behind a cluster of reddish rocks and shut down his primary systems, hoping to throw the Decepticon off his trail for a second or two. They had faced each other before, back on Cybertron. His name was Crossfire, known for his aim and his utter lack of mercy. When you were a Decepticon, that was saying something.
Jolt peered cautiously from his hiding place. Crossfire had transformed back to robot mode and was searching a rock cluster about ten feet away, “Come on, Jolt!” he roared, “I never knew you for one to run from a fight!”
Just you wait, Decepticreep, Jolt thought, You won’t be able to tell your processor from your crankcase by the time I’m done with you.
Crossfire turned away from him, moving toward the next cluster. That was when Jolt lunged. He landed on Crossfire’s back, slamming him into the sandstone with satisfying force. Crossfire scrabbled for a hold on Jolt as the Autobot began pounding him with alloyed fists. He finally grabbed Jolt’s arm and flung him into a pile of rocks.
Jolt scrambled back to his feet, but this time Crossfire was ready. He fired a series of plasma missiles. Jolt dodged most of them, but winced as two burned into his armor.
Crossfire approached, intent on repeating the maneuver. Jolt deployed the electric whips that had long ago earned him his name. One caught Crossfire around his right arm, the other around his ankle. Jolt poured electricity into him, and Crossfire screeched with pain. The attack ceased when Jolt’s energy levels dropped dangerously low. It was almost impossible to shock a Cybertronian to death, no matter how powerful one’s weapons.
Crossfire glared up at him as he approached shakily, “Clever strategy, Autobot. Too bad you overlooked one small detail.”
“And what would that be?” Jolt asked, deploying a missile launcher suitable to finish this.
“I can still fire,” Crossfire raised his last functioning gun and sent the missile slamming into Jolt’s chest. Jolt screamed as the plasma penetrated his armor and began burning into sensitive circuitry. He sank to his knees.
Crossfire staggered to a stand, “Oh, don’t worry, Autobot. I’m not going to kill you. I want you to be alive when every Autobot on Cybertron faces a traitor’s death. Then you can be aware of how badly you’ve truly failed.”
Jolt stared at him in shock, “You know?”
“Of course I know,” Crossfire transformed into vehicle mode and began to move off, albeit slowly, “And Megatron will be so pleased when I bring him that device. Or perhaps I can ransom it to the other Autobots on this planet.”
“Other Autobots?”
“Good day, Jolt,” With a roar, Crossfire was gone.
Jolt tried to move after him, but his spark had been damaged by Crossfire’s missile. The need to conserve energy was too great, and he collapsed onto his side.
He only wished that if he was going to die here, it didn’t have to happen with the sun beating down on him.
Border between Arizona and Utah
16:23
Shadows were lengthening as Ironhide and Chromia roared down a tiny dirt path. The signal they were following, now unmistakably an Autobot, was getting closer. Their target wasn’t moving, and hadn’t done so in the time since they had landed. If they came this far, only to find an Autobot offline at the end of the trail…
“Did you hear that?” Chromia asked, suddenly skidding to a stop.
Ironhide was about to ask what she meant when a faint buzzing reached him. It was oddly familiar, “It’s not coming from our Autobot,” he observed.
“No, it’s about fifty miles away. But that noise…” Chromia paused for a moment, thinking hard, “It reminds me of the communications centers back on Cybertron.”
“Maybe the Autobot here was looking for something,” Ironhide suggested, “That explains why he didn’t come directly to base.”
“Maybe,” Chromia started forward again, “I guess we’d better find him.”
About fifteen minutes later, they were nearly on top of the signal. Ironhide pulled over to some rocks and transformed, “It looks like there was a struggle,” he said points to fresh gashes in the sandstone.
Chromia nodded, “A pretty intense one, too. There’s plasma and hydraulic fluid everywhere,” She lifted her head as her aural preceptors picked up a faint moan.
Ironhide heard it too, “This way,” he pointed to a gap in the rock clusters.
At first, neither of them recognized the crumpled metallic shape stretched out on the ground. But then it hit them, “Jolt?” Ironhide knelt beside his comrade and turned him over.
Jolt cried out, and then he opened his eyes. He blinked up at Ironhide for a long moment, “Ironhide?” he said incredulously.
Ironhide sighed with relief, “What happened to you? We all thought you’d perished years ago.”
“I was looking for that device,” Jolt sat up with a groan, “I tracked it here, but then Crossfire found me. What are you doing here?”
“The Autobots have set up a base on Earth, Jolt,” Chromia said, “Didn’t you pick up our signals?”
For a moment Jolt looked confused, and then his expression changed to sheepish, “No. I had my sensors so focused on the device’s signal that I couldn’t pick up much else.”
“We should head back to Diego Garcia,” Ironhide said, “Ratchet’s got his work cut out with you.”
“No!” Jolt cried, “Crossfire’s gone for that device. If he finds it, the Decepticons will know about every Autobot on Cybertron!”
Ironhide and Chromia both paused as the enormity of that statement hit them, “Can you keep up with us, then?” Chromia asked, “We’re going to have to move quickly if we plan to catch him.”
Jolt stood up shakily, “I think so. He should be going pretty slowly-I shocked him badly during our fight.”
All three Autobots transformed. Jolt managed to follow Chromia as they rejoined the dirt path, with Ironhide bringing up the rear, “Where did you say the Autobots have set up base?” he asked after a few minutes, trying to take his processor off his exhaustion.
“Diego Garcia,” Ironhide answered, “It’s a tropical island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.”
“Is it hot there?” Jolt asked.
“Yes,” Ironhide said, “And it’s humid too.”
“And it rains almost every night,” Chromia added.
Jolt groaned, “I’m going back to Cybertron when this is all over.”

Moab, Utah
19:04
The scenery was spectacular-a fiery sunset reflecting off clouds above and stone below. Everything in sight had flamed to red. For the three Autobots, however, there was no time to admire their surroundings. They were all projecting human drivers now, convincing enough to fool the occasional tourist. It even got them through the security checkpoint at Arches National Park, which was clearly where Crossfire had headed.
“Is this Epps you mentioned going to mind that you used his currency for admittance?” Jolt asked as they moved away.
“The government should reimburse him,” Chromia sounded distracted, “We’re getting close, Ironhide. To both Crossfire and the device.”
“I know,” Ironhide looked at Jolt. The smaller Autobot was starting to lag, his injuries taking their toll, “You’re several times faster than both of us, Chromia. Why don’t you go up ahead and see if you can slow Crossfire down a little.”
Chromia’s eyes would have gleamed, had she been presenting any, “Define slow down.”
“Whatever you can do without putting yourself at too much risk,” Ironhide replied, “Should that mean putting him permanently in the scrap yard, so be it. We’ll try to catch up and reinforce you.”
“I’ll try to save some of the fun for you, but there’s no guarantees,” Chromia brushed Ironhide’s side affectionately as she passed him, “See you in a few minutes.”
With a roar, she pushed her engine to its maximum capacity. Within seconds she was travelling close to two hundred miles per hour, keeping her sensors alert for both Crossfire and humans. The park was fairly deserted at the moment, which made things much easier. Swarms of humans would have put themselves and their Autobot allies at risk.
As she drew closer to Crossfire’s signal, she slowed down a little so the Decepticon would have less warning of her approach. There was a small canyon off to her right, maybe fifty feet deep. She transformed back to her robot shape and peered over its edge. Crossfire was below, slowly approaching a crevice in the sandstone. There were black streaks in his paint, and he moved as if everything hurt. Throwing caution aside, Chromia made a quick measurement and jumped.
Crossfire saw her and tried to swerve, but he was a second too late. She slammed onto his hood, plunging a razor sharp blade through its center. Crossfire shrieked in pain. He then swerved sharply, sending Chromia flying. By the time she recovered, he had already transformed, “Meddlesome…Autobot,” he gasped, clutching his side, “Are you…all they sent to…take care of me?”
“I guess they don’t think you’re that dangerous,” Chromia suggested, deploying a weapon.
“Perhaps,” Crossfire rummaged behind him and came out holding a grey cylinder, “But…I still won, didn’t I?”
Chromia stared at the device in shock. She had known the whole time that they were close, but she hadn’t realized that they were right on top of it, “Hand it over now, Crossfire,” she ordered, “And I’ll make sure you die quickly.”
Crossfire laughed, “Sorry, Chromia. I’d like to see you Autobots suffer a little before my spark goes out.”
Chromia made a couple of split second calculations. Three minutes to crack the Autobot encrypted codes, maybe two more to compile the information for transmission to another Decepticon.
Meaning they had less than five minutes to put Crossfire out of commission, or every Autobot on Cybertron was doomed.
With a cry, she lunged. Crossfire swept out a long arm and knocked her back. He leapt up the canyon wall. As Chromia tried to follow, she was smashed back to the ground by a flurry of red rocks. Crossfire laughed again and transformed to vehicle mode, “Adios, mi amiga.”
Chromia shoved a rock off of her leg and scrambled back up the wall. She transformed into a sleek blue vehicle and followed him off the road. About two minutes had elapsed.
Crossfire was headed for one of the area’s rare geologic features-a thin, high arch several hundred feet long. It looked exceedingly fragile, to the point that touching it could bring it crashing to the ground. Chromia wasn’t concerned-it was just a rock, after all, but she knew the humans would be. And this was their planet…
She fired several rounds at him from a side-mounted cannon, but Crossfire dodged. He skidded under the arch, and Chromia had to stop shooting for fear of hitting it. She lunged at Crossfire again, this time managing to knock the device from his hands. Not that it mattered. Encrypted or no, Crossfire had still had ample time to download everything. Destroying him was the only way to ensure that the Autobots would be safe.
Crossfire flung her aside again, this time smashing her into the arch’s base. A crack spread up the rock, and massive pieces of sandstone began to rain down on the two Cybertronians. Chromia ducked into a crevice between two of them, while Crossfire staggered backwards.
That was when Ironhide and Jolt arrived. Both of the Autobots transformed and began to pound Crossfire with heavy explosives. The Decepticon gave a shriek and tried to fight back, but his energy reserves had finally given out. Jolt pinned him against the rock, “Now every Autobot on Cybertron will be safe,” he growled, “Because you failed.”
“Jolt, he downloaded the information!” Chromia yelled, “Cut the drama and kill him before he…”
There was an ominous ruble before she could finish. Jolt barely had time to lunge backwards before another chunk of rock came crashing directly on top of Crossfire. There was a muffled cry of fury, and then silence.
Ironhide helped Chromia out of some rubble, and the pair pushed the massive rock aside. All three Autobots took a moment to scan the limp Decepticon, “Offline,” Ironhide said, sounding satisfied, “That rock got him.”
“And just in time, too,” Chromia added, “We had about thirty seconds before that information was ready to transmit,” she took a moment to scan the monument above, “It’s still going to keep standing, despite some added instability at the base.”
“It’s just a rock, Chromia,” Jolt sounded dubious, “Why does it matter?”
“Because the humans value it,” Chromia walked over to some displays posted about the arch and scanned them, “These things have taken millions of years to form.”
“Everything of this planet happens so fast,” Ironhide commented, “Are you ready to go home, Jolt?”
“Home?” Jolt echoed, “Since when is this home?”
“Since the Allspark was destroyed,” Ironhide put a hand on Chromia’s shoulder, “A return to Cybertron would be pointless as well as dangerous. We’re the last Autobots who remain and here, at least, we have some semblance of peace.”
Jolt considered, “I wish there was some way to continue our species.”
“We all do, Jolt,” Chromia said quietly, “But in war, you have to take what you can get.”
Jolt hesitated for just a second more, and then transformed, “Lead the way, Ironhide.”