The Energon Pub

[Stormtalon]

Hello out there. Stormtalon here. And this is the discussion thread for my latest story: Scramble City Blues.

I hope you enjoy it. Part 1 builds up to an exciting finish I hope you all get a kick out of. I'll start this topic by answer three questions that might be on your mind.

1) Why Combiner Wars? Aside from them being another fun toyline from Transformers, I hope I can fix a problem I've often seen with the Combiner teams. In G1 especially with the Protectobots and Combaticons, the team members had little to no development. I hope I develop the members of each special team for your enjoyment.

2) What's all this stuff that happened before story began? Did I miss something? I'm trying something different here. I started this project linearly but this earlier part felt really stale so I moved up the narrative to when things start jumping. The details of what came before will come out. If it is still confusing, let me know I'll see to ironing things out.

3) What about Proving Grounds? I haven't forgotten my previous project. Dragons and Dinos is going through a major rewrite. Hopefully, I'll have a tighter story with a conclusion to Proving Grounds. But when and how are still up in the air. Keep your eyes peeled on this station.

Thanks for reading and following this work. I hope I prove worthy of your attention.

[Stormtalon]

Okay, this was a rough draft. I'm working on a cleaner draft along with the conclusion. In the meantime, how about some background?

The Story So Far ...
This takes place in the early days of the Great War. (If this were a football game, the analogy would be after the first quarter and the start of the second.)

The Decepticons have scored major victories and claimed the city of Kaon as their capital. Cybertron's ruling council watches as their influence dwindles and the only ones who can possibly check the Decepticon advance is a growing movement of Autobots. More and more Cybertronians are taking sides.

Silverbolt and his squad (Alpha Bravo and Firefly) are sent to investigate a strange energon signal in the wilds of Cybertron. While there, they encounter Squad Leader Slingshot and his wingmen, Air Raid and Sky Dive. Together, they discover a temple complex and a glowing relic within. Impulsively, Slingshot reached for the relic. This caused the shard to pulse and the nearby Aerialbots spontaneously merged into Superion.

Disoriented and confused, Superion crashed through the temple and into the jungle. Alpha Bravo, the only Aerialbot spared, pursued the rampaging colossus.

In the woods, Superion comes across a curious hermit. The hermit is able to calm Superion enough for him to disassemble. The Aerialbots have no memory of their time as Superion and the hermit has disappered.

Alpha Bravo catches up with his squad and the call in scientists with their new find. This call is intercepted by the Decepticons. Megatron wants these relics for himself so he calls in a master thief, Motormaster.

[Stormtalon]

Greetings avid Fan-fiction readers.

Part 2 of Scramble City Blues is up. Things are really building up as Motormaster has his crew and is planning for one big heist. Hopefully Hardhead and his team will have something to say about it.

I'll see about getting some bio info up in the next week before we plunge into the action-packed conclusion. For now, enjoy.

[Stormtalon]

Hello again. sorry for dragging my feet on this. The third part of the Hard Scramble is up. As a bonus for those patient enough to put up with the long delays. I'll be posting Bios of the characters here, two at a time. Lets begin with the Aerialbots.

Aerialbots:

‘Top Gun’ is the strongest source of inspiration for the Aerialbots. Chalk it up to being a child of the 80’s. Hasbro brought out the Aerialbots after ‘Top Gun’ no doubt to cash in on the flyboy mania. Instead of their G1 personalities of a bunch of teenage punks, I went with pilots like Maverick, Goose, Slider and Iceman.

As the story opens, the Aerialbots aren’t a team, but two squads lead by Slingshot and Silverbolt. Slingshot’s squad is the ‘Goofus’ one, while Silverbolt’s wing is the ‘Gallant’ one.


Silverbolt
Rank: Squad Leader

Gallant is the only word that can describe Silverbolt. He is humble, studious, and disciplined, but gallant is his word. This comes from his hobby, studying the Knights of Cybertron. At times, he emulates the mannerisms and speech of the period. His favorite knight is his namesake, Silverbolt; a winged wolf of the period.

Silverbolt favors brains over bravado which is why he picked the tactical Sky Dive and the talented Alpha Bravo for his squad.

Note 1: Silverbolt takes after Iceman from ‘Top Gun’ and AC Slater from ‘Save by the Bell’. He’s by the book and gets the mission done.

Note 2: Each Aerialbot gets an additional character trait from Superion. Superion gave Silverbolt his fear. It presents itself as bouts of acrophobia.


Slingshot
Rank: Squad Leader

Slingshot is the ‘Goofus’ to Silverbolt’s ‘Gallant’. He gets the job done, but with more collateral damage than anyone thought possible. His skill puts him in rank of leader, but he lacks the discipline and temperment to be a good one.

Slingshot favors speed. That is reflected in his choice of Firefly and Air Raid in his squad. All three totally buy into the hype that flyers are above it all and will fight anyone who says otherwise.

Note 1: Slingshot is patterened after Maverick from ‘Top Gun’. Talented and undisciplined.

Note 2: Superion imparts his skill to Slingshot.

[Stormtalon]

Hello out there.

In this installment, I'll be looking at the two squads who will eventually make up the Aerialbots. This time it is Silverbolt's squad consisting of Sky Dive and Alpha Bravo. Noticeably absent is the tech spec part of the bio. Without a solid point of reference specs like skill, firepower and courage are just numbers. Besides it is the personalities that are more exciting, at least to me.

Sky Dive
Rank: Wing

Sky Dive is a flying savant. He isn’t brash or big-mouthed about it like Slingshot or Powerglide would be. So few know what they are up against until they face him in a dogfight. Sky Dive has studied every air battle twice and knows every aircrafts’ performance envelope. He knows what he can do and more importantly knows what his opponents can do. This is why he’s undefeated in the air. His quiet demeanor makes him an oddity among the other Aerialbots. In a group where the loudest get heard, he is often overlooked. If not for Silverbolt actively seeking his input, many wouldn’t know that Sky Dive speaks.

Note 1: Sky Dive takes after Max Sterling from ‘Robotech’.

Note 2: Superion imparts his memories to Sky Dive. Sky Dive sometimes gets flashbacks from the Time of the Primes


Alpha Bravo
Rank: Rear

Alpha Bravo is the rookie with something to prove. He is eager often to the point of reckless. As the slowest one in the group and a source of ceaseless mockery over it, Alpha Bravo often volunteers for the riskier missions. Silverbolt tries to tamp down the daredevil. Within the squad, Alpha is earnest and respectful, but all it takes is one snide remark from Slingshot and he’s on the next recon mission deep into Decepticon territory.

Note 1: Alpha Bravo is patterned after ‘Wild Bill’ and ‘Lift Ticket’ from GI Joe.

Note 2: Because he was part of Superion’s original configuration, he does not receive any traits from Superion.