Just One Bunny
...and I may be a tad seeker-obsessed.
For various reasons - protection from threats, a short supply of suitable frames, creators not always able to take care of an older creation, etc - seekers tend to upgrade from sparkling frames to adult frames when they should by all accounts fitted with youngling frames instead. This tends to be the reason why seekers are so unpredictable when they are 'young adults' but tend to mature and act more like other adult-frame Cybertronians as they get older.
During a battle, the elite trine (Skywarp/Thundercracker/Starscream) is captured by the Autobots and suffers heavy damages while trying to escape. Since Ratchet refuses to not treat any wounded mech, he has them hauled to his med bay and sets about their repairs. Due to one of the trine having a damaged spark casing, Ratchet discovers that the spark is much younger than he would expect; the seeker he's working on is technically only halfway through his youngling stage. A check on the other two reveals that they are just as young, if not a bit younger (scarily, in Starscream's case, given that even though he's so young he's already been through both the Science and War Academies and passed with flying colours).
Possibility A. There are mixed reactions amongst the Autobots. Some of them want to prevent the 'younglings' from being returned to the Decepticons, while others still view the seekers as dangerous especially due to their young ages.
Possibility B. One of the Cassetticons - Laserbeak or Ravage - records the discovery and returns to base with the information. Reactions range from disbelief (younglings are supposed to be kept from harsh realities until they're much older) to amusement (it really goes a long way to explain Thundercracker's moodiness/Starscream's attitude/Skywarp's enthusiasm) to protectiveness (Soundwave is thisclose to breaking the trine out of the Autobot base and adopting them all).
Possibility C. While the seekers are still offline, the science division sets about building youngling-specific seeker frames. When the trine does come back online, they are given the option of downgrading to the more-suitable frames, reporting to the brig as-is, or (to the horror of several mechs) leaving to return to the Decepticons.
In the event that they opt to downgrade, it's startling how much their personalities seem to settle when they're in frames better suited to their ages and needs (even if Starscream is still frighteningly smart and Skywarp insists on pulling pranks with no specific pattern).
For various reasons - protection from threats, a short supply of suitable frames, creators not always able to take care of an older creation, etc - seekers tend to upgrade from sparkling frames to adult frames when they should by all accounts fitted with youngling frames instead. This tends to be the reason why seekers are so unpredictable when they are 'young adults' but tend to mature and act more like other adult-frame Cybertronians as they get older.
During a battle, the elite trine (Skywarp/Thundercracker/Starscream) is captured by the Autobots and suffers heavy damages while trying to escape. Since Ratchet refuses to not treat any wounded mech, he has them hauled to his med bay and sets about their repairs. Due to one of the trine having a damaged spark casing, Ratchet discovers that the spark is much younger than he would expect; the seeker he's working on is technically only halfway through his youngling stage. A check on the other two reveals that they are just as young, if not a bit younger (scarily, in Starscream's case, given that even though he's so young he's already been through both the Science and War Academies and passed with flying colours).
Possibility A. There are mixed reactions amongst the Autobots. Some of them want to prevent the 'younglings' from being returned to the Decepticons, while others still view the seekers as dangerous especially due to their young ages.
Possibility B. One of the Cassetticons - Laserbeak or Ravage - records the discovery and returns to base with the information. Reactions range from disbelief (younglings are supposed to be kept from harsh realities until they're much older) to amusement (it really goes a long way to explain Thundercracker's moodiness/Starscream's attitude/Skywarp's enthusiasm) to protectiveness (Soundwave is thisclose to breaking the trine out of the Autobot base and adopting them all).
Possibility C. While the seekers are still offline, the science division sets about building youngling-specific seeker frames. When the trine does come back online, they are given the option of downgrading to the more-suitable frames, reporting to the brig as-is, or (to the horror of several mechs) leaving to return to the Decepticons.
In the event that they opt to downgrade, it's startling how much their personalities seem to settle when they're in frames better suited to their ages and needs (even if Starscream is still frighteningly smart and Skywarp insists on pulling pranks with no specific pattern).