10 bunnies
1. Noble mechs are expected to be perfect. Any sparkling who fail to live to these standards is quickly deactivate in an unfortunate ‘accident’. As far as his creators were concerned, Mirage was far from perfection, and the only thing that kept him alive for so long was his cloaking device.
2. 2007. The AllSpark was destroyed, but before it was, the Cube affected every Cybertronian on Earth, making modifications to their systems and allowing them to carry sparklings. Both sides are extatics. The mechs affected aren’t as happy.
On the Autobot side:
Newly arrived Autobots are asking for creating sparklings as soon as possible.
A. It doesn’t go well with Ironhide, who doesn’t think he would be a good creator and keep threatening potential suitors.
B. Ratchet is admant he will not carry a sparkling as long as he remains the only qualified medic stationed on Earth. His rejection isn’t taken lightly by everyone.
C. Optimus is uneasy about the whole thing, thinking most of his crew are now acting selfish, and that they should wait until peace is settled between them and the Decepticons before even thinking about rebuilding their race.
D. Bumblebee is still too young to safely carry a sparkling to term, but under the pleas of some of his suitors, he’s about to agree - without telling Ratchet’s first.
On The Decepticon side:
A. Starscream see himself as valuable and is certain the others will follow his leadership if they want an offspring. He doesn’t realize, however, that the others will betray him as soon as Shockwave or Soundwave will come to Earth, and that he will be considered as nothing more than a brooding mare.
B. Barricade already realized he was trapped after a few encounters where fellow Decepticons weren’t taking ‘no’ as an answer. He’s seriously thinking about defecting, but is watched far too closely for that. His time is running short, for he knows that once he is carrying, never mind if he was unwilling, escape will not be possible.
C. In any case, Decepticons on the whole think they need more breeders for themselves, and are determined to capture some of the affected Autobots, no matter the cost.
3. In stories where Starscream is turned into a sparkling/youngling with no memories of his past self, Autobts are always nice to him when they got him, seeing him as innocent of the wrong doings his adult self.
But what if, for once, they weren’t?
Without being physically abusive, there are many ways to harm a child psychologically...
Note: Not everyone needs to be like that with Starscream. He can have nice and attentive caretakers as well. Like Skyfire or...
4. Vortex / Any flyer. Vortex develops an obsession with wings - and the better way to tear them off. Any flyer in the vicinity just want to get the hell away from him.
5. Being chosen to become a Prime is a great honor, or so they say. But when they came to get him, Orion realized being upgraded and given the Matrix would mean abandoning his friends, being transformed into something he's not and having his memory banks erased. He couldn't do that. He didn't want to die
With Ariel and Dion with him, Orion’s now on the run, pursued by Autobots and Decepticons alike, both sides wanting to kill him in a different way.
6. They told him the Prime had chosen him to be his Consort. But he didn’t want to, would never want to. He had his optics set on another, had a life he didn’t want to leave behind. He wanted to flee to the other end of the galaxy, far away from this planet and her corrupted society.
Yet, he couldn’t escape; they probably had expected resistance on his part and were now blocking all exits...
“Don’t force us to stun you. Prime is waiting for you, *insert character name*.”
7. Never provoke Mixmaster; you never know if or when he will put acid in your bottle of cleaning solution for revenge. And always be aware the other Constructicons will not repair you if he does.
8. Perceptor has a temper tantrum while being held hostage by the Constructicons.
9. The Matrix was always given to a mech. But Orion Pax wasn’t a mech, but a femme spark put into a mech body because a femme casing was unavailable when he was upgraded to an adult frame.
A. A femme spark isn’t very different of a mech spark, and can easily be mistaken for a mech spark by untrained optics. That kind of mistake is actually very common, to the point many mechs are unaware they are in fact femmes until they reach their final upgrade and even then, some never learn.
B. Orion may have ignored this fact herself until Ariel pointed out they had the same type of spark. When Megatron attacked, they were trying to save credits so they could buy a new frame for Orion.
Optimus never told anyone she was a femme once she became the Prime because many considers the femmes as obsolete designs and look down on them. They can’t easily get a job and are often discriminated against in the upper levels of the Cybertronian society.
As no femme before was granted the title of Prime, she was afraid revealing her true ‘gender’ would cause a rift among the Autobot’s forces between those who would follow her and those who would think she couldn’t bear the Matrix.
Despite her precautions, several mechs and femmes know she’s a femme.
A. Alpha Trion knows she’s a femme, but only realized this fact once he had upgraded Orion. Had he known, he would have chosen a different frame and can have one ready any time. He’s simply waiting for Optimus to tell the truth about herself.
B. Elita One knows, as she’s Optimus’ bondmate, but chose to keep this a secret because of her own experience. She had a hard time proving herself to everyone in the army and even now, she knows some mechs still look down on her and she doesn’t want Optimus to go through the same thing.
C. Ratchet knows, as he saw Prime’s sparks several time during repairs. He never said anything because, for him, it’s doctor/patient confidentiality. However, is far from pleased she never saw fit to reveal that to him.
D. Jazz knows, as he has a knack for discovering everyone secrets. He doesn’t plan to tell anyone unless he feels it’s necessary, for he respects Optimus’ wishes. He doesn’t want to expose Prime, but would feel more at ease if she told the truth.
E. Soundwave knows as he heard her thoughts. Some could wonder why he never told anyone, not even Megatron, as it could prove to be another weapon. Perhaps it because Soudwave’s not a mech and respect Optimus for achieving her position despite the odds...
But someone else is bound to discover the truth about Optimus sooner or later and tell everyone what he has heard... And Primus only knows how they will react to the news.
10. 2007. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker come to Earth, and the human who greet them along with Prime is none other than Simmons.
“It’s like meeting Prowl and Red Alert’s secret offspring! Well, their dwarfed, organic secret offspring who can’t throw us in the brig.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, brother dear?”
“Oh yeah. It’s going to be incredibly funny to make him blow a gasket!”