They tell me we’re the first. The first ever group of mechs designed from the outset to be a gestalt team. I found out today that we weren’t originally supposed to be a combiner team, but Megatron changed his mind. He needed the extra muscle of a second gestalt against the Autobots here on Earth, and Menasor certainly has that.

Scrapper speculated that it’s partly because we mesh so well together, the others and I. Almost no mental pushing and shoving to get in the way of Menasor’s own personality. Of course, Scrapper used more big words and a bunch of technical terms that are really over my head. Megatron was relieved about that; he didn’t want some half-crazed giant mech stomping around and making a big mess of things, after all.

Megatron, from what I hear, had a big hand in our creation. I guess that kinda makes him like our father or something. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a nice guy, and from what I’ve seen so far, a good commander, but.... I just don’t feel any kind of connection with him. Nothing like what Soundwave is supposed to have with his cassettes, and definitely nothing like what I feel with my brothers. I dunno...

I brake sharply, skid easily to a stop on the dusty ground and transform. I’ve been wanting to see this place. Breakdown wondered what the attraction was when it was essentially just a big hole in the ground. But as I peer down over the edge of the precipice to the river below, I know that Breakdown doesn’t know what he’s missing.

It’s called the Grand Canyon. It’s amazing to think that this huge formation was carved out by nothing but flowing water. Slag, the river was probably hard at work carving away the rock to make this canyon, the whole time the crews of the Ark and Nemesis were taking their 50-thousand vorn nap. Course, I hear that, size-wise, it’s nothing compared to the Great Chasm on Cybertron. But I’ve never seen the Great Chasm and don’t really have any ambition to. From what I’ve seen, Cybertron is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.

I guess that might be one reason we can’t seem to connect with Megatron. He, and all the other Decepticons desperately want to get Cybertron back from the Autobots, because it’s their *home*. Even if they live on Earth or Charr or some other planet, they always consider Cybertron to be home.

Not so with my brothers and me. We might’ve been sparked on Cybertron, but we were built right here on Earth. Actually, I guess you could say we were built here twice. The first time was as ordinary Earth cars. I wonder what kind of human owned my vehicle mode before the Autobots woke up. Were they a good guy? For that matter, were they even a guy at all, or were they a lady? Did they have a family? Friends? Were they still alive somewhere out there, maybe occasionally wondering what became of the prized sports car they were forced to abandon in the rush to flee the Autobot advance? I’ll probably never know, but every human I meet, I think I’ll always watch for some sign of recognition of my vehicle mode.

And the second time was when we were rebuilt into the Decepticons we are today. All that happened right in the Decepticons’ Earth base. Taking five abandoned cars.... Ok, four cars and a tractor-trailer... and refurbishing, strengthening, reconstructing, and generally shaking down practically every slaggin’ nut and bolt in their frames, and somehow turning them into us. I doubt I’ll ever know quite how they managed it. I’d ask the Constructicons, but I’d probably just end up with enough technobabble to make my processors hurt and still be none the wiser. The point is they did it.

Then they hauled us off to Cybertron to get sparked. If they hadn’t done that, we’d still be a bunch of dumb-as-a-rusty-nut drones, so we all definitely appreciate it. But it wasn’t until we got back here to Earth that we felt any kind of connection to a place. The kind of connection that you just can’t really put into words, but you know immediately what it means: home.

Let the others have Cybertron, in all its dull, gray, boring metal-ness or Charr, in all its dull, gray, boring rocky-ness. I’ll take Earth any day. They said we were the first, and they were right. Yeah, we were the first to be a gestalt from the beginning, but I think now that we were the first of a whole new breed of Decepticon too. Built on Earth, to protect Earth and its inhabitants from the Autobots. That’s why Menasor is so protective of the humans; we have something in common with them that none of the other Decepticons have. Earth is the humans’ home, but now it’s our home too.

And if you mess with our home, then you mess with us.

You know, it’s a lot like a game when you think about it. War, I mean. You have two opposing teams, each locked in stiff competition with the other over a desired objective. There are moves and countermoves, varying in degrees of effectiveness, and a playing field where the conditions are constantly changing.

The other Decepticons would probably be shocked, maybe even horrified, to hear me refer to a war that has lasted for megania as a game. They’d wonder how I could be so blithely unconcerned, so stupidly frivolous, so as to not take this war seriously. But they’d be missing one key fact: I take games very seriously indeed.

Every game has a purpose. It could be to teach something, like the training games we do. It could be to acquire a coveted prize, like a trophy, or an energon cache. Or it could be simply to achieve victory and acquire bragging rights over your competition. War is the same way. Tactics, objectives, victories, losses, ties. It all fits together if you really think about it.

In this game of war we have two opposing teams, Autobots and Decepticons. Each team has a coach, who calls all the plays, makes the plans, and decides what tactics are best for which situation. For us, that’s Megatron, and for the ‘Bots it’s the Lord Prime. And likewise each team has its star players, the ones the coach can always count on when the chips are down. Starscream and the Seekers seem to fit the bill for our side, maybe Soundwave, too. And the Autobots have Prowl. They have Sideswipe and his brother, the Black Sun. They have Hound, the tracker, and Perceptor, the scary-beyond-all-reason guy.

Yep, the Autobots here on Earth can field a pretty strong team. But as anybody who’s met me can tell you, I can’t turn down a challenge. I can see it now, how it must‘ve happened... our team was down by three, losing left and right. So the coach was forced to go on a little recruiting mission. The team needed a new heavy-hitter, and they needed him yesterday. So he gets together with his best technical guys about the problem, and together, they come up with five rough ‘n tumble fighters. They’re given a trial run, and it turns out they’re pretty good in a scrimmage, so they’re brought onto the active roster.

They face off against some of the opposing team’s heavy hitters. It looks like our guys are down for the count, til they pull out their ace in the hole. He’s big, he’s tough, he’s Menasor! And the crowd goes wild! Score one for the Decepticons. OK, so maybe it wasn’t *exactly* like that, but a mech’s entitled to a little creative embellishment, isn’t he?

Anyway, the point is, that we were brought in as full members of the Decepticon team. Thanks to Megatron and the Constructions, we went from being abandoned vehicles to living, functioning beings. That’s one for the highlight reel, no matter how you look at it. I’ll have to ask the Constructicons how they managed it someday.

Hmmm... You know, come to think of it, the Constructicons have really been the only other gestalt team around, right? Now that we’re here, Menasor’s sure to end up stealing some of their thunder. With Devastator being an older model, a prototype really, it’s inevitable. I wonder how they’ll respond to that? Should be fun to watch, even more so if we get any more gestalts on Earth. I mean, no matter how well guys get along, there’s always some degree of team pride there. Trying to one-up each other should be a lot of fun.

Just one more minor event in the game of life, on the sidelines of a game of war. I don’t understand why some mechs look at everything and see the fuel tank half empty all the time. Maybe it’s just ‘cause they’re older. If so, I hope I never get *that* old. ‘Course, considering the alternative, that’s probably the better option, but Primus and Unicron alike forbid that I ever forget how to have fun with life.

Because, after all, life, like war, is just a series of games and competitions. The prize we’re fighting for this time is control of Earth. The home team proved to be unprepared for the strength of the Autobots’ offence, so it’s up to us to back them up, be their defensive line. War, I guess you could say, is the ultimate game. Nowhere is the competition stiffer, nowhere are the stakes higher, nowhere is loyalty to your teammates more important than in the game of war. It’s exciting and frightening at the same time, but then any big game is, when you know how much is riding on your victory.

Yeah, we’ll reclaim this planet for the home team. We’ll do it if the other Stunticons and I have to have Menasor personally stuff every last Autobot on the planet into a space cruiser, then hit the launch button. An unlikely scenario, true, but still, it’s a great image. And once we’ve won on Earth, who knows? We could go all the way to the championship and finally win the game of war altogether.

Now back to the matter of the Constructicons. I think my bros and I scored the last points, so... Your move, Constructicons. Let’s see what you’ve got.

You know, I’ve come to the conclusion that sometimes Megatron just isn’t sure what he wants. I mean, we’re supposed to be warriors, right? OK, so technically I’m a scout, but that’s why us Stunticons were created: to be warriors. I mean, it’s not like we can’t do other stuff when we want to, but fighting Autobots is our job. All I’m saying is, what’s wrong with enjoying what you do? Nobody faults Bombshell for enjoying tinkering, or Astrotrain for loving to write, so how are we any different?

But apparently Megatron isn’t entirely happy with that aspect of our personality. And it’s not just him; I’ve noticed some of the other Decepticons giving us funny looks when my teammates and I are tallying up how many Autobots we took down in a battle or comparing battle damage. OK, so none of the other teams seem to do it that I‘ve noticed. The cassettes don’t, or the Insecticons, or the Seekers or Constructicons. Granted, the fact that Scrapper and his crew don’t do it may just be due to the fact that they’re usually too busy fixing up everybody else, including us. But just because nobody else does it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it.

I dunno, I guess they might be worried that we might do more than just *look* like Autobots. As if that would ever happen. We might both have cars for alt modes, but that’s where the similarity ends, as far as I’m concerned. We’re nothing like them. We might enjoy a good scrap, but we don’t go around killing and enslaving innocent people, like they do. Far as I’m concerned, they deserve to be sent to the slagheap, and my bros and I are more than happy to help speed them on their way.

They tell me we’re supposed to be fighting for peace. Well that’s all well and good, but what kind of ‘peace’ do they mean? To most of them, I guess it means the absence of war, things being like I’ve heard they were back in the Golden Age. My team and I weren‘t even thought of then, though so we don’t really have a clue what that was like. It seems kind of stupid to fight for something you’ve never known and might never know.

Now for me, peace means the time in between battles, when I can hang out with my team, have a little energon, and relax. Yeah, there’ll be other battles, but I figure, why sit around and angst over stuff like that in between them. It’s just depressing, and Primus knows we’ve got enough depression around the base, off and on, to fill up the whole ocean outside.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not into being constantly, irritatingly cheerful like Dead End, I just don’t see why I need to be adding to our supply of gloom and doom. Heh, though maybe if somebody could figure out a way to turn depression into energon, maybe all the general down-ness we get around here actually would be useful. Ya know, maybe I should mention that to Bombshell later. Hey, if anybody could figure a way to do it, it’s probably him.

I figure, why sit around and think about what’s wrong all the time, instead of going out and *doing* something about it? Seems to me that that’s a lot more effective. And if the other Decepticons don’t want to do it, well, then the Stunticons are ready, willing, and able. Just point us in the right direction and let us loose! If the Autobots think they’ll be kings of the road forever, they’ll find out pretty quick that they’ve got another thing coming.

So yeah, there’ll be peace. Maybe, someday, even the kind of peace they want. But there sure as slag won’t be quiet. Because the Stunticons are on the scene now, charged up and ready to go! Hey, if Megatron had wanted us to be tame, he should’ve used sedans.

Autobot logic totally escapes me. They say that Cybertronians, themselves in particular, are destined to rule the universe. Why? Basically, because according to them, Cybertronians are the biggest, baddest, toughest race out there. But they haven’t learned one thing, something that they themselves taught the humans, and numerous other races out there. No matter how good you *think* you are, there’s always somebody out there who’s better. No matter how tough you are, there’s always somebody tougher. And it’s just a matter of time til you run into them.

They call the humans weak. Compared to us directly, that’s true. But not when you think relatively. I mean, Cybertronians had it easy from the beginning. We were always the top species on our planet; nothing could even come close to challenging us, physically.

But humans... they were at a disadvantage from day one. Earth was a tough neighborhood even before the Autobots showed up. The humans had to deal with creatures that dwarfed them in size and strength. There were predators with claws that could open them from end to end, and jaws that could crush their skeletons like glass. Things with tough armored skin and horns, and creatures that had bites so toxic that they could kill a human almost instantly. They had to deal with weather that their bodies weren’t equipped to handle, all kinds of diseases, and who the slag knows how many ways that they could be injured.

They evolved on a planet that was trying to kill them in a million different ways at once, and they didn’t just survive. They *thrived*. Against all odds, they fought their way up from the bottom of the heap to become the dominant species on Earth. A human might not ever be able to beat a Cybertronian at arm wrestling, but I can’t understand how anybody could call a species that could do all *that* weak.

‘Course, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The only kinds of strength the ‘Bots recognize are strength of arms and plain, old brute force. Don’t get me wrong, that kind of strength is just fine, provided you use it right, but that was never the humans’ strong suit. Nah, their strength was always in their minds. They weren’t the biggest, or the toughest, or the best armed, so they had to be the cleverest. They’re more adaptable than I think even they give themselves credit for, and from what I’ve seen, they’re really fast learners.

I guess they’ve gotta be, when they’ve only got about a hundred of their years (and even that’s pushing it) to do everything they need to accomplish in life. And about a quarter of *that* time is spent on just developing. Think about it: in the space of about ten vorn, they went from having basically no technology at all to the way they were when the ‘Bots woke up. Compare that to the couple hundred vorn it took Cybertronians to develop gestalt technology, and it makes us look like galactic slowpokes. I guess knowing you have a limited lifespan is a big motivator to get things done, huh?

The ‘Bots’ tactics are designed to crush the humans’ will to resist by making it too expensive in terms of lives for them to even think about fighting back. That’s their usual M.O., from what I’ve heard. The fact that this time it’s not working seems to have escaped them completely. They don’t realize that the more they do to hurt the humans, the more determined the humans’ll be to stop them. Because they’re turning the humans into the most dangerous kind of enemy there is: the kind that has nothing to lose. Because once you’ve got nothing to lose, it means you’ve got no reason not to try whatever you can to get something back.

The other Decepticons don’t really seem to get that either sometimes, I don’t think. I think they underestimate the lengths to which the humans’ll go to get their world back. Decepticons might be bound by a code of honor, but well, humans aren’t Decepticons. They’re fighting for their home, their loved ones, and even just their right to exist.

The Decepticons did that back on Cybertron. Even while other planet fell to the Autobots, they fought tooth and nail to keep a foothold on Cybertron. Not that I’m sayin’ they didn’t do their best to keep those planets free, ‘cause I’m sure they did. It’s just... well when it’s *your* home and *your* family at stake, then your best becomes better, because it’s personal. That’s the way it is for us Stunticons here on Earth. No matter where else we might go, you threaten Earth, and to us, it’s personal.

So the Bots had better watch out. They’ve already got two strikes against them. They’re overestimating their own strength, at the same time their underestimating their enemies’. And as Dragstrip would say, all it’ll take is one more strike, and they’ll be out. Maybe they’re on top and feeling like the biggest, strongest things in the universe now, but eventually, they’ll run into someone bigger. And the bigger they are... eh, you know the rest.

Being alive is great! You get to do all kinds of stuff you wouldn’t get to do otherwise, like make friends, see how much high-grade those friends can drink before they overcharge, and telling your bothers all about it and laughing. Not to mention gestalting! That’s great! Even though I don’t think most of the other Decepticons know what it’s like, so I can’t really talk to them about it. You either just *know* or you don’t, and that’s the way it is.

Funny thing is most of the other Decepticons just don’t seem to get how amazing it is to be alive. I mean first your not there, then, poof! There you are! I don’t know... maybe they just forgot. They are a lot older than my brothers and me. Well, I can remind them! I’ll make sure they all remember how great it is to be alive! Yeah, nasty stuff happens sometimes, but you gotta look past it. If you waste time worrying about all the bad stuff that might happen, you might miss out on all the good stuff that is happening, right in front of your optics.

Like right now, for example. Just looking around the rec room, I see so many wonderful things! I don’t know how the others can miss them. Like Dirge and Ramjet over there. They’re chatting, occasionally sharing a joke and laughing together. It’s a lot like my brothers and I do. It’s great that they’re such good friends!

And there’s Scrapper. He’s talking with Scavenger and Bonecrusher about some new project. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I’ll bet it’ll be something exciting! Ooh, I can’t wait to find out!

And then there’s Shrapnel, over in the corner by himself. He’s reading a datapad, but from the way he’s smiling and tapping his foot, he’s probly listening to some music on his internal speakers too. I wonder what it is? Maybe I’ll ask him later. Or maybe I’ll give him copies of some of the music we found! I bet he’d like that.

Oh, and Starscream just came in! He’s a lot of fun to have around, and from what I’ve seen he’s a good Air Commander, too. But I don’t know if he’s always in as good a mood as he pretends to be. He probably has a hard time remembering to enjoy life, what with all the other stuff he has to do. I’ll have to make especially sure to remind him how great life is when I talk to him next time.

It’s great to be able to see all my friends like this. But getting to hang out with them in the rec room isn’t the only cool thing that happened today. While we were out driving our patrol earlier today, my brothers and me, that is, we saw some deer grazing by the road. One had these tall, spiky things (I think they’re called antlers) coming out of its head, but the two other bigger ones didn’t. And the little one had speckles on its sides like somebody dripped white paint on it! They ran off when they saw us, though. But boy, can they jump! It was like they had springs in their feet or something! But what was really cool was when the little speckled one turned back and looked right at me for a second! It was so cute; I just wanted to take it home with me right there!

Hmmm... I wonder if Megatron would let us have a pet? The animals would probly be safer here with us than running around out there where they might run into Autobots. They’d have just shot the little speckley deer or something. They shouldn’t be allowed to do stuff like that!

Well, that’s what my brothers and me are here for, I guess. We’ll make sure the Autobots know that everyone, Cybertronians, humans, even animals should be allowed to live and be happy! It’s great that we have the power to do that. And it’s great that Megatron gave us that power. I’ll have to make sure I tell him that, next time I see him. He has even more to do than Starscream, so I bet it’s *really* hard for him to remember to enjoy life.

Looking around here, I can’t help but grin. Everybody wonders why I’m so happy all the time. But I can’t see why they’re not. I mean, how could someone who gets to do and see so much great stuff possibly be any other way?

I get to hang out with my brothers and my friends. I get to go out and fight Autobots with them, too. I get to see all kinds of things here on Earth, like deer, and sunsets, and water that stretches as far as you can see. I’ve got energon to power me, a recharge berth to rest in, and a hundred new things to learn and see every day. Yeah, life is good.

‘All Together’- Menasor

Everyone has a different point of view. That’s what they say, anyway. Me, I have six points of view. There’s mine, but there’s also Breakdown’s, Motormaster’s, Dragstrip’s, Wildrider’s, and Dead End’s. It gets really confusing sometimes. I don’t always know whether it’s me that’s thinking or feeling something, or if it’s one of them. I wonder if Devastator has the same problem.

Being me would probably be strange for most mechs. I’m more than just my five components ’minds together, but I also couldn’t exist without them. Each of them is part of me, and I’m part of all of them.

Alot of what they know, I know; alot of what I know, they know. Some of it gets usually jumbled during combining and de-combining, but we don’t forget anything that’s important. Well, not usually. Ramjet is still annoyed at me for forgetting to get his arm weapon fixed. No, wait... he’s not annoyed at me, Menasor, he’s annoyed at me, Wildrider, for forgetting. Well, I said I was sorry.

Alot of what we feel gets passed back and forth, too. That gets even more confusing. Me, Dead End likes everybody, but me, Wildrider is more distant. Me, Breakdown, comes up with crazy plans and pranks, while me, Motormaster, tries to be a voice of reason. Me, Dragstrip, jumps right into any competition, while, me, Menasor, is more relaxed.

But some things don’t get mixed up. Some things all of me feels, all of me shares. Like the love we have for this planet that we call home and for the humans who share it. When they hurt, we hurt. Even Dead End, who’s always my happiness, even he hurts, though he has a different way of showing it.

... brothers... animals... happiness... sun... Earth... home... Must be protected... We will... Strength... fight... love... fire... Yes... we are together...

Not everything we share is nice, though. All of me remembers the shock, terror, and pain of the first time we were forcibly de-combined in battle.

PAIN!... Tearing... being torn... all of me... of us... apart... NO!... We are never apart!... Stop! ... No!... Help!... Arrrgh... Please... no... broken... falling, falling... pain... dark... cold... gone...

And then, and then came the moment of waking up in the med bay. All of me shiver whenever I think about it. I can’t help it; it still scares me now. When all of me woke up, for a moment... we couldn’t *feel* each other... we were alone...

Dark... cold... light... voices... what?... where?... NO!... WHERE ARE YOU!?... WHERE ARE THEY!?... THEY’RE GONE!... NO-NO-NO!... PLEASE!... I’M ALONE!... OH PRIMUS!... HELP ME, PLEASE!... OH UNICRON!... I CAN’T FEEL THEM!... SOMEBODY!... ANYBODY!... HELP ME!... I DON’T WANT TO BE ALONE!... cold... alone... they’re gone... they’re all gone... don’t leave me... please... I’m afraid...

It only took about five astroseconds for the link to restore itself. But those had to be the longest five astroseconds in the history of time. When all of me could feel each other again, all of me wanted to yell or dance or cry or something, we were so relieved.

But my components were still too damaged. All we could do was reach out blindly for each other with weak, shaking hands, desperate to hold onto ourselves, make sure we weren’t alone. We couldn’t make it ourselves, and we started to panic again, but then someone helped us. I don’t know who, but I think it was one of the Constructicons. Someone brought our hands together, let them bridge the space between med berths.

We stayed that way all during the repairs, holding on to each other, physically and mentally. The Constructicons let us, working around us as they made their repairs. None of them said anything about it, not even Scavenger.

Because they knew. They *understood*. They are together, just like we are together. The others, Megatron, Starscream, Bombshell... they’re nice mechs... they’re my friends... but... they don’t understand. They *can’t* understand.

I feel sorry for them. They’re always alone. Even when they’re with others, they’re still alone. They’ll probably always be alone. How can they stand it? How did the Constructicons stand it, before they became together? How can anyone stand being so alone, so isolated? Maybe that’s why they say “Until all are one”; they hope that someday, they won’t be alone anymore.

Except for a few painful, terrifying moments, I’ve never been alone. We’ve never been alone. For all of me, there are always five others of me. We are six, and we are one. I am always six, and always one. We are together, like it should be. I smile. I’m a very lucky mech.