TRANSFORMERS: The Autobot Army

The Autobot army on Earth is small in number, which is why Optimus Prime has instituted the concept of "Robots in Disguise" to hide their numbers and keep humanity from becoming aware of a potential alien threat among their population. Optimus is well aware of how fragile humanity is and how they would perceive the appearance of super-advanced aliens in their midst.

When the Ark was activated by the eruption of Mt. Hillary in the 1980s, there were only 18 Autobots in fully-functioning order. Within 1 year, that number expanded to 43, thanks to excavating more stasis pods from the damaged Ark. As more of the Ark has been unearthed -- a dangerous and slow process, thanks to the possibility of encountering a magma vent within the volcano -- the number of Autobots currently on Earth is still less than 100. Some of these Autobots have been recovered from the Ark's stasis pods, while others have come to earth following Optimus Prime's transmission and promise of a new home world where they can live in "relative" peace. 

A peace that is hidden and secluded from the native population, that is.

The Autobot army of Earth has many different branches and division, just like any normal military force. There are the commanders at the top, officers below them, and so forth. For the most part, the Autobot army is not strictly enforced in discipline, like any Earth military. The Autobots see each other more like a family unit and serve as equals. The only time rank becomes strictly enforced is during violent action, when discipline is required within the ranks and order must be maintained to ensure the survival of all.

Simply based on the G1 characters I have been able to track down, here is the current Autobot Army of Earth, for my "Transformers: MASK '88" campaign. I am sure to expand this, as I become more aware of other, newer characters from different animated series and comics.

Command

Optimus Prime

Prowl (Military Strategist)

Trailbreaker (Defensive Strategist)

Communications

Blaster 

Cosmos 

Hubcap 

Intelligence

Blurr (Data Courier)

Bumblebee (Espionage)

Eject (Electronics Surveillance)

Highbrow (Electronic Warfare)

Jazz (Spec Ops Agent)

Mirage (Spy)

Punch (Double Agent)

Rewind (Archivist)

Medical Staff

Chief Medical Officer: Ratchet

First Aid (Protectobots)

Hoist

Lifeline

Scientists and Engineers

Head Scientist: Perceptor

Beachcomber (Geologist)

Brainstorm (Biomechanical Engineering)

Chromedome (Computer Programmer)

Grapple (Architect)

Huffer (Construction Engineer)

Quickmix (Chemist)

Skids (Theoretician)

Swerve (Metallurgist) 

Wheeljack (Mechanical Engineer)

Scouts

Elita-1

Gears (Reconnaissance)

Groove (Protectobots)

Hound

Sandstorm (Reconnaissance)

Tailgate

Search and Rescue

Firestar

Hot Spot (Protectobots)

Inferno

Steeljaw (Tracker)

Security

Security Director: Red Alert

Ironhide

Nightbeat (Detective) w/ Muzzle

Omega Supreme

Pointblank w/ Peacemaker

Streetwise (Protectobot)

Warriors

Ground Assault Commander: Roadbuster

Arcee

Bluestreak (Gunner)

Brawn (Demolitions)

Chromia

Cliffjumper

Crosshairs

Fastlane

Grimlock

Hardhead

Hot Rod

Kup

Moonracer (Sharpshooter)

Outback (Gunner)

Pipes

Ramhorn

Sideswipe

Slug

Sludge (Demolitions)

Smokescreen (Diversionary tactics)

Snarl

Sunstreaker

Sureshot (Sharpshooter)

Tracks

Twin Twist (Demolitions)

Ultra Magnus

Warpath

Windcharger

Warriors, Air Force

Air Commander: Jetfire

Air Raid (Aerialbots)

Blades (Protectobots)

Cloudraker

Fireflight (Aerialbots)

Powerglide

Silverbolt (Aerialbots)

Skydive (Aerialbots)

Sky Lynx

Singshot (Aerialbots)

Springer

Swoop

Warrior, Navy

Broadside

Seaspray

Topspin

THE WRECKERS

There exists a "special forces" unit within the Autobot military of particularly "gung-ho" 'Bots who engage in dangerous and violent missions that, in the past, have resulted in high casualties on both sides. These are called the Wreckers. They are basically like the Expendables. Highly trained and incredibly dangerous. They don't care if they live or die on a mission, so long as they accomplish the mission.

The Wreckers were originally formers by Decepticon defector Impactor, who died on a mission during the Civil War. Since his passing, leadership of the Wreckers fell to Springer. He was recently captured by the Decepticon scientist Shockwave and assumed dead. Since Springers went MIA, leadership of the Wreckers was handed to Ultra Magnus, who Optimus Prime hoped would clean up their reputation and bring the chaotic bunch of 'Bots in line with more traditional Autobot tactics. Especially since attracting undo attention from the human military to the existence of giant alien robots could be detrimental to their continued survival!

Since one of my PCs is the Triple-Changer MiniCon "Angel," I have decided that Springer was used as a test subject by Shockwave to see if "triple changer" technology was viable. After succeeding on the Autobot test subject, Shockwave went on to use Triple-Changer tech on other Decepticon soldiers (most notably Astrotrain, Blitzwing, and Octain... Megatron has also secretly been augmented with Triple-changer tech, allowing him to assume his normal tank form, and a massive cannon form).

The same Autobot strike force that discovered Angel in one of Shockwave's hidden labs would also have rescued Springer, bringing him back to the Ark.

((When I say "Megatron has a cannon form" I don't mean the little hand-held "pew pew" gun he assumed in the G1 series. He turns into a Megatron-sized CANNON! Screencap is from "Transformers: Combiner Wars" by Machinima))

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