#air command

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The Air Command collection | Blancpain

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The Blancpain Air Command collection takes off for new horizons

The Blancpain Air Command collection takes off for new horizons

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Did your trine study science with you?

Not with me, no. An officer would have to advance a lot further and fill many different roles before even being considered for a Trine assignment. That first command over Energon Seekers was merely the beginning of a long process that was closely overseen by our superiors, to gather data on all of us in order to set up effective Trines.

Thundercracker had only just become known to me only by reputation when I was sent to Crystal City, and I gave him no real thought until much later. Skywarp had a very different path when it came to science. His gift of teleportation revealed itself before he would have had to complete his science requirement, so he was taken out of the normal Energon Seeker track and sent to the Air Command’s special tactics division. They actually promoted him just to place him there, rather than have him work his way up through commands, but don’t think that was any kind of special favor to him. He was miserable there, and he washed out of his Trine assignment and got demoted. That was a long time before I met him. Over time, Thundercracker and I completed our Energon Seeker assignments and went back to Vos. On occasion, we did cross paths in the scientific field, where Thundercracker was adept as he was in the air, but our rivalry and respect for one another was based mainly on combat prowess. Skywarp had no further interest in science from what I could tell, nor in respectful rivalries, and only seemed to change his surly and combative demeanor when we sparred.

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USA 1981

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Blancpain Air Command

Picture from Facebook

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Blancpain Air Command

Picture from Facebook

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You were part of a trine, we get that you were all military. So how did science happen? It clearly led you to meet Jetfire.

Officers of a certain rank were required to gain a scientific background in chemistry and geology in order to get their first command over scout teams of Energon Seekers. That was why I went to Crystal City, and yes, that is where I met Jetfire. Vos’s own universities specialized in Astronomy and Astrophysics, so I didn’t study there until much later, once we were allowed to branch out and choose our own paths of advancement through the higher ranks. 

Crystal City was the planet’s center of material sciences, and had a long history of partnership with Vos in the development of Energon related research. Doing a research stint there not only prepared us scientifically, but also gave us practice with diplomacy that would serve us well as officers. For most of us, myself included, that would be the first time we went anywhere outside of Vos, and encountered other customs or interacted with the rules and procedures of foriegn castes. It was certainly very different from what I was used to, but nothing compared to what I encountered once we began working all over Cybertron.

Prior to that training, I had served as an Energon Seeker for a long time, so I knew what to look for in order to locate Energon, but understanding all the ins and outs of Cybertron’s geology meant I would be able to coordinate scouting patterns, as well as communicate effectively with the science teams that worked alongside us. Throughout that long assignment, I returned to Crystal City more than once for further training, and I even created scientific advancements of my own in that field.

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What's your opinion of trines?

Trines are an extremely effective command structure for sharing responsibilities between officers, and for ensuring proper cover in aerial combat. They can easily be combined into larger formations if needed, with coordinated control of much greater forces of individual Seekers under them. It was a hierarchy that worked very well, and a fixture of Seeker culture I hope to bring back eventually.

I would be surprised if any intact Trines still exist within the remains of the Officer corps, but I do intend to honor any de-facto trine relationships that developed among scattered Seekers during their time together in the war. Pending an evaluation period of course, since well-matched trines would be on track for commissions as officers and rapid promotion to command positions. Reestablishing a stable command structure within the Air Command is of the utmost importance.