Mad Max Transformers, anyone?
Seeing that Mad Max photo set made me remember this Transformers fusion idea I got after seeing Fury Road for the first time. Based on G1 characters. (I am tampering with everyone’s ages and relationships, but this is an AU after all, so…)
Post-apocalyptic Cybertron. There is not enough energon to go by, which also means not enough energon to power space travel or space bridge technology, so everyone is basically stuck on a dying planet.
Megatron as Immortan Joe.
Technically, the Decepticons won the war (but at what cost). Megatron reigns supreme, with no one brave or stupid enough to challenge his power. His crumbling empire is built over one of the last energon deposits which he uses to control the populace.
The real tragedy here is the t-cog malfunction caused by one of the last mass murder weapons used at the end of the war (engineered by Shockwave). A techno-virus rendering the host unable to transform, one way or the other. It was only supposed to target Autobots, but something went screwy and 99% of the surviving populace ended up infected by it. Shockwave is MIA and no one else has been able to manufacture a cure.
Because of the virus, some cybertronians are stuck in their alt modes. These are the ‘Rigs’, or ALTs, used as transport vehicles. They are considered a lower caste, objectified and stuck at the mercy of their handlers. Some have been driven insane by this treatment, as well as their inability to transform into robot mode, and have lost all semblance of sentience.
There are a few big Rigs large enough to transport Megatron himself, but the average sized ones are usually partnered with minicons who can fit inside them ( = The War Boys). The minicons act as weapons (sometimes drivers) ‘cause ALTs are unable to use their in-built weaponry anymore (energy conservation, as well as inability to transform any part of their body). Together they hunt any stragglers they find in the wastelands and cannibalize them for spare parts and energon ( = blood donations).
Megatron is obsessed with breeding healthy sparklings who possess active t-cogs. But further, healthy fliers who would give anyone controlling them immense power (being able to cross great distances scouting for energon deposits, aerial combat, etc) And of course, his ultimate goal - a flier capable of spaceflight.
Which brings us to…
Aerialbots as the wives.
Healthy beautiful flier babies too good for this world, too pure. Their carrier is Skyfire/Jetfire (one of the only big flier types left alive). The Aerialbots’ t-cogs were disabled upon creation ‘cause Megatron wants to keep them as breeders for a new generation of fliers. Not even Skyfire knows that they’re capable of flight. What he does know is he doesn’t want his sparklings to live their whole life used by Megatron as he was, so smuggling them away is his last fuck you to the tyrant.
Starscream as Furiosa.
Starscream was born after the war and stolen by Megatron’s men. He grew up to be Megatron’s right hand man (luckily for him, a sparklinghood injury left him incapable of producing heirs). Starscream remembers coming from a land where energon was still plenty, populated only by fliers. It was called Vos. He’s disgusted by how fliers are treated under Megatron’s rule and believes that other Vosians are out there somewhere. So he devises a plan to steal Megatron’s biggest Rig, hide the Aerialbots in it and hightail it to Vos. (He doesn’t really care about anyone but the fliers, but that will change. Character development!)
Astrotrain as Rictus Erectus. (What a name.. xD)
He’s Megatron’s heir and a failed attempt at producing a space flier. While all the parts are there, he’s incapable of transforming. As the virus corrupts the programming rather than the t-cog itself, transplanting a working one would yield no results. No one counted on the programming transferring to the sparklings, but it does. So healthy sparklings are a very rare thing indeed.
Thundercracker and other Vosians as the Vuvalini.
I imagine that they’d be part of a group of rebels who include not only the remaining fliers but also surviving Autobots (Ratchet among them, because Ratchet is a resilient old pile of bolts who always survives). So when they all finally meet Starscream and the Aerialbots, they can teach them not only about their heritage as fliers, but of the way the world was before it went to Pit. And also Ratchet removes their t-cog blocks so they are finally able to fly. (Silverbolt is the only one remotely close to space flight, but he is terrified of flying and also would never abandon his gestalt).
And THEN as a plot twist, it’s revealed that the Rig they’ve been driving this whole time was Optimus Prime. He’s pretty much lobotomized and non-responsive. Megatron thought it would be amusing to use his old rival this way. And then, it came back to bite him in the aft. I love the irony of Optimus still protecting the future even in this state and later being sacrificed to help the ‘wives’ escape.
(Of course, some liberties would have to be taken with everyone’s sizes. Let’s just imagine alt modes are inherently larger than robot modes because of sub-spacing and blah blah blah).
The only problem with this plot bunny, is I’m not too sure who to cast as Nux or Max… xD
I’ve been thinking Soundwave as Max could work if he has TF Prime-like mannerisms (the not-talking, having lost his symbiotes and having flashbacks of them?) with a bit more self-centered survival instinct thrown in? Maybe? xD
But then I also think that Rumble or Frenzy could make a perfect Nux (if they’re not related to Soundwave in this AU).
It would also be cool if Max was one of the Autobots, but I’m not sure who would fit the profile…
Anyway…
Just wanted to throw this plot bunny out there, because it will never see the light of day otherwise.
It’s up for adoption, if anyone wants it!
Unless something like this has been written already and I’m not aware… xD
