#fifth sigma

[smokescreenimusprime]

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR SMOKESCREEN CONTENT

YOUR AU’s your content and awesomeness make me happy!!!

As a 100% smokescreen stan you help keep us going!!!

I especially love the rescue bots one. Do you have any more thoughts about it?

Like how does he get treated by Megatron after being captured in your AU ? What does megatron do to sway him? Would he tell him stories of rescue bots past?

Do the other decepticons have a soft spot for him? Do they help him escape? (it would be interesting to see his dynamic with knock out hehe)

How do rescue bots get treated in general and how does that effect smokescreens treatment before and when he comes back to base! Oooh What happens next?

How do the autobots react to the “only” rescue bot , their little rookie being held captive? Esp since megatron always respected Rescue bots and is trying to sway him??

No pressure to answer but I’d love to hear what u think!

I ADORE YOUR BLOG!! You have my support!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

dhjbvjdhbvjd thank you so much that means a lot to me :D, and as for the questions >:3

Once Smokescreen is verified to have been a Real Genuine Rescue Bot, things change quite dramatically from canon. For one, Smokescreen is kept unconscious following the procedure and is moved into a new room. It's an old, long unused officer's quarters. There is a vehicon guard stationed outside 24/7, and at regular intervals a separate vehicon will come and deliver him energon. After several days of "good behavior," he's even allowed to visit an observation deck, albeit with Megatron himself accompanying him

were it not for the fact his door was locked and he wasn't allowed to leave, he'd be more of a guest than prisoner.

Admittedly, the lax behavior is partially due to Smokescreen realizing very early on that if he plays into the Helpless Frightened Rescue Bot image that Megatron seems to have gotten into his head, he'll have a much easier time escaping later

which he does :D but that's something that'll be talked about more in depth later, right now: Megatron

Megsy's got a weird thing going on where he manages to be both very respectful but also incredibly patronizing at the exact same time. He'll praise Smokescreen for his ability to rise up and become a medic despite the functionism shit that was going on in one sentence, but then in the next lament how the autobots """took advantage of his ignorance""" and """are keeping him captive"""

Megatron made one major miscalculation, and that being Rescue Bots don't just help the Cybertronian Race. Even if what he was saying about the Autobots was true, it wouldn't change the fact that Megatron has on more than one occasion shown his ill intentions to humanity as a whole. And because of his strained relationship with Team Prime, Smokescreen ended up spending a LOT of time talking with the kids, and he does not take very kindly to all the danger they've been put in by the Decepticons specifically targeting them

Smokescreen is on decent terms with a handful of Decepticons. First, Knockout, and they bond a GREAT deal over bitching over functionist assholes from their past. It's very cathartic, especially after having to play so harmless with Megatron, but he definitely needs to be careful lest he let too much slip. There's also Dreadwing, but they're more on neutral terms.

Then there are the vehicons and eradicons :)

eventually, Smokescreen manages to talk his way into being allowed to help out in the medbay. Nothing actually important or life saving, just patching up scrapes and banging out dents

however, one of Smokescreen's strongest suits is his bedside manner. He makes nice conversation, keeps pain to a minimum, and just... treats them with common decency.

luckily for him, the foot soldiers of the decepticon army have been kinda starved for that

they won't help him, they're too absolutely terrified of high command to... but if they turn the other way if they see him sneaking spare scraps of tools out of the medbay, then that's nobody's business.

As for your next question in regards to Rescue Bot treatment:

Prior to the war, over the course of millions of years they managed to leverage an amount of wiggle room with functionism. They are still some restrictions with rules and "form" requirements, but the Rescue Bot organization was a master of making up new positions and bullshitting paperwork to make it work. Public opinion was outwardly fairly neutral, but behind closed doors the majority adored the Rescue Bots. Upper classes... less so, but they couldn't afford to publicly declare otherwise.

There was still a lot of flaws with the system, and cracks of functionism sneaked their way into it, but they were trying their best with what they were given.

During the war, things got a bit messier. Countless Rescue Bots were getting caught up in battles, there was a huge drop in new members, more and more were dying or going missing. It also didn't help that some even scorned them for not picking a side.

Eventually... they were completely wiped out.

The Autobots were so, so hopeful when they found Smokescreen. A Recue Bot that was alive and well, who could remember parts of a culture and organization that was considered to be long since lost. If he made it to the end of the war, if he survived just a little bit longer, perhaps the Rescue Bots could be revived

As for when he's captured... they aren't too worried about him being harmed. It's still possible, but it's a fairly well known fact that Megatron during the war respected the Rescue Bots and punished any who conspired against them. However, that was a long time ago, and Megatron is far from the same bot he was back then

They're more worried about the affect on Smokescreen's mind. On what he'll be told, how Megatron will twist his words and break his spirit

[smokescreenimusprime]

watched tf one the other night with my best friend and now I've been Re-Mental Illnessed, here's some Rescue Bot Smokescreen Rot I rotated while driving home :]

I think I've finally hammered out some more details of Inside Job and this is what I came up with:

like canon it starts with the Omega Keys. Specifically when Bulkhead gets attacked and knocked unconscious when looking for one

And against direct orders, Smokescreen leaves the base to go get him

there were a bunch of reasons why he did what he did. A desire to prove his capability as an EMT. He wants to be a field medic like Ratchet is, he wants to be able to do more than just wait for them to come back injured when the more time that passes the more dangerous it could be. There was also the fear of losing anyone else, especially so soon after he befriended Bulkhead. It's barely been a few days since they started getting along, and the loss of the entire Rescue Bot Force is still raw

so he goes, and finds Bulkhead unconscious and alone in the woods, with the only injury being some scratches and a blow to the back of the helm. Smokescreen doesn't have a scratch on him as they hobble back to base

it doesn't stop Ratchet's anger

Now, don't get me wrong, Ratchet is angry because he was scared. Smokescreen could've been in very real danger. He didn't know what awaited him on the other side of that portal. For all they knew, the Decepticon soldiers could've still been there, and they could've lost the last Rescue Bot in existence

but unfortunately, he says all this when still angry

and Smokescreen, as thick as his skin is from experiencing years of discrimination, is genuinely hurt by it. This isn't just a fellow medic or instructor yelling at him, this is his idol berating him for what he thought was the right thing to do

this is his idol unknowingly repeating the words that followed him all throughout his training and that he sought to prove wrong, and he has no idea how to respond

so he runs. He drives as fast and far away as he can, shuts off his comm because he just. Can't right now. He can't interact with them right now because frankly he doesn't trust himself to speak and not say something he would regret to his dying days

and unknowingly this puts him right in the Decepticon's claws

some aspects of his capture stay the same. He wakes up in the medbay strapped to a table, the Omega Key is extracted, and he is placed under the cortical psychic patch

but the differences happen in the details

His restraints are barely more than a pair of manacles that he could've probably figured out how to escape if given enough time. The Omega Key was removed before he even woke up, the incisions of surgery fresh on his frame but the work is well done with obvious care. With the patch, the mental prodding and information gathering is... oddly gentle and quick, doing barely more than verifying what the Keys are and Smokescreen's identity as a Rescue Bot before retreating

Smokescreen is not a warrior after all. He is a bot thought to be long since extinct who quite literally dropped out of the sky at their feet without warning. He may have loyalty to the Autobots but... he's not fighting this war. Not really. He's just been doing what Rescue Bots do: helping those who need it.

The "cell" he's kept in, if it can even be called that, was an old now-dead officer's quarters. The door is locked and there are guards stationed inside watching him at all hours, but they are not cruel. He gets a healthy amount of rations regularly, and has even been given a data terminal to keep himself entertained (of course, no before Soundwave had thoroughly firewalled and restricted anything that could be used against them)

the most stressful part of his capture is when Megatron comes to visit. Every day without fail, he will come check in on how Smokescreen is doing. He will ask how he's doing and they talk. About Cybertron, about the war, about how accepting the Rescue Bots were, allowing any Cybertronian regardless of caste to join, how much of a tragedy it was for them to have been wiped out.

Smokescreen is not blind to how he attempts to sow seeds of doubt into the Autobots into him. About how cruel it was for them to keep him confined to the base, how cruel Trion was for implanting a relic without his knowledge, questions if Smokescreen truly wanted to help them or if that's just what they've pressured him into doing with false promises that crumble like glass

but instead of refuting him... Smokescreen decides to play along

after all, Megatron obviously sees him as a poor, innocent, helpless bot who could be swayed by some sweet words and a cage advertised as protection

and that facade would make it all the easier to escape when the time came :)

[smokescreenimusprime]

So in the Fifth Sigma AU, what would Smokescreen's reaction be to learning about Morocco or some of the other human villains in casual conversation or something?

"yeah that guy's the worst, he tried cutting us open, took our jobs, wiped our memories, ect"

"he what"

Y E P

Morocco reminds Smokescreen about what he's heard about MECH and the frankenstiened medical nightmare that was Breakdown/Cylas, and on that hand, Morocco honestly kinda scares him and he's starting to understand a bit better what Optimus means by there being Decepticons In Human Skin on this planet

but on the other? Smokescreen is EXTRAODINARILY pissed off about it all and now his beef is personal. This is his team and he's responsible of taking care of them. He isn't just going to sit back and let him hurt them, not after they've finally reunited after so long

tldr, Smokescreen post-war takes a page out of Ratchet's book

[smokescreenimusprime]

I’m genuinely curious about how Smokescreen interacted with the burns family for the first time, or maybe what stories did Heatwave, Blades, Chase and Boulder share with the burns family about Smokescreen?

WELL :D

for the most part, they each share their own stories and experiences with their human partner. It's just who they were closest with.

story wise, there was a BUNCH of variety, everything from Smokescreen's amazing skill as a medic who worked so hard to get to where he was and how they trusted him with their life, to That One Time He Ran Full Speed Into A Glass Door Because It Had Just Been Cleaned And He Didn't See It

the stories were all fond but were also undercut by an undeniable grief, and thus were few and far between. It was just.... hard to talk about their missing teammate because for all intents and purposes the loss had just happened. While Smokescreen had supposedly died millions upon millions of years ago, they'd only just found out about it

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Cody is the one who knows the most about him due to all the different stories he was getting. It was just.... easier to open up around the kid because he just made them feel so much calmer, and he always had a kind word to offer. In many ways Cody was just so innocent that it reminded them of the early days when things were so much simpler

In person though, things get more unique

Cody is probably the one he's closest with, and some of that is because Smokescreen is just more used to interacting with kids. June was nice sure, but she wasn't around as often (though when she was they did compare medicine practices), and Fowler was almost always there for Just Business. With Cody, he can fall back on how he interacted with the other kids

they definitley play around a lot, and Cody asks so many questions that Smokescreen is more than happy to answer. Cody in turn explains things about Griffin Rock to help Smokescreen understand it better and adapt. They get up to so much chaos though and hang out a lot outside of Emergency Work

I'll admit, I don't have many specific ideas except for Dani and Kade

Dani, because bonding over their medic and EMT skills and also Hey How Cool Would This Crazy Stunt Be :). These two do SO many aerial stunts and various batshit insanity and have the best time ever during it

and then Kade, who is... well he's a lil bit jealous because suddenly Heatwave is spending a massive chunk of his time with his other best friend. He ofc doesn't say it out loud, and eventually he does get over it and bond with Smokescreen himself, but for a bit things are kinda awkward

[smokescreenimusprime]

so I've started rewatching Prime because I'm dragging a friend into it and I just had such an interesting idea for an AU Crossover: Fifth Sigma + Early Crash

because there is just. SO much potential for various interactions between Smokescreen and everyone else and the differences of him being a medic here

for one, Smokescreen isn't a warrior, he's essentially a doctor. He isn't good at fighting, and the only protocols he knows are ones for first responders, and while he might've gotten some other lessons due to the war, he's still civillian

perhaps Smokescreen spends some of his time researching human medicine. Hell, maybe at some point he tries to attend college to learn even more

Smokescreen having to patch himself up every time he gets hurt, knowing what's wrong with himself when he's injured but not always being able to fix it. Knowing just how dangerous some of the injuries he gets, but not being able to do anything except hope for the best

Smokescreen, desperatly trying to communicate with anybody else and sending out message after message in an attempt to contact anybody

Knockout and Breakdown learning about the presumed last Rescue Bot in the entire universe being right here on this backwater planet out in the sticks of the galaxy. Not knowing how to respond, not knowing if they should tell anybody, because while there's no protocol for this it's almost certainly treason to not report it

Meeting the Autobots and learning that he's apparently the last one. That the reason no one was responding wasn't because the messages weren't getting there but because there was nobody to recieve them

Silas using Smokescreen, someone who's only ever wanted to heal and help, and taking what he learns to harm and kill

Even moments from the canon show will have such different impacts. The children, Sigma-17, his relationship with Ratchet (especially with the whole Synth-En debacle), Unicron

just. There's so much it would impact and I'm so interested where it could possibly go

[smokescreenimusprime]

The idea of Smokescreen being a medic is such a big brain galaxy move, I'm obsessed with it. I'd imagine Smokescreen would be much more passive compared to his canon counterpart and perhaps a bit less energetic, since he's still reeling from Alpha Trion and Sigma-17. It could still be like canon, where Smokescreen wants to prove himself, but this time, it's so he can show that's he's now good enough and capable to help again, instead of just being in the sideline and being sad when he could be useful (Smokey just buries that trauma as deep as he can)

Also, an idea to consider: Smokescreen, in this AU, probably wouldn't be as excited around Optimus. Like, of course he's nervous about meeting Optimus Prime, but he wouldn't be as hyped. Now, Ratchet, on the other hand, Smokescreen would absolutely be asking him to teach him and stuff and how to get better.

(Also would the Rescue Bots know that Smokescreen is alive, and vice versa? I'd imagine Optimus would've informed them about his arrival, but maybe he'd thought that could be too risky or something, so the Rescue Bots just thinks he's dead. Or maybe Optimus tells them about this new bot that was a Rescue Bot and that they'll send him there as soon as they could, and the team just gets reminded that they're one-bot short. There's so much fun potential there)

OOOOOOOOOOOO Y E S S S S S S S S

God imagine how fun Smokescreen's arrival is going to be. The Cons are absolutly flabbergasted because Wait A Fucking Moment That's A Rescue Bot Sigil- but luckily before they can bring Smokey to the Nemesis the Autobots show up to help him. Of course, when the dust settles and they see the insignia they also start freaking out, and while there's definitely a bit of suspicion because the Rescue Bots are supposed to be wiped out, he is able to prove it somehow and they start warming up to him

When Smokescreen learns that he's apparently one of the last living Rescue Bots....... yeah that shit hurts. It's rather ironic honestly, that the last Rescue Bot medic wasn't even forged one. He's absolutely going to give it his all in to prove himself and that he deserves his position and title as a Rescue Bot. He's still hurting and very much traumatized, but now he has a more tangible goal to focus on instead. This isn't like the Archives, this is the middle of an active war zone where anybody could be hurt at any second. He doesn't has time to think about his feelings, he can do that later (yeah this is going to be fun for him to deal with later)

and you BET Smokescreen's going to lose his shit when he realized Ratchet himself is here. Even before the war started getting more intense, Ratchet was legendary in the medical field. Smokescreen's read medical textbooks featuring the guy, he practically idolized him, so being given the opportunity to work with him? A dream come true. He asks so many questions and while normally Ratchet would've been annoyed by it all...... it's been a while since some's been able to keep up with all his "medical babble." And the kid's got spirit, the skill and knowledge (he wasn't spending his whole time with Trion twiddling his thumbs, he was reading any and every datapad even remotely related to medicine and science). He just needs more experience to polish it off

also, I don't know what to do with this idea, but I had a Thought of just..... slight miscommunication of intention between Smokey and the other Autobots. Because the Autobots want to keep him safe and Ratchet is aware of the fact Smokescreen a) has been in stasis for a couple millennia and b) has little experience working in a war environment. He has more experience as a field medic and natural disasters, not active combat

unfortunately for them, while there has been a lot of social class progression since the war started, Smokescreen's experienced none of it and is from right smack dab in the middle of it all where he could barely walk into a clinic without his position being questioned. The second he decided what he wanted to do with his life he was constantly having to look over his shoulder and more often than not had to fear for his life. He's had patients question his ability to treat them, he's been assigned "easier" patients because they doubted his abilities, instructors have graded him more harshly, hell he's even had other medical students try to explain things he already knew

The only people who've ever respected him and his abilities are his team, a few instructors at the academy who were on his side, and Alpha Trion, all of which are presumably dead. He's had it up to here with people underestimating him and it somewhat strains his relationship with the Autobots. And it's only made even worse by the fact that Smokey isn't going to say anything about it because in the past that's never accomplished anything except make more enemies and he really doesn't want to piss off the only other Autobots on this whole rock

again, do I know what to do with this or where to put it? Not really. It would definitely have to be something pretty early in the timeline so...... idk maybe that's what sparks the argument which gets Smokescreen out of the base and captured by the Cons

sPEAKING of that part, there's also the fun that could spark because of just..... how different Smokescreen would be received. He'd still be locked up, that's no question, but he's not a warrior. He's a Rescue Bot. And from the Decepticons perspective he might be the last one in existence. They're going to be way more careful when he's captured this time, not because he's more of a threat but because even when they get the Key he's still a VERY valuable prisoner

(also, completely separate, but I do really want to play around with the idea that Smokey as a field medic, who was presumably going to be deployed into dangerous locations, would have some kind of protection. Nothing lethal or even that powerful, but enough to save himself if need be. He doesn't use it very often, but he's really skilled with whatever it is and not afraid to be set out to do field repairs if need be. I'd also image he heavily abuses the Phase Shifter for this too when he gets his paws on it)

as for the other Rescue Bots :))))))

so them waking up on Earth at first was...... well, in the beginning it wasn't super different from canon. Their ship crashes, Optimus introduces them to Charlie. But then of course the realizations hit them. Cybertron is destroyed. There aren't any more Rescue Bots

Smokescreen

so now not only do they have to deal with hiding and adjusting to an entirely new and different planet but they have to do all that while also mourning their fifth and youngest member who's possibly been dead for thousands of years without them knowing

not a great time all things considered, and it honestly gets even worse upon realizing there are five members of the Burns family. And Cody...... honestly reminds them a lot of Smokescreen. Friendly, energetic, willing to help no matter what, desperately trying to prove himself....... it's almost painful how similar they are at times. It's kind of an accident that they get so close, but they've all silently promised to protect this kid who reminds them so much of their fallen friend. They would've gotten along so well had they met.

eventually Smokescreen is brought up. Maybe it was a slip of the tongue and someone was remembering The Good Old Days, or maybe it was just a bad day where Smokescreen's absence was more noticeable

and it...... hurts to talk about him, to only be able to talk about him in the past tense. That their human family never got to meet such an important part of their team, and never would. But at the same time, it's nice. To recall the good days, the laughs and pranks and study sessions they shared. Like they aren't letting him be forgotten even though he wasn't "officially" part of Sigma 17

and I'm going to be honest...... yeah I really don't know when the two sides should meet. There are so many possibilities with different vibes and angst and everything and just...... yeah I'm really torn

I do really like your idea though and I definitely think that could play a part in things. Maybe Optimus calls, says they found a new Rescue Bot but the Cons also know they exist so he's going to hold off on sending them over until things are safe. He doesn't know how long it will take, but he thought it would be a good idea to let them know this new Rescue Bot exists so they won't be surprised if/when they're Groundbridged over

and they're....... definitely really torn. On one hand, another Rescue Bot who survived!!! Hell yeah!!!!!!!!!! but again, on the other hand like you mentioned, this just reminds them they're a Bot short. Heatwave is the most huffy about the whole thing, and understandably so since he and Smokescreen were the closest. He knows that it's only natural and safest for the "new" Rescue Bot to be sent their way but it....... it feels wrong. Like they're replacing Smokescreen with somebody else

of course, when they actually meet Heatwave HARD pivots on that opinion, but that's still a ways into the future so :3

[smokescreenimusprime]

As someone who really loves Smokescreen but sees almost nothing with him in it, thank you for your valuable contributions to the enhanced quality of my life. I would love to see more of your AUs! I wonder if there’s something you could come up with where instead of being an Elite Guard and being mentored by Alpha Trion, our favourite Destiny’s Child got interested in the medical field instead? I think he might be a little squeamish, but still see it as a great cause!❤️❤️❤️

:DDDDDDD THANKEE!!!!!!

And I do actually have something like this! It’s not exact, but it’s pretty close in some aspects

basically, it’s an AU where Smokey wasn’t training to be an Elite Guard and instead was actually training to be a Rescue Bot.

Now, what Smokescreen was doing was incredibly dangerous. After all, given functionalism Smokey could very well be killed for what he’s trying to do since he wasn’t forged with a medic frame or hands. The only thing saving him from getting carted off somewhere is the protection being a Rescue Bot (albeit in training) offered. Maybe his superiors end up pulling some strings, maybe fudging some numbers, maybe offer him some secret classes, but as long as Smokescreen does well and avoids staying out of the spotlight, he can pursue his dream

And because I love characters crossing paths, he ends up befriending Heatwave :D

the two first met when they were sharing detention in the Academy together. Smokescreen was racing in the halls (it's not his fault it was the fastest way to his classes) and Heatwave had gotten into a fight (you should see the other guy). Smokescreen, being the slightly nosy but well meaning guy that he is, ends up fixing up some of the dents Heatwave still had because Hey What Better Way To Learn Than With Practice, and things just spiraled from there

now, these two were as thick as thieves, and their teamwork was impeccable. Anyone with working optics could see they were going to be a great team after graduation, and when Blades, Chase and Boulder join their duo to make a quintet that future only looks brighter. The 5 of them were among some of the best in the Academy in their respective fields, so combined they were going to do some great things

There was the slight hiccup in these plans with how Smokey was a year younger and thus would be graduating later, but they'd already made plans and started the paperwork for him to be transferred to Sigma-17

.........but then barely a few weeks before graduation, things don't quite go to plan :)

Smokescreen is...... absolutely DEVASTATED when they're presumed dead. His teammates, his best friends, all gone in one fell swoop

he admittedly starts spiraling a bit after that. He all but drowns himself in his work and studies, severely neglecting his health for a while. He actually ends up landing himself in the academy medbay a couple times, much to his shame. The rest of his final year passes by in a blur and when he graduates he...... really isn't doing a whole lot better. His superiors refuse to assign him to another active team because given how poor a track record he has with self care and how dangerous things have gotten because of the war that was practically sending him off to his death. However, they had to do something because if they didn’t Smokescreen would just get tracked down and killed by the Council

so he gets assigned to the Archives as the medic in charge of caring for the Elite Guard members there

And as much as Smokey hates it...... he also knows they're right. Hell, he's not even sure if he could handle being assigned to another team at all, and he sure as hell isn’t going to let himself die after all the work he put in to get here

The others wouldn’t want that

Alpha Trion is a god send and helps give him the space needed to work through his grief, plus some general good advice. He even commends Smokescreen for his bravery and determination to become a medic. Things are a bit…… awkward with the Guardsmen since they weren’t as open minded as Trion, but it’s easy enough to avoid them and he does eventually earn their respect when he shows them his skill

But of course, this just makes things hurt even worse when the Fall of Iacon inevitably happens

when he crashes on Earth, Optimus is then left with a decision, which honestly could lead to this AU going in two different directions. On one hand it would probably be best to send Smokescreen to Griffin Rock for his own safety. This is the middle of a war zone, and Smokescreen isn’t at all built for combat. However, because of his crash landing Megatron knows Smokescreen exists and that could potentially put the other Bots and even Griffin Rock as a whole in danger

however, regardless of how long it takes Smokescreen is eventually going to reunite with the rest of Sigma-17 and it’s going to be F U N :)

(also just the general chaos of Smokey being able to have multiple alt modes because it’s my headcanon that’s a thing mostly exclusive to rescue bots, with some exceptions)