Perceptor: Wrecker With A Degree
Perceptor was born into a family of both militaristic prowess and scientific genius. The youngest of five, Perceptor initially took after his elder sister and middle child Proxima in the fields of science.
Both siblings excelled in every field: mathematics, geology, geophysics, physics, even zoology and entomology, finishing their courses before they were legal adults. But while Proxima found her place moving through the different environs of the scientific community as she was needed, Perceptor felt a need for further stimulation.
For this, and coupled with his more combat oriented v-mode as opposed to Proxima's satellite truck alt-mode, Perceptor entered the military. The regimen was indeed more challenging than his mental studies had been, however through bright-eyed dedication and grit, Perceptor managed to make it all the way through basic training until graduation.
Perceptor became a Private in the Iacon Honor Guard, where he would soon encounter Orion Pax and his group of friends every now and then through his contemporary and marginal superior Wing Saber. Between shifts and his downtime, Perceptor would engage with Orion, D-16, and even Wing Saber in political and societal commentary.
While less invested in the group's growing movement, Perceptor could not help but see the wisdom in Orion's desires for a change in Cybertronian society, or deny Wing Saber's strangely specific (and likely illegal) discoveries on the mysterious nature of Sentinel's rise to the Primacy following his predecessor's death. For this, Perceptor turned a blind optic to the group's more "shady" activities, but sometimes smuggled them additional info he came across.
When the War broke out, Perceptor was one of the few remaining Honor Guardsmen. Unlike those who fled, he chose to join the fledgling Autobots and offer his assistance to the newly christened Optimus Prime.
For a time Perceptor served as one of Optimus' more elite officers once promoted to a higher rank, though the warrior scientist had no qualms being lower in the circle of Optimus' most trusted advisors. Halfway through the War, Optimus assigned Perceptor as the engineer/scientist of the Wreckers under Impactor's leadership.
The notion that Perceptor was a genius military brat and nothing more were quickly done away with as Perceptor proved his skills with both weapons and strategy. Soon, he became rather beloved by his teammates for both his ability to get them out of a struggle and his dry wit. When Wheeljack joined, Perceptor was the first to notice that the lowly engineer's scientific aptitude was great.
Not long after, Wheeljack began learning scientific trades under Perceptor's encouraging gaze. This often led to many hilariously explosive trial and errors, whereupon Impactor, shield in servo, would block the explosion from reaching the others as the soot-covered scientists discerned where Wheeljack had gone wrong.
Among the Wreckers who remained from Perceptor's time of joining were Impactor, Warpath, Moonracer, and Alpha Bravo. Wheeljack had joined with his girlfriend, pickup brawler Chicane, who had taken up medicine in her off time from her duty in the old Functionist society. These six formed a strong friendship, with Wheeljack and Chicane's youth being surpassed only by Moonracer, whose exuberance and deadliness with a rifle kept her from being treated like a helpless child.
After a lost mission to Sandokan between the couple resulted in Chicane's apparent death, Perceptor tried in vain to convince Wheeljack to stay, Impactor's murder after his captivity all but sealing Wheeljack's fate even as Ultra Magnus was sent to lead the Wreckers. Warpath soon quit the team as well, while Moonracer clung to Perceptor in an effort to not fall apart herself.
Alpha Bravo was eventually killed in action, which prompted both the addition of Catapult and, a little later, the madcap Whirl. Perceptor and Moonracer introduced them to the Wreckers and soon bonded with them, all finding a degree of comfort and familiarity in their patched together sense of family.
When Ultra Magnus took the Wreckers with him following the Exodus, Perceptor and Moonracer were among the number, as well as Catapult and Whirl. In time, galactic rumor had their names bandied about in conjunction with a mysterious Arclight, which itself had a possible Earthbound trajectory...
Edit, I forgot that Triage was here from Perceptor's arrival and stayed alive and kicking. His name is also tied to the Arclight and Ultra Magnus, and he's too stubborn to die. Ratchet and he will have a most enlightening meeting of sorts...
@jazzimena @somereaderinblue terribly sorry I forgot our boy last night!