So glad I found this! Wonderful fic with a tight little plot, and the character voices are distinct and well-written! I love the friendship between Kup and Hot Rod, and Hot Rod's characterization, especially. Absolutely fantastic work!

not bad

hot rod and arcee didn't end up together though, damn

CRAZY!

So the whole time it was Windcharger who accidentally shot Elita One when he was aiming for Starscream...I feel bad for Optimus having to go through that kind of pain. :(

I was strangely...disappointed by this story. Yes, it ends with punishment and poor Rodders gets beat up pretty badly and their is that interesting dynamic between Arcee, Springer and Hot Rod (that I wish had been developed a little more) but it seems too goody goody.

I mean, after going through all that set up of having Mangus be the killer and then have it simply be him covering for Windcharger seems like a cop-out. This is war, people die in friendly fire all the time. Sure, the one responsible for the shot will have a whole bunch of issues, but the whole dang cover up you have going on here seems unnecessary. Accidents happen, even in war. And while I can totally see Windcharger looking at Mangus in shock, Mangus is a commander and thus should follow protocol. And since it was an accident that Elita One died, *most* of the consequences ideally should be emotional and not scary enough to waren't a cover up. It was an accident, and Prime being Prime I doubt would have done anything truly awful if everything had simply been brought to light. And Magnus should have known that, especially since he saw Prime as being more softhearted than he should have been.

Sorry, but I find that entire twist at the end degrades the story as a whole. It would have been much better to have had it be Magnus who was the killer, show that Autobots are not all goody-goody and even the best are corruptible. That would have been much more realistic.

Wow.

Convoluted, well-written, and believable.

I don't usually bother with anything under a 'T' rating, but this was an adult story in the truest sense of the word. Understandable by younger minds perhaps, but not written -down- to them.

For example, Breaking Kup and Hot Rod down into their own team was bloody brilliant. You recognized that their dynamic from the movie wasn't new, or lopsided. Kup is a teacher, and old-time oral tradition storyteller, a good friend, and in his own way as much of a maverick as Hot Rod is.

Hot Rod is everything you'd expect a muscle car to be, athletic, impulsive, etc. He'd be like James Dean in 'Rebel Without a Cause', except for one thing... his Brit-dry ACID sense of humor.

His adult personality- -and Hot Rod definitely has one- -is built on a sort of, 'slag you I'm going in' stoicism that Kup can identify with only too well.

Kup's not a hero by trade or he'd be dead by now, but both Kup AND Hot Rod generally know what the right thing to do is...

Even if they don't always do it.

The final disclosure was eerily in-character too, with little Windcharger staring in horror over the heat-wave rising from the barrel of his gun to the falling body of Elita...

Then turning to his trusted leader with a look of of nearly uncomprehending guilt and terror in his eyes, hoping, almost -praying- that like the fallen femme commander, Ultra-Magnus will find a way to turn back time...

And Ultra-Magnus staring back, with the knowledge that the love of his best friend's life is DEAD, and that it was really, truly, an accident.

...I almost wonder whether he covered for Windcharger for the minibot's own sake, or to keep -Optimus- from going down in history as a murderer.

I salute your skills, professionalism, and comprehension of the word 'spellcheck'. Nice Job.

Excellent mystery story! I love the friendship between Hot Rod and Kup! Thanks for writing about it!

that was a really good story i enjoyed it. i like the fact that it fitted into the charactor so well. i still thimk that hot rod should of got together with arcee but thats not really what the story's about an d its a good mystery and it kept mre guessing the entire time that i was reading it it up the good work. later

this is really good im enjoying this story i hope arcee and hot rod get together i love that coupling ever since the movie transformers came out. keep up the good work mate.

Please dont leave us hanging. Please post more!

This. Rocked! What a great mystery! And all the characters were written so well.

I like how you plotted out the resolution. They're all still Autobots, they just got backed into a corner...and over a heartrending accident. They only wanted to save Prime pain, and ended up making it all worse in the end. Hey, cool! It's even got a moral!

I admit you kept me guessing.

Awesome fic. Hope you make more.

Oh, heavens. I just sat for a moment when Prowl saw Prime behind his desk and just ached for Prime. How incredibly sad...

I liked seeing how it all began, everyone's motives, everyone's reasons for doing what they did. I thought it was commendable, how Prime dealt the punishment, though it pained him to do so...he's not one to waver on his convictions despite his personal feelings (part of what makes him a good leader).

I'm currently studying for a graduate degree in leadership, and during my studies I've more than once written "PRIME" in the margins of my note book to remind myself of some concept...so your inner nerd has good company. _

And yes, a major, major w00t! for Peter Cullen as Prime in the '07 movie!

I'll be looking for more from you! _

Oh, that conversation between Prime and 'Magnus...so much pain.

I love the way you write all of them, with all their foibles, their war-weariness...the burden of command that rests on Prime's (admittedly broad) shoulders is sometimes very, very heavy...

Ouch, that fight was nasty (but well-written). Things are going from bad to worse...but I have to admit, the image of Prime and his rifle standing at the door...very nice. Too bad it was because of something awful...*sigh* As if Prime didn't have enough to mourn...