As the small shuttle he was a passenger on roared past the beautiful rings of Saturn, the sixth planet in the otherwise unremarkable Sol system, the veteran Autobot known as Kup leaned back in the co-pilot chair, then swivelled around and surveyed the group of young Autobots he was ferrying to Earth to start a six month posting with the elite Autobot unit stationed there under the command of Optimus Prime.

It was - as always Kup thought drily to himself - Prowl's idea. And, as Prowl was prone to doing, the wording of the decree came across as just a little bit disrespectful to anyone who wasn't Prowl.

"It is the unanimous opinion of Autobot High Command, that the Autobot forces on Cybertron send a unit to Earth to learn from the elite Autobot detatchment, and hopefully take the lessons learned back to Cybertron to try and make some progress in the thus far unsuccessful resistance to Shockwave's occupation of our home planet."

Elita-1 had fumed for a bit over the wording of the message, but ultimately, the plan was a good one. Optimus Prime had taken the absolute best of the Autobot forces with him on The Ark four millions years ago, and his now reawakened unit tended to take on the cream of Megatron's army on a regular basis. That was a far cry from the hit-and-run tactics against mostly drone forces on Cybertron that Elita-1, Kup and others had been employing, alongside long periods of time rotating into stasis lock for their forces to maintain the meagre energy resources they had. The troops on Cybertron were brave, but not battle-hardened. A tour of duty on Earth would be an optic opener for quite a few of them.

The question had then become "who do we send to Earth?" There had been two schools of thought, the first and most obvious one had been to send the best and brightest warriors. Kup, Ultra Magnus, Chromia, Moonracer and Firestar being the obvious choices. That in itself would be problematic for the forces on Cybertron as it would strip them of their most experienced warriors. Ultra Magnus had persuasively argued that he, Chromia and Kup had already fought alongside Optimus Prime anyway, so was there really to be gained on a tactical level from their involvement?

The second and more interesting option was to pick some younger, rawer Autobots with potential and see if they could be moulded by some time with the Autobot Earthforce. It was also pretty much a given that younger recruits would need to work extremely hard to be accepted by the tight-knit and sometimes unforgiving unit that Prime commanded on Earth. These veteran Autobots charged into the face of Megatron's fusion cannon and Starscream's seeker trine on a regular basis, they weren't just going to put their lives in the hands of any Autobot recruit.

Once this second option had been approved, Kup had thrown himself into the selection process with rare enthusiasm. He had read battle reports, discussed potential candidates with Elita-1 and Ultra Magnus and interviewed prospective candidates without letting any of them know what was at stake. Now he glanced around the cockpit of the crowded shuttle to look at his choices.

Fidgeting uncomfortably, sat on the floor at the back of the small cargo bay, Blurr looked as if there were a million other places he wanted to be right now. The lad wasn't a natural warrior, nor did he possess any great calm under fire. If anything he was a bit highly-strung and prone to panic. What he did have however was blinding speed, a good spark and – as far as Kup had noted - more bravery than common sense. He was a bright mech too, and keen to learn. Kup hoped that some time with Prime's unit, possibly under the guidance of Ironhide and Trailbreaker would help hone Blurr's instincts in combat, and he would come back a more well-rounded warrior.

Next to Blurr, sitting in calm introspection was the femme, Arcee. Kup had high hopes for her. A fearless warrior and calm head under fire, she was also a very good shot and comfortable with a range of hand-held weapons, from pistols to rifles. At the moment she was the weakest and rawest of Elita's unit of female Autobots, but Elita had suggested her for the rotation, and following a quick and pleasant interview, Kup had approved the choice. Arcee would need to learn the difference between picking off a few drones in an enclosed Cybertronian subway and trying to calmly pick your targets during full-pitched battle with Deception forces. Kup had every confidence in her. He hoped that she would gravitate towards Bluestreak, the Autobots gunner on Earth, who was also friendlier than some of the 'Bots Kup remembered working with from that unit millions of years ago. If Arcee had a weakness, it was in the cut and thrust of hand-to-hand combat. If the Earthforce accepted the new recruits, he was hopeful the twins, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, would be able to teach her a few tricks. Those two relished getting up close and personal with the enemy, and the fact they had survived for so long illustrated just how adept at close quarters combat they were.

The clang of an energo sword hitting a shield drew Kup's attention and he turned to look at the source. The young Autobot Hot Rod, the final Autobot of the three chosen, was sparring with a practice drone. As per usual, he was getting creamed, and it was clearly beginning to annoy the cavalier Autobot. Hot Rod's frustration was causing him to make more mistakes, which in turn caused him to take more hits from the drone, which in turn made him angrier.

Kup had mixed feelings on this one, but the youngster had somehow found out what the interview was about and had practically begged Kup to let him come along. There was no doubting the positive qualities he had. The lad was brave, resourceful, a decent fighter (apart from his laughable attempts at swordsmanship) and a good shot. He had upgraded some of his parts to include arm-mounted lasers and a retractable saw blade. But with the positives came negatives. Hot Rod was impetuous, impatient and ill-disciplined. Thus far the attempts from the Cybertronian Autobots to rein him in had met with utter indifference, and Kup hoped that Prime, Prowl, Jazz and Ironhide would hopefully knock some discipline into the little upstart. Primus help him if Ratchet got a hold on him, he'd disconnect his vocal processor without thinking twice. Blurr's too probably, Kup thought to himself with a wry smile.

The shuttle banked a few degrees to the right and Kup turned to focus his gaze on the shuttle pilot, Springer. A powerfully built space-faring adventurer, Springer had returned the missing-presumed-dead Ultra Magnus to Cybertron a few vorns ago, and had hung around with the Autobots doing odd jobs since then. Springer technically wasn't military, but as a pilot was needed and given Springer owned the only thing resembling an Autobot spacecraft on Cybertron Ultra Magnus had suggested his friend be involved in ferrying the Autobots to Earth. For his part, Springer had seemed quite keen to have a brief chance to actually meet Optimus Prime. Kup hoped the lad wouldn't be as overly familiar with Prime as he was to Ultra Magnus. It was odd, thought Kup to himself, Magnus was normally such a stuck-in-the-mud about rank, but he never seemed to mind Springer's way of speaking to him.

Kup himself wasn't sure about Springer. Sure he was a nice enough 'bot, easy-going and quick-witted, but the fact that Springer hadn't so much as raised a finger against a Decepticon in his life, and seemed forever set to just up and leave the Autobots to their fate on Cybertron irked Kup greatly. The Autobots were hugely outnumbered and outgunned on Cybertron and this young upstart didn't feel compelled to help at all. That just didn't sit right with Kup.

"How much longer is this gonna take?" Hot Rod's voice cut through Kup's reverie and Kup turned to see that Hot Rod had disengaged from training and was now up behind Springer's shoulder looking out the viewscreen.

"Even if I turn the engines off and we just drift towards Earth we'll be there before you ever land a hit on the practice drone," Springer said, smirking at Hot Rod.

"I'm getting better all the time!" Hot Rod protested, "Besides, I'm sure you couldn't do any better!"

"You're probably right," Springer agreed affably, "especially as I've got a shuttle I need to pilot despite continued interruption."

Hot Rod took the less-than-subtle hint and returned to the cramped aft of the ship. Truth be told, Springer's ship wasn't really designed to take this many passengers, and it was a little crowded up the back. Hot Rod's eyes had lit up when he'd seen the practice drone, and his sparring sessions had used what little room there was between the cargo section and the cockpit. Now he slumped down beside Arcee and Blurr and started to fiddle with his wrist lasers. Kup idly wondered why Springer had a practice drone on his ship, as thus far Springer had shown no indication of being proficient with any kind of weapon, or indeed having any desire to fight.

Kup turned his attention to the viewscreen and the vastness of space. He was looking forward to setting foot on Earth and finally reconnecting with his old comrades. He and Prime had never been friends, but they had always respected each other. Some of the other Ark crew were close friends though. He had shared many a war story and many a quart of Engex with Ironhide and Trailbreaker, and had been a drill instructor when Jazz and Brawn first started with the Autobot army. Yep, there was a lot of catching up to be done and Kup did love a war story.

His thoughts drifted back to his times in the Autobot army before the Ark had left. Memories of daring missions, desperate rearguards, heroic counter-offensives and the less-than-tender ministrations of Ratchet when things had gone wrong flooded through his circuits.

Kup remembered leading an offensive incursion into Kaon, and fighting a desperate guerrilla war through the streets, all as a diversionary tactic so Jazz, Mirage and Chromia could destroy the Decepticons main ammunition factory. Wheeljack had not disappointed with the promised size of the blast, which must have been visible from space. He smiled as he recalled a desperate airborne dogfight, holding off Decepticon forces alongside Ironhide in a two-bot skimmer so Prime could spearhead the evacuation of Iacon. Ironhide had wrung every possible bit of speed out of that old skimmer and led the Decepticons on a merry chase. Meanwhile Kup had calmy and methodically fired, reloaded, fired, reloaded. He remembered teaching his cadets to try and clip the wings, given the close proximities of the preferred formations Seekers used, you stood a good chance of causing a collision if you clipped one just right.

Springer brought Kup out of his reminisces by irritably tapping the radar screen. He seemed slightly concerned, as he pressed a couple of buttons and held a headset to his audio sensor. A brief frown passed across his usually jovial face and he started to accelerate slightly.

"What's the problem, lad?" Kup enquired quietly.

"Radar isn't picking anything up, and I'm not picking up any frequencies on the scanner." Springer replied. "Normally there'd be some kind of background static and the odd garbled signal on the scanner. Likewise, asteroids and large bodies of mass should appear on the radar. I could accept one system malfunctioning, but both at the same time? Very unlikely."

Kup realised what Springer was hinting at.

"Someone's jamming us."

Springer nodded and continued to accelerate. The three passengers in the back, who had been privy to the conversation remained still, wondering what to do next. The only viewscreen was the one up front, and the darkness of space was all that was visible.

Kup pondered his course of action. There was no way of knowing this was the Decepticons for sure, but it matched Soundwave's usual strategy, and the Decepticons had several of their number, such as Astrotrain, Blast Off and Starscream capable of interstellar flight.

As if he could read Kup's mind, Springer spoke up.

"There aren't enough space-faring civilisations in this system for it to be profitable enough for pirates or slavers to make this a regular destination, and this ship is small fry. I think we might be about to run into some Decepticons."

Hot Rod sprang to his feet, looking excited at the prospect of some action.

"I'll man the weapons systems!" he declared, looking expectantly at Springer.

Springer frowned at the hot-headed young Autobot.

"I'm afraid you very much are the weapons system, Rod. This ship doesn't have any weapons installed on it."

"You mean we're sitting ducks?" Hot Rod looked aghast at the thought of the ship being defenceless in the face of any possible attack.

Time to take charge Kup thought to himself, he sprang out of his seat and moved behind Springer, peering through the viewscreen.

"Springer, ease off the accelerator, maintain current speed and course, don't let them think we've noticed."

Springer nodded and eased back on the throttle, keeping his optics on the viewscreen. With the radar gone he would have to focus on the cold void outside. Springer was a non-combatant, but if the Decepticons boarded the vessel they would treat him no differently to the other Autobots. Kup turned to face the other three who had all stood up and were facing him expectantly. Kup ushered Blurr up to the co-pilots chair.

"Blurr, I need you to try and get the communications up and running again. We're too far from Earth for them to launch a rescue but there's a slim chance that Cosmos may be out on patrol. Don't mention Decepticons, just say our radar and communications are out and we're flying blind. Understood?"

"AbsolutelyKupyoucancountonmetogetthejobdone," replied Blurr, his hands already running over the comm set and trying to boost the signal and change frequencies.

Kup turned to face the other two. Hot Rod's optics burned bright blue as he awaited instruction. Arcee stood steadily beside him, betraying no outward fear at all.

"Hot Rod, best guess on likely opposition?" Kup barked the question to the flame-chested Autobot.

"Soundwave for sure. Given the distance from Earth I'd also assume Astrotrain, who is best suited amongst the Decepticons capable of interstellar flight for transportation of Soundwave, due to his increased capacity range and superior combat abilities."

"Also, using Blast Off for this mission would leave the Combaticons unable to combine back on Earth, and Megatron would likely not be keen to lose that asset." Arcee chipped in smoothly.

"Anyone else?" Kup enquired, both of them looking blankly at him.

Blurr spoke up from the radar console "WhataboutSoundwave'sminionswhereverhegoesyouhavetothinkhisminionswillbethere?"

"That's right, we could be looking at any combination of Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Frenzy, Rumble or Ravage. Most dangerous would be Rumble, he could destroy this ship in no time."

Suddenly the ship shook violently.

"We're under attack!" Hot Rod yelled, almost joyously as purple laser fire flew past the viewscreen.

"Springer, take evasive manoeuvres, Blurr, get me some communications up, Arcee, Hot Rod grab your weapons and prepare to repel possible boarders." Kup was already grabbing his rifle and inserting a fresh ammo clip as he barked orders to the crew. The shuttle lurched as Springer shifted to the right as another volley of laser fire clipped the hull.

"We're sitting ducks like this," Hot Rod said "why don't we open the rear doors and we can maybe a few shots of our own in, try to even the odds before they destroy us?"

Kup was conflicted. He didn't like sitting waiting to be destroyed anymore than the next Autobot, as he mulled the decision over, Springer interrupted him.

"Negative – if they wanted to destroy us they could have done so at any time since they jammed the scanners. I suspect they either want cargo, prisoners or the ship. They also don't yet know who we are, so that might give us an advantage if it's only a small force."

The lad knows his business Kup thought to himself. He nodded and moved back to Springer. The ship rocked again as more laser fire hit the outside, this time to the rear. They still didn't have a visual on the enemy force but it certainly felt like the main volley was hitting the top and rear of the vessel while smaller blasts were mostly ineffectively striking the side hull. Kup spoke to Springer quietly and calmly.

"Divert all shields to the engines, and all power you can spare to the communications array. We've got to get through to Prime."

Springer nodded and flicked a few controls. Kup and Blurr had already braced, but Arcee and Hot Rod suddenly lifted off the floor as Springer turned off the gravity, temperature and lighting on the ship, only the glow of the control panels and the bright blue optics of all the Autobots provided any illumination at all.

Blue turned to red as Arcee floated up towards the viewscreen and her targeting visor dropped over her optics. She trained her glance outside as yet more purple laser blasts were visible.

"Kup!" she said, urgently. "Positive identification on Buzzsaw, at mark seventeen point one."

Springer looked at her sceptically "I don't see anything, you sure?"

"If she says its, she's sure." Kup replied.

"Guy must be tiny," Springer muttered to himself. Before Kup could reply Blurr interrupted, his voice even more excited than usual.

"IgotthecommsbackupKup" he yelled. Kup instantly activated his magna-locks in the soles of his feet and walked to the communication array, punching in the frequency he had memorised before leaving. The comms channel wouldn't be secure, so any message would be easy to intercept for Soundwave, and he would then know it was an Autobot shuttle he was attacking, but Kup figured a rescue was their only chance now. Soundwave, Buzzsaw and most likely Astrotrain was a big ask for himself, an unarmed pilot and three rookies, no matter how brave said rookies were.

"This is Kup to Autobot Earthforce. Request immediate assistance. Shuttle under attack by Decepticon force of unknown size. Confirmed Buzzsaw, suspect Soundwave. Repeat, this is Kup to Autobot Earthforce. Under attack. Please respond. Over."

The next few seconds seemed like an eternity as more explosions rocked the ship and warning lights began to flash on the shield controls…

Author's notes

I've always loved the new characters introduced in the animated Movie, and felt the compulsion to write somewhat of an origin story for them. This in itself presents a lot of problems.

The author Velvet Glove wrote an excellent series (think it's still available on lexicon) which tried to address some of those inconsistencies. Some of the main ones being Ultra Magnus as an "old friend" of Optimus Prime's, and also the slightly odd dynamic between Springer and Magnus (and latterly Rodimus in season 3) where Springer kind of feels like he is outside the chain of command. I've definitely borrowed an idea or two from Velvet Glove's series, and I heartily recommend the series to anyone with an affinity for these characters.

Kup as trainer/drill sergeant/mentor is an easy fit and he really is a fun character to write.

Blurr, Hot Rod and Arcee are the "nuggets" of the story. Nuggets is a term used in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series as a term for raw recruits. This fic is intended to show how the nuggets settle in alongside and eventually win the respect of the Season 1 & 2 Autobot Ark crew.

The Energon crisis on Cybertron made it pretty simple to write that a lot of Autobots were voluntarily spending time in stasis to conserve Energon, and Shockwave's "logic first " approach would dictate that he not waste reserves going after a non-threat.

Any and all feedback (positive, negative or indifferent) is welcome. Hope anyone reading the story finds something to enjoy!