Thunderbolt

Weapons: energy blades embedded in her forearms which also double as vertical stabilizers; hundreds of millions of electric circuitry in her body that allow her to manipulate and absorb electric currents

Mission Types: Capture and retrieval bounty missions; rescue missions; information gathering; infiltration (occasionally)

Languages: Basic Cybertronian; Modern Decepticon; Modern Autobot; Morse code; Cybertronian Sign Language; Vosnian

Personality (basic): stoic, cold, temperamental, sarcastic, attentive, observant, diligent, solitary, impersonal, maternal (don't mention this to her), calculative, empathetic, cautious, distrustful, violent 

Personality (detailed): Thunderbolt may not be very expressive, but if you spend enough time around her, you can learn to read her with minimal difficulty. She has emotions just like everyone else, but the way she displays them is, simply put, stoic and cold. Despite her icy exterior, Thunderbolt is very observant, which comes from being a medic for so long. She may not address her own emotions, but she can easily tell when someone on her team is not in the best mood. Hence, many of the team let loose their frustrations and rants in the medbay when they can. They know that even if she is judging, she won't say anything when it's not her place and stays impersonal.

The medic herself is very solitary compared to the rest of Team Sunder. She has her minicons to keep her company cooped up in her medbay or her room and that's all she needs. But this doesn't stop her from being the figurative "mother" of the team. No one can deny that she cares very much for her teammates and silently appreciates whatever efforts they take to get her to be more expressive. That doesn't mean there isn't a limit. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT piss Thunderbolt off. She loves her team, but she is more than willing to send several volts through you in a second. Nova is the only exception. He pisses her off so often his electric tolerance is astoundingly through the roof.

Likes/Loves:

• Team Sunder
• being a medic
• going on missions
• her minicons
• quiet
• dancing/performing
• Vos
• working
• flying

Dislikes/Hates:

• when people mess up her medbay
• pranks (especially when she has to fix someone afterward)
• being called Sparky (by Nova)
• being called Sparky (by anyone else)
• endless/pointless arguing
• organic creatures
• parties
• caves
• Starscream

Weaknesses: certain levels/types of EMP can knock her unconscious; not a great fighter in confined spaces or grounded 

Habits: electrocuting someone she's mad at
Hobbies: dancing/performing (formerly)
Interests: science and medicine
Talents: aerial acrobatics; electric manipulation

Creator/Carrier: none
Siblings?: none

Other Relatives:
Tailwind (deceased) - her guardian growing up
Blackwind (deceased) - Tailwind's spark brother (not to be confused with split-sparks) and the ruler of Vos, which made him an "uncle" of sorts
Starscream - raised by Blackwind which makes him her "cousin" of sorts

Best Friend(s):
Starscream (formerly) - they were inseparable before the war, but grew distant; she hates him after his betrayal
Umber (formerly) (deceased) - her trine leader that grew distant as well and was part of the reason their trine shattered
Grimstone (deceased) - the youngest member of her trine that followed her to join the Decepticons
Nova - her primary partner for missions in Team Sunder; she's grown an affinity for his company and considers him a brother of sorts
Circuitstream and Voltswitch - her minicons who she loves dearly; the main support of which her mental stability rests upon

Friend(s): 
Sonar - her right-hand bot while she was a commander for the army
members of Team Sunder - they're her second support for her mental stability
most Decepticons - self-explanatory
Ratchet - her teacher during her time with the Autobots; respects him greatly

Rival(s): 
Fracture (by extension Divebomb and Airazor) - another Decepticon bounty hunter with two minicons that likes to clash helms with her
Drift (by extension Jetstorm and Slipstream) - a former con turned bounty hunter with two minicons that intervene with some of the team's endeavors

Enemies: Autobots
Crush?: none

Bio (I have been working on this character since 2016, so yeah there's A LOT): 
Thunderbolt was constructed in Vos as an AA Seeker (or Aerial Acrobatic), which at the time was quite rare. This meant she was created with the function to perform aerial shows and entertain the upper class. Around the time she received her "sparkling: 2nd upgrade" was when Starscream was constructed and under the protection of Vos's ruler, Blackwind. She immediately fell in love with her new indirect protoform relative and before Blackwind would allow anyone else to visit him, she would sneak up the Central Skyscraper and take a peek at him. She officially met him later and from then, they were considered inseparable. The two didn't want to be apart, but they lived in different places. So Thunderbolt would often sneak into Starscream's room at night and just stay with him for a while.

She was placed in a trine once she reached her final sparkling upgrade and was paired with Umber, their trine leader, and Grimstone. They were quick to become close to each other and were often seen together like most trines. But it is worth mentioning she did still hang out a lot with Starscream. The rest of her prewar life was relatively normal amongst the political chaos.

She graduated early from the Vosnian Aerial School for Talented Fliers (VASTF) as a "student: tertiary" and became a well-known performer in Vos. The ability to fly without using an alt mode was something usually lost after getting your "student" upgrade. So the fact that she maintained this ability and could put on an electric show meant her popularity grew practically overnight.

Starscream graduated from the Iacon Institution of Science and Medicine (IISM) as a "student: tertiary" as well, even though Thunderbolt was constantly pushing him to learn more about the government, given he would have to run it someday. She supported his science, but she was the main reason Starscream started delving into military strategy and leadership. They supported each other during the prewar, and Thunderbolt was the one to introduce Starscream and his trine to the Decepticon cause. The rest of her trine was against it, but Thunderbolt was intrigued by the cause. At first, Starscream's trine wasn't really for it. But we all know that changed later.

Vos's destruction during the fall of the first five cities was the first real disaster she ever faced. So many innocent Vosnians died because of it, but while all the other seekers joined Vos, Umber wanted them to become Autobots. Thunderbolt never learned why, but she and Grimstone followed their trine leader despite this.

The three of them were often used on the front lines to combat all the other fliers the Decepticons had with their aerial domination. But Thunderbolt discovered that she wanted to be a medic instead after getting her life saved by Ratchet, practically begging him to teach her medicine. To the surprise of many, he agreed to make her his assistant in the medbay and be her mentor. He taught her practically everything she knows in less than half a million years, and Thunderbolt grew undeniable respect for the field medic. She was supposed to take his place someday in the event something happened to him or he (miraculously) retired before she switched sides.

It was around the time she passed her medical exams (with flying colors) that she received two minicons at the same time a fellow Autobot named Pierce received his own. Circuitstream and Voltswitch became her two beloved  minicons easily and as she got to know them, they made her life with the Autobots more tolerable.

Thunderbolt had never really felt comfortable as an Autobot in the first place. Being one of maybe a handful of fliers, and being a seeker, meant she wasn't well respected as anything other than a medic. The only other thing (besides her minicons) that made it manageable was her work with Ratchet and Grimstone. Umber had grown distant within this time frame and no amount of trying to talk to her was fixing anything. Their leader had convinced herself that Thunderbolt was locking herself up in a medbay to avoid the frontlines she and Grimstone were "forced" to fight. Even though Thunderbolt also worked as a field medic majority of the time, which was just as dangerous.

The final straw was when she ended up in a conversation with a Decepticon keeping her from a patient in the field. He asked her why she was fighting for the Autobots when all of her brethren were fighting against them. The con proceeded to "enlighten her" by letting her know that the Autobots/Iacon could've stopped Tarn and Vos from destroying each other, but they didn't. That they had considered it "politically advantageous" for them to fall, and that she was fighting for a bunch of "cowardly bystanders".

Thunderbolt ignored him for a while, but by the end of the day, his words had gotten into her head and she decided to go to Ratchet to answer her questions. He thought she knew about this and therefore had never brought up Vos, but confirmed that the Decepticon was right. She didn't leave immediately but instead took the opportunity to run away during the chaos of a Decepticon jailbreak. Umber refused to leave with her, but Grimstone understood Thunderbolt's need to leave and blatantly preferred her over their leader. Especially after Umber began asserting command by force not too long ago.

The two left without Umber and hid away in a still neutral part of Cybertron for a while, trying to figure out the best way to join the Decepticon ranks without being captured or killed. Before they had the chance to finish their plan, the Decepticons attacked the neutral zone, intending to turn them to their cause. The Autobots came to stop them and a battle ensued.

Thunderbolt and Grimstone were found by the Autobots first and currently on the arrest list, so they were attacked. The two managed to defend themselves for a long enough period until the Decepticons stumbled upon them. They rescued both seekers and returned with them to Kaon (in my world, Kaon did fall, but Megatron rebuilt his main Decepticon base of operations around the ruins).

Megatron allowed them to join his army and they began to train up Thunderbolt to improve whatever fighting skills she had. Before becoming a frontline soldier for them though, Thunderbolt was a medic even away from Ratchet's guidance, as it is her chosen profession, and remains grateful. Occasionally, she would assist Shockwave with tasks because of her electric capabilities, but that was the extent of her contact with the scientist. But she did get to know Starscream's trine a lot better during this time since she often sought out Starscream due to their past relationship. She hoped that if she showed Starscream she still cared for him like always, he would stop being so...well, everything he is now. That didn't go well. But she didn't give up the whole time.

Thunderbolt officially began to serve on the frontlines after Grimstone's death. He was killed by Umber during an energon skirmish as an act of what their trine leader considered "mercy". The two would eventually confront each other again and Thunderbolt ended up killing Umber in an act of self-defense and became the last member of their trine. The grief itself almost killed her, but she managed to stick around. The sense of betrayal she felt towards Umber just barely overpowered her sadness.

She continued on and off as a medic but proceeded to climb the ranks and managed to become a major commander in Megatron's army, to which she remained for a while. If you asked her now (and convinced her to answer), Thunderbolt would tell you that her years under the Decepticon rule during this time were some of her best. She was free to continue practicing medicine while being a commander and was well respected for her power and skills, even after her trine mates died.

About two million years into the war was when things changed quickly. The Autobots managed to take down Thunderbolt and proceeded to attack her with intent to incapacitate. Desperate to escape in her weakened state, she noticed Starscream not too far away and called for him to help her. They were kin, after all. Both of their trines were gone and they only had each other, right?

The most distinguished memory of her life is of the smile he gave her and the overwhelming sense of fear and betrayal she felt as he flew away. She didn't fight back very hard after that.

Alongside her capture, her two minicons had been taken as well and the three of them were originally placed in the same cell. They were her only anchor for what just happened, but they weren't able to ground her before they were forcefully taken from her to a different part of the prison. She fought hard physically to get them back but was quickly sedated.

After that, Thunderbolt did not attempt to care about anything. She refused to refill her tanks or communicate with any of the officers. The only Autobot who managed to convince her to say anything was Ratchet. And all she told him was to not waste energon on someone already dead.

Thunderbolt was well known at this time to be a very merciless Decepticon commander, and many of the Autobots who worked at the prison she was in wanted her dead. They were also the ones who threw the decapitated heads of Circuitstream and Voltswitch into her cell as a threat. She officially ceased wanting to exist after that and simply waited for them to come to kill her next.

But unluckily for her, a Decepticon spy in the Autobot ranks came and got her out of there the day before the others were going to kill her. Thunderbolt never learned his name or anything about him, but he brought her down below Iacon close to the core of the planet to place her in stasis. He planned to come to get her after the coast was clear, but he never got the chance.

Around two and a half million more years passed before the Autobots revived Cybertron with the Nemesis's Omega Lock and, in the process, released her from stasis. She broke free from Cybertron's surface and fled the planet. Thunderbolt ended up on Luna-1 (I believe TFP has both moons) and quickly realized how much time had passed since she had been imprisoned. Now there wasn't even a planet left to fight over, which only broke her already shattered spirit more.

She fled again to a planet named Voltralyion, which is a planet known for its intense electrical storms, high gravity, and strong magnetic field. Some of the storms caused by that planet can disable and even destroy any ship that comes too close. But her unique electric capabilities allow her to be one of a small few who can enter the planet's atmosphere.

Thunderbolt stayed there trying to figure out something to do to possibly "cheer up" after losing her trine, her kin, her minicons, and her planet. Really anything to stop feeling sorry for herself but came up empty. Her next stop became Meridian, a planet that became ravaged by Cybertron's war after it went interstellar. This was where she finally ran into a reason to keep living.

She was originally going to let herself be killed by two Autobots who were out for Decepticon energon, but she was unwillingly saved by a Decepticon grounder named Deadbolt alongside two other cons, Nova and Soundblaster.

Deadbolt saved her because she was a fellow con but recognized her from millennia ago as a medic. Thunderbolt was requested to make repairs on the three of them, and she honestly just couldn't say no. She was dead inside, but her medic instincts somehow remained intact. She curses that to this day. Once fully recognizing her still retained skills as a medic, the three of them then asked her to join them on their hunt for an Autobot named Sunder because they seriously needed a proper medic. Given she literally had nothing else to do, and there was a chance she might die in the process, she went with them.

After Boom Box joined the party, the five of them defeated Sunder not without injury, but without death. Much to her displeasure. Nova was the one who proposed they stick together after that and help each other forward their own goals. Soundblaster wanted to find his split, Boom Box wanted to find his sibling, Nova wanted to kill some Autobots, Deadbolt wanted something to do, and Thunderbolt had nothing better to do besides die. And they weren't going to let her do that, so she had no choice.

As the five of them were establishing a reputation for their new bounty hunting group "Team Sunder", they stole an Autobot ship, remodeled it, and renamed it the Impulse. It became the team ship with plenty of room for any new teammates they may acquire.

Soon, they stumbled upon a bounty for two minicons that were constantly disrupting Autobot and Decepticon bases. The reward was 200,000 credits (dead on the con side and alive on the bot side), and both Nova and Boom Box were sent to deal with the matter. Soundblaster's minicon, Buzzsaw, was sent to monitor the situation so those on the ship could watch.

Thunderbolt came in late and as soon as she did, she was quick to tell Nova and Boom Box to drop whatever it was they were doing and bridged over. She recognized the minicons as Circuitstream and Voltswitch and was more than ecstatic to see them alive. Turns out both parties thought the other was dead and their reunion was the only time her teammates have ever seen Thunderbolt cry.

From there, her mental state began to improve slowly. She had a good reason to live now and becoming responsible for the lives of others as a medic helped her develop a sense of determination, albeit small.

More members began to join the team, and she was sent on more missions with Nova, who became her partner/assistant of sorts. She grew a unique attachment to the fiery mech despite his arrogant, carefree attitude.

Her teammates are constantly trying to get her to smile more and be more expressive with her emotions, but she does appreciate it. Being around all of them and gaining a sort of love for them has helped her grow more open to interpersonal relationships again, but she has yet to break the point of her fear of betrayal. Thunderbolt is still fully prepared and braced for a day when one of Team Sunder betrays them. (But from me to you guys, it's never gonna happen)

Quote(s):

"I don't want to see you in this medbay again for the rest of the week"

"NOVAAA!!!"

"I am THIS close to snapping your neck and blaming it on Primus"