Time and Time Again

Protectors of Humans

Their home would've been destroyed had it not been for them. Unfortunately, the result almost cost them their lives until two bot showed up and saved them, ultimately wiping their memories and giving them a new start.

A team of five. Two femmes, three mechs. Overall, three had similar frame colors, one had a different color instead of one the three had, and the last one was different in general. They'd been proudly known as the protectors of Archon for they'd done whatever it is they can to protect their home time and time again. Their names had gone unknown by those outside their group as well as some of their friends.
—
"You're leaving?" Firaflight asked when she saw that Ratchet and Wheeljack had been packing their things. Two sets of optics look at the flier femme. "It'll only be for a short while, 'Flight," Wheeljack was saying. "Yeah, we'll be back before you know it," Ratchet added. "We're just going to see what we can do and help out where we can." "Can the rest of us at least see you two off?" Firaflight asked. "If you mean you and the rest of the Aerialbots, then sure," Wheeljack said, the corners of his optics crinkling in an unseen smile. That made Firaflight smile a bit.
—
When the medic and the engineer made it to Archon, what they saw as they left the ship left them speechless. Everything was in ruins and there were injured bots everywhere. As Ratchet approached one of the bots on the ground, he found himself asking, "What happened?" "We were attacked," the bot said as she tried to sit up. "We were lucky enough to survive thanks to them." Blue optics look to where she was pointing to see five bots lying close to each other, energon on their frames and surrounding them. Almost immediately, Ratchet scrambled over to the five and looked them over before looking at Wheeljack. "Wheeljack, get over here and give me a hand!" The engineer paused what he was doing and made his way to the medic. "They're barely online, help me get them somewhere safer," the medic ordered. Nodding, Wheeljack placed his servos under the first bot's arms as Ratchet got a hold of the bot's legs. The two bots carried the larger mech to where Ratchet could start repairs. "I'll go get the others," Wheeljack said before leaving Ratchet to do his thing. Approaching the four bots, the engineer noticed that two of them are femmes and that one of them is a flier. Picking up the flier femme, Wheeljack made his way back to Ratchet and set her not far away from where the medic was. His second time out, it was the smaller of the two mechs, the one with the orange instead of red. Orange optics faintly lit and look up at Wheeljack. A soft groan escaped the injured mech. "Don't say anything, I'm taking you to somebot who can repair you." Faintly nodding, the mech fell into unconsciousness, helm resting against the other. After placing him next to the flier femme, Wheeljack went back for the other femme and placed her with the other two before going for the last one. This one appeared to be a medic. He was placed with the others and Wheeljack soon got to helping with repairs. "They're too badly damaged, we're going to have to start from scratch and wipe their memories," Ratchet said. Wheeljack nodded and the two began their work.
—
By the time the duo finished, the five bots looked entirely different than what they had before and they were offline. "Ok, let's boot them up," Ratchet said. The first one was the blue and black one that Wheeljack took care of. Red optics online shortly and the mech sat up. Both Wheeljack and Ratchet smile at seeing that he's functional. "Hi there," Wheeljack greeted. The bot's red optics look at the two in surprise. "Do I... know you?" He asked. "Not yet," Ratchet said. "I'm Ratchet, And this is Wheeljack." In response, Wheeljack waved and asked, "What's your name?" "Hot Spot?" The bot said in a questioning manner. "Yeah, Hot Spot," he confirmed. "Nice to meet you Hot Spot," Ratchet said with a smile. The medic got up and went to the next bot after giving Hot Spot a check over. This one is orange and white with a black helm and an orange faceplate. After booting him up, it was noticed that his optics are orange. Said optics look up at the medic. "Hi there. What's your name?" This one thought for a moment. "Groove." "I'm Ratchet." A scanner was held up and Groove let Ratchet check his systems. Once he was checked out, Ratchet motioned for Wheeljack to move on to the next one. Smiling, Wheeljack booted up the next one's systems, one of the femmes. She almost immediately shot up and her helm ended up colliding with Wheeljack's. Both reeled back, servos on their helms. "Ah, shouldn't have done that," she said.  "It's ok," Wheeljack said. "What's your name?" "Streetstar," she said. "Nice to meet you, Streetstar. I'm Wheeljack. The medic over there is Ratchet." Streetstar blinked and looked over at Ratchet, then back at Wheeljack. "Where are you from?" "Cybertron," Wheeljack responded. As Hot Spot and Groove joined the two and their conversation, Ratchet moved on to the next femme, the flier. Unlike Streetstar, this one didn't immediately jump up, but instead rolled over onto her front and pushed herself to sit on her pedes. Ratchet watched her do so. Blue optics look around in curiosity before landing on the red and white bot at her side. "Who're you?" She asked. "My name's Ratchet," the mech said. "Might I ask what your name is?" She thought about it as she looked over the medic. "Blades," she finally said. "Alright Blades," Ratchet said with a smile. "Mind if I scan you to see if there's anything wrong with your systems?" At that, Blades shrugged and Ratchet took that as go ahead. Nothing appeared to be wrong with her, so he sent her in the direction of the others while he went to the last frame, the last mech that they seemed to have rebuilt into the design of an ambulance from Earth. Ratchet booted up the bot's systems and watched as the visor lit up blue. "Hi," Ratchet greeted when the bot sat up. "Hello," the bot said. "I'm Ratchet. What's your name?" The medic asked. "First Aid," the bot immediately replied. Yeah, this one's definitely a medic. Gonna have to train him when he comes to earth in time. Apparently Ratchet hadn't seemed to notice what First Aid had done until there was a light touch on his arm. Blue optics look at the other to see that he was holding  the scanner that had been previously been in red servos. "What is it?" Ratchet asked. There was a faint smile on First Aid's faceplate. "You're going to be just fine," he said. That brought a smile to Ratchet's faceplate. "That's good to know." A red servo was placed on a red helm.
—
In the time the five had gotten to know the two that saved them, as well as figure out who they are, they had been dubbed the Protectobots. What they didn't know was that Ratchet and Wheeljack had given the five a certain ability. "Come on, we're going to Earth for more training," Wheeljack said. It had been a few months and Ratchet had gone back after the first two. "We are?" First Aid asked. "Yeah," Wheeljack replied. "You'll get to meet more Autobots. And you'll get to protect the beings that live there." That brought four smiles. The only one not smiling was Blades.
—
When they got back to Earth, however, they found that the Decepticons had been attacking. The Autobots were doing what they could to fight back, but with both Menasor and Bruticus fighting Superion, they were outmatched. Looking at the five Protectobots, Wheeljack commanded, "Protectobots, transform!" Before they could figure out what he meant, they found themselves transforming, creating something they didn't know they could. Streetstar and Groove transformed into legs, Blades and First Aid into arms, and Hot Spot as the main component that they all connected to. This new colossal bot drew a gun from subspace, aimed for Bruticus, and fired. The shot collided with said bot and caused him to stumble back. Superion's red visor looked over after seeing that and gave a thumbs up before going back to fighting Menasor. "Who are you?" Bruticus asked. "Defensor," this new colossal replied before charging the Decepticon.
—
After the battle and the Decepticons had been sent packing, both Superion and Defensor had separated and the Protectobots were helping to clear the rubble and pull humans caught in the crossfire. Red optics did look over when one of the Aerialbots walked over to him. It was obvious this one was the leader because, judging by the sizes of the other Aerialbots, this one was bigger than than the rest. "You new here?" The flier asked. "Yeah, name's Hot Spot," the blue and black mech said. "And you are...?" "Silverbolt," the bot said. "Leader of the Aerialbots." "What a coincidence," Hot Spot said. "I'm the leader of the Protectobots." "Kinda figured that," Silverbolt said with a smile and a chuckle. "You're bigger than the rest of your team." As the two were talking, Silverbolt decidedly started helping out, just like the rest of his team was doing.
—
"So, wait, you guys are new?" Firaflight asked as they were heading back to base. The Protectobots didn't have anywhere else to stay at the moment, so they'd be sharing with the Aerialbots. "Yep," Streetstar replied. "Onlined a few Earth months ago." "So that's why Wheeljack was gone longer than expected," Air Raid thought aloud. No bot seemed to notice Slingshot's glances at the helo femme Blades, not even the femme herself. Was this what Air Raid felt when he first saw Skydive?