Combaticon/Protectobot History

During the Autobot-Decepticon wars on Cybertron, around the time the Ark left on its voyage, a mercenary team now known as the Combaticons roamed Cybertron, doing dirty work for various Decepticon commanders: assassinations, taking the blame for attacks on civilian targets -- nothing was out of their league. They were known by few, and feared by all.

Megatron ordered the Combaticons to sack the city known as Agorahex. A number of its citizens were known Autobot sympathizers, but Megatron did not want a Decepticon attack to push them further towards the other side. So, Onslaught and his team were hired, and the attack soon began.

In the city of Agorahex, the Cybertronian known as Hot Spot was overseeing a construction site on the city outskirts. As a result of a construction accident, one of Hot Spot's crewmen, now known as Groove, was being treated by a medic (First Aid). Due to their remote location, Hot Spot and his crew did not learn of the attack until it was too late, many were already dead, and most were helpless against the mercenaries' attack.

During the attack, an ill-placed missile from Onslaught tore through the supports and foundations of the construction site, and came close to crushing Hot Spot and the others. It was Hot Spot's strength that saved them. Fleeing the collapsing construction site, the three-man crew pulled as many others out with them as they could, but they could not save them all.

Finally out of range of the construction site turned death trap, Hot Spot and the others found themselves in the middle of a heated battle between what was left of Agorahexs defense force, and the Combaticons. Of note among the fighters was Streetwise, a long time friend of Hot Spot. Although he had never held a weapon in his life, he and his crew, even First Aid, took up arms and began a valiant fight against the Combaticon forces.

Unfortunately, battles cannot be won on morals alone, and the Combaticons eventually overpowered the defense forces, and Hot Spot found himself face to face with Onslaught. Even though he managed to get in a good whack with an I-beam, Onslaught easily overpowered the construction engineer, and, in typical Combaticon fashion, was prepared to end his life.

It was then that Blades, a rather new recruit in the Combaticon ranks turned on his leader and allowed Hot Spot time to escape. Blades had finally seen one murder too many, and his act was met with swift justice from Onslaught.

With his former mercenary, as well as the Defenders, dead, the Combaticons pressed their advantage, only to be blitzed by incoming Autobot forces. After driving the Combaticons away, Optimus Prime had the survivors repaired. The five remaining defenders, Hot Spot, Groove, First Aid, Streetwise, and Blades volunteered to join the Autobot ranks, and vowed never again to allow innocent lives to come into danger, and thus, the Protectobots were formed.

A few cycles before the day that the Ark left, the Combaticons were ordered by a then lieutenant of Megatron to assassinate him. Onslaught was wary of the job, but Swindle managed to talk him into it, due to the large amount of money that would be paid. They made their move, but little did they know that they were being double-crossed. They stood before an entire garrison of Decepticon troops, and Megatron himself. He informed the Combaticons that it was a test of their loyalty, and they had failed. Within seconds, their bodies were destroyed, and their laser cores placed in an imperial prison.

Many millions of years passed, with the Protectobots fighting with the remaining Autobot forces on Cybertron while Optimus Prime and the Ark lay buried on Earth.

Then, after the Decepticons and Autobots had awoke on earth, Starscream stole the laser cores to install them into a group of robots he had built, as part of one of his schemes against Megatron. However, this time, he had them outfitted with the ability to merge, and the monstrous Bruticus now threatened both human and Autobot lives.

Once news had reached the Autobot forces on Cybertron, Hot Spot and the other Protectobots pleaded with Ultra Magnus and Elita One to allow them to join the fight on Earth, to help stop this new menace. They were given the ability to merge as well, and Defensor was born. Little did the Protectobots, nor the Combaticons, know who their new foes were; both teams had new bodies, and had changed in many ways since the fateful day that they first met. For years their rivalry would be one of necessity only, until those memories were triggered, by something long past said or done.