Set in Transformers Prime (though becomes very AU after the first few episodes), the story follows Zechariah Taylor, who, following his death from a storm, is transported to the Transformers universe by the Primes themselves. Moreover, thanks to a donation of nanites and Energon from some of the Primes, Zech has become a Cybertronian himself, taking on the name Shadowstreaker. As the new heavy weapons specialist of the Prime Team based on Earth, Shadowstreaker must now face evil Decepticons, lost legends….and dark secrets that lurk in the shadows….
While the general idea may sound like any average power-fantasy Self-Insert Fic, Fate Calls is actually a very well-developed story with interesting background lore and original ideas. With that said, the story also has some serious Knight of Cerebus events in it’s later parts, which may delve into territory that some readers may find too dark or vague to enjoy.
Beware Spoiler Warnings, especially for later plot points and reveals.
Fate Calls provides examples of:
- Adaptational Jerkass : Springer, who in most Transformers media is an honorable and brave Autobot, is introduced as a cocky and arrogant hotshot who constantly hits on and lusts over Arcee, even when she has turned him down multiple times over MILLENNIA. Thankfully, he gets better.
- Adaptational Personality Change: A few examples of this pop up from time to time, most notably Springer, Sideswipe, and a few other Autobots. Major changes appear later in the story, with Unicron (apparently) benevolent and PRIMUS being this universe’s incarnation as the Chaos Bringer, with all malevolence that title implies.
- Amnesiac God: Refit, the helpful AI mentioned below, turns out to be a amnesiac Unicron, whose memories were taken by Lockdown eons ago, and who was installed onto the Reverence as a form of imprisonment.
- Benevolent A.I.: Refit, the AI controlling the ship/armory of the Primes, the Infinite Reverence. When Shadowstreaker’s team arrives at the Reverence, Refit is nothing but helpful to them (barring some payback to Spinger for his Jerkass moments), and is even responsible for getting them back to their base safely by building an escape pod around their injured forms.
- Heroic BSoD: This has happened several times to Shadow streaker. First, the activation of his Quriomus Protocol when he believed Arcee and Optimus were dead. Second, when Cold, a dark persona born of his nature as the Xel’Tor, attacks the Autobots (and ends up offlining both Elita-1 and Chromia).
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The very nature of the Quriomus Protocol is this. The Protocol is a rare defensive protocol that randomly manifests in Cybertronians, which can activate whenever a loved one (usually a sparkmate) is in danger. When activated, the Cybertronian has a surge of strength and ability at the cost of rapid Energon depletion and an inability to control one’s self. To date, there are only three Cybertronians confirmed to have it. Flightstorm, Shadowstreaker, and (more implied) Grimlock. And, out of those three, Shadowstreaker is confirmed to have a double-digit body count from the few times his Protocol has activated.
- Wham Line: Possessed!Arcee: "Humble yourself, Zechariah, Son of Traitors—for your unworthy eyes gaze upon Him. You witness the return of Primus, the Chaos Bringer."
