Dread Pirate Crew

The Dread Pirate Crew are Star Seekers from the Generation 1 continuity family.

No one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Westley.

Based on the blueprints of Pounce and Wingspan, the Dread Pirate Crew form the backbone of Cannonball's crew aboard the Tidal Wave. They aren't the sharpest cutlasses in the block, but they get the pillaging and plundering done.

Known Pounce-type Dread Pirates:

• Cutback
• Drydock
• Neurotoxin
• Rolling Thunder
• Stormcharge
• Wheellock

Known Wingspan-type Dread Pirates:

• Boltcaster
• Lockpick
• Skyduster
• Thunderclap
• Turbolift

Fiction

Wings Universe

At an unknown point in Cybertronian history, the blueprints for the Decepticon clones Pounce and Wingspan were copied and then mass-produced. These air- and ground- body-types were sold on the black market as made-to-order mercenaries. Often used as cannon fodder, Captain Cannonball instead made these buccaneers individuals, giving them unique names and jobs aboard the Tidal Wave. Collectively known as the Dread Pirate Crew, these clones make up the backbone of the Star Seekers. Dread Pirate Crew's profile in Club Magazine #58

During the sheer monotony of the Tidal Wave's passage through the Demon's Maw Expanse, Stormcharge and Turbolift took to hunting vapor-rats for target practice.

Much to Tornado's dismay, Rolling Thunder and Thunderclap tend to enjoy revving their engines for short-range racing up and down the corridors. The Thunder twins also ended up named their converting weapons "Pillage and Plunder".

While Cutback and Lockpick are technically employed as one of Chairman's escort guard and Brimstone's gunners, respectively, the duo secretly maintain a black market among the crew, purportedly without Cannonball's knowledge. Cutback's entrepreneurial spirit and Lockpick's internal transwarp generator make them a superlative partnership. Tornado tested their skills by asking then to procure a Fluorescing Sky Seer from the fourth moon of Deberia. Although the Dread Pirates were successful in the acquisition, Tornado came to regret his purchase...especially once Cannonball found the Sky Seer. All parties denied any knowledge of the animal, and luckily the captain took a shine to it. Cutback and Lockpick were prepared to cut Tornado off from the black market for engineering such a close call, but Tornado offered to pay three times their normal fee if they could locate a Lukythian Warp Star for him.

Skyduster was an ace pilot and had the ability to create atmospheric disturbances thanks to a special gas released from his sky-ship mode. He was teamed with Tornado during a sabotage mission to Ventax II. Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur

Cruising through time and space, the Dread Pirate Crew joined Cannonball in raiding future Cybertron of its energon. While attempting to convert Unicron's head into an energon siphon, however, they were opposed by Alpha Trizer and the Cybertronian Knights. Hoist the Flag

After escaping the Knights, the Star Seekers began a quest to find Starscream's immortal spark. Unfortunately, they found it. Following a map to a planetoid awash in gravitational anomalies, Cannonball sacrificed a good number of his Wingspan-type pirates to create a counter-gravitational pulse long enough to reach the planetoid. Thunderclap and Neurotoxin were part of the landing party who found the deathlike body of a Quintesson in the caverns below. Only after bringing the Quintesson back to the Tidal Wave did they realize Starscream's spark lay within the creature. The devious Decepticon hopped from body to body until making a deal with Flamewar to seize control from Cannonball. Starscream used Cannonball's body as his own, and Flamewar abandoned the captain's spark on the planetoid, along with a few loyal members of the Dread Pirate Crew. The remainder stayed aboard the Tidal Wave, as Flamewar began plotting her future as the new Captain Cannonball... Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur

Toys

Timelines

(Pounce-type pictured)

(Wingspan-type pictured)

• Dread Pirate Crew (Souvenir 2-pack, 2014)
  • Accessories: Blaster, "Plunder" and "Pillage" weapon-partners

Available only as at-show "souvenirs" at BotCon 2014, the "Dread Pirate Crew" is a two-pack of the Hasbro-release Deluxe Prime: Robots in Disguise Vehicon mold and a retool (sort of) of the TakaraTomy Prime Jet Vehicon (the first use of this mold in Hasbro's markets), in matching decos that homage the Generation 1 Decepticon Clones Pounce and Wingspan.

The "Pounce" style ground Crew member transforms into a sleek luxury car of made-up model, featuring 5 mm post-holes on the back end (robot mode shoulders) to mount compatible weapons with; the ground Crew comes with an aqua-blue redeco of the Arms Micron Igu, later named "Plunder", who transforms from robotic iguana to a blaster-cannon. The ground Crew also comes with the normal clip-on blaster from the Hasbro release of this mold, which can be hand-held, but is designed to clip onto the car-panels on the robot's arms (with the hands folded back) as a "wrist"-mounted weapon.

The "Wingspan" style air Crew member transforms into an aerial version of the car (just go with it), featuring numerous 5 mm ports for weapon-mounting: eleven dedicated ports, plus two 5 mm screw-holes towards the vehicle front, and a Mini-Con-compatible post under each main wing. One of these 5 mm ports is on a "thruster" on the vehicle-mode's "trunk", a part that the original Jet Vehicon did not have; this modified trunk piece is from the Takara "Arms Micron" version of the car-mode Vehicon. However, the piece is slightly incompatible with the wider tabs on the Jet Vehicon's rear side panels, which means the trunk can be secured, but there's a gap between it and the rest of the vehicle. The air Crew member comes with a white version of the Igu mold, this one later named "Pillage". Sadly, they do not have the extra blaster, not that this mold can do the wrist-blaster trick anyway.

The included single bio card gave the Crew no individual names or characterization, but later online updates (which also named the previously-unnamed iguana-guns) would fill out the ranks.

• More information on Pounce Clone at TFU.info
• More information on Wingspan Clone at TFU.info