Air Warrior

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The Air Warriors are Decepticons in the Generation 1 continuity family.
It don't get more generic than "Decepticon Decepticon."

When Starscream and the other standard Seekers just aren't enough, call in the Air Warriors. Sometimes they're explicitly drones and sometimes they're just quietly singleminded, depending on the continuity. But they're always obedient, determined, and ruthless.



Fiction

Sunbow Generation 1 cartoon

Voice actors: Michael Bell, Corey Burton? (English)

Stand in the place where you are.

When the Decepticons first awoke on Earth, the core group of warriors was reinforced by a number of unnamed Seekers. While they participated in battles and resource-gathering like their comrades, they never showed more than dronelike independence. Two were heard to speak, with one displaying enough of a sense of self-preservation to retreat from a battle with Sunstreaker and Sideswipe and get its injuries repaired, and the other providing its injured partner with an escort. (However, one sounded just like Thundercracker and the other a lot like Skywarp, so make of that what you will.) More Than Meets the Eye, Part 2

They were last seen fighting the Autobots before Megatron launched the newly-built space cruiser. More Than Meets the Eye, Part 3 After its crash, the Earthbound Seeker ranks were reduced to the standard three. Their disappearance was never mentioned, so their specific fate is unknown.


On-package bio

Nearly 20 years after their brief cartoon appearance, the nameless Seekers appeared as Heroes of Cybertron toys at OTFCC 2003. While the label simply said "Decepticon," the bio presented the full name of "Decepticon Air Warrior" for the first time.

Air Warriors are "ruthless killing machines" with a "no-nonsense attitude" and "lack of compassion." They also have a motto ("I will control the skies") and an intelligence Tech Spec of 5. Whether this makes them drones or not is unclear. Either way, they are dedicated to destroying Autobot sympathizers with their cluster bombs and laser-guided missiles.

Dreamwave G1 comics

Of all the Seekers, they're the Seekiest.

Some time before the Great Shutdown, Megatron and Optimus Prime were lost in a space bridge accident. When Megatron returned millenia later, he brought with him the "Aerospace Extermination Squadron," a million-strong fleet of Seeker drones which he used to quickly dominate Cybertron. The Age of Wrath issue 1

After capturing the planet, the drones policed the Autobot slaves. Progressing from one task to the next with no sign of true self-awareness, they communicated amongst themselves in sentence fragments via radio or perhaps telepathy. Megatron tasked Shockwave with reverse-engineering the cloning device that produced them. Shockwave asked him where it had come from, but Megatron refused to say. In truth, Megatron received it from the Quintessons, having apparently forgotten that he had started the war to fight against Quintessons who had infiltrated the Council of Ancients. The Age of Wrath, Pt. 2

At least one drone showed an ability to materialize additional armaments in flashes of light. It nearly destroyed a team of Autobots singlehandedly, but they managed to subdue it with an inhibitor claw designed by Perceptor. The Age of Wrath, Pt. 3

What is it? Did Rumble fall down the well? Is Skywarp pinned under the tractor again?

The Aerospace Extermination Squadron was eventually defeated somehow, and their bodies were all "zapped into space." Lost and Found By the modern day, some of them had ended up on the planet of Junk, resembling Earth-adapted Seekers for some reason. Generation One issue 0 When Megatron was brought to that world by Wreck-Gar, he had the Junkion gather and restore three drones. (Then he destroyed Wreck-Gar for his troubles.) The Omega Effect He took the drones to the planet Beest, where he recruited the Predacons. Welcome to the Jungle The growing troupe ventured to Cybertron, where Megatron used a drone to lure out two of Shockwave's warriors. It was destroyed, but Razorclaw immediately captured its executioners, who quickly joined Megatron's band and helped him overthrow Shockwave. Lost and Found

Dreamwave's bankruptcy cut these storylines short, which is why the Squadron's defeat remains a mystery. Also notable is that the name "Air Warrior" was reiterated in the story-catch-up blurb before "Welcome to the Jungle."

Merchandise

Heroes of Cybertron

Some assembly required.
  • Decepticon (2003)
A repaint of the standard Seeker Heroes of Cybertron figure, this was available in triplicate as part of an army-builder pack with Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp. This set was offered by 3H at OTFCC 2003 and elsewhere. For some reason, they lacked the molded plastic insert that normally held Heroes figures in place, so they tended to fall apart in the package. While this was normal for the toy and not a defect, they appeared "broken" at a glance.