Silverbolt's History
Silverbolt was a Maximal resistance fighter that was reformatted from his time as the Vehicon Jetstorm.
When the Autobot shuttle crash-landed, the Maximals split up. Silverbolt went with Rhinox and Blackarachnia. They ran into some tank drones, who used the de-evolving virus on Blackarachnia. Rhinox had to drag Silverbolt away. They met up with Rattrap, who was being chased by some more tank drones that infected them with the same virus. Because they weren't Transmetals, Rhinox and Silverbolt were paralyzed and their sparks were taken out.
When the Maximals found themselves back on Cybertron running for their lives from armies of Vehicon drones, their memories of their past had been tampered with. Even Blackarachnia could not remember Silverbolt fully until she hacked into the memory backup on their ship.
Blackarachnia began to suspect that Silverbolt's spark might be inside one of the Vehicon generals. At first, she erroneously thought it was within Thrust, but after a mishap with some technorganic goop, Silverbolt's spark was proven to be inside Jetstorm. For a precious few moments, Silverbolt's consciousness was completely awoken within Jetstorm's body, reverting him to his old personality, until the goop was absorbed completely and Jetstorm's shell program reasserted itself.
Obsessed with bringing Silverbolt back, she hounded Jetstorm, demanding he remember their shared love and return to the Maximals. Needless to say, Jetstorm was vexed by this. When Rattrap created a gizmo that would help them transfer the stolen Transformer sparks into new bodies, Blackarachnia stole it. Leading Jetstorm into the planet's organic core, she attached the gizmo to his back and trapped the Vehicon in a pool of the technorganic goop with her webs. After much screaming, reformatting, and brilliant light, Silverbolt was reborn as a condor, having scanned skeletal remains inside the cavern in the process.
Counter to Blackarachnia's expectations, Silverbolt was not pleased. Gone was the Maximal who exemplified honor and chivalry, replaced with one who desired only retribution and vengeance. "I was a fool back then", he once said. "I believed in things". Distraught, Blackarachnia managed to convince him to come along with her to help rescue Optimus Primal and Cheetor from inside Megatron's Big Floating Head, but Silverbolt did not accompany her for their friends, as he was not interested in them. He went to confront Megatron.
Megatron, seeing that his General had been reformatted into a Maximal, tried to seduce Silverbolt back to his side. Silverbolt was told he was a creature of honor who fought for just causes, and that Megatron gave Silverbolt not only a just cause, but also the power and strength to fight for that cause. Blackarachnia countered at every point, pleading with Silverbolt to remember their love and friendship. Silverbolt ignored her, bitterly retorting that Megatron had given him nothing. With nearly insane fury, he let loose a volley of feather bombs, disrupting Megatron from within. Cheetor and Primal were rescued, and Silverbolt was dragged away from the battle.
Slightly calmed, Silverbolt was later approached by Blackarachnia. He confided in her the real reason for his anger: it was not what Megatron had done to him, but that he'd been freed from his code of honor and enjoyed the experience. He did not trust himself any longer. This did not deter Blackarachnia. She believed, no matter what, that Silverbolt had goodness in his heart.
Silverbolt's return to the Maximals was not without its hiccups, however. When he formally returned to the group, Megatron used giant mechanical drill-tentacles to damage the city and get the Maximals' attention as well as activate a new strain of the ancient Hate Plague virus hidden in Silverbolt. After infecting everyone and nearly scrapping each other, they managed to cure themselves.
When a spaceship was shot down and crashed into the city, Silverbolt was teamed with Nightscream to reach it from the air, and he had to endure the young Maximal's harsh words and attitude, brought on by the Hate Plague incident. Silverbolt fought against the crazed space plant on the shuttle, then against a horde of Tank Drones in their underground base, and his actions finally allowed Nightscream to warm up to him.
After a battle against Thrust and his cycle drones, Silverbolt chewed Blackarachnia out for losing focus during the battle. Nightscream later approached Silverbolt to tell him not to be such a jerk to Blackarachnia, but Silverbolt wasn't interested in listening and flew off, pursued by the younger Maximal. The pair soon encountered trouble in the form of two new Vehicon generals, Obsidian and Strika. Though they were joined by the other Maximals, the Vehicon generals out-thought them at every turn, and they were only saved when Botanica intervened. Still, Silverbolt didn't fancy their chances against the new generals.
During the search for the missing sparks, Silverbolt was teamed with Cheetor and Blackarachnia. Though he wasn't keen on taking orders from Cheetor, whom he regarded as a kid, despite Blackarachnia asserting that Cheetor had grown up a lot since the Beast Wars. Eventually Cheetor was able to prove himself sufficiently to earn Silverbolt's respect. With the discovery that the missing sparks were aboard the Grand Mal, Cheetor, Nightscream and Silverbolt set about keeping the Vehicons busy while Optimus and the others sneaked on board. They were too late to prevent the beginning of Megatron's spark-fueled ascension, though it was ultimately halted by Nightscream. Silverbolt joined the other Maximals in mourning the loss of Nightscream's friend Noble.
Despite Megatron's apparent demise, Silverbolt was reluctant to renew relations with Blackarachnia. The pair's discussion was interrupted by an attack by a zombie animated by a strange red spark. The Maximals hunted the spark through the streets of Cybertropolis, only for it to turn out to be Megatron after Rattrap forced it into the body of a Diagnostic Drone.
The Maximals struggled to protect the Grand Mal and the sparks it contained, Silverbolt, Blackarachnia and Nightscream were sent out to wreak havoc in the ranks of the Vehicons in an attempt to distract them. The Vehicons eventually overcame the Grand Mal's shields. The Maximals received a power up from the Oracle and were able to hold their own against the Vehicons, until Megatron cut off their power boost. Silverbolt was taken out by Thrust, and Blackarachnia by Obsidian. Their sparks were subsequently torn out by cycle drones. Though unable to aid physically, the Maximals gave Optimus Primal moral support during his duel with Megatron. Following the Great Transformation, the Maximals' sparks were returned to their bodies. Silverbolt's old personality reemerged.
