Now that my research is complete and all the tales have been told, I can turn back to Page One and tell you why I did all of this.
It's no secret to most of the Cybertron population that I started my life as a Predacon. And it's no secret still that I eventually opted to settle down and rediscover my Maximal roots.
I've heard Predacons who hear the story are dismayed over the loss, which is very flattering.
To be honest, the female Predacon has no role model. I certainly don't claim to be her. So wondering exactly why "we" had no one to look up to, I did my first scrap of computer research and turned up exactly one name: Nightbird.
The stories about Nightbird are classically just as varied as the stories of any Great War figure. Most Maximal accounts regard her as a drone ninja created on Earth by the Human race, who was used as a warrior for the Decepticons and destroyed shortly after her test scout run. At least one far more romantic account casts her a formidable and intelligent Decepticon, who was executed by Starscream for the crime of becoming Megatron's lover. Debunking the rumors and finding the facts was a real challenge, and it only seemed appropriate that I should name this book after that initial cause.
As a female Maximal, do I now have a role model?
We know, historically, that Optimus Prime was married, and to an equal and general, no less. But where are the tales of her exploits? Nearly non-existant. We know of Arcee, who fought in the battle against Unicron, but we know nothing of her eventual fate. Female Autobots listed in war records barely show up in any of the Great War's first-hand accounts.
Until now.
I entered this project fully prepared to learn and report the truth about the history and treatment of females during the Great War, and the Great Upgrade after. Often, what I discovered was surprising.
I mean no racial bias when I assert that the majority of this book will cover the lives of Autobot women. From the "housewives" of Junk to Elita One's leiutenants, the stories of the Autobot women are fascinating and as varied as the race itself. When Maximals were finally created, the legacies of our mothers became part of our code.
However, I will answer now the question this book's title proposes. You can name no Decepticon females because there were no Decepticon females.
But as promised, I begin chapter one with the story of Nightbird. Consider her silence a symbol as you read, and learn about the history behind Cybertron's most silent minority: its women.
—Blackarachnia