Aileron

Aileron is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Optimus Prime's beleaguered secretary. She doesn't get paid nearly enough for it.

Aileron seems like the ideal Autobot: not only is she courageous, faithful, and loyal, but she's a sensible, level-headed thinker who's unafraid to speak her mind. Ironically, despite this down-to-earth personality, her spaceplane alternate mode means she spends a lot of time in the sky, crossing continents in a matter of minutes or even reaching low orbit under her own power.

Unfortunately, her youthful idealism has its downsides. Aileron believes in the Autobot cause more than she does in any of the individual Cybertronians who support it; while she grudgingly accepts that no leader can be perfect, she struggles with the idea of bending the rules, deviating from the playbook, or going outside the law, even for a good reason. She gets frustrated easily and sometimes lashes out, and her temper has landed her in a sticky situation more than once. She's not quite the optimist that she once was, but Aileron perseveres—even if she can't always rely on the Autobots to do the right thing, she's learning to rely on herself.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: Transformers vol. 2 #44

This can't go wrong!

Aileron was born from a hot spot within the Titan Caminus. A 'Bot and Her City Aileron and her best friend Sterling originally lived in a small village, where they idolized the Mistress of Flame and her Torchbearers from afar; when Pyra Magna, the new leader of the Torchbearers, visited her village, Aileron was inspired by the encounter and began researching the histories of the Torchbearers, then the mythological accounts of the Thirteen. The Ground As her ailing homeworld slowly ran out of resources, Aileron's hope lay with the Primes. Aileron profile

Eventually, Aileron moved to the city and persuaded Sterling to come with her; the two began regularly attending the Forge and partaking in the religious customs of the Way of Flame, which held that the Primes of legend were godly beings with divine powers. This peaceful period in her life was not to last, however: one day, Caminus was attacked by Swindle and Menasor, an invasion that led to the inhabitants of Cybertron making contact with the lost colony. When Optimus Prime arrived shortly afterwards and revealed the Matrix of Leadership, seemingly marking him as a true Prime, and thus, to the people of Caminus, a living demigod to be worshipped and followed unconditionally. The Ground

Not long after Caminus had formally allied with the Republic of Cybertron and joined the Council of Worlds, Aileron, Sterling, and their mutual friend Swift emigrated to Cybertron, The Transgressors and Aileron chose to upgrade herself with a new pair of cannons. Aileron profile Driven by their faith, the Camiens took to handing out religious literature in the Decepticon ghetto outside Metroplex. This prompted a mixed reaction from passerby Decepticons: Acid Storm looked at their materials out of curiosity, and Sparkstalker defended the rights of the Camiens to do what they wanted as the Camiens treated Decepticons fairly. Needlenose snatched one of Aileron's pamphlet's straight out of her hands; Aileron protested that Prime was a good 'bot, but Needlenose decried him as a false prophet. The Transgressors

Aileron continued to face resistance to preaching about the Primes on Cybertron, even from Autobots less than enthusiastic about Optimus Prime, like the Dinobot, Slag. Redemption Seeking to better understand the Camien viewpoint of him, Optimus Prime approached Aileron and asked her assistance in discovering what it meant to be a Prime. She offered the Torchbearers as a good source of information. Aphelion Aileron and Optimus journeyed out into the Rust Spot, where the remains of Crystal City were collapsed into a singularity. There they encountered the Victorion Torchbearers who had been living in the Rust Spot. Lagrange

IT ABSOLUTELY CAN'T GO WRONG

When Decepticons raided the spacebridge facility, Aileron and Optimus returned with Victorion to secure the site. Aileron reunited with Sterling at the spacebridge nexus, and together they stood alongside Optimus Prime as he annexed the planet Earth into Cybertron's Council of Worlds to prevent another Decepticon invasion. Perihelion Aileron was awe-struck as the Autobots and Victorion tore into the 'Cons, risking their lives for an alien race.

But it turns out those ungrateful aliens didn't like the great Prime annexing their planet for the greater good. The Chinese People's Liberation Army Mecha Force attacked and Sterling was killed before Aileron's horrified eyes; she switched to rage at these "monsters" killing her friend, before Optimus ordered her into her first battle to take out orbital lasers. Swiftly after, and after Prime had told her she was doing a good job holding it together, she saved the day by using the spacebridge to return to Cybertron and then come back to Beijing with the Skyroller. Optimus was left asking what he'd just started, with Aileron telling him he'd done what he had to. At their rendezvous, Aileron further went and bawled out Pyra Magna and Alpha Trion for questioning the Prime when things were so rough!

Optimus had a vision that included her as the Mistress of Flame while Earth burned and people bowed to him, but that's probably all fine! Once Upon a Time on Earth

NOTHING WRONG HERE!

Things stopped being fine shortly after Optimus apologized for Sterling's death and again talked about not being divine. Aileron said he hadn't lied and ending war was worth dying for anyway, as long as those stupid fleshbags would just get it. She grew frustrated over her fellow Autobots arguing about whether it was worth talking to Decepticons; as far as she was concerned, it was the humans murdering the Autobots, who were only trying to make things better! And when Prime just referred to Sterling's death as "grievances", Aileron made the entirely sensible decision to storm down to the White House and demand terms of surrender. The humans responded by shooting at her, prompting Optimus Prime and Victorion to intervene and bail her out. Edge of the Earth

Following a disastrous meeting with the Council, Optimus brought Aileron with him when they returned to Caminus, where Optimus met with the Mistress of Flame. Prime explained that he had forgiven Aileron for her rash actions in Washington, and she listened as the Mistress outlined her theory—that Earth was one of the thirteen lost Titan colonies—and Optimus was the thirteenth Prime of legend! With that done, Aileron returned to Monument Valley while Optimus met with Soundwave aboard Sanctuary Station. The Medium and the Message With Soundwave's Decepticons now under Optimus's command, the united Cybertronian force prepared to storm Galvatron's underwater base. Aileron was eager to fight—and incensed that Optimus was being told to sit out the fight—but Arcee ordered the Camien to stay behind. Aileron was therefore present when Circuit and Longtooth bridged to Earth as part of Starscream's propaganda venture, just as the Earth Defense Command moved in to take down the Transformers. It's Beginning To And Back Again

Ok, so it went pretty wrong.

Optimus ordered his troops not to fire on the encroaching humans, but Aileron, still stinging from the death of Sterling, followed Soundwave's call to action and engaged the humans in a dogfight. This was short-lived, however, as Soundwave had an epiphany, realizing that humans and Cybertronians were more alike than different and prompting him to abandon his attack. Seconds later, Optimus reached out and raised a Titan from beneath the ground, driving the humans into a temporary retreat. As Above...So Below Aileron later watched as Metrotitan assumed his city mode, becoming an embassy Optimus dubbed "Autobot City". No Fair Fights

Aileron was subsequently guarding the spacebridge to Cybertron when it was shanghaied by the recently revived Sentinel Prime, who blasted Aileron before she could warn any other Autobots. The Last Autobot While Sentinel ran amok in the base, Aileron was unconscious and consigned to the city's sick bay. White Light Aileron recovered later and was present when Optimus and Soundwave returned to Autobot City. White Heat

Battle of the wrongdoers!

Some months later, at the beginning of Earth's Ore-13 crisis, Aileron travelled from Sanctuary Station to meet with Kup in Germany. Concorde Hymn From there, the duo travelled to Mount Olympus to investigate the recent Ore-13 explosion there. Kup soon realized that the "explosion" wasn't what it seemed—the missing Ore-13 had been transported to another dimension, detonating the remaining crystals. On their way back through the city streets, they were suddenly accosted by the forces of M.A.S.K., a disguised strike team wielding reverse-engineered Cybertronian technology. Aileron clashed with Brad Turner before Matt Trakker and the Thunderhawk took out her long-range communications. With Kup incapacitated and taken prisoner by Miles Mayhem, the elderly Autobot instructed Aileron to retreat and warn Optimus Prime. Aileron managed to evade the airborne M.A.S.K. vehicles and escape. The Divine Source of Liberty

A damaged Aileron limped back to the Autobot base to warn the other Autobots about what she and Kup had learned during their time in Greece. Soundwave correctly identified the other dimension as Microspace, sparking a debate about their next course of action... a debate that only intensified when alien knight templar Rom opted to take matters into his own hands. O Ship of State When the evil Baron Karza revealed himself as the true mastermind behind the crisis, Aileron took part in the massive pan-factional battle that saw the Autobots, Rom, G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K. team up against the Baron's monstrous fused form, incorporating Cybertronian technology and the supernatural powers of the Dire Wraiths. Valley Forge

While she stuck with Optimus in the aftermath, she was souring on him and had stopped believing he was anything too grand. To Walk Among the Chosen Believing that he could leverage his status as the mythical Thirteenth Prime, "The Arisen," Aileron accompanied Prime on a tour of the colony worlds, during which he called upon the faithful to join him on Earth. Post Time Will Rust Prime's efforts would be rewarded with a group of devout rookie Autobots: though their blind religious zeal concerned Aileron and most of the veterans, who worried that Prime was beginning to behave differently as a result of this hero-worship.

On one of their first missions, Aileron led the rookies to Mexico City to uphold the Tyrest Accord by finding and neutralizing a cache of black-market EDC weapons derived from Cybertronian technology. Finding that an anti-Cybertronian protest had already broken out, their attempts at performing crowd control failed when Midnight Express got shot by a human wielding one of the weapons they had been sent to find.

Did YOU do something wrong?

Shortly afterwards, Aileron was part of Optimus' big group that met a massive alien spacecraft in the Alps. To Walk Among the Chosen She watched as Prime met with Junkion leaders Wreck-Gar and Rum-Maj, only to be interrupted by G.I. Joe. Back at Autobot City, she provided security as Prime took the two aliens on a tour of their Earth embassy. A Lonely Pillar on the Plain

Aileron accompanied Prime to Cybertron when the Autobot leader met with the Council of Worlds; Behind My Bleeding Back though she snapped at the pious colonists on returning to Earth, she nevertheless stood by them when Pyra Magna finally confronted Optimus and his cynical manipulation of their faith. At a summit between Earthlings, Cybertronians, and Junkions, she provided security, which came in handy when the Junkions betrayed the fragile peace with a school of deadly Sharkticons. Dance Among the Shadows Aileron helped evacuate several human leaders, including the United States President. Future Glories Lost Ultimately, Optimus Prime managed to reach a truce with the defeated Junkions as Aileron and Jetfire watched on. The Cybertronians and Junkions relocated to the Bikini Atoll to begin the construction of "Little Cybertron": a new city for Transformers, Junkions, and Sharkticons alike. Aileron and Jetfire watched as the united races set about building the city; though Aileron was still skeptical about Prime's recent actions, Jetfire was heartened by his leader's ability to show that he had changed for the better. Feel Safe Without Regrets

Aileron later visited Autobot City's medical bay to check up on Sideswipe, who had shown no signs of recovering from his worsening coma. Remembering her friend Sterling, Aileron tried to comfort Arcee, who had come to pay Sideswipe a visit... only for the pink Autobot to snap at her that she didn't have any friends, because everyone thought she was crazy. Aileron quietly replied that she didn't think so. The Next Day, and the Next

As tensions continued to mount among the Autobots and their allies, Aileron, feeling increasingly alone, turned to Jetfire for solace. Jetfire told her about a time when he felt the same way. What It's Really Like

When Sideswipe finally passed away, Aileron joined Arcee on the deck of Metrotitan. Aileron offered her condolences and mentioned that, according to the Way of Flame, all Sparks would be reincarnated. Arcee wasn't quite taken by the idea, wondering what it would be like if everyone she and Sideswipe had killed came back to life... but nevertheless, asked Aileron to stay with her as she looked to the stars and said a final farewell to Sideswipe. The Life of Sideswipe

I bet you think that we're going to drive this joke into the ground, but you'd be wrong!

When the time came for Earth to formally join the Council of Worlds as a member, AIleron was one of the Autobots who stayed behind aboard Metrotitan, coordinating the movement of various diplomats and representatives through Metrotitan's space bridge to Cybertron. With Optimus and his retinue offworld, Baron Ironblood's attack on Cybertron disabled the bridge and left the Earthbound Transformers rudderless. Aileron quickly took command of the deteriorating situation; while Jetfire and the others worked to restore communications with Cybertron, Aileron decided to keep the anxious colonists out of everyone's hair and brought them with her in an effort to track down Jazz, Primeless, Part 1 who had gone missing following a human sting operation. What It's Really Like

The trail brought them to a small town in Oaxaca, where the Autobots ran afoul of more humans wielding Cybertronian weaponry. Caught between a diplomatic incident and their own safety, Aileron and the others retreated to the outskirts of town. Forced to contend with Slide's mounting frustration with her leadership and the Autobot cause, the Camien deicded that they would instead follow the trail of illegal arms back to their source. Despite sticking up for Prime when Slide pointed out his increasing ruthlessness, Slide's words began to influence the colonists as they travelled... and eventually, she and Gimlet stumbled across Jazz, under fire from a group of human militants. Primeless, Part 1

Aileron ordered her team to take out the humans attacking the Autobot, and after scaring off Jazz's attackers and forcing one of the humans to lead the Autobots back to the dealers, they discovered that the entire arms trade had been masterminded by Rumble and Frenzy, who were looking for a quick buck. Aileron realized that she couldn't arrest the two Decepticons without provoking factional tensions, and that she and the colonists would have to cover up the entire incident. As a depressed Jazz drove off to go it alone, Slide's attitude prompted Aileron to snap and tell her to shut up. After quietly disposing of the guns, the Autobots returned to Metrotitan with none of the other Autobots any the wiser about what they'd done. Primeless, Part 2

"Well, my brother, what's it going to be? Your nation, or a life of treachery?"
"Choose treachery, it's more fun!"

Following the defeat of the Iron Ring, First Strike #6 Aileron joined the cast of Thundercracker's ill-conceived biopic about the life of Starscream, and played Windblade in the hastily rewritten ending that followed the impeachment and arrest of its subject. Starscream: The Movie

Some time later, Aileron had returned to Optimus Prime's detachment on Earth. She and Arcee chatted about the new protoforms on Cybertron before Aileron was dragged into an argument with Slide. An exasperated Aileron eventually hauled Slide in front of Optimus after the Devisien went too far. Surfeit of Primes When Onyx Prime and the Liege Maximo arrived to parley with the Council of Worlds, Aileron put through a call to Soundwave, warning him that his presence was requested on Cybertron. Another Mine When it became clear that the situation in Iacon was spiralling out of control, however, Metrotitan himself opted to bridge to Cybertron, dragging all of his passengers, save for the Colonist Soldiers below, along with him. The Titan arrived too late, however: Onyx's manipulations had already plunged the city into chaos, and Metrotitan himself was blasted and fatally wounded by Onyx's own Titan, Nemesis, crashing to the ground. The Ground

It soon became clear that "Onyx Prime" was not who he seemed—the ancient Prime was, in reality, a time-travelling Shockwave, who had, in the guise of Onyx, engineered the rise and fall of the ancient Primes so as to further his own long-term goal: for the Cybertronian race to be saved, he concluded that Cybertron and all of its culture must be destroyed utterly so that the Cybertronian race could begin anew on another world. As Aileron and the other survivors clambered free of Metrotitan's body, they found themselves beset by Liege Maximo's Maximals, and while Arcee held off the horde Aileron helped the injured Jetfire to safety. The Hallowing

"They seem to be very good friends."

After Jetfire told the Camien exactly who Shockwave was, Aileron tried to find the bright side in the situation: if "Onyx" wasn't a true Prime, then perhaps they could beat him and his forces. As the pair searched for Arcee, unaware that she'd been taken hostage by Liege Maximo, the pair found themselves confronted by Shockwave himself, who told them that Jetfire was needed for the final stage of his plan Endless Forever—neither of them aware that Jetfire was simply bait for Pyra Magna so that she could host Prime's now bodiless mind, trapped in infraspace by Shockwave's manipulations. Arcee, meanwhile, was able to free herself from Maximal custody by manipulating Liege Maximo's supply of Ore-4, sending her and the others plummeting to their deaths... if it weren't for Aileron using her flying alternate mode to safely catch Arcee as she fell, saving her life, and the Camien found herself unexpectedly kissed by Arcee as thanks.

Although Pyra Magna was able to defeat and arrest Shockwave, the united forces of Cybertron had failed to stop Shockwave's ultimate plan—for Unicron had already awoken. Unforgivable As Unicron began its assault on the galaxy, devouring one colony after the next, Aileron was part of the Cybertronian detachment that travelled to Rom's homeworld of Elonia under the command of a recently resurrected Optimus, helping to evacuate two-thirds of the population with experimental spacebridge technology before it was annihilated by the planet-eater. Our Darkest

Unicron rampaged its way through one colony after the next until only Aileron's homeworld of Caminus remained, and it was there that Prime chose to make a stand against Unicron. As the Autobot fleet engaged Unicron and the Maximal horde in orbit, Aileron and several other Camiens helped coordinate an emergency evacuation of the planet—but despite Prime's best efforts, the combined firepower of the Council of Worlds was unable to stop Unicron from destroying Aileron's homeworld. Last Stand Still dealing with the loss of her home, and finding no solace in Arcee's stoicism, the pair were interrupted by Bumblebee; revealing her own past as a warrior during Cybertron's first age of expansion, Aileron accompanied Bumblebee as the yellow Autobot sought out the advice of a comatose Omega Supreme. Through a mystical vision, Bumblebee learned that Unicron had been created as a weapon against Cybertronians all those years ago, in response to "Onyx's" invasion of the planet Antilla—but no sooner had Bumblebee digested the meaning of this vision than Unicron himself appeared over Cybertron in his new robot mode, intent on completing his mission of Cybertronian extinction. Stranger Eons

The two hurried to Metroplex to share their findings with the representatives of the Council of Worlds, only to find that their news had paralyzed the already stricken Council. Windblade expressed frustration at the genocidal history of Cybertron... and Arcee pointing out that Caminus, and all the colonies, had been built atop that genocide, despite Aileron's best attempts to mediate. Our Finest As Unicron began tearing Cybertron apart, unexpected help came from the Prysmosians of New Prysmos, who had come into possession of the mystical Talisman responsible for Unicron's creation in the first place. Uisng its magic, the aliens projected a magical beam of energy that transported Cybertronians to Earth; while Optimus leapt to save as many Cybertronians as possible, he ordered Aileron to activate Metroplex's own spacebridge at the last possible moment—and as Cybertron broke apart, Metroplex rematerialized on Earth, atop Victoria Falls, with the rest of the Cybertronian refugees. Aileron took a brief moment to reunite with Arcee before receiving word from Prowl: Unicron was now on his way to Earth. Road's End As the refugees regrouped in anticipation of the final battle, Aileron threatened to punch Starscream after the Seeker undercut Prime's latest speech. A Sunrise Dark That night, Aileron attended Jetfire's briefing on everything they knew about Unicron, and learned that the monster planet drew energy from a black hole in his center: if left unchecked, Unicron's attacks would imperil the entire galaxy. Assembly

On the night before Unicron's arrival, Aileron took a moment to embrace Arcee, A Sunrise Dark and in a later conversation with Optimus Prime, Arcee opined that her new love meant that she now had something to lose if Unicron won. As dawn broke, Aileron ran up to the pair to bring news: the Maximals were indeed on their way... but so were the united forces of Earth, buying time for the Cybertronians and their allies to teleport into Earth's orbit. Assembly Aileron took part in the final battle against Unicron and his forces, a diversion while Prime, Arcee, and the three Seekers attempted to kill Unicron from within by using the Talisman that had created him. She rallied the survivors to fight even harder after Ironhide was ripped in half by a Maximal, and later watched incredulously as Starscream sacrificed himself to activate the device. When Unicron himself finally died—due in part to Prime's own heroic sacrifice—she used her altmode to rescue Bumblebee and Arcee from Unicron's collapsing mass, and the trio made a safe landing on Earth's Moon, where the two lovers joyfully reunited. Ceremony

In the days that followed, Aileron, Jetfire, and the surviving members of the Colonist Soldiers set out on a deep-space exploration mission, meaning that they all missed Prime's funeral. Post

2019 IDW continuity

First appearance: Transformers Valentine's Day Special backup strip

At some point, Aileron posed in a group photo with many other Cybertronians, including Blast Off. Open Comms

Out amongst the colonies after the War of the Threefold Spark, Aileron was member of the covert ops unit known as the Wreckers. Using a traveling stunt show as their cover, the Wreckers tried to put out hot spots and tensions in the distant Cybertronian colonies. Publicly, Aileron was the Wreckers' stunt coordinator who planned the choreography and "stage work" for their shows. Privately, she was the unit's tactician who organized mission deployments and maintained their cover. Aileron's meticulous, no-nonsense personality often clashed with the improvisation of the team leader, Thunderclash.

During an orbital drop stunt show, the Wreckers' broadcast was interrupted by a terrorist group calling itself Mayhem. Hailing from Velocitron, Mayhem denounced the Speedia 500 as an absurd means of choosing the planet's First Senator, and promised to deliver the choice of elections back to the servos of the people, by violence if necessary. Thunderclash and Aileron agreed the Wreckers needed to make an appearance on Velocitron to protect innocents. While Aileron had planned a covert insertion to be timed with their next stunt show to provide the team with alibis in perfect sync with her time table, Thunderclash just called the press as they arrived and publicly announced the Wreckers would be racing in the Speedia 500 as a show of support for the government. Tread & Circuits Part 1

Aileron begrudgingly went along with Thunderclash's impulsive new plan, and they spent the next few days getting to know the players on Velocitron and the racers involved. Aileron suspected Mayhem would have at least one sympathetic racer in the Speedia, but the Wreckers were unable to identify the culprit before hand. Aileron continued to raise doubts about Thunder Clash's strategy, but their debate was interrupted when their chronicler Circuit located Mayhem, only to be fatally wounded. With their medic Minerva looking after Circuit, Aileron and the remaining Wreckers entered the race. Tread & Circuits Part 2

Mayhem attacked the race course during the Speedia 500, bringing the Wreckers and racers together to fight the terrorists. Local Security Operations eventually intervened, but all surviving members of Mayhem escaped. Tread & Circuits Part 3 Later at the Veloctronian Senate, Knock Out of the Ascenticon party was sworn in as the winner and new First Senator. Mayhem made another attack on the Senate, and the Wreckers helped defend the senators and civilians. However, Minerva had disarmed an assassin and been caught with his weapon by Sec-Ops, leading to her arrest. With Minerva imprisoned and Circuit expiring from his injuries, Aileron questioned whether the Wreckers could even continue. Thunderclash tried to rally his unit, suggesting a membership drive for the Wreckers to gather more support and maintain the course. Tread & Circuits Part 4

Games

Transformers Roleplaying Game

Aileron was Optimus Prime's retainer and one of his close confidants. Although devoted to the Autobot cause, Aileron was a level-headed thinker who was unafraid to speak her mind. Transformers Roleplaying Game Starter Bundle

Notes

• Aileron is colored to resemble the Renegade GoBot Crasher.
• An aileron is a hinged surface on the trailing edge of an aircraft wing, used to control an aircraft's balance.
• According to Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #1, Aileron is 22 feet (6.7 meters) tall and weighs 11 tons (10 metric tons).