SPOILERS for "Reboot" if you all haven't read it yet.
However, here're my thoughts on what a third story would look like. It resembles the 1986 animated movie, which I saw at least twice as a child, a lot more than it does Transformers: Dark of the Moon, although it uses movie-verse characters.
*It takes place 20-odd years later. Sam and Mikaela have since married and have a son named Daniel. In the 1986 film, the G1 Sam and Carly were married and Daniel was their son. The Autobots have established a ground-based civilization on Earth (Autobot City, like in the animated series) while the Decepticons remain primarily in space.
Given the Autobots' origins among Cybertronian civilians and the Decepticons' origins among Cybertron's military, I figured the Decepticons would be more likely to be, in what fans of A Few Good Men, would recognize, "out there on the wall" while the Autobots would prefer a planetary existence. Plus Starscream remembers the Fallen was not just a danger in his own right--he was the herald and apostle of Unicron, who is still out there somewhere. Despite issues, the peace agreement brokered by Optimus Prime and Starscream
(after finally usurping Megatron) remains in place. Both sides cooperate in the mining of Energon and the creation of new Cybertronians (or to put it cynically, new toys), while other survivors filter in as they learn about the end of the war and Cybertronian settlement in the Earth system. Meanwhile, the humans have colonized the Moon and Mars, using borrowed Cybertronian technology to (partially) terraform Mars and build warrens and domed cities on the Moon.
*This peace is disrupted by the arrival of Galvatron and his minions, reforged by Unicron from the dead Decepticons (which included Megatron and probably Soundwave as well) cast into a black hole at the end of "Reboot." Galvatron has taken the place of the Fallen as Unicron's herald and Unicron has learned from his mistakes with his last herald--he has given him a substantial army of his own rather than simply making him more individually powerful. And Galvatron has the Fallen's ability to raise armies of robo-zombies from fallen Cybertronians and destroyed human military equipment too. It has taken Galvatron this long to return to take his revenge because he probably cannot remember where Earth is (due to battle-damage from Starscream's assassination) and because Unicron had other plans for him.
*Galvatron and his army tear through the Decepticon defenses in the outer solar system on their way to Earth. Galvatron takes pains to kill Starscream specifically, and then kills Jetfire who tried to avenge him. He manages to collect a few Decepticon followers who recognize him as Megatron reborn and want to renew the war with the Autobots. I'm thinking Dropkick, a lesser Decepticon from "Reboot" who got some POV chapters, will be one of them. Bypassing Mars (which is out of the way enough they can do that without leaving their rear exposed), Galvatron and company batter their way through Earth's defenses and attack Autobot City. They're driven off, but not before Ironhide, Optimus Prime, and others die (like in the 1986 film).
*As the Autobots and their human allies lick their wounds and attempt to rebuild their defenses, Galvatron returns to Unicron. He intends to use Unicron to destroy the Autobots and the Decepticons who have remained allied to them, along with the pesky "fleshlings." Unicron, who is fairly close to the Earth system, goes for it.
*The Autobots choose new leadership. Not sure who among the surviving movie-verse Autobots would be chosen. Bumblebee, perhaps, as one of the last survivors of Cybertron? Or we could bring in Hot Rod, as one of the new Cybertronians created in the Earth system? Bumblebee is the most recognizable Cybertronian movie character, but it was Hot Rod who (eventually) succeeded Optimus Prime in the 1986 film.
*Unicron arrives and begins devastating Mars. Knowing that Unicron was able to defeat the much more advanced Quintessons (the original creators of the Cybertronians) in a straight up space battle, the humans and "good Cybertronians" come up with a different plan. Their spatial forces will engage Unicron in order to provide cover for a ground force to land on him (it?) and dig inside to attack his vitals directly. I imagine the Nemesis would take the lead in the space-battle, while the more colonization-oriented Ark would be the one landing the masses of Cybertronian ground troops and spacesuited humans. There, the human forces (under the command of Lennox, who would probably be a general by now) and the Autobots under the command of Bumblebee or Hot Rod, must face off against Galvatron.
Now the stuff I'm not so sure about...
*Not sure how to get Sam and Mikaela involved in the violent mayhem again. Their presence in North Africa in "Reboot" was a bit contrived--they got caught up in the deployment of NEST troops by accident. Perhaps they'll be background characters and it'll be Daniel who is on the sharp end, so to speak. He'd probably be around the same age the Daniel character was in the 1986 film, after all, while Sam and Mikaela would both be in their 40s. "Transformers: The Next Generation" perhaps?
*I wonder what to do with Miles and Leo? Given the Cybertronian fixation I gave Leo in "Reboot," I could imagine him having some kind of technical job after graduating college. The fact Miles and Sam are drifting apart does come up in "Reboot," so him being left out of the story entirely could be doable. Or maybe Sam runs into him at their 20-year high-school reunion, they awkwardly make conversation, and then promise to keep up better even though both of them know they won't?
Do any of your fan-fiction types want to take a stab at this? If so, leave a comment and we can discuss it. I'm not going to write anything, but I can always provide ideas and advice.
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