Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, copyright Hasbro, Seibertron's Heavy Metal War game, or War For Cybertron, just the characters that I created for my own usage on said games. I'm not making any money off of them, I just play the games for fun.
"Dramatis Personae"
'In Nomen Dea'
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'
Decepticon base
Sol system, planet Mars
circa-1100 B.C.E., human Gregorian Calendar.
To a race that by its very nature changed forms on a regular basis, names and appearances were transitory things, gender was merely a matter of preference resulting from interaction with other species and was equally subject to change. The black mech was well aware of this; almost everything he was now was nothing he had been created as, before the black and silver body, the assault weapons systems, before he had been Stormmaster of the Decepticons he had been just another Autobot in 'Iacon orange', hauling cargo around without thinking what it meant for him.
Stormmaster rested his elbows on his knees and knit his hands together, a common pose when the former Ground Commander was in contemplation. Normally, he didn't get involved in minor alterations - if he did, he'd never get anything done with all the tweaking Uplink constantly performed on himself, among some of his other troopers - but this was only technically a minor alteration considering that it was coming from one of the section commanders among the group of Decepticons that had followed him during the Sundering, which meant that it involved access codes, emergency authorizations, security protocols, chain of command... the whole kind of logistical mis-wire that gave him the glitches. Not to mention the personal aspect of the situation.
Gender was merely a matter of preference because Transformers didn't reproduce by sexually or asexually, rather a body shell was contructed - typically by an experienced engineer/medic - the personality chip was programmed - either by again an experienced technician or on rare occasions by copying and merging parts of the code from two other chips, or on even rarer occasions by the Vector Sigma supercomputer if one had access to a key - and finally the laser core was charged. The three systems were interdependent; a chip and core were nothing more than an intelligent computer without a body, a body with a laser core and no personality was simply a drone, and if the laser core lost all its power without a secondary source, the personality chip would be useless no matter the state of the body shell. Because there was no reproductive drive in the organic sense, Transformer relationships lacked the instinctive component of attempting to find a mate that would produce the best offspring.
During the last Golden Age of Cybertron, entire schools of more esoterically minded Transformers had attempted to develop explanations as to why, without that factor, relationships still developed. Some of the theories had been almost spiritual, such as being created by Vector Sigma that way, to psychological in that it was simple in sentient nature to seek out companionship, to the simply ridiculous idea that they were secretly programmed with gender traits when they were created. All Stormmaster knew and cared to know about the subject was that, for whatever reason, Transformers did gravitate into pairings and in some cases groups. The situation's personal aspect came from the fact that the Transformer standing across the desk from Stormmaster, the one here to confirm their change in name, was his partner.
Dozens of words from as many languages that he had picked up since his creation ran through Stormmaster's central processor, but only one finally made it out through his vocalizer, "Why?"
Skystriker tilted 'her' head and blue optic band met red, "It's hard to explain, Storm'... I suppose the only correct answer is that 'it feels right'."
"I'm sorry," Stormmaster's response wasn't one of 'superior who overstepped their bounds', but of 'partner who realises they just made a serious mistake', "It's simply that you've never been one to make serious changes on a whim. You've been 'Skystriker' as long as I've known you..."
Stormmaster's head tilted towards his office door, "So, longer than some of the shinies have been active, even."
'Shiny', a term used to refer to Transformers created after the speaker, referring to new shiny metal as opposed to older worn and corroded metal. The irony of the term was that it was normally used by those old enough to remember the last Golden Age to describe those created after the beginning of the Great War.
He raised a hand to forestall the comment he knew was coming, "I know, I know, it's your choice. Primus knows that's what we fought for back then... I just thought, you've had it so long, that you were... comfortable with 'Skystriker'."
"I was, but..." She lifted a leg and half-perched on his desk, "Well, how did you become 'Stormmaster'?"
"I challenged the reigning gladiatorial champion for a place on his personal team and when I won he gave me the name," Stormmaster moved his hands apart and then brought them back together in a varient of a shrug.
"That's how you got the name," came the counter, "Not how it became 'your' name."
"I had just traveled across half of Cybertron to get away from my old life, it meant acceptance into a new one, it wasn't that hard... you know all this, 'Striker."
"And we've traveled... To tell the truth, I've actually lost track of how long and how far we've traveled in this Exodus..."
He hadn't, but he didn't say anything to interrupt.
"...or why we ended up on this planet instead of any other," she continued, then paused to purge her air intakes - a Transformer sigh, "I don't even know why I did what I did... But when they called me that name, something felt right, Storm'. For the first time in a long time, it felt like I was where I should be, when I should be. It finally felt like I was making a difference again, not just trying to survive."
He understood, he had felt more alive the first time he involved himself in a back-alley fight than he had in all the time he had been active until that point. It had been that feeling that had set him on the path to Tarn and what would come.
"Okay, if you're sure," Stormmaster raised his head and raised his voice, "Computer, confirm alterations, authorization Storm-Zero-Nine-Nine-Nine-Obsidian. Change all references to unit designate 'Skystriker' to unit designate 'Athena'. Confirm."
"Confirmed," the primary base computer answered back, "Point zero eight rotational cycle will be required for completion."