When I opened my optics for the first time, I found myself in a small laboratory with a large and rather brutish-looking mech looming over me. I had no memories, but I felt as though I should. I moved to sit up and the mech next to me, a huge 'bot with scratched-up red plating, offered me a servo. I hesitated before accepting his help sitting up.
"Where am I?" I asked. My voice sounded weird to my audios, as though I was listening to a stranger talk.
"Yer in the Tagon Heights," said the huge mech in a thick accent. "Ya was jist reformatted. I know ya prob'ly feel confused at the moment, but Ah'm here ta help ya out."
"Why was I reformatted?" I asked in a cold tone.
He didn't seem offended by my tone. "Ya nearly died. Yer name is Roadburn, and yer a speedster. Ya were racin' where ya shouldn't've been, in a construction site. Ya were crushed under a fallin' beam," he explained. "Ah had ta rebuild ya. Ah'm afraid ya may have lost yer memories. Yer processor was severely damaged."
"How am I supposed to live like that, with no memories? I have no idea who I am," I said.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. What kind of scraphead was I, to go racing around like a moron, getting myself nearly killed? And I had no memories-I was a stranger in my own body, an entirely different person. Wouldn't it be better to be dead than someone entirely new?
Something of my thoughts must have shown on my faceplates because he said, "Now don't ya worry yer head 'bout it. Ah'm here ta help ya, like Ah said b'fore." Again he offered a large servo to me. When I took it, he pulled me to my pedes and made sure I was stable before saying, "C'mon. Allow me ta show ya 'round."
I followed the giant mech, who, despite his brutish appearance, was gentle and moved with surprising grace for his size.
"M' name's Red, by tha way," he said to me as he led me out of the lab. When we reached the city, he said, "This'd be Tagon Heights, the Industrial Quadrant East. Most 'f the buildin's here're power stations, most of 'em solar."
I nodded. It certainly was an industrial-looking city. Many of the Cybertronians here were of large frametypes, built for heavy labor.
"Most 'bots here're construction workers 'r engineers, like myself," said Red. "We build 'nd maintain the power plants here."
"Seems like something better to do with one's life than racing around like a brainless idiot," I said. Really, the idea of living here was appealing, especially after learning of what had happened to me. While I still hated the idea of being a stranger in my own body, part of me was glad I was changed.
Red smiled at that. "It's honest work," he agreed. A pause, then, "Would ya like ta learn ta work here? Ah'd be happy ta teach ya ev'rything I know. Unless ya'd rather stay a racer," he added with a wink.
I grimaced. "No, thank you," I said coolly. "I think I'll take you up on your offer."
"If yer goin' ta change yer life and b'come an engineer, ya might also want ta change yer alt mode," said Red.
I looked down at myself. I was slim, with black, orange, and blue plating, yellow energon lines, and a race car alt mode. "Yes," I said. "I definitely want a new alt mode."
He nodded and led me to a different building and pointed me in the direction of a computer. "Ya can choose a new alt mode from that computer."
I thanked him and booted up the computer. I looked over the possible alt modes for my slim frametype, but, to my distaste, I saw only race cars and similar vehicles.
Sensing my disappointment, Red said, "Since ya was reformatted, yer frametype can be changed. Ya can choose any alt mode ya want."
Feeling much better, I cycled through alt modes for a much heavier frametype, similar to Red's. After a moment's thought, I selected a large cargo truck. I scanned the new form and felt my frame shifting, becoming bigger and stronger, taking on my new alt mode. I looked down at myself and was much happier by what I saw, a powerful femme that matched my new mindset of being a hard worker instead of someone that raced around like a moron.
"Nice choice, Roadburn," said Red.
"Don't call me that," I snapped. Realizing how badly I was treating the mech that saved my life, I said, "I'm sorry. It's just...I'm not Roadburn anymore. I don't want to be called that anymore."
Again, Red didn't seem to be offended by my tone. "Well, what would ya like ta be called?" he asked.
I thought about it. I wanted a strong designation, one that would fit the new me. And it came to me easily, "My name is Stormrunner."
From that point on, I became a new person. I learned quickly about engineering. Red said he'd never seen anyone become such a great engineer so fast. My days were filled with challenging work, work that I was more than happy to do.
The only problem with my new life was my unstable Spark. Being reformatted from someone like Roadburn into someone completely different had upset my Spark and that part of my life force that was still the speedster was making my Spark erratic and unstable. After some time, I came up with a solution. Using my new building skills, I created the body of a minicon and, with Red's help, carefully removed the part of my Spark that was Roadburn and used it to give my minicon, my new symbiote, life. I named her Jetstream, because she attached to me as a jetpack. She could also become a sniper rifle.
I passed the first few years of my life working with Red and Jetstream. However, my newfound sense of purpose and contentment would not last. One day when I went to work at a solar power plant, I discovered my mentor and only friend, Red, on the floor, dead. I rushed to his side but there was nothing I could do. His gentle Spark had been extinguished.
Another engineer found me with Red's body, and suddenly I found myself wanted for a murder I did not commit. It was only years later, long after the Great War had begun, that I found out I had been framed for my mentor's murder.
I fled for my life, to the one place where I could escape the authorities who wanted my arrest: Kaon. It was the Badlands of Cybertron, a city I had barely even heard of, but it was the only place I could go. Tagon Heights was far from Kaon, but after much cautious travelling and many close calls, I found myself in Kaon.
The authorities may have not been on my aft anymore, but I wasn't safe. And it wasn't long before I found myself captured by someone else: the mech that owned the gladiatorial arenas of Kaon. I was enslaved and forced to fight for the entertainment of others.
And, as I found out, I was good at it. I may have been content working as an engineer, but I was truly happy as a warrior. It wasn't long before I met Megatronus, not in battle, but around the arena. He was the champion of the arena, and I was glad I never met him in battle. However, I was interested in what he had to say. He spoke out for equal rights, something that hadn't ever crossed my mind before, but after seeing the differences between cities like Tagon Heights and Kaon, it certainly caught my attention.
Talking to him face-to-face was so inspiring he had my loyalty from the moment I met him. I was loyal from the time he left the arena as Megatron, to when I declared war. I was one of the first to brand myself with his symbol, the insignia of the Decepticons.
My loyalty led me to join the Decepticon Justice Division, and I later earned the right to the title of Commander, and was given my own troops. We were trusted with especially dangerous missions, not unlike the Autobot Wreckers. But our skill and discipline outmatched those warriors.
Even as the Great War destroyed our home my loyalty never wavered. Regardless of who Megatron had become, he was still the great leader I admired and I wore my insignia with pride.
