Dear, Vector Prime.
Is there universe where Gentei! Gentei! Strafe is member of Cyclonus's Armada?
Dear Gentei Gent,
Just so. After the Autobots successfully captured the armada, Perceptor experimented with ways to undo Unicron's meddling. With assistance from Chromedome, he prioritised the repair of the mind over that of the body, seeking to free any surviving vestiges of individuality, but their personality components were practically barren. In reconstructing their old minds, it was impossible to say how much was being recovered, and how much was being created from scratch—Perceptor's reports were characteristically opaque, and Chromedome was cagey on the matter.
Eventually, they happened upon a breakthrough, with their second patient beginning to express genuine preferences. After some lab trials, Perceptor deigned to hand the Decepticon over to the Technobots—whom he trusted to abide by scientific methodology—to see how he behaved in the field, designating him “Betatron”.
The ex-armada member made rapid progress, and most of the Technobots rather took to him. Declaring himself no longer comfortable in Decepticon colours, Betatron adopted a paint job in tribute to Strafe, his fellow flyer. Strafe was... less than flattered, already being jumpy around the turncoat, and this drove a rift between him and his more sympathetic teammates. His paranoia soured into jealousy.
When out on a scouting trip, the Technobots suddenly found themselves under attack by the Pretender Monsters. Though the sides were equal in number, Betatron had not yet been entrusted with a weapon, leaving them at a disadvantage. When the Decepticons merged to form Monstructor, the veteran Technobots prepared to respond in kind—but Strafe, realising that he had a place in the team that would be forever denied to their defenseless protégé, made a split-second decision and quickly combined his blasters into a custom weapon for Betatron.
Much like Abominus before him, Monstructor proved Computron's equal. As the combiners grappled, Betatron found himself stuck in the middle of them—and in that moment, turned his new gun on the Technobots. Monstructor gloated in amusement at Betatron's defection. Then, suddenly, the gun leapt from the Betatron's hand, converted to robot form, and punched its master in the face, knocking him out cold. Seizing the tactical opportunity in Monstructor's surprise, Computron did the same to the other combiner.
The battle won, the Technobots separated. Strafe admitted to being distrustful of Betatron to the end, taking inspiration from the autonomous Targetmasters to have a contingency in place. They took the unconscious Betatron back to headquarters. Upon awakening, he confessed to Strafe that Perceptor's ministrations had only served to make him aware of the void inside him, that he had wished to be complete in the way Strafe was, while having a place and a purpose once more—but that seeing the Decepticons had shown him the truth: being utterly devoid of personality was, in fact, a much more comfortable way to live. Reluctantly, Perceptor and Chromedome undid the procedure, and the project ended there.
Strafe's robotic Targetmaster instantly hit it off with the Technobots. They named him "Rocketbot", and together they shared many a laugh.
