#betatron

[blueey-jayzilla]

There's a bug in my hammy ew

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime,

Can two Combiners swap team members to change their equipment or gain new properties?

Dear Fastidious Fusilateral,

When multiple bots merge, each constituent lends their own special onboard technology and mental faculties to the result—so any rearrangement will produce a different personality and abilities in the combiner.

For example, if the Protectobot Hot Spot and the Aerialbot Silverbolt swap their respective teams, then Defensor would gain the ability of short-range flight, while Superion would gain a weak forcefield. This has in fact happened on one occasion, when Silverbolt—suffering a particularly bad bout of acrophobia—asked Hot Spot to take his place. The other Protectobots did not recognise this new combiner at first, and referred to him as "Hyperion". After they merged with Silverbolt to form "Suppressor", both combiners proved an awkward match against the unbridled ferocity of Menasor and Bruticus, which illustrates the main problem with scrambling combiners: any strategic advantage to be had by a non-standard configuration is simply negligible, compared to the single-mindedness made possible by an experienced team who are accustomed to one another’s company.

In my personal files, I have a copy of the so-called "Theseus Archive", which purports to catalog every single possible combination, each with its own name. Now, let us see, we have… Abomenaticus… Betatron… Comperian… Gaia Poseidon… Scramble 13, Securitas… hmm. You know, looking through the full list now, I realize most of them have certainly never been formed—well, except for in the author’s mind, that is. Look at this one, "Swindlor"—Swindle is listed for every single limb! That can’t be right. Or here: left leg, Blast Off, right leg, Groove! Why, he would be so unbalanced, a single step would send him toppling to the floor. And if there truly was a combiner containing both Blot and Skalor at the same time, well, I should think the author would’ve passed out before writing it down!

[heavymetalred]

Commission for the wonderful @vintage-mechanics of her Decepticon, Betatron (a very handsome lad)! I had a lot of fun working on him, especially on his visor.

Version on the left was later corrected to the version on the right, thought it'd be interesting to include both.

Thank you, Vel!

[askvectorprime]

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.

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime, why do the descendants of the Autbots call themselves Maximals? Are they descendants of Liege Maximo? Citizens of Fortress Maximus? Or did they simply want to maximize fuel efficiency?

Dear Maximal Master,

In some realities, the Maximals are named for their fuel-efficient bodies; in others they are the chosen children of the Liege Maximo. But in most other realities, they owe their existence to Fortress Maximus; this is but one version of this tale based on my observations of a universe you may or may not know.

At the twilight of the conflict, when Iacon had been reduced to cinders and Kaon a charnel house, when Optimus Prime and Galvatron both perished, the Titan reluctantly took up arms to finish what the Decepticons had started. He commanded a formidable council of experienced soldiers and scientists at his disposal—Ironhide, Prowl, Silverbolt, Sky Lynx, Cerebros, and Scattorshot, to name a few—but none could compare to Fortress Maximus himself in raw military power. With the assistance of Magnaboss and Metroplex, the Autobots pushed the Decepticons off Cybertron—a few stellar cycles later, Betatron and Sky Lynx spearheaded the Chaar offensive, which permanently shattered the Decepticon war machine and pushed their enemies to the edge of the galaxy. The ensuing stalemate left both sides without the resources or manpower to finish off the other, and a feverish technological arms race began as both sides sought to construct next-generation soldiers that would finish the fight.

Despite his decisive string of victories, Fortress Maximus had grown weary. He was built for war, and yet his deeds weighed on his mind. Some time after the liberation of Chaar, Fortress Maximus received a transmission from the Predacon Razorclaw, who had fled Chaar with a significant contingent of soldiers and starships under his command. He too had grown weary of war, and sought out a truce with their ancient foes. He offered Fortress Maximus and his war council a deal: in exchange for amnesty, they would work with the Autobots to vanquish their former comrades. Fortress Maximus, eager to do anything to hasten the end of the war, agreed, and the formal truce was ratified in the ruins of Iacon. Razorclaw received a spot on the council, and his legions of “Predacons” accelerated the defeat for the disorganised remnants of the Decepticon armies. Second-generation Autobots and Decepticons arose with great speed, and set about rebuilding Cybertron.

Fortress Maximus wished merely to sleep forever, to put himself in a place beyond conflict and wired himself directly into the ruins of Iacon, providing housing and infrastructure to the growing legions of new Cybertronian lives. Those who claimed allegiance to the Autobots redubbed themselves “Maximals” in honor of his sacrifice, and even though his name has long since been forgotten, the impact of this sacrifice has not.

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime. You mentioned Betatron recently, could you please tell us more about this unusual Gestalt? Or Modulus for that matter. What is it about Scattershot that he ends up in so many combinations of Combiners?

Dear Scatter Scrambled,

The answer lies within Scattershot’s advanced datatrax. As you may know, the Technobots do not possess super-computational abilities as individuals: rather, the data necessary is partitioned within each team member. As the core of Computron, Scattershot naturally contains the combination partition. The same code that allows the Technobots to merge not just their minds and bodies but their computational power is easily repurposed as a sort of compatibility patch for other combiner limbs. Thus, combiners formed with Scattershot at their centre have surprisingly high performance, making up for lack of experience as a team with highly optimized internal specs. Of course, given how valuable Computron's calculations are, the deployment of Modulus, Betatron or Comperian is often a sign of great crisis.

[askvectorprime]

Dear, Vector Prime. What could you tell us about Betatron relationship with Computron?

Dear Gestalt Gossiper,

If they are in a relationship, they've certainly kept it on the down-low.

[dailythesisgarble]

Betatron:

A mechanism of magnetic induction used to accelerate electrons.