On Cybertron, the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, are on the verge of losing the Great Cybertronian War to the Decepticons. Optimus sends a young scout, B-127, to Earth to establish a base of operations, but he arrives alone in 1987 and crash-lands in California, where he is attacked by the Decepticon Blitzwing. After losing his voice box and damaging his memory core, B-127 scans a yellow 1967 Volkswagen Beetle before collapsing.