Story of Binaltech
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Story of Binaltech (バイナルテックのストーリー Binaltech no Story), later simply Binaltech Story, is the storyline for Binaltech, written by Hirofumi Ichikawa. It is only told in small text chunks within each toy's instruction booklet (during the original run of the series) or on the toys' packaging itself (for the toys released in 2007 and 2008). Supplemental information was also included in the characters' bios and Tech Specs, also included in the books and on the packaging.
The story of Binaltech continues into Alternity.
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Summary
Taking place during the 'lost years' between the Generation 1 cartoon's second season and The Transformers: The Movie, the Binaltech storyline saw the Autobot forces split across Earth and Cybertron, as Megatron launched a major offensive to take control of the Transformers' homeworld. With the Autobot forces spread thin, Swindle unleashed the Cosmic Rust virus on the Autobots, crippling their bodies. With many of their number damaged beyond repair, the Autobots teamed up with various name-brand car companies to create new "Binaltech" bodies for the infected, which would be immune to the plague. Following the reconstruction of Bluestreak, Smokescreen, Hound, Tracks, and Sideswipe, the Autobots launched a counter-offensive that successfully beat back the Decepticon threat, driving the villains off-planet.
As this battle raged, an evil conspiracy group named the "Concurrence", consisting both of human villains from season 2 of the original Transformers cartoon and obscure villains from G.I. Joe spin-offs from the 1990s, was formed, seeking to create a rift in the Autobot/human alliance. With a little help from Starscream, the Concurrence hijacked the Binaltech bodies intended for Sunstreaker and Trailbreaker and used them to restore Dead End and Swindle. To combat this renewed Decepticon offensive, the Autobots developed "Genetronic Translink" technology, allowing a single Autobot to control multiple bodies at once. Smokescreen was outfitted with this technology, and Jazz received the Binaltech upgrade to make use of it.
The plot of the Binaltech storyline took a dramatic turn with the arrival of the time-tossed Ravage. It was revealed that, years before, the government organization known as the Intelligence and Information Institute had unearthed the flight recorder from Ravage's Transwarp cruiser (crashed on Earth during the Beast Wars), which contained a copy of the Decepticon's personality. Striking a deal with Ravage's consciousness, the Triple-I staffers uploaded his mind into a Binaltech body, but the felonious feline immediately set about using his knowledge of the future in an attempt to alter the course of history. However, the acts of sabotage he committed were detected by the freshly-Binaltech-upgraded Overdrive, who put the Autobots on Earth on alert, forcing Ravage to take a different approach.
When Wheeljack came to Earth to help restore the damaged Grimlock in a Binaltech body, Ravage hijacked his shuttle on the return trip to Cybertron. Once on the planet, Ravage uncovered the Kronosphere time machine, and used it to transport Megatron and the bulk of the Decepticon army outside of time. With this act, Ravage successfully changed the timeline, leaving the Autobots to face the approaching threat of Unicron alone, after which Ravage would recall Megatron and the Decepticons, allowing them to easily conquer the weakened Autobots and claim victory in the war. To lead the Decepticons in the meantime, Ravage arranged for the recreation of Shockwave as a Binaltech warrior.
Having been offered a glimpse of the impending future by Ravage, Wheeljack dedicated himself to finding ways to save the lives of the Autobots that would die in the future. Establishing the "Body Shop" project to create Binaltech bodies for his friends, Wheeljack upgraded himself as well, but when he attempted to transfer Prowl's spark into a new body via subspace, an accident resulted in the spark being lost between dimensions. Chip Chase downloaded his mind into the Binaltech body instead, becoming the new Prowl, and together with Overdrive, led a strike that resulted in the capture of Ravage. Just at that moment, alas, Unicron appeared in the skies over Cybertron, and in the midst of the ensuing chaos, the Autobots made a desperate last-chance gamble: using the time-warp on Dinobot Island, Skids traveled back in time in an attempt to undo all of Ravage's corruption upon the timeline.
Skids's chapter of the Binaltech story was released in 2005, after which the toyline was put on hiatus and replaced with Kiss Players. As such, it would be two more years before fans found out how his time-travelling endeavour turned out, in the story chapter released with Black Convoy in 2007—and as it transpired, things did not go well. Although Ultra Magnus proved able to defeat Unicron with the power of the Matrix, Skids's trip into the past caused the timestream to destabilize, causing all of time to unravel around the Autobots. A mysterious spark known only as the "Protector" emerged from the chronal chaos and possessed the body of Nemesis Prime (created by Doctor Arkeville). The Protector used its powers to stabilize the timestream, restoring history to its intended flow, while also preserving the "Binal-Time" timeline as a parallel universe, with the explanation that the Binaltech warriors would ultimately lead to the creation of a great force in the future known as the "Alternity". Unfortunately, Nemesis Prime's programming soon overrode the Protector's spark, forcing it from his body and returning to Arkeville, who succeeded in bringing the new Decepticon to true life. The bad news kept on coming when Megatron and his Decepticon forces returned from outside of time, and succeeded in the goal Ravage had envisioned for them, defeating the Autobot and conquering Cybertron. To stop the Decepticons, Mirage used his invisibility powers to venture into the depths of Cybertron and activate the large switch created by the Quintessons which shut down all non-Binaltech Transformers everywhere. Nearly the entire Decepticon forces were disabled, and Nemesis Prime took control of the remaining troops.
It would be mid-2008 before further Binaltech toys, and hence more story chapters, were released, but when they did at last arrive, they picked up right where the story had left off. First, Prowl's spark reappeared from its subspace sojourn in another dimension (the original "correct" timeline of the cartoon continuity), the Bluestreak of that world travelled into the Binal-Timeline to inform the Autobots there of their friend's fate. After stopping a Concurrence plan to tap the energy of Prowl's spark to power a war-machine made from animated electrum, the Autobots restored Prowl's spark to his frame, and Chip to his own body. With this crisis averted, the Autobots began focusing their efforts on the Protector, attempting to give him a Binaltech body, while also conducting the Timaeus Project at his direction to create the substance known as "Alternium", which would be important for the future he had foretold. Although Arcee successfully carried out the Timaeus Project, she was unable to stop a Decepticon attack that saw the villains kidnap the Protector, as part of a plan by Nemesis Prime to create a synthetic Matrix for himself by removing human consciousnesses from their bodies and fusing them together. A strike by the Autobots prevented the dark Prime from carrying out his horrible scheme, and during the final battle, the Protector merged with Optimus Prime, increasing his strength to the point that he was able to destroy Nemesis Prime.
References
- Complete archive of Story of Binaltech
- Author-endorsed translations of Story of Binaltech Chapters 1-13 at Ben's World of Transformers (archived)
- Author commentary for Story of Binaltech
