Varta
- Varta is an alien, really! He's from the 2005 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family!
Varta is an alien who talks in rhyme through and through; he won't understand you if you don't do it too! He's good with machines and he can change his shape, handy for getting out of a rough scrape. When it comes to friends, he made a good pick, and spread to Wheelie his annoying amusing vocal tic!
Fiction
[edit]2005 IDW continuity
[edit]Varta was a native of the planet LV-117, one of the worlds selected by Shockwave as a target for one of his Regenesis missiles. The "Ore-1" the missile was loaded with had a far stranger effect than generating the energon Shockwave sought, however: it mutated the planet's soil into chronally unstable matter that unhinged the entire world from linear time. Varta's race spent generations growing up in the shadow of the missile, and access to its technology made them amazingly technologically adept, allowing them to build universal translators for themselves that they hung around their necks. Unfortunately, the devices relayed all their words in rhyme, and could not process speech from other creatures unless it too was spoken in rhyme. Using their skills, the aliens took it upon themselves to guide their errant world on its shifting journey through time.
Thousands of years before the present day, Varta and many members of his race were captured by the Decepticon warlord Turmoil, who saw ways to put their technological abilities to use. When a time-hopping Optimus Prime appeared from the future, Turmoil grabbed Varta and threatened to kill him in order to stay Prime's hand, but this only pushed the Autobot leader into faster action, and he punched Turmoil out and took Varta under his arm. While touching Varta, Prime underwent another time-jump, and Varta was brought with him some distance into the future, where he assumed a monstrous aspect and turned on Prime, thinking him one of the Decepticons. Realizing that Varta could not understand him unless he rhymed, Prime was able to communicate with and placate the alien. When another ship from Prime's future appeared overhead, Varta ignored Prime's warnings and departed to investigate. Syndromica (2)
Reaching the ship, Varta was attacked and captured by its surviving Decepticon passengers, Spyglass and Spectro. Fortunately for him, he was saved by another Autobot visitor to his world, Wheelie, who undid his shackles with a well-aimed shot and allowed him to escape. Wheelie proceeded to track him down and befriend him, adopting his rhyming speech pattern as they worked together to patch up a spacecraft that lay elsewhere on the planet that could take Wheelie home. Once finished, however, they were attacked by Spyglass and Viewfinder again, and Varta was taken captive and threatened with execution if Wheelie would not turn the ship over to the two Decepticons. Wheelie acquiesced to save his friend, but rigged the ship to explode after it took off, killing the villains.
Wheelie and Varta spent at least a further year on the planet, living fairly happily in a shelter cobbled together from the remains of the ship. Spotlight: Wheelie As the planet bounced its way into the year 2018, it was threatened by Unicron, Our Darkest and the pair were forced to make plans to flee the planet to save their lives. Acquiring a ship through as-yet-unknown means, they loaded up some of the planet's native animals and were preparing for departure when Optimus Prime, still on his time-hopping journey, reappeared. Varta recognized the Autobot leader, but could not even finish his greeting before he was stabbed and killed by Prime's fellow time-traveller, Bludgeon. Syndromica (2)
Wheelie recovered the deceased Varta's translator necklace, and took it with him as he escaped the planet, relocating to nearby LV-118. The Stars My Destination