Strafe (IDW)
| The name or term "Strafe" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Strafe (disambiguation). |
- Strafe is a Camien from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Strafe is a member of the Forgefire Parliament and, like most citizens of Caminus, is an adherent of the Way of Flame.
Fiction
IDW Generation 1 continuity
When Windblade called to meet with the Forgefire Parliament, Strafe was among those present. She insisted that Starscream be contacted to give account of Cybertron's role in the destruction wrought on Caminus by Menasor. When Starscream arrived, she and her companions were shocked to see Optimus Prime arrive with the cityspeaker, and bowed low as he revealed the Matrix of Leadership within his chest. The Sum and Its Parts
Together with another representative from the Forgefire Parliament, Strafe served as an official representative of Caminus in meetings with Starscream, expressing gratitude for reparations made to repair the damage from Menasor, but also stressing the importance of Optimus's opinion as Matrix-bearer. The Possible Light At the negotations towards the Council of Worlds, she was confused by Starscream's reluctance to follow the word of a Prime, and later doubted the ability of Superion to defeat a Prowl-dominated Devastator, prompting Starscream to use the Enigma of Combination on the Protectobots, creating Defensor. She looked on as the pair of Autobot combiners defeated Devastator, and was witness to a beaten and bloodied Prowl's insistence that the Decepticons and Starscream could not be trusted.Mistakes and Mayhem Afterward, she stood as part of a group observing further repairs to Caminus being assisted by Superion, Defensor, and several Decepticons, You, Me, and the Universe and following further conflicts between combiners, she provided a signature for the treaty officially forming the Council of Worlds. All That Remains
Together with Swift and Barricade, Strafe made plans to travel to Alyon with a truckload of Camien sparks to make use of a hot spot, joining the energy abundance of Cybertron with the available supply of new Camien sparks to ensure the future of both planets. The trio bargained for the assistance of Slug and the other Dinobots with a briefcase full of gold shanix, though she chose not to trust their hired muscle with the nature of their cargo, telling Swoop that he was "better off" not knowing. For most of the journey, she remained at the wheel of the truck, usually accompanied by Slug. When Starscream's secret police attacked the convoy, she briefly believed that the Dinobots had sacrificed themselves, and tried to motivate her companions to not let that be in vain—before Slug and his team returned, telling her to move forward for her own sake.
Crossing the Sea of Rust, she took point alongside Slug, walking in front of the truck with a bladed staff held at the ready. When Slug inquired about her choice of weapon, she explained that the power crisis on Caminus meant that blasters weren't practical, just before being attacked by a Sweep taking advantage of the cover provided by dust storm. She took to the air in vehicle mode, her weapon converted into twin prongs that speared her attacker. Just as she asked the Dinobots about the dead bot's identity, more attacked, and Strafe joined the Dinobots in battling to defend the truck—until the Sweeps fled in fear. Strafe spotted the reason hidden in the dust storm: the Torchbearers.
As she drove the truck across Praetorus Wharf, she was reminded of Caminus's energy-depleted past by the stark and frozen landscape. The resemblance disappeared as the ground turned to a mysterious sleek black metal, and mutant turbofoxes fired on the truck, shattering the windshield and hitting both Strafe and Slug with what they assured each other was only superficial damage. When Slug expressed concern over her injuries, she took it for flirting, pointing out the similarity to a conversation between Barricade and Swift. She then mistook Slug's disgust at Barricade's Decepticon allegiance as being directed at the flirtatiousness, and expressed doubts about villainy of the Decepticons, recounting that she'd heard they had fought for equality.
When Bludgeon tore through the truck at Tyger Pax, she attacked him in a rage, only to be batted away and knocked against a leak of the same contaminated energon that Slug had earlier blamed for his change into a "monster". Broken and rapidly mutating, she looked on in horror as Bludgeon finished off the wounded Barricade and the sparks, and then explained his desire to see what the toxic blood of Trypticon might do to an Autobot—prompting Strafe to reply that she was a Dinobot, as she transformed into a monstrous new beast mode with two heads on long necks. She began destroying Sweeps with a double blast of fire breath, agonized at all she had lost and the sacrifice of her principles now that the sparks were destroyed. When Swoop and Slug realized they were overlooking an active hot spot at Alyon, however, her mood improved at the sight of the great many sparks, and in spite of the newfound pain in transforming to robot mode, she realized that their journey was worthwhile.
As Slug prepared to depart and leave Swift to take credit for the discovery of the sparkfield (and let her put the blame for any crimes on having been kidnapped on the Dinobots, who were already outlaws), Strafe insisted on joining him so that she could hunt down Bludgeon and make sure that he did not survive. Returning to her monster mode, she joined the other Dinobots and left Swift and her old life behind. Redemption
Notes
- Strafe is the first female Dinobot and the first member of the team with an animal form in no way derived from Earth's prehistory. being a two-headed dragon-like creature similar to the alt-modes of Doublecross or Hun-Gurrr.
