"Before I defected to the Autobots I was the leader of the opposing faction in the war," he says, without much hesitation. "And after I defected, one of the conditions of my, ah, freedom, such as it is, is that I have been dosed with a form of energon that drains my strength, to ensure I do not pose a threat in the event my change of spark proves... temporary."

He sounds kind of amused, if wryly so.

"Which was all well and good until we ended up here, and suddenly I actually need to be able to defend myself and my comrades. In theory the effects should wear off in time as long as I'm no longer consuming the poison, but... it would be a slow and unpredictable process."