On the run from the Decepticons, Optimus Prime sends Autobot scout B-127 to Earth on an escape pod in order to set up a base of operations where the Autobots can regroup. Landing in the year 1987, B-127 finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Meanwhile a girl named Charlie, on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers B-127 in the form of a Volkswagen Beetle, battle-scarred and broken. While Charlie attempts to fix the Beetle, it transforms into B-127, whom she befriends and nicknames "Bumblebee". She then unknowingly unlocks a message from Optimus urging Bumblebee to defend planet Earth.