Battle of Autobot City

2010-11-19T04:12:08Z

69.40.117.229:

:''The Battle of Autobot City is a battle from the [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:BattleAutobotCity2.jpg|right|300px|thumb|In ur base, killin ur doods.]]
The '''Battle of Autobot City''' refers to the protracted battle between the [[Autobot|Autobots]] and [[Decepticon|Decepticons]] at [[Autobot City]], the base of the Autobots on [[Earth]], taking place in the year 2005 in one reality. By its end, the leaders of both the Autobot and Decepticon forces were dead or dying, numerous combatants on both sides had been killed, and events were set in motion that would lead to the creation of [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] and, eventually, the passing of the [[Matrix of Leadership]].

{{bigquote|Let the slaughter begin!|[[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]]|''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''}}

==Prelude==
The Decepticons had succeeded in driving the Autobot army off [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. However, the Autobots retained staging grounds on Cybertron's two moons and were in the final phase of preparations for their counterassault. All that remained was the transport of a final shipment of [[Energon cube|Energon cubes]] from Autobot City's production facilities. [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] dispatched a shuttle to Earth for this purpose, interestingly crewed by most of his command staff.

[[Image:Tftm1986a.jpg|left|180px|thumb|The future of pratfall technology: the Exploding Banana Peel.]]
Unfortunately for the Autobots, the Decepticon spy [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] got wind of the Autobots' plans and warned [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], ruler of the Decepticons. In a move reminiscent of the Decepticons' boarding of the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] on their initial arrival on Earth, Megatron led a sizeable contingent of Decepticons against the small Autobot crew on the shuttle. Heavily outnumbered and outmatched, the Autobots were overwhelmed. [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]], [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] and [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] all perished (or at least were deactivated) in this attack at the hands of Megatron and [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]].

Having taken control of the shuttle, Megatron's plan became clear: the shuttle was to be used as a "Trojan Horse", conveying the Decepticons for a surprise attack on Autobot City itself, which Megatron seemed to think would vanquish the Autobots forever. On the other hand, Megatron was never really known for his tactical genius.

{{note|There ''is'' a reason Megatron thought this—the original script makes it clear that Autobot City is, in fact, a massive energy-gathering facility, so if the Decepticons destroy this, the Autobots will be without an energy supply, pretty much crippling their war effort.}}

==The Battle==
===First Phase===
Megatron had calculated correctly in that the Autobot shuttle would not set off Autobot City's automated defences even if carrying a Decepticon crew. It was sheer chance that [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|a small human child]] noted there was a hole in the shuttle and alerted the young Autobot [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]], who divined the truth of the situation. Hot Rod opened fire on the shuttle, damaging it to the point that it exploded and went into an uncontrolled crash. His actions also allowed other nearby Autobots, including [[Kup (G1)|Kup]], to realize something was wrong.

With the shuttle's destruction imminent and the Decepticons' cover blown, Megatron ordered his troops to debark and attack immediately. A number of Decepticons transformed to alternate mode, commenced attacks on Autobot City and attempted to pick off those Autobots caught outside.

[[Image:AutobotCitytransforms.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Launch Black Tiger squadron, and prepare the Wave Motion Gun for firing...oh, sorry, wrong anime.]]
The Autobots, though surprised and outnumbered, quickly rallied to the defense. [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]], commanding the City, ordered [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] to contact Optimus Prime on [[Moonbase One]] to obtain reinforcements, [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] to [[Transformation|transform]] Autobot City into its battle mode, and [[Blurr (G1)|the only Autobot with an amphetamine problem]] to assist in alerting Autobots as to the attack (if they weren't already clued in by hordes of Decepticons [[Bring the rain|bringing the rain]] right down on their heads.)

Springer and [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] delayed transforming the city for as long as possible to try and allow Hot Rod and Kup to get back inside. Eventually running out of time, they began the transformation, offering the city (and its Autobot defenders) greater capacity to meet the Decepticon assault. It also had the added bonus of taking off Starscream's right foot.

Kup and Hot Rod, speeding toward the city, saw that the two [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]] [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] and [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] were eating through one of the doors, but Kickback was taken across a chasm by the retracting bridge. Using the Insecticon as a springboard, Hot Rod and Kup were able to clear the gap and enter the city (crushing Kickback's head and ramming Shrapnel out of the way in the process) moments before the armored doors closed.

Meanwhile, Blaster did manage to make brief contact with the Cybertronian Autobots, but the signal was cut off by the intervention of [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] and the four henchmen he had with him: [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]], [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]], [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] and [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]]. However, Blaster evened the odds by putting his own quartet of counterparts into the fight: [[Ramhorn]], [[Steeljaw (G1)|Steeljaw]], [[Rewind]], and [[Eject]].

Unable to penetrate Autobot City's defences by conventional means, Megatron then ordered the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] to merge into the [[Combiner|gestalt]] [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]. The giant robot quickly made his presence felt, penetrating the first line of defences by literally tearing them open, and shattering one attempt by Springer, Kup, Hot Rod and Arcee to put him out of action. But even so, the two sides were so evenly matched that the battle continued over the course of the remainder of that day and throughout the night.

===Second Phase===
{{quote|One shall stand, one shall fall.|Optimus Prime on seeing Megatron|[[The Transformers: The Movie|TFTM]]}}

[[Image:Tftm1986b.jpg|left|180px|thumb|"Now Optimus, give me YOUR FACE!!!!"]]
However, the City could not hold out forever; by the next morning Autobot defences had been broken by relentless Decepticon assaults, and the likelihood of a mass slaughter was high. It was at this crucial point that Autobot reinforcements commanded by Optimus Prime arrived. The [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] were deployed to attack Devastator, with some success, but could not halt the Decepticons' advance into Autobot City.

That task fell to Optimus Prime, who made a heroic solo frontal assault against the massed firepower of the most elite members of the Decepticon army. In tractor-trailer mode, he mowed down Thrust and Shrapnel and nearly Blitzwing, before transforming to robot mode and using his [[ion blaster]] to singlehandedly blast the Decepticons Ramjet, Thundercracker, Soundwave, Kickback, and Dirge, fighting his way to engage Megatron in what he assured the Decepticon would be their final battle.

[[Image:Battleofautobotcity.jpg|right|180px|thumb|"Hot Rod—help me kill Optimus now and I'll let you have his Matrix. Deal?"]]
The battle between the two leaders was brief and intense, but resulted in a seeming-victory for Prime. But Megatron had spotted a gun a matter of yards away from him. Stalling for time with false pleas for mercy, Megatron crawled towards the gun. Hot Rod intervened as Megatron grabbed the gun, trying to overpower the Decepticon leader. But his efforts backfired, as Megatron overpowered the young Autobot, used him as a shield and shot Optimus repeatedly. Tossing aside Hot Rod, Megatron prepared to finish his longtime nemesis off. Prime, however, managed to gather his remaining strength to deal a haymaker powerful enough to knock Megatron off a ledge and into a fall that would prove almost-lethal.

Seeing their leader conclusively defeated in this way broke the Decepticons spirit. Starscream, taking interim command, ordered [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] to transform and ferry the Decepticons away in a general retreat. Unsurprisingly, Starscream appeared ready to leave Megatron to die, but Soundwave carried him to Astrotrain. Gathering up their wounded, the Decepticons fled, leaving the Autobots to similarly gather up their own casualties.

==Aftermath==
[[Image:Optimusg1passingthematrix.jpg|left|180px|thumb|"One of you must take the Matrix."<br>"Not it!"<br>"I wasn't talking to you, Blurr."]]
Large numbers of Autobots and Decepticons had either been terminated or wounded as a result of the battle. [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]], [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]], and maybe [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] were among the casualties, and even the mighty Optimus Prime soon succumbed to his wounds and perished, but not before passing the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus as his successor, unaware that the Matrix had chosen Hot Rod to become the new [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]].

[[Image:Tftm1986c.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Galvatron, or just plain old TRON?]]
The wounded Decepticons—including the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]], [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]], [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]], and Megatron—were thrown out of Astrotrain to lighten the load, where they would later be found by the Chaos-bringer [[Unicron]] and reshaped into [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]], [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]], [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]], and the [[Sweep]]s.

The [[Unicron War]] would be the next major Transformer battle, its events spinning directly out of the Battle of Autobot City.

{{-}}

==Notes==
[[Image:TFTM-SideswipeRedAlertTracks.jpg|thumb|250px|]]
* The battle is "act 1" of ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]].''
* It's unclear how Megatron managed to beat the Autobot shuttle to Earth's [[solar system]].
* Storyboards that have found their way to the public over the years show additional scenes that were scripted and planned, but (in all probability) never animated:
** At the beginning of the shuttle segment, the Autobot shuttle would have been shown dodging through an asteroid storm, thus explaining why they didn't at least detect the approaching Decepticons. Some of this concept made it into the Marvel Comics [[The Planet-Eater!|adaptation of the movie]]. Then again, the Autobots never were too big on security. How many times did the Decepticons casually stroll into Autobot Headquarters during the series??
** Hot Rod's adventures outside the city would have been a bit longer and more dramatic. A short scene would also show him getting reprimanded by Ultra Magnus inside the city.
** [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] would have stealthily blasted [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] before getting shot at by Megatron.
** [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]], [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]], [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] and Ultra Magnus would have finally brought down Devastator with a missile barrage. The Constructicons would subsequently [[:Image:TFTM-RedAlertDown.jpg|kill Red Alert]] as the Autobots retreated.
** Several Decepticons would have dogpiled Optimus Prime at the start of his confrontation with Megatron, only for him to trounce them all soundly.
** [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker's]] lifeless body would have been seen as the Decepticons retreated.
* Scenes appearing in the Japanese trailer for the movie show a much larger Decepticon armada than is seen in the final take, footage of Mirage and Bluestreak, and Skywarp being shot down in an approach to Autobot City.
[[Image:ShockwaveBattleAutobotcity.jpg|thumb|250px|Logic dictates that I put in a token appearance.]]
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] briefly appears flying over the battle, but nowhere else during it. Whether he was meant to be there or if this was an animation error is uncertain.
* The same sequence apparently shows Ironhide fighting for the Decepticons, and Rumble flying around prior to being ejected. A generic similar to Dirge but using a standard Seeker model appears in another sequence. Some have suggested that Ironhide was actually a miscolored [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]], due to them both having similar helmets.
* Counting characters who were meant to be there, were seen outside, or were killed, the Autobots had Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod, Kup, Blurr, Springer, Arcee, Blaster, Perceptor, Grapple, Huffer, Trailbreaker, Bluestreak, Windcharger, Wheeljack, Smokescreen, Sunstreaker, Mirage and 4 cassettes - more than enough to counter Megatron, six Seekers, three Insecticons, six Constructicons, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Soundwave and 4 cassettes from inside a fortified position. Being 'outnumbered' or at a 'distinct tactical deficiency' assumes either that the Autobot cast has been trimmed down or the Decepticons brought along a ton of generics.
* The events of "[[Five Faces of Darkness]]" imply that [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] was present at the battle, but unable to transform to robot mode because his [[transformation cog]] was damaged. Some fiction suggests that Metroplex is part of (or the same thing as) Autobot City. (All sorts of [[fanon]] ensues from placing these two facts in close proximity. Use caution.)
* The fight between Optimus Prime and Megatron was remade into the commercial of [[Universe (2008 franchise)|2008 Universe]] toyline, with [[CGI]] models based on their [[Masterpiece]] toys.
* Okay, we're going to be honest here. The whole point of this battle is [[To sell toys|to off your favorite characters in violent ways, then replace them with newbies who we've never seen before]].

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:Generation 1]]

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Battle of Autobot City