Dreamwave Armada issue 6

	; These three planes are a sword... really, they are!
Publisher	Dreamwave Productions
First published	December 26, 2002
Script	Simon Furman
Pencils	Pat Lee
Inks	Rob Armstrong
Colors	Espen Grundetjern, Felipe Smith, Trang Dang, Mike Majestic, Gary Yeung, Rob Ruffolo
Lettering	Dreamer Design
Editor	Roger Lee
Continuity	Dreamwave Armada continuity

Desperate for more power, Megatron captures the Air Defense Team and reworks them into the Star Saber.

Synopsis

In the Decepticon base at Silver Ridge, Nebraska, Megatron tries to force more power out of Leader-1, but the Mini-Con tells him that their powers are not limitless. Megatron announces that if he cannot get more power out of his Mini-Cons, he will simply have to get more Mini-Cons.

Hiding in the abandoned Armstrong Meat Processing and Packaging plant in Rapid City, South Dakota, the Air Defense Team discuss the situation. They've decided that they don't want to get in the middle of the war, and that they have to find a way off Earth somehow. Just then, Megatron and the rest of the Decepticons burst in.

In Lincoln, South Dakota, the kids are playing in the Black Hills, when they run into the Autobots. Optimus Prime tells them that he doesn't want them to become involved in their war. Sparkplug tries to disagree, when he suddenly gets an emergency transmission on the Mini-Cons' private frequency.

The Decepticons successfully capture the Air Defense Team, and Leader-1 assures Megatron that he blocked the distress call. Back at the Autobot base, Laserbeak tells the Autobots that he saw three Mini-Con captives before he was spotted and had to flee. Sparkplug, Jolt, and Longarm want to mount a covert mission to rescue them, but Optimus Prime is against it. He fears what might happen if they were to be captured and put to use by the Decepticons.

Despite Optimus Prime's orders, the three Mini-Cons go with the kids to the Decepticon base. They successfully sneak in, but are discovered by Starscream. In the ensuing battle, the supports are damaged and the ceiling collapses on top of the Decepticon. Elsewhere, Megatron holds up the newly completed Star Saber...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Mini-Cons	Humans
Optimus Prime (6) Laserbeak (13)	Megatron (1) Starscream (11) Cyclonus (12) Demolishor (14)	Leader-1 (2) Sparkplug (7) Runway (8) Sonar (9) Jetstorm (10) Sureshock (14) High Wire (15) Grindor (16) Jolt (17) Longarm (18)	Alexis (3) Carlos (4) Rad (5)

Quotes

"Starscream--fetch!"
"TT. Dunno why you even need all three. Too much Mini-Con power gives me indigestion!
"Starscream!"
"Okay, okay! But don't think I'll just sit back and let you have all the Mini-Con cake!"

—Megatron and Starscream discuss their diets

Notes

Continuity notes

The Decepticons have established their Silver Ridge base that they'll use for the rest of the Armada run.
Laserbeak makes his first appearance, but completely off-panel and with no sign who is talking unless you know he's a flying camera.
After Megatron's forged the Air Defense Team into the Star Saber, they take on their evil "Dark Saber" coloration when in his grip. This will remain a consistent thing throughout the Armada comic.

Transformers references

The names Runamuck and Runabout have been spray-painted onto a sign outside the Air Defense Team's base. This is likely a reference to "Decepticon Graffiti!". Also on the sign is "Since 1984", the year the Transformers debuted.

Errors

On page 2, Megatron's main cannon is drawn with such squashed proportions that it barely looks on-model.
Rad, Carlos, and Alexis' hometown has inexplicably changed from Science City to Lincoln, South Dakota. They also seem to have gotten considerably older; in previous issues they appeared to be seven or eight years old at most but now look like middle-schoolers, matching the cartoon more than the previous issues.
On page 7, Hot Shot arrives in vehicle mode alongside Optimus Prime, but the next scene featuring them indicates that it's Sparkplug that's supposed to be present, not Hot Shot.
Sparkplug is shown to have the ability to Powerlinx with Optimus Prime. However, it had already been established that the ability to Powerlinx was due to Decepticon rewiring on Mini-Con internal systems, and Sparkplug was never captured by the Decepticons. It was later retconned that the Mini-Cons could always Powerlinx to larger Transformers, and the Decepticon working only made it so the linking could be forced.
Pages 13 and 14 have overlapping panels, as if it's meant to be read left-to-right across both pages; however, it's not meant to be at all. Why it was drawn like that is unknown.
Demolishor is drawn without his "eyepatch". He had it punched out last issue by Longarm, so this might be a clever bit of continuity. Also, Lee neglects to draw his usual missiles in their spots atop his shoulders.
On page 16, there's a bit where the Mini-Cons and humans "put their hands in the center" before going forward with their mission. After they do so, Carlos reacts like Alexis didn't participate and she affirms her dedication despite her disinterest in the display of camaraderie. Only one problem; Lee clearly drew Alexis' hand in the center in the previous panel, thus ruining the gag. What's more, Rad's hand is absent from that panel instead!
On page 18, Starscream sees the Mini-Cons and responds "well...hello!" Except the Mini-Cons haven't been drawn in that panel, nor anything that could be them.
Jolt's consistently drawn with Hot Shot's "engine block" gun attached to his underside in copter mode, and then later wields it as a Mini-Con-sized blaster in robot mode. It's just a bit unusual, as that gun is usually scaled for and used by Hot Shot. Despite this, Lee later draws Jolt firing on Starscream in copter mode from different guns on his sides.