Editing Base

{{episode|
|series=Armada
|ep=3
|prev=Metamorphosis (Armada)
|next=Comrade
|title="Base"
|furigana=ともだち
|japanese=仲間<!--base-->
|romaji=Tomodachi
|translation=Comrades: Friends
|image=Base-New HQ.jpg
|caption=All yours belong to us.
|production code=TF: A-03
|production company=[[TV Tokyo]], [[Nihon Ad Systems|NAS]]
|writer=[[Ryō Motohira]]
|director=[[Issa Kobayashi]]
|animation studio=[[Actas Inc.]]
|airdate=[[August 23]], [[2002]] (English)<br>[[January 24|24 January]] [[2003]] (Japanese)
|continuity=[[Unicron Trilogy]]
}}

'''More Mini-cons are found and the Autobots get their base set up.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:ArmadaMegs fallenover.jpg|left|155px|thumb|In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!]]
The Decepticons open fire on [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], forcing him to his knees. [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]] reveals [[Leader-1 (Armada)|Leader-1]] and combines with the Mini-Con, activating the huge cannon at his waist. The cannon fires with such force that the Decepticon leader is flung backwards. Fortunately the shot misses its intended target and destroys the hill behind Optimus. Though Optimus is amused, Megatron merely states that that was only a taste of his power, and laughs maniacally. At length. Then he begins repeatedly firing on the Autobots while sliding backwards and finally falling over on his back. Unfortunately the blasts cause a landslide which tumbles towards [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]], [[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]] and [[Rad White|Rad]]. [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] shields the three kids, keeping them safe, while [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] does the same with the Mini-Cons. Alexis wonders what's happened to Megatron, and quickly spots three glints of light: more [[Mini-Con storage panel]]s.

[[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]] and [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] rush to their fallen leader to check on his health, and he tells them to go destroy Optimus Prime. The conversation is interrupted by Optimus himself, who grabs Starscream by the head and throws him at Demolishor before grappling directly with Megatron.

[[File:Baseautobots.JPG|155px|thumb|"Whoa... my hands are huge... They can touch everything but themselves... Oh wait."]]

Red Alert pulls one of the Mini-Con panels from the ground, activating it. Hot Shot gains the Mini-Con [[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]] while Red Alert combines with [[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]] and the pair fire on the Decepticons with the new weapons they've just unlocked. Megatron, Starscream and Demolishor promptly teleport away. [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] sticks around long enough to steal two Mini-Cons the children just dug up, and then teleports away as well, cackling insanely. On the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], Megatron is not at all pleased—until Cyclonus arrives and presents one of the stolen Mini-Cons.

[[File:Basebump.jpg|left|155px|thumb|"Go Team Mini-Con!"]]
Optimus tells the kids that Megatron is likely to return, now that he knows there are more Mini-Cons to be had. Rad complains that the whole thing was an accident, leading into a flashback to the discovery of [[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]]. He'd never have done it had he known it would start a war. Proper introductions are made, and further exposition about the function of the Mini-Cons and purpose of the Decepticons on Earth given. Rad asks if the Autobots want the Mini-Cons for power like the Decepticons do, and Optimus assures him that the Autobots treat Mini-Cons as equals while the Decepticons treat them as slaves. The three kids offer to help. After Rad and Carlos joke that they tricked Alexis over being able to understand Mini-Con speech, they make up and bump fists. The Autobots are intrigued by this Earth custom and bump fists as well, making the ground shake.

The next day at school, there's a [[basketball]] game, and Fred gets hit in the face with the ball several times. Rad and Carlos play dumb when Billy asks them about the earthquake, and Alexis points out that they would have heard about any earthquake on the radio. Rad and Carlos also explain away their new bicycle and skateboard, though Billy still suspects them of being up to something. Alexis catches up to her friends to inform them that they almost blew it.

[[File:Basebattle.JPG|155px|thumb|Special XXX-Rated Adults-Only Powerlinxing.]]

On the Moon, Starscream and Demolishor have a sharp argument about who's going to be Megatron's right-hand man when he takes over the universe, and they end up fighting. Demolishor is more massive stronger, but Starscream proves to be faster and more adroit, ultimately winning. But they're interrupted by Megatron himself, who orders them to stop wasting their energy and reminds them of their mission to search out all the Mini-Cons. He activates one of the Mini-Cons Cyclonus recovered, [[Blackout (Armada)|Blackout]], and presents him to Demolishor as his "little partner in crime". While Starscream fumes, Megatron tells him he has to capture his own Mini-Con.

Billy and Fred go into the mountains again and observe that it looks like a bulldozer drove though. Below ground, Carlos and Rad are marvelling at the activated spaceship. The Autobots present the kids with [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]], a small bird which transforms into a video camera. After Optimus explains its purpose, High Wire alerts them to the fact more Mini-Cons are coming on-line.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] (4)
*[[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] (5)
*[[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] (19)

|c2=
*[[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (2)
*[[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] (3)
*[[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] (6)
*[[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (7)

|c3=
*[[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] (9)
*[[Rad White]] (12)
*[[Carlos Lopez]] (14)
*[[Billy (Armada)|Billy]] (16)
*[[Fred (Armada)|Fred]] (17)

|c4=
*[[Leader-1 (Armada)|Leader-1]] (8)
*[[Sureshock (Armada)|Sureshock]] (10)
*[[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] (11)
*[[Grindor (Armada)|Grindor]] (13)
*[[Jolt (Armada)|Jolt]] (14)
*[[Longarm (Armada)|Longarm]] (15)
*[[Crumplezone (Armada)|Crumplezone]] (18)
*[[Blackout (Armada)|Blackout]] (19)
}}

==Quotes==
"Hot Shot, are you all right?!"

:—'''Optimus''' has no concern for the Mini-Cons or the children (or even for Red Alert), apparently.


"Ah, yes, now I find out they're all incompetent."

:—'''Megatron''' should really have noticed that earlier.


"Ah, man, that guy burns me up."

:—'''Rad''''s reaction to Cyclonus making off with a Mini-Con.


"Come on, boys, we've got work to do!"

:—'''Megatron'''... refers to his troops as "boys" apparently.


"I am totally surrounded by weirdos."

:—'''Alexis''' has an epiphany.

==Notes==
===Differences with ''Micron Legend''===
*Rad's "previously on" narration is an ''Armada'' addition since the footage it's playing over ''isn't'' from the previous episode. In ''Micron Legend'', Alexis provides the narration in which she reintroduces herself, her friends, and the Autobots to the audience; she also provides the closing narration for the episode.
*Upon powerlinxing with Jolt, the beam Hot Shot fires from his cannon is red in ''Armada'', but yellow in ''Micron Legend'', evidently changed to match the initial flare of energy from the gun, which is yellow in both versions (see collage below). As the series consistently makes Autobot firepower red, that would mean the Japanese version changed this to be ''wrong''.
*Megatron remarks not on the incompetence of his soldiers in ''Micron Legend'', but on Hot Shot and Red Alert obtaining Mini-Cons. Additionally, he's merely calling retreat when he warps away, while in ''Armada'', he announces a puzzling intent to "take matters into his own hands."
[[File:Armada ep3 animation changes.jpg|thumb|285px|''Micron Legend'' screencaps, at left, depict a string of inconsequential changes to the ''Armada'' animation (at right) that represent an effort that could have been better directed elsewhere.]]
*The discussion between the kids and Autobots after the battle is ''basically'' the same in both versions, but it hits a lot of different beats along the way:
**Where ''Armada'' has them talking about the Decepticons' imminent return, in ''Micron Legend'', they discuss the crashed spaceship.
**While the kids and Prime introduce themselves to each other in ''Armada'', Optimus Prime responds to their inquiries by explaining the nature of Cybertron and the Transformer race in ''Micron Legend''; introductions come later, which ''Armada'' replaces with the kids volunteering their help to the Autobots. During their intros, ''Micron Legend'' adds the kids thanking the Autobots for saving them, and when Alexis mentions how scared she was, Optimus ascribes it to the children seeing how large the Transformers are for the first time.
**Instead of hollering about how cool the Autobots are, Carlos tells them they already know who Megatron and the Decepticons are.
**Rather than having Optimus refer to the Mini-Cons as the pawns in the war, he explains how the Decepticons want to use their power to conquer Cybertron and then the universe.
**''Armada'' has Rad question why the Autobots' motives for finding the Mini-Cons are different to the Decepticons, while ''Micron Legend'' sees him worry more about the Pandora's Box he fears he's opened. ''Armada'' re-adds this a bit later while the kids are offering to help.
**Last episode, ''Armada'' had the kids unable to understand Mini-Con speech; in this episode, Rad fluctuates between accurately translating for High Wire and only guessing what he is saying. In ''Micron Legend'', all the kids that can understand their Mini-Cons, and Optimus singles this out as a unique thing, talking about fate binding the kids and Mini-Cons. He follows this by talking about how they must destroy the Decepticons, while in ''Armada'', he talks about the history of the Mini-Cons.
**While ''Armada'' just has Rad claim he was guessing what the Mini-Cons were saying, followed by him teasing Alexis about it, ''Micron Legend'' has him make a joke about how Alexis is going to break from her studies to be part of the Autobot experience. This makes the source of Alexis's resultant anger different between versions; in ''Armada'', it's over being teased, while in ''Micron Legend'', it's righteous fury over the boys' apparent shirking of responsibility.
**During the final fistbump among the Autobots, Optimus declares the crashed spaceship will serve as their base. There's also no laughing from them at the end of the scene.
*Billy and Fred spout generic sporting trash talk in ''Armada'', while ''Micron Legend'' has them actively questioning the others about what they were doing in the cave, leading into the rest of the discussion, post-game. A point in their conversation that ''Armada'' loses is that the Cosmoscope Research Center's computers were knocked offline at the time of the earthquake, which is why there's no recording.
*Carlos downplays his skateboard in ''Armada'', but sings its praises in ''Micron Legend''.
*Billy pines after Alexis in ''Armada,'' but in ''Micron Legend,'' he's just talking about going back to the caves.
*In ''Armada,'' Starscream and Demolishor fight over who will be Megatron's right hand man, but in ''Micron Legend,'' they're having a contest to see who will get the second Mini-Con Cyclonus nabbed earlier. Megatron gives it to Demolishor not to spite Starscream, as ''Armada'' implies, but because he believes Starscream actually has the skill to find one on his own.
*After Starscream and Demolisher's scuffle, Megatron gets the last bit of dialogue in the scene in ''Armada''. In ''Micron Legend'', it's changed to Starscream as his mouth is now animated to muse about the fight being too easy.
*Megatron's speech to his troops about gaining Mini-Con power is an ''Armada'' addition; in ''Micron Legend'', his pontifications are directed at the panel itself, beseeching the Mini-Con within to come forth.
*As Megatron works his wicked way upon the Mini-Con panel, it is much larger in ''Armada'', taking up most of the table. ''Micron Legend'' corrects the panel's size.
*After the scene with the Decepticons, the camera trucks in towards Earth in ''Micron Legend,'' but zooms out away from it in ''Armada.''
*The downward pan from Billy and Fred to the Autobot base beneath is sped up for ''Armada.''
*In ''Micron Legend'', rather than criticize Carlos's analysis of the base as obvious, Alexis chastises him for just using the word "awesome" repeatedly. When Rad appears and starts talking about how cool the base is, he suggests other words Carlos could use. Hilarious.
*The animation of Optimus as he tells Red Alert to give them Laserbeak is entirely redrawn for ''Micron Legend'' (see the comparison at right).
*The shot of Laserbeak transforming in Alexis's hands is cropped much tighter in ''Micron Legend'' (see right).
*Hot Shot merely talks about kicking butt in ''Armada,'' while in ''Micron Legend,'' he explains to the confused kids that Red Alert has repaired the control room.

===Animation and technical errors===
*The animation during the opening battle is atrociously bad, almost on par with that of the episode, "[[Decisive Battle]]," especially with the size discrepancies between the humans and Transformers.
*When Megatron takes the panel from Cyclonus, Megatron doesn't have a mouth.
*After going up the stairs while leaving school, it looks like Carlos is flying on Grindor.
*Demolishor's transforming animation during his battle with Starscream on the Moon consists of his robot model leaning off-screen or onscreen.
*As Starscream reattaches his sword after the fight between him and Demolishor, the Decepticon symbol on his right wing is missing, and there is a purple spot on his arm that should be white.
*During the shots of Demolisher, Starscream, and Cyclonus facing Megatron on his throne, the Decepticon insignias on Starscream's wings are missing.
*The Mini-Con on Cyclonus' shoulder is ridiculously puny.
*The shot of Megatron with the newly-awakened Blackout reuses Megatron's animation earlier in the episode, from when he delighted about the power boost from Leader-1.
*The position of Alexis' hands seems to change during the scene of her holding Laserbeak.

===Trivia===
*The kanji 仲間 would be pronounced as "''nakama''," while "''tomodachi''" is for the kanji 友達. 
*Cyclonus stole two [[Mini-Con storage panel]]s from the children and presented only one to Megatron. Crumplezone is perched on Cyclonus's shoulder when Megatron offers the other panel to Demolishor, so Cyclonus must have activated him off-screen.
*After all the talk of Starscream needing to find his own Mini-Con, Megatron presents one Cyclonus found to Demolishor. Huh?
*This episode was included on Rhino's "Best Battles" DVD compilation, along with "Metamorphosis," "Confrontation," and "Decisive Battle."
*Rad, Alexis, and Carlos seem way too happy with themselves for beating Billy and the overweight Fred in three-on-two basketball. It's not like three victories in a row would be a great struggle. Dicks.
*With the Japanese dub, this episode features the show's first references to the Pit and Megatron's title as the [[Emperor of Destruction]].
*Going by the Japanese dub, Alexis is the "mother" of the trio.

===Foreign localization===
'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Das Geheimnis der Mini-Cons'''" ("The Secret of the Mini-Cons")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[December 3|3 December]] [[2003]]

'''Hungarian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''A bázis'''" ("The Base")

'''Polish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Baza'''" ("Base")

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Base'''"

'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''La base'''" ("The Base")

'''Korean'''
:*''Title:'' "'''옵티머스 변신'''" ("Optimus Transformation")

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2003 — ''Transformers: Micron Legend'' — Volume 1 ([[Columbia Music Entertainment]]) — Japanese audio only.<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:01 ([[Universal]])<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2004 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Best Battles ([[Rhino Entertainment]])<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2004 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Season One: Part One (Rhino Entertainment)<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2005 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Triple Collection (Universal)<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2008 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Bumper Double DVD Collection (Universal)<br>
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2008 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Volume One ([[New KSM]]) — English and German audio.<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — The Complete Series ([[Shout! Factory]])

[[Category:Armada episodes]]