Transformers Armada: The Quest
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| "The Quest" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | DK Publishing | ||||||||||||
| Imprint | DK Readers | ||||||||||||
| First published | August 18, 2003 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Andrew Donkin | ||||||||||||
| ISBN | 0789497425 978-0789497420 | ||||||||||||
| Page count | 48 | ||||||||||||
| Price | $3.99 (US) | ||||||||||||
The Autobots are assisted by three young humans in their quest to find Mini-Cons.
Synopsis
Hot Shot was annoying everyone at the Autobot base by claiming that Red Alert wasn't much of a warrior, despite Optimus saying that wasn't the case. Then, the alarm sounding, signaling that another Mini-Con had become active somewhere on Earth. The Autobots and the kids used the warp-gate to travel to the mini-Con's location, somewhere in the frozen wasteland of Antarctica. The Autobots initially encountered problems with the harsh conditions, but were put back in working order thanks to Red Alert. Hot Shot, Jolt and Carlos then set off together on their own to cover more ground. As they scoped out the area, the team encountered Starscream. While avoiding the Decepticon's fireblasts, Carlos spotted the Mini-Con panel embedded in stone. Before Hot Shot could get to the panel however, he found himself outnumbered by the Decepticons surrounding him. Thankfully, Red Alert is able to intervene before the Decepticons execute Hot Shot, dispelling the opinion Hot Shot held earlier about his fellow Autobot. With the arrival of Optimus Prime onto the battlefield, the Decepticons fled, save Starscream, who busied himself retrieving the Mini-Con. His efforts were foiled at the last second by Jolt, who retrieved the Mini-Con panel before Starscream could awaken it.
On a later adventure, the kids and the Autobots found themselves warping to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in the search for another Mini-Con. Thanks to Red Alert's adjustments, the kids could safely travel within the Autobots' vehicle modes underwater. The group happened upon the ancient ruins of the lost civilization, Atlantis. Before the group could explore the city, they were ambushed by the Decepticons, though they quickly managed to escape their foes. Finding an air pocket within the city, the kids were sent out to look for the Mini-Con while the Autobots back-tracked to deal with the Decepticons. The kids come upon a hologram which informs them of the fate of Atlantis, and how the three Mini-Cons that formed the Star Saber led to its ruin. As the story concluded, Megatron burst into the room and ordered Leader-1 to find the dormant Mini-Con. Leader-1 accomplishes his task, and with the Mini-Con in his possession, Megatron orders a retreat. Due to the violent fight that had taken place between the Autobots and Decepticons, the city begins to collapse, prompting the kids and the Autobots to retreat as well.
Back at Autobot headquarters, the Autobots learn that the Mini-Con made off with was Sonar, the hilt of the Star Saber. Thankfully, the Autobots already had Runway in their possession; he was the Mini-Con they had retrieved at the South Pole. The base's alarm sounded once more, indicating that the next Mini-Con would be found at a volcanic island in the middle of the Pacific. The group arrived at the deserted island as the volcano began to erupt. Once more, Megatron shortly arrived on the scene, and engaged Optimus. With Laserbeak's help, the kids began to search the island for the Mini-Con. Meanwhile, the battle raged between the Cybertronians, with a Decepticon victory narrowly avoided thanks to High Wire, Grindor and Sureshock stepping in once Starscream powerlinked with his own Mini-Con. As lava begins the spew out of the volcano, Laserbeak spots the Mini-Con panel adrift in the molten stream. A brief back-and-forth for possession of the panel takes place, with it ultimately wounding up in Autobot possession.
Back at Decepticon headquarters, Megatron had managed to awaken Sonar using intense radiation. Using the Mini-Con's ability to sense its kin, Megatron opened up a warp gate within the Autobots' headquarters to retrieve the two other components of the Star Saber. As the Autobots engaged their base's internal defenses to ward off the intruders, Alexis spotted Billy and Fred who had wandered off after Carlos had invited them over to check out the base. The Autobots were forced to shut down the base's defenses to avoid injuring the kids. Forced to confront Megatron and his goons directly, the Autobots left Rad, Carlos and Alexis in the base's control room. Starscream and Demolishor are defeated by Red Alert and Smokescreen respectively, while the kids manage to trick Cyclonus into being teleported away by the Autobots' warp gate. But Optimus Prime and Hot Shot did not fare as well against Megatron, who managed to gain control of Sonar, and combined all three Mini-Cons in his possession into the Star Saber. Thankfully, Optimus managed to knock the weapon out of Megatron's hands, leading to Hot Shot catching it and forcing Megatron to retreat.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Mini-Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Notes
Errors
- On page 12, there is a comma missing between "Rad" and "Carlos."
Trivia
- Like the previous book, this book adapts several early episodes of the Transformers: Armada cartoon, with some back story and profiles on the characters at the start. It's illustrated with a mix of Dreamwave Productions art and screen captures from the cartoon itself.
- The Cybertronian civil war is stated to have spanned almost nine million years.
- Contained withing columns besides the main text are trivia tidbits, both about the world if the Transformers and our own. Trivia about the real world include:
- The South Pole, its discovery, and its wildlife.
- Deep-sea life and exploration.
- The legend of Atlantis.
- Holograms.
- Sea myths and flood myths.
- Facts about volcanoes, and the myths surrounding them.
- Lasers.
- Smoke signals.
- Mazes.
- The legendary sword Excalibur.
- The following characters appear in illustrations or side-notes, but are not explicitly referred to the main text of the story: Payload, Sky Blast and Perceptor
