Transformers Armada: The Awakening
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 Prime hasn't even had his coffee yet. | |||||||||||||
| "Transformers Armada: The Awakening" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | DK Publishing | ||||||||||||
| Imprint | DK Readers | ||||||||||||
| First published | August 18, 2003 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Andrew Donkin | ||||||||||||
| ISBN | 0789498030 978-0789497413 | ||||||||||||
| Page count | 48 | ||||||||||||
| Price | $3.99 (US) | ||||||||||||
Three kids accidentally revive the Autobot/Decepticon war when they find a spaceship in a cave.
Synopsis
Millions of years ago, the Transformers came into being, powerful living machines capable of altering their bodies into a variety of vehicles and devices. Their planet, Cybertron, was however soon engulfed in civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons. The Decepticons felt stifled by the status quo, and longed for conquest and domination. Leading them was Megatron, who led many successful campaigns to expand his empire. However, Optimus Prime and his Autobots opposed the tyrant. The battles that ensued between both factions came to be known as the Cybertron wars. Then, the emergence of a third factions, the Mini-cons, caused the war to spiral out of control. The added power the mini-cons could grant their larger counterparts nearly led both Autobots and Decepticons to annihilation. As part of a truce, both Autobots and Decepticons agreed to exile the Mini-cons from Cybertron forever. The Mini-cons' ship was damaged however, and crash-landed on Eart's moon, spreading the dormant robots around the globe.
Eons later, on the planet Earth, Rad, Carlos had decided to explore a cave after school. Rumors of strange lights emanating from the cavern had sparked their interest. As they delved into the cavern, the ground beneath their feet gave way and the two boys found themselves in a large chamber containing a spaceship. Rad noticed a glowing green plate on the ground, and touched it, triggering a rumble in the earth all around them. Scared, both Carlos and Rad made their way out of the cave.
Once outside, they noticed what appeared to be a miniature black hole in the sky above. As the boys' friend Alexis arrived on the scene, having come to check on Rad and Carlos after the earth rumble, Megatron emerged out of the "black hole." Rad dropped the plate he was still clutching, and it transformed into the Mini-Con High Wire. High Wire seemed unimpressed by Megatron, and proceeded to take on the alternate form of Rad's bike before aiding the kids in escaping the gargantuan robot. As Megatron encroached upon them, the timely intervention of Optimus Prime prevented the kids from being crushed. The two robots clashed, both soon joined by more robots of each faction. Megatron was soon overpowered, and he and his Decepticons retreated back to their base on the Earth's moon. The kids had re-entered the cave system to escape the Transformers' scuffle. Leading them within the Mini-Cons' ship, High Wire awakened two more Mini-cons, who partnered up with Carlos and Alexis respectively.
Meanwhile, on the Moon, Megatron had uncovered another Mini-con. As luck would have it, the robot was Leader-1, Megatron's old partner. Enraged that Cyclonus had not being able to spot this Mini-con despite operating the Decepticons' scanners, Megatron ordered the Mini-con to display a show of force to bully the other Decepticons. Demolishor then detected the activation of the Mini-cons Grindor and Sureshock on Earth, prompting Megatron to order another attempt at capturing the miniature 'bots.
The Decepticons arrived planet-side to see the kids playing with their Mini-cons. The evil robots surrounded the kids, but were once more thwarted by the arrival of the Autobots. After some brief banter between both faction leaders, Megatron joined with Leader-1 and unleashed a torrent of power onto the battlefield. The added might Leader-1 provided Megatron soon became too much for him to control, and Megatron began to shoot wildly, triggering an avalanche. Hot Shot grabbed the kids to put them out of harm's way. Alexis then noticed more Mini-Cons exposed by the landslide, prompting Red Alert and Hot shot to grab one each and powerlinx. The tide of battle once more turning against the Decepticons, Megatron ordered another retreat. Cyclonus lingered in order to swipe one Mini-Con before following his comrades off-planet.
Days later, the kids met with the Autobots within their new base. There, Optimus filled in the kids on the situation they found themselves in, and reiterated how important it was for the Autobots to find the Mini-cons before Megatron. Then, an alarm sounded throughout the base, indicating that Mini-cons were becoming active all around the world. The race was on!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Mini-Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
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Notes
Errors
- The Transformers are said to be capable of altering their "digital structure." Somewhat of an odd choice of term, probably to sound more "computer-y." It would be more appropriate to state that they can alter their physical structure.
Trivia
- This is essentially an adaptation of the first few 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 low-resolution screen captures from the cartoon itself.
- Contained withing columns besides the main text are trivia tidbits, both about the world if the Transformers and our own. Most trivia points are simply basic background information, such as the difference between each faction's insignia, or what roles certain characters have in the overall scheme of things (such as Megatron being leader of the Decepticons). Trivia about the real world include:
- Fighter planes, and other military vehicles.
- Deep-space radio-telescopes.
- Underground caverns.
- The history of astronomy and the space race.
- Speculation on extra-terrestrials.
- Earthquakes and avalanches.
- The origin of the word "robot."
- Metropolis, one of the earliest films to feature robots.
- Modern day robots.
- Tidbits about Earth's Moon.
- The nature of Metamorphosis in the animal kingdom.
- The solar system, our galaxy and the universe at large.
- Optimus's super mode is referred to as "Super Optimus."
- Megatron's tank mode is said to be equipped with a top-security prison cell, a gimmick of the toy that has otherwise rarely been referred to.
- Starscream's vehicle mode is explicitly referred to as a "seeker."
- Hot Shot is said to possess wrist-mounted photon lasers.
- Grindor is described as a "winged fighter" in robot mode.
- The following characters appear in illustrations or side-notes, but are not explicitly referred to the main text of the story: Jolt, Sparkplug, Wreckage, Knock Out, Bonecrusher, Perceptor and Laserbeak.
