Transformers Armada: The Uprising
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| "The Uprising" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | DK Publishing | ||||||||||||
| Imprint | DK Readers | ||||||||||||
| First published | May 3, 2003 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Andrew Donkin | ||||||||||||
| ISBN | 0756603102 978-0756603106 | ||||||||||||
| Page count | 48 | ||||||||||||
| Price | $3.99 (US) | ||||||||||||
The Autobots and Decepticons return to Cybertron and resume their battle there.
Synopsis
The battle for the Mini-Cons between the Autobots and the Decepticons has been hard-fought, and is now moving back towards Cybertron, with the Decepticons in possession of the more powerful Mini-Cons. Though the odds are against them, the Autobots are giving chase to the Decepticons, hoping to prevent Galvatron from conquering Cybertron. Helping Optimus Prime are the children Rad, Carlos, Alexis, Fred and Billy. Meanwhile, rumors have surfaced of an ancient evil returning.
Brandishing both the Skyboom shield and the Star Saber, Galvatron led his army of Decepticons against the Autobots' ships. As the battle proceeded, both Starscream and Thrust schemed to seize power from Galvatron as soon as the Autobots would be defeated.
Millions of lightyears behind was Optimus's ship, racing to catch up to Galvatron. When the crew reached its destination, the Autobots noticed something out of place; a black hole hovering unnervingly close to Cybertron. The Mini-Cons inform the children that the black hole is the work of an evil entity called "Unicron." But more pressing matters were on hand, and Optimus decided to head planet-side to confront Galvatron. Smokescreen, Scavenger, Hot Shot and Blurr were the first to head down to the planet's surface. Optimus surveyed the planet in his "Jet Prime mode," soon coming upon Galvatron and his troops. The battle escalated once more as several Autobot and Decepticon ships joined the fray. As this was happening, several Mini-Cons were floating up towards the black hole, intent on helping the Autobots against a threat more dangerous than Galvatron... Sure enough, both factions halted their battle as the black hole began sending destructive energy waves towards their home planet. The Mini-Cons used their mysterious powers to temporarily neutralize the black hole, while sending telepathic messages to their larger brethren, urging them to cease their war. Still skeptical, Galvatron warped away from the battlefield.
Taking it upon himself to convince Galvatron to join forces with the Autobots, Hot Shot attempted to infiltrate Galvatron fortress, encountering Wheeljack within. Happening upon the two of them fighting, Galvatron attempted execute Hot Shot, only to be stopped by Wheeljack, who urged his leader to listen to Hot Shot's warnings. Galvatron acquiesced, despite Thrust's insistence that he simply destroyed the Autobot. Seeing Galvatron's suspicions about his loyalty grow, Thrust snatched the Skyboom shield and the Requiem Blaster and took off. Furious at Thrust's betrayal, Galvatron ordered his men (and Hot Shot) to pursue him.
Elsewhere, Rad, Carlos and Alexis, along with their Mini-Con partners, had set out on an expedition to discover more about the mystery of Unicron. Making their way through underground tunnels, they soon happened upon Starscream and Thrust. Seeing the children, Thrust opened fire upon them with the Requiem Blaster, prompting Starscream to take the blast to shield them. A blinding white light enveloped the scene. Rad then awakened to see the bodies of the Autobots and Decepticons trapped within the walls of the chamber. The only conscious robot was Hot Shot, though he did not recognize his friends. Hot Shot informed the kid of the Mini-Cons' nature; they were creations of Unicron, manufactured to intensify the Autobot/Decepticon war, and generate hatred for their master to feed upon. Another blinding flash of light erupted, signaling that the Mini-Cons were once more moving the children through time, this time to the moment of the Mini-Cons' birth. Yet another flash of light brought the children back to the present, though this time the battle between the two Decepticons played out differently, and the weapon's blast brought down the roof of the chamber.
Escaping the confrontation, Thrust warped to meet up with his accomplice, Sideways. Using the stolen Mini-Con weapons, the two robots awakened Unicron, who had been posing as Cybertron's moon for eons. Bellow the now-horned satellite, Optimus and Galvatron were once more battling one another, with Optimus still intent on convincing Galvatron to join forces with the Autobots. Thanks to the Star Saber, Galvatron gained the upper hand in the scuffle. Starscream intervenes, urging Galvatron to reconsider Optimus's offer as he clashes blades with his leader. Starscream became mortally wounded during the course of the battle, and with a last plea to his leader, unleashed a powerful blast towards Unicron. Unicron retaliated with a deadly blast, deactivating Starscream. Shocked by the turn of events, Galvatron agreed to join Optimus. Just then, Sideways swooped in, snatched the Star Saber away, and warped out.
With the Star Saber side-by-side with the other Mini-Con weapons, Unicron began to fully activate. Taking to space, both Autobot and Decepticon fleets united against their common foe. All efforts seemed to be in vain, however, as the Transformers' weapons were unable to damage the titan. A small team was dispatched to explore Unicron's surface in the search for weaknesses. The team came into trouble as Unicron began to transform however, and a second team was sent out to rescue them. Both factions watched helplessly as Unicron unveiled his true form.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others | Misc |
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Notes
Errors
- The intro text reiterates the statement from the first installment that Transformers can alter their "digital structure," an odd choice of words.
- Overload is referred to being a Mini-Con when he powerlinks with Optimus.
Trivia
- This book adapts several later episodes of the Transformers: Armada cartoon, with some back story at the start. It's illustrated with a mix of Dreamwave Productions art and screen captures from the cartoon itself.
- Between the last book installment and this one, a significant amount of episodes have been skipped. As a result, several developments, such as Megatron being called called "Galvatron" now, are quickly glossed over in the introductory text. Many other developments aren't even touched upon, leading to a confusing discontinuity between "The Quest" and "The Uprising."
- In addition, the episodes adapted within the book are significantly abridged, leading to a disjointed narrative.
- Optimus's combination with Jetfire is called "Jet Prime mode." Except in one trivia point, where their combination is referred to as "Jet Convoy." Whoops.
- The cities on Cybertron are said to be shaped from "living metal."
- Smokescreen is in his "Hoist" body, but still goes by his original monicker. This was par for the course for a good portion of the cartoon.
- The miniature ships the Autobots use are called "Discovery Pods."
- Starscream's sword is given a name: "Wing Blade." (This is likely the author simply misinterpreting a description of Starscream's weapon as its monicker, but it's capitalized and gets its own trivia entry and everything...) It is said to be a unique blade that is on par with the Star Saber so long as Starscream wields it, thanks to his extraordinary swordsmanship skills.
- 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:
- Black holes.
- Hurricanes.
- The Seikan Tunnel.
- The Moon.
- Jupiiter's moons, including Ganymede.
- The following characters appear in illustrations or side-notes, but are not explicitly referred to the main text of the story: Over-Run, Perceptor, Red Alert, Runway, Jetstorm, Sonar, Jolt, Sparkplug, Inferno, Swindle, Side Swipe and Nightbeat.
