Transformers Armada: The Unicron Battles
The Unicron battles
| This article is about the book. For the subline imprint, see The Unicron Battles. |
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| "The Unicron Battles" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | DK Publishing | ||||||||||||
| Imprint | DK Readers | ||||||||||||
| First published | May 3, 2004 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Andrew Donkin | ||||||||||||
| ISBN | 0756603129 978-0756603120 | ||||||||||||
| Page count | 48 | ||||||||||||
| Price | $3.99 (US) | ||||||||||||
The Autobots and Decepticons join together to battle Unicron.
Synopsis
The joint Autobot/Decepticon fleet was not faring well in their battle against Unicron. Unicron's defenses proved too formidable, prompting Galvatron to sound a retreat much to Thrust's glee. Galvatron and Optimus reconvened to plan out a new plan of attack. But Unicron was not idle; the titan began to creep towards Cybertron itself. Distressed in seeing their homeworld being threatened as such, Hot Shot and Wheeljack took off in two Discovery Pods in order to distract Unicron. As the two of them buzzed about Unicron's gargantuan form, they caught sight of Thrust, and decided to attack Unicron's new right-hand man. Their assault was interrupted when Unicron opened fire on Cybertron with his primary weapon in order to begin devouring the planet.
Elsewhere, Optimus had settled on a new strategy that he hoped would prove more effective in battling Unicron. A small structural weakness had been discovered on the planet-eater's neck. Optimus hoped to take advantage of said weakness to infiltrate Unicron's body and retrieve the Mini-Con weapons that had awakened him. In anticipation for the mission, both Optimus and Galvatron assumed their most powerful forms. En route, Galvatron encountered Thrust, and sent the traitor fleeing. Thrust accidentally got himself caught between two shifting panels on Unicron's surface, leading to him being crushed to death.
Unicron continued to feed upon Cybertron, opening an avenue for Optimus and Galvatron to enter the planet-eater; both faction leaders allowed themselves to be swallowed up along with the planetary debris. High Wire however had his doubts on how well Optimus's plan would work out. He informed Rad that only another Mini-Con would be capable of awakening the Mini-Cons within Unicron. The children and their Mini-Cons decided to head within Unicron as well, using the underground warp gate on Cybertron. Managing to enter it just in time, the group found themselves within Unicron, and began to search for Optimus and Galvatron. These later two were standing before Unicron's heart, where the captive Mini-Cons were located, confronted by Sideways. Sideways informed the pair that he and Unicron were one and the same, and gloated on how he had grown strong off of the Transformers' hatred for one another. Unicron's inner defenses then managed to grab hold of the pair, ensnaring them in a mass of tentacles.
Outside, a squad led by Hot Shot had finally broken through Unicron's weakpoint, and had begun their own infiltration of his body. Their attacks are soon revealed to be ineffective however, as Unicron is capable of instant generation of any damage dealt upon his structure.
The children's group then arrived at Unicron's core, joining Optimus and Galvatron. The Mini-Cons reiterated to Sideways that they desired peace, and were ready to fight their creator for it. Outside, the Mini-Cons had formed a Unicron of Light to stave off Unicron's attack. This too proved fruitless, as Unicron began to absorb the Mini-Cons' minds into himself, bringing them under his control. A mass of tentacles then sprang up with his core, subjugating the children and the Mini-Cons there as well. Finding themselves in a shared dream. Facing the potential destruction of their very minds at Unicron's hand, Rad called out to the Mini-Cons. Miraculously, the Mini-Cons responded to Rad, and broke free of Unicron's control. In a united strike, the Mini-Cons began to attack their oppressor, finally dealing significant damage to Unicron. This led to all those held captive within Unicron's core to be released, allowing for Optimus to dispatch Sideways.
But one last fight had to take place; Galvatron informed Optimus that now that Unicron was defeated, their alliance was at an end. Convinced that the only way to end Unicron's threat was to end the war, Optimus allowed himself to be goaded into a final confrontation against Galvatron. But as the two of them clashed, Unicron began to recover, feeding once more off the conflict. The battle ended in a draw, with both warriors laying atop Unicron's surface, exhausted and brutally wounded. But their squabble had already awoken Unicron, who began once more to consume. Galvatron became caught in the vortex, and despite Optimus's efforts to rescue him, allowed himself to be swallowed up in order to end the war once and for all. With no more conflict to sustain himself, Unicron flashed out of existence, leaving Optimus adrift in space.
In the aftermath, the Transformers stood united as one people, and begun to repair Cybertron. The kids were returned to Earth, and after a tearful goodbye, saw their friends off back through the warp-gate to continue their search for their lost leader.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Mini-Cons | Misc |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Not everyone enjoys war like you, you metal moron."
- —Carlos tells Unicron how it is.
Notes
Errors
Trivia
- This book adapts the last few episodes of the Transformers: Armada cartoon, with some back story presented at the start. It's illustrated with a mix of Dreamwave Productions art and 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. Trivia about the real world include:
- Energon is said to originate from beneath Cybertron's surface. One note alludes to the next franchise by divulging that the Terrorcons also desire the power of Energon. It is also revealed that Rad will grow up to help the Transformers to seek out Energon throughout the cosmos.
- The following characters appear in illustrations or side-notes, but are not explicitly referred to the main text of the story: Over-Run, Mirage, Dirt Boss, Downshift, Primus, Jetstorm, Runway, Sonar, Overload, Jolt , Cyclonus, Tidal Wave, Starscream, Demolishor, Clench, Knock Out, Wreckage, Bonecrusher and Sparkplug.
