Battle for Earth

Megatron and the Constructicons hold four and a half million people hostage.

Synopsis

Four million years ago, a brutal war broke out on the planet Cybertron. The peaceful Autobots and the power-hungry Decepticons did battle under the command of mighty leaders. The Autobots' attempt to save Cybertron from a threatening asteroid cluster was cut short when the Decepticons invaded the Autobot ship, The Ark. Rather than be taken prisoner, Optimus Prime proceeded to crash the entire ship into a nearby planet—Earth.

Then, one day in modern times, a volcanic eruption awakened the ship's computer, which rebuilt them so they could take the form of Earth machines. The Decepticons ran away to a base camp where they talked about their feelings. The Autobots set up a base camp and talked about their feelings as well, unaware that they were being watched by Sparkplug and Buster. Sparkplug's mechanical aptitude made him an important friend of the Autobots, but Buster, being less skilled with automotive engineering, preferred to hang out with Jazz, going on joyrides.

Buster reads the newspaper to his dad. The groundbreaking for the new Freedom Sports Arena in the city of Beacon was the top story. Mayor Thomas Anderson used a gold shovel to begin the ceremony and then announced that the stadium is important for every citizen in the country. The stadium is being built by Global Building Corporation, which Sparkplug recognizes as the best around, responsible for condos in New York City and towers in Dallas. Buster is overwhelmed by the statement that four and a half million people set foot in a Global building every day. He must see the new stadium, he simply must!

Hitching a ride with Jazz, Buster sets out for Beacon to see the construction site, which Jazz finds boring, preferring to look for someone to race against. Jazz hides out in a parking garage while Buster sneaks a peek at the construction site. Inside, he spots six mysterious and very fancy construction vehicles. Realizing that it's Sunday and nothing is going to be happening anyway, Buster and Jazz return home. Later that night, however, the construction vehicles start working... without any drivers! As the sun rises over the construction site, the Constructicons (who else could it be?) drive away to Decepticon headquarters.

It turns out that the Constructicons are behind the Global buildings, and there are already ninety-eight of them. Once the Freedom Arena is complete, Megatron will push the Destructor Button—trapping everyone inside the buildings. Those people will be held for ransom—if the ENTIRE WORLD doesn't surrender immediately, the hostages will die!

The Autobots, however, are suspicious—the idea that the Decepticons are behind a building company is sufficient pretext for the entire Autobot army to invade Decepticon headquarters! The Autobot invasion force draws near, prompting Megatron to... open all the doors and tell his army to hold their fire. Realising, unsurprisingly, that this could be a trap, Optimus Prime tells his forces to transform and WALK RIGHT IN.

Red Alert is paranoid until Hound tells him to can it. Optimus Prime and his forces meet with Megatron and his most vicious fighters. Prime questions Megatron's motives, only to be told that fuel is expensive, and the Decepticons are trying to make an honest living as legitimate businessmen. Prowl's brilliant computer mind, however, quickly realizes that the Decepticons are controlling Global Construction Corporation... and are planning to blackmail the world! This realization causes his siren to go off in panic, so Megatron sets off the Destructor Button and shoots a hole in the floor for the Autobots to fall through. Megatron's devious attack traps people around the world—Tokyo, Moscow, New York, and beyond. Megatron then broadcasts his message around the world: Surrender immediately or he'll do... something... to the hostages. Even the United Nations is unsure how to stop the fiendish plot.

The Autobots have a plan, however. Blowing a giant hole in the Decepticon base, the Autobots storm in and there's the requisite big fight. Things are going well for the Autobots until Megatron commands the Constructicons to transform into Phase Two—the Devastator! Devastator kicks the snot out of Sunstreaker, Windcharger, Sideswipe, Jazz, and Mirage, and then proceeds to beat up the rest of the Autobot force... until the Dinobots arrive on the scene! Swoop proceeds to shoot Devastator in the face, killing Hook and Scrapper instantly, then cuts Mixmaster and Scavenger in half with his sword with a grin. Grapple then finishes the job by WELDING THE REMAINING CONSTRUCTICONS TOGETHER, rendering them utterly helpless.

The Autobot victory is almost complete—in the chaos, Mirage has freed the hostages, and Optimus Prime destroys the Destructor Button, never to be used again. Despite all this, the Decepticons refuse to surrender, which prompts Optimus Prime to... leave. And take all the Autobots with him.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

• Soundwave is so horrible, that "even the other Decepticons hate him".
• Immediately after awakening (and several other times throughout the story), many of the Autobots and Decepticons spout their various mottos, regardless of how inappropriate they may be to the situation.
• Shockwave appears on the cover, but nowhere else in the story.
• Devastator is constantly referred to as "the Devastator". What?! (It's... possible that this is an artifact of Devastator's preliminary name having been "The Destructoid", but that's just a guess.)
• The art is REALLY garishly colored—it's actually kind of striking in a Roy Lichtenstein-sort of way. The trippy space scenes and funky futuristic technology are also vaguely Jack Kirby or Jim Steranko-esque.
• The very first page of the book is a mirror-reflected sketchy redrawing of the cover of issue #2 of the original comic.
• This book contains some redrawn art from "The Next Best Thing to Being There!", such as the Devastator and Windcharger on page 40.

Errors

• At one point, Optimus Prime has a mouth instead of a faceplate.
• On page 15, Sparkplug's teeth are flesh-colored, making it look like he has two sets of lips.
• The book is unclear on who forms which parts of Devastator. On page 40, Scavenger and Mixmaster form the legs, Scrapper and Bonecrusher are the arms, Long Haul is the torso, and Hook is the shoulders and head. Later, on page 43, Hook and Scrapper form Devastator's head and torso, Mixmaster and Scavenger form his legs, and "the last two Constructicons" presumably form the arms. Also, other than being part of Devastator, Bonecrusher does not otherwise appear.
• The book is also unclear on what Megatron's secret weapon is called—at first it's the Destructor Button, later it's the Devastator Button. In between, when Megatron actually presses it, it's called the Destructicon button.

Continuity notes

• This story takes place in a version of the Marvel Comics continuity—the Autobots are trying to destroy an asteroid field that threatens Cybertron, etc. It also uses some random 1985 characters—the Constructicons play a major role, the Dinobots, Grapple, Red Alert, and Roadbuster all at least show up, even if it's just in the text.
• The machine repairing the Autobots after the crash appears to be based on the toy of Optimus Prime's Combat Deck.
• There are thirty-five Autobots. At least one turns into "a four-wheeled vehicle".
• The Decepticons' headquarters appears to be Fortress Sinister; it's even referred to as a fortress a couple of times in the text.
• Mirage can teleport.
• The Dinobots make "strange prehistoric sounds".
• Holy crap, Roadbuster is in this storybook!

Courtesy of my...

• Megatron blasts away the floor beneath the Autobots with his fusion cannon.
• Roadbuster uses his linear blaster to blow a hole in the side of the Decepticons' base.
• Sunstreaker fires a missile at Rumble.
• Soundwave is armed with his concussion blaster gun.
• Swoop completely destroys Hook and Scrapper with two missiles, then uses his thermal sword to slice through Mixmaster and Scavenger.
• Grapple uses his welder rifle to fuse the remaining Constructicons together.
• Optimus Prime takes out the Devastator Button with his laser rifle.

External links

• Battle for Earth scans at Steve-O Stonebraker's site