Transformers: A History In the beginning, in dimension filled with life energy, called Zone Energy, there was only one Spark (or Lasercore), spawned from primal energies of that plane. The Original Spark (or Lasercore) had the ability to merge with any machine and become its central nervous system in order to give that machine life. Its offspring shared this ability. It divided into several smaller sparks, each possessing unimaginable power. Some of these sparks were violent and territorial, while others were peaceful and benevolent and shunned their brutal siblings. Many of the brutal sparks left the Zone Dimension, spread out across the universe, while the benevolent ones remained behind, growing in wisdom and knowledge.



The violent sparks devoured all life and destroyed all matter they encountered, growing stronger and stronger. When there was no matter left to devour they turned on each other. Most were destroyed or devoured by a powerful, dark spark. Some of the violent ones fled to other dimensions to escape the dark spark. Evetually all matter was destroyed and all life in the universe devoured, and that was left was the dark spark. Finally contented, the dark spark slumbered.



As it slept, the cosmic fragments of destroyed matter reacted with each other and created a new universe. The many of the benevolent sparks left the Zone Dimension and nurtured the newborn life that was growing in the universe.



Eventually, the dark spark awoke, and without questioning how this new universe came to be, began destroying and devouring anew. Most of the benevolent sparks were destroyed or devoured by the dark spark.



The most powerful of the benevolent sparks was found by an alien named Primacron, who named it Primus. As the Spark developed, Primus proved to be very powerful. Primus developed the power to reproduce without diminishing his own essence, unlike his siblings which multiplied by dividing, splitting into perfect duplicates of the parent (but with only half the strength and power of the parent Spark [or Lasercore], and thus giving their offspring common memories. Primus' children were individuals with no memories prior to creation. He found favor in the Primacron's sight. Primacron made Primus his assistant. Primacron would build magnificent robots (he even designed a body for Primus to inhabit) and Primus would fill them with life. Primus' joy grew greater and greater as more of his offspring came to life.



Primacron & Primus had worked together for many years upon a special project: a small planetoid that would fuel itself off of space debris, called Unicron, that could also transform into a robot. As the project neared completion, the dark spark found them. Primus battled the dark spark, but the dark spark was too powerful. Primus tricked the dark spark into merging with the Unicron body, trapping the dark spark within it, but also forging a psychic link between the two.



Primacron, unaware of the dark spark's existence, sees Unicron transform of its own accord. Primacron tries to override his creation, but to no avail. Unicron turns it's full fury upon Primacron's lab. Primus' body was destroyed, as well as his children. Primus, seeking to draw Unicron away from Primacron, fled, and led Unicron on a chase across the Galaxy. Primus finally hid within a large metallic asteroid, too large for Unicron to ingest. Frustrated, Unicron drifted away, to devour more and grow larger.



But Primus was not alone. Inside the planet lived metallic monsters, who devoured the very metal of the planet, as well as any other creature that happened to fall within their grasp. They attacked Primus, but were no match for him. Primus, unwilling to destroy another living being, placed the creatures into a deep sleep and entombed them deep within the planet.



Primus, sensing the mental link that he and Unicron shared, went into a trance, in the hope that he would remain hidden Unicron, perhaps even thought to be dead, until he was ready to face the dark spark again.



Millions of years passed. Unicron grew larger & larger with every meal. While journeying across the Galaxy, devouring planet after planet, Unicron decided on a new course of action. He found a race of sentient organic invertebrates on a planet the he was soon to devour. With some consideration, Unicron decided to use these creatures to his advantage. They had a very high intelligence potential, but were very weak bodied. He took them all and reformed them into Cyborgs, half-organic, half mechanoid. He placed into their unconscious minds to seek out Primus' planet and destroy anything resembling a Lasercore, or Spark, that they discovered and after preparing them for space travel, sent them off into the Galaxy. Unicron wiped their minds of any knowledge of himself, their homeworld or their "creation".



The Quintessons after thousands of years discovered and colonized the planet. They were merchants and capitalistic industrialists, so they mined the planet's ores, and rebuilt the planet into a gigantic factory. They named it Cybertron.



The Quintessons became VERY prosperous because of this Planet. It became home to them. After a failed attempt to produce Cyborg slaves (named TransOrganics), they chose to pursue completely mechanical servants. They produced Mechanoids for every possible use. The most successful were the Slave units (available in two forms, light duty/social work and heavy-duty slaves) and the Gladiator Units (mainly sold as Military Hardware). The Quintessons developed stellar energy gatherers on Cybertron. These units turned gathered energy into Two forms: Energon and Plasma Energy (the latter was potent, unstable, and destructive to mechanoids). Gigantic rocket boosters were also built to keep the planet aligned, for optimal life support around their home star.



The noise of such an industry stirred Primus, who was hidden deep within Cybertron. When Primus emerged, he saw a planet teaming with machines like he had never seen before. They were strong & versatile. They were exactly what he needed to prepare for the coming conflict with Unicron. Primus reproduced, and gave life to a few of the robots: some Gladiators, some Slaves. Primus wanted peaceful coexistence with the Quintessons, but upon discovering some of his Children, they quickly destroyed them. Every attempt a peace was met with the same response, death. The Quintessons viewed the Sparks as an infection and a threat to their way of life. They sought to kill every last one of Primus' Children. A war for survival had begun.

To bolster his forces, Primus begat more Sparks to live within more robots.



Primus and his children won a decisive battle at the planet's core, and Primus merged with the Supercomputer that ran the planetary factories, Vector Sigma. He placed his Lifeforce into a mobile receptacle to be carried by his Children, so that life could be spread. Only two of Primus' Children could access this "Matrix", one from the Slave class named Primon, the other, from the Gladiator class, named Maximo. They became the leaders of their respective races.



The Gladiator Class did most of the fighting, while the Slave Class kept up supply lines, repairs, and construction of new troops.



The Quintessons were losing the battle quickly. As often as they would kill a thousand robots, two thousand more would be created. As a final effort, the Quintessons built an army of giant robots, called Dark Guardians. With them the Quintessons hoped to finally eradicate the rebels. They didn't count on the Matrix or the resourceful rebel Autobot known as A-3. The Dark Guardians inflicted many casualties among the robots. The Quintessons finally had the upperhand. They had A-3 and his army cornered, ripe for destruction, but A-3 had developed a device called the Coda Remote, that could deactivate the Dark Guardians. At this point, A-3 activated the Coda Remote and shut down all of the Dark Guardians. The Quintessons lost their main advantage that day, but were able to retain control of much of the planet, until Primon used the Matrix to give life to the Dark Guardians (who afterwards became known only as Guardians). The Guardians joined Primon's and Maximo's rebels and together they drove the Quintessons from Cybertron. The Quintessons could not leave all of Cybertron's resources to the Rebels, then they would unstoppable. The Quintessons rigged Cybertron's greatest energy resource, the Plasma Energy Chamber, to overload any mechanoids that attempt to access it. The energon facilities were safe in rebel control.



The Quintessons would continue to spy on their "Creations" and would even abduct some for experimentation, to find some weakness. In time, they learned how to clone the Sparks of their abductees, although they "dumbed them down" for control purposes, and began production of a new type of servant.



Thus begins the Golden age of Cybertron.



With peace at hand, and fearing that his Children are not ready to fight Unicron, Primus goes back into his trance. Vector Sigma continues to function with Primus' intellect within its memory banks. The Matrix is used as communication with Primus, since his essence is mingled with that of Primon. Primon becomes a sort of Avatar of Primus. Primus & Primon are joined at a Psychic level, but one so deep that Unicron isn't aware of it.



At this time the Transformers could reproduce by splitting (as seen in G2 comics).



Hundreds of thousands of years pass, and the Robots, who had adopted the names Autobot & Decepticon for the Slave & Gladiator class, respectively, coexisted peacefully. Many of the robots, who were previously known only by letter and number designations chose names for themselves, for example, A-3 changed his name to Alpha Trion.



For millennia, Primon grew in popularity and respect from both sides. He became so respected that many Decepticons held his word above Maximo's. Maximo watched as more and more of his "children" turned their backs on him to follow Primon.



Unicron watched Primus' children from far across the galaxy. He was not quite powerful enough to destroy Cybertron, so he concocted a plan to destroy Primus without having to come near him. Unicron would teleport some of Primus' children and keep them unconscious to study them. They were not unlike the ones that they had built with Primacron, but were much more powerful. Many that he abducted were given background programs to cause unrest and chaos among Primus' children. Maximo was one taken to Unicron. Unicron sensed his discontent. Unicron awoke Maximo. He made a proposal to Maximo. If he would bring the Matrix to Unicron, the Chaos Bringer would grant him his wildest dreams. Maximo was tempted, but felt that he could not betray his "father". So, Unicron rewrote Maximo's Spark (or Lasercore) and Programming to mimic his own. There was very little of Primus left in his heart. After this Maximo was VERY willing to perform Unicron's task. But Unicron had put too much of himself into Maximo. Treachery filled Maximo's being. Maximo thought of a way to destroy Primus and Unicron. Maximo would steal the Matrix, the source of Primon's power & wisdom, and merge with Primus for himself. Then He alone would rule with the Power of BOTH titans.



When the time was right, he tried to knock Primon unconscious and then take the Matrix secretly, but Primon proved too powerful for Maximo to quietly subdue. Maximo killed Primon and took the Matrix. Upon accessing the Matrix, Maximo grew in size, strength, and intellect. He then changed his name to LIEGE MAXIMO. Due to the changes made by Unicron, the merge was not smooth and Liege Maximo was transformed into a hideous being. Several Autobots came to investigate the noises of the struggle, and found Liege Maximo standing over Primon's Body. He killed all but one (whom he had left for dead). He then returned back to the Decepticons and claimed sovereign rule of Cybertron, by Primus' own hand.



The Survivor told the story of what happened to the other Autobots, and an outraged group of Autobots approached Castle Decepticon to bring Liege Maximo to justice. These were slaughtered without mercy by Maximo's elite guard.



This and other diplomatic disasters touched off the 1st Cybertronian war. The Guardians, whom no one could match, quelled this war. The Matrix rejected Liege Maximo and was rescued by the Autobot who later became Prima, after an epic battle. Liege Maximo retreated into the depths of Cybertron, where he went into hiding, influencing events from the background and shadows. Many of the Original Autobots and Decepticons were destroyed during this war.



Hundreds of thousands of years pass.



The Decepticons and Autobots mistrust of each other grew as time went on. The two races seldom interacted, and had even begun to dwell separately. Treatment of the Autobots worsened in the Decepticon sectors until the Decepticons finally started enslaving the Autobots that wandered too near their territories.



When this was discovered, the Second Cybertronian War began. It was a short-lived war due again to the intervention of the Guardians. It was during this war that they developed the Ability to transform.

Cybertronians abducted by the Quintessons at this time would share this new discovery with their former "masters", through force, of course. The end result was a limitless group of killing machines known as Sharkticons. Prima was killed in the Second War, as was his successor, Prime Nova. The Matrix was passed to a new Autobot leader, who became Sentinel Prime. At this time, there was a predetermined memory erasure of the former reproduction by division. This was instituted by Primus, and completely affected every Transformer. Now the only way for them to reproduce was either through Vector Sigma, or the Matrix.



After this, attempts at reconciliation were started, and it looked as if they would succeed. During this time Primus was deified in a form of ancestor worship. This was started primarily by Liege Maximo, and the Cult of the Ultimate warrior was born. The Autobots who worshipped Primus became known as the Sons of Cybertron. Both groups destroyed all records of Unicron's name, thinking it a source of evil. Unicron was only to be referred to as "The Chaos Bringer". Also at this time a cult of the Chaos Bringer was started secretly. They alone possessed knowledge of Unicron's name. The following details the Cybertronians' religious aspects:



--The Sons of Cybertron--

The religion of the Autobots:

They deify Primus and believe that he alone is their Creator, that Primus chose Cybertron as the Final Battleground for fight with the Chaos Bringer.

They also believe that all Mechanoids should stay on Cybertron and protect their Sleeping Creator.

Regard all life as precious and worthy of existence.

Refer to Primus' Final Guardian as "The Last Autobot".

Basic Tenets include:

Equality among Sentient beings

Fight only when all peaceful means fail

The end does NOT justify the means

To them "Till all are one" means Reuniting Primus' Children.



--The Ultimate Warriors--

The religion of the Decepticons:

They also deify Primus and believe him to be their Sole Creator.

They think that the best way to protect Primus is to take the fight to the Chaos Bringer, so that he will come no where near Primus.

They hold that Cybertron should be a Capitol to a vast Cybertronian Empire, utilizing EVERY resource in the Galaxy to fight the Chaos Bringer.

They regard Primus' final guardian as "The Ultimate Warrior"

Basic Tenets include:

Esoteric warrior society (might makes right; the strongest shall lead)

Honor driven (honor among themselves)

Goal oriented (the End justifies the Means philosophy)

Believe that all other races should be subjugated to help in the battle to come. They are viewed as resources.

"Till all are one" means that all shall live under one Decepticon Empire.



--Souls of Cybertron--

Religion of some from both groups

They deify Primus, believe he is their Sole creator.

They are caught in the middle: they believe that the Decepticons should fight, while the Autobots support them with supplies and repair facilities on Cybertron, while the Autobots are guarding Primus.

They are indifferent to the Civil war.

They are xenophobic and believe that Cybertronians should stay uninvolved with Alien races.

Call Primus' final guardian "the Soul of Cybertron"(most are wiped out in the 3rd, Great, War, the survivors either joined one side or the other, or went into hiding)

Basic Tenets vary; many divisions exist among this group.

"Till all are one" means the day that distinction between Autobot & Decepticon are done away with.



--Bearers of the Void--

Unicron Worshippers

Deify Unicron, they believe Primus is dead

Try to hamper all preparation for Unicron's coming

Infiltrate other sects

Cause mistrust between Sects & Races

Facilitate the rivalry and division between Autobots & Decepticons

Constantly seek to assassinate the Matrix Bearer.

They are the only ones that know Unicron's true name; all others refer to Unicron as "the Chaos Bringer", "god of darkness", "god of the void", & "the fallen god".

Anyone who discovers them will either become one of them, or be killed by the "bearers".

Basic Tenets include:

Unicron will triumph

The Universe will be consumed

The Matrix is not Primus' Spark (or Lasercore), but a weapon developed by those who fear Unicron, to use against the Chaos Bringer

All beings that refuse to bow to Unicron, must be destroyed

The Autobots and Decepticons must NEVER be allowed to unite

Any means necessary to bring about Unicron's triumph must be enacted

Secrecy is top priority, disclosure could bring unity to the Cybertronians, and punishment by Unicron

"Till all are one" refers to Unicron's final triumph, and He has consumed everything and his chosen ones dwell on him.



--Evolutionaries--

Don't believe in Primus or Unicron

Believe that they evolved from Non-Living Machines that developed into Sentient Mechanoids.

Some joined the Autobot Cause for Moral or Political reasons, to overthrow the Decepticons genocidal conquest.

Others joined the Decepticons because they believe that they are the Epitome of the Perfect Lifeform & have the Inherent right to rule all that they survey.

Many pretend to follow another sect, often dwelling among them.

"Bearers of the Void" ALWAYS kill Evolutionaries for their unbelief.

With Evolutionaries, the end justifies the means, in most cases.

No basic tenets.

"Till all are one" is a political statement with varied meanings, to Evolutionaries.





Thousands of years passed.

As Unity was finally claiming victory across Cybertron, Liege Maximo developed a new plan for conquest & revenge. He would build a new type of Decepticon, stronger, faster, tougher, and complete with enough firepower to kill a guardian.



The Bearers of the Void used all of their resources to try to break up the Unity spreading across Cybertron. They exploited the Metallikato Tenet of spreading Decepticon Rule and take the final battle to Unicron by pitting Decepticon rulers against Autobot leaders that advocated staying on Cybertron and preparing for the Chaos Bringer's coming.

The Bearers convinced the Decepticon Leaders to utilize the Ancient Quintesson rocket boosters to make Cybertron a Mobile weapon. The Autobots vehemently opposed this action. The Decepticon army took control of the Rocket boosters by force. They restored the engines, but were stopped from igniting the boosters, by the Guardian robots, lead by a consortium of Autobot Leaders.



This was the final straw.

Liege Maximo created Three new Decepticons and took them to Vector Sigma to give them Life. They declared themselves: "Soundwave", "Shockwave" and the largest and strongest "Megatron". These Decepticons were also given the newly developed and top secret ability of personal flight.



These Decepticons were the first of a new army that would plunge Cybertron into the most destructive war yet, The 3rd Cybertronian War, also known as The Great War. Megatron slew Sentinel Prime, in hopes to steal the Matrix for himself, but the Matrix had known of Megatron's plan, and had been secreted away by the oldest living Autobot, Alpha Trion.



During the early stages of this war Megatron injured a young Autobot named Orion Pax. He was taken to Alpha Trion for repairs, who discovered that Orion Pax was the heir to the Matrix. After extensive reconstruction and merging with the Matrix, Orion Pax became Optimus Prime.



Megatron rose in power and popularity among the Decepticons, surpassing or eliminating all that stood between him and complete control of the Decepticon Military forces. No leader before had inspired or united the Decepticons as he had. Megatron forged the Decepticons into a single fighting entity bent on one goal: Peace through tyranny.



Two brilliant Cybertronian scientists, Skyfire and Starscream, left Cybertron to explore a previously uncharted planet. During the expedition Skyfire was lost. Starscream searched the planet, but never found Skyfire. Upon his return, Starscream forsook the quest for knowledge and fully committed himself to the Decepticon Cause, becoming one of the most vile and murderous soldiers in the Decepticon fleet. Eventually he rose to Aerospace Commander, second only to Megatron.



Optimus Prime taught the Autobots to fight back as the Guardians were exterminated one by one. With the Autobots' rebuilt battle ready bodies they were able to fight the Decepticons to a stalemate.



Megatron lead a successful raid on the Rocket Boosters. The Decepticons fired up the engines, and moved the Planet out of its orbit, destroying one of Cybertron's moons in the process. An Autobot attempt to override the Decepticon computer systems running the rockets to return Cybertron to its orbit failed miserably and the planet spun out of control into space. The rockets eventually burned themselves out, leaving Cybertron drifting out of control through space.



Sometime afterward, a Quintesson reconnaissance mission reported that Cybertron was gone, and a great deal of debris was left where it once was. The Quintessons assumed that their former slaves had finally destroyed each other, and took the Planet with them. The Quintessons rejoiced at the hated rebels' apparent demise. Justice, they felt, had been served. The Third Cybertronian War raged back and forth for 5 million years. Megatron and his Decepticon Scientists developed many new weapons of war. Megatron was able to sway the Constructicons to his side, and to betray their friend, Omega Supreme, in order to destroy an Autobot stronghold. In exchange for this favor, Megatron gave the Constructicons the newly invented ability to merge into a Giant robot, as large and powerful as a Guardian: Devastator. Omega Supreme, the last Guardian & only one to be given the ability to transform, was appalled by the destruction of his beloved Crystal City and betrayal by his best friends. He could only explain their treachery as a forced attempt by Megatron to rewrite the Constructicons programming. After an attempt by Devastator to reprogram Omega Supreme, Omega swore to get revenge on the Constructicons, and hunted them where ever they went.



Finally, Cybertron's resources were exhausted. There was no more fuel left. Planet wide blackouts were occurring.



Optimus Prime led a group of his best officers on a trek for more energy, to tip the balances of the war. Megatron discovered this plan and pursued them with a crew of his own.



Megatron had a Spacecruiser designed for interplanetary travel. A strange Crystal known as "The Heart of Cybertron" powered it. Its origin is shrouded in mystery. It was an object of unimaginable power found in the center of a world without any energy sources left. It is rumored that it is actually a piece of Primus' Spark (or Lasercore), or perhaps another god's.



Two asteroids collided near the two ships, pummeling them with fragments. The Decepticons were discovered following the Ark. A boarding party of Decepticons invaded the Ark's bridge.

All of the Ark's energy reserves were depleted from clearing a path through the asteroid fragments & from the insuing battle.

As they approached the third planet, its gravitational force pulled them down. The Decepticon ship followed behind on a crash course with the planet.



The 2 crews crashed on an alien planet, Earth, and were not heard from. An escape pod was released from the Decepticon ship, crashing on an island in the Pacific Ocean. The Decepticons who survived the crash imprinted on Earth Insects, and became known as Insecticons.



Shortly after Megatron's Disappearance, Liege Maximo came out of hiding and led the best Decepticons off to conquer other worlds, since their home was a dead husk. The Decepticon scientists had accidentally rediscovered the ability to reproduce through splitting. With a limitless supply of Decepticons, they were no longer dependent on Vector Sigma to repopulate. They left Cybertron on a mission of conquest. A group of Autobots followed them, but they were dispatched, and dumped on the Planet of Junk.



The Decepticons started advancing on the Galaxy, conquering Planet after Planet. At some point, the new Decepticon Empire left the Milky Way Galaxy and spread to Intergalactic Star Clusters. They established a center of power which they named "The Hub", with Liege Maximo as leader. The Decepticons renamed their empire "The Cybertronian Empire". They went about reforming planets, especially inhabited ones, into new versions of Cybertron, completely replacing indigenous lifeforms with Decepticon technology and soldiers.



Many groups of Autobots left Cybertron, some in search of Optimus Prime, others seeking to flee the war consuming their world.

One group of Autobots crashed on a previously uncharted world. It was uncharted, because it had not existed very long. In fact, it was manufactured...by the Quintessons. Its name was Quintessa, and it was the new home to the Quintessons. All of the crew perished either in the crash or after being devoured by the wild mechanoid beasts that roamed the planet. The Quintessons never even knew that the Autobots were there. Only one survived, a small feisty Autobot named Wheelie.

Shockwave stayed behind on Cybertron, left behind and unaware of Liege Maximo's departure, fighting the Autobots and leading the Decepticons that were still on the planet, awaiting Megatron's return.

Cybertron's progress was slowed massively, due to the constant energy shortages and planetary blackouts that would sometimes last for centuries or even millennia.

The Constructicons left Cybertron, to search for their lost leader, Megatron and to flee their persecutor, Omega Supreme.



Four Million Years Passed



Earth Year- 1965

A stellar radiation burst reaches the Planet of Junk. The blast of Energy revitalizes the crashed Autobot ship's computer repair program. 90% of the ship's memory and crew's memories were lost. The computer found only one functioning vehicle on the entire planet, a two wheeled ground vehicle, and modified the Robots to transform into variations of it. Seeking information to synthesize a working language for the robots, who dubbed themselves Junkions, the computer used radio signals that had been transmitted from Earth decades before, but were just reaching the planet. An entire culture was developed around these signals. Through alien radio signals they learned the Universal Greeting.



Earth Year- 1984

A volcanic eruption in Mt. St. Hilary infuses energy into the Ark's Computer, Teletran I. Teletran I's memory banks were damaged during the crash, four million years before. It no longer knew the difference between Autobot & Decepticon. Teletran I sent a probe called "SkySpy" out to survey the planet, & bring back information on any life it may contain. Due to lost memory files and computer damage, Skyspy machines as the dominant lifeforms. It prepared to adapt the Transformers to earth by making their secondary mode mimic the earth "lifeforms" that closest suited their Cybertronian functions.

Teletran I began by repairing a Decepticon, Skywarp. Skywarp then pulled Megatron into the repair beam. The other Decepticons followed shortly thereafter.



The following Decepticons were repaired by Teletran I: Megatron

Starscream

Thundercracker

Skywarp

Soundwave

Buzzsaw

Laserbeak

Ravage

Rumble

Frenzy

Reflector

The newly awakened Decepticons quickly set about their work where they left off. Megatron prepared to gather energy from the earth, and build a new Spacecruiser, in order to return to Cybertron.

Unfortunately, for the Decepticons, they had not seen the end of the Autobots. Against warnings from Megatron, Second-in command Starscream fired a few shots at the Ark.

This caused tremors to pass through the Ark; enough to cause Optimus Prime to fall into the path of the repair beam.

The repaired and reconfigured Optimus Prime quickly repaired the other Autobots. The Autobots were primarily configured after ground vehicles. The following Autobots were reactivated on the Ark:

Optimus Prime

Prowl

Jazz

Ironhide

Ratchet

Trailbreaker

Mirage

Bluestreak

Hound

Sideswipe

Sunstreaker

Wheeljack

Windcharger

Bumblebee

CliffJumper

Huffer

Brawn

Gears

The Decepticon Ravage was dispatched to investigate a possible Autobot sighting near the Decepticon stronghold. It was, in fact, a human vehicle, which Ravage had the pleasure to contact first. The humans fled for their lives.



The Decepticons went from place to place stealing resources and converting them into Energon Cubes. The Autobots attempted many times to thwart the Decepticons, but Megatron's forces prevailed and continued to gather Energon.



At one such battle, on an oil drilling platform, the Autobots made contact with humans and brought two back to the Ark for information on Earth and it's resources. They were Sparkplug Witwicky and his son, Spike. The Decepticons completed the new Spacecruiser and lifted off after a brief battle with the Autobots. The Autobot Mirage had stowed away aboard the Spacecruiser, where, upon discovery, he sabotaged the Decepticon's controls, and escaped from the ship.



The Spacecruiser crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. The Decepticons began developing the crashed spacecraft into an undersea base of operations. The Autobots obtained contact and alliances with many of Earth's Governments in exchange for technology.



The Decepticons contacted Cybertron. Shockwave was still in control, but the planet was in dire straits. New technology had been invented, a teleportational device called a Space Bridge, but Cybertron didn't have enough energy to test it properly. The initial attempt to send Energon over the Spacebridge failed, with the Cubes lost in space. During a battle Megatron was blown into the Space Bridge as it was activating. Due to his ability to pilot himself through the void of space over the Space Bridge, Megatron arrived on Cybertron safely.



Upon Megatron's return to Earth, he sought out a newly discovered Antimatter formula. With the help of a young human scientist, Chip Chase, Megatron was stopped before he could use the Antimatter effectively. Soon afterward Optimus Prime was injured in a battle with the Decepticon Jets and a later assassination attempt by Laserbeak. This prompted Chip Chase and several Autobots to travel to Cybertron by hitching a ride on the Space Bridge. This revealed that humans could travel and dwell on Cybertron, and breathe the atmosphere.



Investigating a sudden and dramatic drop in the Earth's temperature, the Autobots discover that the Decepticons had tapped into the Earth's molten interior and was turning the heat energy from inside the planet into Energon Cubes. During their excavation, the Decepticons discovered and revived Starscream's lost comrade Skyfire and inducted him into the Decepticons. While the Autobots fought the Decepticons, several Autobots were captured. Skyfire disobeyed an order to execute the Autobots and was shot by Starscream. The Autobots repaired Skyfire and he joined them. Skyfire became involved with a dogfight with Starscream. While defeating Starscream, Skyfire went into a nose-dive and crashed, buried beneath tons of arctic ice. A search team returned later and freed Skyfire from his icy prison.



Tremors from within Mt. St. Hilary prompted the Autobots to discover the fossils of dinosaurs. This discovery inspired Wheeljack and Ratchet to build three Autobots with the ability to transform into dinosaurs. They were named Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge, since the recently recovered sparks of the Dynabots were used to give life to their bodies. They had some programming and personality problems, mostly due to the lack of a vital element in Cybertronian Neuroprocessor construction, called Cybertonium. Initially, Optimus Prime had the Dinobots, as they were called, put away due to unpredictability, lack of control, and destructive tendencies(because of their immense size and strength), but they were later proved to be an asset, especially after Wheeljack developed a way to lessen the problems caused by their faulty Neuroprocessors. The Dinobots proved to still have major character flaws, which Megatron used to turn them against Optimus Prime. The Dinobots attacked Optimus Prime as he came to relieve them from guard duty. The Dinobots defeated Prime, but did not destroy him as Megatron had instructed. Meanwhile, under an earlier command from Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Chip Chase designed and constructed two new Dinobots, Snarl and Swoop, using the sparks from those two Dynabots. The original Dinobots turned the injured Autobot Leader over to Megatron. The new Dinobots arrived and engaged Grimlock, Slag and Sludge in combat. As the battle continue Grimlock was stunned and in danger. Optimus Prime pushed Grimlock from the peril.

Grimlock, Slag and Sludge realized that Megatron had manipulated them against a great leader. At this point, facing five Dinobots, Optimus Prime and Autobot reinforcements on the way, Megatron and his troops retreated. The original Dinobots reaffirmed their allegiance to Optimus Prime and the Autobot cause. Optimus accepted.



Soon afterward, Megatron enlisted a human scientist, a Doctor Archeville, to assist him in attempts to enslave the human race. Dr. Archeville invented a microchip, called a Hypnochip, that, when attached to a human head, would override the victim's freewill, making them mindless slaves. Megatron used these human slaves to keep Autobot fire off of his energy gathering installations. Megatron then used three Space Bridge ports, and the unwilling assistance of Optimus Prime, to teleport Cybertron itself in to Earth's orbit. Cybertron's gravitational pull started many natural disasters; earthquakes, floods, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, and freak storms devastated the Earth. Spike, Brawn, Bumblebee, and Skyfire travel to Cybertron and discover a way to negate the affects of Dr. Archeville mind control chips. They returned just as Megatron prepared to fly a spacecraft loaded with enough Energon Cubes to revitalize Cybertron and give the Decepticons the edge that they needed to overpower the Autobots and conquer Earth. The Autobots deactivated the microchips. All weapons were directed upon Megatron's ship as it neared Cybertron. The Energon Cubes detonated and the resulting explosion knocked Cybertron out of Earth's orbit and sent it adrift through the Solar System, along with Megatron.



Presuming that Megatron had perished, Starscream assumed the role of Decepticon Leader. He immediately pursued Dr. Archeville and his scientific expertise, while the Autobots attempted to help Earth repair the damage caused by Cybertron's Gravity. Starscream uses another of the Doctor's inventions, an Exponential Generator, and sets it on a timer to explode and destroy the Earth. He then would gather the energy released, and revitalize Cybertron himself. Upon setting the bomb, Starscream forced Dr. Archeville to travel with him to Cybertron and await the Earth's impending doom. As Starscream waited on Cybertron, Megatron returned to Decepticon Headquarters and was informed by Laserbeak of Starscream's alliance with the Doctor. Megatron rushed to Dr. Archeville's laboratory to discover Starscream's plans. Optimus Prime arrived and the two leaders battled in the lab. Shockwave communicated an emergency message to Megatron about the bomb. Megatron and Optimus Prime worked together to defuse the bomb and shot it into space. Dr. Archeville was injured when he tried to override Starscream's bomb. He was "repaired" by service droids, resulting in his paralysis and immobilization. When the bomb did not go off on schedule, Starscream flew to earth to investigate. The bomb exploded near him and sent him hurtling to Earth, where he found, much to his dismay, that Megatron was alive and well.



Strange reports from the Pacific Island of Bali caused the Autobots and Decepticons to look for giant robotic insects. These turned out to be the Insecticons that had escaped from the original Decepticon Spacecruiser four million years earlier. They joined with Megatron in his attempts to steal resources and defeat the Autobots, but turned on Megatron and stole Energon from him when the Autobots gained an upperhand.



Megatron then challenged Optimus Prime to a trial by combat, with the loser and his army banished to wander deep space. To gain an edge Megatron had ALL of the earthbound Decepticons turn over their Power Rectifier chips in order to gain the special abilities of each Decepticon in addition to his own. This would disqualify Megatron, so he sent the newly arrived Constructicons to sabotage Teletran I, and by this cover the true source of his new powers. Optimus Prime was defeated easily by Megatron, but the Constructicons met with resistance from the Dinobots. Overwhelmed by the Dinobot's firepower, the Constructicons merged into the giant Decepticon, Devastator. While the Dinobots battled Devastator, the Autobots had Teletran I assess the damage to Optimus Prime. The Autobots discovered Megatron's treachery and joined the Dinobots in their fight against Devastator (who was joined by the Decepticons). Devastator was fooled by a hologram of an enormous Autobot that dwarfed even him. The Autobots then drove the Decepticons into a crevasse filled with molten lava. Months pass.

The Decepticons escaped their prison of liquid rock and began their campaign of conquest once again.

The work to repair the Ark uncovers a section of the ship thought to be completely lost. There they found several other Transformers who were thought to be dead. Many were beyond repair, but among those still alive and in stasis lock were 12 Autobots and 5 Decepticons. The Decepticons were retrieved by Megatron, who gave them modified Vehicle modes. These are the Autobots & Decepticons that were discovered:

Skids

Hoist

Smokescreen

Tracks

Inferno

Grapple

RedAlert

Blaster

Perceptor

Warpath

Powerglide

BeachComber

Thrust

Dirge

Ramjet

Blitzwing

Astrotrain

Temporal distortions on Earth allow the discovery of an island dubbed "Dinobot Island", when the Dinobots were temporarily relocated to hone their skills. Tracking the Constructicons across the galaxy, Omega Supreme arrived on Earth to find the Autobot Crew thought to be lost forever. He joins their ranks to protect the Ark, but secretly desires only to destroy Devastator.



Soon afterward, a group of Human archaeologists discover and unearth the lost Decepticon Spacecruiser, the Nemesis. Upon discovering this, Megatron sought to reclaim the Heart of Cybertron. He incorporated it into his body and became an immense powerhouse of destruction. Autobot Scientist, Perceptor, devised an plan to shrink 3 Autobots and to invade Megatron's body and remove the Heart of Cybertron. The Heart became unstable and threatened to cause a catastrophe on Earth, so once he was outside of Megatron's body, Perceptor shot the crystal into orbit, averting the disaster.

As the Decepticons began exploring space again, they began to expand their empire again. Several discoveries were made, such as: Microorganisms that devour Cybertronian metals known as "Cosmic Rust" Underworld connections to fuel the Decepticon Military Long forgotten resource centers for the empire and Life on other planetary bodies within earth's solar system. During this time, Megatron discovered one of the human Voyager Space Probes and placed a hidden message for future Decepticons upon it's Golden Disk.



The Autobots also began exploring to counter the Decepticon's conquest, and to build alliances with other alien races. "Female" Autobots were thought to be extinct, until a group of them were found in hiding: being led by Elita One and the ancient Autobot, Alpha Trion.

In order to give himself more ground troops, Megatron stole an Activation Key to Vector Sigma from Alpha Trion to give life to his newest warriors, the Stunticons, who merged into the giant Menasor. To counter the Decepticon's air superiority by bolstering their own air force and add another Combiner giant to their effort, Alpha Trion merged with Vector Sigma to allow Optimus Prime to give life to the Aerialbots. They combined to form Superion.

Due to a disagreement with Megatron, Starscream was humiliated in front of the other Decepticons. Starscream planned a coup by stealing the lasercores of five incarcerated Decepticons that had rebelled against Megatron. He rebuilt these Decepticons into the Combaticons, who merged into Bruticus. Bruticus engaged Devastator in battle and had gained the upper hand when Menasor interfered, making Megatron the victor. Megatron exiled Starscream and his Combaticons into deep space.



Starscream deserted the Combaticons as they drifted through space on an asteroid. The Asteroid drifted close to Cybertron, where the Combaticons attacked the planet and ejected Shockwave into space. They then set the Spacebridge to move the Earth into the Sun in order to kill Megatron & the Autobots. Shockwave and Starscream met up in Space and returned to Cybertron, only to be captured, but not before Megatron was warned about the Earth's fiery fate. The Autobots and the Decepticons joined to fight against Bruticus. Starscream was reinstated as second-in-command after he revealed Bruticus' weakness. The Decepticons faked Bruticus' destruction in order to reprogram the Combaticons without the Autobots' knowledge. Soon afterward the Protectabots, who merge to form Defensor, joined the battle against the Decepticons.



In a second attempt to harvest the vast energy from Dinobot Island, Shockwave sends the Spacebridge to the strange island, so that he may send the gathered energy directly to Cybertron. Problems arise when the Spacebridge refuses to respond, due to the temporal interference around the island. Shockwave travels to Dinobot Island to repair the Spacebridge. The Dinobots, who are training again on the island, become aware of Shockwave's presence there. Shockwave repairs the Spacebridge and sends it back to Cybertron, but that causes a wholly unexpected disturbance in Dinobot Island's temporal energy: Shockwave and the Dinobots are sent back several million years into the island's past. Before Shockwave can try to fix the situation, he is attacked by the Dinobots. They battle furiously, but the fight ends in a draw as Shockwave is burried under tons of rock from a collapsing cliffside, and the Dinobots are forced into a huge tar pit and buried under debris. They all lay buried for millions of years.



Buster Witwicky, Sparkplug's youngest son, comes to live with his father. Sparkplug is much more protective over Buster than he is Spike, so he dislikes the prospect of Buster becoming caught up in the Transformers' conflict. Sparkplug opens a mechanic shop out of his house in Oregon, so that he can spend more time with Buster, while Spike and Carly continue as human liasons to the Autobots.There is little that he can do to stop that, as a battle breaks out at a Drive-In Movie theatre that Buster, his girlfriend Jessie, and his friend "O", are visiting, and Buster has to drive the wounded Bumblebee back to his home to save him. Reluctantly, Sparkplug allows Buster to get involved with the Autobots. In the mean time, Sparkplug works with Wheeljack and Perceptor on developing a new superfuel for the Autobots.



Elsewhere, the Decepticons take over the Harrison Nuclear Power Plant, and reshape it into a new land-based headquarters, named Castle Sinister. From there they learn of the Autobots' plan for a new Superfuel, and how Sparkplug Witwicky is a major contributor to the project. Desiring to steal the secrets of the new superfuel, the Decepticons kidnap Sparkplug and take him back to their new base. With Spike and Carly away on a mission in space, with Omega Supreme and Cosmos, Buster is left alone with the Autobots in the Ark.



Ratchet, unable to contact the Dinobots through Teletran-1, sends a probe to Dinobot Island to discover why the Dinobots have failed to respond. The Probe scans for Cybertronian lifesigns, and begins removing layers of earth from the first lifesign it discovers. It accidentally uncovers Shockwave, freeing him from his rocky prison, which has held him in stasis for millions of years. Shockwave destroys the Probe, and heads to the Decepticons' underwater Headquarters.



The Autobot Gears leads a mission to free Sparkplug and succeeds, but not before the Decepticons get the formula for the superfuel, and more. Sparkplug is traumatized by the ordeal, and is even less prepared for the accusations of weakness and cowardice that comes from some of the Autobots. He has a heart attack, and is rushed to the hospital by Ratchet and Buster.



Shockwave discovers the Decepticon Base deserted, scans from the computer that the other Decepticons have left to attack the Ark, powered by the SuperFuel. Shockwave leaves to assist the assault.



While Ratchet and Buster race to save Sparkplug's life, the Decepticons, powered up by the superfuel attack. The attack begins to go in the Decepticons favor, disabling and wounding many of the Autobots, but then something unexpected happens. The Decepticons writhe in pain and one by one drop to the ground. It turns out that the superfuel formula that Sparkplug gave the Decepticons is highly corrosive, and eats away at the Decepticons from the inside.

But just as the weakened and weary Autobots' victory seems assured, the ceiling explodes with fury. Shockwave, discovering the situation and weary of Megatron's repeated failures, arrives at the Ark and single handedly defeats the weakened Autobots; taking over the Ark and command of the Decepticons in one fell swoop. The three combiner teams, the Contructicons, Stunticons and Combaticons are all extremely damaged from the corrosive.



Shockwave takes all of the deactivated Autobots and strings them up within the Ark, as spare parts for the wounded Decepticons. He informs the recuperating Megatron that he is taking command. After years of successful campaigns on Cybertron, which is now almost completely under Decepticon control, Shockwave will no longer cow-tow to Megatron, who is proving to be inept through his repeated failures. Logic demands that Shockwave take command, for the good fo the Decepticons. Megatron is shocked and furious at Shockwave's treachery, and swears to make him pay for it. Shockwave, seeking the Matrix but uncertain as to exactly what it is, dismantles Optimus Prime, leaving only his head functional.



Buster and Ratchet leave the recovering Sparkplug in the hospital and return to the Ark to discover that the Decepticons are now in control of the Autobot Base. Ratchet waits in hiding, while Buster sneaks past Rumble and Frenzy, who are acting as door guards, to find the wounded Autobots and Optimus Prime's head. Optimus Prime, knowing what Shockwave is seeking, the creation aspect of the Matrix, passes that portion of the Matrix to Buster, to keep Shockwave from using the Matrix to create a new army of Decepticons, and repairing the gravely injured combiner teams. Buster sneaks out of the Ark, and informs Ratchet of the state of the Autobots. Ratchet returns Buster to his home, neither of them aware that Buster is carrying the creation aspect of the Matrix.



Meanwhile, Shockwave leads an attack on a new high-tech offshore Oil Platform/Refinery, developed by tycoon G.B. Blackrock and engineering prodigy Josie Beller. The Decepticons harvest the oil, but Beller suffers neurological damage from the attack. Blackrock has a helicopter take Beller to a hospital on the mainland, where they diagnose her as a quadraplegic, except for some motor skill in one of her arms. Josie Beller develops a pathological hatred for all Cybrtronians as she lay in her hospital bed, using her genius, and Blackrock's resources, to make a way for her to move again, and seek revenge.



After Shockwave and the Decepticons return from the successful raid on the Blackrock Oil Platform, Megatron, still recovering, attacks Shockwave. Shockwave easily subdues Megatron, and rather than kill a warrior of Megatron's stature, he forces Megatron to swear fealty to him. Though he outwardly swears loyalty to Shockwave, Megatron plots Shockwave's defeat. Shockwave takes all of the Decepticons, except Megatron (who is left on guard duty in the Ark), to harvest more oil from the conquered Blackrock offshore drilling platform/refinery, while sending Soundwave and his cassettes to infiltrate and takeover Blackrock Aerospace Plant #1. Soundwave successfully gets past the guards and enslaves the workers there. While the Decepticons are distracted, Ratchet sneaks back into the Ark and discovers the incapacitated Autobots, including Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime encourages Ratchet to find a way to stop the Decepticons, and to think as a warrior. Ratchet crept around the Ark, searching for something that would allow him to free his comrades, when he was discovered by Megatron.



Megatron gloated at Ratchet about how easily he could destroy the weak Autobot. As Megatron prepares to destroy Ratchet, Shockwave radioes in orders for Megatron to prepare the head of Optimus Prime for immediate transport. Megatron, in his anger at Shockwave, drops Ratchet and smashes the viewscreen. ratchet seeing an opportunity, thinks as a warrior, and strikes a deal with Megatron. Ratchet agrees to show Megatron Shockwave's destruction, in return Megatron promises to give the Ark, and the Autobots inside, over to Ratchet.



Ratchet rushes to Dinobot Island, and searches for the Dinobots. He finally finds them resting at the bottom of the Tar Pit. After a breif interlude with Slag, he finally convinces the Dinobots to come back to the Ark with him. Meanwhile, Back at the Ark, Shockwave arrives and takes Optimus Prime's head and the incapacitated Skyfire to his new base of operations, the Blackrock Aerspace Plant, leaving Megatron alone again, to guard the Ark.



Ratchet returns and greets Megatron at the appointed locaton, high atop a mountain near the Ark. Ratchet shows Megatron a video of the Dinobots destroying Shockwave (downloaded from the Dinobots' memories), fulfilling his deal to show Megatron Shockwave's demise at the hands of the Dinobots. Megatron believes that Shockwave is destroyed, and betrays Ratchet, stating that he will now destroy Ratchet, and be rid of the Autobots altogether. Ratchet knows that Megatron had no desire to fulfill his end of the bargain, so he has kept the Dinobots in hiding under the snow on the mountain top. As soon as Megatron shows signs of betrayal, Ratchet signals for the Dinobots to attack. Though not fully healed, Megatron proves to be more than a match for the Dinobots. Megatron stands at the edge of the cliff chiding Ratchet for his failed treachery. Ratchet, in sheer desperation rushes Megatron, but merely bounces off the powerful Decepticon's chest. Megatron continues mocking Ratchet, when suddenly the cliff crumbles from beneath Megatron and he falls. Megatron tries to fly, but his flight systems are still too damaged to help. Instead, he opts to transform into his small gun mode, to try to shield himself from as much damage as possible. Megatron falls down below the clouds and disappears into the snow, far, far down the mountain.



The Dinobots congratulate Ratchet on his victory, and turn to go to the Ark. Swoop rushes ahead of the others, though the skies. As he lands in front of the Ark, though, it is ambushed and badly damaged by an Autobot Guardian unit. The Guardian Unit, a sentry drone different from the giant Guardian robots of the past, has been reprogrammed by the Decepticons to attack any Autobots that it encounters. Ratchet and the other Dinobots arrive and assault the rogue Guardian. The Guardian takes massive damage, from Rachet zapping his cerebral access port with a laser scalpel,and flees into the depths of the Ark; the Dinobots pursue, seeking revenge for Swoop. Ratchet gets to work on repairing the other Autobots.



Wheeljack, revived by Ratchet, discovers that the Guardian is booby trapped with a thermonuclear bomb. If the Guardian is destroyed, the nuclear device will detonate, destroying the Ark, the Autobots and Mt. St. Hilary as well. Unable to reach the Dinobots in time, they usethe Ark's computers to remotely control Optimus Prime's headless body, which is near the Guardian and the Dinobots, to keep the Dinobots from destroying the Guardian and setting off the bomb.

The Guardian unit retreats deep into the volcano, and decides that it must activate its failsafe sequence to fulfill Shockwave's orders. It arms the thermonuclear bomb, begins a countdown and heads for the highest concentration of enemies, which happens to be Ratchet's repair bay. Ratchet is just completing the repairs on Swoop when the Guardian unit bursts through the doors and begins attacking the other Dinobots. To save the Autobots and the Ark, Swoop grabs the Guardian Unit, and flies it as far as he can away from the Ark. He releases the Guardian just before it explodes. The Autobots are unable to find Swoop's body, and assume that he was completely destroyed by the nuclear blast. After a memorial ceremony honoring Swoop, the Dinobots part ways with the Autobots, choosing to go their own way.



Meanwhile, at the Blackrock Chronic Care Institute, Josie Beller completes her creation; a suit made completely of microcircuitry, capable of not only restoring her mobility fully, but also enabling her limited flight (using electromagnetism), the ability to access computers and storage media with a mere thought and giving her the ability to generate massive blasts of electricity. She nicknames herself "Circuit Breaker" and leaves the hospital plotting revenge upon all of the Cybertronian Robots, for whom she feels only patholgical hatred.



At the same time, G. B. Blackrock, enraged at the loss of two of his facilities to the Decepticons, plans to unveil a weapon his engineers have designed to combat the robots, a Photonic Cannon. Upon hearing of Blackrock's plans, the Autobots decide to send envoys, to try to form an alliance with Blackrock. Blackrock's vast control of fuel reserves would greatly help the Autobots in their fight. Shortly before th unveiling of his Photonic Cannon, Blackrock has an impromptu meeting with Jazz, who explains that the Autobots want to help protect Blackrock Enterprises in return for fuel. Blackrock agrees, and the two of them return to the unveiling ceremony. Unfortunately, when the Cannon is supposed to display its firepower, it malfunctions, because Circuit Breaker has sabotaged it. She wishes for Blackrock to use her and her creation to destroy the robots. Blackrock wants to refuse, wishing for Josie to suffer no more harm at the hands of the Decepticons, but he feels trapped. Fortunately, he doesn't get a chance to decide, because Starscream and Frezy swoop down from the sky, seeking to destroy the Photonic Cannon.



Circuit Breaker leaps into action, preparing to assault the Decepticons with her electrical blasts, when Jazz and Wheeljack intervene to protect Blackrock. Circuit Breaker,, refusing to distinguish one robot from another, first blasts Jazz, disabling his arm and gun, allowing Starscream to hit him with his cluster bombs.Wheeljack enters the fray, taking Frenzy out, while Circuit Breaker blasts Starscream, keeping him from blasting Wheeljack as well. Wheeljack thanks Circuit Breaker for the assistance, but she returns the Autobot's gratitude with a massive blast of electricity. Wheeljack goes down, and Josie preapres the killing stroke. Blackrock rushes in and begs Circuit Breaker to spare teh Autobots lives, because they are friends and not foes. Josie restrains her fury enough to blast the robot mock-up that Blackrock had prepared for the demonstration, and agrees to spare Jazz & Wheeljack for now, but next time, Blackrock will not be able to stop her. In the confusion, as dazed and wounded Starscream and Frenzy retreat back to the Aerospace Plant.



Back at the Aerospace Plant, Shockwave uses the residual Matrix energy in Optimus Prime's head to heal the Constructicons, making Devastator fully operational again. Shockwave disassembles Skyfire in order to gather technical information, so he can make a fleet of Decepticons created from Skyfire's unique body design, which is superior in speed and firepower to the current Decepticon airfighter design. Skyfire is reassembled without his lasercore (which is left in stasis), so that further tests and studies may continue, without the resistance of Skyfire's free will.



The Autobots figure out, with Blackrock's help that they can eavesdrop on the Decepticons in the Aerospace plant using the special telephone system that Blackrock has installed within it. They listen, as Shockwave figures out that Optimus Prime no longer holds the creation matrix, and discovers that Buster Witwicky is the most likely candidate to possess it. Laserbeak follows Bumblebee & Bluestreak to Buster's location, then relays the data to Shockwave. Not willing to waste any more time, Shockwave orders Skyfire, now a sparkless drone, to quickly retrieve the human boy and bring him to Shockwave. Without a lasercore, Skyfire complies.



Bluestreak and Bumblebee battle Laserbeak and Skyfire to protect Buster. Laserbeak is easily defeated by Bluestreak, but Skyfire is not so easily dispatched. Skyfire is finally brought down when Buster uses the power of the creation matrix to stop the sparkless robot. The creation matrix gives Buster the ability to disassemble, reassemble and mentally program any sparkless machine. Buster reprograms Jetfire to obey only him, and sets off in the jet, in a plan to rescue Optimus Prime from the Aerospace Plant. Meanwhile, Soundwave detects that they are being listened to by the Autobots, so Shockwave decides to use their spying against them.



Buster arrives at the Aerospace plant unconscious, because he blacked out from the massive g-forces exterted on him from Skyfire's manouvering. While Shockwave hold Buster captive, he reveals that he will dump Optimus Prime's head in a nearby swamp. In reality, though, it will be a false head, that Shockwave will use to remotely control Optimus Prime's body, and destroy the Autobots, with the help of several Decepticons, who lay in wait. He has Skyfire drop the false head in the swamp, and the Autobots retrieve it, attaching it to Optimus' body. When Skyfire returns, however, Buster reawakens and uses Skyfire to attack Shockwave, and take Optimus' real head to the Autobots, as well as freeing the human hostages. Optimus Prime is able to override Shockwave's control and re-attach his head to his body. Many Autobots are hurt, but Optmus repels the Decepticons who are attacking them. Shockwave arrives and confronts Optimus. Optimus defeats Shockwave and throws him into the swamp. As Shockwave sinks into the mire, he mocks Optimus saying that he has still failed, for by this time, Shockwave's machines will have extracted the creation matrix from Buster's head, and given life to hundreds of new Decepticons who await life in the plant. Optimus rushes to save Buster, but, to his surprise, he finds that Buster is already free. Buster used the creation matrix to free himself from Shockwave's machinery, thwarting the Decepticon's plan. They restore Skyfire's spark to his body, and Buster passes the creation matrix back to Optimus Prime.



Back in the Ark a heated debate divides the Autobots. Prowl suggests that the recently returned Creation Matrix should be used to create an army of Super-Autobots, designed solely for fighting, in oirder to bring the war, and the Decepticons, to a swift end. Jazz opposes this, saying that it's a perversion of the Creation Matrix, and not the Autobot way. The Autobots divide behind each view's proponent, and they all demand that Optimus Prime make a decision on this plan. Optimus Prime states that it would be wrong, and dangerous to Earth to make such beings to destroy the Decepticons, but even he doubts his decision after hearing the grumbling and murmurs from the Autobots. Ravage overhears the debate, and allows the Autobot sensors to detect him. The Autobots pursue and capture Ravage, as Laserbeak watches. Laserbeak reports back to Soundwave, who is acting as Commander in Shockwave and Megatron's absence, much to the disdain of Starscream. The Autobots lock Ravage up in one of their Maximum Security cells, but Ravage easily escapes. Bumblebee discovers that Ravage has escaped and informs Prime, who is still in debate with Prowl over the creation of Super-Autobots. Prowl tells Bumblebee to get Mirage and Hound to pursue Ravage, but Bumblebee decides to disobey and chase after the Decepticon himself.



Bumblebee tracks Ravage across the desert, and is led into a Decepticon ambush. The Decepticons easily overpower Bumblebee, and drop Bumblebee's severed arm outside Autobot headquarters as a challenge to Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime accepts the challenge and battles the Decepticons. He defeats Rumble, then the Decepticon Jets, paying particular attention to Starscream, who gleefully gloats about the many leaders he has slain, before Optimus silences the Decepticon. Optimus then defeats Soundwave and rescues Bumblebee. Optimus returns with his resolve and purpose renewed. He announces that he has made his decision; the Autobots are not killers and will not risk innocent lives in order to gain victory. His decision silences all dissent.



Elsewhere, disgruntled Roxxon researcher Professor P. Morris, discovers the body of the lost Dinobot, Swoop, in the bottom of Lake Dena (a man-made reservoir in Northern Oregon). He uses his invention, the Neural Relay Link, to take control of Swoop's body, and live vicariously through the Dinobot's body and his device. Discovered using his device (which is actually owned by Roxxon Corporation) without permission, he accidentally uses Swoop to kill a security guard, after the guard tries to blackmail Morris. Morris then uses Swoop to attack the Autobots, thinking that all Transformers are the products of Roxxon's greatest competitor, G. B. Blackrock.



The Autobots battle Swoop, refraining from using lethal force, seeking only to subdue what they think to be just a rogue comrade. The Autobots fight to bring their former ally under control using force, but to no avail. Finally, Optimus Prime remembers how much Swoop despised his authority, and shouts out a direct order to Swoop. Something deep inside Swoop snaps, enraged with rebellion against Prime, and Professor Morris loses control of the Dinobot. Swoop then turns and angrily flies towards Morris' lab. Morris, realizing that he had taken control of a living being, and not one of Blackrock's constructs, begs for Swoop to spare him. Remorse for killing the guard strikes Morris, and he tells Swoop that he does deserve to die for what he has done. Swoop takes the human out and presents him to Optimus Prime, as the cause for all of the trouble. The Autobots forgive Morris, but state that he will have to be punished for his crimes according to human laws. Suddenly, Swoop turns feral and begins attacking the Autobots. Morris uses his device to bring Swoop back under control, so that the Autobots may return him to the Ark for repairs. Morris then vows to turn himself in to the authorities, as the Autobots leave. After they get back to the Ark, the Autobots discover that Swoop is suffering from a neurological degenration, a flaw in his design most likely aggravated the millions of years that he spent buried in the tar pit, that has more than likely affected the other Dinobots, who are roaming free, and shared his time trapped in the tar. The Autobots break into teams to track down the Dinobots.



The Autobots tracks down Snarl in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. Mirage, Brawn and Trailbreaker track Snarl to a secret US Military base, after the Dinobot attacks a contingent of curious soldiers. Te commander of the secret base, General Carl Thompson, uses all of the force available to him to repel that mad Dinobot, but to no avail. With no other option, the General sets the base to self-destruct, to protect the secrets within from falling into anyone else's hands, and orders the base personnel to flee the base. Snarl is caught in the strange blast, that consists of force and light, but no noise, from the secret government project, called a Disintegrator. The Autobots watch in horror, until Snarl stumbles out in Robot mode, and falls to the ground. As the Autobots ponder the strange blast and retrieve the wounded Dinobot, Laserbeak watches from the distance, then reports his findings back to the Decepticons.



Windcharger, Gears & Cliffjumper travel to Northern California to track down Sludge. Deep in the inland swamp, near Littlewood, CA, a reporter, Joy Meadows, finds Sludge wandering, and attempts to tame the beast. Before the three Autobots can catch up with Sludge, the Decepticons, led by Soundwave, attack the Dinobot and subdue him. When Windcharger, Gears and Cliffjumper arrive, they are ambushed by the Decepticons. The Decepticons leave with Sludge, and the three Autobots as their captives.



Later, in Old River Valley, Idaho, Soundwave, Skywarp and Scavenger search for Laserbeak, who has gone missing after being sent to search for Slag. They find a badly wounded Laserbeak, who relays how Jazz, Ironhide and Skyfire overpowered and used Laserbeak to block Slag's flamethrower, causing and explosion that stops the rampaging Triceratops. The Autobots leave Laserbeak for dead and return to the Ark with Slag.



Soundwave sets the feral Sludge (who is being tormented by Scavenger's mind piercing device, the Sonic Lance) against Grimlock, who is also in an animal-like mind state. The two battling Dinobots not only destroy the small town of Doonstown, but they severely damage the three Autobots sent to retrieve Grimlock; Sideswipe, Huffer & Bluestreak. Sideswipesends a distress signal back to the Ark, bringing Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ratchet & Bumblebee to the battlezone.



While Prowl and Optimus try to stop the raging Dinobots, Ratchet administers aid to their wounded comrades and Bumblebee tries to figure out how Sludge got there. Grimlock is unconscious from the battle and neurological damage, while Sludeg rages on. Bumblebee detects a strange energy source, which turn out to be Windcharger's Team's Shuttle. There he discovers the three missing Autobots and the Sonic Lance, which is set to make the entire shuttle explode if it is tampered with. Bumblebee, expecting a Decepticon trap, gets his three wounded comrades away from the Shuttle, and detonates the trap. Without the Sonic Lance goading him, Sludge falls into unconsciousness, just as all of his fellow Dinobots have. The Autobots gather all of their wounded into Prime's shuttle and return to the Ark.



Elsewhere, a human named Joey Slick, flees from Mafia hitmen and finds Megatron, still in gun mode in a stream. He uses Megatron, who is damaged and has no will of his own, to destroy his attackers. Joey then begins to go on a crime spree with Megatron, robbing banks and destroying the authorities that try to stop him. Joey uses Megatron to attack Lomax, the mafia lord who put the hit on him. After taking out Lomax's hired guns. Joey confronts him, but decides that he want to take Lomax down with his bare hands. He tosses Megatron aside, jarring the Decepticon's circuits, and bringing Megatron fully online again. As Joey delivers the knockout punch to Lomax he looks up to see the figure towering over him. Megatron threatens to destroy the human, but then, in a moment of insight, spares Joey's life, after Joey shows bravery in facing his doom. Megatron leaves the human, and goes to reclaim his place as Decepticon Leader.



Megatron runs out of fuel in the Powder River Basin, in Wyoming. A secret government group called I.I.I. (The Intelligence and Information Institute) and their paramilitary force, called R.A.A.T. (Rapid AntiRobot Assault Team), led by Walter Barnett, wishing to turn public opinion and the rest of Earth against all of the Transformers, hires a man named Donny Finkleberg to pretend on National Television that he is an international terrorist called "Robot Master". Robot Master, posing in front of Megatron's frozen form, claims to be the real force behind the Transformers, and that all other information known about them has only been pretense, in his game to dominate the world using the giant robots.

The Autobots rush to the scene, to capture Megatron and to stop this charade, but they are attacked by para-military fringe group. Unwilling to harm any humans, the Autobots don't fire back. While this occurs, Soundwave arrives and refuels Megatron, who destroys the humans' armaments and causes the wounded Autobots to withdraw. Megatron decides to keep the "Robot Master" as a captive, to continue his broadcasts, in the hope that he can further damage the Autobots' relations with the human governments.



Back at the Ark, Optimus discovers that Wheeljack and Rachet has created a robotic exosuit for Buster, becomes extremely angry at them for attempting to drag humans into their war. Optimus orders them to dismantle the suit, but Buster feels that he can gain Optimus' confidence if he uses to prove himself. He travels to Castle Sinister, believing it to be empty, or at the very least having only a token guard. He finds Frenzy there and attacks him. Buster defeats Frenzy, but doesn't count on Shockwave arriving.



Buster fights desperately against Shockwave, using very trick and trap he can think of. He tries to match Shockwave strength and firepower, and realizes that he is vastly outmatched. Shockwave, frustrated by the humans' resourcefulness, begins to lose his cold, logical demeanor, and begins to give in to a maddening rage that wells up within him, which has long been suppressed. Buster blasts Shockwave at point blank range with a force so powerful that the exosuit is destroyed. Shockwave is largely unharmed by the blast and prepares to kill Buster. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, arrive and threaten to destroy Shockwave if he harms Buster. Shockwave retreats, leaving Buster with the Autobots, and realizing a key weakness that the Autobots have.



Back on Cybertron, and Autobot Scientist, named Spanner, works desperately to duplicate the Spacebridge Technology that Shockwave created, so that the Autobot Fighters on Cybertron will have a new source of energy, and new resolve to battle for their planet. A rival lord of Shockwave, Lord Straxus, kidnaps Spanner, and forces him to create the Spacebridge for himself. Straxus seeks to shake off his dependancy upon Shockwave for fuel from Earth and even to overthrow Shockwave eventually, and take his place as Leader of the Decepticons. Blaster, Perceptor, Powerglide, Cosmos, Warpath, Seaspray, and Beachcomber travel to Cybertron to search for Spanner. They are joined in their search with the ne'er-do-well Autobot spy, Scrounge. Scroungemakes friends with Blaster, and is able to infiltrate Straxus' lair and find out that Straxus has Spanner. He also discovers that the new Spacebridge is operational. Unfortunately for Scrounge, his intrusion is detected, and he is captured as he attempts to return to Autobase. He is thrown in the Smelting Pool, a horrifying pit, filled with molten metal, where captive Transformers are melted down into their base metals, to be used by the Decepticons as they see fit. Blaster finds the dying Scrounge, and retrieves the information from him before he expires. Blaster is rescued out of the Smelting Pool by Powerglide and gets back to Autobase with the information



Meanwhile, on Earth, Shockwave learns of Megatron's return, due to the frequent broadcasts by the Robot-Master. The two Decepticons face off, but when Shockwave learns of Straxus' plans, he decides to postpone their battle for Leadership until they handle Straxus. Megatron agrees, and they begin building a temporary base of operations in the Powder River Basin Coal Mine.



On Cybertron, the Autobots lead an attack against Straxus and destroy his base, Darkmount. During the battle they discover that Spanner has actually been built into the new Spacebridge, and if the destroy it, they destroy him. The Spacebridge opens a portal to Earth, and Blaster battles Straxus inside the Spacebridge, and Straxus falls from the bridge into the void, apparently destroyed by the energies that surround the bridge. The Spacebridge appears to destabilize, and the Autobots flee across it, back to Earth, where they are surrounded and attacked by RAAT and Circuit Breaker. The humans quickly overpower the Autobots and take them as captives back to their base of operations.



Optimus Prime leads most of the Autobots on an attack against the Decepticon Coal Mine Base. On the way there, in the town near the Coal Mine, Skids accidentally damages a human's car, but is ordered to keep moving, rather than attempting to make amends with the human.



Megatron leads a contingent of Decepticons to meet with who they suppose are Straxus' Decepticons, but instead,find the Autobots being taken off by RAAT. Back at the Decepticon Coal Mine Base, the Autobots launch a full assault upon the Decepticons. In the confusion, Donny Finkleberg, the Robot Master, is able to escape. Shockwave, greatly outnumbered radios to Megatron for help, Megatron and the his troops return and repel the Autobots. Starscream and several other Decepticons were damaged in the battle, and taken captive by the retreating Autobots. Shockwave admits that Megatron has proven that he is a fit commander, and that logically, he should lead, ending their contest for the Decepticon Throne. Ravage is sent out after Donny Finkleberg, and slips up on the Autobot convoy. He takes out Skids, who is the last Autobot in the convoy. Unseen by the other Autobots, Skids tumbles down a mountainside, out of their view.



Ramjet, Thrust, Dirge, Blitzwing and the Insecticons are sent to Cybertron aboard Astrotrain, to keep order on Cybertron and to make sure that the battles on Cybertron go in favor of the Decepticons. There they are joined by Octane and Macabre. The ten of them work together to wreak havok on the Autobots, and do so successfully..



Skids is discovered by a human named Charlene, who thinks him to be a normal vehicle, abadnoned in the mountains. Charlene takes the Autobot to a mechanic, where he receives repairs. Charlene begins to drive Skids home, still thinking that he's a normal Earth vehicle, when the angry driver Skids ran into spots the van that hit him. The angry human, named Jake, tries several times to run into Skids, but the Autobot is much more agile and manueverable than the human, and keeps Charlene, and himself from being harmed. Jake eventually gives up on his chase, and Skids has to reveal his identity to Charlene, after performing a number of stunts, and driving without her guidance. Skids, being an anthropologist, makes a deal with Charlene to function as her vehicle, while he studies human culture in disguise. At a nearby restaurant, Donny Finkleberg (in a stolen change of clothes), overhears Jake's story, and surmises that the van in question is an Autobot. Seeking sanctuary, Donny tries to track down Skids. Donny spots and follows Skids, and catches Skids and Charlene conversing. While he confronts them, Ravage attacks, in an attempt to kill Finkleberg. Skids, again, is forced to reveal himself. He tries to flee from Ravage, with the two humans inside of him. He is again spotted by Jake, who decides that the score is not quite settled yet. Jake attacks Skids again, but with little effect. Ravage shows up again and Skids battles Ravage. Realizing that this is not a car that he's been after, but an Autobot, Jake has a change of heart, and decides to help Skids by crashing his car into Ravage, damaging the Decepticon's flight circuits. Skids tricks Ravage into jumping down into a dry well, trapping the Decepticon. Skids, realizing that he has a duty to take the "Robot-Master" to the Ark, bids Charlene as sad farewell, and heads back to the Autobot Base.



Meanwhile, RAAT troops kidnap Professor Morris for use in their "Project Centurion", which is a plan to use the information they've gathered from the captured Autobots to build their own human-controlled Robot Warriors. Morris is shown the first of the line, called Centurion. They want his expertise to be used to recreate the Neural Link Relay for use on the Centurion Units.



Elsewhere, Joy Meadows, the reporter who found Sludge and secretly witnessed the battle between the Autobot team sent to retieve the Dinobot and Soundwave's group of Decepticons has made a report refuting Robot Master's claims, with help from G. B. Blackrock. She appears on national TV announcing her claims. RAAT decides that she must be eliminated, while Sludge, who also views the broadcast, decides to seek out the human who treated him kindly while he was ill. The Dinobots arrive just as agents of RAAT are about to kill the reporter, and Sludge's fury sends the assassins to flight. The Dinobots agree to do an interview, telling the truth about the Autobots and Decepticons, and debunking Robot-Master's lies. Joy calls for her technical crew to meet her, and the transmission is picked up by Soundwave, who reports it to Megatron. Unwilling to have his ruse so easily dismissed, he leads a group of Decepticons to keep that interview from occuring. I.I.I. also intercepts the transmission, and has agents sent to stop the camera crew from reaching Ms. Meadows. Swoop, sent to Portland Oregon, to bring the crew to the interview's location, arrives just in time to see Megatron attacking the camera crew. He engages the Decepticons in an attempt to save the humans, while the I.I.I. agents watch. Megatron overpowers Swoop and prepares to kill the Dinobot, when Centurion appears on the scene and attacks Megatron. Megatron defeats Centurion with the help of Mixmaster, but their battle gives Swoop enough time to recover, giving him the opportunity to escape with the Camera crew. A sniper from I.I.I. tgs Swoop with a tracking device that will allow them, and Centurion to follow.



Morris, recognizing Swoop, barracades himself alone inside of the I.I.I. canturion Control Room, which is practically impregnable once it is sealed up. He then begins to use Centurion to follow Swoop.



The Decepticons also detect the I.I.I. homing beacon and track down the reporter, her crew and the Dinobots and attack them. Centurion joins the fray and turns the battle to the Dinobots' favor. Soundwave, sensing a defeat, corners the humans, and forces them to give up all of their research and footage that refutes the Robot-Master ruse. Reluctantly, Joy meadows complies. With the evidence in their hands, the Decepticons leave the battle, victorious. Optimus Prime arrives at the scene, but neither the humans or Dinobots would give him any explanation of what occurred. Back at the Ark, Optimus Prime, Prowl and Ratchet suddenly disappear in a flash of black energy. At another location, three Decepticons from the year 2005 appear; Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge.



Meanwhile, on Cybertron, the Wreckers (Impactor, Roadbuster, Whirl, Topspin, Twintwist and Rack-n-Ruin) plan an assault against the Decepticons. The strike, planned by Emirate Xaaron and Ultra Magnus is called Operation Volcano. It's purpose is to wipe out most of the Decepticons' most deadly warriors in one fell swoop. All appears to go as planned, until the Matrix Flame (fueled interdimensionally by the Matrix in Optimus Prime's chest) goes out. Disturbed by this, Emirate Xaaron sends Ultra Magnus to investigate. Ultra Magnus appears on Earth through a rip in space, caused by one of Spanner's original prototypes for the Spacebridge. He only has alimited amount of time to handle his mission on Earth before he misses the opportunity to set off Operation Volcano, which may fail without him.

Galvatron travels to the Coal Mine Base and greets Megatron. He declares himself as a Decepticon Leader from the future, and asks to have temporary command of the Constructicons. Megatron answers with a blast to Galvatron's chest. Galvatron responds by burying Megatron and Soundwave alive beneath tons of rock. Galvatron then takes the Constructicons to a specific location, to build a massive weapon to destroy his future master, Unicron. He chooses the very ground where Autobot City will one day stand, so that all of his enemies are destroyed at once.



The Autobots, thinking that the disappearances of Optimus, Prowl & Ratchet are caused by the Decepticons, see and overhear what occurs between Megatron and Galvatron. Jazz and Hound follow Galvatron and spy on his project, but are blasted by Cyclonus from behind. Jazz tumbles down into the deep pit that the Constructicons are digging. Before Cyclonus can kill Hound, Ultra Magnus blasts the gun from his hand. Cyclonus is startled at first, thinking that it is the Ultra Magnus from the future. Once he realizes that it is not the Ultra Magnus from the future, he laughs and reports the Autobot activity to Galvatron.



Ultra Magnus takes Hound back to the Ark, and there Hound reports all that he saw and heard. A division in the Autobots arises as Ultra Magnus wishes to find out what happened to Optimus Prime, while other other Autobots wish to attack Galvatron. They soon receive a message from Galvatron, showing them Jazz being tortured. Galvatron goads them into attacking to save their friend. The Autobots ask Ultra Magnus to help them, but he refuses, keeping to his mission to find Optimus Prime.



The Autobots attack Galvatron at the Coal Mine Base and are defeated badly. Nothing they do harms Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge. They are all defeated and mocked by Galvatron. Galvatron refuses to kill them, but rather leaves them utterly defeated and alive. He warns them to stay out of his way from now on and returns to completing the weapon. The Autobots, desperate to stop Galvatron, dig Soundwave and Megatron out of the rubble and forge an alliance with them against Galvatron.



As Megatron plots with the Autobots to destroy Galvatron, Starscream awakens, breaks out of Autobot detention and overhears the recent events. He decides that if Galvatron is so powerful that even Megatron stands no chance against him alone, then that's where his alliance should be. Starscream sneaks out of the Ark, in search of Galvatron. Starscream finds Galvatron, and after being treated roughly by Cyclonus, is welcomed by Galvatron, who puts Starscream to work.



Scourge, searching for metal for Galvatron's weapon, is attacked, defeated and captured by the Autobots, led by Megatron. At the same time Shockwave, Frenzy & Thundercracker all disappear in a blast of black energy, while elsewhere 3 Autobots from the future appear, Hot Rod, Kup & Blurr. The three Autobots have been unwittingly and secretly snatched from their places, and sent into the past by Unicron to thwart Galvatron's plans. Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr travel to the Ark seeking Optimus Prime, but find only Ultra Magnus. Ultra Magnus offers to help the 3 Autobots stop Galvatron.



On Cybertron, anticipating that Ultra Magnus may not return in time for Operation Volcano, Emirate Xaaron recruits two Triple-Changing Autobot warriors to replace Magnus; Springer and Broadside. They begin training with the Wreckers.



Galvatron offers a prisoner exchange; he will release Jazz if the Autobots will release Scourge. What the Autobots don't realize is that Jazz has been programmed to attack them at Galvatron's command. The Autobots at the exchange are taken unawares by Jazz's attack, and quickly subdued.



Back at the weapon site, Soundwave attack Cyclonus, who they believe to be alone, but while they fight with Cyclonus, Starscream backshoots them, rendering them both unconscious. Starscream prepares to kill Megatron, but he is stopped by Galvatron, who beats Starscream into submission, just as Ultra Magnus arrives.



Ultra Magnus battles Galvatron and leads him away from the site. While Magnus keeps Galvatron distracted, Hot Rod, Kup & Blurr create a ruse to trick Galvatron into returning to the future. They create a mock up of Starscream and place it near the weapon site and hide the real Starscream, who is in stasis lock. They also plant explosives throughout the weapon, after damaging Cyclonus and Scourge further. When Galvatron returns, the weapon explodes, and the false Stascream stands nearby mocking Galvatron. Galvatron, in his rage, destroys Starscream. Shocked by his own action, Galvatron realizes that without Starscream, his future will not exist. He returns to his time with Cyclonus and Scourge. Unicron pulls Hot Rod, Kup & Blurr back to their time and place, wiping their memories of the events. Unicron leaves one parting suggestion in the minds of the present-time Autobots, that the spot where Galvatron's weapon was would make an excellent place to build themselves a city. As soon as the Future Autobots and Decepticons disappear, the missing Autobots and Decepticons from the present reappear where they were. Both groups repair their wounded. Jazz's programming is restored by Ratchet, as the Autobots lick their wounds from their numerous defeats.



Ultra Magnus hurries back to Cybertron, because he is late Operation Volcano. Impactor and his Wreckers have set a trap for Thrust, Dirge, Ramjet, Blitzwing, Astrotrain, Octane, Macabre & the Insecticons. Operation Volcano will lead the ten Decepticons into an ambush, where they would be destroyed. The Decepticons take the bait, which is Emirate Xaaron and a false crowd of Autobot Leaders, and rush to amphitheatre to annihilate the Autobots, but they are stopped short by a transmission from Megatron, calling them back to Earth. Macabre, unwilling to miss this opportunity continues on alone seeking to kill Emirate Xaaron. Just before Macabre takes his shot, though, Impactor spots him and jumps in the way, and takes the blast meant for Emirate Xaaron. Impactor dies, passing leadership of the Wreckers to Springer, but not before his assassin is killed by the Wreckers.



Back on Earth, Optimus Prime, working with information given by Donny Finkleberg sends Skyfire and Donny to check the location where Blaster and the other Autobots supposedly crossed the Spacebridge back to Earth. They arrive and only find a small trail of energon from one of the wounded Autobots. They return and report their findings. Optimus sends Skids and Donny out to follow the trail, and discover the whereabouts of the missing Autobots. By saving a woman trapped under downed powerlines, Skids alerts his and Donny's presence to R.A.A.T. and the Decepticons. Megatron dispatches the newly repaired Stunticons to kill Skids and Donny. The Stunticons attack and Skids sends out a distress signal to the Ark. The Aerialbots are sent to deal with the Stunticons. RAAT and Circuit Breaker beat the Aerialbots to the scene and engage the Stunticons. The Stunticons suffer damage from the humans' attacks but continue searching for Skids and Donny. The Aerialbots arrive and attack as Superion. The Stunticons merge into Menasor and fight Superion, while RAAT continues firing upon both giants. Superion begins to gain the upperhand over the wounded Menasor, until Circuit Breaker blasts him in the head, bringing the giant Autobot down. RAAT repels the Stunticons, while Donny & Skids escape to continue their mission. RAAT takes Superion captive and returns to their headquarters with him. Donny, learns of RAAT's reward for any Transformer that is turned over to them, and calls them, turning Skids over to them for money, while the Autobot rests in power reserve mode.



Back in the Decepticon Coal Mine Base, Megatron sends for the Battlechargers, Runamuck and Runabout, from Cybertron and sends them as messengers to Optimus Prime to pass along a challenge of mortal combat. The message is never delivered, though, as the Battlechargers take off on their own, defacing buildings and landmarks across the United States. RAAT follows and attacks the two Decepticons, but Circuit Breaker is wounded in the battle. The Battlechargers escape to continue their graffitti spree. Unable to stop the Battlechargers on her own, Circuit Breaker is persuaded by Donny to interface with the captured, and dissected, Autobots, in order to stop the two rogue Decepticons. Circuit Breaker makes a deal with the Autobots that if they will cooperate with her that she will set them free. She hastily has several of the Autobots cobbled together into a gestalt form, with herself as the nerve center. They attack and defeat the Battlechargers, sending them into the waters near Ellis Island. Duringthe battle, the Autobots work to protect Circuit Breaker from the Decepticons' blasts, and true to her word she sets them free after reassmbling them. RAAT is disbanded shortly after this.



Optimus Prime, unhappy with the Autobots performance during the Galvatron incident, especially that they went to Megatron for aid, devises an exercise where the Autobots will think that he has died. While pretending to go one a recon mission alone, Optimus will fake his own death in an attempt to get the Autobots to learn to work together cohesively in his absence.



Megatron, seeking the best set of hunters known to the Decepticons, summons the infamous Predacons, five of the most savage Decepticons, who merge into a nearly unstoppable giant named Predaking. After they arrive and adapt to the planet by choosing forms that imitate Earth animals, they are sent out to hunt down and kill Optimus Prime. But, unknown to Megatron, the Predacons have secretly been given orders to disarm Megatron, and leave him unarmed to fight Optimus Prime. The Predacons execute their plan after they have disarmed Optimus Prime, leaving the two leaders to battle hand to hand. Megatron, though is never completely unarmed,and he produces a small hand-held blaster to use as a weapon. Optimus Prime tricks him into destroying the fake Optimus Prime mock-up, that he had originally intended to use to fool the Autobots, and used the opportunity to attack Megatron from behind. Megatron summons the Spacebridge to effect a retreat, but Optimus Prime forces them to pass through the bridge before the activation cycle is complete, and they are both dumped on Cybertron, but not in the same location.



Megatron finds his way to Polyhex, where he is greeted by Straxus, who is now only a head attached to life-support equipment, thanks to his battle with Blaster on Spanner's Spacebridge. Optimus Prime rescues the Autobot named Outback and the two of them travel together to Autobase.



Megatron, anticipating Optimus Prime's survival passes along a rumor through the Decepticon ranks, and into the hands of Autobot spies that a Decepticon pretending to be Optimus Prime is attempting to infiltrate the Autobot ranks. Optimus Prime is attacked and captured by the Wreckers, who prepare to execute him as a Decepticon spy. Outback rescues him from from the Wreckers, but is damaged badly as they escape. Ultra Magnus suspects that there may be more to this "spy" than what they know, so he summons Emirate Xaaron (the only one of them that actually knew Optimus Prime before) to accompany them as the corner the fugitives. Xaaron identifies Optimus Prime as genuine, and they return to Autobase together to repair Outback.



Back on Earth, and finally reassembled and set free, the Autobots once held captive by Circuit Breaker are travelling back to the Ark when, with a flash of black energy, Skids disappears. Not far away, Galvatron reappears. Again he has travelled back in time, but with a different plan. His arrival is spotted Centurion, the man-made robot controlled by Professor Morris. Centurion goes to investigate and is attacked and destroyed by Galvatron, who mistakes the robot for the future Autobot Leader, Rodimus Prime. The formerly captive Autobots follows the sounds of battle and find Galvatron. They battle him and it appears that he will be victorious over them, when the Dinobots, seeking their silent comrade Centurion, arrive. Together the Dinobots and Autobots attack Galvatron. The battle attracts the attention of Shockwave, who surmises that Galvatron is seeking to take over the Decepticons, and leads a group of Decepticons to assist the Dinobots and Autobots. They repel Galvatron, since Galvatron refuses to destroy those who will be his troops in the future.



On Cybertron, Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus lead the Wreckers in many succesful raids against the Decepticons. They finally invade Polyhex, in a bid to destroy Megatron.



Inside Polyhex, though, Straxus uses a device to force Megatron to switch bodies with him. At first the device appears to be succesful, but the end result is both Megatron and Straxus trapped together in Megatrons body, their minds intermingling, causing Megatron to become mentally unstable. Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus corner Megatron, and he begins to release antimatter in the fortress, threatening to destroy the entire area. RatBat and Octane, who were serving under Straxus see what Megatron is doing, and activate their Spacebridge's portal, throwing Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime and Megatron thought it, to the Earth. The three appear at separate locations on the planet.Megatron makes his way back to the Decepticon Coal Mine Base, with amnesia regarding the Predacon attack upon him. Optimus Prime returns to the Ark, much to the joy of theAutobots, who have thought him dead. Ultra Magnus, lost in a forest and unfamiliar with Earth's geography, begins to search for the Ark.



Bumblebee and First Aid are on patrol together when First Aid disappears in a blast of black energy. Suspecting more time-travelers have arrived, Bumblebee goes to inform the Autobots what has occurred, but he is stopped short by the time-traveler, Death's Head, who blows Bumblebee to pieces, so that there will be no interference from other Transformers.



Ultra Magnus, travelling alone, it rocked by a huge earth tremor. He hears cries forhelp and rescues three travelling women, Cindy Newell, Corrinne and Judy, from a burning, overturned vehicle. Ultra Magnus takes the women with him as his guides across the country. As Magnus attempts to stop a forest fire, he is discovered by Galvatron. The two of them battle as the women flee, and are trapped in the forest fire.Galvatron defeats Ultra Magnus, and drags him to the source of the tremors, Mount Verona, a nearby volcano, that Galvatron has altered by capping it with a power siphon, with which Galvatron hopes to attain ultimate power by forcing a massive eruption and gathering the power released into himself.. As Galvatron explains this to Magnus, Rodimus Prime, Kup & Blurr arrive from the future.



Elsewhere, Death's Head stalks, attacks and defeats Soundwave and Laserbeak, forcing them to divulge Galvatron's whereabouts. Meanwhile, Wreck-Gar discovers Bumblebee's body and repairs the small Autobot.



Rodimus Prime, Kup & Blurr attack Galvatron, just as he is about to throw Magnus into the volcano's crater. Galvatron hurls Ultra Magnus at the three Autobots, and starts to face off against Rodimus Prime, when Death's Head arrives. Death's Head demands that he be allowed to fight and kill Galvatron, so that he may collect the reward offered by Rodimus Prime. As they argue, Galvatron blasts Death's Head, crippling one of his arms. Death's Head retreats for repairs while Rodimus battles Galvatron. Galvatron fights furiously against Rodimus and it appears that Rodimus will lose, until Magnus caused a distraction by blasting the Power Siphon. Ultra Magnus, Kup, Blurr and Rodimus Prime retreated and regrouped, meeting up with Wreck-Gar and Bumblebee.



Wreck-Gar, Bumblebee, Kup and Blurr attack Galvatron as a distraction, so that Rodimus can steal Galvatron's time-jump trigger. Ultra Magnus fights Galvatron again, to buy Wreck-Gar the time he needs to change the time-jump trigger into an override device that will send all of the future-robots back to their own times. Ultra Magnus is defeated before the device is completed, so Rodimus battles galvatron to give Wreck-Gar more time. Galvatron defeats Rodimus and is about to kill him, when he is hit by a missile; fired by Death's Head. Death's Head and Galvatron battle, and Galvatron rips off one of Death's Head's arms. It buys Wreck-gar enough time to finish the device, which he activates. In a flash all of the robots from the future disappear, except for Galvatron. Somehow the Time-Jump-Override was misconfigured, and allowed Galvatron to remain. Ultra Magnus rushes to battle Galvatron again, while Bumblebee sabotages the Power Siphon. Bumblebee escapes as Ultra Magnus battles Galvatron, keeping him on top of the Siphon, until it explodes, seemingly destroying them both.



Megatron discovered that a human scientist, Ethan Zachary, invented a new type of energy generator, and took the Combaticons to steal it. When they arrived at the lab they were confronted by Optimus Prime and the Protectobots. To avert destroying the lab and the Hydrothermocline, Optimus Prime and Megatron dueled in Ethan Zachary's computer simulator. Megatron used a cheat-code to re-spawn after he was defeated, but he still lost to Optimus Prime, after the Autobot leader inadvertently used some of the simulations denizens to knock Megatron over a cliff. Optimus Prime, though, felt that he had broken his own code of honor by sacrificing innocent beings, simulations or not, and declared Megatron as the victor. Following the rules set beforehand, Optimus Prime was destroyed, but unknown to Decepticon and Autobot alike, Ethan Zachary had downloaded Optimus Prime's lasercore into his computer, keeping it safe from apparent destruction.



While the Autobots performed funeral rites for Optimus Prime, a human thief, who called himself "The Mechanic" sneaked into the Ark and made off with several pieces of Autobot technology, which he quickly put to use in his criminal endeavors. The Decepticons, sensed weakness in the Autobot ranks, and sent a prototype war machine against the Ark. The Autobots would have been defeated if not for the heroic actions of Grimlock, who showed an underlying intelligence and cunning hidden by his outward demeanor. Because of his v