The landlords are back and they're not happy.
Last time on Beast Wars,
Megatron did the unthinkable and called truce between the Predacons and
Maximals. While Optimus is willing to try to give peace a chance, he’s not an
idiot and wants to know what has got Megatron so scared that he doesn’t want to
devote any brain power to the Maximals for a while. The Maximals perform a
feint, sending Airazor in to drop Rattrap off to ‘infiltrate’ the base only for
them to get caught. This was just a distraction to let Tigertron slip in.
Meanwhile, Tarantulas steals a Transwarp cell from the Predacon vault and
modifies it for his own use. Unbeknownst to him, Megatron anticipated this and
sent Blackarachnia to distract Tarantulas while he adds his own programming
modification to the cell. Tigertron hacks the Predacon system and learns that
Megatron recently got his hands on an alien golden disk and translated the
runes on it. Tigertron is spotted and all the Predacons try to capture him, but
nonviolently as they’re trying to stick to the letter of the Truce if not the
spirit. The Maximals arrive and help Tigertron get away. Once the escape is
completed, we learn that Megatron set up everything. He tells Scorponok that
when it comes to bait, presentation is key. Tigertron informs his comrades that
according to the disk, the aliens that built the flying island and other
artifacts on the planet are coming. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall
we?
We open on a shot of the planet
from space. We shoot past the dual moons to outer space. There’s a ripple in
space time and a sphere of energy heads towards the planet. The Axalon detects
the energy surge and Sentinel tells Rhinox that the energy source has the same
signature as the other alien artifacts that they’ve dealt with. Rhinox tells
Optimus, who orders Rattrap and Airazor to check it out, as they are closest.
Rhinox warns him that the Predacons will have detected this as well. Optimus
realizes that and says that he hopes the truce stands as he takes off.
In his lab, Tarantulas also detects
the energy surge. He learns that the next stasis pod isn’t projected to land
for another 30 megacycles (hours), which isn’t soon enough for his purposes.
He’s desperate to find away off Planet. Blackarachnia arrives and suggests tries
to cozy up to the other spider. Tarantulas isn’t interested in talking to her…
until she points out that the Axalon has in tact stasis pods on board
that would just need a little tinkering to be made into an escape ship. She
suggests that with most of the Maximals busy with the energy signal, they could
break into the Axalon in under 2 megacycles. Megatron was watching this
whole exchange and laughs at the inevitability of treachery in his ranks. He
claims that with proper guidance, Tarantulas’ scheme will help him nicely. He
has a newly repaired Waspinator to secure the area near the energy signature.
Waspinator complains about getting another crap assignment, but Megatron yells
at him that the ceasefire only applies to Maximals. Waspinator transforms and
flies off. Megatron looks over the original Golden Disk and mutters to himself
that he needs to play the next few moves very carefully.
Airazor and Rattrap come upon the
energy anomaly. It’s created a new alien site. Rattrap says that this is their
chance to get vaporized first. When Airazor asks if he ever thinks positively,
he says that it WAS positive. He could have said tortured and then vaporized.
They land at the site and find an energy crystal at the center. While it
initially seems stable, when Airazor scans it, it sets it off. She’s blasted by
an energy pulse and knocked out and Rattrap is blasted from the sight as it
morphs into a full temple. He radios into Optimus to let him know what’s going
on and to tell him to hurry, before he’s tackled by Waspinator.
Airazor wakes up in the temple.
She’s clearly hurt but able to move. She stands and hears some alien language.
She tries to talk to it but gets blasted by lightning instead.
Waspinator transforms and tells
Rattrap to either leave or be scrapped. Rattrap says he was there first and
there’s not anything Waspinator can do due to the ceasefire. Waspinator shrugs
and says he won’t use a gun. He punches Rattrap and sends him flying. Rattrap
transforms and tackles Waspinator, saying that when you fight a rat, you better
be prepared to fight dirty. He then kicks Waspinator in his nonexistent balls
and then gives him a noogie before kicking clear. Waspinator mutters that he
thinks the areas is secure and fly off. Optimus lands and says that he can’t
take Rattrap anywhere. They take a look at the structure and Optimus tells
Rattrap to try a cutting laser.
Inside, Airazor is still getting
shocked. She transforms back into bird mode, which seems to cut off the attack
and pass out. As she does, the aliens mutter in a few more languages before
saying ‘Cybertron’ in English.
Rattrap’s laser doesn’t do
anything. Megatron, Scorponok and Terrorsaur arrive, Megatron saying that he’s
surprised that Optimus thought a laser would work, as these beings can make
Energon itself. He suggests using a biological weapon instead. Scorponok fires
a missile at it and melts a hole into it. Optimus says that he and Rattrap are
going in first as a Maximal is the one captured. Megatron graciously allows
them in. He tells Scorponok to be ready with a missile if things go wrong, and
that this is a calculated risk to let the Maximals in first. Whatever he’s
planning involves Inferno doing something else.
Optimus and Rattrap find Airazor.
He tells Rattrap to take her outside. She tries to stop him, but he says that
he needs to try to explain what’s happening to the aliens. He knows they’ve
done damage to whatever the alien’s were doing here and they owe them an
explanation. She weakly says “No,” as she’s dragged away. The second he’s
alone, cables grab him and hoist him into the sky. He gets scanned and it looks
extremely painful.
Meanwhile, the spiders break
through Sentinel’s shield, using a device Blackarachnia made to cut a hole into
it. Inferno tries to follow them, but the shield cutter loses power before he
can. Shrugging, Inferno starts digging.
Rattrap drags Airazor clear,
falling as the hole seals shut. When he opens his eyes he is staring down the
barrels of Megatron and Scorponok’s guns and sighing that the Truce must be
over.
The aliens complete their scan and
confirm that Optimus is the same being that they scanned before. A giant head
is then projected above him. The head of… Unicron? … It’s not actually him; the
Aliens just chose to take on a form that would instill in Optimus the right
emotional response. The face of the planet eating Cybertronian Devil… ya that’s
not good. Optimus says that if they scan him then they know they aren’t here
willingly. The alien tells him that regardless of their intentions, they’ve
contaminated the experiment that the aliens were running. It says they’re going
to sterilize the planet. Optimus says they cant’ do that, there are living
beings on the planet and they don’t have the right to end them. The Aliens say
that it’s too late and they won’t reconsider. They announce they’re activating
the termination sequence. Optimus transforms and breaks free, flying away.
Outside, Rattrap and Airazor get
the upper hand on the Predacons and knock them aside. Optimus bursts from the
structure and they fall back. Megatron watches the structure from where he
landed and says that thankfully there’s another hand to be played. The pulsing
at the structure hits its pique and fires skyward. It strikes the nearer of the
two moons and transforms it into a damned Deathstar. The energy wave that
strikes it causes and Energon surge that disrupts the circling stasis pods.
Rhinox detects the disturbance and
does his best to boost Sentinel’s signal so that he can track where the pods
may land. Before he can do much more, though, the Spiders break in.
Blackarachnia hits him with an arrow that knocks him out, and Tarantulas shoots
Dinobot until he passes out as well. Blackarachnia sees the scan of the death
moon and asks what that is, wonder in her voice. Tarantulas cryptically says,
“the beginning of the end.”
Solid penultimate episode of season
1. The aliens have been a constant background force in this first season, their
artifacts defying the laws of science and nature and causing headaches to both
sides of the Beast Wars. The flying island alone showed their
immense power, but even that pales in comparison to having a planet destroying
weapon at the ready. Taking the form of Unicron was the right choice for these
guys to take. Again, when you choose to appear to a being as the literal
incarnation of death and destruction of their history, that says something all
on its own. It’d be like if I spoke to an alien and it took on the form of Vlad
the Impaler. He’s not just promising torture; he’s promising cruel and unusual
torture. Meanwhile, the spiders have invaded the base and taken out two of the
Maximals to do it. The situation for everyone is bad, but the situation for the
Maximals is extremely bad. How will they get out of this? Tune in next
time to find out. Have a good night, everyone.
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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social
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