Espionage!!!!!

« The Battle for Planet Earth
"Espionage!!!!!"
Publisher	Pickwick International
First published	1985
Writer	?
ISBN	?

The Decepticons attempt to learn the Autobots' plans by having Starscream pretend to defect.

Synopsis

The Decepticons are annoyed about their previous defeats, and Megatron suspects some of them might be disgruntled with his leadership. He holds a meeting and they discuss the fact that brute force isn't working, so they'll need to employ their cunning instead. Ravage comes up with the idea of a Decepticon infiltrating the Autobot ranks, and Starscream volunteers to pretend to defect.

And so, a few days later, Cosmos receives a signal from Starscream asking to meet Optimus Prime. Optimus agrees to an audience in the Ark and Starscream is escorted in. The Decepticon claims he's discovered Megatron has made a list of Decepticons he'll knock off when the Decepticons win, and head of the list is Starscream himself. Optimus takes some Autobots into another room and asks for opinions. Opinions are split, but when Optimus calls for a vote on who trusted Starscream, he gets no takers. As they agree Starscream is spying, they decide to play him at his own game, and tell Starscream they've accepted his defection. Pleased, Starscream reports back to the Decepticons using a tiny transmitter given to him by Soundwave.

As the days pass, Starscream becomes more and more confident. Finally Optimus announces that he and Prowl are worried about the Ark's vulnerability, and the Deuterium Orbital Laser Tracing System is far from safe. They explain to Starscream that it's an as-yet-unfinished weapon system that can track and destroy any Decepticon, and Sideswipe shows him a metal box, which Starscream is unable to open. They decide to hide it in a cave atop remote Mount Levram. Starscream naturally immediately returns to his quarters and reports to Megatron what he's learned.

Megatron immediately announces that the Decepticons are going to level Mount Levram tomorrow afternoon. Bumblebee, spying on Decepticon headquarters, watches the Decepticons make ready and reports back to Optimus. Optimus calls for Starscream and places the surprised Air Commander under the guard of a dozen Autobots. Jazz explains that while the Decepticons are attacking Mount Levram, the Autobots will be attacking the Decepticon base. When the Bumblebee gives the word, the Autobots move out.

The Decepticons attack and level Mount Levram with a massive amount of firepower, and smugly return to their fortress to find it has been leveled by the Autobots. Megatron is furious.

The Autobots are pleased and intend to set about repairing the Ark so they can return to Cybertron. They decide to let Starscream go, but the Decepticon points out their weapon system has been destroyed. Jazz announces that the weapon system never existed, and as Starscream slinks away, Optimus calls after him to point out that the acronym for "Deuterium Orbital Laser Tracing System" is "D.O.L.T.S.", which is what they think of the Decepticons.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

—Brawn on hearing the report from Cosmos that Starscream wants to defect.

"He's not my style, not my style at all. Even if he has changed his ideas, he's not my style at all."

—Starscream is not Jazz's style at all.

Notes

Audio and technical errors

• The narrator doesn't seem excited at all when he says the episodes title. Pity.

Continuity errors

• In the previous story, Ravage was armed with "Photon Bombs." Now, instead, he has "Proton Bombs."

Continuity notes

• The Decepticons ruminate over their defeats during the previous three stories. These events are mentioned as having taking place over the course of a few weeks.
• Starscream sees the inside of the Ark for the first time.

Transformers references

• Reference is made to the toy bio mottos of both Megatron and Starscream.

Real-world references

• In regards to Starscream, Jazz repeats the adage that a leopard can't change his spots, which is originally from the biblical book of Jeremiah.[1]

Foreign localization

Trivia

• As with the previous story, the Decepticons are referred to a couple of times as a "race".
• Just as the previous story referred to the Decepticons having several "leaders," so too does this one refer to the Autobots in the same way.
• Starscream is noted to be the Decepticons' fastest flier.
• Yes, the title really does have five exclamation points. It's very intense.
• "But Megatron just gave him a long, hard look, transformed, and walked towards the ruins." How does a gun give someone a look?