Terror of Mount Sheelah

The Battle for Planet Earth »
"Terror of Mount Sheelah"
Publisher	Pickwick International
First published	1985
Writer	?
ISBN	?

After arriving on Earth, the Autobots and Decepticons investigate a volcano.

Synopsis

After the war to bring peace to Cybertron spills out into the stars, the Autobots and Decepticons crash on Earth and are knocked offline. Four million years later, volcanic activity reactivates them, and they resume their war, but with the added wrinkle that the Autobots must protect the humans that inhabit the planet.

Optimus Prime leads a scouting mission to central South America in search of energy, taking along with two human brothers, John and Tim Gordon. Huffer suddenly halts, pointing out the volcano he's spotted. As the Autobots are unfamiliar with volcanoes, Tim educates them and Optimus decides they should go check it out, in case there's a way to harness the energy from an eruption. Tim identifies the volcano as Mount Sheelah, and John says an eruption is overdue.

Meanwhile Megatron is receiving a report from Laserbeak on the Autobot activities. The other Decepticons are keen to go and attack them, and Ravage reports that most of the other Autobots are still in the Ark. Megatron decides to go to South America to see what Optimus is up to.

The Autobots near Mount Sheelah and Gears is put to work clearing the way. They eventually reach the top and look down into the crater. The Gordon brothers suspect that the volcano will soon erupt and become nervous. The Decepticons also reach the volcano, and Laserbeak is sent to spy on the Autobots at the volcano's rim. The Decepticons are also unfamiliar with volcanoes, but figure if it's of use to the Autobots, it's of use to them. They decide to attack and destroy the Autobots while capturing the two humans alive to get information.

The Decepticons attack, but Jazz spots them and the element of surprise is lost, so the Decepticons retire to the other side of the crater and the two sides exchange fire from there. John and Tim, believing an eruption is new extremely imminent, try to persuade Optimus to call a retreat. Optimus is reluctant to disengage, but they finally manage to convince him, and the Autobots retreat down the side of the volcano.

When Laserbeak reports that the Autobots have all gone, the jubilant Decepticons examine the volcano closer. The volcano suddenly erupts, knocking the Decepticons flat and trapping them with lava. Laserbeak, who was airborne at the time, is the only Decepticon left standing, and Megatron instructs the cassette to head back to base for help. The Autobots, seeing the Decepticons' predicament, thank their two human friends and they continue on their course.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"I like you Earth people, well, most of them, but could I respectfully suggest that your technical science is light years behind us from Cybertron."

—Optimus Prime

"You are even more miserable than Huffer, if that's possible!"

—Sideswipe on Gears.

Notes

Audio and technical errors

• As Laserbeak returns from his mission to check out what the Autobots are doing, Soundwave is misidentified as "Soundwarp".
• A short time later, Starscream is identified as "Starscreech".

Continuity errors

• According to Laserbeak's report, Optimus and five others are in South America, but the narration earlier identifies six Autobots accompanying Optimus. The missing Autobot is likely Ratchet, whose sole "appearance" is in the list of Autobots Optimus takes with him at the start.

Continuity notes

• This is the only of the four adventures in which the Gordon brothers appear.

Transformers references

• The story starts with an abbreviated history of the Transformers including their war, the crashing of the Ark into Mount St. Hilary, and the awakening four million years later of both factions.

Trivia

• As the Autobots ascend Mount Sheelah, it's noted that most of the Autobots have to transform to robot mode, but Sideswipe and Gears can continue on in vehicle mode. It's unclear why this should be true for Sideswipe, as his alternate mode is not noted for handling rough terrain well.