Galvatron: Unleashed!

Chapter One: Breakout

Out in the universe, there is a small planet called Cybertron. A planet of metal, whose inhabitants are themselves made out of living metal. The inhabitants number two similar, yet vastly different races: A race of peaceful workers, dubbed 'Autobots', and a race of brutal warmongers, known as 'Decepticons'. The two races had warred amongst themselves many time, the valiant Autobots struggling against their larger, mor powerful foes, relying on intelligence, technology, and quite often, sheer grit to defeat their foes.

Not all the conflicts between the two sides took place on Cybertron. Many recent skirmishes had taken place on a far-away planet called 'Earth', a planet of organic lifeforms. It was there that a corageous Autobot by the name of Optimus Prime had triumphed over the leader of the Decepticons himself, Megatron. Shortly afterward, Optimus had brought Megatron and his followers to Cybertron, where they were all imprisoned in the Stockades, a massive prison complex in the planet's southern hemisphere.

Within his cell, Megatron seethed, unable to stop thinking about his defeat; About how an insignificant, lowly Autobot repair crew could have defeated his mighty warriors. But what truly angered him was Optimus Prime. It wasn't the physical aspect of their encounter that angered him, but the verbal. Optimus had refused to deal Megatron a death blow, declaring it "the easy way out" for him.

'Easy?!' thought Megatron. 'He thinks being robbed of my dignity and honor is easy? He will be sorry he spared me. This cage cannot hold me forever, and when I make my inevitable escape, I shall unleash upon him... upon all Autobots... the greatest terror of them all!'

In a dark corner of the Stockades, a black, feline shape slinked it's way through the shadows, making it's way past the Autotroopers on guard as if he himself were a shadow. His success was not just due to his sneaking capability; He was equipped with a dampening device that reduced his energy signiature to almost nothing: Barely a blip on a scanner device. Leaping onto the roof, he used his sharp claws to cut a hole through one of the vent shafts, and quietly slipped in. As he crawled through the vents, the intruder located the wires that supplied power to the security cameras in the east wing. With one deft flick of his claw, he severed them.

As Megatron silently fumed, a piece of ceiling suddenly came down in front of his cell, followed by the feline creature.

"Well," Megatron grinned. "It's about time."

The feline's form began to shift and blur. In a matter of seconds, it had taken the form of a humanoid robot.

"I apologise for the delay, my lord." said the Decepticon.

"No matter." Megatron replied fairly. "You have served me well, Ravage."

Ravage was one of Megatron's most trusted warriors, a master of stealth and savagery. Unusually for a Decepticon, he had based his alternate mode on that of an organic creature: The Zalthurian Hyper-Panther, a vicious creature, known for it's habit of disembowelling it's prey with it's long, bladed tail.

"Our escape vessel is ready and waiting, sir." declared Ravage, using a handheld device to override the cell door mechanism. As Megatron held out his stasis-cuffed hands, Ravage raised his electro-whip weapon, and brought it down, shattering the cuffs.

"What of my generals?" inquired Megatron.

"They are being freed as we speak, my lord." said Ravage. "Shall we depart?"

"Indeed we shall." declared Megatron.

"Halt!"

An Autotrooper had just entered the room, aghast at the scene before it.

"Return to your cell, or face the consequences!" It boomed authoritatively.

"Allow me, my lord." said Ravage. He leapt towards the Autotrooper, transforming as his did. Latching onto it's torso, Ravage sank his razor-sharp teeth into it's head, ripped out it's CPU, and chewed it to shreds.

"Excellent work Ravage." declared Megatron. "A tad over the top, but still, you can't argue with results."

The Autotrooper's destruction triggered an automatic signal, which reached the security systems in an instant. As the room became bathed in red light, and a deafening klaxon sounded from every speaker, Megatron and Ravage made their way out of the cell block. Between Megatron's brute strength and Ravage's savagery, the two were easily able to dispose of any other Autotroopers that happened to get in their way. The Decepticon duo made their way to what seemed like a barren, empty stretch of land. As they got closer, the very air began to ripple as the Decepticon ship uncloaked itself.

As Megatron boarded, he noted with relish that his lieutenants, Blitzwing, Lugnut, and Shockwave, had also been liberated.

The ship cloaked itself once more and took off, heading for Cybertron's outer atmosphere.

"What now, oh great and glorious leader?" fawned Lugnut.

"Now," Megatron snarled. "We make the Autobots pay for my humiliation. All of them."

Blitzwing's triple-sided face shifted over to it's red, angry side. "Yes! Crush the Autobots! Crush them into cubes!" His face then switched to it's black, crazy side. "Then we paint the cubes like dice, and play the universe's biggest game of Yahtzee!"

The ship's pilot, a towering, black and scarlet-colored Decepticon called Obsidian, declared "We will rendezvous with our main forces shortly, Megatron."

"Change course, Obsidian." said Megatron firmly.

"Where to, my lord?" inquired Obsidian.

"Cybertron's moon." replied Megatron with relish. "The genesis of the Autobot's destruction begins there."

To Be Continued...

(Transformers Animated and all associated characters are the property of Hasbro and Cartoon Network.)