Attack the Shuttle Base!!



The Breastforce attack a spaceport in order to steal a shipment of energy.


 * English/Malay dub name:  "Battle at the Shuttle Station"

Detailed synopsis
Hidden from sight within a mountain range, the Decepticons have set down in the Thunder Arrow. In the throne room, the newly-arrived Hellbat introduces himself to Deathsaurus and offers the emperor a "gift"information he has gathered on a energy shipment that the Decepticons will easily be able to steal. Deathsaurus sends Kakuryu to fetch Leozack, who is busy training with the other Breastforce members outside and debating with them why he summoned the back-stabbing Hellbat to Earth in the first place. Summoned before Deathsaurus, Leozack is instructed by his emperor to attack the Nevada spaceport. Leozack protests that two previous attacks on the facility have turned up nothing, but Deathsaurus insists, and Leozack is quick to realize that Hellbat has been sneaking around behind his back again. Infuriated at being made to look a fool, Leozack departs for the spaceport, but Hellbat follows him, defending his decision to keep the information from Leozack and winning his commander around with smarmy words.

Meanwhile, out in the Indian Ocean, Blacker and Braver are escorting an oil tanker on its journey. Star Saber contacts them to check up on their progress, but things are uneventful out on the sea, just as they are at the base. Machtackle and Dashtacker, on the other hand, are busy guarding the Nevada spaceport, and soon get all the action they can handle when Leozack and Hellbat arrive. Hellbat is not expecting to see guards, and is very "apologetic," but Leozack charges into battle nonetheless, and the villains are able to blast Dashtacker's communicator before he can summon back-up. The two Multiforcers take cover under the wings of the shuttle and Machtackle begins to radio the Autobot base, but Leozack unleashes his Breast Animal, and it tackles Machtackle, cutting off the communication. Nevertheless, the Autobots pick up his transmission just before it ceases, and Star Saber orders the available Autobots into action.

Back at the shuttleport, Killbison and Drillhorn have arrived to make life tougher for Machtackle and Dashtacker. After getting the human crew of the shuttle to safety, Dashtacker is attacked by Drillhorn, and finds that his punches don't even hurt the Decepticon. Meanwhile, Killbison takes on Machtackle, giving Leozack the opening he needs to get aboard the shuttle, only to find out that the navigation computer has been locked. Hellbat pops up in front of the windscreen to alert his commander to the arrival of the Galaxy Shuttle and the Autobot reinforcements, and suggests that Leozack carry the energy away himself. As Leozack and Hellbat quickly transfer the energy to a container that Leozack can fly off with, Killbison and Drillhorn keep the Autobots pinned down and unable to return fire, for fear of detonating the energy.

Back at the Autobot base, Star Saber takes off and heads to the aid of his troops, only to find that as he draws near, Leozack and Hellbat have lifted off with the energy stockpile and are making their escape in jet mode. Hellbat makes a show of defending Leozack in order to foster the belief that he is loyal to him, but when Star Saber separates from the V-Star to enhance his manoeuvrability, the Decepticon is quickly shot out of the sky. The V-Star, meanwhile, keeps on Leozack's tail and shoots the cable suspending the energy container is beneath him, sending it plummeting to the ground belowjust as Star Saber appears to safely catch it. Leozack transforms to robot mode and charges at Star Saber, but the Autobot leader stands his ground and quickly merges with the V-Star to deliver a single Saber Blade slash that cleaves Leozack's shoulder and forces him to retreat. From a distance, Hellbat spots his retreating superior, and already starts making plans to blame the whole debacle on him.

Star Saber returns to the spaceport to find that Killbison and Drillhorn have fled. The shuttle itself undergoes a maintenance check and the energy is re-loaded in preparation for the launch. Machtackle and Dashtacker apologize for causing the delay, but Star Saber tells them not to worry. As the shuttle blasts off, a message comes through from Blacker that the oil tanker has successfully reached its destination.

Stats
Written by:  Hiroyuki Hoshiyama

Original airdate: 6th June 1989

Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Transformers references

 * Hellbat joined up with the Breastforce in the previous episode.

Miscellaneous trivia

 * Leozack and his Breast Animal have kind of a weird relationship in this episode. While the Leobreast is fighting with Machtackle, Drillhorn and Killbison refer to it as "lieutenant commander" and speak to it as if it were Leozack himself, and at one point, it apparently actually says "Right!" in response to Killbison. This all suggests that Leozack is consciously controlling it and communicating through it, instead of it operating independently of him, as all other episodes of the series suggest. Interestingly, though, when Killbison alerts his "lieutenant commander" to his chance to get to the shuttle (prompting the aforementioned "Right!") the Leobreast runs offscreen, and then, when the scene switches, Leozack is suddenly inside the shuttle, with his Breast Animal reattached to his chest. It… couldn't just be that the animators drew the Leobreast instead of Leozack during the fight with Mactackle, could it?