The Legacy of Unicron!

Rodimus Prime and Death's Head battle Unicron on Junk and learn of the Transformers' origin.

=Marvel UK issues #146-151=

Writer: Simon Furman Pencillers: Geoff Senior, Dan Reed, Jeff Anderson & Bryan Hitch Inks: Geoff Senior, Stephen Baskerville & Dan Reed Lettering: Annie Halfacree, Starkings Colors: Steve White Editor: Chris Francis


 * Characters: Scourge, Death's Head, Cyclonus, Rodimus Prime, Wreck-Gar, Inferno, Smokescreen, Shockwave, Soundwave, Menasor, Kup, Grimlock, Slag, Ultra Magnus, Scattershot, Hun-Gurrr... and Unicron


 * Originally published: 2nd January, 1988- 6th February, 1988

Synopsis
Taking place in 2008, "Freelance Peacekeeper" Death's Head chases his latest bounties, Decepticons Cyclonus & Scourge, to the skies over Junk. After a brief but intense battle, all three succumb to the thrall of Unicron, whose head landed on Junk following the events of Transformers: The Movie. After assassinating Shockwave, the Decepticon leader in 2008, Cyclonus and Scourge send the Decepticon army on a suicide assault against the Autobot-controlled Cybertron. Unicron hopes that both armies will decimate each other in battle, thereby granting his long-desired revenge against the Transformer race.

Unicron has also enslaved the Junkions, and has forced them to construct a time portal, which will allow him to retrieve his errant creation, Galvatron from his refuge in 1986.

Wreck-Gar, Smokescreen and Inferno land on Junk shortly thereafter and are attacked by Death's Head and the Junkions, Unicron's unwilling pawns. Wreck-Gar is blasted and captured, but escapes shortly thereafter. Inferno and Smokescreen escape to Cybertron in their shuttle, only to be shot down by Cyclonus and Scourge. Inferno dies in the resulting crash, after throwing Smokescreen from the ship. Smokescreen reports the situation on Junk to Rodimus Prime. After some hesitation, Rodimus agrees to go to Junk, and brings the Dinobots, and Scattershot along as backup.

Back on Junk, Death's Head decides that he's through with being Unicron's slave, and opens fire on his master. Unicron, unimpressed, begins to mentally torture the non-bounty hunter. To escape the pain, Death's Head forces his psyche away from his body and into Unicron's mind, on the astral plane. There, after trading verbal jabs with the Chaos Bringer, Death's Head tricks Unicron into revealing his history and that of the Transformers.

Meanwhile, Rodimus' team has arrived on Junk. Rodimus sends the Dinobots to distract the Unicron-influenced Junkions, resulting in many "innocent" Junkion casualties. Smokescreen and Scattershot stay on the Autobots' shuttle to distract Unicron with a series of strafing runs. The attack drives Unicron to expel Death's Head from his mind and recall Scourge and Cyclonus from Cybertron. With their new leaders fleeing the planet, the other Decepticons follow suit and retreat.

Death's Head runs into Rodimus, and the two devise a plan to defeat Unicron. Feigning obedience, Death's Head presents the seemingly inert body of Rodimus Prime - and the Creation Matrix- to his master. Rodimus then uses Death's Head's mental projection to insert himself into Unicron's mind. There he is savagely attacked by the Chaos Bringer.

Wreck-Gar, having escaped Death's Head and his Junkion brethren earlier, had tunneled beneath Unicron's head and set up a series of explosive charges. Death's Head discovers this and immediately pulls Rodimus from the mind link with Unicron.

Scourge and Cyclonus arrive on Junk just before the explosives detonate. Death's Head, seeing an opportunity to claim his original quarry, tackles the duo through the now-activated time portal. Wreck-Gar's charges detonate, destroying both Unicron and the time portal. Rodimus Prime, after verifying that his friends are safe, comes to realize that Unicron has not been destroyed completely, but is now trapped within the Matrix.

The post-script explains that Cyclonus and Scourge were sent back in time far enough to become soldiers in Scorponok's army, but that Death's Head disappeared thereafter.

Items of note

 * By going back in time to serve under Scorponok, Furman reconciled Cyclonus and Scourge's appearances in the UK story with their first appearance in the US: The Headmasters limited series.
 * Death's Head, although gone from the UK Transformers timeline, was far from dead. After a run in with Doctor Who, he was sent to the regular Marvel continuity.  After that he starred in a series of short-lived titles.
 * Reprinted as a Trade Paperback by Titan Books in January 2003.