Activation

In Japan, Perceptor, Beachcomber, and Hound attend a scientific lecture by Professor Ōnishi on earthquake prediction, born of the fact that the country has been suffering regular quakes for the past couple of days. Although all three Autobots are quite fascinated by both the natural and scientific roots of earthquakes, Ōnishi's own concern disturbs Hound, and he contacts Optimus Prime in America. Prime points out that they installed sensors all around the world to detect the Decepticons, making the villains' involvement fairly unlikely, as the Autobots would have been alerted to any sightings by the Japanese government. Nevertheless, Prime takes Hound's concern seriously, and rounds up a team of Autobots to head for Japan.

On the Japanese shoreline that night, the shadowed form of Megatron greets Starscream as he arrives atop Astrotrain, packed to the brim with energon cubes. Not even a whisper of praise for Starscream's efforts escapes Megatron's lips, driving the Air Commander into a rage as he reminds Megatron that the entire Japanese operation was his plan alone, and that there is no-one to report their activities. Megatron shrugs and is about to return to base when the lie is promptly put into Starscream's words by the dramatic arrival of Optimus Prime, Powerglide, Skyfire, and Tracks. As Prime tackles Megatron into the ocean and they battle on the sea bed, Starscream demands to know how the Autobots knew of their presence. Perceptor explains that Professor Ōnishi had not detected a single instance of the natural phenomena known as "earthquake clouds" that sometimes predate an earthquake, leading him to suspect that they were not naturally occurring. The cause of the quakes is soon revealed: Rumble and Frenzy are using their pile drivers to create them in the Japan Trench, they promptly start up a new quake at Megatron's instruction. Megatron and Prime leap from the churning seas as Megatron explains that the Decepticons have been harvesting energy from the quakes and that the reason their activities have not been reported is that they have struck a deal with the Prime Minister of Japan, promising non-aggression in exchange for freedom to gather energy. And of course, the Prime Minister can't even blame the Decepticons for the current devastation—an earthquake is a "natural disaster", after all. As the horrified Prime Minister reaps the whirlwind and the disgusted Ōnishi declares him a disgrace, Megatron orders Starscream to get the energon cubes back to base. Prime's Autobot team, however, consists entirely of fliers, who give chase while Prime renews his fight with Megatron. Megatron inquires why Prime fights to protect humans who do so little but fear the Autobots, and Prime responds that he has sworn upon the Matrix to ensure that no more sentient beings will know sorrow because of Megatron's actions. Prime transforms to truck mode and speeds up a ramp of rubble, soaring towards Megatron. The Decepticon leader shifts into pistol mode and opens fire, just as Prime switches back to robot mode and fires his own weapon, resulting in a huge explosion.

Down in the ocean depths, Rumble and Frenzy gleefully carry on with their appointed task until Hound suddenly appears before them, determined to seek revenge for their attack on Mother Nature. Using his holograms, he deceives the two punks and takes out Rumble with a blast from behind.

Back up top, Prime and Megatron's clash has left Megatron victorious and Prime hanging off a tower of rubble with one hand. Megatron informs Prime that this is a lesson not to trust humans and delivers a final blast from his fusion cannon that sends the Autobots leader tumbling into darkness.

Out over the ocean, the Autobots continue to pursue Starscream's team, who are unable to shake them off. Refusing to lose after he has come so far, Starscream suddenly hears a voice ring out, declaring that it has been waiting for this moment. As the shocked Autobots and Decepticon watch, the gigantic warp gate from the Trigger bursts through the ocean spray in front of them, and within it, a figure materializes. The figure of... another Starscream?

To be continued...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Perceptor (4) Beachcomber (5) Hound (6) Optimus Prime (7) Powerglide (10) Skyfire (11) Tracks (12)	Starscream (2) Megatron (8) Astrotrain (9) Thrust (13) Blitzwing (14) Rumble (15) Frenzy (16)	Prime Minister of Japan (1) Ōnishi (3) Makoto (17) Katua Adle (18)

Notes

The Battle of the Star Gate shows off its cartoon roots in this issue, as both Rumble and Frenzy use quake-generating pile drivers. Per their bios, quake-generation was Rumble's trademark, which the original The Transformers cartoon visualized by giving him giant pile driver arms. Frenzy's bio, meanwhile, credited him with "sonic scream" powers, but when he eventually appeared in the cartoon, that was ignored and he was given pile drivers like Rumble, as seen in "City of Steel" and the movie.