The Key to Vector Sigma, part 1

A trio of tankers are on the move, but they've also got Autobot protection in the form of Optimus Prime, Prowl, Warpath and Smokescreen because the tankers contain a new super fuel which the government has given the Autobots to test out. The reason the Autobot group is with them is because if Megatron found out about this fuel, he'd do anything to get it. And cue Megatron appearing on the scene with Rumble, Thrust, Ramjet and Dirge!
 

But Optimus takes everyone into a tunnel where the Decepticons jets can't follow them, but they try anyway and all end up crashing. Megatron isn't happy that what he wants is getting away on wheels so he heads over to the other side of the tunnel and as the convoy appears out he points his fusion cannon at one of the trucks, threatening to blow them all up if the Autobots don't get lost. But Optimus says that he doesn't believe Megatron to have the guts to do this.
 

Megatron is about to fire when Smokescreen drives past and shoots out smoke everywhere, and with Megatron covered in the stuff the Autobots shoot him, so he heads off telling them that they won't get away with this. As the Decepticons re-group, Megatron has had enough of the Autobots ruling the roads, and says that it is something he'll have to change.
 

And a little later on, Rumble is sent out to get some wheels, and does so by stealing cars that take his fancy, including stealing a Tyrrell p34 just after it won a race, taking a car being used as a getaway vehicle for some robbers and more. In total, there are five vehicles which are taken back to the Decepticon HQ where Megatron starts his work.
 

After a lot of retooling to all of the vehicle by the Decepticon leader, the improvements are completed and Megatron shows that can control these new weapons by remote control, and decides to go outside the base and test out what they can do in a forest.
 

The results are exactly what Megatron wanted, as his new vehicles can crash through things no problem thanks to the improvements he has made to them, and they also have incredibly driving capabilities, including being able to drive up walls. Rumble says that not even the Autobots can do those kind of stunts, and this gives Megatron an idea for a name for his new group: the Stunticons! He brings his new team back in and then reveals that they are also Transformers and has them turn into robots.
 

At the Autobot HQ, Teletraan-1 is displaying the pictures taken of Rumble stealing cars, and Ratchet wonders why the Decepticons would be out doing such a thing until Optimus says that if he's making Transformers out of them, Megatron cannot give them their own personalities here on Earth. Teletraan-1 then reports that the Decepticon space bridge is in use, and Optimus suddenly says that Megatron is "actually going to do it" and orders Omega Supreme to return to base immediately.
 

Megatron gets his new group on the space bridge along with Soundwave and Rumble, and they then all arrive at Cybertron where Shockwave reports saying that he has plotted a course to "Vector Sigma" as Megatron had requested. Rumble wants to know what Vector Sigma is and Megatron fills him in: it's the super computer and the core of Cybertron which gave life to all Transformers. But Shockwave then says that before they can use it, they must get the key to activate it and the only one who has a key is Alpha Trion. Megatron decides that they must pay the old fool a visit.
 

And at the place where Alpha Trion lives, he's busy building something but can't find the tool he needs when he's almost hit with a laser blast and turns to see Megatron and friends demanding the key to Vector Sigma. Alpha Trion doesn't know what they are talking about but then remembers and says that it's right here... deploying his laser spewing death machine.
 

It doesn't do much good though as Soundwave sends out Ravage to pin Alpha Trion down, leaving the Decepticons to have a look around for the key. Soundwave finds it and hands it over, and Megatron now has what he came for, before the Autobots have even arrived on Cybertron.
 

As the Autobots finally do land on their home-world, Optimus tells them that they have to get to Alpha Trion as he is the robot they need to talk to so they can stop the Decepticons. But they have arrived too late, as they find Alpha Trion's place they see that the Decepticons have already trashed it and Alpha Trion himself has been badly damaged. Ratchet and Hoist repair him and he tells them all that Megatron has taken the key to Vector Sigma to give his new robots life.
 

Alpha Trion leads the group to an entrance to Vector Sigma, saying that it is the only one he knows of. Only Omega Supreme is left behind as everyone else jumps down to start their journey to the super computer, as the Decepticons have already started but Soundwave finds out that they are not alone and that something is ahead of them.
 

An army of robots, that Megatron refers to as "Centurion Droids" come marching towards them and it doesn't seem like anything the Decepticons do can harm these robots, but Megatron then presents the key and they all stop. He says that these droids were programmed to guard Vector Sigma and since this key is part of it, he can make them do anything he wants, so he tells them to go on and crush any Autobots they encounter.
 

As Alpha Trion continues to lead the Autobots to Vector Sigma, they come across a room full of old supply transport ships and very old, dead robots that Hoist refers to as a pile of junk, but Alpha Trion says that they served well back in the day. As the group continues on though they encounter the Centurions, and as they open fire their blasts have no effect!
 

Meanwhile, the Decepticons have at last reached Vector Sigma and as Megatron puts the key into it, Vector Sigma awakens and demands to know who did this. Megatron says he did it, and that he is one of Vector Sigma's own creations, and that the reason he did it was for Vector Sigma to give life to his Stunticons.
 

Megatron says that he wants his new robots to hate the Autobots and everything that they stand for, and Vector Sigma tells Megatron to present them to him. Megatron uses his remote control to have them walk to where the super computer is and it starts the process to give each of the Stunticons their own personalities.
 

The Autobots are not doing that well against the Centurion Droids and there are so many of them that Alpha Trion says that the situation is a losing proposition. Optimus agrees and they all fall back to try and find something to fight these new enemies with.
 

Vector Sigma finishes what it was told to do and now, the Stunticons have life of their own -introducing themselves from left to right, we have Dead End, Drag Strip, Wildrider, Breakdown and Motermaster, who all swear loyalty to Megatron. Wildrider's first words are something Megatron is happy to hear and he tells them all that they are going to return to Earth for some destruction.
 

Ironhide is getting fed up of all this backtracking but Optimus has a plan, and as they reach the old transport ships room, he gets Ratchet and Hoist to re-activate the worker robots and has one group of them sent out to fight the Centurions.
 

These are quickly destroyed, but Optimus then has the second wave sent out, and these serve a different purpose, and they all run to the edge of a structure and jump off below. And the moronic Centruions run after them and also decide to fling themselves off, not realising how high up they are. As the last of them falls down to it's death, Blaster notes now stupid they are and then the Autobots continue their journey to Vector Sigma.
 

They find it but also find that the Decepticons must have beaten them to it. But Optimus has formed up another plan and asks Alpha Trion if it would be possible for them to rebuild those old transport ships into Earth-styled planes that they could use and give life to so they would be able to counter Megatron's new road warriors with jets, and his response is that it would be possible although it would take a lot of work.
 

On Earth, Megatron points his Stunticons in the direction of a US army base where the superfuel is being stored, and they attack, easily getting by and destroying the army's response. As the army General sees what is going on, he also sees that nobody is driving these cars that are attacking, and that can only mean one thing...they must be Autobots!

The original title for this episode was "Creation of the Stunticons".

Optimus says a couple of things that refer to a scene that was in the script but never actually animated. Right after Megatron sends the Centurions to attack the Autobots, Optimus says this and then this. Thing is, there was no blast before that Megatron caused at all, but it was something that was in the script.

Another deleted scene involved Omega Supreme fighting Shockwave, and Shockwave referring to him as his "old enemy". Omega dominates the fight until Shockwave uses a type of bomb to make Omega retreat.

The General's logic is stupid, and going by it, does he think Powerglide must be a Decepticon just because he transforms into a plane? Would Blaster be a Decepticon because he transforms into a tape player? Hmmmm? Hmmm?