DEVIL’S ASTEROID
By Buzz Dixon
Has Mighty Orbots gone bad? It certainly looks that way, when the mighty multibot is seen tearing up the galaxy. Rob and Dia are having a dinner date at a posh tower/restaurant when Mighty Orbots attacks. As it starts tearing out the underpinning of the restaurant, Dia and Rob escape in Dia’s private air-car (The only time in the series you see it - it is surprising how close to the Autobot Arcee this vehicle looks). Dia saves the restaurant by placing a force field around it. Mighty Orbots moves on.
Rob is beside himself. Dia drops him off so she can head for help. Ono is quickly there in the Beam Car, also in a quandary. They head for the Orbots. As they reach the gestalt, Ono attempts to open the chest doors. It fail, and the Beam Car bounces off the robot. Rob looses control of his vehicle, and belly flops the car into a mud pit. That isn’t Mighty Orbots!
On Earth, Rondu sees the reports of the rampage this Pseudo-Orbot has been on, and orders the arrest of the REAL Orbots. They are on rest-leave. Rob and Ono arrive to tell them that someone was out to ruin their reputation. But just as they are about to explain what was going on while the Orbots were resting, the fake multibot destroys the planetary weather satellite right over their heads! The Orbots quickly unite, and start taking on this usurper. But the fake proves no easy push-over. It freezes Mighty Orbots in ice, then quickly zaps it with a burst of heat. The rapid temperature changes causes the electrical systems in the multibot to be knocked out. The Orbots are forced to separate, or smash to the ground.
As the faux-Orbot flies off, Rob attempts to rally his troops. But
just then, a massive United Planets battle ship rears over a mesa behind them, announcing that the Orbots are under arrest. But only the 5 large robots, not the Orbots Commander or Ono. They are hauled off to court.
At their trial, Dia pleads to the computer-judges and her father that there is something wrong. But when the Orbots Commander testifies, he tells another story. “The Orbots have turned evil,” he tells the judges. The Orbots are stunned. Their commander-creator has betrayed them!
The judges and Rondu come back with their verdict - guilty. Rondu sentences them to 999 years of hard labor at the prison “Devil’s Asteroid.”
Later, Rob and Ono storm into Rondu’s Office demanding to know why Rondu wanted Rob to lie about his robots. Rondu calms Rob and Ono. It is all a set-up. Devil’s Asteroid has been taken over by Shadow agents. Sending the Orbots as prisoners was the only way to infiltrate the prison.
Dia, who has other plans, and who is convinced of the Orbots innocence, devises her own way in. Disguising herself as a space rogue, she enters the asteroid in her UP Starfighter, claiming that she stole it to her welcoming committee. On her way in, she passes the fake-Mighty Orbots, Tobor (holy 8-Man!). She is then taken to the leader of the Shadow agents, Draconus, who doubles as the warden of the prison. He is reporting to Umbra as she is brought in to see him. That’s all she needs to see. She starts picking off Draconus’ cronies with her capture bubbles as she races back towards the hanger deck. There, she jumps into Tobor and takes off. She intends to show her father the fake to prove Mighty Orbots innocence.
But Draconus has other plans, and has his robot capture Dia. Now it’s up to Rob and Ono. Can they rescue Dia and the team, and clear the Orbot’s good name?
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