NOOOOOOOOO

So, I found the 2nd wave of the new, smaller Star Wars Crossover toys the other day. I didn't want any of the wave 1 guys, which have been out for a month and a half or so, but I knew that Darth Vader would be in wave 2 (a remold of the wave 1 Anakin toy) and decided to at least get him.

The toy itself is pretty decent. I mean, if you take the already questionable SWTF design choices and shrink it down to what's essentially the same size as a Cyberverse Commander class toy, you get an idea of what you've got here. If you know this going into the situation, though, you can look past some of the toy's deficits and enjoy what it has to offer. I'll not get into all of that here, as I'll probably review him at some point, but the point of this post is to insert Darth Vader into the TF mythos, since that's what his new toy got me thinking about.

Anyhow, once upon a time, after the 13 had banished/defeated Unicron and the Fallen with him, Prima (first of all transformers and first Matrix bearer) creates, from the first generation of "normal" (read: non-13) cybertronians, the Knights of Prima, a group whose role is to generally safeguard Cybertron and the Matrix. The youngest of these Knights, inducted into the order when Prima is already old, is the cybertronian represented by the SWTF Anakin Skywalker toys (I've yet to come up with an decent TF-sounding name for him; "Anatron" isn't that great). Vector Prime, to Prima the most trusted of the 13, assists in leading this group and is most likely Prima's choice to succeed him as Matrix Bearer. Vector also takes an interest in Skywalker, becoming his mentor and attempting to shape him into being the best Kinight he can be so he can take over leadership of the Knights when Vector holds the Matrix. Skywalker takes to the role of apprentice very well, excelling in all fields, to the point that some believe that he, not Vector Prime, should be the next Matrix Bearer.

Later, Skywalker learns that Unicron has returned and invaded a nearby star system, beginning to devour planets and presumably making his way back to Cybertron. Vector Prime and the ailing Prima are not terribly concerned, as the Matrix defeated Unicron before and should be able to do so again. Skywalker, however, believes that no chance should be taken and that the fight should be brought to Unicron. He implores Prima to go and unleash the Matrix on Unicron far from Cybertron. When Prima declines, Skywalker then begs Prima to allow him to take the Matrix himself and use it to defeat Unicron. Both Prima and Vector are taken aback by this show of hubris, for they believe that only a true Matrix Bearer can wield the Matrix, and that means that Skywalker has begun to believe the rumor circulating about him. Prima denies his request again, explaining that even if Skywalker took the Matrix, it would not respond to him. Vector Prime urged Skywalker to calm himself, that Unicron would be destroyed by Prima when he reached Cybertronian space.

Skywalker found this unacceptable. He gathered a crew of other Cybertronian soliders (not Knights) that could change into starfighters and left to find and attach Unicron. He knew that his chances of defeating the Dark God were slim without the Matrix, but he could at least damage the beast and perhaps save some of the planets currently under threat of destruction.

Upon arrival in Unicron's space, Skywalker and his Troopers attacked the devouring planet as it prepared to ingest yet another world, home to a sentient species. This species was technologically advanced such that they too had spacecraft capable of fighting back. Skywalker managed to communicate with the planet's military. He learned that they had a superweapon that, if brought to Unicron's center, should be able to destroy him from the inside out. However, Unicron had adapted to the creatures and had his internal antibodies equipped with a biological weapon that would infect and kill their pilots before they could reach the core. Skywalker agreed to carry the weapon himself, reasoning that his cybertronian constitution should be able to survive the trip to Unicron's core (which he knew to be his spark).

Skywalker began flying his way into Unicron, superweapon in tow. Sensing the imminent danger, Unicron began to accelerate the ingestion process against the planet. Skywalker and his Troopers tried to fly and fight through Unicron's internal defenses as fast as they could. However, once Skywalker reached Unicron's spark and prepared to arm the weapon, another explosion (caused by the fighting between the Troopers and some of Unicron's antibodies) sent Skywalker himself flying into Unicron's spark. This nearly killed Skywalker, leaving his spark destabilized, parts of his body destroyed and his mind unconscious.

The planet under attack was completely ingested. When the Troopers managed to get Skywalker to come to, they informed him of this and explained that they needed to leave immediately, lest Unicron turn his full attention to them and destroy them. Skywalker became enraged. He armed the weapon and threw it straight into Unicron's spark, even as his Troopers were evacuating. However, when Skywalker had been knocked into Unicron's spark, the weapon had become partially damaged, as well. It only managed to release a percentage of its power, and instead of destroying the Dark God, it merely sent his spark into stasis and teleported his planet-body elsewhere.

In the aftermath, the Troopers saw Skywalker's broken body, once more unconscious, floating in the space where Unicron once was and went to retrieve him. Upon their return to Cybertron, Vector Prime ordered Skywalker to immediately be repaired.

More to come...