Astrotrain is a Decepticon Triple Changer, who acts as Shockwave's loyal righthand man. As the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons escalated over the years, Shockwave relies on him to take care of some of his side projects while he handles more pressing matters. Shockwave seems to have chosen wisely, since while Astrotrain's little more than a thug, he's a thug with smarts. He has no problem aiding his master in some of his more complicated plans with little to no supervision. And in battle, he can turn into a Cybertronian jet and a train to keep his enemies on his toes.
History[]
War on Cybertron[]
As seen in Foundation, thousands of years ago in Cybertron, Astrotrain was part of Megatron's Defense Force, and helped to root out Malcontents.
As seen in flashback in Rising Storm, after Megatron departed Cybertron to pursue the AllSpark, Astrotrain fell under Shockwave's command. In the early 20th century, Shockwave employed Astrotrain as bait in a scheme to lure out an Autobot resistance group, who thought they were attacking a convoy loaded with Energon, but instead walked right into an ambush.
Bumblebee Movie Prequel[]
After Shockwave was left frozen on Earth, Astrotrain joined up with Malignus, and in Energon is Forever, set in 1964, was part of his scheme on Earth. When the Autobot Bumblebee began interfering with Decepticon operations, a trap was baited for him and his human allies with Astrotrain, along with Dead End and Runabout, being sent to collect him. However, he was electrocuted by Heath Donavan's trap, knocking him into stasis. He recovered in time to return to headquarters and aim his guns at the Autobot.
In From Cybertron with Love, Diabla suddenly turned on the Decepticons by saving Bumblebee from a Sharkticon and Malignus let Dead End kill Runabout. Rather than help Blitzwing eliminate the traitor, Astrotrain transformed and flew off, believing that even Shockwave was a better commanding officer than Malignus.
Rising Storm[]
In 2010, when Shockwave was freed from his icy imprisonment, he called Astrotrain in to serve a role in the his scheme. Together with Shockwave, Astrotrain attacked an oil processing plant in China, killing the Autobots Salvage and Longarm in the process, then began salvaging raw materials from the wreckage which he took to upstate New York to build a cage for Shockwave's pet Driller. Astrotrain had been provided with a brain unit scrap drone named Brains that allegedly contained an important download for the cage's construction, but in actuality, Shockwave had another use for the drone, having programmed him with self-awareness that prompted him to flee when he overheard Astrotrain being instructed to terminate him once its job was complete.
Tracking the brain unit back to its point of origin, Elita-One, Arcee, and Chromia overheard as Shockwave revealed to Astrotrain via comm-link that Brains was immaterial, in comparison to the Driller. The three spies were caught by Soundwave, whose minions were kept busy by Chromia and Arcee while Elita attempted to warn the Autobots of Shockwave's schemes. Astrotrain adopted his vehicle mode and powered after her through the wilderness, but Elita believed she could outpace him once they reached a nearby city. Astrotrain chose this moment to unveil his triple-changing abilities, shifting to his airborne form, and convincing her that she would have to fight and defeat him before she could carry on with her mission. However, Elita killed Astrotrain by cleaving his armour, and he exploded above a building.
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