Astro-Line

Astro-Line is a Decepticon-allied Mini-Con from the Cybertron portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh dear!

Astro-Line is one of several Mini-Cons employed by the Decepticon bounty hunter Astrotrain. Although the youngest brother of the Sabotage Team, he's also the most intelligent, which means he gets to spend his time figuring out how to make Astro-Hook's schemes work. Joy.^[1]

At least his friend Starcatcher is normal.

Fiction

Timelines

FEEL THE FIRE

Astro-Line and the Sabotage Team were the loyal agents of Astrotrain, working with him and Starcatcher on a variety of mercenary jobs. They were hired by Cannonball of the starship Kalis' Lament to recover a Force Chip from some Autobots on Sandokan. Starcatcher and Astro-Hook didn't trust Cannonball to keep his end of the bargain, but cheered up when Astrotrain told him they wouldn't be honoring the agreement either.

Astro-Line scanned the planet Sandokan as they began their approach, marveling at the sheer array of desutrctive forces the warlike people had unleashed before wiping themselves out. Astrotrain and the Mini-Cons attempted to enter Sandokan's atmosphere undetected, but the heat from their reentry drew enemy attention... and firepower. The Astro-troops bailed out of Astrotrain, drawing fire and unleashing their own weapons as a counter-offensive. Astro-Line's rockets, combined with the other assaults, distracted their attacker long enough for Astrotrain to reach the planet below. The creature, known as Synthos, may have been too powerful for them to handle, and so Astrotrain manipulated the monster into agreeing to a truce.

Astro-Line and his comrades took off after the Autobots and their Force Chip, catching up with them at a nearby cave. He fought with the Autobot leader Override until she knocked him out of the air. While Astrotrain kept the Autobots engaged outside, the Mini-Cons entered the cave and dispatched the unwary Autobots within, stealing the Force Chip. Returning to Synthos, they attempted to force him to give over the Dark Heart of Sandokan which empowered him, but another battle ensued. The Astro-troops powerlinxed with Astrotrain, but even that and the Force Chip were not enough to enable them to defeat Synthos AND the arriving Autobots. Astrotrain and his men were knocked off-line, and missed the battle's finale when Cannonball and the crew of the Kalis' Lament arrived. The Autobots outsmarted Cannonball and escaped with the Force Chip. Astrotrain, Starcatcher, and the others were only allowed to make minor repairs to themselves before Cannonball booted them off his ship as failures. The Dark Heart of Sandokan

Toys

Timelines

Wonder why they didn't go with "Astro-Glide"

• Astrotrain (Multi-pack, 2007)
  • Accessories: 2 missiles

A redeco of the Cybertron Giant Planet Mini-Con Team member Overcast, Timelines Astro-Line transforms into a modified Martin P6M SeaMaster flying boat bomber. He has a pressure-launch missile launcher under each wing, which becomes his robot-mode arms. He was only available as part of the Astrotrain set (which also came with Starcatcher, Astro-Hook, and Astro-Sinker), the first toy set exclusive to the Fun Publications Official Transformers Collectors' Club.

This mold was also used to make 2010 Transformers Airlift. The hypothetical Blue Max would've also used this mold, but there's no evidence that figure was ever intended for release in the first place. Astro-Line was later repurposed as Shattered Glass Tailwind.

• More information on Astro-Line at TFU.info

Notes

• The Sabotage Team trio are named in homage to Hook, Line, and Sinker, the servants of Unicron from the U.S. Marvel comic.

References