Laserbeak (Armada)

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Laserbeak is an Autobot from the Armada portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

Mecha-Jersey Devil

Laserbeak is an orange flying thingamajig with three modes—a bird mode, camera mode, and laser gun mode. Never a poster child for bravery or self-confidence, Laserbeak was charged by Optimus Prime with protecting the Autobots' human friends, surprising fellow Autobots with his newfound courage and an intense desire to keep his friends from harm.

Fiction

Armada cartoon

Laserbeak was a drone-like Transformer given to Rad, Carlos, and Alexis shortly after the Autobots arrived on Earth. Red Alert provided him for the kids in order to give them the ability to help the Autobots during their mission. Base Laserbeak proved helpful on the very next outting, providing an aerial video feed for Hot Shot while they were searching for a Mini-Con panel in Big Canyon. Comrade He also assisted the kids in finding a nearby lake on a forest mission, when the Autobots desperately needed a source of water to put out a forest fire caused by their battle. ForestJungle

Laserbeak showed some favoritism later on when he spied on Rad and Carlos for Alexis, and reported on their antics at the carnival with the Mini-Cons. Carnival

Out in the desert, the kids and Street Action Team were caught in a sudden sandpit, and were dragged into some underground catacombs. Rad barely managed to release Laserbeak to get help before they were sucked under the sand. Laserbeak was caught in the sand as the pit closed on itself, but the mere fact that Hot Shot found him alone in the sand alerted the Autobots to the kids' peril. Palace

As the kids were out racing their Mini-Cons in the park, they were confronted by Cyclonus, who chased them through the trees. Cornered by the Decepticon helicopter, Rad employed Laserbeak as a weapon, zapping Cyclonus with a burst of energy. Undaunted, Cyclonus still managed to capture the passing Billy and Fred, announcing his intention to ransom them for the Autobots' Mini-Cons. Rad sent Laserbeak to fly after Cyclonus and keep track of the hostages. After the Autobots arrived on scene, Laserbeak rejoined the kids as the snuck into the abandoned building where Fred and Billy were being kept to free them. The building wasn't nearly as abandoned as they thought, however, as Megatron burst free from the debris that hid his presence and captured ALL the kids and the Street Action Team. With these additional hostages, he forced Prime to turn over his Mini-Cons. Rad tried using Laserbeak's shock setting again to force Megatron into letting them go —he succeeded in getting Megatron to drop everyone but himself. Fred became an unlikely hero when he scooped up Laserbeak and used him to zap Megatron's foot, distracting him long enough for Hot Shot to swoop in and slam the Decepticon leader. Confrontation

When Rad and the others got lost in a city subway tunnel, he recorded their location using Laserbeak and sent the tiny drone to find the Autobots and guide them to the kids' location. Underground Later, on a volcanic island, the kids sent Laserbeak out to search for the latest Mini-Con panel. He performed an aerial survey of the island, transmitting his signal back to Alexis's palm pilot. They finally located the Mini-Con in one of the abandoned tunnels. Prehistory

On another mission (possibly in Ireland), Laserbeak performed long-range reconnaissance for the kids during the Mini-Con hunt. Red Alert had recently upgraded Laserbeak to respond to the kids' voice commands from anywhere on the planet, letting them direct him no matter where they were. Overmatch When Hot Shot and Scavenger squared off for a personal duel, Rad recorded the event and transmitted the video feed to Optimus Prime. Gale

Searching the foggy forests of fair England, Laserbeak spotted a Mini-Con panel at the same time as Blackout, and called the Autobots to come rescue it. Conspiracy

While on a camping trip, Red Alert and Carlos were caught in a mudslide beneath a nearby dam during a rainstorm, and were in severe peril. To make matters worse, an overzealous local weather girl was filming the whole thing, making it impossible for the Autobots to transform in order to dig Red Alert out. Laserbeak divebombed the weather girl, knocking her on her butt and taking her camera out of the equation. Vacation

The kids continued to direct Laserbeak in the field using vocal commands. He broadcast the battle for Incinerator back to base for them, and later helped pinpoint Downshift for the Autobots. Reinforcement When the Autobots barred the kids from their base while they gauged the power of the Skyboom Shield, Rad used Laserbeak to contact Optimus anyway. He had an important message to convey, after all: the Decepticon-aligned Mini-Cons had sent word that they no longer wanted to fight. This turned out to be a trap, and Laserbeak was teleported alongside Rad, Fred, and the bulk of the Autobot forces through a series of Warp Gates, leaving them scattered across the globe. Thankfully, since Laserbeak was still with them, Alexis was able to pinpoint Rad, Fred and Optimus when she got their communications back up, and sent in the cavalry. Vow

Laserbeak was performing his usually duties of broadcasting the latest battle back to the base for the kids' viewing pelasure when Sideways infiltrated the mainframe in virus-form. The kids were forced to cause severe damage to the base computers to prevent Sideways from hacking their information. This cut the power feed to Laserbeak, causing him to fall lifelessly to the ground below, where Megatron promptly stepped on him. After the Autobots returned to base to rescue the kids, Red Alert reluctantly told them that Laserbeak did not survive...right before the plucky little spy-camera flew out from behind him, all hale and hearty. It takes more than a Size 90 shoe to deactivate Laserbeak! Chase

Laserbeak continued his spying missions for the Autobots, and kept special care to keep his lens on Sideways in the upcoming battles, for the kids' sake. He next helped Scavenger locate Prowl's Mini-Con panel for the Autobots. Tactician When the new Autobot Vice-Commander Jetfire allowed himself to be lured into an aerial ambush by Thrust, Laserbeak flew after him to keep the Autobots on the ground informed of his actions. Linkup

After Red Alert and the kids finalized their plans to gather the Space Mini-Con Team, Alexis used Laserbeak to relay information to the Autobots in the field. Desperate

As the Decepticons lured the Autobots out into the open in an effort to steal the Requiem Blaster, Laserbeak went with the team as always to transmit the events back to Red Alert and the kids at homebase. Once the Decepticons changed plans and attacked the Requiem Blaster's true location, Autobot headquarters, Laserbeak acted as a microphone for the kids who reported the events to Optimus Prime. Through Laserbeak, they called the Autobots back home to assist Smokescreen and Red Alert in defending the Mini-Cons. Sacrifice

When the Autobots invaded the Decepticon base, Demolishor had Perceptor cornered and was about to fire when Laserbeak swooped down and gouged his face. Laserbeak also helped the Autobots locate the Decepticon-held Mini-Cons, so they could be rescued and warped back to Autobot headquarters. Rescue

Laserbeak reappeared later on Cybertron when the kids needed to track down Hot Shot and Wheeljack in their search for Thrust and the Mini-Con super-weapons. Drift After they got separated, Rad and Carlos kept in touch with Alexis and Starscream through Laserbeak and her PDA. Portent

Dreamwave Armada comic

Laserbeak was initially sent out to spy on Megatron's capture of the Air Defense Team on Earth. He fled the scene once Demolishor spotted him. Armada #6 When Megatron and the other Decepticons left for the Moon, he discovered that Demolishor was the only Decepticon left in their Silver Ridge base, allowing Hot Shot and Red Alert to infiltrate the base and erase any sensor logs of Optimus Prime's usage of the space bridge back to Cybertron. Armada #9 Soon afterwards, he was sent to deliver a message to Scavenger and Smokescreen, informing them to take care of Megatron's launch base by any means necessary. Unfortunately, the response came twenty minutes too late. Fire & Ice

Much later, Optimus Prime disappeared out of the Universe, and the Autobots' only lead to his whereabouts was the corpse of another Optimus from a parallel reality. As Hot Shot headed out into the field to uncover the means to retrieve his leader from whatever fate had befallen him, Laserbeak accompanied him. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4 Later still, during Unicron's attack on Cybertron, Laserbeak monitored Megatron blasting off to the Chaos Bringer, providing Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scavenger a chance to follow the Decepticon leader and deliver payback for his crippling of Smokescreen. The End

Panini Armada comic

The Autobots used Laserbeak to keep an eye on the Decepticons, and it was thanks to him that they learned about the enemy's intent to travel to the moon and capture the Mini-Cons that lay dormant there. Between Two Worlds!

Transformers Legends anthology

Laserbeak was used as a Cybertronian translator for a series of glyphs that told of an ancient conflict known as the Beast Wars. He also enjoyed divebombing the stuffy Doctor Carter Sanford. Fire in the Dark

Kre-O online manga

Even Kreons need to be colored for safety reasons.

Laserbeak was seen helping or recording Rodimus distract Galvatron while Optimus sneaked towards the mad Decepticon. Enter the New Emperor of Destruction!? Stop Galvatron's Rampage!

Toys

Armada

You can have my bright orange camcorder when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!

• Laserbeak (Roleplay, 2002)

• Takara/Sonokong name: Cyberhawk
• Takara/Sonokong ID number: MC-05
• Takara release date: December 26, 2002
• Known designers: Eric Siebenaler (Hasbro), Yuichiro Hira (Takara)

Armada Laserbeak transforms from a Cybertronic bird to a camcorder and a "stun weapon" (really just a camcorder with a handle, but that doesn't stop legislation). In camcorder mode, the flip-out, rotating faux-LCD viewfinder screen has an (intentionally) fuzzy image of Pat Lee's Armada Optimus Prime packaging art. The two gray buttons on the top of his body activate sound effects: the rear most button alternates from an electronic bird screech to a laser sound, while the other button alternates between a camera shutter sound and a video recording sound. The blue button is used during transformation to robot mode to release Laserbeak's head from his body. There is also a gray gear-shaped wheel on the bottom left of the camera; turning this unlocks the wings for robot mode.

While using the gear for transformation, the left wing can sometimes get stuck due to the tab that locks it in place being slightly misaligned, rubbing against the nearby plastic. Thankfully, pushing the wheel and making a slight tap on the left wing is enough to pop it free from the catch. Those who are a bit more bold can try sanding the inner edge of the tab on the wing so that it has enough clearance to open consistently.

• More information on Laserbeak at TFU.info

Notes

More Orange! MORE!

• Laserbeak's original prototype at Toy Fair 2002 and art indicate that the colors were originally meant to be in Generation 1 Laserbeak's classic black and red. Due to Laserbeak having a "gun" mode (albeit very abstract), it was changed to orange and blue to get around toy gun laws. This was later reconfirmed by designer Eric Siebenaler in 2008.
• The original brainstorming that gave rise to Laserbeak had envisioned an "animal race of transformers".^[1]
• Armada Laserbeak's deco was used as the color scheme for the alternate reality version of Generation 1 Laserbeak in the April Fools' prank preview "Shattered Expectations" for the BotCon 2008 comic "Shattered Glass".
• Like several other cameo Kreons, Laserbeak uses existing Kre-O parts, as he uses the wings backpack piece, and Agent Stealth's helmet of the Kre-O 'Cityville Invasion' series (though stylized to make a complete fit over the head piece and to make a better match to the original's head), although the body appears to lack the ball joints normally used to hold the arm pieces.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Cyberhawk (サイバーホーク Saibāhōku)
• Korean: Cyberhawk (사이바호크 Saibahokeu)
• Russian: Laserbreak
• Swedish: Lasernäbb
• French: Laserbec

References