Galvatron and the Pretender Monsters arise from the Atlantic Ocean into a destroyed New York City, complete with a deactivated Rodimus Prime strung up between the stumps of the shattered World Trade Center towers. Galvatron sends his minions to search the city's ruins for Autobots. Though he has devastated the Autobot army and controls the planet's entire western hemisphere, Galvatron wishes even the slightest trace of resistance wiped out.