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The Black Fleet Crisis: Before the Storm
Attribution
Author(s)	Michael P. Kube-McDowell
Cover artist	Drew Struzan
Publication information
Publisher	Bantam Spectra
Release date	March 1, 1996
Media type	Paperback
Pages	309
ISBN	0553572733
Chronology
Era	New Republic era
Timeline	16 ABY
Series	The Black Fleet Crisis
Preceded by	The Crystal Star
Followed by	Shield of Lies

[Source]

Before the Storm is the first novel in The Black Fleet Crisis trilogy, written by Michael P. Kube-McDowell and published by Bantam Spectra on March 1, 1996. The audio version was narrated by Anthony Heald.

Editions

American

• ISBN 0553572733; April 1996, Bantam Spectra, 309-page paperback

Foreign

• Heyne-Verlag, German hardcover (Die Schwarze Flotte, Bd.1, Vor dem Sturm)
• ISBN 3453136721; 1998, Heyne-Verlag, German paperback
• March 1999, Amber, Polish (Kryzys Czarnej Floty, Tom I - Przed Burzą)
• ISBN 9785699232864; October 2007, Eksmo Publishing, Russian (Кризис Чёрного флота: Перед бурей)
• ISBN 9788427021679; 1997; Ediciones Martínez Roca, S.A., Spanish (Trilogía de la Flota Negra - 1. Antes de la tormenta)

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Publisher's summary

In the blockbuster bestselling tradition of Heir to the Empire comes this thrilling addition to the Star Wars saga, as peace gives way to a dire new threat…

It is a time of tranquillity for the New Republic. The remnants of the Empire now lie in complete disarray, and the reemergence of the Jedi Knights has brought power and prestige to the fledgling government on Coruscant. Yesterday's Rebels have become today's administrators and diplomats, and the factions that fought against Imperial tyranny seem united in savoring the fruits of peace.

But the peace is short-lived. A restless Luke must journey to his mother's homeworld in a desperate and dangerous quest to find her people. An adventurous Lando must seize a mysterious spacecraft that has weapons of enormous destructive power and an unknown mission. And Leia, a living symbol of the New Republic's triumph, must face down a ruthless leader of the Duskhan League, an arrogant Yevetha who seems bent on a genocidal war that could shatter the fragile unity of the New Republic…and threaten its very survival.

Appearances

Behind the scenes

The Imperial order of battle discovered in a crippled Star Destroyer is named in reference to the author's daughter. It consists of her initials and date of birth (given in the dedication).

Cover gallery

This is a gallery of the different cover variations of Before the Storm.

Full cover art	Paperback	German hardcover - Vor dem Sturm	German paperback
Japanese - Cover 1	Japanese - Cover 2	Polish - Przed Burzą	Russian - Кризис Чёрного флота: Перед бурей

The Star Wars wiki of fan invention.

It’s a dark age, the Sith managed to control the entire galaxy and a group of heroes fought them back and finally restore freedom, do they?

Somewhere on the galaxy, there are people with the New Republic, but what about the Imperial ones? This is the story of some of them and how they united to harm the New Republic!

Stories:

• A Phoenix is Borned
• Emancipation's Path
• Rainy Day
• The Hero
• Piracy on Turkana

From Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki

Let's see what you can see... This article is in need of images.

Inferno brings Megatron an alien golden disk that causes him to offer a too good to be true cease fire to the Maximals.

Summary

Tigatron observes a strange energy pulse in a distant mountain. Simultaneously, within the Predacon base, Megatron is woken by his computer. It reports the energy anomaly, and that it is of alien origin. Megatron suspects this could be the start of something big and thus sends Inferno to investigate. The fire ant burrows into the mountain and recovers a strange discus.

Megs as a Magical floating head... why does this seem so familiar?

Primal is on a scouting run looking for the energy anomaly that Tigatron reported. He sees a strange probe, and follows it. The probe stops and forms into a hologram of Megatron. He proposes to meet about a truce on neutral ground, between both leaders.

When they meet, Megatron insists that the truce is not an act of treachery. He explains that he has no time to fight Maximals, and he needs time to think. Primal reluctantly agrees to a truce, bound by Maximal code. Rhinox proposes that it's about the alien energy. Primal agrees, stating that something scared Megatron very badly. Rattrap is sent - despite his usual complaints - to infiltrate the Darksyde.

Meanwhile, Tarantulas hacks his way into a holding chamber to steal one of the Predacon ship's remaining Transwarp cells. Waspinator surprises him and demands an answer, and Tarantulas easily defeats him. Megatron, watching the exchange, decides to let Tarantulas do his work, and throw another kink in it - Blackarachnia.

Airazor delivers Rattrap to the Predacon base - unarmed - and drops him off quickly before hailing the Predacon channels. Megatron casually disarms the perimeter defenses and asks Airazor to leave. As she leaves, he stops her a moment and suggests she take Rattrap with her. Foiled, they return to the base and report to Primal, but exchange knowing glances - the distraction was enough for Tigatron to make his entrance.

Blackarachnia surprises Tarantulas, and in the confusion, Megatron hacks the Transwarp cell and adds his own programming.

Tigatron hacks the Predacon database in a cool VR world, and discovers the second Golden Disc's datatracks. Terrorsaur finds Tigatron hacking and sounds the alarm, but Tigatron uses Terrorsaur and Scorponok's goonery against each other. Under orders not to fire, the Predacons chase Tigatron, leading into a battle with the rest of the Maximals.

Under the limitations of a truce, the Predacons and Maximals battle without using their weapons. Primal steals a wire from Inferno's rocket. Terrorsaur fails at dodging a piece of sheet metal that Cheetor and Rhinox move into position. The spiders are smart enough to avoid one trap set by Dinobot, but in doing so, are crushed by another. Without firing a single shot, the Maximals have won the day... unless, of course, Megatron intentionally let them get away.

On the Maximal base, Tigatron explains what Megatron discovered: a golden disk similar in size to the one Megatron originally stole, this one created by the same aliens who crafted the flying island, and seeded the energon on the planet. The disk itself was part of a signal that the aliens sent, ensuring that the planet received a message:

The aliens are on their way. And they are not very happy...

Quotes

"By the Great Smelter, the Royalty was correct!"

-- Inferno surprised by the accuracy of his master's assumptions.

Inferno: Yes, my queen.
Megatron: I wish he wouldn't call me that.

Optimus Primal: When Predacons talk truce, it just means they need time to reload their weapons.
Megatron: Uh, normally, yes.

"What could I do? He was right, I'm a Maximal. I have to give peace a chance, no matter how unlikely it seems."

-- Optimus Primal channels John Lennon.

Rattrap: Ehhhh we're gonna diieeee!
Airazor: Isn't there a rule that heroes have to face destruction with dignity?
Rattrap: Hey! What's the use of dyin' if ya can't enjoy it?

"There is a storm approaching. A storm of such magnitude, of such power... it is beyond imagination. And to think, I was once satisfied with mere energon. To think that my ambitions lofted no higher than the conquest of Cybertron. *laughs* *coughs* Well, no longer. For I have been given a glimpse of power. Real power. And that power shall be mine!"

-- Megatron starts to acquire a taste for godhood.

Stats

Writers: Larry DiTillio and Bob Forward
Original air date: February 21, 1997

Characters (in order of appearance): Tigatron, Megatron, Inferno, Optimus Primal, Rattrap, Dinobot, Rhinox, Cheetor Tarantulas, Waspinator, Blackarachnia, Airazor, Terrorsaur, Scorponok

Notes

Animation and/or technical glitches

• When Optimus arrives at the neutral territory to talk with Megatron, his shoulder pads are missing. Megatron's ones are also missing when he speaks to Airazor.

• While Megatron is in his closing words of the episode, he is missing his beast mode "kibble", except the head of course.

Transformers references

• When Megatron is talking to Inferno in his room, there is a G1 seeker head on his shelf, with an expression of pure horror. Either this is a reference to Starscream's treachery in a previous episode, or Megatron has some weird taste in ornaments.
• There's also a replica of G1 Megatron's fusion cannon on the shelf below the head.

Real-world references

• On the shelf in Megatron's room (aside from the seeker head and a picture of himself), there is a Transformer sized trophy and bowling pin. Must be good at that non-sport until he traded his hand for another head.

• When accessing the transwarp cell's programming, Megatron's code "A T T override" is a reference to the Usenet newsgroup alt.toys.transformers

• Megatron mused that "There is a storm coming. A storm of such power, such magnitude, it is beyond imagination!" This was a reference to the website of fan James Hooks, called "Beyond Imagination," which itself was a reference to part of the tagline of the original movie.

• The scene where Tigatron has hacked into the main computer aboard the Predacon ship mimics a scene in the movie Johnny Mnemonic where his hands appear in the system allowing him to access digital information.

• The scene in which the two sides fight contains some parts that seem to reference Wile E. Coyote (Inferno's fall to the ground being a prime example).

Trivia

• Bob Forward has said this was originally planned to be part of a 4-part Other Voices but the plans were changed at the last minute -- "Apparently anything more than a two-parter is too hard to schedule. Before The Storm had to be made into a stand-alone ep." [1]

• Apparently, all you have to do to hack all of the Predacon ship's data, is play a virtual reality videogame.

• Blackarachnia can be seen trapping a red poison-dart frog in her webbings when Megatron communicates with her via computer.

• Before the Predacon computer wakes him up, Megatron's dinosaur head-arm is "awake" and looking around. Similarly, when observing Tarantulas' break-in, his dino hand is looking up at him, and he pets it affectionately, as if it was, well... a pet. Just before Airazor calls the Darksyde, he is brushing its teeth with a toothbrush. It's not clear what's going on here or how this works, particularly when he's in beast mode, but clearly, Megatron has a very special relationship with his right hand.

• Tigatron pulls an up-link cord out of his crotch.

• Just how exactly DID Megatron meet up with Optimus at the Truce location? Optimus was able to reach it only by flight and there's no minions around to carry Megatron. After finishing the talk, he turns around to leave, and we even hear his footsteps. Must have been a hard fall down.