Shawn Berger was a wealthy business tycoon who had once run for he position of Mayor of Central City, but had lost. When Berger dedicated a new solar energy plant to the city, the Decepticon jets attacked, with intent to steal the energy there. However, it transpired that there was no energy present - it had been a ruse to draw in the Decepticons, who were promptly attacked by a battalion of energy-tanks, built by Berger's company. Berger had planned this ruse so he could defeat the Decepticons and further his own image, but the Autobots then arrived and beat him to the punch. At Megatron's command, Laserbeak captured him, and Megatron tricked the human into an alliance, puporting that the Autobots were evil, and showing Berger videotaped "evidence" - footage of the Autobots stealing energy from an oil field. When Berger showed these tapes to the world, the public attitude towards the heroic robots changed. It was demanded that they leave Earth and return to Cybertron. Not willing to cause trouble, Optimus Prime had no choice but to comply. As the Autobots were on their way, Berger began to publicly appraise the Decepticons, and before long, they were being adored as the Autobots had been. Megatron then tapped into the Autobots' rocket's navigational computer, and directed them towards the sun. Meanwhile, Chip Chase had discovered that the videos were fake, and intended to tell the authorities. The Decepticons stopped him, while the Autobot, Cosmos had discovered that they were headed into the sun, and attempted to reprogram the navigation computers, to no avail. The Decepticons then revealed their intentions for Earth, implicating Berger as their accomplice. The humans had no way to fight the Decepticons, and the planet soon fell under their control. With Berger's help, Chip was able to escape from one of the Decepticon labour camps, and used Teletran I to bring the Autobots back to Earth, where they quickly routed the Decepticons and freed the humans. Berger realised his error of judgement, and promised to disband his private army.

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