Issue: 12
Release:
Ninety nine minutes before: Rodimus tries unsuccessfully to get everyone's attention, as they fly to the surface of Temptoria to kill some 'cons, and find out whether they've got the Circle of Light. Oh, and save all those organics too. Big damn hero stuff, the usual. In the back of the shuttle, Tailgate's nervous. Back in his Primal Vanguard days, they never did this waiting around. Swerve suggests he think of his happy place, and so Tailgate thinks back to Movie Night. Meanwhile, Pipes and Hound talk about Red Alert, Trailbreaker shows off his new leg-guns, and Rewind and Chromedome bicker, until Whirl shows up, wanting Rewind to film him killing 'cons for the greater good.
Eighty-two minutes before: In the Decepticon outpost, Blip reports to the guy manning the early warning monitors, a guy called Nautilator. Blip's so distracted by Nautilator sounding exactly like Megatron it takes him a while to notice the sky is raining Autobots.
Fifteen minutes after: As the Leading Light returns home, Chromedome calls for help. Rewind's been badly injured. As Ambulon tends to the little guy, Domey tries asking Swerve if he knows what happened, but Swerve doesn't answer, on account of most of his face being gone.
Seventy minutes ago: Swerve and Tailgate watch the battle from afar, Tailgate overwhelmed by the sheer violence of it all, and distracted from the whole "sneak into the Decepticon base" thing by seeing Ultra Magnus fighting.
Fifty minutes ago: As Drift cuts a swathe through the Decepticons, Rodimus trades witty banter with Snaptrap, whose insistence that they're just trying to sustain themselves, via kidnapping the locals, is interrupted by Drift shoving his sword through the back of the Seacon's head.
Thirty-five minutes after: A distraught Chromedome follows First Aid as the medic takes him to the medbay. Shortly after he's gone, Tailgate drags a prone Cyclonus out of the Leading Light all on his own, while Rodimus recounts to the crew how they've done.
Fifty-six minutes after: First Aid informs Chromedome that it's bad. Rewind's tiny size means his injuries are far more severe than they would be on someone the size of Magnus, and as his conjux endura, what happens next is Domey's choice. First Aid could use his Spark-jump technique to revive him, but the shock could kill him, and he needs someone of the same Spark type. Someone like Chromedome. Just as Chromedome agrees, Tailgate drags a badly battered Cyclonus into the medbay.
Thirty-eight minutes ago: Inside the base, Rewind and Tailgate find the Temptorians, who are being used as fuel by energon, "pink alchemy" as the Decepticons call it. Aside from being horrific, it's massively inefficient, taking several thousand organics just to make one cube. Obviously they should free them, but there's a problem. The 'cons have left a bomb ready to blow up if anyone tries anything. So, the plan is leave it to the experts. Y'know, like Tailgate. As the little guy gets to work, his eyes start flaring, which he assures Rewind is nothing to worry about, the panic keeps him focused. But maybe, hey, just as a precaution, Rewind should get to safety. Tailgate suggests he keep an eye on the other door, because it sounds like the fight's getting closer.
Actually, the noise is Whirl and Cyclonus making short work of the Decepticons, including poor Nautilator, who quickly falls victim to Whirl's frustration at his inability to imitate Optimus Prime. Swerve, who's nearby, asks Whirl to pass him a spare gun. Whirl does so, but Brainstorm's newest toy, the "Shoomer" is too big for Swerve. And then it goes off in his face.
Sixty-six minutes after: Chromedome comes to, feeling like crap. Tailgate comes over, having been shooed out of the way while Ratchet and Ambulon work on Cyclonus. Domey is sorry to hear he's not dead, then apologises. Not because he doesn't mean it, just because he's angry about Rewind, and guilty. Rewind's a non-combatant, and supposed to stay out of the fighting, but he keeps insisting on doing it anyway. (Ahem, Chromedome.) Conversation first turns to the offering of innermost energon left nearby, and then to how Rewind and Chromedome even met. A glum Chromedome states he's not Rewind's bestie. He's second best.
See, Rewind's old. Really old. Not as old as Tailgate, but old enough to remember the time before the Functionists, and the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy. And back in those days, having a data slug as an alt mode made you one of the lowest of the low, the Disposable Class. Slaves, as far as the ratioists were concerned. But Rewind knew this guy. Dominus Ambus. A scientist, a doctor, author, explorer (and, as far as Tailgate's concerned, a git). Rewind worked with him. Well, "worked". Dominus used him as a data receptacle, even topped him up with better energon than a disposable was supposed to have. Dominus was a campaigner for Disposable rights, and the two became friends. Then, like all romantics, he tried looking for that missing moon of Cybertron's. Which they didn't find, and by the time they got back, the war was in full swing, and the two quickly signed up with the Autobots.
Tailgate assumes this means Domey and Rewind met on the battlefield. Actually, they met at a Relinquishment Clinic. Not the ones from Rewind's story, with the body-swapping and such. This was much later, and a different kind of relinquishing - specifically, relinquishing life. See, it's difficult for a 'bot to commit suicide and succeed. So the clinics... gave what help they could. And Chromedome was there looking for a way out. Then he heard someone shouting and went to investigate, and found Rewind looking through the morgue. Assuming Rewind was grieving, he introduced himself. As it turned out, Rewind was looking for Ambus, who'd gone missing without a trace, and Rewind was searching everywhere for him. And he still is. That's why he's on the Lost Light, searching for any possible clue as to where Dominus might have gotten to. Like on those snuff movies he'd brought aboard. Even if it means getting into a firefight.
First Aid approaches, with bad news. The procedure didn't work. Chromedome's spark is too weak. The doc offers to spread word around, see if anyone else on-board ship has a compatible Spark-type.
Eighty-two minutes later: Chromedome's sitting alone, disconsolate, in his quarters, when someone comes knocking at the door. They tell Chromedome that it proves things, that there are still Decepticons out there, threatening folk. But they have a solution, a way to get rid of the Decepticons. No-one would ever have to get hurt. They just have someone they want Chromedome to meet, down in the basement. As Chromedome stirs, First Aid calls.
Turns out Whirl had a compatible Spark type, and has helped save Rewind. As the grouchy ex-Wrecker tells Chromedome to stop with the hugging, Tailgate pours out his own energon for Cyclonus, who promptly awakens. Cyclonus is anything but grateful, telling Tailgate he doesn't have a bond with the little guy. In fact, he thinks he's pathetic. As he walks off, Cyclonus sees Rewind and Chromedome's reunion, and the large amount of innermost energon next to them. Without a word, Cyclonus turns back and helps Tailgate clean up his offering.
One minute before: Whirl and Cyclonus stand over a room of dead and dismembered 'cons, as Whirl admires their handiwork. He suggests they turn the page - a fresh start, a clean slate. Cyclonus shoots him down, telling Whirl that he's still going to kill him, and that the method is growing more elaborate and protracted day by day. Then Rewind comes in. See, Tailgate's triggered a countdown on the bomb, and he won't step away. He's not leaving the Temptorians behind, even though Rewind insists the blast won't reach them. With only thirty seconds to go, Cyclonus grabs Tailgate and throws him out of the room, past Whirl. Who then locks the door. Proclaiming his innocence, Whirl leaves the two behind.
As the bomb goes off, Cyclonus steps in front of Rewind.
Tropes:
- Anachronic Order
- BFG: The Shoomer, which is too big for Swerve to actually hold properly.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Rodimus, trying to make himself heard over the gung-ho 'bots chanting "we kill 'cons!"
- Brick Joke: After mocking Fortress Maximus for having guns in his legs back in issue 6, Trailbreaker has managed to get himself his own leg-guns.
- Bullying a Dragon: Cyclonus telling Whirl he was still going to kill him was... not a great decision.
- Call-Back:
- Pipes and Hound discuss the Lost Light's engine rooms, with Hound declaring that they're cursed, after the number of Bad Things that've occurred there.
- Red Alert uses the same Spark-jumping technique he used to revive Fort Max in issue 4.
- Swerve's poor handling of guns comes back to bite him. Or, to be more accurate, shoot himself in the face.
- Catchphrase: Rodimus is still using "Till All Are One".
- The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much: Used for an attempted suicide. Word from on-high is that Red Alert's missing head is because of a malfunctioning gravity plate in the engine room.
- Facial Horror: Swerve manages to blow off his own face, including dislocating his jaw and blowing out one of his eyes.
- Foreshadowing:
- Gosh, for a supposed veteran of combat, Tailgate sure acts like a newcomer to armed combat. And he asks Rewind an awful lot of leading questions about disarming bombs for a bomb disposal expert.
- Tailgate's innermost energon is, unlike everyone else's, a very distinctive green.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Cyclonus, on account of being an unsociable asshole. No-one bothers to help him when he's badly injured, save Tailgate.
- The Ghost: Spoke and Lockstock, who committed all manner of heroics, which naturally need no elaboration on Rodimus' part, and which we the audience see precisely nothing.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Chromedome and Rewind, on the grounds that they actually are an old married couple.
- Mythology Gag: Whirl tries to get Nautilator to help him recite a scene from the '86 movie, only to fail because he can't imitate Optimus' voice.
- Non-Action Guy: Rewind is a non-combatant. He's allowed to opt out of fights, on account of his database.
- The Pig-Pen: Blip, who is a dead-ringer for the equally disgusting Blot but in different colours. He drools and leaks various liquids all over himself.
