Released:
Cybertron, the past. Outside Maccadam's, Nightbeat and his associate Quark talk politics, and the Decepticon movement. Nightbeat points out the Clampdown, despite the Senate's claims, hasn't made things safer for anyone, and the population's only going to be pushed so far. Quark, meanwhile, is concerned. Concerned about the loner with the eyebrows nearby, and more importantly about what will happen when the Decepticons take over, and the fate and 'bots who turn into microscopes like himself. The conversation is interrupted when something splashes in Quark's drink. It's energon, coming from a corpse hanging above their heads.
Four million years later, in Swerve's, Ratchet shows up late to an appointment, having been busy spray-painting Pharma's hands red. He asks why the bar's closed, and Rewind reveals the truth: It's so that he, Chromedome, Drift, Skids and Whirl can help restore Rung's mind. According to Chromedome, Rung can't return to full operational status without making a series of neural connections, which he has to do himself. The longer it takes, the more likely Rung risks dying. Rewind thinks the best way to restore him is to tell a story, preferably a totally epic story based on events that definitely happened. That's why everyone's there, because thanks to Rewind's deep study of history, thanks to Rung, all five of them share one story.
Rewind sets up the scene for everyone. Four million years ago, and Nominus Prime has been gravely injured by a would-be assassin, the Clampdown is in full effect, the Senate is struggling to control an increasingly irate population, and Chromedome, as part of the Iaconian Police Mechaforensics Division, is the poor son-of-a-gun stuck investigating a murder outside Maccadam's, with the worst partner of all time: Prowl.
The 'bot who will one day be known as Chromedome arrives 0.7 whole seconds late to the investigation, where Prowl has analysed the corpse, and determined it wasn't murder, but assassination. Why? Because the victim was a Senator, one Senator Sherma, who was shot to death then hung out to dry. Chromedome determines the Decepticons were responsible, on account of the Decepticon symbol on the guy's back. Concerned, Prowl states what he always says: They need a full autopsy.
In the modern day, Skids interrupts, wondering about this "Prowl" character, who sounds completely flat and lifeless. Not like that other Prowl, the Predabot who likes hugs. Swerve questions how the hell Skids can't know about the grumpiest Autobot ever built, while Rewind and Domey remember his tendency to flip tables. Drift asks whether events can be sped up, since he's getting several swear-y messages from Rodimus about something. Fortunately, Drift's part is next.
Back then, Drift was in a dark place, living in The Dead End, spending his days brain-fried. That's when Sonic and Boom found him. Apparently the two thugs have been paid off to round up people, at 100 shanix a person, regardless of condition. Sonic takes the opportunity to beat up the junkie while he's got the time, only to be interrupted by Orion Pax.
A few scant seconds of violence later, and Pax sees to Drift, who's near to burnout. Requesting the aid of his co-worker Roller, Pax takes him to see Ratchet, who praises Adaptus.
Cue Ratchet angrily calling Drift out on being an unreliable narrator. Chromedome states that it can't be true anyway, as he was already Chief Medical Officer by then. Ratchet explains that Pax helped him set up a medical center at Dead End on the quiet, to help the downtrodden.
Having saved Drift, Ratchet tells Pax to go easy on the younger 'bot, then recommends he try and turn his life around. Ratchet can tell he's special.
Drift asks whether that's accurate, too. Ratchet glumly doesn't respond, but agrees when Drift says he thinks back on that a lot. Of course, as Drift says, he lied to Ratchet about what he'd do next, something about a Relinquishment Clinic. Tailgate chimes in, wondering just what the heck that is. Chromedome helpfully fills him in.
Before the war, the mode you were created with was the mode you stayed with, unless you were rich. However, a Relinquishment Clinic offered the chance to swap alt-modes, for a mere 5000 shanix. Ratchet bitterly states they were cheap and nasty, and they all knew where that led.
Ratchet states that the Relinquishment Clinics are cheap and nasty, and who knows where they'll lead. Drift doesn't care. It pays well, and his body's his only asset. Ratchet tries getting Pax's support, only to find the big guy watching TV. And there's grim news: Nominus Prime is dead. According to the official report, he died of a long-term rust infection in his fuel pump, and incidentally someone close to the Senate is already showing signs of affinity. Ratchet states the rust story is bull, and he should know. But saying the Senate, or Sentinel was responsible just makes him sound like a conspiracy freak. Which reminds Pax of someone he wants Ratchet to meet...
Drift asks to leave, since Rodimus is now threating to have him arrested if he doesn't show up at the oil reservoir pronto.
Back in the past, Chromedome witnesses the result of Prowl's fifth requisitioned autopsy in as many weeks. The brain module attracts his attention, apparently the cerebrosurgeons have insisted it remain intact. But Prowl's found something. Powdered glass on Sherma's foot, which Chromedome recognises as a special kind of glass only found at Translucentia Heights. And with that, Prowl produces their search warrants.
Across town, Pax and Ratchet meet Pax's Senator friend by the Ark-1 memorial statue. Pax vouches for Ratchet, which is all his friend needs. While the two talk, Ratchet poses as a regular civilian, while the two talk conspiracy. Nominus was killed. He was dead the minute the Senate learnt he didn't have the Matrix. It was all he could do to not try and tear Sentinel's head off. However, with his bad temper and lack of influence, that would've been more trouble than he could afford.
Pax tries changing the conversation from Proteus, and what the senator thinks is the bigger danger of Sentinel. There's something his friend isn't telling. Sentinel is planning something, and it has to do with the Decepticons. Not Megatron, though. They don't want to martyr him, so he's been shipped off to mine nucleon somewhere.
Rewind abruptly declares a cliffhanger, and changes scenes to Translucentia.
With the curfew in effect, the streets are deserted, not that this matters to Chromedome and Prowl, they're travelling by skydarts. Chromedome points out that with "decent" alt-modes, they wouldn't need them. Prowl brings up his past in Petrex, where he learnt the value of rules and discipline. Chromedome thinks that in the here and now, a troublemaker would be carted off to The Institute.
The two banter about what they know of Translucentia. Iacon's richest neighbour hood, all alt-mode exempt, all two-thousand, nine-hundred and eighty-seven of them.
And then a decapitated corpse with a Decepticon badge on their chest lands in front of them.
Drift arrives at the Lost Light's oil reservoir, where Grapple and Rodimus are uncovering something: It's Red Alert, and he's missing his head. Rodimus is glad, though. It means he doesn't have to justify what he's going to do to Cyclonus.
To Be Continued...
Tropes:
- The Bus Came Back: Orion's senator friend returns... in a different colour-scheme.
- Call-Back:
- The flashback begins with Nightbeat asking "What am I looking at? Not more violence?" the same way Impactor asked about Megatron's poetry at the beginning of Chaos Theory
- When Rewind mentions Blurr winning the Ibex Cup, eternal fanboy Swerve chimes in with a "yay".
- Skids brings up Prowl the Predabot, whom Drift sliced to pieces a few issues back. The reason he was walking around when he wasn't supposed to is jokingly explained by him liking to hug people.
- Call-Forward: There're flashbacks. Of course these are here.
- Flashback!Chromedome reminds Prowl he's interested in neuroscience.
- The Institute gets more mentions in the flashbacks. There, Prowl and Chromedome discuss it with near-mythical status, when The Senator's already confirmed it exists.
- The Cameo:
- Slam-Dance appears as a newscaster in the flashback
- Grapple makes a wordless appearance in vehicle mode, on the very last page.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Back in issue 4, Drift mentioned meeting Ratchet in Rodion while lying on a table and dying. We see that meeting here.
- The missing Luna 1 gets brought up again. The Senator has been commissioning searches for it.
- Skids somehow doesn't know who Prowl is, at all.
- On the Ark-1 memorial, there's a name obscured by Ratchet's hand that reads "Tail-".
- Continuity Nod:
- Chromedome mentions having heard Prowl flip the table over back in issue 1, bringing his table-flipping count up by one.
- Flashback!Ratchet complains about the news reporting on things like "Top Ten Metroplex Sightings". As per Autocracy, the big guy is in hiding as the Acroplex at that time.
- Ratchet, Optimus and The Senator all meet at the Ark-1 memorial.
- Megatron being shipped off to Messatine, the place he commits his first murder.
- Cryptic Background Reference:
- The "Phobos Controversy", which around the time of the flashback has gotten the Primal Vanguard into some serious trouble.
- Proteus' Promise gets brought up some more.
- Disappointed in You: We finally get a hint as to why Ratchet's been on Drift's case. He saved a younger Drift and told him to go do something incredible with his life... and Drift went on to become one of the worst mass-murderers of the war. Both Ratchet and Drift state they think about that day a lot.
- Famed In-Story:
- Orion Pax, Supercop, after his little speech to the Senate.
- Fantastic Caste System: The Functionist regime gets expounded upon, with mention of the Manual Classes (miners, builders, etc.) and Scientific Classes. Not surprisingly, most of the Decepticons came from the former.
- Flat Character: Skids describes Prowl along these lines, complaining that he sounds bland and uninteresting.
- Flipping the Table: Rewind and Chromedome discuss Prowl's fondness for this. Rewind tries to imitate it, but doesn't manage it.
- Genre Shift: Deliberate on Robert's past. The flashback is quite blatantly a murder-mystery.
- Jerkass:
- Genericon thugs Sonic and Boom return in the flashback, beating down and abducting the homeless for money. Then a certain super-cop finds them.
- Rodimus doesn't appear until the last page, but he spends the rest of the story phoning Drift, threatening to have him arrested and swearing at him for not answering his calls.
- Off with His Head!: Red Alert's head has been removed from the rest of him.
- One-Steve Limit: The other, now very dead, Prowl gets a mention by Skids, who mistakes him for that other Prowl.
- The Reveal: Chromedome used to go by a different name in the past.
- Running Gag: Rung and his eyebrows. Nightbeat's buddy Quark thinks they're listening devices.
- Shout-Out: Megatron's writings are mentioned to be connected with samizdat writing, part of the continuing theme of equating the Decepticon's early days with Russian communism.
- Unreliable Narrator: Drift, who claims Ratchet, a sworn atheist, was praying to Adaptus while operating on him. Ratchet even calls him by the trope name while stopping him.
- The Un-Reveal: Chromedome is about to reveal his name, but Rewind shushes him on account of it being too confusing for the others.
- You All Share My Story: Skids, Chromedome, Whirl, Ratchet and Drift all have a part in a story that took place several years before the war, which also involved Prowl and Orion Pax.
