IDW - Transformers: Redemption

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Slug argues with Aileron and Sterling from Caminus on the streets of Metroplex about the role of the Prime, and it almost comes to violence until Swoop distracts Slug and they wander off towards the bar.

At the bar, Slug quickly gets drunk and begins a brawl with himself and some of the former Decepticons in the establishment. Before long Barricade arrives with some Badgeless officers and arrests Slug for disturbing the peace.

Later, Slug wakes up in a cell after having a dream/memory about his days as a gladiator before the war. He is met by Barricade, who asks for Slug's help in escorting him and two Camiens, the politician Strafe, and his new girlfriend Swift to Alyon with a mystery cargo, without Optimus and the others finding out. Initially he refuses, but then Barricade brings out a case of Shanix, which quickly changes his mind.

Slug is soon released, where he meets with the other Dinobots and tells them his plan to rat out the Camiens and Barricade to the Badgeless so they can keep the money, not have to go to Alyon, and get rid of a corrupt cop and some aliens at the same time.

The next day, the Dinobots meet with Barricade and the others in the Decepticon District where Slug sneaks a look into the cargo they're transporting, and learns that it has some new Camien sparks inside it, and realises that the group are planning to re-seed Alyon with new sparks to help with the re-population, and it's obviously against Camien law.

On the road out of the city, Slug gets a pang of conscience and turns on the Badgeless, killing them along with the Dinobots, turning them into outlaws, but keeping Barricade and the Camiens out of sight, keeping them safe. One of the Badgeless reports the Dinobot's betrayal to command, before they are all gone, and the Dinobots leave, knowing they can never return again.

In the Sea of Rust, group are attacked by some half-dead Sweeps left over from the Chaos war, as Slug and Strafe begin to get to know each other. After a while, the Sweeps run off scared, due to the sudden arrival of the Victorion Torchbearers, who allow Slug and the others to go on their way in peace, however unknown to everyone, Bludgeon watches the scene from a nearby cliff with some more Sweeps in tow.

Later, the group arrive in the Preatorus Wharf, and are now attacked by some Turbofoxes with new weapons attached to their backs, during the short-lived battle however, Slug notices that the Tuirbooxes appear to be showing emotions, despite them being physically and mentally unable to do so naturally. After the battle, the small group continue on, unaware that the Badgeless are still following them.

Continuing on the way to Alyon, Slug reveals to Strafe that during the war he and his team took out a group of Decepticons, and discovered a trailer full of sparks inside that were planned to become new Decepticons, so Slug destroyed them all, not even giving them a chance to make the choice between good and evil themselves, something he has always regretted since.

The group reach Tyger Pax, which is now raining in the tainted Energon that once turned the Dinobots into monsters in the early days of the war. They're attacked by more Sweeps, and see some of them are quite intelligent and have feelings still, despite essentially being zombies. The Badgeless soon arrive and fight the Dinobots too. Slug has Barricade escape with the Spark trailer, but Barricade is cut down and killed by Bludgeon, who also destroys the Camien sparks.

Bludgeon injures Strafe, causing a wound that is soon infected with the tainted Energon, causing her to mutate into a two-headed dragon monster, as she declares herself a Dinobot and rejoins the battle, taking out more Sweeps and Badgeless.

Swift attacks Bludgeon, and knocks him off a cliff into a river of the tainted Energon, as payback for him killing Barricade. The Dinobots finish off the rest of their opponents

In the afetrmath, the group mourn the loss of the Camien sparks, but suddenly Swoop notices a glow from Alyon...the former hot spot has ignited itself again on it's own, showing that there is potential for new Cybertronians to be born after all. The group theorize that the intelligent Turbofoxes and Sweeps must have been given new sparks by Bludgeon from the Alyon hot spot. Swift wonders whether Bludgeon has tainted the new Sparks with his evil, but Slug tells her to give them a chance.

Afterwards, Slug lets Swift keep the Shanix that Barricade promised them for the job, and tells her to return alone, tell the people about the new sparks, and say that Barricade died protecting them. The Dinobots now vow to remain in the wilds of Cybertron, along with Strafe, who still thinks Bludgeon is alive somewhere, so she wants to finish him off for what he's done.

The five Dinobots all head off, and leave Swift alone with the money and her journey back to the city...

Characters

Autobot

Slug - Triceratops

Swoop - Pteranodon

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Snarl - Stegoaurus

Tracks - Muscle Car

Sunstreaker - Sports Car

Blurr - Race Car

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Bludgeon - Tank Knocked into Tainted Energon by Swift

Barricade - Car Killed by Bludgeon

Fat Tankor - Tank

Tall Tankor - Cargo Plane/Truck

Waspinator - Wasp

Trypticon - Battle Platform Possibly dead

Blackwall (Flashback)

United Cybertron

Badgeless Officers Killed by Dinobots

Starscream - Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Camien

Strafe - Two Headed Land Dragon (previously Flying Car)

Swift - Helicopter

Aileron - Jet

Sterling - Car

Pyra Magna - Emergency Truck

Jumpstream - Sports Car

Dustup - Sports Car

Skyburst - Helicopter

Stormclash - Helicopter

Rust Dust - Motorcycle

Other

Bob

Maccadam's Patrons

Turbofoxes Killed by Dinobots

Sweeps Killed by Dinobots

Gladiator Pit Crowd (Flashback)

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

• This story is set as a sequel to Punishment, and shws the impact that that story had on the Dinobots
• The first pages are also recreated from Transformers issue 45, setting the location in the time line very clearly! (A rare instance in a side-story comic!)
• The yellow leader from Caminus is named here as Strafe...I wonder if the red leader is Scorn in that case?
• The "loser" that Swift ran off with is revealed to be Barricade here.
• The Sea of Rust is explained here to be the remains of the area that the Crystal City was destroyed, and was most likely ruined to such an extreme by the black hole created by Shockwave.
• More of the Sweeps are found to have survived the reformatting of Cybertron....how did so many survive the Chaos war?!?
• Bludgeon's cloak appears to be similar to Megatron's one he used on Planet Junkion in Monstrosity, and Alpha Trion's during the Ironhide mini-series, so it is likely designed to protect him against the Sea of Rust's harsh conditions.
• Trypticon is revealed to have fallen in the Preatorus Wharf, and either went into stasis or died there. He was last seen fighting in the last stand on Cybertron, as shown in Spotlight: Blaster.
• Despite having the tainted Energon removed from their bodies, at least Slug retained the ability to turn into his monstrous form in the past.
• Strafe's Dinobot form is a reference to the new Dinobot introduced in Age of Extinction, but only in name and her having two heads. The AOE version was mostly blue, male, used a crossbow (on the toy) and was a flying dragon, rather than a land-based one here.
• Despite now having her "Dino-mode" Strafe appears to have her vehicle mode kibble as well...does this make her a triple changer maybe?
• Also, where did Strafe get her flamethrowers from? I doubt an energon-conserving Camien would have flamethrowers built into her body....
• And...how is Swift going to get back to Metroplex safely? She had issues flying in the Sea of Rust, and was injured during the fights with the Badgeless, Sweeps and Bludgeon....yeah...she may die along the way....