IDW - Regeneration One #98

Title: The War To End All Wars Part 3

Writer: Simon Furman

Breakdowns: Guido Guidi

Finishes: Stephen Baskerville

Colourist: John-Paul Bove

Letterer: Chris Mowry

Editor: John Barber

Editor-in-Chief: Chris Ryall

Plot

The Autobot armada led by Rodimus Prime attacks the Hub, aiming to fire on a weak point they've detected and destroy the whole thing. Rodimus is confident this will work, and want's Jhiaxus to pay for all he's done, but Jetfire is concerned that it all seems too easy, and that perhaps Jhiaxus knows what's happening.

On Earth, the Space Bridge is completed and some humans Optimus are waiting for an arrival from Nebulos, but the person who comes through is a newly revived Fortress Maximus. The sight of his former partner stuns Circuit Breaker/Spike, Optimus goes to confront Max on why he's there, but the giant Autobot instead blasts him and captures Spike. Optimus tries to stop them from leaving, but is instead smashed apart by Maximus, leaving him badly injured and unable to stp them from leaving.

Back at the Hub, the attack against the weak point continues and it is hit...however it does nothing to the complete structure, revealing that Jetfire's concerns were correct, and the Cybertronian Empire's full force comes out of hiding and attack the Autobots, causing a lot of damage. 

Ultra Magnus' team, on the surface of the Hub roll out to hide from the Empire, however on the way Hound is killed, while Fastlane and Chromedome split up from the group. The troops chasing them blow out the road in front of Magnus and the others, forcing them to stop and fight on foot (and Nightbeat to crash).

Jhiaxus contacts Rodimus on his ship and shows footage of all the carnage, forcing Rodimus to surrender and end the battle.

On the Ark, the consciousness inside Starscream makes the ship land on Cybertron so they can find Jhiaxus and make him pay for what he did. In the process Starscream revives Shockwave into a new body so he can assist him, rather than keeping him trapped within the Ark.

In the Primus Chamber, the Acolytes of Unicron have delivered Galvatron to their master, Primus, who promptly kills them all, and continues with his plans of "One will be all" as he surges with green energon.

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus Prime - Caravan

Optimus Prime - Truck Badly Injured/Killed by Fortress Maximus

Fortress Maximus - Battle Platform Possessed by Matrix Spawn

Ultra Magnus - Car Carrier

Nightbeat - Sports Car

Chromedome - Car

Bumblebee - VW Beetle Car

Fastlane - Dragster

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Hound - Jeep Killed by Empire

Jetfire - Jet

Blurr - Race Car

Blaster - Boom Box

Blades - Rescue Chopper

Groove - Police Motorcycle

Powerglide - A-10 Thunderbolt

Scattershot - Jet

Wheeljack - Race Car

Jazz - Porsche

Skids - Van

Getaway - Race Car

Beachcomber - Dune Buggy

Sky High - Helicopter

Springer - Helicopter/Rocket Car (Mentioned) Dead

Other Autobots

Decepticon

Starscream - Fighter Jet Possessed by "The Four"

Shockwave - Ray Gun

Galvatron - Laser Cannon Unconscious

Human

Circuit Smasher/Spike Witwicky

Linda Chang

G.B. Blackrock

Gordon Kent

Other Humans

Other

Primus

Jhiaxus - Jet

Second Generation Cybertronians - Jets

Acolytes of Unicron Killed by Primus

"The Four" Possessing Starscream

Notes

• So...after Rodimus was shocked about Jhiaxus not needing a physical structure for Space Bridges, the Autobots are shown using them here...maybe they somehow copied Jhiaxus' technology in a day?
• Fort Max coming to Earth instead of (presumably) Quickmix and the others on Nebulos could imply that Max killed them offscreen
• Fort Max shouldn't be this big as his larger body was built after the Autobots left Nebulos originally.
• Getaway and Skids being on a team together is likely a reference to More Than Meets The Eye where the two are partners (though here it seems that Getaway is ranked higher than Skids)
• Starscream's Underbase powers are shown to be able to restore life to normal here, rather than just being a destructive force
• Fort Max's and Primus' new mantra of "One will be all" sounds a lot like Unicron's goal of Universal devuring. It's also of course a corruption of "Til All are One"