IDW - Transformers: Windblade #7

Title: The Will of the Few

Written by: Mairghread Scott

Art by: Corin Howell

Colours by: Thomas Deer with John-Paul Bove

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: John Barber

Plot

Windblade and Starscream return to Cybertron from Eukaris, having secured their place on the Council of Worlds, but Windblade is furious at Starscream for having killed Chela, the Titan. Starscream dismisses her complaints due to him having saved her life, and having secured Eukaris for them. Chromia comforts Windblade over her guilt over "helping" with Chela's death, and they decide to see Metroplex and ask about the last located Colony World they found.

Windblade tells Metroplex about Chela's death, and he forgives her for her part in it, as he knew Chela would never concede to her and Starscream. The Titan then gives Windblade information about the last colony, formed from the Titan Tempo, who was carrying philosophers, and tried to find some new truth to bring back home...

The next day, Starscream and Windblade head to Tempo.

On the hull of Tempo, two members of the crew are guarding the Space Bridge, in case of more Cybertronians coming through, when suddenly it activates, the guards call for back-up. Starscream and Windblade walk through the portal and are confronted by a small army, led by Strika, who don't want Cybertronians on their ship. After a very brief battle, Elita One appears and greets the two newcomers, agreeing to meet with them in her throne room, and explains that their last encounter with Cybertronians was violent.

Going through the ship, Elita explains that the ship is now called Carcer, not Tempo, and tells the newcomers that their goal changed from knowledge to a more militaristic one, but they hold truth as their highest law. She also explains that the ship has been being repaired over the years by using their dead crew members as spare parts, so they can mourn and remember the dead.

Starscream tries to appeal to Elita's war-like nature, by suggesting she adds her army to his, so they can protect and build up Cybertron some more, to maintain it's current peace.

Sadly for Starscream however, Obsidian and Elita reveal that they know Cybertron isn't "peaceful" as Obsidian saw the battle between Optimus Maximus and Devastator on their ship's hull during the Combiner Wars, and believes that Starscream is more likely to try and enslave her people rather than treat them as equals. Worst than that though, she believes he was lying just then, which is a capital offence on Carcer, and orders Strika to execute him.

Windblade steps in, and asks for her to give Starscream leniency for now, and she believes that all the colonies and Cybertron truly do need each other, as all of them have something that the others need, and they can only survive by working as one.

Elita One considers her options, and agrees that Carcer should join the Council of Worlds, and has a representative head to Cybertorn to check it out.

After returning to Cybertron, Windblade learns that Carcer IS NOT a nickname for Tempo, but is the name of another Titan, meaning that despite her words, Elita isn't telling the whole truth about her people. She decides to keep this information a secret for now though.

Two weeks later, Carcer's representatives, Strika and Obsidian sign their names to the charter, and the Council of Worlds is formed. The Combaticons watch the signing on a television, and get angry that Starscream is hiding the fact that Swindle and others were killed for this council to be formed, but they won't let him stay forgotten....

Characters

Autobot

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet

Wheeljack - Race Car

Chromia - Speedbike

Metroplex - City/Space Ship

Optimus Maximus - Autobot Gestalt (Flashback)

Decepticon

Onslaught - Anti-Aircraft Truck

Brawl - Tank

Vortex - Helicopter

Blast Off - Space Shuttle

Swindle - Van (Mentioned) Dead

United Cybertron

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Rattrap - Rat

Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt (Flashback)

Badgeless Officers (Flashback)

Carcerian

Elita One - Car

Obsidian - Helicopter

Strika - Battle Tank

Carcer - Space Ship

Greenlight

Lancer

Carcer's Crew

Carcer's old Commander (Flashback) Died in "Accident", built into ship

Velocitronian

Moonracer - Sports Car

Knock Out - Sports Car

Eukarian

Tigatron - Tiger

Airazor - Falcon

Chela (Flashback) Killed by Starscream

Divisen

Vanquish - Part of Jet

Fireshot - Part of Jet

Other

Council of Worlds Formed

Tempo - City/Space Ship (Footage)

Tempo Crew (Footage)

Primus (Mentioned)

Caminus (Mentioned)

Notes

• Wait...if Metroplex knew that Chela would be a problem for Windblade and Starscream last issue, then why didn't he warn Windblade?
• Apparently Engex can be pronounced in different ways, like "tomato" and "potato"
• It seems like most of the warrior members of the Carcer crew use female character models.
• Strika's line of "I terminate!" is a reference to her activation code of "TERMINATE" when transforming in Beast Machines.
• One of the silhouettes of the Carcer crew seems to be based on TFA Sentinel Prime (I won't put him in the character list because it's impossible to tell, but still!)
• It's revealed that the ship's décor of dead body parts is just the past members of the crew being recycled as the ship is old. The throne that Elita One uses uses the previous commander's body...at least that's the story she's giving us...
• Seriously, the front cover makes her look quite evil and murdery....
• More than likely the Carcer crew invaded the Tempo, killed the crew and took their place, maybe using Tempo as repair parts for Carcer.
• The Carcer crew also appear to have built-in arm cannons and other weapons, like the characters from the Prime cartoon.
• Despite the previous decision for one representative per planet, as mentioned when Divisiun joined the council, there appears to be 2 reps per planet (except Caminus and Cybertron).
• The Combaticons are reunited, minus the dead Swindle of course, but he is mentioned through graffiti...could this be due to the upcoming Combiner Wars Combaticons? Hmmm...
• This is the last issue of the Windblade comic, but the story will continue in 2016 in the rebranded "Till all are one" comic series
• Depending where this issues falls in continuity, Brawl may have stayed behind on Cybertron following him and Needlenose returning to recruit others to the Jupiter colony.
• The signing scene appears to resemble a similar Pax Cybertronia signing shown in Dreamwave's unfinished Age of Wrath comic series...let's hope this isn't an omen.....