IDW - Till All Are One #9

Title: Heavy

Written by: Mairghread Scott

Art by: Sara Pitre-Durocher

Colours by: Joana LaFuente and Sara Pitre-Durocher

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Starscream acts as judge in the case against the Badgeless officer who was accused of killing a Decepticon just before the Bruticus incident. The officer insists that he is innocent and that his now missing partner was the one who killed him. Starscream internally admits to himself that he believes him, as Onslaught probably framed him as part of his grand plan. Starscream is unable to concentrate on the case however, as so many more important things are happening right now, most of all the repair of the city following the battle with the Titans. Rattrap interrupts the trial, with a message for Starscream, so he calls for a recess.

Rattrap shows Starscream news footage of Elita claiming that she volunteered her Titan to take down the others, and is martyring herself and him as the heroes of the battle, prompting Starscream to call for her to join him in a meeting.

Starscream soon arrives at the Council chamber, where the Mistress of Flame is waiting for him, he agrees to speak with her after the meeting, so long as she acts as Caminus' representative during this meeting, since Windblade is still in a bad shape.

Shortly afterwards, Elita arrives, and the Council ask her to explain her actions, and how she could have hidden Maximo's presence from them. She exposits about how Maximo excelled in manipulating others, and eventually caused the war between the tribes by having Megatronus kill Solus, due to this, both Maximo and Vigilem were tried and imprisoned as Carcer and within that ship, and his followers, hoping to repent for his actions, acted as his jailers ever since.

Elita winds up blaming Windblade for releasing Maximo, due to her melding with Vigilem's mind, which the others claim to have been to save Cybertron. Unfortunately, Elita points out that Maximo is going to return to Cybertron for revenge, and this reprieve is just brief. She suggests that Cybertron and the colonies need to be united, and fortified, regardless of who leads them. She also suggests that no one reveal that Maximo has been released, otherwise it would cause panic across all of Cybertron, and just hurt them in the long run. She leaves, as she continues her work to repair "Carcer" back to his space craft mode.

The councillors are split on the decision of whether to accept Elita's plan to keep Maximo's existence a secret, and Starscream is forced to make the deciding vote, he asks for a moment to consider it. The other councillors leave, except for the Mistress of Flame, who requests that Chromia be handed over to her as a prisoner of war, when Starscream refuses, she demands that Menasor and Swindle be handed to her instead, since they directly attacked Caminus. Starscream is left alone, and is having a break-down due to all the hard decisions he has to make, since he knows all of them will have bad repercussions in the end. Bumblebee's "ghost" tells him that he knows what is right, and will do everything that he knows should be done for the sake of Cybertron.

Starscream returns to the court, where he immediately declares the Badgeless officer guilty, despite him knowing it to be wrong. he soon makes his way to the prison, where he releases Chromia to the custody of the Mistress of Flame, banishing her from the planet. He tasks her with killing Liege Maximo as a condition for her release, and also admits that he doesn't want her to turn out bad like he did, so he's giving her another chance to do right....

Characters

Autobot

Chromia - Speedbike

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet Status Unknown

Metroplex - Iacon City/Space Shuttle Being Repaired

Bumblebee - Car (Ghost)

Ironhide - Van (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Swindle - Van (Mentioned)

Onslaught - Missile Truck (Mentioned)

Menasor - Stunticon Gestalt (Mentioned)

Drunk Decepticon (Mentioned) Dead

United Cybertron

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Rattrap - Mole Rat

Circuit

Longtooth

Badgeless Officer Found Guilty of Murder

Badgeless' Partner (Mentioned) Missing

Officer's Solicitor

Court Prosecutor

Court Audience

Iacon Residents

Colonist

Mistress of Flame

Elita One

Moonracer - Sports Car

Tigatron - Tiger

Fireshot - Part of Jet

Lightbright

Various Cityspeakers

Obsidian - Stealth Osprey Helicopter (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Titan Swarm Dead

Vigilem - Carcer Spaceship Dead

Prima (Flashback)

Vector Prime (Flashback)

Alpha Trion (Flashback)

Amalgamous Prime (Flashback)

Solus Prime (Flashback) Killed by Megatronus

Micronus Prime (Flashback)

Alchemist Prime (Flashback)

Quintus Prime (Flashback)

Onyx Prime (Flashback)

Nexus Prime (Flashback)

Liege Maximo (Flashback)

The Arisen (Flashback)

Megatronus (Flashback)

Liege Maximo's Followers (Flashback)

Notes

• The trial for the murder of the Decepticon from the start of this series is actually begun and resolved in this issue! That was a swift resolution!
• Windblade's condition in this issue makes it sound like she died, but we know from the Optimus Prime series that she is just injured
• Just a thought. Since the Titan Swarm is dead, and they could all turn into cities or at least large space craft, couldn't the Cybertronians force them into their alternate modes and use them as the basis for several new settlements on Cybertron? Make it actually look like a rebuilt planet and everything.
• Only the team who went to Carcer, along with Starscream and the Mistress of Flame are present at the meeting with Elita One. Implying that not even everyone on the Council have been made aware of Carcer's true identity, or Liege Maximo's return.
• Oh and let me fanboy a little bit here....THE THIRTEEN FINALLY GET A FULL REVEAL IN IDW!! BWAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!
• As has been shown so far in this continuity, the designs of the members are heavily influenced by their Aligned continuity counterparts as seen in the Covenant of Primus book. The only member who is obscured is "The Arisen" who's identity is currently unknown in IDW, but in Aligned it was Optimus Prime.
• The events that showed that Maximo manipulated Megatronus into killing Solus, and her death are direct parallels with Aligned, with the only main difference being that there are other Cybertronians during this period of time, instead of just being the Thirteen as it was in Aligned.
• The crew of Carcer's vow to never lie is born from their heritage as Maximo's people, as they don't want to be responsible for something horrible like Maximo was.
• Though not outright said, Elita's fears that someone on Cybertron may have tried to use Maximo to gain power was likely directed at Starscream, considering his manipulative nature.
• Despite how neither have really worked for him before, Starscream has plans to have Menasor and Bruticus fight for him to "defend" Cybertron in case of a future battle.
• It may seem odd that the Mistress of Flame doesn't mention anything when Starscream tasks Chromia with hunting down and killing Liege Maximo, since Caminus is all about adoring all the Primes, however just remember that he WAS the one who caused the events that killed the founder of Caminus' culture, Solus Prime. So it can be excused
• Elita mentions that Kaon needs to be brought back on line, we last saw that Kaon was somehow partially restored in the Titans Return one shot, and Windblade even asked if the city was a Titan. I'd wager good internet money that "Kaon" is actually Trypticon, who is also an upcoming Titans Return toy.