IDW - Rom vs Transformers #3

Written by: John Barber & Christos Gage

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Josh Perez

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Rom, shocked that his blast did not kill Ultra Magnus leads the other Knights in a fight against the Autobots, the two sides clash until Stardrive shouts at them all to stop. She points out that she is not the Autobot's prisoner and merely tried to save them when they were stuck on the station. She also points out that there is obviously two factions of Cybertronians at work here, and not just one, a fact that Magnus confirms. 

Stardrive reveals that she believes that the Decepticons have followed them to the planet due to Starscream being after the Energon Synthesizer, which Magnus believes to be a major problem since getting a literally limitless source of Energon will lead the Decepticons to conquer Cybertron, and then spread outwards. The groups agree to work together to get the Synthesizer first with Rom, Livia and Stardrive going on ahead in the air, whilst Sata stays with the Autobots on the ground to keep an eye on them until they can rendezvous at the station's crash site.

Elsewhere, the Decepticons and Dire Wraiths are amazed at how destructive the Sky Blast-Wraith hybrid is as it destroys a Xetaxxan village, however before they can use it for their own devices it overheats and is rendered to a dead singed husk. Vekktral wants to try making more hybrids. which the remaining Decepticons aren't happy about, so it appears that they decide to head out for the Autobots instead.

Rom and the other two Knights arrive at the crashed station to find the Energon Synthesizer only to also find some Xetaxxan salvagers trying to find anything they can from the wreck. The Decepticons arrive and attack the Knights, Rom and Livia fight them off whilst Stardrive tries to rescue the salvagers and flies away with them, unfortunately Starscream shoots at her and it hits her cockpit, killing her passengers and sending her plummeting into the crashed station.

On their way to the station, Bumblebee, Ultra Magnus and Sata have stopped so that Bee can heat up a rock for some Xetaxxans. Magnus isn't happy and reminds Bee to NOT leave the torch he used with them as it would breach the Tyrest Accords Sata is impressed that the Cybertronians have rules in place to stop the spread of their technology and weapons when they receive a distress call from Livia about the Decepticon attack. They decide to head off again now, but are stopped when the Xetaxxans are revealed to be Dire Wraiths who attack and try to merge with Bumblebee. Astrotrain comes barging into the area with Vekktral whom attacks Sata himself.

The Knight is weakened from the attack, and they are outnumbered, but Magnus orders Sata and Bee to leave him to fight the Wraiths, so they can help the others, which Bee agrees to, but uneasily.

Inside the downed Station, Stadrive has found her destroyed quarters, where she holds the dead bodies of the Xetaxxans she got killed and threatens to destroy the Synthesizer, knowing the Starscream is behind her. She simply states that he can HAVE the synthesizer, so long and he leaves the planet and takes every Wraith with him....

Characters

Autobot

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Bumblebee - Car

Optimus Prime - Truck (Flashback Only)

Thunderclash - Truck (Flashback Only)

Ironhide - Van (Flashback Only)

Prowl - Emergency Vehicle (Flashback Only)

Decepticon

Starscream - Jet

Thrust - Jet

Dirge - Jet

Ramjet - Jet

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet

Astrotrain - Galactic Council Shuttle/Trackless Train

Megatron - Tank (Flashback Only)

Tarn - Tank (Flashback Only)

Skywarp - Jet (Flashback Only)

Soundwave - Acoustic Tank (Flashback Only)

Solstar Order

Rom

Livia

Sata

Stardrive - Car/Jet

Auxin (Mentioned) Dead

Solstar Officers (Mentioned)

Solstar Scientists (Mentioned)

Dire Wraith

Vekktral

Sky Blast-Wraith Hybrid Burned Out to a Husk

Wraith Troops

Xetaxxan Villagers

Other

Xetaxxans

Xetaxxan Family Killed by Starscream

Galactic Council (Mentioned)

Orchid Crossing Crew (Mentioned)

Notes

• Oh okay...I guess Magnus survived his blast from Rom after all! (Still pretty sure this ISN'T Minimus Ambus still though)
• Sata is identified as being a female...not sure if that was mentioned before!
• Ultra Magnus having to explain to Rom that Cybertron isn't a unified world and has borders and internal disputes is somewhat funny since Optimus makes the same mistake about Earth in the modern era.
• Stardrive is confirmed as being a triple changer in this issue, and she is shocked that not every Transformer is one too.
• The Xetaxxans seen in this story are based on the same species from the G1 cartoon, but rather than being mechanical beings they are organics who were protective masks and clothes due to their planet's extremely cold temperature.
• Bumblebee spending time to help warm up some Xetaxxans is likely a nod to Nightbeat's theory on "Bumblebee makes a friend" stories.
• Bumblebee's alternate mode is shown to be a wheeled version of his flying saucer-like mode from the first episode of the G1 Cartoon.
• It's unclear when Tarn took on his DJD codename, so it's entirely possible that he is still named Damus/Glitch at the point of the flashback.