IDW - First Strike - Rom

Written by: Christos Gage

Art by: Chris Panda

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Rom attacks the Micronauts, believing them to be Dire Wraiths, and is soon disarmed by Acroyear, though Rom shows off his ability to use his Neutralizer abilities without his physical weapon. The Micronauts continue to fight with Rom, until Biotron points out that he is a robot, so he couldn't be a Wraith. Rom accepts this, and requests that he scans them further. He soon determines that whilst they are not Wraiths, they have been infected with the Wraith-Taint, but due to being Micronauts, they were not turned. He uses the Neutralizer to purify them, allowing them to work together.

The Micronauts proceed to explain their encounter with the Wraiths in the sewers and about the pathogen they are developing to infect multiple humans at once, leading to Rom jumping to action.

The Micronauts and Rom soon arrive at the sewers where they find a mass of half-transformed humans, but also a perfected one. Rom soon destroys the hybrids and they go after the Wraiths, who have already left to spread their virus.

D'rge and his acolyte arrive at a carnival the next day and have one of their other followers, posing as a ride operator, and stops them up the top of a Ferris Wheel. They manage to release the virus, but Rom suddenly appears and kills the acolyte, Biotron manages to vacuum up the virus into his containment chamber to stop it from spreading. Rom fights with D'rge, who is able to use his shielding magic to stop the Knight, and gloats that the virus cannot be stopped that easily, and it mutates and breaks out of the chamber

The Micronauts opt to distract D'rge, as Rom uses the Neutralizer to destroy the virus monster. D'rge mocks the Micronauts for the futility of their work here, since he can simply just create more of the virus and spread it in the future, however Biotron reveals that he had the virus inside his body for long enough to analyse it and create an antidote, which he will share with the humans. D'rge, furious with the Micronauts, announces them as enemies of his race, and escapes by morphing into a iny creature and flying away.

The Micronauts and Rom part ways with them agreeing to call on each other in the future if they need each other's help against the Wraiths or other villains.

Later, in a hidden location, D'rge is fuming about the Micronauts, when Baron Karza suddenly appears and offers to help him deal with their mutual enemies. D'rge's new acolyte tries to take out Karza, but the tiny tyrant easily kills him. D'rge is unwilling to work with Karza, since he remembers his role in betraying the Wraiths during the Revolution, but Karza claims to be able to help him revive "The Presence", the Wraith's dark god. D'rge agrees, and begins to talk with the despot....

Characters

Micronaut

Larissa

Phenolo-Phi

Acroyear

Biotron

Microtron

Baron Karza

Dire Wraith

D'rge

D'rge's Acolyte Killed by Rom

D'rge's New Acolyte Killed by Karza

Ferris Wheel Operator

Partially Mutated Human-Wraiths Died from Mutation

Wraith-Hound Killed by Rom

Wraith Virus Construct Killed by Rom

"The Presence" (Mentioned) Asleep

Other

Rom, the Space Knight

Carnival Goers 

Notes

• This issue directly follows the events of First Strike: Micronauts, and leads into the upcoming "Rom and the Micronauts" series.
• This issue also has no mention of the Cybertronians or the First Strike event, making it a tie-in, in name only.
• We've known for a little while now that Solstar Knights don't need their weapons to use Neutralizer energy, but this is the first time we've seen Rom shoot lasers out of his eyes!
• It may seem odd that Rom claims that Wraiths cannot possess inorganic beings, when the concurrently releasing series "Rom vs Transformers: Shining Armor" shows that they can possess Cybertronians. But remember that Transformers aren't technically inorganic, and are made of a living metal.
• The head Sorcerer from last issue is revealed to be D'rge, a major villain from the early issues of the Rom series.
• Dire Wraiths can apparently change their size, without changing their appearance...good to know!
• As everyone else has likely already remembered, Karza never actually allied with the Dire Wraiths during Revolution, he was allied with Miles Mayhem who was in turn allied with the Wraiths. He did "betray" them by forcing them to merge with him, but he wasn't technically their ally in the first place.