IDW - Transformers: Escape #4

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Beth McGuire-Smith

Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Neil Uyetake

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

Having learned that Dai Atlas has returned to the living world, his old follower, Speeder arrives at Darkmount to offer his commander his sword, but the new pacifist refuses it and asks Speeder to keep it for himself.

Wheeljack, Nautica and Highbrow have made contact with Straxxus, who has agreed to meet with them inside the sealed off city, where the Autobots discover that most of Darkmount have been loaded up into the three active Arks, but also learn that the fourth ship has engine problems, and will likely not work. Straxxus simply states that his priority is to his people, and points out that there's never been an uprising or attack in Darkmount, showing that he knows how to rule effectively, unlike the Autobots or Decepticons.

Elsewhere, Rage and Hydradread have located the Insecticon Titan-base, where they soon locate who they believe to be Kickback, but upon killing him, they notice that he doesn't have a spark chamber, prompting more cloned and feral Insecticons to appear around them.

Outside Darkmount, Wheeljack expresses his distrust of Straxxus to the others, when the gathered crowd see the Titan Emissary plummeting into the nearby mountain-range , showing them that they're running out of time.

Rage and Hydradread manage to escape the Insecticons when the Titan's crash distracts them, sending the swarm into the sky, prompting the two Decepticons to suggest negotiation to Shockwave with the Insecticons.

The Darkmount evacuees see the cloud of Insecticon Clones approaching their location, seemingly eyeing them up for food, leading Hound to point out that if Dai Atlas doesn't fight the clones, then he is dooming all the living beings here, including the organics, who don't have a spark that will return to the Allspark, to death.

Dai Atlas agrees and accepts his sword back from Speeder, ready to battle the monsters...

Characters

Autobot

Wheeljack - Car

Nautica - Submarine

Highbrow - Helicopter

Hoist - Tow Truck

Hound - Jeep

Road Rage - Flying Car

Gears - Van

Tote - Van

Mudslinger - Van

Powerflash

Cromar - Jet

Autobot Guards

Cybertronian Evacuees

Decepticon

Rage - Car

Hydradread - Car

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned)

Kickback - Locust (Mentioned)

Other Insecticons - Insects (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Dai Atlas - Flying Tank

Speeder - Car

Leviathan - Metal Harvester Injured

Straxxus 

Darkmount Denizens

Insecticon Clone Swarm - Insects 

Emissary - Titan Ship Crashed into Cybertronian Mountains

Orbiting Titans - Titan Ships (Mentioned) Crashing

Mountain Titans Long Dead

Other

A'ovans

Urtuskans

Other Alien Evacuees

Notes

• Speeder was the smaller figure packed with the original Dai Atlas toy, so it makes sense why he's his loyal follower here, his design doesn't seem to be based on a newer toy and is just a redesign based on his original figure.
• Straxxus makes his first full-in person appearance here, but he doesn't appear to be based on an existing figure. He has some similarities with the RID2015 Blastwave mould, with a new chest and back-accessory, but that might just be me trying to find similarities here.
• The Arks seen this issue are completely new designs, and not based on any previous incarnations, and even coming in various colours! My guess is that they are using the term "Ark" for an escape vessel rather than a shuttle-type.
• The Insecticon clones are revealed to be sparkless and feral, making them quite similar to the Sparkless from the WFC franchise, even with them seemingly being consumed by trying to devour/kill other Cybertronians.
• This issue is revealed to be set during the same period as issue 29 of the main series when we see Emissary crashing from the Deceptiocons forcing the Titan's accelerated descent.