IDW - Beast Wars #5

Title: Savage Landing, Part 5

Written by: Erik Burnham

Art by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Editor: David Mariotte

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

After returning Nyx to the Axalon, Dinobot is placed in a holding cell within the crashed ship, where Optimus tries to figure out if Dinobot is being serious about his request to join the Maximals. Soon, he is joined by a newly recovered Nyx, who he leaves to talk with the Predacon alone.

Nyx asks him why he helped her, and he explains that he only joined the Predacons as Megatron lied to him, exploiting his honourable nature, after seeing Nyx resisting her torture, he saw her as honourable, and hoped that the other Maximals were too.

Unknown to the duo, Rattrap is watching the interaction on a security feed. Cheetor walks in, and Rattrap tries to distract him from his intrusion when he sees a warning signal from outside.

The Predacons have managed to locate the Axalon, and prepare to attack it. Unfortunately for the Maximals, due to the drama with Nyx, Rattrap hasn't been able to bring the Axalon's defenses back online.

Optimus, Rhinox and Cheetor leave the ship to distract the Predacons, and they soon engage in battle, with the Maximals able to hold their own, but outnumbered.

Inside the ship, Dinobot and Nyx hear the fighting, and the Predacon defector convinces Nyx to free him, so they can both join the battle and help the Maximals.

Elsewhere in the Axalon, Rattrap is trying to repair the defense systems, when he is attacked by Tarantulas. Rattrap manages to shoot Tarantulas and hide, leaving Tarantulas to skulk off, planning to "deal" with the Axalon.

The Maximals are starting to become overwhelmed by the Predacons, but Megatron is startled when Dinobot and Nyx join the battle too...

Characters

Maximal

Optimus Primal - Gorilla

Nyx - Bat

Rhinox - Rhino

Cheetor - Cheetah

Rattrap - Rat

Maximal Science Ministry (Mentioned)

Predacon

Megatron - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Dinobot - Velociraptor

Tarantulas - Tarantula

Terrorsaur - Pteranodon

Waspinator - Wasp

Scorponok - Scorpion

Skold - Alligator Snapping Turtle

Nyx's University Mate (Mentioned)

Notes

• Primal mentions that the cell that Dinobot was held in was designed for malfunctioning Protoforms. Whilst this could be just a general feature in Axalon-type ships, it's possible this was designed with Protoform X in mind.
• Dinobot's joke about him and Primal having a fight for leadership is a reference to his attempt at leadership in the original cartoon.
• I'm not sure how long it's been between issues in-universe, bit Nyx got fixed up quite quickly huh?
• It's explained here that the fundamental difference between Maximals and Predacons is that the latter tend to be more aggressive and active, leaning towards careers like athletics, peacekeeping etc, while Maximals tend to be more akin to scientists or explorers.
• Cheetor appears to have super speed in his robot mode, it's unclear yet if this is due to him scanning a fast animal, or just a natural ability of his.