IDW - Lost Light #3

Title: Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Swerve, Ten and Whirl are investigating the life support pods, to make sure there are no more unaccounted for patients. They find one extra large pod locked, so Whirl decides to open it up, only for them to come face-to-face with someone holding a wand....

Elsewhere on Necroworld, Nightbeat is examining one of the death flowers and finds out that he can determine who's sparks were used to power the flowers, but Brainstorm is unimpressed since Kaput already determined that earlier, and even found a detailed record kept by the Necrobot, meaning Nightbeat has just wasted a lot of time.

Brainstorm manages to get in contact with Rodimus, who tells him that they've wound up on Cybertron, but not the one from THEIR universe. This news excites both Nightbeat and Brainstorm, as this means that THEY must be in this alternate universe too for the communications to work like this. They decide that the team on Cybertron needs to find a shuttle to get back to Necroworld, and not to get too involved in the lives of the people on this world.

The Cybertron team are introduced to the city of Adaptica, where they are able to seek sanctuary from the murders of the Functionist Council, since this is a sacred city, and cannot be attacked by the Council, so long as one of them allows it...which Nine-of-Twelve does....The city is also shielded by a jamming field blocking the genocide chips used by the council.

Back on Necroworld, Swerve starts to panic about Killmaster, Whirl's long-time nemesis, coming out of the pod, and the group hide behind one of the other pods. Whirl admires Killmaster for his destructive manners, but Swerve just keeps freaking out. Ten decides to try and save the day by confronting the Decepticon, but is blasted by his wand, leaving just a smoking set of footprints behind.

Swerve is distraught over the apparent death of his employee, and goes after Killmaster himself, however the Decepticon just flicks him away. Whirl joins in the fight, but asks Swerve to get hold of Cyclonus and Tailgate to help them fight off Killmaster, since Whirl has NEVER actually defeated him before, and doesn't believe he can!

Back on Cybertron, Nine-of-Twelve meets with the newcomers inside his headquarters, and hopes that they can help him, and the Anti-Vocationist League to stop the Council's plans. His second-in-command, Anode, joins the meeting, and talks about a UFO that has been detected in the airspace of Cybertron.

It's revealed that Cybertron has no space shuttles any more, and no means of long distance transportation, and that everyone is stuck on the planet, as part of the council's plans to keep everyone in fear, and get them ready for some war they think is coming.

Nine-of-Twelve explains that in this universe the Senate started to use the stockpile of sparks created by Nova Prime to bolster the population of the planet, but the Functionist Council saw this as blasphemy and led a revolution against them, killing them in the process. However after some time, Six-of-Twelve, the new Matrix bearer, has grown to believe that Primus is speaking to him, and is sanctioning him to create new life, which is why he defected to form the AVL. It is also revealed that the Senate sealed off Vector Sigma's chamber from the world in an Ununtrium case, which is impenetrable.

Back on Necroworld, Nautica and Velocity are interrogating Anode about her true intents. Velocity leaves to administer some more Mood Suppressants to the crew, to help ease the pain of Skids' death, and Anode opens up to Nautica that she is a blacksmith, and the snowflake she found is the remains of an expired protoform's spark, and so it is extremely rare and valuable. Velocity returns, and tries to expose Anode as a thief who stole a load of sentio metallico from her workplace, the Lighthouse, but Anode reveals that she falsified reports to make it just LOOK like she stole it, as she wanted to leave the planet, for unexplained reasons, reasons that she's never told anyone, not even Lug, who runs off upset about this revelation. Anode chases after her, abandoning the withered metal with Nautica and Velocity.

Downstairs, Whirl is having a hard time fighting against Killmaster, but he and Swerve are glad to see Cyclonus arrive, however they soon discover that he is alone, and also badly injured. The two Autobots try to find out what happened to him, when Swerve is suddenly hit by Killmaster's wand, and also disappears, leaving Whirl regretting that he opened up the pod...

On Cybertron, the citizens of Cybertron are gathered, waiting for Six-of-Twelve's announcement of Rung's alternate mode. Back in Adaptica, Rodimus wonders what the point of this is, so they explain that due to Rung's alternate mode seemingly having no purpose, it goes against their beliefs that everyone is created for a purpose, which is why the AVL was formed, to prove that same point. If they manage to reveal a purpose however, this negates the entire point of the AVL, and will delegitimize them.

Soon, Rung is revealed in a giant tank mode, and is identified as a mining machine designed specifically by Primus to break the case around Vector Sigma. The AVL and Rodimus' crew try to understand how that could be Rung, as he doesn't have any tank or drill parts in their universe, when Anode turns up, and reports to Nine-of-Twelve that she's located the UFO she detected earlier...Luna 2 has returned to orbit!

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Sports Car

Megatron - Tank

Ratchet - Ambulance

Drift - Race Car

Minimus Ambus - Minesweeper

Chromedome - Car

Rewind - Data Slug

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Swerve - Van Vanished by Killmaster's Wand

Nautica - Submarine

Velocity - Race Car

Nightbeat - Sports Car

Brainstorm - Jet

Kaput

Perceptor - Tank (Mentioned)

Tailgate - Car (Mentioned)

Skids - Van (Mentioned) Dead

Decepticon

Killmaster

Turmoil - Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Anti-Vocationist League

Nine-of-Twelve

Functionist Universe Anode - Jet

Clicker - Laser Pointer

Troops and Civilians in Adaptica

Functionist Council

Six-of-Twelve

Functionary Enforcers

Twelve-of-Twelve (Flashback Only)

The Rest of the Functionist Council (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Space Jet Badly Injured

Ten Vanished by Killmaster's Wand

Anode - Jet

Lug - Backpack Equipment

Roller - Truck

Terminus - Mining Vehicle

Functionist Universe Rung - Super Ununtrium Drill Tank?

Functionist Universe Civilians

Functionist Universe News Crew

Nova Prime - Truck (Flashback Only)

Nominus Prime - Jet (Flashback Only) Killed by Twelve-of-Twelve

Adaptus (Statue Only)

Necrobot (Mentioned) Dead

Hydronaut (Mentioned) Dead

Lodestar (Mentioned) Dead

Flexor (Mentioned) Dead

Adjudicus (Mentioned) Dead

Marauder (Mentioned) Dead

Darkstar (Mentioned) Dead

Questex (Mentioned) Dead

Jab (Mentioned) Dead

Swivel (Mentioned) Dead

Piston (Mentioned) Dead

Poleaxe (Mentioned) Dead

Primus (Mentioned)

The Guiding Hand (Mentioned)

The Primal Vanguard (Mentioned)

The Old Senate (Mentioned) Killed by Functionist Council

Vector Sigma (Mentioned)

Other

Black Box Consortia (Mentioned)

Notes

• Killmaster's character model appears to be based on the Prime Insecticon model
• Amongst the names of the sparks that are trained to the death flower is Turmoil, who was killed by Starscream during the Decepticon riots before Dark Cybertron. This implies that the flower is form's Starscream's statue.
• Amongst the other names on the flower is Adjudicus, which was an early working name for Tyrest.
• AND! Since Starscream was responsible for the deaths of the Senate, it's likely that at least some of those names are from the Senate!
• Nightbeat's interest in being able to connect the sparks to the flowers, and thus their killer's is likely so he can solve some long unsolved deaths.
• It's revealed that the Geobomb actually did work at the end of MTMTE, but instead of blowing up the planet, it transported the planet to the neighbouring Functionist Universe (likely due to a malfunction, rather than design)
• Huh, it was mentioned in the past that Killmaster designed the Geobomb taken by the Galactic Council, and here he is on Necroworld right after they were subjected to one? I think he may be used to solve this solution.
• The Cyberutopia mentioned in the last issue is revealed to just be a nickname for Adaptica, which is the local version of Kalis from the main IDW universe.
• Turns out Whirl MAY HAVE exaggerated when he told everyone about how he killed Killmaster in his sleep...
• I seriously doubt that Swerve and Ten are actually dead, the wording from Whirl implies that they may just be invisible or some other sci-fi thing.
• Anode is revealed to have been a blacksmith as her birth-profession, which means she can help protoforms take on their true shape if they have issues. It's also confirmed that she is Camien, as she was in a sorority with Velocity, but she tried to leave at some point for currently unexplained reasons.
• The snowflake is revealed to be "withered metal" which is the remains of an unharvested spark and it's natural sentio metallico.
• It's shown that Nominus Prime stayed in power for a while longer in the Functionist Universe, likely due to the Decepticon causes never even getting it's early wind, since Megatron's writings were never published to inspire them, so Nominus and the others were never pushed to action. He later gets killed along with the Senate though
• Regarding Nova Prime, in the main universe he went "missing" when he was sent to the Dead Universe with his crew. In the main universe he also resurfaced a few times afterwards for his Expansionism projects. Since time didn't branch off in different directions until after Megatron was aborted, which was after Nova's disappearance, the Dead Universe he ended up in from the Functionist Universe is the same one as the one he went to in the main universe...time travel is confusing....
• The Matrix taken by Six-of-Twelve is likely the fake one that Nominus Prime held, since the real one was hidden long before Megatron was born, and likely is still hidden in this timeframe. The "new" sparks he has been creating though, are likely just leftovers from the ones from the silver harvest
• It's likely that Cyclonus' ill-condition is in some way connected to Tailgate's abuse of his powers, and possibly means that he wasn't attacked by the Decepticons earlier, but was simply injured somehow when Tailgate was recharging after showing off his power.
• I don't think I have to tell you that the one shown here is not Rung's actual alternate mode, it's a fake made to look like it could be. However, when we last saw this universe, we learned that his alternate mode's purpose was discovered. From what we've seen of it so far, it's likely a key, perhaps to Vector Sigma, which is where the Functionist Council is planning to take his "tank form"
• The reason for the cast seeming to not care about Skids' death is revealed here to be because they are taking Mood Suppressants to supress their grief (Though Nautica doesn't agree with this practise)

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #52

Title: The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: John Barber

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The newly arrived Drift and Ratchet protect the badly injured Ten from the DJD, but are greatly outnumbered. During the battle, Drift notices how attached Kaon is to The Pet, and takes it hostage, forcing Kaon to stop the attacks, as team leader. The crew are surrounded still, but are rescued by Ratchet's own shuttle hovering above them, and lowering a loading-platform. The team get onto the shuttle to find Ravage. Down below, Helex takes command from Kaon and orders the attack to begin again, hitting the ship's engines. Ravage still has control of the ship, and aims to towards the Necrobot's fortress.

Several miles away, at Megatron's statue, Megatron is surrendering to Tarn, under the condition that he lets the rest of his crew go free. Megatron apologizes to Tarn for turning him into a killer, and reveals that his new found pacifism is due in part to Brainstorm's recent attempt to kill him before his own creation, and found himself disappointed that he failed.

Tarn, sick of hearing his role-model talking like this, attacks him, and beats him down, but points out that he's doing this because he cares for him, but also hates what he's become.

Tarn says that he'll stop fighting him, if Megatron just fights back, but Megatron refuses, and tells Tarn that even though he thinks the Fool's Energon he has inside him is changing his mindset on life, he doesn't mind, as he feels happier now, and is better off this way. Tarn is furious at this, and shoots Megatron point-blank in his chest, declaring that he's be better off dead.

Tarn knows that Megatron isn't dead yet, since his statue is still visible, and would have gone out if he died, so he goes for the final blow. Except he is stopped...by.....OVERLORD!!!

The shuttle crashes outside the fortress, when inside Ten is taken for repairs by Magnus, and Swerve thanks his employee for leaving the message to use the flowers to power up the storm shield, and says that they think it'll work out.

Skids reunites with Ratchet, and learns that Ratchet is there because someone called him from this location and hung up. Velocity reveals that she called him, but thought it was First Aid she was reaching, and the DJD cut the call before it could go through. She then thoroughly embarrasses herself in front of Ratchet, leaving her embarrassed

Elsewhere, Rodimus reunites with Drift, and apologizes for not coming to find him after he left, out of fear that he's hate him. Drift forgives him, and Rodimus promises to protect him from the DJD, knowing he's on their list, but Drift doesn't believe it....

At the Megatrn statue, Tarn and Overlord are fighting over who gets to kill Megatron. During the fight, Overlord reveals that he was rescued from space by a mysterious group, who want him to kill Megatron as part of their plans. Tarn begins to suggest that they team up to kill Megatron together, but suddenly realize that he's escaped....

Unknown to either of them, he managed to drag himself to his space scooter and is now returning to the fortress.

At the memorial to the lost outside the fortress, Rewind is examining it to see if he can find any correlation between the names and when they disappeared, when Nautica appears and asks him about how the Conjunx Endura process works on Cybertron, as she wants to decide on something before it's too late...

Elsewhere on the planet, surrounded by mountains, Tarn and Overlord enter the Peaceful Tyranny, where immediately Overlord starts belittling the alliance between Tarn and Deathsaurus, despite their known hatred of each other.

During the encounter, Kaon returns and begs Tarn to help him rescue The Pet from the Autobots, making Overlord laugh louder at how domesticated he's become. Tarn embraces his friend, and comforts him...before he tears off his head. Tarn denounces emotions, as they caused Megatron to turn soft.

He goes to Overlord and crushes Kaon's head into his chest and tells him not to ridicule him on his ship any more, then decides to speed up the operation and has everyone begin their plans to attack the fortress now..

At the fortress, Rodimus and Ratchet bring a near-dead Megatron inside, watched by a worried Ravage, whilst Megatron still grasps his Autobot insignia (it broke off during the fight with Tarn)

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Megatron - Tank Badly Damaged by Tarn

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Ratchet - Ambulance

Drift - Car

Skids - Van

Velocity - Race Car

Nautica - Submarine

Rewind - Data Slug

Optimus Prime - Truck (Mentioned)

Brainstorm - Jet (Mentioned)

Chromedome - Car (Mentioned)

Tailgate - Car (Mentioned)

First Aid - Ambulance (Mentioned)

Dominus Ambus (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Tarn - Tank

Overlord - Tank and Jet

Deathsaurus

Nickel

Kaon - Variable Volt Harness Killed by Tarn

Helex - Smelting Chamber

Ravage - Cassette

Generic Deathsaurus Troops

Genericons (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Ten Badly Damaged by the DJD

The Pet Abducted by the Autobots

Other

Overlord's Benefactors (Mentioned)

Notes

• Since the end of Empire of Stone, Drift and Ratchet have been travelling around space, fighting "Genericons".
• Despite him being a fairly high-profile target, Drift isn't apparently identified by the DJD.
• Gee it's a good thing the DJD destroyed Ratchet's shuttle, else the Lost Lighters may have had a chance to leave the planet!
• Megatron hints that Tarn's true identity is someone who was important to someone else, further adding to the theory that he is actually Roller.
• Megatron claims that he's fine with having his mind altered to be "nicer", despite his long-standing fear of having his mind altered.
• Oh, Overlord is back.....OVERLORD!!!!??? HIDE THE MINI-BOTS!!!!
• So, turns out that First Aid gave Velocity the same phone that Ratchet gave him earlier, meaning that he never gave her a chance to contact him....or never programmed his number into it? I dunno.
• Rodimus reveals that the reason he never went after Drift following his revelation about his involvement in the Overlord scandal is because he was afraid that he would hate him. Turns out Drift is okay with it!
• Oh look! Overlord transforms to his tank mode...I think this is the first time we've seen that since Last Stand of the Wreckerss.
• Though unnamed here, it's very likely that Overlord's benefactors are related to the Mystery Gear faction.
• Amongst the memorial for the lost, it appears that Roller's name is shown, further fuelling that he may be Tarn.
• This issue confirms that on some colonies Transformers begin relationships as Amica Endura, then become Conjunx Endura, but on Cybertron you can only be one or the other.
• This also implies that Nautica wants to become Conjunx Endura with someone in the group. She has connections to so many of the group that it could be pretty much anyone there.
• Tarn appears to be under a lot of stress. When Kaon was dying from Tyrest's attack in season one, he was comforting towards him, but now that he's panicking over his pet being captured, he gets killed on sight. Maybe Overlord and Megatron have that effect on people?
• Tarn crushing Kaon's head on Overlord's chest somewhat mirrors how Kaon crushed Trailcutter's spark on his forcefield at the start of the season.
• Despite his love for The Pet, Kaon apparently never gave him a more affectionate name...maybe he just owed him money and that's why he wanted him saved?
• The Pet isn't seen with his captors after they return to the Fortress...maybe they killed him on the way?
• Nickel appears to be horrified by how Tarn just killed Kaon for his emotions.

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #51

Title: The Dying of the Light Part 2: The Sun in Flight

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: John Barber

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The DJD attack the Necrobot's fortress, but soon stop on Tarn's orders. The Autobots are relieved at first, until Megatron reveals that this is part of the DJD's "script" where they give a show of force, then leave the victims to their fears for a while. To his prediction, Tarn has left a message burned into the ground of "sunset", which Chromedome estimates at about 8 hours from then. Rodimus has the crew look around the fortress for anything they can use as a weapon.

Ten tries to show Rodimus some of the flowers, but Rodimus ignores him. Nearby, Velocity notices that the Necrobot has turned into dust, which Swerve identifies as old Sentio Metallico, and this happens when old Cybertronian metal loses it's spark, however Velocity finds a key amongst the dust, which intrigues her.

On The Peaceful Tyranny, Tarn and Deathsaurus meet up in Tarn's office, where Deathsaurus asks why they've stopped the attack, which Tarn justifies as it being to torture the Autobots for longer...

Back at the fortress, Velocity, Swerve and Nautica are looking for the lock that matches the key, and Swerve explains that he only brought Ten along with him on this doomed mission because he was starting to feel guilty for abusing him, just as Velocity finds a door that matches the key.

Later, the Autobots report their various findings to Rodimus, who is unimpressed, however Nightbeat reveals that he has found the Necrobot's quantum transporter, but it only has enough energy left for a short trip, but it should be enough to get them far enough away to call for help. Unfortunately Nautica and the others return and reveal that they found the room filled with life support pods containing organic life in the locked room, and the pods are too big to go through the teleporter.

The Autobots start to debate what they should do, but Megatron silences everyone when he announces that he's staying to defend the pods, and he invites the others to do so as well, which they of course do, prompting Rodimus to close the door to the teleporter.

Swerve perks up when he realizes that the DJD must have arrived on a ship themselves, so they can try and steal it to leave the planet, and take the pods with them. Ravage offers to go track it down, as he knows the DJD's scent, and goes to leave. Before he does though, he hands Megatron a communicator and asks him to call "him"

On the Peaceful Tyranny, the DJD and Deathsaurus plan out the rest of their assault, and Tesarus begins to worry that the Autobots will activate the fortress' storm-shield, but Tarn isn't worried, due to the lack of energy available to them. He begins to get concerned however when he suddenly gets a call on HIS personal communicator...

Back at the fortress, Megatron prepares to head out to see Tarn, but Rodimus asks him why he is willing to risk everything for some organics, given his known hatred of them. Megatron reveals that during the mental attack on him, he heard the screams of several species that he's helped to become extinct over the years, and he no longer wishes to hear that sound again.

Ravage makes his way to the DJD's make-shift field HQ, but doesn't see The Peaceful Tyranny, he detects Ten behind him, having followed the Decepticon to try and help, but Ravage decides to show his true colours, and tricks Ten into standing up, exposing himself to the DJD, who immediately start attacking him, allowing Ravage to speed past the other Decepticons and infiltrate their base.

Elsewhere, at Megatron's statue, Tarn meets with Megatron, who asks his old pupil to remove his mask, so he can see his face, but Tarn retorts that THIS is his face now. In response, Megatron offers his surrender to Tarn.

At the fortress, the Autobots begin to wonder where Ten has gone, but soon realize that he's been trying to help them out all this time when they see a pile of the Necrobot's energy flowers next to the storm-shield generator and a picture of Trailcutter using his forcefields next to them, using them to explain how to make the storm-shield work properly.

Back in the field, Ten is being brutally torn apart by the DJD, but before he can be finished off he is saved by two newcomers...Drift and Ratchet!

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Megatron - Tank

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Rung

Swerve - Van

Nautica - Submarine

Velocity - Race Car

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Chromedome - Car

Rewind - Data Slug

Tailgate - Car

Skids - Van

Brainstorm - Jet

Nightbeat - Car

Drift - Car

Ratchet - Ambulance

Trailcutter - Van (Picture Only)

Getaway - Car (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Ravage - Cassette

Tarn - Tank

Deathsaurus

Kaon - Variable Volt Harness

Vos - Rifle

Helex - Smelting Chamber

Tesarus - Metal Grinder

Nickel

The Pet

Lugnut - Bomber Plane

Guyhawk - Jet

Blue Bacchus - Helicopter

Deathsaurus' Crew

Heretech (Mentioned) Likely killed by DJD

Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Ten Brutally injured by DJD

Censerre Dead, reduced to dust

Messatine Miners Dead, Hung to Tarn's wall

Terminus (Mentioned)

Other

Sixty-ish Organics On Life-Support

Nibarians (Mentioned) Species Made Extinct by Decepticons

Torkulians (Mentioned) Species Made Extinct by Decepticons

Magisterians (Mentioned) Species Made Extinct by Decepticons

Praetons (Mentioned) Species Made Extinct by Decepticons

Notes

• Lugnut is shown to have been a part of Deathsaurus' crew. He was previously shown amongst the Titan Hunters under Lockdown's command, so I guess he changed teams since Remain in the Light?
• It's possible he joined Deathsaurus' crew as he was afraid that the DJD would come after him following is involvement in those events, which almost resulted in the death of Kaon and maybe some others on the team.
• Swerve reveals here that when an older Cybertronian dies, he turns into dust...wonder why that didn't happen to Ironhide when he died in the Costa ongoing series?
• The dead Cybertronians shown in Tarn's office in issue 49 are revealed here to be the dead miners that Terminus (Megatron's old friend) used to smuggle his early writings out of Messatine on. Tarn has collected them due to his obsession with Decepticonism.
• It's revealed fully here that the mental attack that occurred last issue had all those effected have their worst fears amplified in their minds. Swerve reveals that his was that Ten was shouting at him for not treating him like a real person, whilst Megatron heard the screams of the organic species that he's killed over the years.
• It's confirmed that the Necrobot used Quantum technology to transport himself from his planet to other worlds to perform his death audits.
• The life support pods under the Necrobot's fortress are similar to those seen under Demus' base in issue 46. This implies that the Necrobot is somehow related to the mystery gear faction, and the mystery bots associated with it.
• Tarn has a phone that only Megatron has the number to....this is sounding more like an abusive relationship with every issue!
• It's hinted here that Heretech was hunted by the DJD at some point, meaning that all, if not most of the Warriors Elite/Phase Sixers have betrayed Megatron in some way.
• Drift and Ratchet are back from their excursion away during Empire of Stone! Wonder if Mirage and the Protectobots will return in this story too?
• Ratchet's new design appears to be a hybrid of his previous look, but with cues from his Prime counterpart (mostly the helmet)
• Drift now has a new design with his great sword being stored horizontally rather than against his "spine", he has also be re-autobranded, and appears to now have formal face paint, like the Camien city speakers wear

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #40

Title: Our Steps Will Always Rhyme

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Brendan Cahill

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: John Barber

Plot

Ratchet has never been good at saying goodbye to his friends, he failed to do so with Roller, Pharma and Hunter before he never saw them the same way again, but now he wants to succeed.

In the present day, the Lost Light is recharging the Quantum Engines on Scarvix, so the crew are having some downtime. Tailgate has bought himself a hoverboard, and is racing around the corridors with it, causing all sorts of havoc to the crew, and eventually steers into Swerve's deserted bar, and hits Ratchet, knocking them both over, and he starts talking about his planned fishing trip with Getaway in the Oil Reservoir. Swerve starts panicking over his bar failing, following the poisoning caused by Brainstorm the week prior, and Mirage opening a new rival bar on the ship too. Ratchet and Tailgate start to complain to Swerve about how he treats his work-bot, Ten, when he claims Magnus said the same stuff to him before.

Soon, Ratchet leaves and arrives at Brainstorm's private trial for his crimes, he admits to being a Decepticon, but never gave harmful information to the Decepticons, but does admit to how he tried to change the timeline. Nautica storms out of the trial, abandoning the spanner that Brainstorm made her. He does say however, that he refuses to be tried on the actions of the OTHER Brainstorm, who got his Lost Light attacked and the crew killed, as that was never him, Perceptor proceeds to applaud Brainstorm's statement. The committee debate the punishment, and Magnus and Rodimus states that the time machine, Brainstorm's life-time of work will be destroyed, and he will be heavily monitored for the time being, but allowed to stay on the ship, so long as he cuts off all ties to his Decepticon handler, which Brainstorm agrees to. Ratchet watches on, clearly disappointed.

Ultra Magnus heads to Megatron's room to ask him whether he's seen his missing datapad, and also to ask what he's been doing since Brainstorm's arrest, since he's been locked in his room all this time, seemingly alone, but Megatron just vaguely says "Thinking. Working.".

Getaway and Tailgate are hanging out in Mirage's new bar "Visages" where Getaway is still trying to turn Tailgate against Cyclonus, by plying him with drinks and lies. Ratchet borrows Tailgate's hoverboard (without his knowledge).

Ratchet gives the board to First Aid in a quarantine tube telling him it's infected with Super-Scraplets, and has him call in certain members of the crew who were in some way connected to it, even by tedious means, and proceeds to give them all a check-up.

He uses this time to tell Rodimus that he thinks it's unfair how he treated Drift, and how he's now treating Brainstorm very differently, he gives Rung Hoist's number as he needs to speak to someone now that his roommate has been killed, and he already suffered from isolation issues (see Spotlight Hoist), He makes Nautica realize that Brainstom acted selflessly in trying to change the timestream, as he was an MTO, meaning he'd never have existed if he succeeded, making Nautica begin to forgive him. He tells Skids to get his puncture wounds fixed, and that Rung needs someone to talk to outside of therapy sessions. He suggests to Swerve that Megatron's poetry could help his bar pick up business, and he talks to Magnus about his private datapad going missing, and how he thinks the crew look down on him now that they know about his true form, after finding a small model of Minimus outside his door.

Following the sessions, Ratchet meets up with First Aid, who has figured out that the Super-Scraplets were just a ruse so ratchet could say goodbye to all his friends before he leaves. Tailgate knocks into Ratchet again, with a new hoverboard, which he learns was made by Ten.

Ratchet goes to visit Ten's "quarters" in the boiler rooms where he discovers that Ten is extremely artistic with a large mural of his favourite crew members on the wall (minus Swerve of course) and even a series of models of his favourite crew members (again, no Swerve, though his bar has been made!). Ratchet comments that Drift isn't there, and that Ten would have liked him, like he does, but he hopes he can meet him soon enough.

Ratchet sees that Ten has a display dedicated solely to Ultra Magnus, and realizes that Ten "stole" the datapad, and replaced it with the model of Minimus as a trade, so he could have something of his favourite's.

Ratchet writes a note to Magnus on the datapad and tells Ten to return it to him.

Later, Ten and Minimus Ambus walk into the now booming Swerve's bar where Skids and Rung are also hanging out. Swerve explains that he had Megatron do his poetry at "Visages" rather than Swerve's, driving all the customers back to him.

Brainstorm and Nautica make up, and Brainstom adds a function to Nautica's spanner that says "Brainstorm is an ass!" when pushed. Tailgate and Getaway go fishing for Legislator parts in the Oil Reservoir (with Riptide as their boat), Cyclonus broods from his window alone, and Perceptor and Rodimus burn all of Brainstorm's briefcases, except for one, which Ravage has stolen for Megatron.

First Aid walks into Ratchet's office, where he finds a communicator for in case First Aid, as the new Chief Medical Officer of the ship, needs to contact Ratchet for any advice.

Now that he's fixed his friends, Ratchet heads off in a shuttle, armed with a new Drift model, and starts his search for Drift in space....

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus - Vehicle Transport/Mine Sweeper

Megatron - Tank

Xaaron

Ratchet - Ambulance

First Aid - Ambulance

Swerve - Van

Mirage - Race Car

Getaway - Car

Tailgate - Car

Chromedome - Car

Brainstorm - Helicopter

Nautica - Submarine

Rung

Skids - Van

Riptide - Boat

Perceptor - Microscope

Rewind - Data Slug

Siren - Car

Nightbeat - Car

Hosehead - Fire Truck

Hound - Jeep

Mainframe

Huffer - Truck

Inferno - Fire Truck

Jackpot - Car

Bluestreak - Car

Blaster - Acoustic Tank

Slapdash - Race Car

Atomizer

Rad - Car

Crosscut - Van

Broadside - Jet/Boat

Other Lost Lighters

Pharma - Jet (Flashback)

Hoist - Tow Truck (Model)

Drift - Car (Model)

Grotesque (Mural)

Trailcutter - Van (Mural)

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter (Mentioned)

Prowl (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Ravage - Cassette

Bombshell - Boll Weevil (Flashback)

Decepticon Justice Division (Mentioned)

Other Brainstorm - Helicopter (Mentioned) Dead

Other Overlord - Tank and Jet (Mentioned) Dead

Brainstorm's Handler (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Ten

Cyclonus - Space Jet

Swerve's Serving Droid

Roller - Paddy Wagon (Flashback)

Tyrest (Mentioned)

Legislators (Mentioned)

Human

Hunter O'Nion (Flashback)

Hunter's Sister (Mentioned)

Notes

• This story was originally meant to be released before Transformers #40. as evidenced by the spoilers given there, such as First Aid becoming CMO, Mirage opening a bar, and it failing, etc. We also know that First Aid leaves the ship, at least for Combiner Wars since he joins the storyline with the other Protectobots for that storyline.
• This story also acts as a prequel to the Drift: Empire of Stone mini-series showing Ratchet's actions just before leaving for the storyline.
• It's revealed here that Ratchet leaving for Earth before Infiltration was the reason that Pharma left for Delphi, on Prowl's orders....so yeah, prowl is responsible for Pharma going mad on Delphi too then!
• It's shown that by the time Hunter is returned home after Maximum Dinobots, Bombshell has been created, and began following Hunter, ready for his involvement during the Autobot Purge during All Hail Megatron.
• Tailgate's new love of hoverboards is a reference to Back to the Future II, which Tailgate was shown enjoying during Movie Night.
• Also, his use of a hoverboard, fishing rod, and crashing into things is probably a reference to Daniel in the 80's Transformers Movie.
• Hosehead, Nightbeat and Siren are seen hanging out together. In the toyline they were sold in the same Headmaster wave. Hosehead even references this by saying "nearly took my head off!"
• Tailgate still thinks that Whirl's name is Nutjob :)
• Megatron is absent from his committee chair, this is either due to his recent self-seclusion following his close death during Elegant Chaos, or more likely due to him being the intended victim in that situation, and being unable to be unbiased.
• A few guys from the time travel team aren't amongst the viewers of the trial, wonder why?
• Brainstorm reveals that he only became a Decepticon to get his hands on some sensitive materials that the Decepticons had captured, and never disclosed any major details to the Decepticons that could hurt the Autobots.
• Brainstorm jokes that Rung is also a Decepticon double agent, which no-one seems to react to...odd huh?
• Getaway is getting creepier around Tailgate with every new issue....
• Seriously, I think he'll need an adult before long!
• Hoist and Hound are on Ratchet's patient list, whilst Hoist is mentioned as needing to speak to Rung due to his isolation issues, Hound is never seen or mentioned during the sessions shown.
• It's revealed here that Brainstorm is an MTO, meaning he was made during the war, in order to be used as a soldier. Normally this means he should be a warrior, rather than a scientist...interesting still! Also, his name is Genitus of Operation: Solar Storm.
• First Aid appears to know that Ratchet is leaving the ship, but no-one else seems to mention anything meaning he's been keeping it quiet.
• Ten is revealed to have an artistic side, implying that he may have a Spark of some sort. It was shown in the past that the Legislators were also built from the remains of the Circle of Light members they had killed, so maybe something from one of them was put into him?
• Ten appears to have the parts to make a Drift model, including a sword and the right colours and shapes, despite him never meeting him, and Ratchet pointing out that he was missing.
• Ten's obsession with Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus, and his display including all his modes and forms, COULD be seen as a reference to his upcoming Combiner Wars toy....
• Ultra Magnus seems to be finally at peace with people knowing about his true Minimus Ambus form by the end of this issue, as he's shown entering Swerve's bar in it with Ten
• Getaway and Tailgate use Riptide as a boat for their Legislator parts fishing trip in the Oil Reservoir.
• I wonder how Drift will react when he sees that Ratchet now has a little model of him in his shuttle?
• Since Brainstorm cuts off ties to his Decepticon handler here, I guess he's now a full Autobot again!