IDW - Transformers #36

Title: Lord of Misrule: Enigmatic

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Anna Malkova

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

At the Medical Center in Iacon, Provoke is using a database to catch up on what has been happening since she went missing, and asks Cyclonus to leave her alone, so she can do this herself. Cyclonus agrees, but the "ghosts" in his head comment on how something is off about the situation they've found themselves in...

The battle between the Autobots and Decepticons at the edge of the Sea of Rust is in full swing, with Termagax's Spectrosynth Drones helping the Autobots take down the Decepticons.

Inside House, Termagax controls one of the drones to recover the Enigma from its hiding place inside the facility, with the intention of taking it out of reach of needed.

Unfortunately for Termagax, Skywarp has entered the battlefield, intending to claim the Enigma himself, so he can use it to prove his worth and to use it for leverage. Skywarp proceeds to teleport through House, until he finds the Enigma, and claims it for himself.

Eventually Skywarp warps to the top of House, declaring that he controls the Enigma, and they should all listen to him. Jumpstream arrives just in time, despite her injuries from his time travelling earlier, and Pyra asks her to reclaim the Enigma from Skywarp.

The two teleporters fight over the Enigma, but Skywarp proves to be the superior 'porter, but before he can escape, Sky Lynx crushes him in his maw, and scorches him at point-blank range, forcing him to drop the Enigma.

The ancient artifact lands next to Skytread, who intends to use it to retake his leadership role from Sixshot, but the larger Decepticon simply shoots him, sending him and the Enigma plummeting into the Rust Worms, devouring Skytread in the process.

Cybertron starts quaking again, with the bedrock around the Sea falling apart, freeing the worms, and forcing the two Rmies to escape, abandoning the Enigma in the process.

Termagax and Optimus comment that the Enigma has probably survived the Rust Worms, but it will be near impossible to recover it for now, but are now more worried about the Rust Worms being loose on the planet, potentially spelling out their doom...

Back at the Iacon Medical Center, Flatline is baffled that Ruckus, another practically-dead patient has awoken. Provoke suggests that it's not outside the realms of possibility for him to have been revived this way on his own, but Flatline refuses this, saying it is absolutely impossible.

"Provoke", now annoyed, drops the pretense and attacks Flatline, stating that Exarchon will have to be "Three once more"....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck

Ironhide - Van

Sky Lynx - Space Shuttle

Windblade - VTOL Jet

Jumpstream - Car

Sunstreaker - Car

Sureshot - Buggy

Arcee - Car

Groove - Motorcycle

Flareup - Motorcycle

Vibes

Pipes - Truck

Smokescreen - Car

Springer - Helicopter/Car

Pointblank - Car

Wheeljack - Race Car

Powertrain - Truck

Backstreet - Race Car

Big Daddy - Car

Wheel Blaze - Fire Truck

Brawn - Van

Javelin - Car

Subsea - Submarine

Other Autobot Fighters

Decepticon

Sixshot - Jet/Car/Tank/Gun/Winged Wolf

Skytread - Tank and Jet Eaten by Rust Worms

Nova Storm - Jet

Red Wing - Jet

Wingstun - Jet

Ion Storm - Jet

Hotlink - Jet

Battleslash - Helicopter

Weirdwolf - Wolf

Gutcruncher

Offroad - Van

Runamuck - Car

Runabout - Car

Crasher - Race Car

Flame Feather - Bird Monster

Other Decepticon Fighters

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Termagax - Armoured Van

Skywarp - Jet

Cyclonus - Jet

Provoke/Exarchon - Wheeled Vehicle

Ruckus/Exarchon - Buggy

Flatline - Van Attacked by Exarchon

Geomotus - Radar Buggy

Landmine - Plough Buggy

Kaskade Comatose

Codexa Immersant

"House"

Spectrosynth Drones

Paragon (Ghost)

Highfire (Ghost)

Grudge (Ghost)

Gridlock (Ghost)

Primus (Mentioned)

Nexus Prime (Mentioned)

Citadel - Titan Ship (Mentioned) Dead

Old Cybertronian Senate (Mentioned)

Other

Rust Worms

Flyts

Termagax's Specimens (In Jars)

Notes

• It's shown here that Termagax manually controls her Spectrosynth Drones, but can leave them on a sort of auto-rin feature to allow her funer control on a single drone.
• An area that Skywarp warps into looks like it's a power source of some sort, but actually also resembles a spark chamber to an extent...is this more proof to my theory that House is a hidden Titan?
• It's mentioned that Nova Storm is potentially able to retrieve the Enigma from the Rust Sea, implying that she might have survived having her internal parts crushed by Windcharger last issue.
• My theory of Exarchon living on inside Provike's body is shown to be absolutely the case here! Yay for validation!

IDW - Transformers Shattered Glass #3

Written by: Danny Lore 

Art by: Guido Guidi

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Letters by: Neil Uyetake

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: David Mariotte

Design by: Jake Wood & Johanna Nattalie

Plot

Long ago, Starscream and his colleague Jetfire meet with Orion Pax to try and ask for funding in their Titan excavation project, which he seems interested in, but Starscream doesn't trust the Senator due to his shady nature, and walks off from the meeting...

Later, Starscream and Jetfire have managed to gather funds themselves and have managed to uncover the entire head of a sleeping Titan, Metroplex. Jetfire starts to worry about their finds running out before they can complete their work, but Starscream still refuses to even meet with Orion Pax due to his mistrust of him.

However, Jetfire goes against Starscream's wishes, and does go to Pax, and even joins the Autobot cause, with Jetfire even disavowing his friend when he refuses to join them. Starscream escapes from the Autobots and heads to the Titan site, where he destroys their research, while partially coding it to his own spark...

Much later, following the war's conclusion, Starscream returns to the long-abandoned Titan, where he completes the transfer, thus turning his spark into the key to awaking the Titans for the Decepticons to take back Cybertron...

In the present, Megatron and Starscream arrive in the Autobot-controlled Gold City, where they quickly find Soundwave, who is running a Decepticon Radio service for relating information to their scattered resistance fighters to ask him to help them relay their new plan to their forces.

Later, Megatron and Starscream meet in a bar, where they soon discover they are being spied on by Blaster and his minions, who quickly attack the Decepticons.

Megatron and Starscream put up a good fight, but Megatron is forced to restrain Blaster, allowing Starscream to fly to safety, as his spark is needed for their plans.

Starscream is shot out of the sky, but is found by Goldbug and his old friend Jetfire, who capture the Seeker...

Characters

Autobot

Goldbug/Bumblebee - Car

Jetfire - Jet

Blaster - Boom Box

Rewind - Cassette

Steeljaw - Cassette

Ramhorn - Cassette

Playback - Cassette Killed by Starscream

Gold City Denizens

Bar Patrons

Orion Pax - Truck (Flashback)

Prowl - Police Vehicle (Flashback)

Ironhide - Van (Flashback)

Jazz - Car (Flashback)

Chromedome - Car (Flashback)

Decepticon

Megatron - Jet

Starscream - Jet Captured by Goldbug

Soundwave - Cassette Player

Ravage - Cassette

Laserbeak - Cassette

Decepticon Soldiers (Mentioned)

Seekers (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Metroplex -Titan Ship (Flashback) Dormant

Scavenger - Excavator (Flashback)

Hook - Crane (Flashback)

Other Excavation Bots (Flashback)

Bots on Monitor (Images)

Notes

• You might notice that this issue's cover is in a different style to the other ones so far, that is because this is not the version that comes with the Starscream toy, since the toy has been (currently) delayed until early January. Incidentally, the next issue and the Goldbug figure have already been dispatched by Hasbro Pulse.
• Following the trend with this series, the returning characters from the Timelines continuity have been mostly reinterpreted with new personality quirks such as Ravage being overly talkative, but not speaking in 1337 speak.
• I can't really tell who the characters on Soundeave's screen are, die to them being just line arts, but I believe they use the Refraktor, Astrotrain and Fortress moulds, but they could still be anyone to be honest.
• Soundwave mentions that he's called the other Seekers to aide them, so we can assume they'll be making a reappearance soon, following their flashback cameos last issue (I know this happens with Skywarp next issue anyway, for the aforementioned reasons)
• This issue confirms that Metroplex, seen in the previous issues, is not actually an Autobot (yet) as he hasn't been awoken from his Titan sleep yet.
• Among the Cassettes deployed by Blaster is Playback, a character who appeared on Paradron in the G1 cartoon, and was named after a hi-and-die character from the Marvel comics of the same name.He doesn't last long...
• Starscream's unique spark is revealed here to be due to him reprogramming the Titan awakening system to be attuned to his spark signature, and later merging the programs fully to make him fully required for Metroplex and the others to wake up, essentially turning him into a Titan Master or Cityspeaker.
• The grid effects inside Starscream when he links up to the Titan system looks quite similar to the effects on him from merging with the Underbase in the Marvel continuity.
• The two bots that Starscream sees as he wakes up at the end of this issue are Goldbug and Jetfire, who are also the cover characters of the last two issues of this series. Nice touch! 

IDW - Beats Wars #9

Title: Thicker Skin

Written by: Erik Burnham

Art by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Editor: Jazmine Joyner

Supervising Editor: David Mariotte

Plot

The Predacons celebrate Blackarachnia's arrival and her corruption of the other pods, allowing their forces to rise soon. The fliers of the crew are sent out to hunt for the pods, and Skold is annoyed when she's told she cannot help due to her lack of speed, so she leaves on her own.

After a search, Skold discovers one of the pods in a lake, and rescues it, which soon opens up to the Maximal Razorbeast coming online. The two meet, unaware that the Vok are watching them, and planning an experiment on them, the two opposing Cybertronians make quick friends, with Skold just happy to meet someone who doesn't treat her like dirt.

The two are soon attacked by a pack of Ironwolves, and Razorbeast is badly injured, forcing him into stasis lock, while Skold takes out the beasts.

Realizing that he'll die without help, and that the Predacons won't help him, Skold brings Razorbeast to the perimeter of the Axalon, where she delivers him to their care before leaving...

Befoe she can leave though, Dinobot points out to her that she seems more confident when away from the other Predacons and clearly is a good person, and says she should defect to the Maximal's like he did, but she pushes him away, disgusted at him for his betrayal.

The Predacon leaves stating that they will be enemies next time they meet, with Dinobot commenting that she won't have to wait long....

Characters

Maximal

Optimus Primal - Gorilla

Dinobot - Velociraptor

Rattrap - Rat

Razorbeast - Wild Boar Injured by Ironwolves, placed in CR Chamber

Panther (Flashback)

Rhino (Flashback)

Manta Ray (Flashback)

Art Admirers (Flashback)

Maximal Command (Mentioned)

Maximal Protoforms (Mentioned) In Stasis, More Than Half Infected by Predacon Code

Predacon

Megatron - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tarantulas - Tarantula

Blackarachnia - Black Widow Spider

Terrorsaur - Pteranodon

Waspinator - Wasp

Scorponok - Scorpion

Skold - Alligator Snapping Turtle

Tripredacus Council (Mentioned)

Vok

Pakak

Tonrar

Tikaani

Other

Ironwolves Killed by Skold and Razorbeast

Multi-fin Fish Eaten by Skold

Notes

• This issue gives us our first Pod Maximal, and shockingly, rather than giving us a current toy character, like Airazor or Tigatron, we got Razorbeast!
• Razorbeast was one of the earliest Beast Wars figures released, but hasn't been in many pieces of media since his introduction. He was involved in the original toy comics that set the series in a modern day setting, but his most prominent roles were in the Gathering and Ascending comics by IDW. Wonder if he'll have a leadership role here too?
• Terrorsaur suggests that they should use their time travel technology to go back in time to defeat their enemies before they were even online, but Megatron denies this plan as it is dangerous to mess with their history like that. This is what Megatron did in the Beast Wars cartoon, as shown in The Agenda though...
• The Vok mention Mentors in relation to Cybertronians here, giving us more concepts from the current IDW mainline series, possibly suggesting this could be set in that universe's future?
• The Vok mention that they will experiment on some of the other pods before they open, possibly giving us an explanation for Transmetals, Fuzors and maybe even Fossilizers in this series.
• Skold mentions that she used to spend time admiring art in Iacon, showing that I'm this universe the city hasn't been replaced by Cybertropolis (unless the city is just very new during the Beast Machines storyline).
• Skold mentions that the Ironwolves are from Pferra, telling us that at least some of the strange creatures on this planet (that might not be Earth) have been brought here by some force, most likely the Vok for their experiments.
• Razorbeast's injuries will probably have him out of action for at least a couple of issues...hopefully he actually has a role beyond an extended cameo in this series any way....

IDW - Transformers Wreckers: Tread and Circuits #1

Written by: David Mariotte

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Colours by: Candice Han

Letters by: Jake M. Wood & Nathan Widick

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

The Wreckers perform a death-defying stunt, a sub-orbital jump from their ship to a planet's surface, without any safety devices, which is broadcasted to their loyal viewbase across the universe, when it is interrupted by Mayhem, a terrorist cell, who demand that Velocitron cancel it's upcoming Speedia 500, and not decide their leadership that way. To prove their seriousness, they kill a former competitor, Electrons, on screen. The Wreckers manage to get control of their signal, and close off the broadcast properly.

Once the cameras are shut down, the Wreckers are back to their real business, guns out and ready to fight if Mayhem are nearby. The team, really an elite covert squad that works outside of Colonial Security, and are now on the mission to take down Mayhem.

Later, the Wreckers arrive on Velocitron, where Thunderclash announces to the gathered crowd that they are going to enter the Speedia 500 to prove that they aren't afraid of Mayhem, much to Aileron's annoyance, since she's planned a covert mission for them to investigate them secretly.

Circuit sneaks away from the ship, to avoid the cameras and crowd, since he feels like a outcast since losing his alternate mode during the Iron Hope incident. He decides to try and scout out the planet to find a potential hideout for Mayhem, but finds himself abused by the Velocitronians, who are all about speed, so a mode-locked bot like him isn't welcome...

After Aileron and Thunderclash argue about the latter's decision to make their mission public, and he agrees that he might have made a mistake in that, they rejoin the rest of the team in a communal area in the ship, when Aileron realizes that Circuit isn't back from his exploration yet!

Back on the streets, Circuit is chased by someone down a tight alleyway, and is shocked when he realizes that his pursuer is Acer, another of the Iron Hope 100 on his Turbo Cycle, who asks what he's doing there...

Characters

Autobot/Wrecker

Thunderclash - Truck

Hot Shot - Jeep

Ricochet - Car

Minerva - Car

Aileron - Jet

Circuit 

Mayhem

Octopunch

Skullgrin

Submarauder 

Velocitronian

Road Pig - Motorcycle

Electrons - Car Killed by Octopunch 

Velocitronian Crowd

Road Rocket - Motorcycle (Hologram)

Blurr - Race Car (Hologram)

Other Cybertronian

Axer 

Primus (Mentioned)

Mortilus (Mentioned)

Exarchon (Mentioned)

The Three-fold Spark (Mentioned)

The Iron Hope 100 (Mentioned)

Colonial Security (Mentioned)

Rust Worms (Mentioned)

Turbofoxes (Mentioned)

Notes

• We don't know when in the continuity this story is set. We don't see any Decepticons in the story (unless Mayhem reveal badges later on) and the Wreckers openly wear Autobot insignias, which would mark them as being part of Optimus' army rather than travelling performers in the current storyline's setting. My guess is that this is set just before the war broke out.
• The only two members of the Wreckers based on recent toys are Hot Shot and Ricochet, who were both in the Selects toyline, and are also shown this issue to be rivals.
• Aileron appears this issue, having had a cameo in the Valentine's Day special, though in that story she was shown as a larger robot, rather than standard sized, like she is here.
• The Speedia 500 and other such races have been a focal point of Velocitron's lore since it was introduced in the Cyberton cartoon, in luding it being used to decide on the leadership of the planet. I am surprised that Override isn't the planet's leader in this continuity, like she usually is though...
• Circuit mentions that he used to focus everything of his life into "being a camera" before losing his alternate mode in the Iron Hope incident. This could mean that Circuit used to have a camera alternate mode, but due to the leftover kibble.on his body lookig more like car parts, I'm assuming he is just refering to his chronicler job, and not his alternate mode.
• Thunderclash mentions that Aileron is entering the Speedia 500...but she has a flying alternate mode...unless she also has a car mode too, like Road Rage, but there's no evidence of that yet.

IDW - Transformers: King Grimlock #3

Title: Grimlock the Avenger

Written by: Steve Orlando

Art by: Agustin Padilla

Colours by: Jeremy Colwell

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

Grimlock has been training the Anglorian villagers to fight the Red Wizard's army, and leads them towards his base in the Rotlands.

Elsewhere, The Golden One attacks the village of Valedrift, Arko's family's home, seemingly unaware that he is being watched by Clatta from afar.

Grimlock's army arrive at the Rotlands, where they are attacked by the Red Army of Wood-bots and Clay Golems, given life by the Wizard.

Grimlock's forces take on the undead army, allowing Grimlock to break into the Wizard's castle, where he quickly realises he's a Quintesson in disguise, and fatally wounds tears him apart, with the Quintesson stating that only he can defeat The Golden One, as he dies. Grimlock realizes now that Menonia has a deeper connection to Cybertron than he originally believed, and wonders if The Golden One could be in some way Cybertronian, and should go after him next...

Grimlock shows off the corpse of the Wizard to his army, who have taken out the rest of his Army, when he is encountered by Arnak, Arko's father, who he left after he summoned him to Menonia, and the Autobot explains that he doesn't know where his daughter is, as they parted ways.

Elsewhere again, Arko arrives at The Golden One's castle, and is greeted by him, welcoming her inside...

Characters

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Optimus Prime - Truck (Mentioned)

Menonian

The Golden One

Arko

Arnak

Anglorian Villagers

Valedrift Villagers

Other

The Red Wizard Killed by Grimlock

Clatta

Red Clay Army Destroyed by Grimlock and Anglorians

Wood-bots Destroyed by Grimlock and Anglorians

Soltron (Mentioned)

The Anti-Sun (Mentioned)

Sharkticons - Sharks (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue confirms that the Red Wizard/Quintesson connection from the G1 cartoon is still the same in this universe.
• The Quintesson in this issue isn't given a real name, and also looks different to most other Quintessons in the franchise.
• Clatta is shown to have a secret, he is watching over the Golden One when he does out in his dragon form...I'm starting to think that Clatta is a Titan Master and Soltron could be a Titan who ended up on Menonia.
• Arko's armour that she builds this issue is seemingly made from the remains of one of the Wood-bots...ewww...

IDW - Transformers Shattered Glass #2

Written by: Danny Lore

Art by: Daniel Khanna

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Letters by: Neil Uyetake

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: David Mariotte

Design by: Jake Wood & Johanna Nattalie

Plot

Megatron's life of solitude past the Rust Sea is interrupted by the arrival of Starscream, who collapses after arriving from his injuries from both the Bodyscrappers and the Sea itself, forcing the reclusive Decepticon to help his loyal lieutenant.

Inside his hideout, Megatron patches up Starscream, and complains about his follower seeking him out, since he is no longer his leader, since losing the war, but Starscream counters that they haven't lost yet, and they still have a chance to save their planet from the Autobots.

Starscream reminisces over the first time he saw Megatron, he was at a protest, protecting Ratbat's right to protest from Prowl, and ended up getting arrested for attacking the officer.

Megatron was later released from prison by Orion Pax, due to their friendship, but the two get into an argument, after Orion threatens him with Empurata to try and fix his wild ways. The fight was soon broken up, but the two didn't speak again, until the war started...

Some time later, the war enndednup on Earth, with the final battle taking place in Hollywood, Megatron orders the other Decepticons to retreat, knowing they can't win, and takes on the Autobots alone, behind eventually beaten down by Megatron, but not before dealing some major damage to the Autobots, and saving multiple Decepticons from their enemies, allowing most of their forces to escape.

After Megatron awoke, following the battle, he escaped the remains of Earth on a shuttle, and returned to Cyberton, where he discovered the Autobots had conquered the planet in his absence, leading to his exile.

Back in the presence, Starscream continues to try and prove their potential to win the war still, when he reveals that he's continued to examine his unique spark, and believes he has found a way to use it to reawaken the sleeping Titans, and use them to take back the planet...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime/Orion Pax - Truck (Flashback)

Prowl - Police Car (Flashback)

Jetfire - Jet (Flashback)

Bumblebee - Car (Flashback) Blasted by Megatron, Reformatted into Goldbug

Ironhide - Van (Flashback)

Ratchet - Ambulance (Flashback)

Blurr - Race Car (Flashback)

Jazz - Car (Flashback)

Blaster - Boom Box (Flashback)

Windcharger - Car (Flashback)

Brawn - SUV (Flashback)

Downshift - Car (Flashback) Possibly Dead

Sunstreaker - Car (Flashback)

Sideswipe - Car (Flashback) Injured

Hot Rod - Car (Flashback) Injured 

Other Autobots (Flashback)

Dinobots (Mentioned)

Bodyscrappers (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron - Space Shuttle

Starscream - Jet

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Flashback)

Thundercracker - Jet (Flashback)

Skywarp - Jet (Flashback)

Soundwave - Cassette Player (Flashback)

Rumble - Cassette (Flashback)

Frenzy - Cassette (Flashback)

Ravage - Cassette (Flashback)

Refraktor - Hovercraft (Flashback)

Scrapper - Front End Loader (Flashback)

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer (Flashback)

Kickback - Locust (Flashback)

Bombshell - Bill Weevil (Flashback)

Other Decepticons (Flashback)

Other Cybertronian

Ratbat - Cassette (Flashback)

Chromedome - Car (Flashback)

Miners (Flashback)

Empurata Protesters (Flashback)

A Titan (Hologram Only)

Whirl - Helicopter (Poster Only)

The Senate (Mentioned)

Drillers (Mentioned)

Other

Humans (Mentioned) Possibly killed by Autobots

Notes

• This issue, again, came with a free figure, this time of Shattered Glass Megatron! (The price was a lot higher, though there is a cheaper option without the toy if you'd prefer)
• Megatron's Cape in the present setting appears to be based on the one worn by Optimus and Megatron in their G2 Cybertronian Alliance design.
• Laste issue Prowl was shown in shadows, seemingly to hide his design, possibly for a future toy reveal...but we see him in all his glory this issue!
• Whirl is shown on a pro-Empurata poster in the background of this issue, the old IDW continuity had Whirl as a stern hater of Empurata, following his own punishment.
• Optimus Prime/Orion Pax's windscreen crack is revealed to be an injury caused from his first fight with Megatron, pre-war.
• It's unclear what happened after Megatron was defeated, but from the ground looking pretty torn up, we can assume the Autobots probably raized Hollywood, if not more of Earth.
• Among the injured Autobots seen laying around are Downshift, Sideswipe and Hot Rod, the latter two being important characters in the previous continuity, but who knows with this one.
• Bumblebee is seen this issue during th flashback, where he is coloured like Bug Bite. We also see here that his injuries, that led to him being rebuilt as Goldbug were caused by Megatron shooting him with his fusion cannon.
• Starscream having an unusual spark is a recurring theme in Transformers fiction, with him usually being shown as being unable to permanently die.
• Earth having "Rarified Energon" is likely in reference to the Classics Universe from Fun Publications, which was the "positive" counterpart to the original Shattered Glass continuity. In that version the Energon was because Earth was actually a giant Transformers called Gaia, but I doubt they're doing that here again...

IDW - Transformers Halloween

Written by: Dan Watters

Art by: Beth McGuire-Smith

Colours by: Nahuel Ruiz

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Word has been spread that the Autobots are roaming in the area outside of Iacon, plotting to retake it from the Decepticons, so Megatron is planning a hunting party.

Initially, he plans to have Starscream lead the team, but after Sixshot questions his loyalty, he relents and appoints Soundwave instead.

Starscream, having overheard this conversation storms outside, where he encounters the Battlechargers, who say they have heard a strange howl in the wastelands.

Determined to prove his skills, he decides to investigate himself, having explored the area when he was newly forged with his mentor, Cryak.

Eventually, Starscream finds the source of the sound, an enslaved-organic that has been separated from his Voin master, but is trapped by a cable. 

Starscream intends to put the creature out of its misery, but as soon as he stabs the cable with his blade, he is electrocuted, and knocked out.

Starscream wakes up inside the organic, trapped, but soon encounters another spark inside the organic, Cryak, who was trapped in there when her spark was accidentally caught in the organic's cable and trapped her inside it.

Cryak soon shows Starscream how to manifest a "physical" form inside the organic, to make it easier to communicate, but she reveals that her time inside the organic has warped her mind, and driven her to hate the concept of Cybertronians emulating organics in several ways, and intends to use Starscream's body to "liberate" every Cybertronian she can, and reduce them to their true spark forms.

Starscream draws a line at genocide however, and fights off his former mentor, resulting in him escaping the organic, and returning to his body.

As punishment for her actions, he leaves the organic alive, thus condemning Cryak to his body as a prison...

Characters

Decepticon

Megatron - Tank

Sixshot - Tank/Jet/Car/Fun/Winged Beast

Starscream - Jet

Runabout - Car

Runamuck - Car

Soundwave - Hovercraft (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Cryak - Buggy Spark Trapped Inside "Ook"

The Autobots (Mentioned)

The Unaligned (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Other

"Ook" Ensnared by Control Wire

Voin

Other Enslaved-Organics

Notes

• This issue shows us that the organic aliens are still in Iacon...I wonder how long it'll take for the Decepticons to start using them for target practice.
• Starscream is revealed to have joined the Decepticons this issue, but it's not clear if he is truly loyal to Megatron yet. He is still mentioned as being the head of intelligence though, so I guess Megatron trusts him at least a little bit.
• This issue shows us at least part of the process of a character going Immersant, with Cryak laying down, allowing cables to enter Cybertron and pass her spark into the planet and her body to be recycled into it too.
• Cryak's beliefs that Cybertron is Primus' body are reminiscent of Reversionist beliefs, implying that she was probably one before she died.