The War to End All Wars, Part 4
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|}{{#switch:{{#sub:xx|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}
As the final battle with Jhiaxus's second generation of Cybertronians reaches its end, trouble brews on multiple fronts back on Cybertron.
Synopsis
[edit]In Zero Space, the void of nothingness at the end of all time, Spike Witwicky finds himself imprisoned in energy bonds. A disembodied voice informs Spike that he embodies "the trinity"—human, Nebulan and Transformer—which he will use to cross over into the multiverse. When Spike demands that the speaker reveal themselves, the voice claims it has many aspects, and lets Spike "choose" the form it will take; accordingly, the voice manifests in the form of Spike's deceased brother Buster, and reminds guilt-ridden Spike that it was his inaction which led to Buster's death.
On the Hub Network's Throneworld, Jhiaxus has Rodimus Prime brought before him, and once again petitions him to join his empire. Jhiaxus even offers to incorporate the Autobots of Rodimus's choice—presently held captive in the Hub's "Corral"—into his forces, recreating them with new bodies, save those who have been modified with "external species innovations." The one-sided negotiations are soon interrupted by a panicked Rook, who brings news of explosions within the Hub that are severing worlds from the network and destabilizing it—the work of the Wreckers, moving between worlds via the interplanetary "slam rail" system. Jhiaxus orders Rodimus to stop them, killing Joyride, Sky High, Crosshairs and Brainstorm in an attempt to force him, but Rodimus has no means of contacting the Wreckers, and knows that nothing short of death will stop them. Jhiaxus sends forces out to locate the Wreckers; the fleet's departure is observed by the restored Shockwave and the possessed Starscream, who decide to take some action of their own.
On Earth, Linda Chang readies her troops while G.B. Blackrock tries to repair Optimus Prime following his calamitous clash with Fortress Maximus. Linda needs Prime alive to tell them how to re-open the space bridge, so she can rescue Spike... after which a barrage of missiles will close the portal for good!
Meanwhile, peculiar events are transpiring in the Demons' ghetto on Cybertron, where the Dinobots watch as the primordial creatures seal themselves within some form of cocoons. This sight causes Grimlock to have a sudden realization—he has recently been controlled by something, and had his memories of the experience erased. The confused Dinobots try to get an explanation out of him, but he hurries off, leaving them only more puzzled by his references to "the dark" and "Vs-Qs".
Elsewhere on the planet, some Autobot techs in the Star Chamber report to their superior officer on the lack of communication from both Earth and Nebulos. As they are working on the matter, Galvatron suddenly enters the chamber and begins slaughtering them all, dark energy streaming from his eyes as he proclaims himself the ravager of worlds!
Back in the Hub, Jhiaxus's forces have caught up with the Wreckers in the slam tubes, and a firefight has erupted. The second-generation warriors' adaptive shielding is making things tough for the Wreckers, but the well-placed detonation of an atmos-field by the commandos takes out their opponents and severs another world from the Hub. Not far away, Shockwave is also getting in on the act, severing more worlds and defending himself by using his still-existing symbiotic connection with the Ark to hold off attackers with the ship's weaponry. Growing increasingly furious at his faltering control of the situation, Jhiaxus has Rodimus escorted from his throneroom and prepares to enter the fray himself. Just before he takes off, however, he is confronted by Starscream, now fully consumed by the re-emergent power of the Underbase. Jhiaxus recognizes the force possessing Starscream as the four senator cohorts he turned upon in millennia past, who seek to complete themselves by absorbing Jhiaxus back into their communal mindscape. As the Underbase energies consume him, Jhiaxus screams for help, but Rook leaves him to his fate.
As the chaos rages outside, Rodimus overpowers his guards with ease, then quickly proceeds to the Corral to liberate his fellow Autobots. With enough damage having been done to the Hub to push it past the point of no return, everyone flees the disintegrating structure—with Shockwave even pausing to recover the unconscious Starscream, surprising himself with his compassionate act. The Hub Network at last collapses in a series of colossal explosions, but as Rodimus surveys the remains, he can only consider the victory a Pyrrhic one; after all, Jhiaxus was merely following the genetic imperative Primus placed in all his children to thwart chaos with order. And this is but the latest experience by Rodimus that suggests Primus's "grand plan" is not all that it appears...
...as back on Cybertron, the corrupted fragment of the Creation Matrix bursts from a lake of energon!
Featured characters
[edit]{{#if: ||(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)}}
Quotes
[edit]"Know what you call thirty enemy combatants on the wrong side of an atmos-field?"
KABOOM!
"A good start."
- —With a dry cool wit like that, Roadbuster could be an action hero
"Ah, the younger generation. Because I've a few million astro-years on you, you think I'm past my, ah...prime. It's probably no consolation, but I miss that rashness of youth."
- —Rodimus Prime is all grown up
"The... logical course of action would be to depart forthwith. But I feel strangely compelled... to remove Starscream from harm's way. Interrogative: Is this... emotion?"
- —Shockwave
Notes
[edit]Artwork and technical errors
[edit]- As he is freed from his cell, Hardhead is missing his shoulder cannon. It might have been removed by Jhiaxus's men before they locked him up, of course, but then, Ultra Magnus still has his shoulder launchers.
Continuity errors
[edit]Continuity notes
[edit]- Buster died during Megatron's conquest of Earth, as shown in issue #0.
- Broadside is back in action for the first time since #85. No word on whether his fellow Wrecker, Leadfoot, ever recovered from the injuries he sustained on Earth.
- Grimlock refers to his encounter with the corrupted Creation Matrix on VsQs (here spelled with a hyphen), from issue #65 of the original Marvel run.
- To nobody's surprise, the force possessing Starscream turns out to the portion of the Underbase made up of the minds of Jhiaxus's four old cohorts seen in issue #0, Boltax, Decanus, and, getting named for the first time, Tallus and Rokan.
- The Transformers Jhiaxus executes for their "external species innovations" each represent one of the four organically modified Transformers subgroups: Joyride for the Powermasters, Sky High for the Pretenders, Crosshairs for the Targetmasters, and Brainstorm for the Headmasters. Evidently, though, Jhiaxus isn't specifically referring to Transformers who have integrated organic matter into their bodies, but rather those have diluted their Cybertronian purity by "tainting" themselves with the tech of other races; after all, as a Targetmaster, Crosshairs's partner Pinpointer isn't part of his body, and Brainstorm has no Nebulan component at all since being rebuilt (by Nebulans) earlier in this series. Pretenders weren't an extra-species innovation—they were created by Scorponok—but he used a human genetics lab to do it (and it was with the influence of Lord Zarak, so maybe it was, at least partially, an extra-species innovation after all).
Real-life references
[edit]
Other trivia
[edit]- Shockwave cradles Starscream like the two of them are on the cover of a pulpy romance novel. It's adorable.
Transformers references
[edit]- Topspin invites the other Wreckers to "hold onto [their] beryllium baloney."
Furminated
[edit]- Joyride, Sky High, Crosshairs and Brainstorm are incinerated in their prison cubes by Jhiaxus.
- A half dozen generic Autobots are slaughtered by Galvatron as he takes over the space bridge network.
- Jhiaxus is wrenched from his body by the Underbase collective.
- A bazillion of Jhiaxus's troops die in the battle against Shockwave and, later, when the Hub Network collapses.
- It's heavily implied that Kick-Off, Gutcruncher and Axer are among the first to be consumed/killed/whatever by the Dark Matrix entity.
Covers (3)
[edit]-
Cover A -
Cover B -
Cover RI
- Cover A: The Underbase-possessed Starscream confronts Jhiaxus, by Andrew Wildman and Jason Cardy.
- Cover B: Galvatron infused with dark Matrix energy, by Guido Guidi.
- Cover RI: Shockwave lays the smack down, by Geoff Senior and Josh Burcham.
Advertisements
[edit]- "Dark Cybertron" checklist, highlighting chapters 10, 11 and 12
- The X-Files: Conspiracy
- Samurai Jack: Back to the Past!
- King of the Nerds
- IDW: Getting Into Your Head for 15 Years (back cover)
External links
[edit]