Untitled Lyzack Story

	[[File:\|230px]]{{#if: \|; }}}}
	"Untitled Lyzack Story" {{#if: \| {{#if: \|; (')}} {{#if:\|; ""}}}}
Publisher	}}
Published by	}}
Imprint	}}
Published in	}}
First published	February 3, 2021}}
Shipping date	}}
On-sale date	}}
Cover date	}}
Credits	}}
By	}}
Manga	}}
Manga by	}}
Original story	}}
Story & art by	}}
Story and color art	}}
Story	}}
Story by	}}
Story consultants	}}
Story concept	}}
Screenplay by	}}
Screenplay	}}
Adaptation by	}}
Adapted by	}}
Adaptation	}}
Based on	}}
Writer	}}
Writers	}}
Writing	}}
Written by	Justin Severson with Jesse Wittenrich}}
Written & art	}}
Plotter	}}
Plotters	}}
Plot	}}
Plot by	}}
Plot/Script	}}
Scripter	}}
Scripters	}}
Script	}}
Scripting	}}
Script by	}}
Script and art	}}
Sript [sic] consultant	}}
Translation by	}}
Artist	}}
Comic artist	}}
Artists	}}
Art	}}
Art by	}}
Additional art by	}}
Flashback art by	}}
Art assistant	}}
Art assist by	}}
Line-art	}}
Line-art by	}}
Line art by	}}
Penciller	}}
Pencillers	}}
Penciler	}}
Pencilers	}}
Pencil art	}}
Pencils	}}
Pencils by	}}
Penciled by	}}
Penciling	}}
Guest penciler	}}
Layouts	}}
Pencil breakdowns	}}
Breakdowns	}}
Breakdowns by	}}
Illustration	}}
Illustrations	}}
Illustrator	}}
Illustrated by	}}
Illustration by	}}
Illustrations by	}}
Finished pencils	}}
Finishes	}}
Finished art	}}
Finishes by	}}
Inker	}}
Guest inker	}}
Inkers	}}
Inks	}}
Inks by	}}
Ink finishes	}}
Ink assist by	}}
Additional inks	}}
Inking	}}
Backgrounds	}}
Backgrounds by	}}
Colorist	}}
Colorists	}}
Colourist	}}
Colourists	}}
Color	}}
Colors	}}
Color art	}}
Colour	}}
Colours	}}
Colored by	}}
Color by	}}
Colors by	}}
Color art by	}}
Colors assist by	}}
Color assists	}}
Color assistance by	}}
Additional colors	}}
Additional colors by	}}
Color assist by	}}
Colour/Computer FX	}}
Computer coloring/effects	}}
Color Reconstruction	}}
Flats	}}
Flats by	}}
MTMTE Profiles	}}
Letterer	}}
Letterers	}}
Lettering	}}
Letters	}}
Letters by	}}
Lettered by	}}
Lettering\|Production	}}
To}}	}}
Collaborators	}}
Contributors	}}
Editor	}}
Editors	}}
Editing	}}
Edits by	}}
Compiled and Edited by	}}
Original series editor	}}
Original Edits by	}}
Deputy editor	}}
Assistant editor	}}
s}}	}}
Editorial Assistance; provided by	}}
Senior editor	}}
Associate editor	}}
Story consultant	}}
Project manager	}}
Production by	}}
Designer	}}
Design by	}}
Designed by	}}
Design/editorial	}}
Book design by	}}
Collection designer	}}
Collection editor	}}
Collection Edits by	}}
Graphic design	}}
Graphic design by	}}
Collection Design by	}}
/ Layout}}	}}
Contributing editors	}}
s}}	}}
Managing editor	}}
Editor-in-chief\|Editor in chief}}	}}
Editorial consultant	}}
Dinosaur consultant	}}
Publishing manager	}}
Cover	}}
ist}}{{#if: \| by}}	}}
and Elements }}by	}}
Inside cover	}}
Apologies to	}}
Continuity	Wings Universe}}
Chronology	}}
ISBN	}}
TPB ISBN	ISBN }}
UPC	}}
Page count	23pp}}
Price	}}
Packaged with	}}
Printed in	}}
Animation	}}
Music	}}

This is Apocrypha

The content of this page is considered to be apocrypha or pseudocanon. Fiction that is considered pseudocanon generally falls into one of two categories. It is most likely either unofficial fiction from an official creator that is so informative as to the creator's thought process and/or so influential to the fandom as to be worth documenting, or fiction that is published in such a way as to render it unofficial, such as fan works published as ancillary or bonus images/fiction with other official work. As such, new ideas and concepts introduced here may not hold true for work that is completely canonical.

{{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: February 3, 2021 | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: Justin Severson with Jesse Wittenrich | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: Wings Universe | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: 23pp | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: |

{{#switch:{{#sub:wings universe|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}

Lyzack's brother is missing, and she's having recurring nightmares about it.

Synopsis

Every night since her brother Leozack's disappearance, Lyzack has dreamed of a void, in which she finds him. Normally, when she tries to reunite with him, she falls into nothingness, but on this night she collides with him. Elation turns to horror... and when she wakes, she can't remember why.

A crowd moving past her quarters draws her outside. She follows them until she sees a large monitor, where the destruction of the Autobot Elite Guard plays out live on the Autobot Broadcast News. She decides that Deathsaurus probably wants a drink, so fetches a tray and a glass of fine oil. In his throne room, he's watching the news; after gloating to Lyzack, he exits to give a speech to his troops.

During the speech, Lyzack asks one of Deathsaurus's espionage agents about Autobot prisons. The spy mentions rumours about the Durlamax Facility for the Unstable Processor, situated in Floreum, and Lyzack instinctively knows that this is where she needs to go.

That night, as Lyzack thinks over her situation, she's interrupted by the ex-Autobot X-Gunner, who attempts in vain to flirt with her. Remembering that he also has a brother, Lyzack asks him if ever he and his brother shared a unique connection—but he doesn't give her a good answer, and at that point three brutes show up to beat X-Gunner up over an unspecified grievance, so she abandons him.

Some time later, having acquired blueprints of the Durlamax facility from the spy, she flies out. As she arrives, her mind clouds over, as Leozack communes with her, and she crashes.

Inside the facility, its warden, Ironside, interrupts Knock Out's interrogation of Leozack to express doubts over the Decepticon's treatment. As Knock Out tries to convince him of the necessity of the procedure, Ironside finds himself deciding to turn a blind eye.

Regaining consciousness, Lyzack flies the rest of the way to the facility and tries to enter in secret via an air filtration duct. However, the ceiling collapses under her, and she winds up crushing a guard as she falls. A raving prisoner in a nearby cell implores her to free him, but Lyzack ignores him, recognising him as the turncoat Breakaway. As she ventures into the facility, she finds that it doesn't match her blueprints; another prisoner, Shrapnel, offers to help her navigate in exchange for freedom. He explains the history of the facility: it had started as a scrupulous rehabilitation center, but the warden had slowly stepped back from active involvement in its care, and following Knock Out's arrival prisoners had been disappearing one by one, leading rumours about a secret laboratory to circulate. Shrapnel uses his electric powers to break into Suppressor's office, but the security officer's inside, and he immediately overpowers the temporarily-weakened Shrapnel. Lyzack, having never faced real combat before, immediately flees, and hides in a supply closet. There, acting on instinct, she roots through the items, and finds Leozack's sword. In her hands, it bestows a warrior's clarity. She races back out into the hallway, and rushes Suppressor, killing him with unnatural ease.

Back in the lab, Ironside informs Knock Out what's just happened. Knock Out orders him to activate "the Swarm program", and Ironside finds himself obliging...

As she retraces her path back to Suppressor's office, Lyzack runs into a horde of robots who look much like Shrapnel, but in red. Though they're easy enough to kill, it takes long enough to significantly wear her down. In the office, she steals the access codes, then destroys the terminal, resolving to destroy Durlamax.

The following events were never written, and are instead summarised in the story's afterword, making them pseudocanonical to this pseudocanonical story.

Lyzack meets up with the other members of the Breastforce: Deathcobra, Jallguar, Killbison, and Drillhorn, and together they escape Durlamax—without Leozack, who has succumbed to his injuries. The three Insecticons—Shrapnel, Bombshell and Kickback, also escape. The Autobots learn of what happened at Durlamax, and Ironside takes the blame. And, in Megatron's army, Knock Out finds a more welcoming home.

Featured characters

{{#if:*Bishop (3)

Ironside (13)
Knock Out (14)
A security guard (15)
Breakaway (16)
Suppressor (18)|

{{#if:*Bishop (3)

Ironside (13)
Knock Out (14)
A security guard (15)
Breakaway (16)
Suppressor (18)|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |
Bishop (3)
Ironside (13)
Knock Out (14)
A security guard (15)
Breakaway (16)
Suppressor (18) }}{{#if:*Lyzack (1)
Leozack (2)
Tidal Wave (4)
Barricade (5)
Terradive (6)
Deathsaurus (7)
Flip Sides (8)
X-Gunner (9)
Gigant Bomb (10)
Smokesniper (11)
Air Hunter? (12)
Shrapnel (17)|

Autobots }}{{#if:*Lyzack (1) Leozack (2) Tidal Wave (4) Barricade (5) Terradive (6) Deathsaurus (7) Flip Sides (8) X-Gunner (9) Gigant Bomb (10) Smokesniper (11) Air Hunter? (12) Shrapnel (17)\|	Decepticons }}{{#if:\|	Humans }}{{#if:*Zaptrap (19-)\|	Others }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}
Lyzack (1) Leozack (2) Tidal Wave (4) Barricade (5) Terradive (6) Deathsaurus (7) Flip Sides (8) X-Gunner (9) Gigant Bomb (10) Smokesniper (11) Air Hunter? (12) Shrapnel (17) }}{{#if:\|	}}{{#if:*Zaptrap (19-)\|	Zaptrap (19-) }}{{#if:\|	}}{{#if:\|	}}

Quotes

"It is of course, propaganda, but sometime I do rather enjoy this ABN. Call it a guilty pleasure. Seeing Autobots make fools of themselves is just so invigorating. Don’t you agree?"

—Deathsaurus

"What’s a girl like you doin’ out here on a night like this?."
"Well, until just now I was admiring the view. It’s a lovely place to be alone."

—X-Gunner and Lyzack

"Precautions!? What’s all this screaming, then? What would a councilbot think if he heard that? Huh? Or a a reporter? Smelt it, Knock Out, you’re a medibot, not a...not a mad scientist! This is getting into dangerous, frankly un-Autobot-like territory!"

—Ironside

"I’m sorry, Leozack, but you heard our esteemed warden. It seems I’ve got to bolt shut that little mouth of yours. Believe me, I’m just as disappointed as you. I was taking great pleasure in your screams."

—Knock Out

"My, my! Do you boot your motherboard with such language?"

—Knock Out

"Ah, there you are, little girl. Suppressor is ready to finish this, so you can either come quietly or you can come screaming. I don’t want to have to hurt you, but I will."
"That’s too bad. You underestimate my desire to hurt you, and my ability to do so!"

—Suppressor and Lyzack

"Target: Lyzack. Command 1: Zap. Command 2: Trap. Zap. Trap. Zap. Trap."

—Zaptrap

"Zap. Trap. Zap. Trap. Zap. Trap."
"I hope you can cry out for mercy, because otherwise this is going to get really boring."

—Zaptrap and Lyzack

Notes

This story was intended for publication in 2011, bridging between the magazine arcs The Coming Storm and Battle Lines. However, it wasn't finished in time, so eventually it was abandoned. Years later, following interest in Severson's one published story for Fun Publications—"The Truth We Make"—Severson got permission to share the unfinished draft, with a new foreword and afterword contextualising it. Though it's decidedly not canonical, and isn't what would have been released even if it had been finished in time, it offers some insight into choices made by Severson in "The Truth We Make", as well as minor elements of the Wings Universe material released at the time, so we've given it the full write-up.
Characters mentioned who do not appear include: the Autobot Elite Guard, Strafe.
Characters mentioned in the afterword include: the Breastforce (Deathcobra, Jallguar, Killbison, Drillhorn, and the combined robot Liokaiser), the other Insecticons (Bombshell and Kickback), Megatron.

Continuity notes

The Elite Guard was destroyed at the end of The Coming Storm.
Lyzack's appearance in "Battle Lines, Part 1" would have followed on from this story, as she has Leozack's sword stashed in a cupboard. This contextualises her amusement at Starscream describing her as "timid".
Breakaway previous (canonical) appearance was in "A Team Effort", where he sold a ship to Powerflash while on the run.
The story's ending would have set up Lyzack taking Leozack's place at the core of Liokaiser.

Transformers references

Deathsaurus's line "Victory herself has become our companion this night!" probably refers to his franchise of origin.
The spy first suggests Garrus-9, a Wings Universe version of the prison from the 2005 IDW continuity.
X-Gunner is a Cyberjet; many Cyberjet characters are Skyraiders in the Wings Universe. Lyzack shares a body-type with her brother, who's explicitly noted to be a Skyraider. X-Gunner seems to have kept his characterisation in making the jump to the Wings Universe, but has a brother in the form of Strafe, with whom his original toy shared a mold. Severson describes both brothers as being of "complicated allegiance".<ref>{{#if: They are both of complicated allegiance. I didn't take a strict "born as one and switched once" read on him. Maybe he's bounced around or moonlighted for the Autobots, which is why nobody likes him. As a sunbow-universe jet he probably started out as Decepticon anyway. / Or it's something that would've been caught in an editing pass and adjusted! Who can say?? |"They are both of complicated allegiance. I didn't take a strict "born as one and switched once" read on him. Maybe he's bounced around or moonlighted for the Autobots, which is why nobody likes him. As a sunbow-universe jet he probably started out as Decepticon anyway. / Or it's something that would've been caught in an editing pass and adjusted! Who can say??"—|}}{{#if: https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889166447589351434 |Justin Severson|Justin Severson}}{{#if: the TFWiki.net Discord server |, the TFWiki.net Discord server|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2021 |, 2021{{#if: 09 |/{{#switch:{{#len:09}}|1=009|09}}{{#if: 19|/{{#switch:{{#len:19}}|1=019|19}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889166447589351434 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889166447589351434%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889166447589351434%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889166447589351434%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889166447589351434%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref>
Ironside is an incarnation of the Mini-Con from the 2010 Transformers toyline.
Similarly, Suppressor is a reference to the Universe Mini-Con. However, when Suppressor showed up canonically in Severson's later story "The Truth We Make", that version of the character ended up also drawing from the Thrilling 30 Targetmaster.
Knock Out was intended as a repurposing of the Shattered Glass Drift toy, which early in development was planned to have a deco inspired by Knock Out's.<ref>{{#if: This next stage of the concept embraced some of the elements from the previous iteration, but also heavily took on an homage to Knock-Out, the Transformers Prime character that had just been shown in the television show and did not yet have an action figure. https://t.co/H075j3jfay |"This next stage of the concept embraced some of the elements from the previous iteration, but also heavily took on an homage to Knock-Out, the Transformers Prime character that had just been shown in the television show and did not yet have an action figure. https://t.co/H075j3jfay"—|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/JesseWittenrich/status/1050093039371411457 |Jesse Wittenrich|Jesse Wittenrich}}{{#if: Twitter |, Twitter|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2018 |, 2018{{#if: 10 |/{{#switch:{{#len:10}}|1=010|10}}{{#if: 10|/{{#switch:{{#len:10}}|1=010|10}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/JesseWittenrich/status/1050093039371411457 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/JesseWittenrich/status/1050093039371411457%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/JesseWittenrich/status/1050093039371411457%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/JesseWittenrich/status/1050093039371411457%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/JesseWittenrich/status/1050093039371411457%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref> The final toy used a different deco. Severson later finally got to reference Knock Out in "The Truth We Make".
As noted in the story's endnotes, Breakaway applies the Revenge of the Fallen character's name to the unreleased Generation 2 Ramjet redeco, who at the time had no known name. In the time since the story's writing, it was discovered that that concept actually had the name "Sandstorm".
Several characters throughout the story go unnamed, with plans for them to be identifiable via the story's art.<ref>{{#if: Everybody is somebody. / They would've been obvious when art was done. Big purple and grey guy is Tidal Wave, security guy is Barricade. The burgundy and white spy that helps her out is Flip Sides. / Oh, orange and black guy is movie Terradive. / Pretty sure the guys that beat up X-Gunner are led by Gigant Bomb and his compatriots were other RobotMaster guys in my head, but they're not described at all so could be anyone. / Very probably at least Sniper |"Everybody is somebody. / They would've been obvious when art was done. Big purple and grey guy is Tidal Wave, security guy is Barricade. The burgundy and white spy that helps her out is Flip Sides. / Oh, orange and black guy is movie Terradive. / Pretty sure the guys that beat up X-Gunner are led by Gigant Bomb and his compatriots were other RobotMaster guys in my head, but they're not described at all so could be anyone. / Very probably at least Sniper"—|}}{{#if: https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889152859562733569 |Justin Severson|Justin Severson}}{{#if: the TFWiki.net Discord server |, the TFWiki.net Discord server|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2021 |, 2021{{#if: 09 |/{{#switch:{{#len:09}}|1=009|09}}{{#if: 19|/{{#switch:{{#len:19}}|1=019|19}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889152859562733569 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889152859562733569%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889152859562733569%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889152859562733569%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://discord.com/channels/656241088826441729/656248887534944265/889152859562733569%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref> These are:
- A hulking purple and grey robot: Tidal Wave.
- A smaller security officer: Barricade.
- A slender orange and black robot: Terradive.
- A white and burgundy spy: Flip Sides
- A hulking blue and yellow robot and his two buddies: Gigant Bomb and two other Robotmasters characters, most likely Smokesniper and Air Hunter.
Breakaway's rambling mentions Benzuli.
Shrapnel keeps his verbal tic from the Sunbow cartoon, repeating the last word in every sentence.

Real world references

Errors

Bishop is described as having a "crimson face", in contrast to his depiction in Around Cybertron, where his face is blue. Maybe he's just red-faced with anger?
Numerous typos throughout, such as misspellings, repeated words, and missing words—it's an unfinished draft, give them a break!

Other trivia

For some reason, Suppressor refers to himself in the third person at one point.

References

External links

"Untitled Lyzack Story" on Dropbox

Search