Weapons of a New Generation
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| "Weapons of a New Generation" 新しい世代の武器
(Atarashii Sedai no Buki) | |||||||||||||
| First published | October 20, 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Andrew Hall | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Hidetsugu Yoshioka | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||||||
| Packaged with | Racemaster Prime Mode | ||||||||||||
Racemaster proves more than a match for Combatmaster when ambushed.
Synopsis
[edit]Blessed with super-speed of both mind and body, the thoughts of the young Racemaster inevitably end up straying to other matters as he is forced to carry out such boring tasks as obeying the speed limit. Pondering the fate of Choppermaster, Racemaster realizes that the Power Core drones he is in the process of transporting will likely make him a target for the Decepticons... a suspicion confirmed almost immediately by the sudden appearance of Combatmaster! The Decepticon surrounds Racemaster with his drones and demands he surrender the Autobot drones or die, but quickly discovers he has underestimated the youthful Autobot as Racemaster bonds with his drones in a flurry of super-speed that Combatmaster cannot stop. Declaring that offense is not the way to fight, Racemaster beats a tactical retreat, easily dodging the fire from Combatmaster's drones and disappeared into the distance.
Featured characters
[edit](Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons |
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Notes
[edit]- Racemaster is actually Rapido, who has appeared in little fiction before now, and never in Japanese continuity. Set before Generation 2 as it is, this story shows us a young Rapido before he ascends to leadership of the Axelerators.
- In addition to displaying traits from his toy bio and Tech Specs such as remarkable intelligence and an unusually high rank, this depiction of Rapido also references the character's appearance in Fun Publications' "Generation 2: Redux", drawing from it his super-speed powers and fondness for Spanish exclamations.
- The "New Generation" in the title is a double-meaning, referring on the surface to the newly empowered Power Core Combiners, but also serving as another allusion to "Redux", in which Rapido was one of a new generation of Transformers built on Earth. This concept also gets referred to in the story itself when Racemaster calls himself an "Earthling", which is how the "Redux" Transformers think of themselves, rather than as Cybertronians. Presumably he has a similar origin in this continuity.
- Racemaster's bio mentions that he was trained by a former Supreme Commander of the Autobots; his red paint job and flame hood decal combine with this to make clear that the 'bot in question was Rodimus Prime. This, in turn, adds an extra meaning to Rapido's bio quote-"The deadliest weapon you can have is a sharp mind", something that this story affirms—indicating that this was a lesson taught him by Rodimus, who learned it himself in the Generation 1 cartoon episode "The Ultimate Weapon".
