Editing Windblade issue 4

{{Comicstory|seriesissue=''[[The Transformers: Windblade]]'' #4
|prev=Windblade issue 3
|next=The Sum and Its Parts
|image=Windblade04_regcvr.jpg  
|caption=
|title=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[July 23]], [[2014]]
|coverdate=July 2014
|written by=[[Mairghread Scott]]
|art by=[[Sarah Stone]]
|letters by=[[Chris Mowry]]
|assistant editor=[[Rebecca Huard]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2014)]]
}}

'''The identity of the bomber is revealed as Windblade takes the ultimate risk and merges with Metroplex.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] and [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]] race to [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]'s brain with [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]]'s enforcers hot on their tail when another blackout plunges the city into darkness. Chromia advocates simply killing their pursuers, but in deference to Windblade, she simply disables them by clipping their wings with her bladed weapons. As Metroplex begins to convulse all around them, the pair take refuge in Metroplex's brain chamber—but even a barred door proves no obstacle to Starscream himself, who has dealt with [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] and [[Slag (G1)|Slug]] and has arrived to put an end to Windblade. Chromia engages Starscream in battle; as Windblade fails to convince them to stop fighting, she is instead faced with a daunting task: to risk her own life by mentally merging with Metroplex in order to gain full control over his stricken systems.

Chromia holds her own in the fight, but Starscream takes the upper hand when he hurls his sword at the distracted Windblade, tearing a gash in her shoulder. As Chromia instinctively turns to aid her friend, Starscream cuts off her arm with his second blade. Standing victorious over the two fallen females, Starscream gloats that they could never have beaten him because he was chosen by the Metrotitan under Crystal City. Windblade, with the last of her strength, plugs an interface cable into her head—directly linking herself to Metroplex. The chamber comes alive at Windblade's command, blasting Starscream back and restraining him against the wall. With the mental link, Windblade probes all of Metroplex's systems, realizing that the blackouts have been orchestrated to divert power to the Titan's [[space bridge]]. Through the bridge, she is offered glimpses of many of the other worlds across the galaxy that were colonized by [[Metrotitan (body-type)|Metrotitans]], but finds that she cannot sense the beacon of [[Caminus]]. Perceptions being to swim and blur as Windblade and Metroplex become further and further intertwined, and the truth is revealed to the [[cityspeaker]]: the one who was responsible for the blackouts was Chromia!

Chromia tries to reason with Windblade, explaining that her plot was all for a single reason- to try and get Windblade home. Chromia refuses see her friend killed for Cybertronians, and insists that Windblade would never return to Caminus alive unless she was forced to do so.  Chromia continues to attempt to coax Windblade/Metroplex into activating the bridge. Starscream screams in protest, noting with distress that, as Metroplex is now integrated with [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]], using the space bridge would kill everyone not completely inside the Titan. Windblade/Metroplex's linked mind drifts through space and time, as the cityspeaker loses her grip on reality and starts to feel isolated and alone... but as that thought seizes her mind, a vision of Metroplex offers her his hand with the assurance that she is ''never'' alone. United in purpose, Windblade and Metroplex deactivate the space bridge. Disconnecting herself from the Titan, Windblade holds a hand up to silence Chromia, and strides past her friend and gives Starscream an offer he cannot refuse: if she frees him, he will keep everything that has occurred a secret, and in return, once Metroplex is well enough, she will allow Starscream unlimited access to the Titan's space bridge. This will allow the leader of Cybertron to find and unite ''all'' of Cybertron's colony worlds, making the "Chosen One" the true savior of the entire Cybertronian race.

As dawn nears, Windblade prepares to look for [[Circuit (G1)|Circuit]] to try and prevent any information about what has gone on getting out. An abashed Chromia thanks Windblade for taking the blame for her; Windblade grants Chromia permission to leave Cybertron if she wants, but demands that Chromia follow her orders until that time. Chromia vows to serve her faithfully, and Windblade quietly hopes to herself that one day, her friend will ''believe'' in her too. Windblade launches into the dawn sky, with the vow that she has only just begun to fight for the safety of both her homes: Caminus ''and'' Cybertron.

==Featured characters==
Characters in ''italic text'' are Windblade's visions, and have not been officially named except Caminus and Nautica.<br />
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] (1)
*[[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]] (2)
*[[Slag (G1)|Slug]] (3)
*[[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] (6)

|c2=

|c4=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] (4)
*[[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] (5)
*''[[Knock Out (G1)|Knock Out]]'' (7)
*''[[Vanquish (G1)|Vanquish]]'' (8)
*''[[Fireshot (G1)|Fireshot]]'' (9)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*''[[Injector]]'' (10)
*''[[Air Hammer]]'' (11)
*''[[Caminus]]'' (12)
*''[[Nautica]]'' (13)
{{!}}}
|}}

==Quotes==
'''Windblade: '''"We have to shake them."<br>
'''Chromia: '''"You sure you don't mean "'''kill'''"? I would've gone with "kill"."<br>
'''Windblade: '''"No, Chromia they're '''not''' the enemy."<br>
'''Chromia: '''"You wanna tell '''them''' that? 'Cause I don't know- if you're accurately- '''assessing''' the situation."
:—'''Windblade''' and '''Chromia''' discuss their pursuers.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Starscream refers to himself as the "Chosen One", a direct reference to the events of the [[Primus: All_Good Things|2012 ''Robots in Disguise'' Annual]], where the dying Metrotitan—having teleported inside the Crystal City—declared that Starscream would unite the planet.
*The colony worlds glimpsed at in this issue were previously alluded to in Metroplex's more-poetic thoughts from issue 2: racers ("''...and some are light and fleet of foot...''"), beastformers ("''...and some as fierce as beasts...''"), and tiny combiner pairs ("''...and some were paired forevermore...though fools called them the least.''").
*The characters of ''Windblade'' would next appear in [[The World of Tomorrow|''Robots in Disguise'' #33]].

===Transformers references===
* Further establishing just how diverse the colony worlds have grown, the few occupants that Windblade glimpses include [[Fireshot (G1)|Fireshot]] and [[Vanquish (G1)|Vanquish]] (a pair of [[Micromaster Combiner]]s), and [[Injector]] and [[Air Hammer]] (two [[Fuzor]]s) in an ocean. There's also a red, non-Earthly vehicle that word of god<ref>[http://mscottwrites.tumblr.com/post/92633901891/red-car-with-yellow-rims-could-we-maybe-get-the-word Writer Mairghread Scott on her Tumblr blog].</ref> says is a G1 version of [[Knock Out (Prime)|''Prime'' Knock Out]]; the race he appears to be having with another 'bot seems to deliberately evoke [[Velocitron]], a Cybertronian colony world from ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)|Transformers: Cybertron]]'' where racing was the order of the day. A year later, "[[All That Remains]]" would confirm the identity of Knock Out and his planet as Velocitron.
** The [[Eukaris|planet of beastformers]] and the [[Devisiun|planet of Micromaster combiners]] would be covered in further detail in [[Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|''Windblade'' vol. 2 #6]].
* However, [[Drift - Empire of Stone issue 1|''Drift - Empire of Stone'' #1]], published ''after'' this issue, introduced a non-Micromaster Decepticon Vanquish. This problem could be resolved, though, if one assumes that the colonist Vanquish is his [[Vanquish (ROC)|Autobot ''Zone'' counterpart]].

===Covers (3)===
*'''Standard cover:''' Windblade and Starscream, by [[Sarah Stone]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' Windblade, by [[Phil Jimenez]] and [[Romulo Fajardo Jr.]]
*'''30th Anniversary cover:''' Chromia, by Phil Jimenez and Romulo Fajardo Jr.

<gallery>
File:Windblade04_regcvr.jpg|
File:Windblade04_subcvr.jpg|
File:Windblade04_cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[The World of Tomorrow|#33]]
*''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Twenty Plus One|#31]]
*''[[The Transformers: Primacy]]''
*''[[Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (console)|Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark]]''
*''Machi Koro'' (back cover)

==External links==
*[http://www.newsarama.com/21621-idw-transformers-previews-july-23-vs-gi-joe-launches-windblade-s-first-mini-wraps-up.html Preview]

==References==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Windblade issues]]