Editing Rules of Disengagement (issue)

{{disambigr|Rules of Disengagement|the ''[[Transformers Legends (mobile game)|Transformers Legends]]'' event|Rules of Disengagement (Legends)}}
{{Comicstory|
|series=mtmte|issueno=7
|prev=Interiors
|next=Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations
|seriesissue2="Scavengers"
|next2=Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?
|caption=
|image=MTMTE7_cvrA.jpg
|title="Rules of Disengagement"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[July 25]], [[2012]]
|coverdate=July 2012
|story by=[[James Roberts]]
|art by=[[Alex Milne]]
|colors by=[[Josh Burcham]] and [[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Shawn Lee]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2012)]]
}}
'''A mismatched group of Decepticons find themselves in the crosshairs of the deadliest team of killers there is... the Decepticon Justice Division!'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Mtmte7 djd.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.8]]
As a [[Phase Sixer]], [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] is one of the most feared Decepticons, having tackled the [[Wrecker]]s single-handedly, defeated the entire [[113th Battalion]], and massacred the population of [[Rigel IV]]. But when he accepted a bribe to blow up a fleet of [[Warworld|War Worlds]], he landed himself in the sights of the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], a team of vicious killers fanatically dedicated to [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] and charged with destroying all who cross him. It's not a pretty sight when the D.J.D. catch up to Black Shadow: melted by [[Helex (DJD)|Helex]], crushed by [[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]], and electrocuted by [[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]], he is explosively finished off when DJD leader [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] uses his ability of "weaponized conversation" to stop the pulse of his [[spark]]. Their task done, the DJD set off to find their next target on the planet of [[Clemency]]—a target guilty of simply living.

On the ''[[Lost Light]]'', [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]], [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] and [[Ambulon]] combine their medical expertise to save the life of the wounded [[Rung (G1)|Rung]], though the psychiatrist remains comatose. A few hours later, [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] visits Rung in secrecy, believing—in his increasing paranoia—that the attempt on Rung's life was a deliberate one after Red told him about the voice he heard from beneath the ship. Certain that he is next, Red hides a [[data slug]] containing video he has taken of the voice's owner—[[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]—on Rung's body and bids him goodbye. But a medical [[Diagnostic Drone]] has observed the entire thing, and soon, a shadowed figure arrives in the medibay and recovers the slug...

[[File:RulesofDisengagement-FulcrumMisfire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2]]
On Clemency, a band of [[Decepticon]] [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]] consisting of [[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]], [[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]], [[Krok (G1)|Krok]], [[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]], and [[Flywheels]] are in the process of draining [[Transformer fuel|fuel]] from the vast array of Transformer corpses that litter the war-torn world when one of them, a chipper fellow named [[Fulcrum]], proves to be still alive. After a slight panic over the possibility that he might be a [[zombie]], the six 'cons settle down around a fire to talk about the great battle in Clemency's past, and the grim reality of war and how it reduces lives to statistics. Fulcrum is shocked to discover that the war is ''over'', barely able to comprehend such a thing, and the other Decepticons mumble about how meaningless it all turned out to be and how unclear their goals had been anyway. In spite of this, though, when one of the Autobot bodies stoking the Decepticons' fire proves to still be alive, Krok casually kills the poor 'bot.

Back on the ''Lost Light'', [[Chromedome (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Chromedome]] visits [[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]] in his lab to get the scientist's analysis of [[Skids (G1)|Skids]]'s mysterious gun, which Chromedome palmed from the theoretician when he was distracted. The weapon immediately blew up when Brainstorm tried to examine it, but he was able to recognise at least some of the engineering, and has concluded that as impossible as it may seem, the gun may have come from somewhere known as "the [[Institute]]"...

[[File:MTMTE7 artificial gravity.jpg|thumb|left|upright=2.2]]
As dawn breaks on Clemency, the Decepticons resume their scavenging, only for Misfire to suddenly break away from the group, thinking that he has spotted the [[Censere|Necrobot]], a mythical Grim Reaper-like figure in Cybertronian culture. Instead, what he has discovered is a P-6 [[Worldsweeper]], a famous model of gigantic Decepticon spaceship cast in the image of the faction's [[insignia]]. Investigating the vessel, the Decepticons make some horrifyingly strange discoveries: a ceiling covered entirely in [[brain module]]s, tanks of warped, malformed [[protoform]]s, a non-functional robot made entirely of wood, and a corridor composed of organic flesh that proves to have been responsible for causing the ship to crash, having ''bled'' into the fuel supply and polluted it. Misfire in particular is aghast and advocates immediate departure, but Fulcrum, coming around to the idea of new horizons, is eager to investigate. All emotions on the ship quickly turn to terror, however, when Krok receives a communication from the D.J.D., announcing that one of their number is on the Division's list. Tarn signs off with the promise that if the guilty party is handed over, the other six will be allowed to watch his execution. The numbers don't add up, and Fulcrum assumes the D.J.D. simply miscounted their life-signs... but Krok soon discovers that there is indeed a seventh party on the ship, unconscious and sealed in a stasis tube... [[Grimlock (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Grimlock]]!
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
(Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks.)<br>
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*''[[Piston (Wrecker)|Piston]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum">[http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=301648#301648 James Roberts, IDW forum]: A while back I was PM'd by Ironhide/Paul, who asked me for some information on the Wreckers who showed up in the flashback on Page 1 of issue 7. I promised to post something on this forum. Here's the relevant extract from the script:

2 / Flashback. BLACK SHADOW fights the Wreckers (an old version of the team) at close quarters: tight, dirty and violent. He rips CREST’s head off and blasts PISTON through the chest, killing him. Also in shot are VALVE, HYPERION, IMPACTOR and RACK, all trying to get a piece of him. But it’s clear that Black Shadow owns this fight. Crest has been mentioned but not seen before, but should be readily identifiable by a big old crest on his chest. Valve is a spark brother to Springarm and Wheelarch, so should look like them. Piston is all-new. Hyperion was glimpsed in MTMTE issue 2.</ref> (2)
*''[[Rack'n'Ruin|Rack]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (3)
*''[[Valve]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (4)
*''[[Hyperion (G1)|Hyperion]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (6)
*''[[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]]'' (7)
*''[[Crest]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (8)
*''[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]]'' (9)
*''[[Pyro (G1)|Pyro]]'' (10)
*''[[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]]'' (11)
*''[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]'' (12)
*''[[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]]'' (13)
*''[[Kup (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Kup]]'' (14)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] (21)
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Rung (G1)|Rung]] (22)
*[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (23)
*[[Ambulon]] (24)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (25)
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (26)
*[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (27)
*[[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]] (34)
*[[Chromedome (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Chromedome]] (35)
*''[[Rewind (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rewind]]'' (36)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Grimlock]] (37)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*[[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] (1)
*[[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] (5)
*[[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]] (15)
*[[Helex (DJD)|Helex]] (16)
*[[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]] (17)
*[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]] (18)
*''[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'' (19)
*[[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]] (28)
*[[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]] (28)
*[[Flywheels]] (30)
*[[Krok (G1)|Krok]] (31)
*[[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]] (32)
*[[Fulcrum]] (33)
|c4=
*[[Dominus Ambus|The Pet]] (20)
}}

==Quotes==
"'My weapon is my burden: a reminder of the path I was forced to take. When the word 'weapon' is emptied of meaning; when the '''purpose''' of a weapon is impossible to grasp; when the rejection of my weapon is of significance to no one other than myself... only then shall I remove it from my arm. Because only then will I have earned the right to rid myself of my burden.'"
:-'''Tarn''' recites a passage from Megatron's ''[[Towards Peace]]''


"Nice to meet you, loser! They call me '''Misfire'''. Long story. Actually, you know what? It isn't. It's a very short story involving a machine gun, a '''misunderstanding''', and a dozen dead Decepticons."
:—In the IDW-universe, '''Misfire''' actually managed to hit something!


'''Fulcrum:''' "Ah! Now! Just—just wait a second! Just— The thing about me—my big thing is this: I'm really not keen on '''dying'''. Now '''survival'''—oh wow, '''huge''' fan. Put me down for some of '''that'''. Besides, we don't even know each other! You might '''like''' me! You might find me—disarming! Yes! I'd '''disarm''' you!"<br>
'''Spinister:''' "You'd '''what''' me?"<br>
'''Flywheels:''' "Careful—he's using words to confuse and frighten us." 


"'''Go away.''' I'm busier than you've ever been and I'm doing more important things than you've ever done."<br>
"It's Chromedome."<br>
"So?"<br>
"So you have to be '''nice''' to me, I'm your only friend. Why are you—?"<br>
"Building weapons whilst hanging from the ceiling? Because no one else can. I was hoping '''Perceptor''' would walk in."
:—'''Brainstorm''' and '''Chromedome'''


"Chromedome, you're looking at a bona fide '''Binary Gun.'''"<br>
"What's a Binary Gun?"<br>
"I'm not sure—I've only just made up the name. But I called it that because inside there's only room for two cartridges, '''here''' and '''here.'''"<br>
"So what does it '''do?''' Where'd Skids get it? Why'd he carry it around with him all the time?"<br>
"I don't know! I've done my bit...!"<br>
"You made the gun '''blow up''' and then you '''gave it a name!''' I could have done that '''and''' I'd have come up with a better name!"
:—'''Brainstorm''' and '''Chromedome''' again


"But there's '''always''' been a war! That's like saying there's no more '''blue''' or—or the '''weather's''' stopped!"
:—'''Fulcrum''' catches up on recent history


"I always dreamed of captaining my own P-6—Followin' the likes of [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] and [[Sixshot]] and the other big guns. I'd have called it something '''noble''' and '''majestic''', like '''''Mega Starpuncher''''' or '''''Mighty Spaceship'''''."
:—'''Crankcase'''


"You know, there are some Decepticons who, upon finding themselves in a skin-covered room surrounded by '''aborted protoforms''' and '''mechanoids made of bark,''' would rub their hands together, marvel at the universe's infinite capacity for surprise and '''dive right in.''' I am not one of those Decepticons. I say we run away screaming."<br>
"I '''am''' one of those Decepticons, Misfire, and I say we stick around—because frankly, this is amazing."<br>
"What's amazing?"<br>
"This! Us! Now! Who owns this ship? Where are they now? Where will '''we''' be an '''hour''' from now, or '''tomorrow''', or '''next month?''' The answer to '''all''' those questions is '''"Who knows?"''' And that's a '''great answer!''' That's the '''best answer ever!''' All our lives we've followed orders—all our lives someone else has always told us what to do next! Well, not anymore! For the first time in '''forever,''' we can do whatever we like! We're '''free!'''"
:—'''Misfire''' and '''Fulcrum'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Black Shadow was established to be a Phase Sixer in his sole previous IDW appearance in ''[[The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'' [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|#2]].
*Tarn quotes a passage from ''[[Towards Peace]]'', which will later be established as Megatron's autobiography.
*In addition to obvious members Impactor and Rack (pre-Ruin), the version of the Wreckers that Black Shadow fights is made up mostly of characters mentioned and briefly glimpsed in past James Roberts works which he specified in the script.<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> None are named on-panel but Hyperion is recognizable from his corpse's role in [[Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|issue #2]], while Valve has never been seen before, but shares a body-type with his brothers [[Wheelarch]] and [[Springarm]] from "[[Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory]]". Crest was mentioned in "[[Bullets]]" (and can be recognized by his large chest-crest), while the unfortunate Piston is a new character, separate from the earlier IDW character [[Piston (mechanic)|of the same name]].
*The Decepticon Justice Division were first mentioned in one of Roberts's earliest IDW works, [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #1]], and have come up on occasion since then. They are named after cities on Cybertron; specifically, the "[[Fall of the First Five Cities|First Five Cities]]" to fall to the Decepticons in the war, which were listed in [[Life After the Big Bang|issue #4]].
*Chromedome palmed Skids's gun between pages 4 and 5 of [[Life After the Big Bang|issue #4]].
*Reference was previously made to the mysterious "Institute" by the [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|nameless senator]] in [[Chaos Theory Part 2|"Chaos Theory", Part 2]], and as part of Red Alert's paranoid delusions in [[How Ratchet Got His Hands Back|issue #5]].
*The [[Censere|Necrobot]] was previously mentioned by [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] in [[Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|issue #3]] among other [[:Category: Things that don't exist|things that don't exist]] like the [[Shimmer]] or the [[Moonbase One|Seething Moon]]. All of these turn out to exist in some form...
*Grimlock was last seen at the close of the ''[[The Transformers: Maximum Dinobots|Maximum Dinobots]]'' mini-series, over three years before the publication of this issue. Since then, all we've heard is that he had left [[Garrus-9]] after it was sacked by the Decepticons under unrevealed circumstances, as detailed in [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #4]].
*It was most likely Drift who got the data slug. However, the hand and a shadow near Rung suggests it may have also been Fortress Maximus.

===Transformers references===
*Black Shadow's design is based on his ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' toy. 
*Whilst [[Rigel III|other]] [[Rigel 6|planets]] that orbit [[Rigel|the same star]] have shown up in Transformers fiction before, this issue is the first mention of Rigel IV. It's also known as being [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kang_and_Kodos the home of a pair of pesky space aliens] from ''The Simpsons''.
* Surprisingly, this isn't [[Mara-Al-Utha|the first time]] that wooden robots have shown up in a G1 continuity.
*Black Shadow's bribe is in [[Shanix]], a little-referenced Cybertronian currency that first appeared in issue #113 of the Marvel UK series. It's seen some previous mentions in IDW continuity in [[Chaos Theory Part 1|"Chaos Theory", Part 1]] and "[[Stick Together]]".
*The Warworld was the Decepticon mothership in the Marvel ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Generation 2]]'' comic. The idea of a fleet of multiple Warworlds originated with the non-canon ''[[Alignment]]''.
*Vos's dialogue, referred to as the "[[Cybertronian language#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Primal Vernacular]]", is written using the [[Cyberglyphics]] symbol language from the [[movie continuity|live-action movie continuity]]. Employing the substitution cypher regularly used by [[Titan Books|Titan]] in their [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|UK Transformers comic]] shows that most of his speech bubbles are nonsense, however, save for the first, which reads: "So tired me go night xth".
*[[Kol]] was first seen in [[Swarm (issue)|''Generation 2'' #9]], where it was a planet. It became the name of a [[Kol System|system]] in [[Stormbringer issue 2|''Stormbringer'' #2]] with the introduction of [[Varas Centralus]], which is located there.
*Roberts had previously created a Decepticon named Fulcrum in his fan-published ''Transformers: Eugenesis'' novel. Whether these are meant to be iterations of the same character (as was the case with Rung) or just a name reuse is unclear.
*That Flywheels should freak out so seriously at the prospect of a [[zombie]] is fitting, given his prominent role in the greatest Transformers zombie story, Marvel UK's "[[City of Fear!]]" (indeed, his only prominent role in anything before now).
*Amusingly, to go by the original tech spec numbers, Krok is actually the lowest ranking Decepticon of his group. But since when was fiction accurate to the tech specs? 
*[[Hydrus Four|Hydrus 4]] is the planet of origin for [[Nucleon (substance)|nucleon]], seen in the original Marvel series. Its sister world [[Hydrus 5]] was created by James Roberts and first mentioned in "[[Bullets]]".
*The planet [[Elpasos]] is mentioned in passing, a world that debuted in—you guessed it, issue #113 of the Marvel UK series. It got a previous IDW mention in [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #5]].
*Reference is made to "Nova Peak", which is prrrrrobably the same thing as [[Nova Point]].

===Trivia===
*Although "Rules of Disengagement" is the only on-page title for this issue's story, the following issue was labelled "Scavengers (Part 2)", identifying this as an unmarked Part 1.
*The 113th Battalion is another use of the number 113 by James Roberts, referring to the [[Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!|issue of the UK comic]] that got him hooked on the series. On the same page, Black Shadow is seen battling the '''11'''th iteration of the Wreckers, with '''3''' kills. 
*This is not the first time Roberts has written a character has having been "talked to death", though this version is a lot more literal than the reference made in "Bullets" to [[Violator|a Decepticon]] who killed himself rather than listen to [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] drone on!
*Krok's ship is named the ''[[Weak Anthropic Principle]]'', which is a philosophical postulate which basically states that only a universe capable of supporting intelligent life is able to be noted by said life, whereas a universe incapable of supporting such life will go unbeheld. 

===Errors===
*"Halt" is misspelled "hault" on page 3, this was corrected for the TPB.
*Spinister was previously shown to be among the Decepticons who had already returned to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[The Autonomy Lesson (issue)|#1]]. Quick, someone [[Bluster|make up]] [[Firster Aid|a name]]!
*Spinister's name is misspelled as "Spinisther" during the search of the Symbol Ship, this remained uncorrected in the TPB.
*Krok spends most of the issue in a new set of colors, only appearing in his toy's colors in one panel on page 20.

===Crew Manifest===
*The "Story so far" segment on the inside front cover notes that "a number of [[Delphi]]'s patients" were brought to the ''Lost Light'', which is the first mention that anyone other than [[Fortress Maximus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Fortress Maximus]] came back with Ratchet and the medics.
*5 deaths, 5+ new arrivals since the launch.

===Soundtrack===
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk0vQhxyR5Y "My Year in Lists"] by [[Wikipedia:Los Campesinos!|Los Campesinos!]]

===Covers (3)===
*'''Cover A:''' Tarn, by Alex Milne and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Cover B:''' Misfire, Crankcase, Spinister, Flywheels, and Krok, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Cover RI:''' [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] and [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]], by [[Marcelo Matere]] and [[Priscilla Tramontano]], the second quarter of a combined image formed with the RI cover to ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Interference Patterns|#7]], [[Dinobot Hunt (IDW)|#8]], and ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]].

<gallery>
File:MTMTE7_cvrA.jpg|The last image in Black Shadow's mind.
File:MTMTE7_cvrB.jpg|Hi, can I have your heart?
File:MTMTE7_cvrRI.jpg|Cover RI
</gallery>

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*''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]]
*''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Dinobot Hunt (IDW)|#8]]
*''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One|Regeneration One]]'' [[Loose Ends, Part 2|#82]]
*Sergio Aragones' ''Groo: Artist's Edition''
*''[[The Transformers: Autocracy|Autocracy]]''
*''Regeneration One'' [[Loose Ends, Part 1|#81]]
*IDW's ''Mars Attacks'' comic (back cover)

==References==
{{reflist}}