Editing Flames of Yesterday

{{disambig2|the Wings of Honor story|the Beast Machines episode|Fires of the Past}}
{{Comicstory|
|seriesissue=[[Transformers Timelines (fiction)|''Transformers: Timelines'']]<br>text story
|prev=At Fight's End
|next=A Team Effort
|image=FlamesOfYesterday Heart of the Dragon.jpg
|seriesissue2=''[[Transformers: Wings Universe|Wings Universe]]''
|prev2=The Coming Storm: Part 2
|next2=The Coming Storm: Part 3
|title="Flames of Yesterday"
|publisher=[[Transformers Collectors' Club]] (online exclusive)
|date=[[May 24]], [[2010]]
|written by=[[Jesse Wittenrich]]
|illustrations by=[[Andrew Griffith]] and [[Jesse Wittenrich]]
|pagecount=44pp
|continuity=[[Transformers: Wings Universe|Wings Universe]]
}}
'''A mission babysitting archaeologists turns into a showdown with Cybertron's past.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Magnum]] introduces the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] to [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]]'s [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]] squad, much to their bemusement and [[Sentinel Major]] is forced to explain how the name makes sense for an Autobot team. Metalhawk and [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] are called into a briefing, where Comm Officer [[Big Bang]] and [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] tell them about an all-female team of archeologists who've located an ancient factory, thought to hold the secrets of the origins of the [[Transformer]] race. Both Elite Guard teams are required to lend a hand.

They land the ''[[Hawk's Claw]]'' near the city of [[Median]] and meet [[Strika (BM)|Strika]], who is supremely uninterested in any and all come-ons from the male Autobots. She leaves them to speculate what the archeologists might have found, until [[Flip Sides (G1)|Flipsides]] arrives to lead them to a hall containing a massive urn. [[Glyph (Universe)|Glyph]] translates the text on the urn for them, explaining that it says it contains the "[[Heart of the Dragon]]", a mythical beast said to have attacked [[Hyperious]]. Readings suggest that the urn contains either the [[spark]] or the [[personality component]] of something Cybertronian. [[Rage (G1)|Rage]], the leader of a small Decepticon faction named the [[Stormtrooper (G1)|Stormtrooper]]s, is going to make an attempt to steal the thing — [[Hydradread]] and [[Drench (G1)|Drench]] already tried to break in before. The Elite Guard set about improving the fortifications.

Some distance away, Rage's group has stopped. Rage sends [[Roadgrabber]] ahead to breach the walls while he uses binoculars to scope out the enemy fortifications, and spots the Elite Guard presence. Roadgrabber unerringly finds the weakest point in the wall and plows though... only to discover that it's right in front of the weakest part of the floor. The other four attackers are lured into a trap by [[Lancer]], but Rage unleashes a liquid weapon on Metalhawk which incapacitates the Autobot, and the quartet crash through the rest of the Elite Guard present.

Onslaught's group fires on the incoming Stormtroopers, only to find there are only two targets, not four. Rage and [[Aquablast]] have slipped around and broken into the main chamber. They cut the urn in half and retrieve the personality component inside, before dealing with [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]] and [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]]. The two Decepticons pay a visit to the bunker in which the archeology team is sheltering and kill Glyph for the research she's carrying. Lancer picks this moment to appear and blow Aquablast's head off in retaliation, but Rage escapes.

As the Stormtroopers escape, the Guardsmen give chase, only to encounter [[Cement-Head]] and [[Terror-Tread]], two hulking brutes who facilitate their leader's escape by keeping the Autobots busy. After the Decepticons have all left, pointed questions are asked about why the auto-guns weren't activated, and Flipsides says they must have malfunctioned. She reports that the archeology team going to head back to [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]], and suggests the Guardsmen pursue Rage. They do so, and it's not long before they find Cement-Head and Terror-Tread again. Onslaught's plan to stick them together with Vortex's glue gun is successful, and the pair hardly constitute a hindrance.

The Guardsmen proceed to the [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], Rage's mobile fortress, where they're met by a welcoming committee: [[Buffalo Dump]] and three [[Minotoron]]s. Weapons only make the beasts angrier, but [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] uses a device he picked up earlier to scare them off with a high-pitched noise. [[Dion (G1)|Dion]], [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] and Swindle use the beasts to get into the Metrotitan, Trojan horse style, and open the exterior doors to let the others in. Rage, who eventually intends to install the stolen personality component into the Metrotitan itself, has installed it into a somewhat smaller body as a test.

[[Brimstone (G1 Decepticon)|Brimstone]] makes a dramatic appearance, demonstrating his [[Fire-breath|flame breath]] which can completely disintegrate anything it touches. The Guardsmen flee, though the very walls seem to shift around them to cut them off, and manage to take advantage of a surprisingly convenient door. They hit Brimstone with Ironfist's entire stock of explosive, but the dragon emerges from the explosion intact. Just as all seems lost, the Guardsmen encounter Drench, Rage's second-in-command, who's decided that Rage has gone way too far and is prepared to defect. Drench points out that the small body Brimstone is in isn't big enough to contain Brimstone's energies and is on the verge of exploding. With Drench's help, they escape the Metrotitan just as the prediction becomes reality and Brimstone explodes violently.

Back in Iacon, Magnum is suspicious of the accuracy of Metalhawk's report, but Onslaught's report is a little less embellished. He tells Metalhawk and Onslaught that he has a new mission for them in [[Praxium]]. Elsewhere, [[Lyzack (Victory)|Lyzack]] reports on Rage's failure to her leader.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters|c1=
* [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] (1)
* [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] (2)
* [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] (3)
* [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] (4)
* [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] (5)
* [[Dion (G1)|Dion]] (6)
* [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]] (7)
* [[Sentinel Major]] (8)
* [[Magnum]] (9)
* [[Big Bang]] (10)
* [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]] (11)
* [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] (12)
* [[Over-Run (G1)|Over-Run]] (13)
* [[Strika (BM)|Strika]] (14)
* [[Flip Sides (G1)|Flipsides]] (15)
* [[Glyph (Universe)|Glyph]] (16)
* [[Greenlight]] (17)
* [[Lancer]] (18)
* [[Outback (G1)|Outback]] (31)
|c2=
* [[Roadgrabber]] (19)
* [[Rage (G1)|Rage]] (20)
* [[Drench (G1)|Drench]] (21)
* [[Hydradread]] (22)
* [[Aquablast]] (23)
* [[Terror-Tread]] (24)
* [[Cement-Head]] (25)
* [[Metrotitan (Zone)|The Metrotitan]] (26)
* [[Buffalo Dump]] (27)
* [[Minotoron]]s (28)
* [[Brimstone (G1 Decepticon)|Brimstone]] (29)
* [[Megabolt]]'s corpse (30)
* [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]] (32)
* [[Lyzack (Victory)|Lyzack]] (33)
}}

==Quotes==
"Wow, if even Brawl doesn’t want to stand and fight, you know that running’s the better option!"
:—'''Dion''' does [[Furmanism]]s wrong.


'''Metalhawk:''' "L-Lancer! T-The... fuzzy... The fuzzy p-petro-rabbits taste like... yellow..."<br/>
'''Lancer:''' "That... That's not good, is it?"<br/>
'''Dion:''' "They had some kind of chemical weapon that knocked him out cold. He's having a little problem rebooting."<br/>
[a few moments later]<br/>
'''Metalhawk:''' "Grishy boushy makes vroom..." *passes out again*
:—Metalhawk is not here right now. Please leave a message after the beep.


'''Magnum:''' "You really expect me to believe all this? Gods, dragons... and here it says that you all died!"<br/>
'''Metalhawk:''' "Well, I may have taken a few liberties..."<br/>
'''Onslaught:''' "Perhaps you should read my report, it's probably more... accurate."<br/>
'''Magnum:''' "Hmm, Median, monsters and Metrotitan. It's all there. Minus the artistic license, of course. Well, at least it's better than Ironfist's single sentence, or Swindle's report that read like romance holo-pulp. With him being the hero and love-interest, of course."
:—The Elite Guard engages in Rashomon Style mission reporting.

==Notes==
* Characters mentioned who do not appear include: [[Landshakespearian|Landshakespeare]], [[Thunderblast (G1)|Thunderblast]], [[The One]], the [[Quintesson|creators]], one of Dion's [[Elita One (G1)|friends]], the [[Covenant (group)|Covenant]], [[Ariex (BW)|Ariex]], [[Capricun]], [[Geminator]], [[Libras]], [[Sandstorm (BW)|Scorpius]], [[Taurotron]], [[Virgol]], [[Leonicus]], the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]], [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], a [[Thunder Clash|white and green Autobot]], a [[Landshark (G1)|big green Autobot]], a [[Golden One|golden dragon]], [[Traachon]], Lyzack's [[Leozack|brother]], and [[Falcon (G1)|Falcon]].

===Continuity notes===
* The beginning of the story takes place right after the end of "[[The Coming Storm: Part 2]]", with the Combaticons greeting their new comrades. 
* Dion's launchers were noted to use [[Reverse-Higgs mechanism]] in his profile in the Diamond Edition of the "[[Wings of Honor]]" comic.
* The Transformers belief in The One(s) as their creator originally appeared in the "Wings of Honor" comic.
* The factory in this story is obviously one of those seen by [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]] during his vision inside the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] in ''Transformers'' episode "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4]]". The concept that the Autobots were created by the Quintessons as service robots and the Decepticons as military units also originates from that episode. Additionally, Brimstone mentions the original Transformers attacks that forced the Quintessons offworld, and his part in it.
* Alpha Trion knows what the factory is, as he was one of the original Transformers created during the Quintesson reign, as seen in "Five Faces of Darkness" and "[[Forever Is a Long Time Coming (episode)|Forever Is a Long Time Coming]]".
* Glyph and Strika's appearances in this story are based on two generics seen in Rodimus' vision of Quintesson-held Cybertron in "Five Faces of Darkness". Author Jesse Wittenrich interpreted the vision as more allegorical than a recording of actual events, which would make their mission moot.
* Greenlight and Lancer are the two generic members of [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]]'s squad of female Autobots from "[[The Search for Alpha Trion]]". finally given names after 25 years.
* Dion is reminded of "an old friend" when he and the others learn that the archaeological team are all female; obviously, this is Ariel, who worked at the docks with him and [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Orion Pax]] in "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]".
* Swindle brings up the [[Lightning Bug]] while talking about ancient weapons, seen in “[[Cosmic Rust (episode)|Cosmic Rust]]”.
* Personality components were introduced in "[[Starscream's Brigade]]", while laser cores were originally mentioned in “[[Divide and Conquer]]”; later fiction has indicated that a laser core is related to the spark, although the type of relationship varies. Here, the laser core contains the spark.
* The planet of [[Goo 8739B|Goo]], from “Five Faces of Darkness”, is mentioned at one point.
* Drench remembers having encountered Thunder Clash and his Elite Guard team, having been ripped to pieces by Landshark.
* Over-Run’s [[Attack Copter|heli-drone]] is out of commission, its circuits having been shorted out by the fluids of the [[Virulent Clone]]s in “[[The Coming Storm: Part 2]]”.
* One of the engravings on the urn containing the Heart of the Dragon depicts Brimstone defeating a golden dragon; this is the [[Golden One]] from the extradimensional world of [[Menonia]], seen in “[[Madman's Paradise]]”.
* The personality components different depictions from "[[Starscream's Brigade]]" and “[[B.O.T. (episode)|B.O.T.]]” are explained here; the energon cube-like depiction from the former is the result of it glowing with “transformative energy” which reformats the vessel it is placed into a new form, like the Combaticons’ components did with the WWII-era vehicles they were placed into. It loses that energy afterwards, which causes it to look like the box covered with dials and switches seen in the latter.
* During Metalhawk’s hallucinations, he mentions [[petro-rabbit]], a species originally mentioned in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''.
* Glyph fades to grey as she dies, as Transformers were depicted to do in ''The Transformers: The Movie''.
* Magnum gives Onslaught and Metalhawk’s teams a new assignment in [[Praxium]], setting up [[The Coming Storm: Part 3]].
* Deathsaurus promises to help Lyzack free her brother, Leozack, who was captured in “Wings of Honor”.

===Transformer references===
* Dion's [[Nitronium launcher]]s are named for [[Natron]], the Autobot car from the [[Tyco]] [[Electric Racing Set]]. They're noted to being susceptible to quasar jams without modifications; [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]]'s [[quasar rifle]] had the same problem in the [[Beast Wars (Part 1)|first episode]] of the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon.* Big Bang was an abandoned Japanese concept, intended to be the Autobot leader in the post-''Zone'' toyline, before being replaced by [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Star Convoy]] in what became ''Return of Convoy''.
* Swindle's old flame, Thunderblast, is presumably a ''Generation 1'' version of the ''Cybertron'' [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Decepticon]] of the same name.
* Glyph was an exclusive toy sold at [[BotCon 2002]]. Strika was an Autobot-turned-Vehicon General from ''Beast Machines'', seen here before she became a famous general. Flip Sides was an [[e-Hobby]] exclusive, sold with the ''Collector's Edition'' reissue of [[Blaster (G1)|Twincast]]. A sleeper agent for the Decepticons in her original bio, it’s implied here that she works for Deathsaurus as an informant.
* Rage and the Stormtroopers were European exclusives to the ''Transformers'' toyline, released near the tail end of the line. Their water-squirting gimmick is treated as a chemical spray here.
* The [[Covenant (group)|Covenant]] were introduced in the ''[[Reaching the Omega Point]]'' storyline, the first [[BotCon]] fiction to be published. A prototypical version of the [[Thirteen]], they were based on the astrological signs of the Zodiac; here, they are actual constellations, fulfilling the same roles as the Earth Zodiac. 
* The Metrotitan, here a non-living fortress modified by the Stormtroopers to have a secondary mobile mode, is a version of the ''Zone'' Decepticon redeco of [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]].
* Roadgrabber was the Decepticon [[Pretender]] Vehicle released in the 1988 year of the ''Transformers'' toyline. Although not explicitly called a Pretender here, he still has his shell.
* Terror-Tread and Cement-Head were [[Micromaster Combiner]]s released at the tail end of the ''Transformers'' toyline with the [[Cannon Transport]]. Here, they’re full sized Transformers, towering even over Onslaught.
* Over-Run's back-up drone is based on the drone/”[[Super Mode|Brute Mode]]” combiner armor of ''Energon'' [[Quickstrike (Energon)|Quickstrike]], a redeco of ''Energon'' [[Bulkhead (Energon)|Bulkhead]], the mold of whom Over-Run is also based on.
* Lancer calls Metalhawk “Boss Bot,” the appellation [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] gave to [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] in ''Beast Wars''.
* [[Luggie's]] is named for ''Animated'' [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]].
* Buffalo Dump originates from concept art for an unproduced subline of ''Transformers'' figures known as “Motor World”. It’s unknown what exactly this would have entailed, but judging by other concepts seen alongside it, the line would have continued the [[Micromaster]] gimmick.
* Mechanometers, a unit of measurement introduced in “[[City of Steel (episode)|City of Steel]]” and hics from “[[The Magnificent Six!]]” are brought up several times in the story.
* Brimstone is repurposed from the ''Universe'' Mini-Con [[Brimstone (Universe)|Brimstone]].
* Drench notes that “Even at micro-size [Brimstone] has the power to surprise,” riffing one of the taglines for Micromasters in the ''Transformers'' toyline.
* The body intended for Brimstone in the abandoned stage 2 is that of ''Robots in Disguise'' [[Megabolt]], recognizable from its description as “green, gold, and teal”.
* As seen in the quote section, Dion quips that “if even Brawl doesn’t want to stand and fight, you know that running’s the better option,” riffing the [[Furmanism]].
* Drench is reformatted into a new body after defecting, becoming the Autobot Drench from ''Generation 2''. He’s noted to hand over his weaponry for the Autobots to reverse-engineer, referencing how the Color Changer toys also had water-squirting guns.
* Traachon was an Autobot general introduced in the Marvel UK comics.

===Real-world references===
* The overall narrative of the story is loosely inspired by various Greek myths, most prominently being the legends of {{w|Jason}} and the {{w|Argonauts}}. According to author Jesse Wittenrich, the decision to base it on the Greek myths came about when the Decepticon Rage was chosen to be the main villain, which reminded him of the first lines of the Greek epic poem, the ''{{w|Iliad}}'' ("Rage: Sing Goddess, Achilles' rage, black and murderous..."). Accordingly, there are references to Greek myths throughout the story.
* Sentinel comments that he's "a military ‘bot, not some Landshakespearian" when the others question the Combaticon name; this indicates there's a Cybertronian equivalent to {{w|William Shakespeare}}, presumably named Landshakespeare.
* Onslaught notes that he graduated at the top of his class at [[Omnihelix Academy]], the name of which takes inspiration from the Omnitrix from ''{{w|Ben 10}}''.
* The [[Ajax P-9000 Grade-B Jump Launch Accelerator]] takes its name from the Greek mythological hero, {{w|Ajax the Great}}, who played an important role in the aformentioned ''Iliad''. 
* Median is named for {{w|Medea}}, the wife of the aforementioned Jason from Greek mythology.
* Lancer’s role in the story is inspired by the Greek mythological character {{w|Atalanta}}, who joined the Argonauts after visiting her home island.
* [[Mount Helix]] (also known as the “Nest of the Gods”) references the Greek myths about {{w|Mount Olympus}}.
* The city of [[Hyperious]] is named for the Titan {{w|Hyperion (mythology)|Hyperion}}. 
* Swindle is noted to sound like a “used [[trillium-transport]] salesman”; ''{{w|Trillium}}'' is a genus of flower.
* The [[Krystar iron-bear]] is named for the titular character from Marvel comic and Remco toyline, ''{{w|The Saga of Crystar}}''.
* The [[Tressian Kajig—]] is named for voice actress {{w|Tress MacNeille}} and the euphemism “kajigger” from ''{{w|Futurama}}'' used by Hattie McDougal, who is voiced by MacNeille.  
* Onslaught calls Roadgrabber the “purple ‘bot-eater,” after the song “{{w|The Purple People Eater}}” by {{w|Sheb Wooley}}.
* The [[Sehlat Fuzz-Bear]] is named for the Sehlats from ''[[Star Trek]]''.
* The Minotorons are named for the mythological creature, the {{w|Minotaur}}.
* Hydrahead uses a hydrospanner while working on Brimstone’s new body, a tool from ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]''.
* At one point, the narration states “Brimstone huffed and he puffed and blew the door down,” paraphrasing the fable ''{{w|The Three Little Pigs}}''.
* The [[Turesian Tumble Snake]] is named for the Taresians from ''{{w|Star Trek: Voyager}}''.
===Errors===
* Many, many, many proofreading errors. Those were later fixed in an updated version of the story.
* Hydradread is mistakenly identified as Aquablast at one point This was later fixed in an updated version of the story.

==External links==
* [http://transformersclub.com/prose/Flames.pdf "Flames of Yesterday"] at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club

[[Category:Text stories]]
[[Category:Timelines media]]
[[Category:Wings Universe media]]