Editing Prime's Directive, Part Two

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Star Trek vs. Transformers]]'' #2
|prev=Prime's Directive, Part One
|next=Prime's Directive, Part Three
|image=STvsTF2 cvrB.jpg
|title="Prime's Directive, Part Two"
|caption=''It's life, Jim, but not as we know it''<br>''Not as we know it''<br>''Not as we know it''<br>''It's life, Jim, but not as we know it''<br>''Not as we know it, captain.''
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[November 14]], [[2018]]
|coverdate=October 2018
|written by=[[John Barber]] and [[Mike Johnson]]
|art by=[[Philip Murphy]]
|colors by=[[Leonardo Ito]] & [[Josh Burcham]]
|letters by=[[Christa Miesner]]
|editor=[[Chase Marotz]] and [[David Mariotte]]
|continuity=''[[Star Trek vs. Transformers]]''
}}

'''Kirk gets a crash course in Cybertronian history while the Decepticons and Klingons form a deadly alliance.''' 

==Synopsis==
On the surface of [[Cygnus Seven]], [[Doctor McCoy]] and [[Spock]] eye [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]'s body suspiciously; despite [[Scotty]]'s assurances, McCoy wonders, ''can'' they trust the gigantic robot, given their prior encounter? Spock is more optimistic, noting that the robot's comatose form is marked with a [[Autobot|symbol]] that distinguishes him from the hostile mechanoids they've just driven off. Scotty, meanwhile, remains eager to try and jumpstart their unusual patient, but is unsure ''how'' to do it until Spock comes up with a theory of his own; noting that the electrical signals of Prime's head are similar to those of humanoid brains, Spock uses the traditional [[Vulcan]] mind meld procedure to merge his consciousness with that of the Cybertronian's.

''Entering Optimus's mind, the science officer is quickly overwhelmed by a kaleidoscope of ancient memories: a [[Cybertron (planet)|metal planet]] locked in an [[Great War (G1)|endless war]], a [[Ark (G1)|starship]] crash, a battle against an [[Megatron (G1)|eternal foe]] on archaic [[Earth]]...'' and this emotional deluge causes the half-Vulcan to sever the telepathic link. Spock is shaken by his experience, but assures McCoy that he's unharmed. Scotty, on the other hand, is overjoyed; the brief mental connection has successfully roused their patient from stasis! Introductions are made all around as Prime thanks his rescuers, but when Spock reminds him of the circumstances behind his deactivation, Prime's concerns immediately go back to the Decepticons responsible for the attack on the planet. Spock reassures him that they've already sent the Decepticons packing... but Prime gravely corrects Spock's assertion that he's the last robot left on the planet—he's ''not''.

Deep beneath the planet's [[dilithium]] mine, [[Jim Kirk|Captain Kirk]], [[Sulu]], and [[M'Ress]] are learning this fact firsthand; an irate [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] is in no mood to play nicely with the organics, demanding to know what they've done with Optimus. Despite their best efforts to evade the colossal aliens, the captain and his shipmates find themselves pinned down by Autobots, with Jazz snarling that he knows what humans are capable of. Kirk tries a different tack, and after connecting the wounded robotic truck he encountered and the name "Optimus Prime," he convinces the Autobots to stand down. Kirk assures them that Prime is still alive and in the care of his capable associates, and that he and his team entered the mineshaft because of their unusual energy signatures. Kirk and his crew come in peace and mean no harm; indeed, all he wants to know is... who ''are'' they?

Meanwhile, on a nearby moon, the routed Decepticons themselves regroup inside [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] as [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] gets to grips with their unusual new [[Klingon]] allies. Commander [[Kuri]] explains how the starship ''[[USS Enterprise|Enterprise]]'' shot down their ship, and is all too eager to get revenge on Kirk, proposing that an alliance may prove beneficial for both parties. [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] shares Megatron's dismissive attitude at first, believing that the Decepticons stand nothing to gain by allying with the Klingons, but Kuri has an ace up his sleeve: do the Decepticons know anything about cloaking technology?

With the Autobots now assured of Kirk's good intentions, Jazz has [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] tell him and his crew their unusual history. Four million years ago, Bumblebee relates, the Autobots left their home planet of Cybertron aboard the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' and crash-landed on Earth, pursued by the warlike Decepticons, who sought to conquer other worlds in pursuit of [[energon]]. Reawakening in the years before humanity developed warp travel, the Autobots and Decepticons disguised themselves as human machines and fought a secret war on Earth for many years... until the beginning of [[World War III]] posed an existential threat to the Autobots. Prime's troops left Earth for good aboard the [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]] [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] and travelled through deep space for decades in search of fuel, unaware that the Decepticons had given chase aboard their own living starship, [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. When the Decepticons caught up with the Autobots over Cygnus Seven, Megatron and his warriors breached Fortress Maximus's hull, and in the chaos the Titan plummeted onto the barren planet, the impact incapacitating all aboard for many centuries. When the [[Federation]] recently colonized Cygnus Seven, miners stumbled on the abandoned ship and inadvertently reactivated the Titan's autonomous repair systems, bringing the Decepticons back online while giving them the chance to flee before the ship could bring Prime back online—but the moment Prime reactivated, Kirk realises, he headed to the planet's surface to defend the innocents caught in the crossfire.

Aboard the ''Enterprise'', acting-captain [[Arex (Star Trek)|Arex]] reports to Spock that he's followed the Decepticons to their current base of operations. When they arrive, however, they discover nothing but an empty crater... immediately followed up by Kuri's [[Warbird (Star Trek)|warbird]] decloaking itself, shooting down the starship in a surprise attack! Arex attempts to send a distress transmission to Spock before the ship goes down. Perched atop the warbird, [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] confirms that the ''Enterprise'' crew have left themselves divided and ripe for the taking, while Megatron enthuses over their success: now the planet's abundant supplies of energon are ripe for Decepticon conquest!

In the mineshaft, M'Ress receives the transmission on her communicator, but the thickness of the mineshaft walls mean that they can't send a message ''back'' to the ''Enterprise''. [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] offers them a lift up to the surface, unaware that, as they speak, Prime and his three passengers are already en route to the mine to regroup with the other Autobots. Prime and his allies arrive, at the mineshaft, only to be ambushed by [[Airachnid (G1)|Airachnid]], Starscream, and [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]], their blasts causing an avalanche that seals the entrance to the mine shut! Prime and his new allies take shelter behind a fallen building, but Scotty worries that the entrance to the mine won't hold for much longer. 
Underground, Kirk and the trapped Autobots weigh up their options. Outgunned, outmanned, and outmaneuvered by the Decepticons, [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] hatches a risky plan to bring Fortress Maximus back online...

==Featured characters==
Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks.<br>
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]/''Orion Pax'' (4)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (6)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] (8)
*[[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] (10)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (12)
*[[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] (13)
*''[[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]]'' (21)

|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] (5)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (6)
*[[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] (12)
*[[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] (13)
*[[Airachnid (G1)|Airachnid]] (14)
*[[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] (19)


|h3=[[Federation]]|c3=
*[[Doctor McCoy]] (1)
*[[Scotty]] (2)
*[[Spock]] (3)
*[[Jim Kirk]] (7)
*[[M'Ress]] (9)
*[[Sulu]] (11)
*[[Arex (Star Trek)|Arex]] (22)

|h4=[[Klingon]]s|c4=
*[[Kor]] (15)
*[[Kuri]] (16)
*[[Kali]] (17)
*[[Kaz]] (18)

|h5=Others|c5=
*''[[World War III|WWIII]] soldiers'' (20)
*''[[Zefram Cochrane]]'' (22)
*''[[Lily Sloane]]'' (23)
}} 

==Quotes==
"My name is Optimus Prime. And you have my gratitude."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' greets the crew of the ''Enterprise''


"I hit one with my phaser, only to see it...'''change''', and say it wanted to '''protect''' human life." <br>
"I knew it! '''''You killed Optimus!''''' ... what's a 'phaser?'"
:—'''Kirk''' and '''Bumblebee'''


"Under all that '''metal''' and '''circuitry''', they're as human as '''you''' or—well, as human as '''me''', anyway." 
:—'''Scotty''' to '''Arex'''

==Notes==
* Though the issue preceding it is called "[[Prime's Directive, Part One]]", and while it ''should'' logically follow that this is "Part Two" of this story, this issue doesn't receive a title of any kind.
 
===Continuity notes===
*Following on from last issue, this issue confirms that our ''Transformers'' cast is, indeed, native to this universe and not the result of any cross-dimensional shenanigans. Jazz and Bumblebee's narration implies that a series of events ''akin'' to those of the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]] went down, however, though Jazz explicitly notes that the Earthbound Transformers attempted to keep a "low profile", which is quite unlike the brazenly conspicuous antics of both the Autobots and Decepticons of the Sunbow universe.

===Transformers references===
*During his mind-meld with Prime, Spock glimpses the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and witnesses a vision of Orion Pax, looking identical to the young 'bots appearance in the ''Transformers'' episode "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]".
* Another sequence of panels in the mind meld depict the Transformers' arrival to Earth, based on the events of "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]": the dogfight between the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'' and the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'', the ''Ark''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s subsequent crash into [[Mount St. Hilary]], and [[Teletraan I]] zapping an unidentified [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] with a repair beam. The bottommost panel features Optimus and Megatron facing off at what is presumably [[Sherman Dam]], a nod to the oft-homaged battle between the two leaders from "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 2]]".
* Bumblebee notes that the ''Ark'' originally left Cybertron, here, described as "hurtling through space", so as to "blast some asteroids", referencing Cybertron's backstory and the original purpose of the ''Ark''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s voyage as described in the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel G1 comic]].
* While detailing the Transformers' history on Earth, an event resembling the [[Battle of Autobot City]] from [[The Transformers: The Movie|the 1986 animated film]] is shown.
*Bumblebee says that the Cybertronians were forced off Earth by the humans' "very own World War III", the Great War having been established to be the "Third Cybertronian War" in the Sunbow universe.
* Bumblebee identifies Fortress Maximus and Trypticon as [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]]s, a name for colossal Cybertronians first used in the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity]], with Trypticon being one in that continuity.
* Fortress Maximus and Trypticon being used together reflects them having recently received figures in the ''[[Titans Return (toyline)|Titans Return]]'' toyline.
* Fortress Maximus's use in the story as an impromptu starship, left buried on an alien planet for centuries, evokes the fate of his 2001 ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon)|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|counterpart]]. 
* The battle aboard Fortress Maximus, and the deactivation and reactivation of the Cybertronian combatants after years of stasis, is pretty blatantly lifted from "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1"; it can barely even be called a reference, as Bumblebee straight-up mentions that this is "history repeating itself!"

===Star Trek references===
*Kuri threatens Megatron with a [[memoryalpha:D'k tahg|D'k tahg]] knife. 
*Following on from last issue's mention of the [[Eugenics Wars]], this issue goes on to incorporate the ''next'' global conflict to sweep ''Star Trek'''s version of Earth—[[memoryalpha:World War III|World War III]]—into the plot. The narcotically-controlled soldier seen in Bumblebee's story is shown wearing the period-appropriate uniform, briefly adopted by omnipotent trickster [[memoryalpha:Q|Q]] in the ''The Next Generation'' episode "[[memoryalpha:Encounter at Farpoint (episode)|Encounter at Farpoint]]." 
*This also establishes that in this continuity the Eugenics Wars and World War III were separate conflicts; in the Original Series (which the comic-using Animated Series was an extension of) they were implied to have been the ''same'' conflict, something that was retconned in later Trek series.
*[[Zefram Cochrane]]—the eccentric inventor of the [[memoryalpha:warp drive|warp drive]] and best known in the series' canon for his role in the film ''[[memoryalpha:Star Trek: First Contact|First Contact]]'', although he ''did'' have an [[memoryalpha:Metamorphosis (episode)|encounter with Kirk]] as well—appears during the flashback to World War III. Alongside him is [[Lily Sloane]], who was Cochrane's collaborator in ''First Contact''.

===Other notes===
*Originally solicited for mid-October, this issue arrives rather late, midway through November. 
*Backmatter for this issue includes an interview with ''Star Trek'' artist [[memoryalpha:Carlos Nieto|Carlos Nieto]].

===Covers (3)===
*'''Cover A:''' Kirk beams down while Prime and Megatron duke it out, by [[Philip Murphy]]
*'''Cover B:''' Spock, Cybertron, and the battle of Sherman Dam, by [[Marcelo Ferreira]]
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Optimus and Spock greet one another with the [[memoryalpha:Vulcan salute|Vulcan salute]] as Kirk and Arex look on, by [[Derek Charm]]
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==External links==
*[http://comicbook.com/startrek/2018/11/13/star-trek-vs-transformers-2-preview/ Preview]
*[[memoryalpha:Star Trek vs. Transformers, Issue 2|Issue article]] at Memory Alpha
*[[wikia:memory-beta:Prime's Directive, Part Two|Issue article]] at Memory Beta, the non-canon ''Star Trek'' wiki

[[Category: Star Trek vs. Transformers issues]]

{{DEFAULTSORT: Prime's Directive, Part 2}}