Editing The Change In Your Nature Part One

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers (2019 comic)|Transformers]]'' #13
|prev=Nautica: Home
|next=The Change In Your Nature Part Two
|caption=
|image=TF2019 13 cvrA.jpg
|title="The Change In Your Nature Part One"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[October 16]], 2019
|coverdate=September 2019
|written by=[[Brian Ruckley]]
|art by=[[Angel Hernandez]] (pages 8-11, 13-18), [[Alex Milne]] (pages 1-7, 12, 19-20)
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]], [[Josh Perez]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[David Mariotte]] and [[Tom Waltz]]
|continuity=[[2019 IDW continuity]]
|chronology=
}}

'''As Sentinel Prime and his allies push back against The Rise, a suspicious Bumblebee finds himself on the trail of a conspiracy within the Ascenticon ranks.'''

==Synopsis==
One by one, the [[Decepticon|Ascenticon]]s step up to receive their new insignias: first [[Acid Storm (G1)|Acid Storm]], then [[Flywheels|Skytread]], then [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]], who gazes uncertainly at his new look, despite [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]'s cheerful attitude about the makeover. Bumblebee's doubts are momentarily eclipsed when he spies Skytread on the other side of the room, and immediately storms over to confront his fellow member of the [[Ascenticon Guard]] on what happened during [[The Rise]]'s recent attack on [[Ascenticon headquarters]]. The thuggish Skytread isn't so intimidated by the little yellow 'bot, however, and sneers that Bumblebee should be ''thanking'' him... but he soon finds the smile wiped off his face when Bumblebee blinds him with his headlamp, then easily decks his compatriot.

As the other Ascenticons gawp at the sight of the two fighting, [[Elita One (G1)|Elita-1]] disentangles the pair, and instructs Bumblebee to follow her at once. As the two head down a nearby corridor, Elita warns the yellow 'bot not to push his luck—as ill-mannered as Skytread is, she points out that Bumblebee stood no chance against [[Sixshot]] during his recent assault on the Ascenticon building. Bumblebee retorts that he ''saw'' [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] sending Barricade right where Sixshot attacked, and points out the suspiciously fortuitous circumstances that surround the terrorist attack. Does Elita-1, Bumblebee accuses, even ''know'' what's going on in the Ascenticon Guard she professes to run?

Not far away, in [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]]'s medical center, [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] touches base with [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]], happy to report that [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] will soon be up and about. Chromia inquires about the list of names that Windblade recovered in the [[Memorial Crater]], and if any one of them could be responsible for [[Rubble]]'s murder. The problem is, Ratchet explains, that there are ''too many'' suspects on the list in order to properly narrow it down into something workable: the Rise is full of heavy-hitting brutes, any one of them capable of easily offlining a little 'bot like Rubble. [[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]]'s death, however, remains a mystery: Ratchet points out that his injuries don't seem to have been inflicted by a weapon: if anything, the wounds are closer to machinery.  Rumors are continuing to fly as the situation continues to deteriorate, and Chromia muses on how the recently-returned [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]] has been handling things...

Sentinel, as it turns out, has ''not'' been having a good few days, continually besieged by reports of one crisis after the next as tensions continue to flare across [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]; [[Crosshairs (G1)|Crosshairs]] reports that members of The Rise have seemingly obtained weapons from Cybertron's armories; another 'bot informs the Prime of civil unrest in [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]], where Cybertronians have been demanding more energon; [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] keeps Sentinel updated on [[Reversionist]] protests outside the [[Tether]]... but it's [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]]'s suggestion for immediate elections that finally pushes Sentinel over the edge.

Sentinel's hamfisted attempts to rein in The Rise results in an increased police presence all across Cybertron, a show of force designed to intimidate Risers. Security teams, made up of hastily recruited rookies and veterans alike, arrest 'bots left, right, and center, illegal establishments are raided for any information regarding The Rise and its whereabouts, and patrols are even dispatched into the remote badlands in the hopes of tracking down any errant Riser bunkers. One such patrol consists of [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] and [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], sweeping the regions beyond [[Crystal City]]. Their monotonous patrol is interrupted when a police transmission warns them that someone's set off an alarm at an [[energon processing station]], and the pair head off to investigate, even though the always-impetuous Sideswipe grumbles at Springer using his helicopter form to race to the crime scene ahead of him.

That "someone", it turns out, consists of a group of Risers led by [[Ruckus (G1)|Ruckus]], on a mission to siphon valuable [[energon]] from the facility. [[Kaskade]] worries about what happened to the ''last'' group of 'bots who tried this stunt, noting that they had to kill the scientist who ran the station... though Ruckus quickly shoots down their concerns and barks at them to get the job done. By the time [[Wirespike]] has finished attaching the device, however, the trio finds Springer blocking their way. Ignoring Ruckus's shouts for backup, the Triple Changer warns them to come quietly, but he's thrown off-balance when a massive, heavily-armored drillbot bursts through the ground beneath his feet! Hurled into the energon grid, overexposure nearly shorts out Springer, and by the time Sideswipe finds him and brings him round, the four Risers have already made a run for it.

Back at Ascenticon headquarters, Elita-1 has made an unwelcome discovery: Bumblebee hasn't been listening to her, and has been snooping through some of Soundwave's encrypted files. Ignoring Elita's repeated protests to keep his head down and be her reliable second-in-command, Bumblebee tries to convince her to use her security clearance to open the files: ''something'' is up with Soundwave and Barricade, Bumblebee insists, and that something might just be the tip of this new conspiracy. Elita grimaces at the prospect, but—just this once—decides to humor Bumblebee.

Out in the badlands, Ruckus's team have evacuated to a nearby "Immersant", the crumbling remains of a gigantic, dormant [[Titan (group)|Titan]]. They're far from cornered, however, as Ruckus excitedly digs through the rust-eaten floor to procure an Ascenticon weapons cache and reveals a massive railgun. As Springer tries to breach the Titan's superstructure, he finds himself pinned down by Ruckus's devastating barrage, and when his three compatriots try to scuttle out the back door, they're jumped by Sideswipe; although Sideswipe nicks one of them with his blaster, they're bogged down in an ensuing firefight, neither side able to outpower the other without reinforcements...

Back in Iacon, Elita and Bumblebee are making some disturbing discoveries: Barricade's file has been completely deleted, the day he was "abducted" by Sixshot; some more digging reveals that [[Quake (G1)|Quake]]'s profile has also vanished, deleted on the same day Rubble was killed... and that the 'bot responsible for those deletions was none other than Soundwave himself. Before either of them can begin to figure out just what this ''means'' however, a figure darkens the door behind them: Soundwave! Elita is able to bluff Soundwave long enough to allay his suspicions, and the Ascenticon recruiter informs them that the Ascenticon Guard will be needed at the immersant Titan, informing them that they have an opportunity to assert the new Ascenticon philosophy. Elita sighs a breath of relief, but warns Bumblebee that they got lucky—''this'' time.

And, just outside of Iacon's security station, Ratchet hurries over to Chromia, who's more concerned with mobilizing every security 'bot in the city to deal with the burgeoning situation beyond the city. Ratchet has analyzed the names that Windblade has recovered, and informs her that, while the vast majority of Risers are made up of ex-miners, ex-soldiers, ex-intelligence operatives, and the like, there's one 'bot on the list who's both a miner ''and'' an intelligence operative, who's gone missing along with the rest of The Rise, and is notable for his drill-based morphology—all signs that point to him being a possible culprit in Brainstorm's murder. What, asks Ratchet, does Chromia know about a 'bot named [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]]?

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]] (11)

|h2=[[Decepticon|Ascenticon]]s|c2=
* [[Acid Storm (G1)|Acid Storm]] (1)
* [[Flywheels|Skytread]] (2)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] (3)
* [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] (4)
* [[Drift (G1)|Deadlock]] (5)
* [[Elita One (G1)|Elita-1]] (6)
* [[Ambulon]] (7)
* [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] (15)

'''[[The Rise]]'''
* [[Ruckus (G1)|Ruckus]] (20)
* [[Wirespike (G1)|Wirespike]] (21)
* [[Kaskade]] (22)
* Conspicuously unnamed drillbot (23)

|c4=
* [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (8)
* [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]] (9)
* [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] (10)
* [[Crosshairs (G1)|Crosshairs]] (12)
* ? (13)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (14)
* [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (16)
* [[Tarn (DJD)|Damus]] (17)
* [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (18)
* [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] (19)
}}

==Quotes==
"Welcome to the new look, Ascenticons! Time to get your '''angry face''' on." 
:—'''Jhiaxus'''


"Told you not to go solo! '''Told''' you!" <br> "I'm a total convert to the wisdom of that idea. Call in '''everyone'''. Those clunkers haven't got much of a start on us, and we '''are''' taking them '''down'''."
:—'''Sideswipe''' and '''Springer'''


"I '''knew''' I couldn't trust you to stay out of trouble! These are secured data! I '''really''' wanted you to be the one bot in the guard I could rely on to not be a complete idiot!" 
:—'''Elita-1'''


"I'd be in pieces if whoever's behind that railgun could aim. This is '''not''' awesome, Sideswipe." 
:—'''Springer'''


"Senior intelligence operative for kilocycles. You never hear him coming, you never know when he's listening. We got far '''luckier''' than we deserved." 
:—'''Elita-1''' on Soundwave

==Notes==
*'''First appearances:''' [[Drift (G1)|Deadlock]], [[Wirespike (G1)|Wirespike]], [[Kaskade]], conspicuously unnamed drillbot, [[Crosshairs (G1)|Crosshairs]], [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]], [[Springer (G1)|Springer]]

===Continuity notes===
* Elita points out that Bumblebee and Skytread don't get along; 'Bee previously clocked the Duocon back in [[The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part One|issue #7]], and very nearly came to blows with him in [[The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Five|issue #11]] during the staged Rise attack on Ascenticon headquarters, before Skytread deliberately knocked out Bumblebee from behind with an electric stun baton. 
* Bumblebee uses his cranium-mounted headlamp for the first time since [[The World In Your Eyes Part One|issue #1]].
* Sixshot is described as having played a role in the [[Age of Expansion|Expansion]], an era previously mentioned by [[Termagax]] in [[The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Two|issue #8]], and notes that he was responsible for freeing hostages in the [[Dremden]] system; presumably, this is the home system of the [[Occulted Dremden]], who were first namedropped in [[Nautica: Home|the previous issue]]. 
* Windblade secured the list of Risers (and sustained the injuries that she is still recovering from here) in [[The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Three|issue #9]]; along with known Risers [[Quake (G1)|Quake]] and [[Sixshot]], Ratchet also namedrops [[Lugnut (TF 2010)|Lugnut]] as another Riser.
* A frightened [[A'ovan]] appears during the montage of arrests across Cybertron.
* Nightbeat's dialogue reveals that Sixshot, like many other Ascenticons, was another veteran of the [[War of the Threefold Spark]].
* This issue reveals that the various [[energon transmission station]]s, the first of which appeared back in issue #1, have been upgraded with heavier security measures, presumably as a response to Brainstorm's unexpected death. 
* The "mountain range" of dormant Cybertronians first appeared all the way back in [[The World In Your Eyes Part One|the very first installment of the comic]]; this issue confirms that they are "immersant," presumably having chosen to undergo the same fate as [[Codexa]] and her compatriots.
* Frenzy was previously namedropped in [[The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Five|issue #11]] as a member of The Rise alongside [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]].

===Transformers references===
* This issue marks the return of popular ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' artist [[Alex Milne]] to the rebooted series. As a result, this issue features a particularly high number of cameo returnees from the [[2005 IDW continuity|prior IDW continuity]]—although this early on, it's hard to judge how many of them  will actually go on to play a major role in this new universe! Cameos include:
** On page two, panel one, a screen to the right of Jhiaxus shows a computer readout featuring the faces of several IDW-original characters: in addition to [[Drift (G1)|Deadlock]] and [[Ambulon]] (see below), there's also [[Fulcrum]], and [[Decepticon Justice Division]] member [[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]].
** Page four, panel one features both Deadlock, the Decepticon identity assumed by the Autobot [[Drift (G1)|Drift]], and a purple bot who's unmistakably based on Ambulon, who was established in ''More than Meets the Eye'' to have once been a purple Decepticon before he changed both his faction and paint job. His appearance on the screen, however, has him in his red Autobot colors.
** Page seven, panel two features [[Tarn (DJD)|Damus]] as a patron of some kind of den of substance abuse. In ''More than Meets the Eye'', this humble 'bot went on to become the dreaded "Tarn," [[Outlier (group)|Outlier]] leader of the [[Decepticon Justice Division]]. Whether the same will hold true here is anyone's guess...
* Damus' appearance in a den of substance abuse could be seen as a nod to Tarn's reputation for having major addiction problems; one of the most notable things about him was that he was so addicted to transformation he burned out his transformation cog fairly quickly and required a steady supply of replacements. 
* Ratchet is assisted by two [[Diagnostic Drone]]s; originally introduced in ''Beast Machines'', they showed up occasionally in the previous IDW continuity as assistants to that continuity's Ratchet and [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] onboard the ''[[Lost Light]]'' in ''More than Meets the Eye''.
* In a non-IDW reference, the two security troopers seen on the top of page 7 are based on the [[Autotrooper (Animated)|Autotrooper]]s from the [[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|''Transformers: Animated'' cartoon]], who are themselves a reference to the [[Autorooper]]s from the ''[[Transformers: Kiss Players (franchise)|Kiss Players]]'' manga.
* Elita describes Sixshot as a "solo assault team," a reference to his original [[bio]] function designation as a "S.T.A.G.", or "Solo Transformer Assault Group".
* [[Crosshairs (G1)|Crosshairs]] makes his first comic appearance in a good while; his characterization as a stodgy, bureaucratic stick-in-the-mud was first established in his Marvel ''[[The Transformers Universe|Universe]]'' profile, though this is the first time in a while where it's actually come to the fore.
*Ratchet notes that the vast majority of the Cybertronians who make up The Rise are gladiators or miners, hearkening back to the origins of the Decepticons as a working-class revolution in both the [[Aligned continuity family|"Aligned"]] universe and IDW's original Generation 1 universe.
*Frenzy possessing built-in drills instead of piledrivers is something that was introduced in ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|All Hail Megatron]]'', presumably to differentiate him further from [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]].  Ratchet seems to treat this particular anatomy as something fairly unique, and Brainstorm's corpse was seen to have two medium-sized boreholes in the torso.

===Real-world references===
* Another robot seen assisting Ratchet appears to be based on the titular character from the 2008 film, ''{{w|WALL-E}}''.
* Among the bots hanging out in the den of iniquity raided by Nightbeat is one who's drawn and colored to resemble the "Lagann" mech from the anime series ''{{w|Gurren Lagann}}''. Funnily enough, that series also has quite a fixation on drills.

===Other notes===
* Designated for a September release, this issue slips into the middle of October.

===Covers (3)===
* '''Cover A''': Prowl and Chromia race through the city of Iacon as the specter of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] looms overhead, by [[Winston Chan]]
* '''Cover B''': Springer, by [[Umi Miyao]]
* '''Retailer incentive cover''': Prowl and Chromia—they fight crime, by [[Blacky Shepherd]] and [[Josh Burcham]]

<gallery>
File:TF2019 13 cvrA.jpg
File:TF2019 13 cvrB.jpg
File:TF2019 13 cvrRI.jpg
</gallery>

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==External links==
*[https://graphicpolicy.com/2019/10/16/preview-transformers-13/ Preview]

[[Category:Transformers (2019) issues]]