Editing War World: Moon

{{disambig3|Moon}}

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers (2019 comic)|Transformers]]'' #27
|prev=War World: Awakenings
|next=War World: Hunt
|caption=
|image=TF2019 27 cvrB.jpg
|title="War World: Awakenings"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[January 20]], 2021
|coverdate=January 2021
|written by=[[Brian Ruckley]]
|art by=[[Fico Ossio]]
|colors=[[David García Cruz]]
|letters by=[[Jake M. Wood]]
|editor=[[David Mariotte]], [[Tom Waltz]] and [[Riley Farmer]]
|continuity=[[2019 IDW continuity]]
|chronology=
}}

'''Novastar's Autobots go up against Slipstream's Decepticons for control of the Winged Moon.'''

==Synopsis==
Not long ago, [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and his team rescued the [[Winged Moon]] from falling into [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s sun... now, it's up to [[Firestar (G1)|Novastar]] and her [[Autobot]]s to save it from [[Slipstream (G1)|Slipstream]] and her forces. Aboard [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]], the team prepares for the drop as Novastar runs over the environmental conditions they'll face below—fortunately, Novastar explains, the moon's damaged sensors mean that their enemies won't detect their arrival until it's too late. 

On the surface, [[Flamewar (G1)|Flamewar]] and the other members of "[[Team Stream]]" have problems of their own: [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] and the remaining engineers barricaded themselves inside the central control room, and without access to the controls their specialist [[Hotlink (G1)|Hotlink]] can't deduce if the moon even has any [[energon]] left to steal. As Slipstream orders her team to open fire on the heavy access hatch, Huffer and [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] watch from the central video console—though Huffer's adamant that they're not getting in that way, he's worried that Slipstream might have split her forces to mount a surprise attack. [[Lancer]] pulls an unlucky [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] free from a tube, and when the young Transformer wonders why they need to block the pipes Huffer reminds him that not only do their attackers have access to [[Mini-Cassette|infiltration trooper]]s, but Hotlink himself worked on the moon—he'll find a way in eventually. Worse yet, amidst the chaos, the engineers had to abandon their prisoner [[Enemy (G1)|Enemy]] in another section of the moon—and when [[Shadow Striker (G1)|Shadow Striker]] and [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]] stumble upon his abandoned cell while detonating their way through the moon's inner workings, they're taken by surprise by the sight! At the same time, [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] contacts Slipstream to warn her that he's picked up signs of an incoming vessel; on her orders, the hulking Decepticon takes off to investigate. When he informs his leader that Sky Lynx is coming in hot, Slipstream orders Flamewar, Hotlink, and [[Hyperdrive (Micromaster)|Hyperdrive]] to dig in and prepare for a counterassault.

In lunar orbit, Sky Lynx detaches his lower body to make landfall, but warns his passengers that he won't be able to completely commit himself to the ground assault—to keep Astrotrain distracted, he'll need to transfer his higher functions to his other body and leave his ground-based form a mindless weapon of last resort. In the tunnels, Shadow Striker, Sunstorm, [[Blackjack (G1)|Blackjack]] and [[Tracer (G1 Decepticon)|Tracer]] take Enemy with them as they make their way through the tunnels as Sunstorm complains about their cramped environment. Enemy wonders why [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] didn't tell anyone about his mission, moments before Tracer stumbles over an electrical tripwire and collapses! The engineers have rigged every possible way in or out to the control room with booby-traps and obstacles, and their problems are compounded when Slipstream orders Shadow Striker back to the surface to assist her.

While Flamewar, Slipstream and Hyperdrive trade fire with the Autobots, [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] charges through the line of fire, kicks up a cloud of dust and debris, and baits Hyperdrive into charging his position before taking out the impulsive Decepticon. As Smokescreen trades banter with his old coworker Slipstream, Flamewar tries to get the drop on him before Windblade tackles the bike-bot and hurls her away. As Novastar and [[Sureshot (G1)|Sureshot]] take shelter under a communications dish and debate whether or not to give their enemies a chance to surrender, Shadow Striker answers their question for them when she blasts their improvised cover and takes them out! Ignoring [[Springer (G1)|Springer]]'s orders to stand down, Shadow Striker outfinesses the Autobot and uses the low gravity to trip him up. 

In the maintenance shafts, Blackjack and Enemy spy Gears and Lancer setting up another series of traps and promptly give chase. The engineers barely escape capture by leaping into a hole in the floor, squeezing into a side door to the control room, then sealing the hatch behind them ... but the Decepticons now ''know'' where they are and promptly open fire on the unsecured doorway. With only minutes before the controls are breached Lancer has one final idea up her sleeve—if they sabotage the artificial gravity system, create an imbalance in the core's suspension cage, they can weaponize the miniature [[black hole]] that this maneuver will create... at the cost of igniting the moon's remaining energon and jeopardizing its structural integrity. Huffer has doubts, but Lancer's argument is simple: they're out of time, out of options, and with the enemy literally at their gate they can't afford to think of another plan. 

As Tracer, Enemy Sunstorm, and Blackajack try to hammer their way through the hatch, the desperation attack proves effective and destructive: the singularity pierces Sunstorm's head, and the massive explosion of energon that follows sends all three flying straight up onto the surface of the moon. Though the blast merely catches Tracer and Blackjack, it's Sunstorm who takes the brunt of the blast; bathed in a mixture of volatile energon and exotic radiation, the detonation knocks the flying Decepticon into orbit; as Sky Lynx breaks off from his combat with Astrotrain to investigate, Slipstream realizes they've lost and orders Astrotrain to prepare for an evacuation. The defeated Decepticons make a brief detour to pick up Sunstorm, but find that that the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] is still burning hot to the touch. Though Enemy's missing in action after the explosion, Slipstream annoucnes that they're cutting their losses and returning to Cybertron: they lost the battle, but the war is only just beginning...

As the Autobots and the rescued engineers board Sky Lynx, Cosmos informs Huffer that he'll stay behind; despite Huffer's concerns, Cosmos insists that ''someone'' has to take care of the damaged station until it can be repaired. Before they leave, however, Cosmos takes Lancer aside—he wants her to take a comms package back to Cybertron for him. It's a message, he explains, but it's not ''just'' that... it's also an invitation for [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast-Off]] to join him.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Firestar (G1)|Novastar]] (1)
* [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] (2) 
* [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] (3)
* [[Sureshot (G1)|Sureshot]] (4)
* [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] (5)
* [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]] (6)

|c2=
* [[Hyperdrive (Micromaster)|Hyperdrive]] (7)
* [[Flamewar (G1)|Flamewar]] (8)
* [[Slipstream (G1)|Slipstream]] (9)
* [[Hotlink (G1)|Hotlink]] (10)
* [[Enemy (G1)|Enemy]] (15)
* [[Shadow Striker (G1)|Shadow Striker]] (16)
* [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]] (17)
* [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (18)
* [[Blackjack (G1)|Blackjack]] (19)
* [[Tracer (G1 Decepticon)|Tracer]] (20)

|c4=
* [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (11)
* [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] (12)
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (13)
* [[Lancer]] (14)

}}

==Quotes==
"I say we get in there and '''powderulverize''' them!" <br>
"That's not even a word!" <br>
"Of '''course''' it's a word, Hyperdrive. I couldn't '''say''' it if it wasn't a word, could I?"
:—'''Flamewar''' and '''Hyperdrive'''


"Hah! '''Knew''' someone would come for me eventually! '''Knew''' the Rise wouldn't forget me!" <br>
"Who're you?"
:—'''Enemy''' and '''Shadow Striker'''


"You'll have to forego much of my verbal assistance shortly, as I'll be localizing my higher functions in my winged section. But you'll get down safely. And I get to fly some distracting rings around that lump of inertia Astrotrain, so everyone wins." 
:—'''Sky Lynx'''


"First hit wins the bragging rights." <br>
"Fine by me, '''Hyperfail'''. Hyperdrivel? Missdrive? No... Hyperfail's the best of those, right?"
:—'''Hyperdrive''' and '''Flamewar'''


"Quite liked [Slipstream] back then, to be honest. Yet here she is, apparently trying to kill me. Crazy times... but we don't get to '''choose''' our times, do we? We just get to '''live''' in them."
:—'''Smokescreen'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* The [[Winged Moon]] last appeared in [[Wheeljack: Orbital Decay|issue #24]], where [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and his engineering team prevented it from falling into the sun after [[Vigilem]] severed it from the [[Tether]]. In [[War World: Prime|issue #25]], [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] left the other four members of his engineering team behind to warn Cybertron that the Decepticons had attacked the moon, and [[Firestar (G1)|Novastar]] took her rapid response team to investigate. 
* Novastar notes that the moon's external sensors are nonfunctional; in #24, the moon passed through the [[Croaton Cloud]], which knocked out most of its long-range communications equipment. 
* [[Blades (G1)|Blades]] is missing from the Autobot roster—he's still recovering from the mauling [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]] gave him in [[Rise of the Decepticons: Tremors|issue #21]], since [[Rise of the Decepticons: Prisoners|#22]] confirmed that he required medical attention.
* Throughout the comic, [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] and the other engineers refer to their attackers as members of "[[The Rise]]". they're not to know it, but since they left Cybertron, the Rise has effectively ceased to exist as a separate organization; [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] recruited many Risers directly into the [[Ascenticon Guard]] in [[Rise of the Decepticons: All Fall Down|#19]], and eventually rebranded his movement as the "Decepticons" in issue [[Rise of the Decepticons: We Have Deceived You|#23]] under the pretense that they had defeated the Rise. 
* Cosmos met and courted [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast-Off]] in the [[Open Comms|backup story]] of the ''[[Transformers Valentine's Day Special]]'', and briefly mentioned his long-distance romantic partner in issue #24. However, ''[[Transformers: Galaxies|Galaxies]]'' [[Constructicons Rising, Part 4|issue #4]] revealed that Blast-Off had since become a member of the Rise, and is now presumably a Decepticon, so this could invite some unforeseen consequences...

===Transformers references===
* After taking the radiation blast head-on, [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]] is left glowing with energy and hot to the touch, suggesting that he's developing the corrosive, radioactive powers that some other iterations of the character have displayed. This trait originated in [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave Productions']] [[Transformers: Generation 1 (Dreamwave)|''Generation 1'' series]], and Sunstorm's mumbling that he "saw something" amid the light evokes his demented messiah complex from the Dreamwave era.

===Errors===
* Throughout the comic, [[Shadow Striker (G1)|Shadow Striker]] is missing two of her three helmet-mounted "eyes".

===Other trivia===
* After more than a year of delays, IDW starts 2021 on the right foot by releasing this comic on its original solicited date—the first ''Transformers'' comic to do so since [[The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Five|issue #11]], all the way back in August [[2019]]. 

===Covers (3)===
* '''Cover A''': Astrotrain, by [[Livio Ramondelli]]
* '''Cover B''': Cosmos on the moon, by [[Red Powell]]
* '''Retailer incentive cover''': Sunstorm flambé, by [[Nicole Goux]]

<gallery>
File:TF2019 27 cvrA.jpg
File:TF2019 27 cvrB.jpg
File:TF2019 27 cvrRI.jpg
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''Transformers'' hardcovers
*''[[Transformers: Escape]]''

===Reprints===
*'''''Transformers Volume 4: Declaration of War''''' <small>([[August 10]], 2021 **''scheduled''**) ISBN 1684058066 / ISBN 978-1684058068</small>
**Hardcover.
**Collects ''Transformers'' issues #25–30, ''Transformers Valentine's Day Special'', and ''[[Transformers: Escape|Escape]]'' issues #1-5.
**Bonus material currently unknown, most likely alternate covers.

<gallery>
image:TF-IDW-2019v4.jpg|'''''Volume 4: Declaration of War'''''; cover art by [[Cryssy Cheung]]
</gallery>

==External links==
* [https://majorspoilers.com/2021/01/19/preview-transformers-27/ Preview]

[[Category:Transformers (2019) issues]]