Editing Escape Part Four

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers: Escape]]'' #4
|prev=Escape Part Three
|next=Escape Part Five
|caption=
|image=TFEscape 4 cvrA.jpg
|title="Escape Part Four"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[June 16]], 2021
|coverdate=March 2021
|written by=[[Brian Ruckley]]
|art by=[[Beth McGuire-Smith]]
|colors by=[[Priscilla Tramontano]]
|letters by=[[Jake M. Wood]]
|editor=[[David Mariotte]], [[Tom Waltz]], and [[Riley Farmer]]
|continuity=[[2019 IDW continuity]]
|chronology=
}}

'''As the Autobots and their allies negotiate with an uncooperative Straxxus, Hydradread and Rage discover the full extent of the Insecticons' betrayal.'''

==Synopsis==
The Autobot convoy has arrived on the outskirts of [[Darkmount (Cybertron)|Darkmount]], and as Cybertronians and organics alike work to establish a makeshift refugee camp, an excited [[Speeder]] races through the streets to reunite with his old commander [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]]. For many kilocycles, Speeder has kept and maintained Dai Atlas's old sword, and initially assumes that the old general will gladly take up arms once again... but when he finally presents the weapon to his former leader, he is shocked when Dai Atlas gently declines the offer and states that he has no further use for violence. Inside the city, [[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]] has finally managed to organize a face-to-face meeting with the reclusive [[Straxus (G1)|Straxxus]], and arranged for fellow intellectuals [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]] and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] to accompany him. In his office, Straxxus greets the trio, but notes that they have not meant under happy circumstances: faced with a fleet of dormant [[Titan (group)|Titan]]s about to crash into Cybertron, groundquakes and other geological disturbances that threaten to shake the planet apart, and a [[Senate]] that's fallen to the [[Decepticon]]s, Straxxus can only do so much with the resources he has... but what he ''can'' do is organize an evacuation, and shows them the fruits of his labour: three of the four [[Ark (G1)|Ark]]-class ships, fully refurbished and ready to fly. The fourth ship, however, suffered a debilitating stardrive explosion, leaving it grounded until a new one can be manufactured and fitted. When Wheeljack asks why the Cybertronian work crews below are already loading up the vessels with provisions; Straxxus evades the question and snaps that the Arks were meant to save the populace of Darkmount first—while he will certainly do what he can for the many refugees outside the city limits, he cannot allow the Autobots to betray the trust of his citizens.

[[Rage (G1)|Rage]] and [[Hydradread]] use one of [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]'s inventions to track the errant [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s and their stolen equipment all the way to the [[Cybertronian Mountains]], and into one of the many ancient, long-dead Titans merged into the crumbling metal slopes. While Rage simply wants the mission over and done with, Hydradread is far more interested in testing the destructive power of his new weapon; so taken is he with testing its effects on the living metal of Cybertron that Rage has to remind him why they've come: deal with the rogue Insecticons using Hydradread's arsenal of lethal acid weapons.

While his mentor meets with Straxxus, [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] tries to entertain [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] by telling him about some of the flora and fauna they recovered from the [[A'ovan habitat]] during the evacuation; though the older Autobot mourns the fact that most of the A'ovans have been born on Cybertron and never even ''knew'' their homeworld, Gears gets distracted by the sight of [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] supervising repairs on [[Leviathan (G1)|Leviathan]] and runs off to help with the welding, leaving Hound to order [[Cromar]] to run an air patrol.

Inside the Titan, Rage picks up a signal on the tracker and leaps down an exposed maintenance shaft to follow the signal, moments before an [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]] pounces on him! The monstrous insect Transformer nearly pins Rage to  the ground before the Decepticon warrior pulls himself free; Hydradread drenches the Insecticon in corrosive acid, and Rage delvers the finishing blow by punching clean through the monster's half-melted armor and crushing his internals. Hydradread's pleased that his experimental concoction proved potent, notes that his acid mixture was strong enough to melt straight through his victim's armor and destroy his [[spark]] chamber, and tells Rage that they can take [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] off the list... until Hydradread analyzes the corpse and realizes that the monster doesn't ''have'' a spark chamber. At that moment, Rage gets his attention by pointing down the corridor... which is now crawling with ''dozens'' of equally ravenous [[Insecticon clone]]s!

While Highbrow returns to [[Crystal City]] to consult with his fellow academics regarding Straxxus's dire predictions of planetary collapse, Nautica and Wheeljack get Hound up to speed on their recent meeting. Wheeljack insists that the Senator can't be trusted, while and Hound grimly notes that Straxxus can't just ignore the thousands of unaligned civilians who are already pouring into the city, for such treatment will only give these vulnerable organics ''more'' reasons to fear the Cybertronian race.  At that moment, however, the conversation stops; organics and Cybertronians alike take in the sight of an enormous starship—the Titan [[Emissary (IDW)|Emissary]] coasts overhead, burning with the heat of atmospheric reentry, and violently buries itself in the Cybertronian Mountains, just as Hydradread and Rage do their best to outrun the Insecticon swarm. Emissary's crash sends tremors across the range and caves in the tunnel behind the two Decepticons, blocking the Insecticons from reaching them—with no time to gently free Hydradread from the rubble, however, Rage simply uses his blaster to melt Hydradread's leg off and pull him free. The pair safely make it back to their entrance... just in time to see the entire Insecticon swarm burst from the mouth of the dead Titan and take to the sky.

In Darkmount, the Autobots take a moment to unwind as [[Tote]] gives rides to a group of A'ovan children. This peaceful scene is suddenly shattered by the arrival of a terrified Cromar, who returns from patrol with dire news—something is coming! Dai Atlas immediately recognizes the clone swarm for what it is, and Hound makes one last attempt to reach out to the ex-warrior: Dai Atlas's journey through the [[Transformer afterlife|afterlife]] might have opened his eyes to the essential immortality of the Cybertronian spark... but organics might have just ''one'' life to live. Dai Atlas returned to the waking world ''save'' these his friends from extinction, and now is his moment to live up to that promise by defending them from a mindless, all-consuming swarm, extinction personified. Dai Atlas considers this—and then, his decision clear, tells Speeder to hand him his sword. Unsheathing the weapon one last time, the general prepares to make his stand...

==Featured characters==
(Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashback.)<br> 

{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Overair (facility)|Overair]]? (2)
* [[Powerflash]] (3)
* ? (5)
* [[Cromar]] (6)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (7)
* [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]] (9)
* [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (13)
* [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (16)
* [[Road Rage (G1)|Road Rage]] (18)
* [[Tote]] (20)
* [[Mudslinger (G1)|Mudslinger]] (21)


|c2=
* [[Hydradread]] (11)
* [[Rage (G1)|Rage]] (12)
* [[Insecticon clone]]s (17)

|c4=
* [[Speeder]] (1)
* [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]] (4)
* [[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]] (8)
* [[Straxus (G1)|Straxxus]] (10)
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (14)
* [[Leviathan (G1)|Leviathan]] (15)
*[[Emissary (IDW)|Emissary]] (19)

}}


==Quotes==
"How many residents of Darkmount joined Megatron's little rebellion, do you think? '''None'''. How many acts of sabotage or theft or violence did The Rise perpetrate near Darkmount in recent kilocycles? '''None'''. This is '''my''' domain, and it is a domain of peace and order. Its inhabitants trust me." 
:—'''Straxxus'''


"I remember it so clearly... but most of these A'ovans never knew their home planet. They weren't even '''born''' when it was destroyed. Most of them have only ever known Cybertron. Primus. We've failed so completely."
:—'''Hound'''


"Look. Leviathan's getting a temporary leg. You think Hoist'd let me help with the welding?" <br>
"Uhh... I don't know, Gears. Have you... you know, had a lot of '''practice''' at that?" <br>
"Sure. I mean, not on actual '''bots''' or anything, but I've gotten a lot better at it since the first time." <br>
"What happened the first time?" <Br>
"I welded my hand to a metal plate." 
:—'''Gears''' and '''Hound'''


"Look at us, Wheeljack. Look at what we do. '''Of course''' they fear us." 
:—'''Nautica'''


"Speeder." <br>
"Yes, General." <br>
"Fetch my '''sword''', please. Let them '''come''', then."
:—'''Dai Atlas''' and '''Speeder'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* This issue takes place almost simultaneously with''[[Transformers (2019  comic)|Transformers]]'' [[War World: Titans|#29]], which ended with the Decepticons forcibly de-orbiting all of the Titans orbiting Cybertron. In keeping with this, Emissary's fatal descent is drawn and written to resemble the deaths of [[Cargohold]], [[Chela]], and [[Citadel (Titan)|Citadel]] in that issue. 
* Speeder made a brief cameo in [[Escape Part Three|the previous issue]] during a one-panel flashback to the battle against  [[Abominus (G1)|Abominus]].
* While showing Gears some of the inhabitants of the [[A'ovan habitat]], Hound shows him a [[luminar]], and notes that he once saw an entire cloud of the creatures on the moon's southern continent. It's not ''explicitly'' stated, but from context, it seems likely that these are the same animals he glimpsed in [[Escape Part Two|issue #2]], when he and [[Meteorfire (G1)|Meteorfire]] witnessed their mating cycle during a visit to the original A'ovan homeworld.
* Dai Atlas immediately recognizes the clone swarm on the horizon: he and the other Great Generals faced off against [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]]'s army of clones during the [[War of the Threefold Spark]].

===Transformers references===
* While Dai Atlas's swordsmanship is a trait lifted straight from his first appearance in the [[Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!|''Transformers Zone'' OVA]], his sword more closely resembles the mystical [[Great Sword]]s he and the other members of the [[Circle of Light]] wielded in IDW's ''[[The Transformers: Drift|Drift]]'' miniseries.
* [[Emissary (IDW)|Emissary]] is based on the Titan that first appeared in IDW's ''[[Optimus Prime (comic)|Optimus Prime]]'' comic series, who was himself named in reference to the name of the [[Emissary (RID)|mid-stage head module]] of [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|''Robots in Disguise'' Fortress Maximus]]. 
* Emissary is noted to have once visited the [[Urtuskian]] homeworld in prehistoric times and commanded their respect, a race that debuted in [[Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?|Marvel US #52]] and later appeared in [[2005 IDW continuity|IDW's first ''Transformers'' continuity]]. These pig-like aliens appear in this issue after making cameos in [[Escape Part One|issue #1]] and once or twice over in the main ''Transformers'' ongoing.

===Errors===
* On page one, [[Powerflash]] is colored purple. In the next panel, he's colored red. 
* In the same panel, [[Cromar]] has a different color scheme that gives him a yellow stripe on his chest.

===Other trivia===
* Originally solicited for March 24th, this issue instead lands in mid-June; it follows only one month after the extremely issue #3, however, and hopefully pushes the series back on track for the finale. 

===Covers (3)===
* '''Cover A''': Game over, man! by [[Beth McGuire-Smith]]
* '''Cover B''': Hound, Wheeljack, and Highbrow flee the swarm, by [[ Aline Herzspalter Baumgartner]]
* '''Retailer incentive cover''': A conflicted Dai Atlas, by [[Red Powell]]

<gallery>
File:TFEscape 4 cvrA.jpg
File:TFEscape 4 cvrB.jpg
File:TFEscape 4 cvrRI.jpg
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
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===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://graphicpolicy.com/2021/05/18/preview-transformers-escape-3-of-5-2-2/ Preview]

[[Category: Escape issues]]