Editing Interference Patterns

{{Comicstory|
|series=rid|issueno=7
|prev=Syndromica (1)
|next=Dinobot Hunt (IDW)
|caption=
|image=RID7 cvrA.jpg
|title="Interference Patterns"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[July 4]], [[2012]]
|coverdate=July 2012
|story by=[[John Barber]]
|art by=[[Brendan Cahill]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Shawn Lee]]
|editor=[[Carlos Guzman]]
|continuity=[[2005 IDW continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[2005 IDW timeline|Current era (2012)]]
}}
'''Wheeljack investigates when a squad of suspiciously beneficent Decepticons mysteriously return to Cybertron.'''

==Synopsis==
While in the process of testing a new personalized containment field generator, [[Wheeljack (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Wheeljack]] is summoned to the [[Autobot]] command centre by [[Bumblebee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Bumblebee]] with news of a newly arrived ship flying [[Decepticon]] colours, which has materialized about the planet seemingly out of nowhere. Fearing a potential invasion fleet may be lurking in waiting, hidden by similar cloaking devices, the Autobots cautiously watch as the ship sets down and opens, revealing itself to be captained by [[Turmoil]]. The Decepticon enigmatically claims that they have no cloaking device, but rather something much more interesting and beneficial to Cybertron, which they will share if they are allowed to peacefully return to the planet. Well-acquainted with Turmoil's brand of villainy from a campaign on [[Dabola]] that convinced him to abandon the war, [[Metalhawk (G1)|Metalhawk]] surprises all assembled by foregoing his normal altruism and proposing the Decepticon be killed where he stands, but Turmoil turns the tables on the Autobots by explaining that Dabola was not his work, but that of his turncoat lieutenant... the once-Decepticon, now-Autobot [[Drift (G1)|Drift]].

Angry at having this truth kept from him, Metalhawk is taken by [[Starscream (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Starscream]] to [[Maccadam's Old Oil House]] to talk the matter out, explaining his genuine desire to see the new Cybertronian government work out and asking bar owner [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] to tell Metalhawk of his own experiences with Turmoil and Drift.

[[File:Turmoil wheeljack interference patterns.jpg|thumb|left]]
Back at their base, lacking Metalhawk's conviction in Turmoil's evil, the other Autobots discuss what to do. To discover the truth of Turmoil's claims, Wheeljack sneaks about the Decepticon ship, evading the troops on board and taking them out where necessary, and eventually discovering that rather than a cloaking device, what the craft is actually equipped with is a ''time machine''. Knowing that neither Turmoil nor his men could have built it, Wheeljack uses the device to access a portion of the ship's security footage that has been deleted, and learns that it was built by organic alien slaves, who Turmoil then had executed to hide this fact from the Autobots. No sooner has Wheeljack finished watching the footage than he is attacked from behind by Turmoil, who blasts a giant hole through his torso. Although the scientist is able to strap a containment field generator to the Decepticon warlord and seal him in bubble, he is surrounded by Turmoil's men before he can make his escape, only to be saved by the sudden appearance of Metalhawk. Metalhawk holds the attackers off, cleaving them with his wings, as Wheeljack activates another containment field around both of them, providing them with protection as they make their way out. As they go, Metalhawk confesses that when he abandoned the war, it was not out of cowardice: it was a product of the incredible anger that Turmoil made him feel, a killing rage that he refused to let take hold of him. It is because Bumblebee, Starscream, and even Drift genuinely seek to find a new path in life, as has Metalhawk done, that he has sided with them and believes in their plan for Cybertron's future.

After escaping Turmoil's ship, Wheeljack and Metalhawk call in Prowl's forces to storm the craft and capture the Decepticons. Wheeljack realises that the lesson of this entire experience is that he must be ready for anything, and that despite the fact the time machine was built using slave labour, the advantage it can conceivably provide means that there may not be room to let guilt over its origins determine his course of action...
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Wheeljack]] (1)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Bumblebee]] (2)
*[[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] (4)
*[[Prowl (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Prowl]] (6)
*[[Jazz (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Jazz]] (8)
*[[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] (12)
*[[Streetwise (G1)|Streetwise]] (13)
|c2=
*[[Starscream (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Starscream]] (5)
*[[Turmoil]] (7)
|h3=[[NAIL]]s|c3=
*[[Metalhawk (G1)|Metalhawk]] (3)
*[[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]] (9)
*[[Hipotank]] (10)
*[[Tappet]] (11)
}}

==Quotes==
"I was just, uh, '''messing''' around with '''science'''."
:—Wheeljack

==Notes==
===Continuity===
*Turmoil's ship is of the same design as the crashed Decepticon craft that appeared in ''[[Spotlight: Wheelie]]'' and starts a story that continues on into "[[Syndromica (2)]]".
*Broadside recalls Turmoil's first appearance and apparent death, from ''[[Spotlight: Drift]]''. 
*Wheeljack's internal monologue indicates that, out of the Autobots who were part of that story, only Broadside and Blurr remain on Cybertron, with "most of the rest" having left on board the ''[[Lost Light]]'', which is believed to have exploded by everyone on Cybertron at this point (as seen at the end of [[Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|issue 1]] of ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]''). The obvious exclusions to this are [[Topspin (G1)|Topspin]] and [[Twin Twist]], who both died in ''[[The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'', and Springer, who has been offline since that same mini-series and will remain so until ''[[The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers|Sins of the Wreckers]]''. Additionally, [[The Transformers: Punishment|Punishment]] would later suggest that [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] (last seen in ''Chaos'') ''might'' have actually spent some time off-world on his own, as the exact wording in that story is unclear on whether he was part of the ''Lost Light''{{'}}s crew or not (he was never seen in ''More than Meets the Eye'' prior to [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|issue #28]], by which point the ship had already returned to Cybertron).
*The campaign led by Drift was seen in the opening pages of [[Drift issue 1|''Drift'' #1]], in which Metalhawk did indeed appear, making his only IDW appearance prior to the post-ongoing relaunch. The planet was not named in the issue, though, and is here identified as [[Dabola]], a previously-unseen world that had only been spoken of in the ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)|Armada]]'' episode "[[Awakening (Armada)|Awakening]]" as—presumably not coincidentally—the site of a hugely successful Decepticon campaign.
*Metalhawk notes that his pacifistic outlook was inspired by the teaching of the [[Circle of Light]], also featured in the ''[[The Transformers: Drift|Drift]]'' mini-series, though here, he calls them "the Crystal City", after their [[Crystal City|old home]].
*The aliens used by Turmoil to build the time machine are members of the same race as [[Varta]] from ''Spotlight: Wheelie'', suggesting that Varta's technological aptitude was not a unique trait, but rather an ability of his people.

===Other trivia===
*Jazz appears to have formed a music/poetry double act with Sky-Byte, playing a Cybertronian equivalent of a double bass. ''Nice''.

===Foreign localization===
'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Kanshōha'''" (干渉波, "Interference Wave")

===Covers (3)===
*'''Cover A:''' Wheeljack surrounded by Decepticons, by [[Andrew Griffith]] and [[Josh Perez]].
*'''Cover B:''' Prowl and Sideswipe train their guns on Turmoil as he emerges from his ship, by [[Casey Coller]] and [[Joana Lafuente]].
*'''Cover RI:''' [[Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Megatron]], [[Soundwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Soundwave]], and [[Ravage (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ravage]] by [[Marcelo Matere]] and [[Priscilla Tramontano]], the first quarter of a combined image formed with the RI cover to ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Rules of Disengagement (issue)|#7]], [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]], and ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Dinobot Hunt (IDW)|#8]].

<gallery>
File:RID7 cvrA.jpg|Jack's on his back — wack!
File:RID7 cvrB.jpg|Holee slag!
File:RID7 cvrRI.jpg|Wait, what is Soundwave ejecting?
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]]
*''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One]]'' [[Loose Ends, Part 2|#82]]
*''Jericho: Season 4''
*''The Transformers: Regeneration One'' [[Loose Ends, Part 1|#81]]
*''Danger Girl/[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]''
*Sergio Aragones' ''Groo the Wanderer''
*IDW's ''Mars Attacks'' comic

===Reprints===
*'''''The Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' Volume 2''' <small>([[January 2]], [[2013]]) ISBN 1613775415 / ISBN 978-1613775417</small>
:*Contains issues #6 to 9.
:*Bonus material: cover gallery.

*'''''[[The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 2]]''''' <small>(August 4, 2015) ISBN 1631403648 / ISBN 978-1631403644</small>
:*Contains issues #7 to #9, the Autocracy series, Spotlight: Trailcutter, Spotlight: Hoist, More than Meets the Eye #6–8, and Spotlight: Orion Pax.
:*Bonus content UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME.

*'''''Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' Box Set''' <small>([[December 2]], [[2015]]) ISBN 1631404261 / ISBN 978-1631404269</small>
:*Contains The Transformers: Robots in Disguise Volumes 1 to 5.
:*Bonus content UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME.

* '''''[[Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection]]: Volume 54: A Better Tomorrow''''' <small>([[April 3]], [[2019]])</small>
:*Collects ''Robots in Disguise'' issues #1–7
:*Bonus material includes a new interview about the ''Robots in Disguise'' by John Barber.

<gallery>
File:RID vol2.jpg|'''Volume 2'''; cover art by [[Andrew Griffith]] and [[Joana Lafuente]]
File:IDWCollectionP2V2.jpg|'''''The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 2'''''; cover art by [[Saren Stone]]
File:RID-Box-Set.jpg|'''''Robots in Disguise Box Set'' slipcase'''; cover art by ???
File:DefinitiveG1Collection v54.jpg|'''''Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 54: A Better Tomorrow'''''; cover art by [[Don Figueroa]] and Andrew Griffith
</gallery>