Editing Our Steps Will Always Rhyme

{{Comicstory
|series=mtmte|issueno=40
|prev=The Permanent Revolution
|next=
|image=MTMTE40_regcvr.jpg
|title=Chief Medical Officer Ratchet in:<br>"Our Steps Will Always Rhyme"
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[April 29]], [[2015]]
|coverdate=April 2015
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|art by=[[Brendan Cahill]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2015)]]
}}

'''A hearing is convened to decide Brainstorm's punishment, which inspires Ratchet to venture off on a mission of his own—but not before he says his farewells properly.'''

==Synopsis==

[[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] has never been very good at saying goodbye, whether to [[Roller (IDW)|Roller]], to [[Pharma (G1)|Pharma]], or even to [[Hunter O'Nion]]. Such thoughts are on his mind today, as he enjoys a drink in the deserted ''[[Swerve's]]'', while the [[Swerve (G1)|bartender himself]] and [[Ten]] pass the time arranging a huge pyramid of glasses. The pyramid is lucky to be spared what happens next; Ratchet is not so fortunate, and is knocked head over heels as [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] comes careening into the bar on a new hoverboard that he has purchased in [[Fortuna]], capital city of the planet [[Scarvix]], where the ''[[Lost Light]]'' is currently berthed while its [[quantum generator]]s recharge. Tailgate apologizes, but notes how empty the bar is, which Swerve whines is the result of [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] opening a competing establishment, ''[["Visages"]]'' (quotation marks included!), after recent the poisoning incident at ''Swerve's''. While Serve laments, Tailgate tells Ratchet he's going fishing for [[Legislator]] body-parts in the [[oil reservoir]] with [[Getaway]]; this turns the subject of conversation towards the put-upon Ten, who [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] has been trying to convince Swerve to treat better. Realising he is running late, Ratchet departs...

...in order to attend the first meeting of the [[Lost Light Internal Legal Affairs Committee]], who are holding a hearing to decide what [[Brainstorm]]'s punishment will be following his recent deceptions. Brainstorm queries why [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] is not on trial, having been the 'bot who actually fired the fatal shot on their time travel adventure, but [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] has already plead Rewind's case in private. When confronted with the [[Decepticon]] symbol within his faceplate, Brainstorm does not deny the implication; [[Nautica]] storms out as Brainstorm details how he chose to become an undercover agent in order to obtain from the Decepticons the resources necessary to build his [[briefcase|time machine]], but notes that he never provided his handlers with any information that would harm the [[Autobot]]s. When the subject of the alternate ''Lost Light'' and the act of treachery by its Brainstorm that resulted in the death of the entire crew is raised, Brainstorm takes a stand, refusing to be held accountable for actions that were not his own—a stand that earns him a solo round of applause from [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]]. Committee heads Ultra Magnus, [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] and [[Xaaron]] begrudgingly admit that this is true, but conclude he must still be punished for his attempts to alter history; his time machine is to be destroyed, and his access to his lab is to be cut off, but much to Brainstorm's surprise—and Ratchet's silent but visible dissatisfaction—he is ''not'' going to be kicked off the ship. 

Following the hearing, Magnus checks in on the melancholy [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]], who was absent from the proceedings, to see if he has taken a missing datapad belonging to Magnus. Ratchet, meanwhile, heads to ''"Visages"'' to borrow Tailgate's hoverboard; the little 'bot is busy relaxing in the bar with Getaway, who continues to ply him with drink and 'negative compliments', and claims that [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] has been talking about Tailgate behind his back.

Under the patently phoney ruse that Tailgate's board is infected with teleporting "super-[[scraplet]]s", Ratchet has [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] round up a select few of the crew for "examination". He uses the short, one-on-one sessions to talk candidly with each of them: he scolds Rodimus for the inconsistent treatment Brainstorm has received in comparison with exiled [[Drift (G1)|Drift]]; he gives [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]]'s number to [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] in order to get him counselling; he asks [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] to be a friend to Rung outside of officer hours; he helps [[Nautica]] understand that Brainstorm's actions were truly selfless, as he was an [[M.T.O.]] and would have been erased from history had his mission succeeded; he suggests that Swerve try getting Megatron to perform some of his poetry to reinvigorate his bar; and he tries to console Ultra Magnus, who has come to believe that the rest of the crew does not respect him after finding a tiny figurine of his true self, [[Minimus Ambus]], outside his hab-suite door. Once the examinations are done (and First Aid has made it clear he knows Ratchet was making up the "super-scraplets"), Ratchet is once again clobbered by Tailgate on his ''new'' hoverboard, which Tailgate explains was built by Ten. His curiosity piqued, Ratchet visits Ten's makeshift "quarters", where he discovers that the soul of an artist glows within the vocally-impaired robot: Ten has drawn a beautiful mural of the ship's crew on his wall, and built a diorama and figurines. Noticing that there's a display dedicated to Ultra Magnus, Ratchet realizes that Magnus is Ten's "favorite", and that Ten, wanting something of his, secretly took the missing datapad in exchange for the Minimus figure. Examining the pad, Ratchet discovers why Magnus was so eager to get it back: it contains a poem he is trying to write! Ratchet encourages Ten to return the pad, and types a message for Magnus into it to explain the situation.

A little later, with his new friend Ten at his side, Minimus Ambus enters ''Swerve's'', which is now the popular spot once again after Swerve had Megatron perform... at ''"Visages"''! While Minimus talks about the strange message Ratchet left him, brief moments play out across the ship: Brainstorm and Nautica reconcile; Getaway and Tailgate fish; Cyclonus broods; Rodimus and Perceptor burn Brainstorm's briefcases... save one, which is secretly recovered for Megatron by [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]]; and First Aid finds Ratchet's quarters deserted, with a communicator and a note at long last appointing First Aid the ship's chief medical officer. As the ''Lost Light'' departs Scarvix, Ratchet watches it go from a small shuttle of his own, before he too takes off... in search of Drift.

==Featured characters==
(Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks.)<br>
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] (1)
*''[[Roller (IDW)|Roller]]'' (2)
*''[[Pharma (G1)|Pharma]]'' (3)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (6)
*[[Siren]] (7)
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (8)
*[[Hosehead (G1)|Hosehead]] (9)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (10)
*[[Xaaron]] (12)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] (13)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]/<br>[[Minimus Ambus]] (14)
*[[Rung (G1)|Rung]] (15)
*[[Nautica]] (16)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] (17)
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (18)
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] (19)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (21)
*[[Brainstorm]] (22)
*[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (24)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (26)
*[[Getaway]] (27)
*[[Mainframe (G1)|Mainframe]] (28)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (29)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (30)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (31)
*? (32)
*[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (33)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (34)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (35)
*[[Jackpot (G1)|Jackpot]] (36)
*[[Grotusque]] (mural, 37)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailcutter]] (mural, 38)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (figurine, 39)
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (40)
*[[Slapdash (G1)|Slapdash]] (41)
*[[Atomizer]] (42)
*[[Rad]] (43)
*[[Crosscut (Autobot)|Crossut]] (44)
*[[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] (45)
*[[Drift (G1)|Drift]] (figurine, 46)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*''[[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]]'' (5)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (23)

|c3=
*''[[Hunter O'Nion]]'' (4)
|c4=
*[[Ten]] (11)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] (20)
}}

==Quotes==

"I '''hate''' it. I ''(muffled)'' everything about it. It sounds ''(muffled)'' '''awful.'''"
:—'''Swerve''', on ''"Visages"''



'''Brainstorm:''' "Everyone who's ever built a '''fully functioning time machine''', stand up."<br>
''(Riptide stands up.)''<br>
''(beat)''<br>
'''Riptide:''' "Oh, a '''time''' machine...! Sorry."<br>
''(Riptide sits down.)''



"The Decepticons have had their suspicions about me for '''ages.''' I'm the worst double agent '''ever'''. Worse than '''Rung.'''"<br>
''(beat)''<br>
"Joke. Not funny."
:—'''Brainstorm'''



"If I had sarcasm-powered legs, I'd do a '''happy dance'''...!"
:—'''Nautica''' takes the news of a potential scraplet infection poorly



"How do I feel. How do I 'feel'."<br>
"It's not meant to be a trick question."
:—'''Ultra Magnus''' and '''Ratchet'''



"Are these your '''favorites'''?"<br>
"Ten."<br>
"<small>Yeah. Mine too.</small> You're '''missing someone''', though. Not your fault: you joined after he left. After we '''sent him away.''' You'd have liked him. '''I''' did—probably a lot more than either of us realized."
:—'''Ratchet''' and '''Ten''' talk about Drift



"I don't trust poetry. What's the point? All these people trying to say something by hiding it behind something else."<br>
"Someone once said that poetry is a hazardous attempt at self-understanding. It's certainly '''difficult'''..."
:—'''Swerve''' and '''Minimus Ambus'''



'''Brainstorm:''' "I added a new button:"<br>
'''Nautica's wrench:''' "Brainstorm is an ass!"<br>
'''Nautica:''' "It's my new favorite."



"This ship is a refuge for the '''emotionally inarticulate'''. Oh, people talk. People talk '''all the time'''. They just don't '''say''' very much. They're too worried about people knowing how they '''feel'''. Too worried about being '''found out'''. For better or worse, we're judged by what we do, and not what we '''say'''. And if it takes us a while to get around to doing something '''important''', well... better late than never."
:—'''Ratchet's''' farewell message

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Ratchet's first flashback shows his parting with Roller]], which chronologically takes places between the scenes of the past shown in [[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|issues #11]] and [[Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|issue #36]].
*His second flashback is set before his departure for Earth, prior to [[Infiltration issue 0|''Infiltration'' #0]], IDW's first ''Transformers'' issue. We also learn that Ratchet's departure was what convinced Pharma to transfer to [[Delphi]], where we met him in [[Life After the Big Bang|issue #4]].
*The third flashback shows Ratchet (in his "-ations"-era body, complete with [[holomatter]] avatar and even speech-bubble and font design from that time) returning [[Hunter O'Nion]] home following his separation from [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]], set in the missing year between [[Maximum Dinobots issue 5|''Maximum Dinobots'' #5]] and [[All Hail Megatron issue 1|''All Hail Megatron'' #1]]. [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] is shown watching Hunter, alluding to his eventual capture of the boy and the pillaging of his mind, revealed in [[All Hail Megatron issue 8|''All Hail Megatron'' #8]].
*Tailgate's been inspired to get a hoverboard after watching ''Back to the Future Part II'' in [[Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|issue #38]].
*The oil reservoir is full of Legislator body parts after Skids tore an entire battalion of them apart down there back in [[Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|issue #18]].
*Swerve has written "I failed the [[Ambus Test]]" on Ten's back; the test, an indicator of sentience, was previously mentioned in [[Into the Abyss: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4|issue #24]].
*Getaway's behaviour towards Tailgate has grown noticeably more creepy from when we first saw it in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|issue #30]].
*Ratchet feels Hoist needs "someone to talk to"; that's likely because of his isolation issues, which we saw illustrated in [[The Waiting Game|''Spotlight: Hoist'']]
*We've known that "Brainstorm" isn't Brainstorm's real name since [[The Reluctant Specialist|''Spotlight: Trailcutter'']]; here, Nautica reveals that it is "Genitus of Operation: Solar Storm".
*Ratchet encourages Skids to get the "puncture wounds" on his neck fixed; those would be the [[mnemosurgery]] holes Chromedome left after [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|issue #8]].
*Ratchet's departure leads into his role in the [[The Transformers: Drift - Empire of Stone|''Drift - Empire of Stone'']] mini-series, already published in full by the time of this issue's release.

===Transformers references===
*The planet Scarvix appeared in [[Headhunt|issue #133]] of the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|Marvel UK Generation 1 comic]].
*The 'bots who Tailgate nearly knocks down while on his board are Siren, Nightbeat and Hosehead, the full roster of 1988 Autobot [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]]. As a cute reference, Hosehead claims Tailgate "nearly took [his] head off".
*As Swerve directs Ten around, he says: "A little to the left... a little bit more", a verbatim quote from [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' as he arranges the positioning of a roadblock, right before Hot Rod comes crashing through.
*The rise and fall of Mirage's bar was first mentioned in [[The Possible Light|''The Transformers'' #40]], just a few weeks before this issue was published.
*When Ratchet describes the "super-scraplets", he uses the onomatopoeia "Vop!" to illustrate their teleportation abilities. That's the sound effect IDW uses for [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]]'s teleports.

===Real-life references===
*This issue's title is a lyric from the {{w|Leonard Cohen}} song, "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye", a pretty self-explanatory reference.
*When Ratchet leaves Hunter home, the human notes he is going to catch up on a lot of television, listing off the hot-name shows that were airing at the time the scene is set, in the late 2000s: ''{{w|Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica}}'', ''{{w|Doctor Who}}'' and ''{{w|Heroes (TV series|Heroes}}''.
*After Tailgate smacks into Ratchet for the second time, Ratchet returns his hoverboard and says "Hey, kid, thanks", paraphrasing similar lines from ''Back to the Future'' and its sequel when Marty returns borrowed boards to their owners.
*The individual mentioned in Minimus's remark on the nature of poetry, quoted above, was {{w|Robert Penn Warren}}, who wrote: "For what is a poem but a hazardous attempt at self-understanding: it is the deepest part of autobiography."

===Other trivia===
*After running a month behind for the first quarter of 2015, ''More than Meets the Eye'' gets back on schedule with this issue, the second of two released in April.
*There are plenty of ''Lost Light'' regulars who aren't part of Ten's mural, but it's pretty telling that Ten has left Swerve himself out of the artwork.

===Soundtrack===
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgb8am3NQU0 Nobody's Empire]" by {{w|Belle and Sebastian}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYRoZELZY3w Love Expression]" by {{w|It's Jo and Danny}}

===Covers (3)===
*'''Regular cover:''' The ''Lost Light'' crew in Ratchet's tender hands, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' Tailgate on his hoverboard as Getaway, Cyclonus and Ultra Magnus look on, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Brainstorm in the spotlight, with Nautica, Ratchet, and Ultra Magnus silently judging, by [[Brendan Cahill]] and [[Joana Lafuente]]

<gallery>
File:MTMTE40 regcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE40 subcvr.jpg|
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</gallery>

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==External links==
*[http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-40-idw-2015 Preview]