Chaos Part Two: Numbers

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"Me and this army, actually."
"Chaos Part Two: Numbers"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	September 21, 2011
Cover date	September 2011
Written by	Mike Costa and James Roberts
Art by	Livio Ramondelli
Letters by	Neil Uyetake
Editor	Carlos Guzman
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era (2011)

The Autobots attack the weaponized Kimia Facility, which Galvatron is utilizing for unexpected purposes.

Synopsis

The Autobots take cover from Kimia as it prepares to fire, only to notice that the space station moves past them to another area - the planet Cybertron itself is the target! Optimus Prime begins doling out orders to his crew - Silverbolt and the other flyers are sent upwards to fight Kimia, Sunstreaker and Drift are given the task of setting up a base of operations, Cliffjumper and Wheelie are sent ahead as scouts (much to Cliffjumper's chagrin), and Ironhide is ordered to begin emptying Omega Supreme. Rodimus volunteers to go into space on Omega after he is unloaded to establish a command post in orbit and monitor Galvatron's movements; he takes Trailbreaker with him.

The battle with the Sweeps rages in orbit as the Autobots try to hit Kimia. On the ground, Cliffjumper and Wheelie hide in an abandoned building to scout but Wheelie snipes a Sweep, alerting Galvatron to their position. Prime orders his troops to roll out and they start plowing through Sweeps on the surface.

Aboard Kimia, Afterburner asks Lightspeed where they are, as he's never been in the station while it was transformed. Lightspeed informs him that they're in a power generator when they notice Kimia's massive cannon powering up. It fires on Cybertron, blowing a massive hole through the surface. Trailbreaker is knocked out trying - and failing - to block the beam with his force field; Rodimus radios to Optimus that they have no choice but to destroy Kimia, though there might still be Autobots inside. Lightspeed and Rodimus both independently decide to take matters into their own hands. While Rodimus steers Omega to crash into Kimia, Lightspeed sets off explosives inside. Kimia explodes, with Omega Supreme safely passing through the blast. Seeing the station destroyed, Galvatron howls in anger and orders Jhiaxus to head off with him.

Sunstreaker gives Rodimus landing coordinates and meets up with him. While Sunstreaker boards Omega to treat Trailbreaker, Rodimus and Drift go after Prime and Ironhide, who chased after Galvatron to the blast crater. Prime tells Ironhide that he can feel through the Matrix that there is something happening within Galvatron.

Megatron, still bound, asks Omega Supreme to tell him what's going on outside. Omega refuses and Megatron merely laughs, telling him that he'll find out himself. The Megatron guns transform into drones and march to Megatron's holding cell, where they free him and begin latching onto him.

Cliffjumper and Wheelie, pinned down, call for help but get no response - until someone blasts through a horde of Sweeps attacking them. The two Autobots look up and see Megatron, clad in new armor, vowing that Cybertron belongs to him.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Silverbolt (1) Sunstreaker (2) Cliffjumper (3) Ironhide (4) Optimus Prime (5) Trailbreaker (6) Drift (7) Rodimus (8) Autobot plane (9) Autobot plane (10) Powerglide (11) Slingshot (12) Sandstorm (13) Cosmos (14) Fireflight (15) Tracks (16) Jetfire (17) Wheelie (18) Omega Supreme (20) Windcharger (22) Brawn (23) Hound (24) Autobot car (25) Autobot car (26) Ratchet (27) Gears (28) Huffer (29) Wheeljack (30) Hoist (31) Beachcomber (32) Blurr (33) Afterburner (34) Lightspeed (35)	Megatron (37)	Sweeps (19) Galvatron (21) Jhiaxus (22) Garnak (36)

Quotes

"Why did we come up here, Wheelie? These abandoned buildings give me the willies."
"Off the ground to look around."
"Yeah, yeah, that's cute. Seriously, why am I following you?"

—Cliffjumper wonders why Wheelie is taking the lead.

"I'm doing the only thing we can, under the circumstances."
"But you don't have to do this! We're not soldiers!"
"No, we're scientists, which means we work towards the greater good. And this might be the greatest good we ever do. It was an honor to work with you."

—Lightspeed sacrifices himself and Afterburner.

"An army of Decepticons attempting to seize Cybertron without me? Did you really think I'd sit idly by and watch that happen? This planet belongs to me."

—Megatron arrives on the battlefield.

Notes

Continuity notes

• As has been the case since they reappeared in Infestation, Galvatron and his troops are referred to as Decepticons, despite them having left Cybertron prior to factions emerging and the war starting.

Transformers references

• Ramondelli draws Silverbolt with his Universe alt-mode.
• Wheelie attempting to snipe Galvatron against Cliffjumper's protests is seemingly a nod to "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1", in which Cliffjumper does the same to Megatron with Hound doing the protesting.
• Several "lamp posts" akin to the one Soundwave transforms into in "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1" line a road on Cybertron.

Real-world references

• The comic is named after the Biblical Book of Numbers.

Errors

• Afterburner is called Nosecone. Or it's really supposed to be Nosecone but he was accidentally drawn as Afterburner. It's probably Afterburner though, considering Nosecone was seen being eaten alive by Sweeps in the previous installment.
• Kimia is misspelled "Kimin" multiple times.

Foreign Localization

Swedish

• Title: Kaos Del 2: Antal ("Chaos Part 2: Numbers")
• The translated title breaks against the Biblical theme naming, with the actual Swedish name for the Book of Numbers being "Numeri".

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Optimus Prime, Ironhide, and Cliffjumper; art by Livio Ramondelli.
• Cover B: Galvatron and his Sweep army; art by Livio Ramondelli.
• Cover RI: Optimus Prime leads several Autobots in a charge; art by Livio Ramondelli.

• 
  Red palettes.
• 
  Purple palettes
• 
  Forgot the palettes!

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• TBD

Collections

• The Transformers, Volume 7: Chaos (March 14, 2012) ISBN 1613771401 / ISBN 978-1613771402
  • Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #24, #26, #28, & #30–31.
  • Bonus material includes art from most covers, plus B&W art sketches from Livio Ramondelli.
  • Trade paperback format.

• The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Eight (May 7, 2013) ISBN 1613776276 / ISBN 978-1613776278
  • Collects Heart of Darkness issues #1–4, and The Transformers (2009) issues #19–31.
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 52: The Death of Optimus Prime (December 13, 2017)
  • Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #24, #26, #28, & #30–31, and The Death of Optimus Prime.
  • Bonus content includes an interview with James Roberts on how he worked his way up to become an ongoing writer, character design sketches by Livio Ramondelli, a cover gallery and an intro by Simon Furman.
  • Hardcover format.

• The Transformers: Chaos (October 31, 2018) ISBN 978-4-86491-400-0
  • Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #24, #26, #28, & #30–31.
  • Japanese reprint. Trade paperback format.

• Transformers: Kaos och skuggor (November, 2020)
  • Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #22–24, #26, #28 & #30, The Death of Optimus Prime, and More than Meets the Eye issues #9–13.
  • Swedish reprint. Hardcover format.

• 
  Volume 7: Chaos – cover art by Livio Ramondelli
• 
  The IDW Collection Volume Eight – cover art by E. J. Su
• 
  The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 52: The Death of Optimus Prime – cover art by Don Figueroa (Prime) and Livio Ramondelli (retro)
• 
  Chaos – cover art by Nagi Miyako
• 
  Kaos och skuggor – cover art by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham.