Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter

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Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter
First published	April 29, 2015– December 31, 2016

Andromeda brings you all of the hot news in Axiom Nexus!

Synopsis

2015

• April 29 — Thanks to decreased production of the advancement level Beta Cores, smog levels are down, allowing aspiring astronomers to see the Restonian Cluster near the Zed Nebula.

• April 30 — Andromeda interviews Garara about a recently discovered fuel on Cybertron. Garara theorizes that it is due to the long decay of an ancient group of Offworlders and their civilization, who all decomposed into a blue substance that they could refine into fuel.

• May 1 — The mecha-soccer draft has started, and all eyes are on two potential picks: Kickstart and Heavyfoot. Andromeda turns over the mic to Rook, who is interviewing Krok.

• May 4 — The last deca-cycle of sports has been exciting and punctuated by several events. The first is an Offworlder-attended fight between Punch... and his other self, Counterpunch. The TransTech were treated to a fight of their own, with Star-Upper fighting Ironclad. The final event was equinicon racing, which Rook reports on.

• May 6 — Andromeda introduces a special series of reports Rook will make on various Axiom Nexus establishments.

• May 9 — In business news, the D. Manus Industrial average has gone up. Cybertron Galactic Services's stock has also gone up, which CEO Speed Dial credits to their upgrade of transdimensional radiowave scramblers with voltronic galaxers. However, critics worry that the company will violate the Non Admiscearis Principium in the interest of more profits. Galactic Express's stock, on the other hand, has dropped, due to a tragic incident involving Uniend 610.23 Zeta and trans-spatial cylinders. The situation hits close to home for Galactic Express's spokesperson, Guardian Speed of Aurex 503.21 Gamma. The Supreme Multi-Circuit Court struck down the Vraz-Halogen Act, allowing Hydradread/Highbrow Hybrid Technologies a wealth of profit. Environmental critics were not fond of the idea of HHHT having unfettered access to the Iocus universal cluster.

• May 10 — The origins of Motherboard Day are revealed with an interview of Kitte Shūshū, Stampy's mother from Primax 798.0 Gamma.

• May 13 — Andromeda reports on Transwarp Dominion Initiative leader Leadfoot speaking to the Ministry of Higher Dimensional Sciences about the unmanned sentry outpost monitoring the Skriix, the aggressive species from Skriixos V who could potentially threaten TransTech monopoly on transdimensional travel. One of the primary electro-cell banks is no longer online after a Recyclon incursion into Skriix space resulted in a brief conflict that breached the protective Filtrek-K cloaking shield. The remaining cell is at 78% capacity, meaning that failure is not expected to occur for a long time but continued monitoring worthwhile.

• May 14 — Tonight is the finale of Cybertron's Got Talent, the interpretive transforming competition, and Andromeda has the lowdown on the finalists Stakeout, Sideways, Quickswitch, and Backfire, and judges Tarn, Rosanna, Escargon, and Greasepit.

• May 19 — Andromeda interviews fashionista Needlenose.

• May 21 — Andromeda reports on the membership of the Convoy, with information acquired from Cheetor.

• May 28 — Andromeda interviews two Fixits from the Mighty Mechanics, winners of the Sub-Metro Amateur League Lobbing Championship. Uniend Fixit aspires to play in the Combiner Leagues next season, but his teammate isn't looking forward to potentially having just a leg as an alt-mode.

• June 1 — Andromeda introduces two Mini-Con interns, Deduce and Groundbreak, who are to help with her broadcast. Unfortunately, Deduce is insistent on using formal wording during a report on a black hole eating planets in the Theta-Six star cluster, and Groundbreak tries to get a security job with Cheetor and challenges Romy to an arm wrestling match while she tries to report on purported threats to the stability of Axiom Nexus caused by an uptick of newly arriving lowtech. Romy then segues to Rook's interview with Beachcomber and Gutcruncher.

• June 10 — Andromeda reveals the sixth entity on Cybertron's Most Wanted list. Oilmaster is a Pretender who was a bounty hunter in his home universal stream and is now Cryotek's enforcer. Among the oozing Pretender's misdeeds was the removal, conversion to alt-mode thruster housing, and reinsertion of a poor robot's leg. The Offworlder Zone Security Administration has found information on Oilmaster's next target and is planning a sting, but maybe Romy shouldn't have just said that.

• June 27 — Andromeda reports that, in the aftermath of the Waruder invasion, Vector Prime has been botnapped. Witness Flash Runner and her friend Hurricane Hunter indicate that it was Sideways who had done the deed, recognizing him from his appearance on Cybertron's Got Talent. ANN intern Crosswise is missing.

• July 30 — Andromeda gives some good news in contrast to the recent more dark news. Good Sandokan Overcast, brother to Jetfire, helped out Spy-Eye when the drone had gotten lost in Axiom Nexus. Andromeda then turns to Sonar for the weather.

• August 16 — Andromeda reports on rumors that a a blue rodent-former 'bot in the Offworlder Zone has been bragging about helping save Axiom Nexus from the Waruders with an interdimensional gate. Andromeda brings in Minister Rhinox for an interview, and Rhinox takes the opportunity to explain the difficulties of interdimensional travel, including the various beings lurking in transwarp space which no sane 'bot would want to encounter.

• September 28 — Andromeda, though on assignment, took a moment to visit Ask Vector Prime and answer a question about the Rock Bots.

• September 28 — From outside the High Senate building, Andromeda reports on an emergency session, Megatron and Starscream soon emerge and announce that all contact with the Tyran Cluster has been lost.

• October 18 — Andromeda reports a traffic delay in Lower Tesarus due to a terrorist bombing at Director Shockwave's lab.

2016

• March 6 — ANN's retrospective on the Beast Wars of Primax 496.22 Alpha continues with a look at Tigatron.

• March 10 — More Beast Wars coverage with Terrorsaur. Sonar fills in for Rook while he's off being brainwashed, but soon storms out in a rage when she thinks Andromeda has insulted her.

• March 20 — Beast Wars again with Silverbolt.

• March 24 — Andromeda reports on the High Senate vote in favor of equal rights for organic hardlight changelings in the Offworlder Zone. This is followed by the continuation of Beast Wars coverage with the mystery of Razorbeast, who proves a problem as there is no footage of him from Primax 296.22 Alpha. This is solved by Miss-Q, who gets the Razorbeast of Primax 296.0 Beta, who happens to be in Axiom Nexus. While this Razorbeast wants to discuss the relationship between Primax 296.22 Alpha and Primax 206.15 Gamma, Romy just wants him to spout the catchprases of Primax 206.15 Gamma's Razorbeast.

• March 30 — Beast Wars, for the last time on Andromeda's segment, with the Tripredacus Council.

• May 1 — Andromeda interviews Hawk, the human member of the Convoy, with Rook providing... "assistance".

• May 4 — In honor of the human celebration of "Star Wars Pun Day", Andromeda has Nightbeat do his R2-D2 impression, which, as interpreted by Aston, includes dirty material, for which Miss-Q cuts off his microphone.

• May 20 — Andromeda's newscast is ominously cut off in the middle of its first sentence.

December 31

(All times Eastern)

• 12:41 PM — The feed's coverage of what is now ANN's "Rompin' New Year's Eve" begins with Romy's pre-recorded interview with fireworks specialist Sparky and her assistant Firecracker, on what to expect for the evening's explosions, with a little taste coming during Rosanna's performance.

• 2:01 PM — Andromeda heads out on the streets of Axiom Nexus to talk to celebrants. First up: M'Gillda, a telepathically communicating Sub-Atlantican. M'Gillda's description of her celebrations involved several jokes at Rook's expense, which causes him to get anxious back at the studio.

• 2:30 PM — Andromeda attempts to interview a Spacewarp before she gets some urgent news from Sweeps.

• 2:32 PM — Andromeda checks with Rook.

• 2:33 PM — Andromeda heads back to the studio.

• 3:00 PM — High Commander Megatron was able to punch a hole in the Shroud in order to make some scans, which is where an urgent and highly watched piece of news is coming from.

• 3:14 PM — Aurex 503.21 Gamma, Gargent 1084.29 Alpha, Iocus 214.24 Kappa, and Primax 1003.30 Kappa have been reported as wiped out.

• 3:32 PM — Primax 509.28 Epsilon, Fornax 813.0 Gamma, Malgus 1008.19 Gamma, Primax 1298.19 Alpha, Primax 109.0 Beta, Primax 504.0 Gamma and Primax 406.3 Eta are gone.

• 3:57 PM — Andromeda interviews the Brainstorm of Primax 716.21 Beta, who speculates that some unseen, omniversal entity is destroying universes that it considers unimportant, as opposed to the Hytherion just picking off streams isolated by the Shroud.

• 4:41 PM — The only streams listed as existing at this point are Primax 616.02 Kappa, Primax 113.12 Gamma, Primax 785.06 Alpha and its offshoots, Primax 1005.19 Gamma, Tyran 707.04 Delta, Primax 514.3 Gamma, Primax 706.05 Gamma, Uniend 911.05 Alpha, Rovio 914.25 Kappa, Primax 1114.26 Gamma, Primax 206.15 Gamma, Iocus 514.31 Gamma, Primax -408.24 Epsilon and the entirety of the Quadwal cluster.

• 5:47 PM — Waspinator rings up ANN with some important news: all those universes that were thought to have been wiped out were just him mis-reporting to the infosphere Rhinox's decision to turn off Axiom Nexus' multiversal scanners due to the effects of the Shroud making them pointless, thus sending the planet into an unneeded panic.

• 11:28 PM — With the multiverse safe, Andromeda gives an end of the year address (written by Serif) expressing hope in the future that begins in the coming year. She then signs off, turning over to ANN's coverage of Sigma Oracle's 11:59 ball-drop.

Mentioned characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots/Maximals	Decepticons	Others
"Generation 1" Punch/Counterpunch (9) Beast Wars II Star-Upper (10) Ironclad (11) Vraz (14) Halogen (15) Highbrow (17) "Generation 1" Beachcomber (18) Hero Mashers Ultra Magnus (20) Hero Mashers Strafe (21) Hero Mashers Heatwave (22) Kitte Shūshū (23) Beast Wars Neo Stampy (24) Z Grill (25) Kiss Players Rosanna (29) Beast Wars II Escargon (30) Generation 2 Greasepit (31) Power Core Combiners Stakeout (33) "Generation 1" Quickswitch (36) Dark of the Moon Backfire (38) "Generation 1/2" Mirage (42) TransTech Cheetor (50) Black Convoy (51) Lio Convoy (52) Ignition Prime (53) Hero Prime (54) Beast Prime (55) Primal Prime of Primax 509.28 Epsilon (56) Sentinel Maximus (57) Optimus Prime of Primax 094.0 Beta (58) Robots in Disguise Fixit (59) "Generation 1" Fixit (60) "Generation 1" Mudslinger (61) Ambulon (62) Bumblebee (66) Vector Prime (69) Overcast (72) Jetfire (75) Packrat (77) Rhinox (80)	"Generation 1" Krok (8) Hydradread (16) Hero Mashers Megatron (19) Tarn (28) Ego (32) "Generation 1" Sixshot (37) "Generation 1" Needlenose (39) Ghoulon (43) Gutcruncher (65) Oilmaster (67) Flash Runner (70) Hurricane Hunter (71) Starscream (78) Ratbat (79) Megatron (90) Shockwave (91)	Andromeda (1) Rook (2) TransTech Garara (3) TransTech Leatherhide (4) Terraspin (5) Kickstart (6) Heavyfoot (7) TransTech Speed Dial (12) Guardian Speed (13) Primus (26) TransTech Leadfoot (27) Sideways (34) Mirror (35) Armada Sunbeam (40) "Generation 1" Zigzag (41) The Sky Terror Team (44-46) Jetter (47) Mach (48) Shuttler (49) Deduce (63) Groundbreak (64) Cryotek (68) Crosswise (72) Spy-Eye (74) Sonar (76) Hytherion (81) House (82) Teeth With No Eyes (83) Langoliers (84) Beforites (85) After Alls (86) Antevishnum (87) Abaddontus Hunger (88) Ravagers of Time (89)

Notes

Continuity notes

• Hawk's interview builds on his introduction over in Ask Vector Prime and Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist, which established him as being from Primax 806.30 Gamma (the Matrix induced vision from the end of The Art of War issue #5). It also mentions his girlfriend, Carolee, who he (or technically, his alternate universe counterpart) was dating in Black Horizon, which he very broadly summarizes. He notes that after he got booted out of his universe, Earth experienced a golden age, something Optimus Prime predicted might happen.

Transformers references

• Garara is a TransTech version of one of the Jaki from the Go! franchise—specifically, the redeco of Beast Hunters Twinstrike.
• Leatherhide is a TransTech version of Leatherhide, a cancelled redeco of Beast Wars Mutant Soundwave for the 2003 Universe toyline.
• Punch/Counterpunch fighting himself seems to be a callback to his split-personality nature.
• Star Upper was introduced in the Beast Wars II comic.
• Dillesol and Boltaneon were Cybertronian days and months, respectively, mentioned in the second AllSpark Almanac. The D. Manus Industrial average (short for Dirk Manus) was also introduced there.
• The Voltronic Galaxer is from "Blaster Blues".
• The transdimensional radiowave scrambler was seen in issue 10 of the Marvel U.S. comic.
• Speed Dial was the cell phone AllSpark Mutation from the "Real Gear Robots" subline of the first live action movie toyline.
• Galactic Express was mentioned in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1".
• Guardian Speed is a redeco of Cybertron Six-Speed, released as part of a promotion for the Revenge of the Fallen toyline.
• Trans-spatial cylinders were technology introduced in the Transformers Classified series of young adult novels.
• Uniend 610.23 Zeta is the universe of Exodus, while Guardian Speed's home universe is Aurex 503.21 Gamma, the Panini series of exclusive UK Armada comics.
• The Vraz-Halogen Act takes its name from two Autobot High Council members, one from The War Within, and the other from Exodus, respectively.
• The Hydradread/Highbrow Hybrid Technologies is named after the Generation 2 Stormtrooper and the Generation 1 Headmaster.
• Beachcomber protests over the possible abuse of the resources of the Iocus Cluster and the combinations they could make out of its inhabitants is a reference to the Hero Mashers toyline of mix-and-match figures.
• Kitte Shūshū is Stampy's mother mentioned offhandedly in the Beast Wars Neo comic.
• The Cybertronian day Gerbesol appears to be a reference to Steve Gerber, a story editor on the Generation 1 cartoon.
• The Skriix are from the PlayStation Beast Wars video game while the Recyclons are from a G1-based Legends anthology book.
• The Filtrek-K cloaking shield is probably of the Filtrek shield technology from the Dreamwave Armada comic.
• The Cybertronian day Maleksol appears to be a reference to Bryce Malek, an episode writer on the G1 cartoon.
• Tarn became a judge on Cybertron's Got Talent after the unexpected death of Ego, which occurred in "I, Lowtech".
• The Cybertronian day Glutsol appears to be a reference to Donald F. Glut, another G1 cartoon episode writer.
• Needlenose having a Mini-Con assistant named Sunbeam and a Cyberdroid assistant named Zigzag is a reference to his G1 Nebulan Targetmaster partners.
• This Facebook page gives a name to the previously unnamed combined form of the Sky Terror Mini-Con Team, the Chaos Saber.
• Ghoulon's home reality was destroyed by the Swarm.
• The X-Dimension is mentioned. Apparently, no one ever returns from it.
• Meanwhile, the Japan-exclusive Exdimensions redeco of the Air Defense Mini-Con Team is given the name Zephyr Blade Mini-Con Team. Their combined form, having been nicknamed the "Fire Saber" by fans, is dubbed the Pyro Saber here.
• The Cybertronian day Wisesol appears to be a reference to David Wise, yet another Generation 1 cartoon episode writer.
• Alternity veteran Nemesis Prime/Black Convoy has become a member of the Convoy.
• Convoy member Sentinel Maximus is noted as a native of Primax 797.18 Epsilon, confirming that he is the same Sentinel Maximus who appeared in The Wreckers and Cybertron comics.
• The TransTech version of Sonar is based on the Beast Wars Transmetal 2 bat, and accordingly has her counterpart's thin skin and insecurities, established in her Beast Wars: Sourcebook profile.
• Andromeda's recounting of the exploits of the Razorbeast of Primax 496.22 Alpha is pretty much a straight recap of the events of IDW's The Gathering and The Ascending miniseries, and she tries to get Razorbeast to outright quote some of what that story's Razorbeast says (with a mild jibe from Razorbeast at Simon Furman's writing quirks). Razorbeast is more interested in trying to point out how his home reality, Primax 296.0 Beta, the universe of the early toy pack-in fiction, is one of the very few pieces of Beast Wars fiction not to muck around with the "time travellers on prehistoric Earth" story.
• The Fortress Maximus of Primax 806.30 Gamma is bonded to Brave, the Japanese name for Emissary, partner to the Robots in Disguise version of Fort Max, rather than G1 Max's usual partner of Cerebros.
• An odd man out among the gang of Screaming Eagles allied Headmasters is Sunstreaker, who while not a Headmaster in the original toyline or accompanying fiction was one in IDW's continuity. Also an oddity is Playback, who has never been depicted as a Headmaster in any fiction... but whose corpse was used by Muzzle, who is a Headmaster, to spook Thunderwing in "The Big Shutdown!"
• There's a little joke in Double Dealer being affiliated with Count von Rani, head of the nefarious S.K.A.R.. The original Doubledealer's toy came with a Powermaster partner named Skar, which unlocked the toy's Decepticon form, see.
• The Waruder invasion mentioned took place in BotCon 2015's exclusive comic, "Cybertron's Most Wanted".
• The missing intern Crosswise is a reference to his status as one of Sideways's partner Mini-Cons.

Real-life references

• Discussing the Star Wars franchise, Rook, ever one to court unfavourable opinions, expresses a personal preference for Episode II: Attack of the Clones. He also says that in Malgus cluster universes, the franchise has got up to Episode LXXIV (seventy four, in Arabic numerals). Yikes. As of the date of the post, the franchise had merely clocked up to Episode VII, released the previous December, with Episodes VIII and IX announced but as then unnamed.
• The final straw for Sonar that causes her to storm out is Andromeda commenting that Strafe turning into a dark knight is a "bit gauche". The Dark Knight is one of Batman's most common sobriquets.
• Rook and Andromeda drop a plug for the show "The Good Knife", a horrible, horrible pun on The Good Wife. After their entry on the Tripredacus Council, they plug "Better Call Saur", after Better Call Saul.
• At the start of the segment on the Tripredacus Council, Rook and Romy are talking about an unknown personage turning out to be fake. Though not stated directly, the mention of a deerstalker cap and the phrase "elementary" make it clear they're talking about Sherlock Holmes.
• While trying to crack puns on New Year's Eve, Romy's choice of words makes Rook think she's talking about Rom, Space Knight.

Errors

• Convoy member "Hero Prime" is mistakenly stated to be a native of Primax 094.0 Beta when he is in fact a native of Primax 895.0 Gamma. After this was pointed out by a Facebook commenter, the Editor acknowledged the correct universal stream in a comment, saying that Andromeda was distracted from being starstruck by Cheetor.
• The Facebook page for the Editor also notes that Andromeda left out the thirteenth, classified entry on the list of Convoy members.
• Convoy member Primal Prime is stated to be a native of Primax 509.28 Epsilon here, but the Rook Facebook page corrects this to Primax 700.0 Beta.
• The world for Mars Attacks: The Transformers is given as Primax 113.12 Gamma instead of Primax 113.23 Gamma, presumably due to the wiki erroneously giving that designation at the time.

Post-Collectors' Club updates

From January 2018, both Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter and Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist began posting again, sharing posts from the Facebook account of the unofficial convention Pete's Robot Convention with in-character comments (likely thanks to various staff from Fun Publications being involved with RoboCon). As these newer updates were made following the loss of the Transformers license by Fun Publications, they are non-canon and outside of this wiki's remit.

See also

• Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter Facebook archive
• Chronological Axiom Nexus News archive

External links

• Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter on Facebook