Balancing Act

« Balancing Act » Transformers: Cybertron
"Balancing Act"
Publisher	Fun Publications
Published in	Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #2
Story	Forest Lee, Dan Khanna
Writer	Forest Lee
Pencils	Dan Khanna
Inks	Terry Pallot, Chuck Gibson
Colors	Blond
Letters	Junemoon Studio
Editorial consultant	Destination Entertainment's Marc Patten
Continuity	Cybertron cartoon

As Vector Prime summons for help against the Unicron Singularity, the Chaos Bringer's Minions arrive, prepared to tip the balance in their favor.

Synopsis

Some time after Cybertron has been abandoned, a portal opens up near the black hole that threatens the Universe, from which several of Unicron's heralds emerge; Ramjet, who has returned from his prison from beyond, his Mini-Con partners, and Nemesis Prime, evil clone of Optimus Prime and wielder of the Dead Matrix. Ramjet observes that though Unicron's physical body is dead, collapsed into the black hole, his evil presence still remains. Heading down to Cybertron, the two plan to assist their lord tip the balance in chaos' favor... by destroying Primus!

On the planet below, a few Transformers remain, such as Jackhammer and Crush Groove, who have raided the abandoned Maccadam's Old Oil House for its Energon and oil now that there is no one to stop them. However, they are approached by Ramjet and Prime, who proclaim that they will prove themselves as warrior slaves or die. The jumpy Jackhammer tells them to back off their turf and lays a threatening finger on Ramjet's chest...which reacts with the anti-matter making up the Herald's body, destroying him instantly! Crush Groove cries out, but is immediately cut down by Nemesis Prime's scythes. Proclaiming the remaining Cybertronians useless, the pair intend to make a visit to Alpha Trion...

At the same time, the old sage is visited by Vector Prime, whom he informs that he can no longer contact Primus, who is using up most of his energy to resist the pull of the singularity, while Vector informs him of the progress in the search for the Cyber Planet Keys. Trion, using the waning power of Vector Sigma, has managed to use a few of the space-time distortions to his advantage, bringing Sentinel Maximus over to help. Disoriented, Sentinel does not notice until it is too late that Nemesis Prime and Ramjet have arrived and is blasted. While Vector Prime draws his swords and attacks Ramjet Alpha Trion begs Sentinel Maximus to get back up, only for Nemesis throws the sage into Vector Sigma, drawing his gun on the prone Sentinel. But Sentinel has a few tricks up his sleeve and uses his abilities to download a massive gun into the real world, stopping Nemesis in his tracks. Ramjet, meanwhile, professes that he and Vector both have the same goal: to return the balance to the universe. Vector, however, refuses to accept Ramjet's way and the Herald blasts Vector Sigma and Alpha Trion with an antimatter wave, escaping with Nemesis—though not before the latter promises to kill Sentinel Maximus the next time they meet. While the battle is over, the cost proves high as Vector kneels down next to the heavily damaged Alpha Trion.....

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Mini-Cons
Vector Prime (10) Alpha Trion (11) Sentinel Maximus (12)	Ramjet (3) Nemesis Prime (6) Jackhammer (7) Crush Groove (8)	Gunbarrel (1) Terradive (2) Thunderclash (4) Thunderwing (5) Safeguard (9)

Notes

• Characters mentioned but not seen: Unicron, Primus, Optimus Prime, and Optimus Prime.

Continuity notes

• Cybertron was abandoned in the Cybertron episode "Fallen".
• Vector Prime states the Autobots have found one planet, placing this comic sometime after "Landmine" (where Hot Shot and Red Alert arrived on Velocitron), but before "Search" (where Overhaul was lost on the Jungle Planet).
• Sentinel Maximus has arrived from the conclusion of the 3H Productions Wreckers comics, which at this time had not seen release, due to the loss of 3H's license. We would later see how he got here in "Wreckers: Finale Part II", released 2 years later.

Transformers references

• Ramjet, Thunderclash, Gunbarrel, Terradive, and Thunderwing were sold as a Toys"R"Us Universe exclusive "Spring Value Pack." Nemesis Prime, meanwhile, was a Target-exclusive Universe toy.
• Jackhammer is based on the Generation 1 Decepticon tapes Rumble and Frenzy. Crush Groove, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be a homage to anyone.
• Maccadam's Old Oil House originates from the Marvel UK The Transformers comics.
• Jackhammer calls Ramjet a "refugee from the Junk Planet," after the planet introduced in The Transformers: The Movie and its native people, the Junkions.
• Alpha Trion originally appeared in the Dreamwave Energon comic, where he was only known as "Sig-Omega"; obviously designed to look like the elderly Autobot, this comic makes the connection explicit. Vector Sigma makes its first appearance in the "Unicron Trilogy" continuity family here; Alpha Trion's original Generation 1 counterpart was shown to be the guardian of Vector Sigma in the Sunbow The Transformers cartoon two-parter, "The Key to Vector Sigma".
• Nemesis Prime's systems recognize Sentinel Maximus as a Matrix-bearer, but without an actual Matrix. The Primal Prime half of Sentinel Maximus was called the "living Matrix" several times in the various Universe comics, and Sentinel himself would be called by this appellation later in the storyline.

Real-world references

• Sentinel Maximus calls Nemesis Prime "Jumbo", after a real-life 19th-century circus elephant.

Other trivia

• Vector Prime's Mini-Con partner Safeguard has a little sword of his own. It's adorable.

Reprints

• 2007 — Transformers: Cybertron: Balancing Act