Primacy issue 2

« The Transformers: Primacy #2 »
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	September 10, 2014
Cover date	September 2013
Story by	Chris Metzen & Flint Dille
Art by	Livio Ramondelli
Letters by	Chris Mowry
Editor	John Barber
Continuity	IDW continuity
Chronology	Early in the war

The scattered Decepticon forces are reunited as Megatron rebuilds his army in preparation for an all-out attack on the Autobots.

Synopsis

On the ruined planet Magmara Nine, courier Strongbox finds himself separated from his convoy and under attack from the Stunticons. Surrounded by the evil speedsters, his distress calls unheard, Strongbox tries to explain that he doesn't even know what cargo he's transporting, but the villains ignore him, having been informed by Swindle that the payload is cash. Wildrider leaps on top of him and causes him to run off the road, but just before they go over the edge of the bridge they're on, Drag Strip snags Strongbox's trailer with a grapple line, allowing Motormaster to reel in their prize even as the ill-fated courier falls away from his cargo and plummets to his doom. Upon opening the trailer, however, the team is surprised to discover that their booty is not the money they expected: rather, it is Thundercracker, who had paid Strongbox's convoy to transport him as part of a ruse to draw the Stunticons out. Motormaster refuses to work for Scorponok, but changes his tune when he hears that Megatron is back.

On the jungle world of Canis Tor, Predacons Razorclaw and Rampage are engaged in battle with each other; the Predacons have hunted all life on the planet into extinction and now find themselves stranded there and turning on one another. The other Predacons watch them grapple, grimly realizing that cannibalism seems inevitable—a prediction that becomes sudden reality when Divebomb collapses and the others close in to dine. The appearance of Astrotrain in the skies above stops them before Divebomb meets his end; from within the shuttle 'bot, Starscream appears and invites the Predacons back to the Decepticon fold with the news that Megatron has returned.

Meanwhile, on Cybertron, Optimus Prime and Alpha Trion confer on the discovery of Omega Supreme, who now stands guard over Optimus's quarters in Metroplex. Trion is happy to see the ancient 'bot return, but warns Optimus—concerned over Omega's continued aloofness—that it will take time for the giant sentinel shake off the effects of his million-year isolation.

On the world known as The Presidium, the Combaticons prepare to raid an old cache of Cybertronian weapons considered so dangerous by Nominus Prime that they were stored off-world. When the access codes acquired by Swindle fail to work, the other Combaticons are about to turn on him when the garrison doors suddenly open, revealing Starscream and the Predacons. The promise of ample payment convinces Onslaught and his team to board Astrotrain and blast off for home.

Elsewhere, out in deep space, aboard Trypticon, Soundwave updates Megatron on the continued re-consolidation of the Decepticon forces. Soundwave is hesitant about visiting the final planet on Megatron's list of targeted worlds, but Megatron refuses to have his judgement questioned... and so Trypticon soon sets down on the living hell that is Junkion. The native Junkions gather around the city-ship, but are immediately cowed when Megatron emerges and orders them to submit to his will and ready their "world-ship" to join his armies.

Back on Cybertron, Optimus Prime meets with Bumblebee, Hot Rod, Grimlock, and Bulkhead in response to the appearance of a huge object on their long-range space scanners. Prime hopes it is a ship carrying returning Cybertronians who left during the exodus, but soon realizes that it is Trypticon; Bulkhead refutes the notion of shooting it down, as doing so would rain devastating debris onto the planet while Grimlock and Hot Rod are quick to deduce Megatron's goal—to drop Trypticon directly on top of Metroplex from orbit. In response, Prime orders the city evacuated, and gives the command for Metroplex to transform. No sooner has the Titan assumed his robot mode than Trypticon comes crashing out of the sky, ploughing into Metroplex and tackling him to the ground. The saurian behemoth looms over the toppled titan, and greets Metroplex like an old friend...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Alpha Trion (16) Optimus Prime (17) Bumblebee (27) Hot Rod (28) Grimlock (29) Bulkhead (30) Metroplex (31)	Dead End (2) Wildrider (3) Drag Strip (4) Breakdown (5) Motormaster (6) Thundercracker (7) Razorclaw (8) Rampage (9) Tantrum (10) Headstrong (11) Divebomb (12) Astrotrain (13) Starscream (14) Blast Off (18) Brawl (19) Onslaught (20) Swindle (21) Vortex (22) Trypticon (23) Megatron (24) Soundwave (25)	Strongbox (1) Omega Supreme (15) Junkions (26)

Notes

Continuity notes

• Strongbox put in his sole previous appearance in Monstrosity #1.
• Junkion and its hellish inhabitants were, of course, a major presence during Monstrosity.
• Bulkhead previously appeared during Monstrosity as well, and is here revealed to have stuck around and stayed with Optimus Prime's forces after the great exodus. Where previously he was the unaligned representative of the Engineering Guild, it seems logical to consider him one of the Autobots now, especially given that he attends a closed strategy meeting with notables like Prime, Bumblebee, Hot Rod, and Grimlock.
• In order to empty out Trypticon so that he can drop onto Metroplex, the Decepticons load up onto a Quintesson Cruiser. Assuming that this isn't an art error and that a Quintesson ship hasn't been drawn in place of the Junkion world-ship Megatron orders the Junkions to make ready, this is presumably Pentius's ship, scavenged from Junkion, seen before in Monstrosity #3.

Real-world references

• "Magmara Nine" might be a reference to the Tonka Rock Lords character, Magmar.

Errors

• The speech balloons in the final panel on page three are swapped, with Motormaster's words coming from off-panel, and Thundercracker's words being attributed to Motormaster.

Other notes

• It may seem like an error that the Predacons appear with their traditional animal alternate modes, given that stories such as Spotlight: Jazz and Stormbringer would show them with vehicle forms at a later point in continuity, before they then took on (the same) animal forms on Earth during the 2009-2011 ongoing. However, Livio Ramondelli confirmed online that this was deliberate and their alt modes were just extremely-similar-looking creatures, presumably scanned from Canis Tor's indigenous wildlife. The idea of Earth-like animals existing on other worlds is nothing new for IDW continuity, with characters such as Sky-Byte, Rattrap and Waspinator all having been previously established as having scanned their very Earthly alternate forms on other worlds.

Covers (4)

• Regular cover: Metroplex, Grimlock, Slag, Rodimus, and Ultra Magnus, by Livio Ramondelli. Part of an interlocking image with the regular covers of the other three issues.
• Subscription cover: Starscream, Soundwave, Shockwave, and Blackwall in the shadow of Megatron, by Sarah Stone.
• 30th Anniversary cover: Starscream murdering the Senate as seen in Megatron Origin #4, by Sarah Stone; the first in September's series of 30th Anniversary covers depicting moments from IDW history.
• Exclusive cover: Grimlock dives into battle amid a hail of laser fire, by Livio Ramondelli. Available exclusively at the Montreal Comiccon.

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  Starscream cosplays as Starscream.
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