Fragmentation (G1)

Optimus removed himself and Megatron from the board, causing the two factions to break into six. A burning darkness emerges. Template:Comicnav

The War Within: The Dark Ages, issue #1

Writer: Simon Furman
Pencils: Andrew Wildman
Inks: Erik Sander
Colors: Espen Grundetjern, Rob Ruffolo, Ramil Sunga
Letters: Ben Lee

• Original release date: November 15th, 2003
  
• Characters (In order of appearance): Optimus Prime, Megatron, Jazz, Grimlock, The Fallen, Kup, Swoop, Hound, Huffer, Tracks, Mirage, Perceptor, Jazz Skids, Bludgeon, Mindwipe, Bugly, Starscream, Motormaster, Slag, Sludge, Snarl, Swoop, Ironhide, Wheeljack,
• Chronology: The Dark Ages

Synopsis

Before, at Polar State: Kaon, Optimus Prime heroically dives at Megatron, throwing the two together through an early Space Bridge. Unable to process the unexpected higher occupancy, the portal explodes. Long after the area is abandoned, a crack in space opens up, letting The Fallen return.

Years later, on an operation at a spaceport, Kup questions the existence of a higher power and Cybertron's role in the larger universe. Grimlock pulls Kup's head out of the proverbial clouds.

Hound returns to the Autobase, with news of a Decepticon mobile assault base. But Prowl is unable to spare extra soldiers ever since the Wreckers and L.S.C. broke off from the Autobots with the absence of Prime.

On Orbital Torus State: Kalis, Bludgeon leads Bugly and Mindwipe in a dark ritual. The Fallen crashes their pagan party and recruits the three to be his henchmen.

Starscream and his crew of Predacons transport a shipment of raw Energon to the spaceport, but after landing, the find their receiving team has already been killed by Grimlock's gang. As Grimlock and Starscream shout at each other, Ironhide and Wheeljack jack the Energon transport, leaving Starscream very, very angry.

Deep within Cybertron, The Fallen leads his underlings to The Well of All Sparks and tasks them with the retrieval of Grimlock for his role in The Unbinding.

Quotes

"So I ask you--"
"what's it all about?"

-Kup

"Good, Right here, Kup, right now... it about Energon."

-Grimlock

Items of note

• Grimlock almost accidentally called Swoop, Divebomb—this is a nod to the Marvel UK story, "What's in a Name?".
• The "Wavelengths: section contains an article from the desk of penciller and character designer, Don Allen Figueroa.
• The "Declarations of War" page has reader mail answered by Matt Moylan and has a rendering of Optimus Prime by Jeffrey Englert.

Covers (4)

• Regular cover by Don Figueroa, featuring the Dinobots in their Cybertronian forms
• Double-sized, wrap-around cover by Pat Lee, featuring Jetfire
• "Dynamic forces" cover by Andrew Wildman, featuring the Autobase (limited to 3000 copies)
• Dealer incentive cover by Pat Lee

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  From Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki, a Wikia wiki.