Interiors

« The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #6 »
"NO! SHOOT WHIRL, SHOOT WHIRL!"
"Interiors"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	June 27, 2012
Cover date	June 2012
Story by	James Roberts
Art by	Nick Roche
Colors by	Josh Burcham
Letters by	Shawn Lee
Editor	John Barber
Continuity	IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era (2012)

A hostage situation grips the Lost Light as Fortress Maximus snaps, and not everyone escapes the experience unscathed...

Synopsis

After his vicious display on Delphi, Fortress Maximus is instructed to undergo mandatory psychological evaluation with Rung. The sessions go very poorly, as Maximus actively lies about what he remembers of his experiences at the hands of Overlord on Garrus-9—about how the deranged Decepticon never wanted Aequitas, but what it served to hide—but Rung insists they continue.

Meanwhile, at Swerve's bar, Chromedome is displaying his talent for identifying an Autobot based purely on the sound of their transformation and ducking Tailgate's questions about how he and Rewind met, while Tailgate himself bemoans his current education in the Autobot Code and Trailbreaker gripes about Fortress Maximus's overblown reputation. Ultra Magnus soon arrives and arrests Swerve for running a speakeasy, assigning him the demeaning punishment of replacing every rivet on the exterior of the ship, after which Maximus himself enters the bar... and promptly shoots Pipes!

Maximus proceeds to go on a rampage through the Lost Light, shooting Boss, Dogfight, Turbine and Doubletap apparently at random, before holing himself up in Rung's office and impaling the psychiatrist's current patient, Whirl, with a pipe. As Rodimus, Drift and Ultra Magnus watch through a security camera hacked by Blaster, and listen through an audio feed surreptitiously being broadcast by Rung through his thumb-microphone, Maximus beats the mocking Whirl into silence so he can issue his demands: take the Lost Light back to Cybertron so Prowl can answer for taking three years to send help to Garrus-9, or the former warden starts killing hostages. Discovering that the conversation is being broadcast, Maximus rips off Rung's thumb, and Whirl resumes his taunting, deliberately trying to bait Maximus into killing him. He refuses to tell Maximus why he has a death wish, so Maximus threatens Rung instead, and Whirl is convinced to tell him his life story: how before the war, he defied Cybertronian convention by giving up his function to become a watchmaker, only to fall on hard times and wind up being press-ganged into the service of the Senate. He even reveals why he was kicked off the Wreckers: he attempted to euthanize the comatose Springer using Roadbuster's Sparkeater weapon.

As Whirl tells his story, Rodimus notices that Rung is tapping one of his model spaceships, indicating the windows. Catching his meaning, Rodimus contacts Rewind, also on rivet duty with Swerve as punishment for bringing "snuff movie" data discs on board, and orders the pair to the window of Rung's office, from which a rivet gun can be used to take Maximus out. Before they can get there, however, Maximus flies into a fury upon realizing the ship has not yet changed course and prepares to kill Whirl. Rung tries to stop him, having come to the same conclusion that Ratchet and First Aid have simultaneously reached by studying the uniform coloration of his Autobot victims: this is not about Prowl, it's about Overlord and the revenge Max will never get to have. At Rodimus's suggestion, Rewind projects footage of Maximus's torture and dismemberment at Overlord's hands through the porthole in order to shock and distract him, giving Swerve the chance to take the shot. Swerve protests, both because of his lack of skill and the fact that Rung, ever the dedicated carer, has knelt by the traumatised Maximus to calm him, but Rodimus insists that he try... and the deadly blast strikes not Maximus, but Rung, blowing his head open. Whirl uses the distraction to rip out the pipe pinning him, and takes Maximus down by impaling him with it.

A little later, after a speech has been delivered for Rung and Maximus has been locked in the ship's brig, Rodimus talks with Drift about recent events. Drift comments warily on the absence of Red Alert, who, unbeknownst to either, has taken the deceased Ore's drill-arm to widen the crack in the bottom of the ship through which he believes he can hear a voice. And through the crack, where by all rights there should only be empty space, he finds in a hidden chamber, in which, immobilized, his weapons systems removed, begging to be killed...

...hangs Overlord.

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Fortress Maximus (1) Rung (2) Trailbreaker (4) Hound (5) Pipes (6) Skids (7) Chromedome (8) Swerve (9) Ultra Magnus (12) Boss (13) Sunstreaker (14) Brainstorm (15) Dogfight (16) Drift (17) Rodimus (18) Blaster (19) Aquafend (20) Red Alert (21) Deftwing (22) Powerflash (23) Whirl (24) Siren (25, voice only) Ratchet (26) First Aid (27) Doubletap (28) Turbine (29) Rewind (33) Springer (34) Ore (35)	Overlord (3)	Cyclonus (10) Tailgate (11) Heavies (30-31) Senate thug (32)

Quotes

"You were in charge when G9 was attacked."
"Yes."
"What happened next?"
"You know what happened next. Everyone knows. Even Tailgate knows, and someone had to draw him a picture of Optimus Prime the other day..."

—Rung and Fortress Maximus

"We just spent six hours discussing the relevance of a semicolon. I say 'discussing'—it was more like a thrilling Magnus monologue. I say 'thrilling'—it was actually very, very boring."
"And the semicolon?"
"Ah! Turns out the semicolon isn't relevant at all."

—Tailgate and Chromedome

"I mean, 'Fortress Maximus'—come on. What kind of a name is that? But everyone's like, 'Oh, Fortress Maximus, you're my hero! You've got guns in your legs and you killed tons of 'Cons at Simanzi...' And I'm like 'That was a thousand years ago!' He's a relic! He's a has-been! He's—"
"Just walked in."
"Great to see you, Max! Come on over! We were just talking about Simanzi! With the thing and the—the stuff! So... oh wow! You've got guns in your legs! How's that working out for you? That's awesome, man. You're awesome."

—Trailbreaker and Chromedome

"Seriously, all of this is a bit—it's a bit pathetic though, isn't it? Even for an epic, epic failure like you. I mean, not only do you practically beg the Decepticons to take G9 off your hands, but you curl up into a ball the moment Overlor—"
(Fortress Maximus pistol-whips Whirl.)
"Wow. If I'd known that was the best you've got, I'd have said something genuinely offensive."

—Whirl

"You never told me any of that!"
"Well you never threatened to shoot a friend of mine!"

—Whirl shows Rung that he actually does care.

Notes

• The cast page at the end of the comic is updated this issue, removing Rung and adding First Aid, Trailbreaker and Pipes. Several of the brief write-ups have been modified to reflect what we've learned about the cast of late.
• Fortress Maximus's suffering at the hands of Overlord, of course, all occurred within the span of Last Stand of the Wreckers, off-panel between issues #1 and #3.
• Skids is again missing his gun this issue, but the updated cast page makes a point of highlighting this, suggesting that instances in past issues where wasn't holding it may not have all been the errors they appeared to be at the time.
• Trailbreaker's whole personality here might seem a bit new, as he's never acted like this in any fiction before, but it's all actually derived from his original bio, which described him as very self-conscious as a result of the fact he is exceptionally fuel-inefficient. Here, Roberts adapts the "fuel consumptive" idea to mean he needs to drink a lot of strong stuff regularly, which gets him inebriated, at which point he starts bitterly taking pops at other characters because of his own issues with himself. Trailbreaker's fondness for really hard "liquor" will reoccur in future issues.
• Fortress Maximus is revealed to have been part of the Simanzi Massacre, an event in Cybertronian history mentioned in several places throughout James Roberts's previous IDW works.
• Brainstorm claimed that he tried to save Dogfight from Fort Max. In the panel in question, Brainstorm is actually cowering in fear.
• Whirl's brief involvement in "Chaos Theory" is alluded to, along with the circumstances that brought him to that point. In particular, it is noted that he used to be a flight instructor, and that he once changed his name: facts which combine to make it all but explicit that he was the "Jetstream" mentioned in Rotorstorm's backstory in "Bullets".
• The multi-coloured robot who appears prominently in Whirl's flashback, but is not directly named, is the leader of the Senate thugs who menaced Orion Pax back in "Chaos Theory Part 2".
• Whirl makes a reference to the persuasive powers of someone or something called "Empurata", while casting a glance at his left hand. We'll find out what's going on with this in issue #11.
• Rewind was seen obtaining the incriminating data discs from Swindle back in issue #1, who hinted at the perverse nature of their content. Red Alert implied he had found them last issue.
• Roadbuster's current assignment to watch over the recuperating Springer was the subject of "Zero Point".
• Roadbuster was noted to have been involved in some kind of "Sparkeater business" in "Bullets"; this issue implies that said business was his invention of the device seen here (or perhaps the repercussions of its creation). Logically, he must have named the weapon after the mythological Cybertronian creature, which we learned more about in issue #3.

Errors

• The lettering on Tailgate's arm is written as "Waste Disposal" when it should read "Bomb Disposal". This is fixed for the trade.
• When Drift is in Rodimus' office at the end of the issue, he's holding one of Rung's model ships. It is however, mis-colored as part of his hands. This was also fixed for the trade.

Crew Manifest

• Dogfight, previously assigned to Delphi with known Fader Backstreet in Bullets, is first seen with the crew this issue. This suggests the remaining staff and patients from Delphi were evacuated last issue, along with First Aid and Ambulon. Still, the fate of Delphi's Faders and other patients is not specifically addressed.
• 5 deaths, 5 new arrivals (confirmed) since the launch.

Soundtrack

• Sinister in a State of Hope by Loney, Dear
• A Good Man Is Easy to Kill by Beulah
• Easter Parade by Emmy the Great

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Rung in the sights of Fortress Maximus's gun, by Alex Milne and Josh Perez.
• Cover B: Fortress Maximus is hurled to a mob of Overlords, by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham.
• Cover RI: Black and white lineart versions of Cover A.

• 
  Eep!
• 
  I'm getting too old for this sh...!
• 
  Scared colorless.

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