Transformers Comic issue 4.17

« Transformers: Prime #17 »
Publisher	Titan Magazines
First published	10 October 2013
Editor	Rona Simpson
Assistant editor	Tom Williams
Senior editor	Steve White
Designer	Dan Bura
Publishing manager	Darryl Tothill
Price	£3.99

Enter... PREDAKING!(again)

Collider Scope

• Script: Robin Etherington
• Art: Horacio Domingues
• Lettering: Comicraft
• Continuity: Transformers: Prime

In Geneva, people are going about their business when suddenly, the ground begins to rumble, and a huge ravine rips itself open beneath the feet of the locals...

Meanwhile, Agent Fowler is watching the whole thing on TV and, under the orders of the President, informs Team Prime, who have detected the activity, which is supposedly taking place all over the Northern Hemisphere, with their own equipment. Fowler informs them that a top-secret military base, which was working on a Particle Accelerator, has been hit by one of the quakes, and that it is powered by a nuclear reactor the size of Grand Central Station. Arcee suggests a rescue operation, but is told by Ratchet that the particle accelerator could mess with the GroundBridge's molecular cohesion. Optimus tells Ratchet to get him, Arcee, Bulkhead and Wheeljack as close as possible.

After making their way to the base, the Autobots find it swarming with Vehicons, commanded by Starscream and Shockwave, who have been causing the earthquakes in order to calibrate the modified particle accelerator, which is now capable of making a permanent space bridge to Cybertron. Despite the best efforts of the Autobots, Shockwave is capable of activating the device, allowing Predaking to make his way to Earth.

Telling Wheeljack and Bulkhead to distract Predaking, Optimus jetpacks to the plant's reactor core, but, unfortunately for him, Predaking is only interested in hunting Optimus. Realising that, if he allowed Predaking to follow him to the reactor core, it could explode, he decides to reverse the polarity of the electromagnetic field in order to destabilise the particle beam. Then Predaking blows the whole thing up anyway. As the Decepticons (and presumably Predaking) escape the base, Optimus, Wheeljack and Bulkhead reflect on the closing of the space bridge, and their chances of ever returning home.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Predacons
Ratchet (2) Optimus Prime (4) Arcee (5) Bulkhead (7) Wheeljack (8)	Vehicons (9) Starscream (10) Shockwave (11)	William Fowler (1) Jack Darby (3) Raf Esquivel (6)	Predaking (12)

Notes

• Optimus switches from his original season 1/2 body to his Beast Hunters body in the middle of the comic for no readily apparent reason.