Zero Point

« The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers »
"Zero Point"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	February 22, 2012
Story	James Roberts
Continuity	IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era (2012)

Roadbuster cares for a comatose Springer.

Synopsis

In the abandoned Debris, Roadbuster spends his every day caring for the dying Springer, cleaning his optics and reading him excerpts from Fisitron's Wreckers: Declassified. The medics can't bring the Autobot back from his slow death because they can't find the "zero point", the tiny, near-invisible gap between two energy conductors that keeps the Spark going. Rung had suggested that the Spark may respond to emotional triggers, and so Roadbuster taught himself how to read so he could recount old war stories to his friend. He's read through 331 of the logs though, struggling through the "Fisitronism" and the repetitions and the discomfort about himself being in the logs as a one-dimensional gun nut, and nothing has yet happened.

Springer had always tried to be a black-and-white, Heroic Autobots vs. Evil Decepticons type of guy, but as the war dragged on he decided being a decent 'bot was holding him back. A chance encounter with Impactor and the Wreckers at the Battle of Sherma Bridge was a jolt to the system and he eagerly signed up as a reservist. He was made a member of the 17th line-up and grew to see Impactor as an older brother... but the Wreckers soon became uncomfortably violent and dirty, just as the war did. There were too many abuses of prisoners, too many battlefield atrocities, and Springer found himself saying that it wasn't his problem. He wasn't doing any of it, and sometimes he helped calm them down (less and less as time went on).

Then the Wreckers became obsessed with Squadron X, ignoring all other threats in favour of tracking down their opposite numbers. It came to a head on Pova, where Impactor murdered eight helpless prisoners. Springer immediately contacted High Command, where Prowl been waiting for just such a whistleblower, and testified against his leader. Roadbuster, Whirl, Rack'n'Ruin, all of them then came to Springer (each thinking he was the only one) to beg him to become the new leader, admitting their horror at what happened and afraid that Prowl would use this as an excuse to end them. Roadbuster was shaken by the fact his gun had been used, thinking Impactor only wanted it for self-defence in case the Squadron broke free. Springer promised he'd become their leader if they got through this, and testified that the others had nothing to do with the murders.

Roadbuster tries to read the Declassified account of Pova but can't: he knows it's a lie. He finally confesses to Springer: that they all knew Springer was making Impactor's hatred worse, pumping up all the Wreckers with atrocity propaganda against Squadron X, and all because Springer needed them to be doing something foul to give himself an excuse to cut loose. And Roadbuster had known that Impactor was going to murder them and so had the others, and they were glad he was doing it, Roadbuster was even proud of him; their concern had been that Springer would stop him. And because they knew Springer felt he was leadership material and could 'correct' the Wreckers, they lied to him and played him to avoid being arrested as well.

After his confession, Roadbuster apologises because he now knows Springer was a great leader: their best leader.

Then, the life-support machines register a resurgent Spark, and when Roadbuster checks a small tear in Springer's optic, he sees a touch of its old Matrix blue is coming back.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons
Roadbuster (1) Springer (2) Top Spin (3) Twin Twist (4) Rotorstorm (5) Ironfist (6) Pyro (7) Impactor (8) Kup (9) Kaput (10) Rung (11) Whirl (14) Broadside (15) Rack n' Ruin (16–17)	Megatron (12) Macabre (13)

Notes

• This story was first printed in the hardcover of Last Stand.
• Roadbuster name-drops the Nanocons, which will appear in the MTMTE Annual.
• Kup and Rung are old friends.
• Among the threats that the Wreckers ignored on their X quest were the Black Epoch, the Simanzi Massacre and the Crucible, and the "Rise of the Dethroner".
• Squadron X were merely refuelling on Pova. The hardcover's Squadron X profiles reveals more: they were only transporting munitions in the Redan Quadrant, and two members were not long for the team anyway.
• Springer's call to Autobot High Command to inform them of Impactor's misdeeds took place at the G'th Semane spaceport, named for the Biblical garden of Gethsemane, where Judas betrayed Jesus. A bit on the nose, that one.
• Transformers' optics glow because the Spark is healthy, and act as a genuine 'window' into the soul. Springer's optics hint that he might actually be Matrix compatible.
• Ironfist's memorial statue on Kimia, briefly seen in "Chaos Part One: Lamentations", is mentioned. All of Ironfist's "Fisitron" writings were released in a collected format when the statue was unveiled, and Prowl wrote the foreword. (Roadbuster thinks the foreword is rubbish)
• Roadbuster did not know how to read until this story.