The Will of the Few

« The Transformers: Windblade vol. 2 #7
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	September 23, 2015
Cover date	September 2015
Written by	Mairghread Scott
Art by	Corin Howell
Continuity	IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era (2015)

When Starscream and Windblade make contact with a long-lost colony of space-farers, they must rely on each other to make it out alive

Synopsis

Chromia and Rattrap are waiting in Metroplex's spacebridge chamber, for Windblade and Starscream's return from Eukaris. Just as Chromia starts to threaten a button-pushing Rattrap, Windblade and Starscream step through the bridge, bickering about the contact with the beast planet. Seeing her friend's distress, Chromia is ready to fight Starscream, but the Cybertronian leader claims he saved Windblade's life. The cityspeaker doesn't dispute the fact, but does make it very clear that she believes Starscream killed rather than defended her from, Chela. Starscream casually dismisses the whole affair by saying the only thing that matters is that they got the Eukarians on their side, and walks out. As the two Camiens mourn the death of the Titan, Windblade confides that she feels like a failure, and the two discuss their own falling out over Chromia's responsibility for a bombing that resulted in two dead Cybertronians, and almost killed Windblade herself. Chromia halts her friend's pity party with four simple words: "I believe in you." Chromia tells Windblade that she's seen Windblade make tough decisions over and over since arriving on Cybertron, and that she knows if she did all she could to save Chela. If she didn't, she can learn from the mistake and move on. Windblade starts to apologize to Chromia, but Chromia tells her there's no need-she was given a second chance, and wants to help Windblade do some good on the planet.

The two 'bots head to Metroplex's brain chamber, where the cityspeaker apologizes for Chela's death. Metroplex asks her if she killed Chela, and she says she didn't, but that she couldn't save him. Metroplex replies that even if she had been able to do so, Chela wouldn't have allowed himself to be "saved", and Windblade thanks him for the reassurance. She then asks him what the final colony that he has located is like. Though it takes a while to interpret his words, Windblade learns that the colony departed on the Titan Tempo. They were a group of philosophers and were looking to bring new kinds of truth back to Cybertron, but they just never came back. Opining that truth can be hard to find, she hopes peace won't be. The next morning, as Starscream snarkily asks about her talk with Metroplex, the two begin bickering again, before Wheeljack informs them the spacebridge to Tempo is ready.

Meanwhile, near the spacebridge atop Tempo's hull, Greenlight bemoans the guard duty she and Lancer were put on (due to Lancer being handsy with Greenlight during roll call). No one has come through the spacebridge for weeks, and even then, Greenlight's not sure that it was actual Cybertronians that touched the hull. Lancer is positive that they were, because Obsidian said so, and Obsidian doesn't lie. He is soon proved right when the bridge activates. Lancer quickly signals the bridge of the ship, and as Starscream and Windblade step through, they are confronted by myriad bots, all with their weapons trained on the two arrivals. The very imposing Strika informs the two that if they move even one little bit, they will be killed on the spot. Having expected a ship full of peaceful philosophers, Starscream carelessly advances, and is saved from being shot by a tackle from Windblade. Angrily informing the "welcoming committee" that they just attacked the lord of Cybertron, Starscream is instantly put into his place when Strika transforms into her massive mobile artillery altmode, cannon charged to take a shot. She is stopped from murdering Starscream by the captain of the ship coming out to greet them. Elita One orders her troops to stand down, and apologizes to the two arrivals, telling them that the ship's last contact with Cybetronians was violent and that they'd been on high alert since. She then greets them as the captain of the Titan ship Carcer. The two introduce themselves and Elita suggests that they go somewhere more private to talk.

As the three enter the ship, Windblade confesses that she's confused, because they had registered the ship as Tempo, not Carcer. Elita One replies that that was the ship's name, but the people aboard are not of Tempo. She explains that their spacefaring life has made them value certain different things: efficiency; security; and chief among them, truth. Windblade bluntly asks why the ship looks the way it does. Elita One is somber as she recounts the death of a previous captain, who died to save the ship, his body becoming a part of it in the process. As resources grew scarce, those crewmembers who died donated their bodies to be used as parts of the ship as well. In fact, the throne that Elita One sits on contains the bodies of their greatest heros, and it reminds her daily of what she might have to sacrifice for Carcer. Flanked by Strika and Obsidian, Elita One looks on as Starscream prostrates himself before her, forcing Windblade to to the same. Whispering under his breath for Windblade to follow along, Starscream entreats Elita One to join her forces with Cybertron's army, trying to appeal to her more warlike side. Windblade tries to interrupt, but Starscream continues, saying that the two armies can maintain peace, and that Cybertron's resources could allow Carcer to continue living for an eon or more. He asks her to join with the Council of Worlds, and Elita One then asks Obsidian what he thinks of the offer- he replies that he thinks Starscream is lying, which Elita One easily agrees with. She orders Strika to seize Starscream, and angrily recounts that the peace he talks of is a complete fabrication. When they witnessed Devastator and Optimus Maximus brawling, they saw how savagely they battled, and having been enslaved before by resource-rich worlds, she finds Starscream's claims to be unbelievable. She says that on Carcer, lying to her is a capital offense, and that is exactly what Starscream has done.

As Strika prepares to blow Starscream's head off, Windblade leaps to his defense. Elita One wonders why, when Windblade saved his life on the hull, and he didn't return the favor, that Windblade is risking herself for him now. Windblade says that yes, Starscream is an imperfect leader, but that's no reason to execute him. Elita refuses to risk her troops for Starscream, saying that more of his lies will be revealed on the battlefield. Saying that she hardly knows why herself anymore, she still entreats Elita One to listen. Even if Carcer's inhabitants could all contribute their bodies several times over, it still wouldn't be enough to bring Carcer back to peak performance. After being warned to watch her words, Windblade more calmly explains that the Carcerians need Cybertron, and Cybertron needs them. She then goes full-out bold, saying that she wants Elita's followers to join with them to counter Starscream's influence on the Council, and that killing him will only lead to war. After Windblade reminds a testy Elita One of the cost of her people's life in space, Elita decides that Windblade's bold honesty in admitting her mistakes and faults has won her over. She tells Starscream that if he lies to her again, on her ship, she will kill him. Ordering Strika to release him, she tells the pair to return in 48 hours for Carcer's delegates, but no sooner. As they begin bickering while walking back to the spacebridge, Windblade doesn't tell Starscream what she learned from Metroplex- that Carcer is not a nickname for the titan Tempo, but is the name of a completely different titan. She notes that while Elita One may favor the truth above all else, she isn't telling the whole truth about her colony's origins.

Two weeks later, Strika and Obsidian add their signatures, entering Carcer into the Council of Worlds. As Starscream reads a statement on the news, an angry Onslaught hurls a canister of energon at a viewscreen on the street, while Blast Off angrily says he knew that Starscream would try and sweep the past aside. Onslaught declares that if Starscream wants the past to be forgotten, he'll have to go through him, Blast Off, Vortex and Brawl first!

Notes

Transformers references

• Though not named in-story, via their colors and Mairgrhead Scott's penchant of using obscure female characters from different continuity families (i.e. Manta Ray and Sonar in the last issue), it feels safe to identify the two 'bots on Carcer's hull as Greenlight and Lancer, making only their second appearance in mainline Transformers fiction, and first in nearly 30 years. Additionally, they're presented as a couple here, only the second all-female couple to have been seen/mentioned in Transformers fiction to date, after Proxima and Acceleron.