Applicable Skills
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| "Applicable Skills" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | July 6, 2016 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | July 2016 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Mairghread Scott | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Sara Pitre-Durocher | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Priscilla Tramontano | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Tom B. Long | ||||||||||||
| Editor | John Barber | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | IDW continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Current era | ||||||||||||
It's chaos in the streets as the Combaticons lead a public uprising against Starscream's police state, and Ironhide is put in charge of keeping order. But all is not as it appears...
Synopsis
Civil unrest ripples through Iacon following Circuit's broadcast of the footage of the Badgeless officers murdering a Decepticon. Blast Off ditches the Badgeless armor he was given, and, trying to convince himself that events had to unfold this way, returns to the Combaticons' home. Brawl and Vortex are eager to go out and join the rioting, but Onslaught is reluctant to allow it, his strategic mind thinking several steps ahead and concluding that any displays of civil disobedience by the Decepticons will run the risk of erasing any sympathy the colonists have for their current plight. Blast Off tries to convince him, suggesting they use the chaos to take out Starscream, but Onslaught suspects the whole thing is a plot by Starscream to draw them out. When Blast Off, a little too quickly and insistently, claims that it is not, Onslaught drags him into his room and demands he explain how he could know that...
A little later, in the skies over the city, Obsidian and Airazor are discussing the complex, factionalized politics of Cybertron when their attention is suddenly drawn to a mob being led through the streets below by Onslaught, marching on the council building. Inside the building, Starscream is fairly nonplussed by the sight; it takes the arrival of Windblade in his office, blaming him for the police state that has given rise to the mob, to raise his hackles. Meeting with the rest of the council, Starscream coldly announces his intent to meet force with force, giving the rioters the war they seemingly want, but Ironhide speaks out against the idea, and the other council members agree. Rattrap suggests calling on Victorion—presently on Earth—for aid, but Starscream shoots the plan down, refusing to open the space bridge with Onslaught still on the loose. In response to questions from council members, Starscream explains that, some time before he took power, he made a deal with Onslaught to have the Combaticons on his side during his political rise. When Starscream actually succeeded and became ruler of Iacon, however, he reneged on the deal and cut ties with Onslaught; he now suspects Onslaught is acting out of a desire for revenge. Ironhide speaks up again, and volunteers the only bloodless solution he can think of—a solution he knows Starscream will hate.
As the rioters pelt the council building with garbage, Ironhide appears on its front steps to address them. Determined to keep the peace they have all fought and suffered for, Ironhide announces that he has been appointed head of the Badgeless. He vows to investigate the murder to the fullest, and invites 'bots of any faction, and any planetary origin, to sign up to the police force to help him. At first, it seems nobody is going to take him up on the offer; the silence of the crowd is broken only by an insult and a chunk of rock that harmlessly strikes Ironhide's helmet. But, just as all hope seems lost, Tall Tankor and Fat Tankor burst out of the crowd to pledge their support, followed quickly by Sparkstalker. Onslaught is disgusted, and attacks Ironhide, demanding that he reveal where Swindle's body is being kept—until Blast Off jumps into action, wrestling his leader to the ground as he tells him he is tired of being held back. As the crowd begins to peacefully disperse, Blast Off asks Ironhide if he too can join his team, leading a furious Onslaught to warn Blast Off to watch his back. Blast Off simply retorts that he has gone above and beyond to help Onslaught, but has concluded that he cannot save him from himself.
The council watch the crowd break up from the window of Starscream's chambers, after which Starscream ushers them out so he can collect his thoughts and prepare a statement. Windblade, of course, refuses to leave, and demands to know if Starscream really does have Swindle's body; driven to honesty through sheer exasperation (and the needling words of the hallucinatory Bumblebee), Starscream admits that he does not, but urges Windblade to be wary of Onslaught and his razor-sharp mind. A smirk creeps over Starscream's face as he declares that Windblade will now be personally responsible for dealing with the Combaticons' threat; he is tired of her undermining him, and if she does not accept this task, then he will spill all of Windblade's dirty secrets—including her co-conspiratorial cover-up of Chromia's killings—and destroy the council and the alliance of worlds for everyone.
Out in the streets, Fat Tankor catches up to Blast Off, and invites him to crash in his and Tall Tankor's living space if he needs to. Blast Off accepts the offer, but leaves to clear his head first... slinking off into a dark alley, where Onslaught warmly greets him and congratulates him on a job well done...
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others | ||
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Quotes
Vortex: "Yay! You're not dead! Brawl, pay up!"
Brawl: "Ah, scrap. That was my last bottle of Engex."
Blast Off: "Thanks for the concern."
- —The Combaticons react to Blast Off's return
Tigatron: "Who is Onslaught?"
Starscream: "A former associate."
Ironhide: "A psychopath and a murderer."
Starscream: "I said he was an associate, not my Conjunx Endura!"
"Unfortunately, circumstances... changed. I couldn't be seen with 'bots like Onslaught anymore. He didn't take it well and I would not be surprised if this entire fiasco traced back to some pathetic attempt at revenge. It's how his kind always thinks."
"Decepticons?"
"Little people."
- —Starscream and Ironhide
"There is a line, Starscream."
"Is there? Well, I'm sure you'll scream when I cross it."
- —Windblade and Starscream
Notes
Continuity notes
- Starscream's flashback to his past alliance with Onslaught appears to take place circa the earliest issues of Robots in Disguise, before Starscream actually attained power. Starscream notes it happened after "Onslaught and his team had returned to the Decepticons"; this allusion to a time when the Combaticons were not with the Decepticons refers to when they were in the employ of North Korea while stranded on Earth during the 2009-2011 ongoing series.
- Sparkstalker refers to fighting alongside Ironhide before, while happened on Caminus during Combiner Wars.
Other trivia
- This issue also contains the first "Road to Revolution" strip, a four page back-up story laying the groundwork for September's "Revolution" crossover which appears in several of IDW's July titles.
Covers (3)
- Regular cover: Windblade and Metroplex, by Sara Pitre-Durocher
- Subscription cover: Windblade and Chromia help Rom the Space Knight try out some Camien facepaint, by Sara Pitre-Durocher and Thomas Deer; part of a series of Rom-themed covers featured on numerous IDW titles in July, in celebration of the launch of the character's new ongoing series.
- Retailer incentive cover: Windblade by Carlos Valenzuela
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- Till All Are One #3
- Revolution
