Broken Windshields

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« Beast Wars: Uprising
"Broken Windshields"
Publisher Transformers Collectors' Club (online exclusive)
First published February 19, 2015
Written by Jim Sorenson
Illustrations by Jesse Wittenrich
Continuity Beast Wars: Uprising
Chronology circa 2384
Page count 25pp

Lio Convoy sets an uprising in motion.

Synopsis

As Quickstrike and Stinkbomb compete in the Mebius Arena, Lio Convoy watches them from the shadows but does not intervene as Quickstrike manages to win, simply through the fact that Stinkbomb's weapon is too damaged to fire. Lio Convoy returns to the Gladiatorial Administration Bureau in Thetacon, and though the two Builders on guard hassle him for his papers, they let him through and he heads up to see The Administrator, Eject. Discussing how they'd gotten the idea of the Games from the humans, Eject tells Lio Convoy that it has been decided that the Game after next is to be a "Cull" of prior champions, and that he wants Lio Convoy to ensure that the Maximal side wins by a landslide in the remaining Game beforehand, so as to create a more level—and so more exciting—playing field.

Lio Convoy heads home to the Maximal ghettos in Glibax by ground, but on the way spots what appears to be a shooting star and makes the unconventional decision to investigate. He encountered a strange newcomer, whom he takes to the Nyon Coliseum in order to conceal her from the authorities. Her ire is raised when he mentions he is the balancer in the Games and she rails at the unjustness of the system that makes the Maximals and Predacons fight for the amusement of the Builders.

Lio Convoy spends some time ruminating on her words, and several days later when he comes across two MCSF officers, Polar Claw and Snarl arresting someone, he intercedes and assaults both of them. Heading to Nyon while listening to underground broadcasts, he looks for the bot whom he had left there, but fails to find her. Driving into the wastes of Cybertron, he is instead found by her—a conversation with her and the two bots she's teamed up with, Scylla and B'Boom, reveals she is named Blackarachnia. Blackarachnia shatters Lio Convoy's windshield, revealing the energon matrix inside, and announces he is the key to freeing the planet.

With the next of the Games drawing close, Eject worries about the unusual absence of Lio Convoy, however the Maximal makes contact from the Dodecahex Arena where the Game is due to take place and Eject again instructs him to make sure the Maximals win this round. As the Game begins, the Builder Supersonic commentates for the audience, introducing the Game's contestants before signalling Game start. Even as the first Maximal and Predacon move in to fight, Lio Convoy uses an Angolmois Blaster obtained from the rebels to assassinate Supersonic. Blackarachnia and her team meanwhile invade the broadcast center and take control, training the cameras on Lio Convoy so he can give a speech. He reveals that the Games are rigged, even as he is attacked by the Builders Sunrunner and Tailwind, and plays a recording of Eject giving the order to fix the match. He shows off the energon matrix he carries, hidden inside him after it was used to create the Maximals and Predacons, calling on his brethren to rise up against the Builders. As a result of the event, civil war breaks out over the next few days, with the Builders finding themselves turned on by their own creations.

However, Eject, appealing his death sentence to the Builder Assembly, reveals that he has thought of a way out of this: a sample of Lio Convoy's CNA, which could be used to create a clone infused with the power of the energon matrix, giving them the ability to make a whole new army. Ratbat is intrigued at the idea, and tells Eject the "ball is in his court".

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Maximals Predacons Builders

Quotes

"PROOF? You want my, what was it, Personal Registration Of something or other? I threw that away decades ago when I left this scrap pile of planet behind for what I thought was the last time. I've spent years, YEARS fighting against tin-plated tyrants and those who would stand on the backs of others. And do you know what I learned? I learned that the worst of the worst were those who perpetuated the so-called minor injustices of the present for the 'greater good,' better tomorrows that never seem to materialize. So don’t sell me your smog about how noble it is that you're compromising your principles because you don’t want to upset the scrapplet cart."

—Blackarachnia


"Stand down right now or you'll face a charge of resisting, and you don't want that. And you, move along or you're next."
"Then, tool of the Builders, it would appear that I am next."

—Snarl and Lio Convoy

Notes

  • Eject states that humans are still giving Cybertronians good ideas "four centuries on" in reference to Cybertronian-human first contact (in 1984), placing this story in the late 24th century C.E.
  • Most cities on Cybertron have almost completely fallen into ruin, becoming synonymous with the arenas that now dominate them.
  • Throughout the story, mention is made of a class system organized by the English alphabet, which goes from class A to at least a class J. This system isn't mentioned again until "Not All Megatrons".
  • Although not an error at the time, Lio Convoy demonstrates a mystifying lack of knowledge about humanity, considering future revelations about the Uprising universe. He doesn't even recognize the word "Earth" when Blackarachnia says it, and apparently has no idea why Cybertron doesn't travel to other stars anymore, like the Builders use to. Compare that to later stories, where the Cybertronian Navy regularly patrols the limits of the Allowed Zone under the watchful eye of the Human Confederacy (Intersectionality), the average proto-former knows the arrogance of humanity (Cultural Appropriation), and Galvatron is widely know as "History's greatest monster" because he challenged humanity and lost, and Cybertron paid the price (Micro-Aggressions).

Errors

Continuity notes

  • Blackarachnia has somehow made her way back home after following Alpha Trion to the Shattered Glass universe in "Reunification: Part 1".
  • The Scavenger (the Beast Wars ant) who appears in this story is not the only Predacon Scavenger in the Beast Wars: Uprising universe. Another Predacon Scavenger (the Beast Machines power shovel) appeared as one of Blackarachnia's dimensionally-displaced cohorts in Transcendent.

Transformers references

Real world references

  • The story's title is a play on the broken windows theory of criminology.
  • The Hunger Games films are what inspired current Cybertronian civilization to host the death matches between Maximals and Predacons. Eject acknowledges picking up Catching Fire for the first time in this story, but implies the first and third/fourth films reached Cybertron long ago.

Other notes

References

  1. ↑ Post by Verity Carlo on the Allspark
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