Desperate Measures (Till All Are One)
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| "Desperate Measures" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | February 8, 2017 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | January 2017 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Mairghread Scott | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Sara Pitre-Durocher | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Joana Lafuente | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Tom B. Long | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | IDW continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Current era | ||||||||||||
Dangers and surprises await Windblade and her team as they fight their way past Elita One and Obsidian to bring Carcer online.
Synopsis
From his command room in the Spire, Starscream surveys the situation on Cybertron, the undead Titans continuing their rampage while Windblade leads a team to Carcer in hope of wresting the Titan from Elita One's control. The spectral Bumblebee remarks on Windblade's heroism and laments over how much she and Starscream could have accomplished together if they were not at one another's throats, but Starscream doesn't share his views, recalling how he was perfectly willing to callously kill the last 'bot he called a friend in his own self-interest. Starscream's whispered conversation with his hallucinatory companion catches Airazor's attention, but the ex-Decepticon quickly brushes it off and returns his attention to the monitors, hoping for the best, but fearing the worst.
High above Cybertron, Devastator begins tearing into Carcer's hull and is soon met with resistance from the Titan's inhabitants. Strika leads the counter-attack against the combiner, and is actually able to catch one of Devastator's punches, unimpressed with his vaunted strength. Amid the chaos, a shot from Carcer's anti-air guns hits the fighter craft carrying Windblade and her insertion team, but they are saved from a follow-up volley when Obsidian—puzzled by the attack and suspecting it to be a plot of some kind—orders the reluctant Greenlight and Lancer to redirect their fire at another squad of ships of Cybertronian ships that have gotten too close. Nevertheless, the damage from the hit is enough to cause the ship to start breaking up, meaning that the team will be unable to get close enough to Carcer to infiltrate successfully—until Fireshot comes up with a plan, instructing everyone to eject from the ship before it explodes, then hide amongst the debris from the blast and ride it down to Carcer's surface.
The plan works and the team is able to enter Carcer via an airlock, dividing into two groups to begin their search. They are not able to keep their presence a secret for long; diagnostic reports of an airlock being breached then re-sealing immediately make Obsidian suspicious, and he soon locates Windblade's team heading for the armory. Alerted to the situation by Obsidian, the furious Elita One, believing the plot to be Starscream's doing, determines to deal with Windblade herself and leads a squad of soldiers after her. Her men surround Windblade's team, and when the invaders try to flee, a blast from Elita clips Windblade's arm, knocking her to the ground. As Elita advances on her fallen prey, however, it turns out that she is not what she appears. Rather than Windblade, Elita has struck Lightbright, disguised as Windblade by a miniature hologram projector!
Meanwhile, the real Windblade enters Carcer's brain chamber with Fireshot, Tigatron, and Moonracer, where the group finds Obsidian standing between them and the Titan's brain module. Realizing that Windblade has come to merge with the Titan, Obsidian tries to talk her down, warning that her actions will doom them all. Windblade, of course, refuses; Obsidian is willing to kill her to stop her and immediately launches an attack, but unfortunately for him, Windblade's allies together prove enough of a match for him and pin him to the ground. As the defeated Obsidian pleads for her to stop, Windblade merges with the Titan and brings its mind online... only to find that the mind she has linked is not that of Carcer... nor Tempo... but Vigilem, Titan of the evil Liege Maximo!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"She's a true hero."
"I agree. Which is too bad. True heroes usually end up dead."
- —Bumblebee and Starscream
"I would tell you to get off my ship... but we're well past that."
- —Elita One, right before opening fire on Windblade
"I wouldn't be doing this if we weren't desperate. But it's the only way to save Cybertron."
"Perhaps. But if you trust me at all, you will believe me when I say you cannot afford the cost."
"I know the risks of merging, but I would die for our people in a spark-beat."
"Unfortunately, that would be an acceptable outcome."
- —Windblade and Obsidian
"My ship is my life and I will die before I cease to defend it."
"Then at least you will die with honor."
"I hope so, but not today."
- —Obsidian and Tigatron
"We will all be damned!"
"Better to be damned for trying that for not."
- —Obsidian and Windblade
Notes
Continuity notes
- Starscream killed Metalhawk in Robots in Disguise #16.
- It's not specifically called out, but the hologram projector Lightbright uses to disguise herself as Windblade must be the object Sparkstalker provided Windblade with towards the end of last issue.
- Vigilem was previously identified for the first and only time in the Till All Are One: Revolution one-shot.
Other trivia
- Originally solicited for release in January 2017, this issue arrived late on the second week of February.
- Following last issue's first-time identification of Greenlight, this issue marks the first time Lancer is referred to by name on-panel.
Covers (3)
- Regular cover: Windblade, "Breakdown," Sparkstalker (no, it's not Swerve!), and Blurr, by Sara Pitre-Durocher
- Subscription cover: Chromia's mugshot, by Priscilla Tramontano. The Cybertronian text is Ancient Autobot, and translates to "Elite Guard/Cybertron - Kaon."
- Retailer incentive cover: Windblade stares up at a Titan brain module, by Joana Lafuente; one of a series of retailer incentive variants by Lafuente on January's Transformers titles.
Advertisements
- Till All Are One #8
- "The Hasbro Tribune" editorial page promoting January's Hasbro Universe titles, including this issue, Lost Light #2, Optimus Prime #3, Revolutionaries #2, and G.I. Joe #2.
- Titans Return trade paperback
- IDW on Comixology Unlimited
