At Fight's End

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Featuring a cast of none of these!
"At Fight's End"
Publisher Fun Publications
First published December 23, 2009
Written by Pete Sinclair and Jesse Wittenrich
Illustrations by Evan Gauntt
Continuity Classics
Page count 12pp

The Decepticon Civil War comes to a close as Megatron advances on Bludgeon.

Synopsis

In a dark chamber, Megatron tries to explain his philosophy to his prisoner Ratchet, but Ratchet won't have it. Although the medic's body is broken, his spirit is still strong. Megatron turns from the conversation to check in with Starscream, Octane, and Thundercracker. Confirming that his plans against Bludgeon are reaching fruition, Megatron is pleased.

Meanwhile, in his own fortress on another planet, Bludgeon confidently plots to engage his forces against Megatron's. Darkwing informs the Pretender that he has just identified Hun-Grrr as a traitor. Bludgeon orders Snaptrap to gather his group. Meeting Hun-Grrr in the armory, Bludgeon attacks. The Terrorcons merge, and the Seacons follow suit. A battle ensues between Piranacon and Abominus, with the Seacon combiner triumphant. Bludgeon is eager to put the incident behind them and continue with battle preparations.

Bludgeon returns to the command room in time to witness Megatron's fleet arrive in orbit. The Seacons seem to busy themselves readying the attack, but Bludgeon realizes too late that he has been had. The stealthily-formed Piranacon bears down on the Pretender with his Mass-Compression Cannon and fires at point-blank range. Just before his demise, Bludgeon's last thoughts acknowledge Megatron as the superior tactician.

With Bludgeon now out of the way, Starscream's thoughts turn back to his primary obstacle, Megatron.

Back in his dark hideout, Megatron, having reclaimed leadership of the Decepticons, gloats to Ratchet. The tyrant then carries the battered Autobot to a CR chamber. Before leaving, Megatron imparts a few final words: they fight not for victory or to prevent loss, but because fighting is their very purpose.

Some time later, Optimus Prime, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker extract Ratchet from the vat, the former prisoner's body fully reformatted. After his celebrated return, Ratchet sits in a shining medical bay inside the Autobots' Earth headquarters. He reflects ruefully on Megatron's last words to him. They fight because it is who they are.

(Characters in italic text appear only in the prelude comic.)

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Set some time after "Games of Deception", this story follows Megatron's quest to wrest back control of the spacebound Decepticons from Bludgeon.
  • Optimus Prime and Jetfire were part of the Autobot Earthforce in the "Crossing Over" storyline. Sunstreaker and Ironhide were revived by Grimlock using Nucleon in Marvel Transformers issue #74/#75.
  • Dirge, Thrust, and Thundercracker were all part of Bludgeon's Decepticon faction, placed under Bug Bite's command in "Games of Deception"; evidently, they've defected to Megatron after their failed assassination attempt on him. Ramjet, Starscream, Astrotrain, and Soundwave were already under Megatron's command, as seen in the "Crossing Over" storyline.
  • Nightbeat, Siren, Sludge, Slag, and the rest settled on Purgatory in Timelines issue "Cheap Shots".
  • Elita-1, Snarl, and Springer were last seen departing Earth with the rest of the Graviton's crew in "Games of Deception". Drag Strip was among the various characters who simply stopped showing up right before issue #50, leaving us to presume he was among those killed by the Underbase-powered Starscream. Overkill and Acid Storm, meanwhile, make their first appearances in Classics continuity here.
  • Ratchet and Shockwave were seen being kept alive by Megatron in "Games of Deception" (Shockwave being reduced to a head).
  • Ratchet and Megatron's nervous systems were bonded together at the molecular level after being lost in transwarp in issue #59, as noted by Fixit in issue #70. Shockwave, however, managed to separate the link years ago. Megatron notes they are still bonded through the Rite of Oneness, preformed in issue #7.
  • Ratchet notes he was only able to make one friend among the humans after waking up from the initial crash; evidently, this is Buster Witwicky.
  • The Ark crashed for a second time in issue #78.
  • Optimus Prime's bio in the club magazine noted that with the war ended, he felt like he had lost his purpose; something that Megatron brings up here.
  • Ratchet is noted to be the only Autobot left alive after Shockwave defeated them, as seen in issue #5. Megatron remember when Ratchet pushed him off a cliff in issue #8.
  • Megatron remembers the only time that Prime used overt action was during the "Underbase fiasco" millions of years ago, as seen in issue #48.
  • Bludgeon and his forces were last seen in issue #80, with several mentioned in between in various bios and comics.
  • Octane was among those offlined by Starscream in issue #50.
  • The Seacons were among those offlined by Starscream in issue #50. Their bios noted how they were rebuilt and upgraded with new weapons, along with Snaptrap's increase in rank.
  • Darkwing was noted by Dreadwind in "Games of Deception" to have remained with Bludgeon's main forces.
  • The Terrorcons were offlined by Starscream in issue #50.
  • Battletrap, Crankcase, and Krok were last seen among Bludgeon's forces in issue 80. Storm Cloud was last seen in issue #68 being taken offline by Dynamo. Gutcruncher appears for the first time in Classics continuity.
  • Crankcase's waste disposal expertise was noted in his Universe profile.

Transformer references

  • Many characters have been given new bodies based on concurrent toys.
    • Ironhide, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe are all in their Universe toy bodies.
    • Drag Strip and Overkill are in their Universe Special Edition toy bodies (Overkill already had a Classics toy from BotCon 2007's customization class, but it's easy to understand why the Universe one was drawn instead). Acid Storm is based on his Universe toy.
    • Octane is in his Universe toy body (which was called "Tankor" due to trademark issues).
  • The Seacons are in their Timelines bodies.
  • While never stated, Darkwing and Storm Cloud are likely in their Universe Ultra-class bodies. Darkwing is noted to be a former Powermaster, at the least, and Storm Cloud is among those helping take the massive Abominus out of the armory.
  • Hun-Gurr is in his Universe Legends-class body. The other Terrorcons remain in their Generation 1 bodies.
  • Offensive Strategy LV-117 is named for LV-117, named for the planet Wheelie was stranded on in "Spotlight: Wheelie".
  • Ratchet is reformatted by the CR Chamber into his Henkei toy body.


Real-world references

  • The Terrax Lanlak-4 planetary defense cannon is named for Marvel character Terrax, who, before becoming a Herald of Galactus, was the ruler of the city-state Lanlak on his home planet of Birj.
  • Hun-Gurr uses a sonic screwdriver while working; the sonic screwdriver is a device used by the Doctor on Doctor Who.
  • Among the military tactics Bludgeon knows is Mok Bara (A Klingon martial art from Star Trek), Pel Taan (an Andorian martial art from a Star Trek roleplaying game) and Savate (french kickboxing).

Errors

  • Nautilator and Overbite still have their original guns.
  • Hun-Gurr's name is spelled Hun-Grr

Other trivia

  • The events of this story follow a 3 page prelude comic printed in issue #30 of the official Transformers Collectors' Club magazine.
  • Hun-Gurr apparently has a mother named "Ma-Grrr".
  • Ratchet sports "red cross" markings on his shoulders. Considering the symbol is a trademark owned by the International Committee of the Red Cross, who previously took Hasbro to court over its use on a Transformers toy,[1] this is a flub that certainly shouldn't have slipped through.

References

  1. ↑ "DREAMSLAVES #4: Red Crosses" by Matt Moylan.
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