Battle Lines, Part 1
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| "Battle Lines, Part 1" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Fun Publications | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #37 | ||||||||||||
| Story | Rik Alvarez & Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Writers | Pete Sinclair & Jesse Wittenrich | ||||||||||||
| Pencils by | Dan Khanna | ||||||||||||
| Inks by | Dan Khanna | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Evan Gauntt and Jesse Wittenrich | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Jesse Wittenrich | ||||||||||||
| Managing editor | Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Wings Universe | ||||||||||||
The Autobots and Decepticons regroup after the fallout of Bruticus' attack.
Synopsis
As Dion is being repaired after Bruticus' attack on the Elite Guard's headquarters, his story is related. Before the war, he and his friends Orion Pax and Ariel worked on the docks, and lived happy lives. That all changed when Megatron came onto the scene; Dion watched as his friends were gunned down by Megatron, and is soon gunned down by the Decepticon's troops himself, falling into the embrace of death. However, Dion finds that life is not done with him yet, as the Elite Guard have reformatted him so that he may join their ranks. Dion bonds with his new comrades, in particular becoming good friends with fellow young cadet Kup. Soon, however, Dion is once again jerked into the past, as his new friends are murdered as well, this time by the traitorous Combaticons...
As it turns out, however, Dion’s story has been related by Side Burn, who has impersonated the Guardsman in an attempt to pick up Road Rage and another fembot. His deception is soon ended when Prowl calls him by name, revealing his true identity. The fembots and Prowl are disgusted by Side Burn’s actions, the latter noting that aside from the fact that impersonating an Elite Guardsman is a federal offense, the Decepticon attack only just happened. However, with Prowl’s lecture failing to get through to Side Burn, and more important matters at hand, he lets the issue go, and the two transform and head off to the High Council.
Meanwhile, at Deathsaurus's lair, Starscream reports that Bruticus has destroyed the Elite Guard, and that the Combaticons on en-route back to base. Starscream proceeds to ask Deathsaurus why he has given the Combaticons the honor of wearing the Decepticon symbol; after all, they're only using Deathsaurus to further their ambitions, and are bound to stab him in the back at some point. Deathsaurus tells his lieutenant that ambition makes the perfect Decepticon, unlike the stagnation the Autobots have had in their rule over Cybertron. Deathsaurus sends Starscream off to Lyzack to ensure that the med-bay is ready for the Combaticon's arrival. Starscream is bemused by Lyzack's supposed timidity, and walks off, ready to crush the Autobot's will. An annoyed Lyzack places the dishes she was carrying in a draw, right below a massive sword, muttering to herself about timidity...
At the High Council's Citadel, Magnum has gathered the remaining Elite Guard members for an emergency session, focused on the security of the Autobot's. Kup believes they should be out in the fields preparing for the next attack, but Magnum insists on all of the being here, to show the Council that the Elite Guard isn't finished yet. Thunderclash tells Dion that he still is injured and that he doesn't have to be here, but Dion insists, for both the comrades he's lost, and himself. Prepared to make their case, the remaining Elite Guard members are shocked when they walk in to find that Optimus Prime has been appointed the new commander of the Autobots!
Featured characters
Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Notes
- The opening page recounts some of the events of "War Dawn." Though we knew these events were in Dion's backstory, this is the first time we've seen them (and Dion's pre-Elite Guard body) in this continuity.
- In an odd case of passing the torch, the backstory of 2010's Transformers Collectors' Club free exclusive is told by 2011's Transformers Collectors' Club free exclusive.
- The red waitress Transformer that Side Burn is trying to pick up looks like T-AI but is not T-AI. She's only supposed to look like T-AI. We are silly for thinking she's supposed to be T-AI. [1]
- As with his 2001 Robots in Disguise counterpart, Side Burn is berated by his universe's Prowl for being a good-for-nothing doofus.
- Similar to the Cybertronian altmodes seen in the first episode of the original cartoon, Prowl's robot mode still looks like it transforms into a Datsun, but his trans-form is a vehicle that looks completely different.
- Both Ironhide and Ratchet are shown in their "Descent into Evil" bodies, as Wings of Honor continues to feature the BotCon 2005 exclusives until someone finally buys the last few sets on the Club store.
