Alone Together: Prologue
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| "Alone Together: Prologue" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Fun Publications | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #55 | ||||||||||||
| Writers | Jesse Wittenrich & Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Pencils | Naoto Tsushima | ||||||||||||
| Inks | Naoto Tsushima | ||||||||||||
| Colors | Evan Gauntt | ||||||||||||
| Letters | Jesse Wittenrich | ||||||||||||
| Managing editor | Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Beast Wars: Uprising | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Circa 2384 | ||||||||||||
As a Maximal team stages a breakout, one of their number encounters someone familiar.
Synopsis
On a dystopian Cybertron, a Maximal records an entry into his personal journal. On this Cybertron, the war never really ended; when the Autobots and Decepticons got too old to fighting, the Maximals and Predacons were built in their place. These "Builders" encouraged hostilities between their descendants, and much to the Maximal's shame, he fell for it all. That all changed after one mission, where his utterly loyal commander led his squadron into a slaughter against the Predacon Darksyders. His friends Rhinox and Silverbolt were killed almost immediately, and when he was nearly killed himself, the rest of his squad turned on their leader. That day, he realized that there was no honor in this "war," and abandoned the cause. Now a renegade, the Maximal plans to free his Predacon friend, Dynobot, from the Ferromax Detention Center. Rattrap sets down his recorder, as he goes to join the others...'
Outside the Ferromax, Maximals Botanica (BM), Jawbreaker, Gecko-Bot, and Trans-Mutate grapple up the side of the prison. Botanica has Gecko-Bot activate the Impercepton shield, hiding them from the guards. It doesn't hide them from Rattrap, however, who has already managed to get inside. Explaining to Botanica's soldiers that he faked his death and that he plans to broadcast after they free Dynobot, Rattrap leads them into the vents. Unable to use the shield in close quarters, Botanica activates her drone, which hacks into the security cameras. Botanica is ready to push forward, but Rattrap holds her back, having far more experience than the younger Maximals, much to her consternation.
Eventually reaching the Maximum Security level, the Maximals go to free Dynobot from his cell. Trans-Mutate, however, is held up, when a voice from one cell begins to speak to her; the cell of someone familar. The prisoner can tell there's something different about her, and that she's holding back her true strength. The other Maximals call to her as they escape with Dynobot; the voice urges her to go with them, but also to show them what she's truly capable of. The voice tells her not to worry about him; after all...
It won't be long before Trans-Mutate and Protoform X meet once again.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Your spark, it's not like the others. It speaks of your pain. Such sorrow; sorrow blessed with fury. It has a darkness I can taste."
- —Rampage
Notes
- Characters mentioned but not seen include: Alpha Trion, the "Boss-Gasket", the Darksyders, Rhinox, Silverbolt, Cheetor, Blackarachnia, and Nightscream.
Continuity notes
- This story takes place in a Beast Wars continuity previous only alluded to in the Transformers Collectors' Club's bios for the Blackarachnia and Depth Charge seen in TransTech, revealed on the Club's Twitter to be called "Beast Wars: Uprising". [1]
- Botanica's squad seems highly obscure by design. She and Transmutate were characters from the Beast Wars/Beast Machines cartoons who never received toys in the original run. Jawbreaker was one of the only Beast Wars toys never to appear anywhere in fiction before, even the ultra-inclusive IDW comics. Geckobot was one of the few Beast Machines toys who never appeared in fiction either, not even name-dropped or in crowd scenes from 3H's comics and stories.
Transformers references
- Most of this story's cast have new bodies based on Prime characters: Geckobot is Beast Hunters Wheeljack (with his Falcon Spear used as the impercepton shield and with Dead End's head), Botanica is Beast Hunters Soundwave (with Laserbeak becoming her drone), Jawbreaker is Beast Hunters Ratchet, and Rattrap is Rumble; Trans-Mutate and Rampage, who are both making the jump to toy form via club exclusives, are based on the "First Edition" versions of Arcee and Megatron, respectively. Torca, meanwhile, is based on Timelines Clench, while Dynobot (whose liberation takes place off panel, and whose only appearance outside of Jawbreaker's poster is a barely-noticeable one in the penultimate panel) is based on Generations Voyager-class Springer.
Real-world references
- The rumor of Rattrap's demise appears to be a reference to the road to Damascus.
- Botanica paraphrases a line from the movie Serenity as she releases the drone.
Errors
- Shouldn't it be spelled "imperception"?
