Lively Pursuit
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 The legend exists. | |||||||||||||
| "Lively Pursuit" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Transformers Collectors' Club (online exclusive) | ||||||||||||
| First published | October 4, 2016 | ||||||||||||
| By | Jesse Wittenrich | ||||||||||||
| Illustrations | AK Cyrway | ||||||||||||
| Colors | Erika L. Galán | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Of Masters and Mayhem | ||||||||||||
| Page count | 32pp | ||||||||||||
Wreckage gets a second lease on life after Impactor discovers an unexpected survivor.
Synopsis
In a dilapidated building on Cybertron, Bluestreak tells a tale to six figures, one that he's told countless times before. The Autobot gunner goes into excruciating detail about how he encountered Princess Adronitia, expecting admiration and laughter from the crowd, but is met with silence. Nevertheless, Bluestreak excitedly announces that he's convinced her to stop in, when he is suddenly interrupted by a low rumble. Dismissing the ridiculous thought that it might be her, Bluestreak looks outside and finds that an alien ship he recognizes has returned...
Onboard the Wreckers' ship, Counterpunch tries to convince Impactor to investigate the signal from Cybertron, but the dour Autobot refuses. Impactor believes that, with Alpha Bravo and Offroad dead, they've lost their shot at revenge. Even if this signal turns out to be another, he feels that Alpha Bravo was right: Wreckage is too monstrous to be controlled, the result of his broken components...and Impactor is just as broken as the rest of them.. Fractyl brings up the thiotimoline failsafe, but Impactor knows that all of them know about it now, and so the first thing Wreckage will do once combined is rip it out. Having already punched in the co-ordinates, Counterpunch snaps: he accuses Impactor of having used them, rebuilding them and giving them hope that they could take down the monsters who destroyed their planet, only to take it all away. When Counterpunch invokes all the other Wreckers Impactor has lost, the already furious Autobot heads over to Counterpunch's console and stares down the Decepticon, before turning on the engines. Grabbing a copy of the transmission, Impactor heads out of the room in a silent fury, as the Wreckers head for Cybertron. Elsewhere in the ship, Toxitron cools down after his temper tantrum, having wrecked much of the cargo hold. Impactor comes across Toxitron, equally as angry, and informs him that they're heading for Cybertron. Toxitron is quiet at first, but when Impactor mentions they've found another survivor, Toxitron laughs; Thunder Mayhem left two survivors. When Toxitron inquires as to whether or not this survivor will join them, Impactor tries to choose his words carefully, informing them that for now, their focus should simply be on surviving. This turns out to be the wrong choice, as Toxitron looms over the Autobot, reminding him that he joined to get revenge on the Decepticons for experimenting on him, and heads off, telling his commander that he'll be ready when they set down on Cybertron...and that he should be ready as well.
One megacycle later, the Wreckers touch down on Cybertron, where they are greeted by Bluestreak, much to both his and Impactor's chagrin. Impactor explains to the others that Bluestreak has worked with the Wreckers before, serving as Optimus Prime's top gunner. Bluestreak, noticing the other Wreckers, noting that he's managed to survive the loss of another team, and that working with Decepticons isn't surprising, remembering the "Dark Star" mission. Counterpunch and Fractyl are confused, having believed that the two didn't know each other, but Bluestreak condescendingly claims that everyone knows the horrible things Impactor did during the war. Bluestreak then explains that when they first returned to pick up Toxitron, he watched them from afar, wishing to stay by himself rather to go with a bunch of murderers. Counterpunch and Impactor both question him as to watch changed, but Bluestreak refuses to say, instead having them follow him. Toxitron, interested by Bluestreak's story, questions him as to what "Dark Star" was. Along the way, Bluestreak explains how he and a group of other Autobots were sent do hunt down the traitorous Decepticon Starscream as he searched for the Underbase. Impactor and his Wreckers, meanwhile, were sent to hunt down the High Circuitmaster who curated the Underbase, codenamed Cybaxx. What they weren't told was that Megatron had already killed "Cybaxx" millions of years ago, and so they worked with Starscream to get their already deceased target. Impactor listens to Bluestreak's tale, knowing that while some parts are accurate, Bluestreak has exaggerated or made up most of it. Counterpunch wonders if they can trust the Autobot, but Impactor, knowing that Prime trusted him, is willing to give him a chance. Arriving at Bluestreak's current residence, a recreation of the Praxus bar the sonic and surge in Protihex. Opening the door, Bluestreak begins greeting his "friends" and introducing them to the Wreckers, who see them for what they truly are: various bits of refuse welded into vaguely Cybertronian shapes. Bluestreak, noticing their stares, explains that he knows that they aren't real; he needed to talk to someone, and while he knows where the "real" ones are, he figured it was better this way instead of digging up corpses. Toxitron brings up he's talked to plenty of corpses, having killed hundreds of Transformers. Turning his attention to Bluestreak, Toxitron tries to goad him into talking about how many kills he has, but gains some respect for the Autobot when he refuses to let the Decepticon get into his head. Fractyl questions as to why a bar from Praxus is in Protihex, and Bluestreak cryptically gives him directions to what he wants to show the others. As Fractyl, Counterpunch, and Toxitron head off, Impactor and Bluestreak remain behind. Bluestreak begins to speak, but Impactor cuts him off: he does remember the name of every Wrecker he's ever lost. For the first time in a long time, Impactor opens up: he remembers how the exploits of the Wreckers were recorded by Fisitron, until he died. Fisitron gave a data disc to Impactor containing their records, and for a long time, Impactor wore it, a reminder to both those he had lost, and the things he had done. However, when he lost it on Pz-Zazz, he believed he had one mission left: to die, letting the universe forgetting the Wreckers. He gathered a group one more time to go up against the ultimate monster, hoping to end himself in the process to ensure a better universe...but now he realizes, even without him, the universe will remember him. Bluestreak has reminded him that his deeds can't be forgotten, and that he can only atone for them. Bluestreak is briefly rattled, realizing that Impactor is real and not just another imaginary friend, before being "reminded" by the refuse that he doesn't really know Impactor. Gathering his composure, Bluestreak has Impactor follow him to join up with the others.
Soon, all three are together once more, finding what Bluestreak was talking about: Praxus, restored back to life, from a time before the Golden Age. Bluestreak explains that the robotic aliens known as the Teklaans gave it to him as a gift, a test for what they could do for the rest of Cybertron, restoring both it and everyone else to life. Fractyl, recognizing the name, is worried, but before he can place where he's heard it before, Impactor questions Bluestreak as to what they want in return. Bluestreak explains that they were built by an organic race to revitalize their homeworld, and as such, that is all that they need...aside from the four Wreckers. Suddenly, the four are confronted by the Teklaans, who knock them offline with stun guns. The Teklaans' leader, Cergo, thanks Bluestreak for his help; the Autobot lured the four into place, allowing for the Teklaans to capture them and study them to restore Cybertron's lost population. Bluestreak is regretful, knowing that the Teklaans will kill them in the process; Cergo "corrects" him, telling him that they are not programmed to kill, although the Wreckers will most likely go offline during examination. Bluestreak, convincing himself no one will miss the Wreckers, begins discussing Cybertronian weather systems with Cergo, as the other Teklaans gather the four Wreckers and head for the ship.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons/Predacons | Others |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Quotes
Notes
- Characters mentioned but not seen include: Princess Adronitia, Sonder, Smelter Baron Anecdoche, Exulancus, Wrecker Hook/Tow-Line, Pipes, Alpha Bravo, Thunder Mayhem, the Mayhem Attack Squad, Optimus Prime, Hound, Mirage, Hoist, Brawn, Gears, Starscream, Boltax/Cybaxx, Megatron, Sideswipe, Thundercracker, Sunstorm, Grimlock, Noumenon, Aporia, Consumma Compersia, Master Aware, Fisitron, Fatale, Blurr, Fabulcon, Ironclad, the Technobots, the Protectobots, Rook, the Aerialbots, Afterburner, Strafe, Scrounge, Computron, Lightspeed, Ratchet, Inferno, the Mecannibals, Offroad, Superion, Defensor, Victorion, Medix, Cliffjumper, and Bludgeon.
Continuity notes
- The Wreckers picked up Bluestreak's distress signal in the previous prose story, "Deadly Aim".
- Thunder Mayhem arrived on Earth in the magazine comic story "Divination".
Transformers references
- Bluestreak states that Adronitia had a 65356-9292-346 body-type, at least in her vehicle mode.
- Bluestreak makes mention of Corrodia Gravis, the Reverse Evolution virus, and the Rust Plague as diseases which could possibly be brought back by the Teklaans.
- Impactor describes, what would be in an out-of-universe sense, an earlier Hasbro plan for a Combiner Wars Computron. "Ironclad" (a trademark-friendly alternate name for Ironfist) is described as a "mustard tan and gray" redeco of Rook, using the alternate Brawl head we previously glimpsed in Another Light with a red faceplate. It combines with an "energy-efficient" Afterburner for arm mode, presumably the Legends Class Groove mold.
- This story also posits a hypothetical "Project: Firestormer" combiner comprising Bluestreak, Ratchet, Hoist, Sideswipe, and Inferno. Given the nature of the "prototype Computron" description, this is tacit confirmation that the Combiner Wars Hot Spot toy's alternate head is Inferno (who would eventually be released in Power of the Primes. Meanwhile, the hypothetical Hoist would obviously be the alternate head for Trailbreaker seen in Another Light. Finally Fun Publications staff would later confirm that Sideswipe would be a straight redeco of Breakdown (something their Animated counterparts previously shared).
Real world references
- Cergo name-drops two planets called Eska and Desna, named after the creepy twins from The Legend of Korra.
- The Teklaans are an alternate version of Marvel's Mekkans, a race of servant robots used to terraform the planet Maarin (referred to by name in this story) before their creators perished from a virus. Additionally, Cergo seems to be based upon Torgo, the first Mekkan, although decidedly more evil. Jesse Wittenrich would later reveal that he was meant to be a successor to Torgo, as there was no Fantastic Four to free him from the Skrull gladiator pits.[1]
Errors
- On page 3, "The Wrecker commander strode over to blue and black robot who had just unleashed the scathing rant," is missing a "the" between "to" and "blue".
- On page 11, the word "Fractyl's" is at one point misspelled as "Fracty’ls".
- On page 20, "Mecannibal" is misspelled as "Mechannibal."
- On page 28, "if" should be "it" in the line "in his deep bellow if came across as nothing other than threatening."
Other trivia
- "Foundation and Wreckage Part 2" was accidentally left off of the title page.
References
External links
- "Lively Pursuit" at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club
