Last Sunset
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| "Last Sunset" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Transformers Collectors' Club (online exclusive) | ||||||||||||
| First published | December 31, 2016 | ||||||||||||
| By | Andrew Hall | ||||||||||||
| Illustrations by | Josh Burcham, Christopher Colgin, and Hosono Tomoya | ||||||||||||
| Cover | Casey Coller and Josh Perez (uncredited) | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Shattered Glass, GoBots | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | 2015 | ||||||||||||
| Page count | 33pp | ||||||||||||
To save their world, the GoBots will have to make the ultimate sacrifice...
Synopsis
One by one, the G1 GoBots wake up, repaired and recharged for their journey to the Caretaker, who will hopefully provide them with the key to saving both GoBotron and Solarbot's homeworld. Path Finder tries to convince herself she's made the right decision; Treds feels stressed enough trying to protect his team while trying to save their universes; Buggyman continues his insidious plots; Road Ranger wonders if they could take up residence on Earth; Bad Boy prepares to be sidelined once more; Small Foot still wonders about her dreams and what they mean; and Solarbot is only partially recharged, hoping to avoid combat. All are aware that the fate of their worlds depends on them...
At 6:00 AM, the GoBots gather in the Ironworks Base hangar, where Metalhawk waits for them. Opening the bay doors, he shows them the Micromaster Transport they've prepared, and introduces them to their pilot, the erratic helicopter Skyklik. Skyklik explains to them that he is an interdimensional refugee much like themselves; the Autobots found him after Ultra Magnus' attack on their base, with no memory of who he was or where he came from, treating him as one of their own. Man-O-War, as blunt as ever, questions Skyklik's abilities, and Path Finder concurs that with their mission being one of life or death, he might not be the best choice. Metalhawk reassures them that he is more than qualified to be their pilot, and Buggyman, having apparently taken an interest in the mysterious Autobot, quickly agrees. Skyklik promises that he'll do his best to help them save their worlds, with the matter settled, Path Finder begins to make a speech. With both Guardians and Renegades working to save their world, she feels that it is best that she chooses from both teams: Small Foot and Road Ranger, for their tracking skills, Bad Boy with his flight mode, and Buggyman for his drones. Small Foot is elated, but quickly realizes that this decision has sidelined Treds. Treds accepts Path Finder's decision, though is worried that they might get into trouble, a fear shared by Rest-Q, while Man-O-War once more insults the "useless" Treds. Path Finder tries to assure Treds, hoping they won't get into any conflict, but Metalhawk informs her some disturbing news: Stepper has vanished without a trace from his cell, indicating that the evil Autobots of this dimension might be looking for them. The Autobot commander advises them that they'll need the security, and surprisingly, Buggyman willingly gives up his seat, offering his autonomous drone R-Navi to take his place. With this settled, Skyklik has the others get ready...but what they don't realize is that Buggyman has ulterior motives. Recognizing Skyklik as the sleeper his master, Zero, sent to enable the takeover of Ironworks, Buggyman prepares to finish the job his amnesiac partner was meant to complete...
On the trip to Argentina, Small Foot dreams once more, seeing the changed faces of the Guardians, much like her nightmare before. However, unlike before, she does not see the evil entity feeding off the chaos of their world; instead, the Guardians cheer, almost as if they are welcoming her home, and Small Foot feels hope that they might succeed.
Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Guardians | Renegades | Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Classicsverse Shatteredverse
|
Shatteredverse |
Quotes
"Hey, Skyklik. I’m Small Foot. Y’know, I wouldn’t have guessed you were a pilot...You seem, um..."
"Diagonal."
- — Smallfoot and Solarbot say that alcohol and piloting don't mix.
"Commander Metalhawk, I must question whether this amnesiac, semi-functional Transformer of unknown origin is the best choice as our pilot?"
- — Man-O-War, ableist or genre savant?
"Bad Boy, would you like me to attempt fusion with you? My contact with Small Foot was in fact coincidental, and is naturally not limited to females or Guardians."
"Uh... Yeeeeah..."
- — Solarbot propositions Bad Boy.
"The time for my vengeance has arrived. Yurusarezarumonoyo!"
- — Drift
"Take a moment to reflect on the events of the past three days, from your own limited viewpoint. You began your journey, braving hardship to come into contact with the Transformers. In doing so, you met one another. In just three short days, an infinitesimally small unit of time even by the standards of Earth, you have grown and changed. Shared experience has made you different beings than when you left your homes. Now, the answer you seek is not within the Transformers, or my computer network. It is within each of you, the Gobots and Solarbots. Now, the time has come for you join together and return home."
- — Caretaker
"Optimism. That’s what I brought to the team. When I left my little town to join the Guardians, that’s all I had with me. Instead of going off to war, I believed I was setting out on a great adventure. Just like when we left on this mission together. If I could bring just a little light to everyone, then that was enough for me."
- — Small Foot makes a big last impression.
Notes
- Characters mentioned but not seen include: Ultra Magnus, Bug Bite, Stepper, Cliffjumper, Gigatron, Musashi, Blaster, Screw Head, a combiner and his five components, Zeemon, the entity, Wheeljack, and the Seacons.
- This is the last prose story released by Fun Publications under the Transformers license, as it was posted on the very last day they held it. Indeed, within the last 20 minutes, at least within the Eastern Time Zone.
- The members appearing in this story were determined by fan-vote via hashtags on Facebook From November 23 until November 31 of 2016.
- Buggyman volunteering to stay behind so that Treds can go on the mission is apparently a reference to the Japanese fans and the American fans polled wanting slightly different characters for this story.[1]
- Drift says that he changed personalities completely when he came to Earth. This is a reference to his completely different, Deadpool-inspired personality from his toy bio and previous club stories. How this lines up with his past with Gigatron is…unclear.
- Skyklik disappears from the story, never to be seen again.
- We never learn what Small Foot whispered to Path Finder.
- Drift's Samurai Gunman schtick is a reference to the anime Ninja Slayer.[2]
Errors
- There is no November 31. But reality itself was breaking down, so we can forgive them, I guess.
- The transition break on the top of page 28 should be a line up, on the bottom of page 27.
- As in the previous chapter, the name "Buggy Man" is spelled as such with a space despite being rendered "Buggyman" in the first two chapters. Which of the two is the "correct" spelling is unclear.
Continuity notes
- Stepper was swallowed up by a random interdimensional portal in the previous story. He was noted to work with Drift in his toy's profile card from BotCon 2015.
- Gigatron and the Musashi Sword were previously mentioned in "Invasion Prologue".
Transformers references
- Skyklik is based on the Diaclone jet-helicopter triple changer, as is Rotorbolt from the Club story "The Truth We Make" released in the same year. Whether or not the amnesiac Skyklik actually IS a version of Rotorbolt or rather is his own character was left deliberately ambiguous by the author.[3]
- Drift's change in characterization from this story to later in Another Light mirrors how regular Drift's characterization was re-interpreted between his debut by Shane McCarthy in All Hail Megatron and his later expansion by James Roberts in More than Meets the Eye.
GoBots references
- Apparently, the Caretaker sounds a little like High Protector Zeemon.
- Screw Head, Turbo, Scooter, and Doctor Go are mentioned.
Other references
- Shatteredverse Drift’s martial art of Kita Kyushu is a reference to Kitakyushu, a city in Japan.
- Drift's Sakamoto Rifle is a reference to either Ryōma Sakamoto, Japanese revolutionary, or Hayato Sakamoto, the Japanese Transformers writer…or both.
- Gigatron's Musashi Sword is a reference to Miyamoto Musashi.
- Drift makes a habit of speaking some random Japanese throughout the story:
- Detekiyagattana (出てきやがったな): I came out.
- Yurusarezarumonoyo (許されざる者よ): You are not forgiven.
- Hayamaruna (早まるな): Do not be hasty!
- Hyakupatsu, hyakuchu (百発, 百中): 100 shots, 100 hits
- Taishitamonda (大したもんだ): What a big deal.
- Taiyo-no-ko (太陽の子): child of the sun.
- Me ni wa Me (目には目): an eye for an eye
- Katakiuchi (敵討ち): revenge
- Bureimono (無礼者): rude person
- Gigatron-dono (ギガトロン殿): Lord Gigatron
- Sadame (定め): destiny…also, judgement, law, regulation….
