Last Sunset

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It is being brought.
It is being brought.
Oh, he's doin' somethin'...

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Shattered Glass »
"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. Small Foot suddenly wakes up to the sound of a voice coming over the transdimensional communicator, urging her to save her world. Small Foot and Solarbot talk, learning more about each other, while Skyklik nears the coordinates for the Caretaker given by Cliffjumper. Suddenly, Treds hears a loud clicking noise; Skyklik checks the ship's diagnostics to see if they hit something, and finds that the transport's fuel tank is malfunctioning. Small Foot notices R-Navi trying push its way out of a window, and just as she realizes what's happened, the ship explodes. Skyklik falls to the ground unconscious, with the GoBots following behind him, Bad Boy being the only one to stay in the air. Solarbot exits from Small Foot's body; with his power reserves running only at 30%, Solarbot slows their descent, knowing all too well that he will be unable to help in the face of danger. An angry Treds wonders what happened, and is soon given an answer, when the Autobot samurai gunman Drift confronts them, demanding vengeance for the loss of his partner Stepper! Road Ranger tries to approach him, but Drift fires two shots into the air, one as a warning, and the other to show off his skills, with R-Navi quickly falling to the ground. Solarbot tries to reason with the Autobot, but Drift explains he has no interest in him; while Stepper was little more than scum, he was Drift's partner, and so intends on taking the life of the GoBots leader in exchange. Path Finder begins to try to reason with the mercenary, but Treds quickly interrupts, claiming that he's their leader and the one responsible for Stepper's "demise," and that Drift will have to go through him if he wants the others. Drift laughs; he might have eliminated them all once, but after learning the ways of honor from the Decepticon samurai Gigatron, he has changed; if Treds duels him one on one, he will let the other GoBots go free. The others try to dissaude him, but Treds accepts. Up in the sky, Bad Boy watches as the others prepare to back off...when suddenly a heated bullet whizzes past him. As the other GoBots turn away, a shot rings out, and Drift lies on the ground unconscious.

Treds, unsure of what happened, is quickly praised by the others, but their celebration is cut short when Bad Boy returns, informing them they're still a few miles away from the Caretaker. Having sustained damage and wary about other combatants, the GoBots elect to stick close to the ground, hoping that Skyklik is okay. Solarbot congratulates Treds for his luck against Drift, but Treds, believing he's never lucky, figures Solarbot had something to do with his miraculous victory. Solarbot tells the old GoBot soldier that he is lucky to have friends who care about him so much, and proceeds to explain that he used his powers to shift the heat resistance of the Drift's other bullet, returning it to the position from which it was fired. Treds laughs, realizing that Drift was right about never missing. A few hours later, the GoBots arrive at Cliffjumper's coordinates, but the ground has seemingly repaired itself, sealing away the sinkhole the Autobot encountered. Solarbot still feels the Caretaker's presence however, and soon the group feels the ground tremble beneath them, as a hole opens to the caves below. The GoBots enter, finding pillars adorned with five robots who combine into a single form; inspecting these pillars, the group awaken the Caretaker. The supercomputer greets the group, informing them that it has been watching them, and knows why they have come. Small Foot excitedly asks the computer if it can save their world, but the Caretaker simply informs her that it is linked to all realities, but will not save GoBotron or Solarbot's homeworld...because it is not the one who will do so. The Caretaker is not limited by linear perception of time; it knows what will happen, and that they will be the ones to save their world. The key to doing so is not with the Transformers, or with the Caretaker; it is within them, with Solarbot's heat generating abilities, the GoBots' self-regeneration capabilities, and most important of all, the changes their journey has brought about with them: their friendship, their courage, their self-sacrifice, must become one to save their worlds. Path Finder questions the computer about what it means about "becoming one," and the Caretaker explains that one Solarbot and one GoBot will step through his portal to their homes, and will be reformatted, their powers and emotions synthesized to the greatest extent and becoming immortal...but in doing so, their identities will be overwritten, the sacrifice he knows that they will make. The GoBots are shocked, but Solarbot realizes the computer is telling the truth; while he believe the Transformers were the ones he was looking for, this journey has made him aware that the GoBots were his truth target, their worlds orbiting one another and their destiny pre-determined. Treds protests, believing there has to be another way, but the Caretaker simply tells him this is the only way, and Solarbot reassures him, promising that he will never forget their friendship. The GoBots realize one of them must go willingly into the portal with Solarbot; Path Finder decides that her final act as commander of the team will be to enter the portal, and asks the others if they accept her decision...but Small Foot refuses. She insists that GoBotron will need leaders like Path Finder, and that she should be the one who goes. She feels that her purpose on the team has to bring optimism to the others, and that she should be the one to combine with Solarbot, literally bringing hope back to GoBotron. The others try to convince Road Ranger, Small Foot's closest friend, to dissaude her, but the Guardian sadly realizes he can't; Small Foot has made up her mind, and the GoBots sadly accept her decision. Small Foot whispers to Path Finder, and she promises to tell him. Small Foot and Solarbot say their final goodbyes, and step through the portal; Path Finder sadly speaks to herself, knowing that he already knows what Small Foot had to say...

In the interdimensional void, Solarbot finds himself floating adrift, scared for perhaps the first time in his life. Suddenly, he hears a familiar voice, repeating a conversation he had with it in reverse. Quickly recognizing it as Small Foot, the two merge, and head for their final destination. On GoBotron, the inhabitants of the planet panic as the universe flickers and fades, loosing its shape, with the Renegades taking advantage of the fear to run amuck. Suddenly, light begins to pour across the planet, bringing hope; in an alleyway in GoBotolis, Crasher stops harassing Guardians, realizing she's been wasting her life causing terror. At the Renegade fortress, Cy-Kill overlooks his contingency plans, trying to find a way to save himself, when he begins to relax, realizing that being Renegade leader is exhausting work, and that he needs to rest. All across the world, both Guardians and Renegades find themselves full of hope...except deep within the core of the planet, where Zero, cursing the failure of Buggyman and Skyklik, plots to take control of the Renegades another day. The GoBots observe their strange, new, miniature sun; while their scientists get to work studying it, all the GoBots innately feel that, somehow, this small stellar body has saved them. At the Command Center, the Guardians rejoice this "Solar Rhapsody," marking a new age of peace. Leader-1 smiles as the others prepare for their interdimensional refugees to return, but cannot help feeling a pang of sadness, aware that someone or something has been lost. Still, he decides to celebrate, allowing the Leader-1 of tomorrow deal with any troubles ahead.

Back on the "Shatteredverse" Earth, Blitzwing exits the Dancitron, helping the dazed Soundwave out, disoriented from a night of drinking energon and partying. The Recordicons excited greet their commander; Slugfest is excited to see them in particular. Blitzwing informs the happy little Stegosaurus that they were talking about him, and Soundwave laughs, wondering if Solarbot evre found what he was looking for. Blitzwing reassures his friend, confident it worked out, and as the sun rises, the two head off, ready to greet another day on Earth.

(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

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

GoBots references

Real-world 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.
  • Drift's Samurai Gunman schtick is a reference to the anime Ninja Slayer.[2]
  • 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….

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.

Other trivia

  • 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, within 20 minutes before New Year's Eve in the Eastern Time Zone. It was not posted on the Club's website, instead being released via their Twitter account and Facebook page.
  • The story's cover art goes uncredited; it is an image of Shattered Glass Drift drawn by Casey Coller and colored by Josh Perez, created for his toy's box and tech specs back in 2012.
  • Christopher Colgin is credited as an artist on this story, but his illustrations (a line up of all the Guardians and Renegades from the GoBots universe affected by the Cataclysm in the style of the posters included with the "Good Bye Convoy" and "Good Bye Megatron" reissues of Optimus Prime and Megatron's original toys in Japan in 1986) ended up not being included. Instead, they were posted on the Renegade Rhetoric Facebook page, which features a separate GoBots universe unaffected by the Cataclysm. Eventually, they would be published in print in the 2019 Transformers: A Visual History artbook.
  • 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.[3]
  • It's never explicitly stated what Small Foot whispered to Path Finder, but given the use of the pronoun "he," her expressed desire to save Leader-1 back in "High Noon", and the Guardian leader's melancholic state at the end of the story, it's likely it has something to do with him.

References

  1. ↑ Post by Hydra on The Allspark Forums, 2017/01/03
  2. ↑ Post by Hydra (Andrew Hall) on The Allspark Forums, 2017/01/01
  3. ↑ Post by Hydra (Andrew Hall) on The Allspark Forums, 2016/12/10
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