Identity Politics

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Los Pollos Hermanos! Taste the Family!
"Identity Politics"
Publisher Transformers Collectors' Club (online exclusive)
First published September 13, 2016
By Jim Sorenson with David Bishop
Illustrations Tomoya Hosono
Colors Winston Bolen
Continuity Beast Wars: Uprising
Chronology Circa 2363
Page count 29pp

A shady business venture leads Scorponok into Cybertron's criminal underworld.

Synopsis

Say my name.

One night outside a Dynamic Energon Distillery plant, Scorponok—a nervous programmer—has a run-in with two Maximals. Just as he thinks he's gotten away without the situation getting violent, he bumps into the plant's security officer Impound, who realizes the two Maximals had been robbing the place, and Scorponok had just stopped them.

Three days later, as Scorponok gets back into the usual groove of work, the plant's administrator summons him for a meeting. The Predacon in question, a large, bombastic sort named Gnashteeth, proves to be good-natured and approachable. The two spend a whole three megacycles talking about Scorponok's passion for programming. As he leaves, Scorponok cannot help but feel optimistic for the future.

Elsewhere, the Builder Double Punch meets with Councilors Sigil and Halogen, who are very interesting in bringing a new Decepticon into the Builder Assembly, especially if it shuts up their fellows who suggest bringing on a Micromaster, or worse, a Predacon. Immediately realizing the implication, Double Punch leaves, knowing the day has come to have a talk with Gnashteeth. In a meeting at the Builder's opulent estate, Double Punch tells his protégé, even a friend, that the time has come for him to make a play for the Builder Assembly, thanks to Gnash's sterling work on his behalf improving the efficiency of the D.E.D. plant. Of course, he'll have to make someone his replacement as chairman, and it isn't going to be Gnash. After all, there's no way any Builder will knowingly take the orders of a Predacon. Angered, Gnash asks if his job will be a risk too. The situation gets heated, with Double Punch telling Gnash to show some gratitude to his "betters" for being allowed to get further than a Predacon has a right to. Managing to get his anger under control, Gnash bids his mentor good day, but as he goes the ancient Decepticon can't help but feel apprehensive.

Things go on the up-and-up for Scorponok, with a promotion to senior programmer at the plant. Twenty-one solar cycles after his first meeting with the administrator he's summoned to his office again, where the larger Predacon is brooding. Gnashteeth quickly changes the topic of conversation to a suggested increase in efficiency Scorponok promised him. The problem is that the time it would take to properly test it would take deca-cycles, lest they risk a meltdown, and Gnashteeth wants it implemented now, to prove his worth to the Builders. This leaves him in a bind. He cannot suggest the idea openly, for it will be shot down, and he can't implement it in secret without having to explain the sudden increase of energon. Then Scorponok idly mentions that if it was just energon he'd found he could've sold it. This gives Gnashteeth an idea. They implement one of Scorponok's ideas, and take the surplus cubes for themselves.

MAGNETS!

Their first sale goes smoothly, but Gnashteeth notes they were swindled on the price for their fifty-four cubes. So he declares next time they will just sell directly to the customers. Scorponok points out they'll need people to help with that, which they don't. Gnashteeth just says they'll get them.

Time passes, and the two gather a bevy of Empties to sell their produce, despite some roadbumps, like one of their dealers stealing his supply of cubes, forcing Gnashteeth to put a hit on him, and their best dealer, a 'bot named Dipstick, getting murdered by the Kopsego gang. Back at the plant, Double Punch is replaced by a Builder named Ego, who has Gnash bumped down to co-deputy administrator in favor of a skidplate named Datamine, who plans to set Gnashteeth against his former deputy Budora. An angered Gnashteeth vows not to be forced from the streets the same way. He tells Scorponok to spread the word out that he wants to meet with the Kopsegos, and he wants muscle for when they do.

The two, and their hired security, wait for the meeting in a secluded alleyway, only for fifteen cycle to pass without the Kopsegos showing up. Just as Gnashteeth declares the endeavor a waste of time, the gang leader—a large Maximal named Thunderhoof—makes his presence known. He compliments the quality of Gnashteeth's goods, then bristles when Gnash mentions "respect". He then pays Gnash and Scorponok's security to make themselves scarce. Once they're gone, Thunderhoof offers the Predacon a deal: three thousand and five-hundred cyber planet keys for one-hundred and seventy-five cubes. Gnashteeth is incensed at Thunderhoof's attempted underselling, and refuses Thunderhoof's second offer of five thousand keys. In response, the Maximal viciously beats Gnashteeth down. In response to the Predacon's colorful threat to hang Thunderhoof's head from the spires of Iacon, Thunderhoof's goon Terrorsaur mockingly calls him "Megatron". After blowing Gnashteeth's leg off, Thunderhoof tells him he has a solar cycle to think about the offer, before departing.

Scorponok takes Gnashteeth's battered body back to the D.E.D. plant, and a CR Chamber. Within a megacycle, Budora appears and mentions it might be best if Gnashteeth resigns without a fuss. After thirteen megacycles, Gnashteeth finally emerges. Scorponok suggests taking what they can and going to another city, but Gnashteeth refuses. If they can't play by the rules, they won't bother. Rather than breaking his resolve, Thunderhoof's beating has increased it. They're going to take all the energon.

Fulminated mercury, and a little tweak of chemistry.

Double Punch returns from his first day at the Builder Assembly in a good mood, only to find something suspicious going on at his estate. Making his way inside, he finds his vaunted weapons have been taken. At that point Gnashteeth makes his presence known. The Predacon has burgled a Builder, murdered his bodyguard and framed the Kopsego gang. Realizing he's going to die, Double Punch demands to know why Gnashteeth is even doing this. The last thing he hears is Gnashteeth announcing how Double Punch's pawn has become a queen.

With newfound confidence, the two Predacons march back into the plant, Gnashteeth telling Scorponok to head to the loading dock, while he goes to "talk" with Budora. By the time Scorponok gets there, Gnashteeth has dealt with his former deputy. With the flip of a switch, the former administrator triggers a meltdown. Scorponok opens the doors, allowing the workers to flee, while he programs the small fleet of Dropkick drones to head to a new destination with their loads of energon. As he does, he notices the meltdown is happening a bit quicker than his projections estimated, and tries to slow it down to let the haulers fill up further. But as Scorponok works, Impound shows up, thinking the diminutive Predacon is trying to play hero, and tries dragging him out, ignoring Scorponok's protests. Left with no recourse, Scorponok shoots Impound dead.

A deca-cycle after Double Punch's murder, and Thunderhoof is increasingly on edge in his new position as public enemy number one, which is forcing him to stay out of trouble. Then news comes to his receptors that the newbies want to meet up with him again, in a little warehouse by the Rust Sea. Wanting to bring the purple Predacon under heel, Thunderhoof attends the meet. Almost immediately, the Predacon alarms Thunderhoof by addressing him by name, then by mocking his goons' lousy opinion of him. Offended, Thunderhoof demands Terrorsaur and Scavenger kill the Predacon... and nothing happens. Demanding to know how this happened, Terrorsaur shows him the warehouse stacked full of energon Gnashteeth has bought their loyalty with. Before Thunderhoof can repay his minions, they shoot him down.

Later, Gnashteeth and his newly acquired underlings celebrate Thunderhoof's death, as his head hangs from the spires of Iacon as Gnashteeth promised. Scavenger mentions that with the Kospegos literally decapitated, they'll need a new name. Scorponok thinks of what Terrorsaur had said back during the first meet-up, and the gang settle upon the name of "Darksyders". Asking Gnashteeth if he likes the name, Scorponok is told not to call him that any more. As the Predacon explains, Gnashteeth died with the D.E.D. plant. From now on, they shall refer to him... as Megatron.

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Maximals Predacons Builders Others

Quotes

"Why, Gnash? You were my friend."
"I was your pawn! To be sacrificed the moment it became embarrassing to have a Predacon in your company. But this pawn… has become a queen."

—Double Punch and Megatron

"You shall call me by the name I was truly protoformed to hold. A name torn from prophecy, and from history. From now on you can call me… Megatron."

—Megatron

Notes

Errors

  • At one point on Page 22, Cerberus is mistakenly called "Bruticus" by the narration text.
  • In the Cybertronix text, Scorponok's username keeps changing (from "Megabee42296" to "Cyberbee42296" to "CyberBee42296").
  • Also in the Cybertronix, MesothulasSinner's line about "shall we aggressive strategy" is missing a "say".

Continuity notes

  • Chronologically, this story is the earliest Beast Wars: Uprising fiction, discounting "A Change to the Agenda", which straddles an intersection between timelines. On top of no mention being made of the Grand Uprising, the story revolves around the formation of the Darksyders, who were established in Alone Together to have been the Predacons fought by Optimus Primal's team of Maximals, as described in "TransTech" Blackarachnia's magazine bio. "Not All Megatrons" confirms that this story takes place twenty-one stellar cycles before the events of "Broken Windshields".
  • Several members of the Builder Assembly in this story were previously mentioned in "Broken Windshields".
  • Continuing from that, Sigil mentions there are notions of bringing Micromasters onto the Builder Assembly, which he and Halogen are opposed to. Given the chronologically later "Broken Windshields" had the Micromaster Riker identified as one of the Assembly, it's safe to say Sigil and Halogen would ultimately lose that battle.
  • The Maximal Flying Corps was first mentioned in "Burning Bridges".
  • The Firestormers were previously mentioned as one of the gangs on Uprising Cybertron in "Trigger Warnings". Their nature is not elaborated upon, but their membership is probably made of Cyberdroids, given that their leader Ptero is based on a Headmaster-style toy.

Transformers references

Real world references

  • According to Jim Sorenson, many aspects of the story's plot (about a novice who enters the criminal underworld, eventually gaining a feared reputation) were partially based off the television series Breaking Bad, with Megatron in the role of Walter White and Scorponok in the role of Jesse Pinkman.

References

  1. ↑ Allspark: "Beast Wars Uprising AMA"
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