The Train Wars: The Origin
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| "The Train Wars: The Origin" 電車大戦 —起点—
(Densha Taisen —Kiten—) | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Hero-X | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Transformers Generations 2022 | ||||||||||||
| First published | July 27, 2022 | ||||||||||||
| Story & art by | Yuki Ohshima | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | 2010? | ||||||||||||
The newly born Trainbots must contend with their creator's errant children.
Synopsis
Shouki is Shouki, but back when he was manufactured, he was "Mach"...
At Doctor Fujiyama's lab, he and Atari Hitotonari watch as "Development Code Mach" is rebooted. Later, Mach is with his brothers Night and Snow, in preparation for testing together. Fujiyama is a bit tired of Mach's overly eager attitude, so he assigns babysitting duties to Hitotonari. Before his regular energon cube feeding, Mach asks Hitotonari... why was he made? What is his true purpose in life. Hitotonari, having went through similar questions herself, advises the Trainbot that he should think about it, and make his own choices for himself.
Elsewhere in the lab, Nightbird has broken out thanks to her evil AI "brother", Shadow. The two exploit the lab's resources, upgrading the ninja robot's chassis. The two make their big entrance in front of the three finalized Trainbots and the two humans, but Mach transforms to save his creators from harm, having made his own choice to protect others. Nightbird rushes deeper into the lab, so Fujiyama commands all mobile Trainbots to take her in, unharmed.
Elsewhere, Nightbird finds the three still inactivated Trainbots that Shadow proposes converting into her "vassals". They're interrupted when Doctor and her team of prototype Trainbots confront the ninja. Nightbird attempts an escape, so Doctor has her team combine into G Liner to easily subdue their "sister". Unfortunately, as Shadow points out, the prototype combiner is a bit slow on the draw, so the swift Nightbird manages to install Shadow's cerebro-shell program into G Liner. Under the two's control, G Liner absconds with the three sleeping Trainbots, leading to the remaining three panicking on what to do. Mach takes charge and is deemed the leader; he proposes a risky idea of literally charging into the combiner in a doubleheader configuration with himself and Snow, with Night holding up the track.
After the tactic succeeds at stopping Nightbird and G Liner, Autobot reinforcements help with the clean up while Doctor angrily chews out her younger brothers for such a dangerous maneuver. (Hitotonari, on the other hand, is happy that Mach is closer to discovering what he wants to live for.) Fujiyama is exasperated at his creations fighting, but is grateful that his precious Nightbird is back to him safe and sound... only to see that she's escaped and left Night unconscious!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Notes
Continuity notes
- This story gives the nitty-gritty on the Trainbots' long-established back story of being human-made Transformers manufactured in Japan. Their creator is established as Doctor Fujiyama, creator of Nightbird from "Enter the Nightbird". His assistant is Atari Hitotonari, the perpetually unlucky Kiss Player from Yuki Ohshima's major Transformers work, Kiss Players. She would later appear in Legends and Generations Selects, both set after this story.
- However, Shouki's 2014 Generations toy bio had claimed he was made by Shibuya Manufacturing Corporation as part of the Binaltech Project (a detail which Hirofumi Ichikawa would expand upon in an answer for Facebook's Ask Vector Prime). Whoops?
- Nightbird being accompanied by an AI named "Shadow" was established in the prose included with her Masterpiece toy. This story explains how she acquired her new form, based on the Legends toy, which she would use in the chronologically later Legends comic.
- In Shadow's bag of tricks is a "cerebro-shell program". Cerebro-shells were originally the domain of the Insecticon Bombshell, who also used them to brainwash unsuspecting victims to his will.
Transformers references
- The Trainbot's development codes are based on their preliminary names from production of the Headmasters cartoon. They, in turn, were based on how the Diaclone Train Robo (whose molds were used for the Trainbots) were sometimes identified as "Machliner", et al.
- The prototype Trainbots established here are based on the second set of Train Robo decoes from Diaclone. Like their younger "brothers", their development codes are based on Diaclone identifications in the vein "Yellowliner". Evidently, they have come up with their own names, as Doctor establishes.
- Doctor's name, in turn, comes from the Doctor Yellow trains used to analyze track condition and status (and which the original Train Robo was based on).
- The prototype combiner is "G Liner", based on Raiden's own preliminary name of "Grandliner".
Trivia
- G Liner's name is actually never outright said in the story, instead being conveyed through binary code as the combiner is taken over by the cerebro-shell program
