Train Wars
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| "Train Wars" 電車大戦
(Densha Taisen) | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Million Publishing | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Transformers Generations 2014 Vol. 1 | ||||||||||||
| First published | May 16, 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Story & art by | Yuki Ohshima | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Circa 2035 | ||||||||||||
Can Shouki overcome his teamwork issues to fight off an attack by The Fallen?
Synopsis
Having successfully reacquired the data on Metroplex that Metrobomb previously lost, Kickback returns to the Thunder Arrow... or rather, what he thinks is the Thunder Arrow. In actuality, the shuttle is the disguised Autobot Shouki, who suddenly transforms to robot mode, and uses his partner Daniel Witwicky's "electrical bow" weapon mode to blast the Insecticon and incinerate the data. It turns out Shouki isn't very big into teamwork, though—he doesn't want a repeat of what happened to his comrades on Zone, but before he can press the issue, a distress call summons them both back to Cybertron.
At Cybertron, Shouki is quick to fall to the enemy force that is attacking the planet: The Fallen! The flaming demigod has decimated Autobot resistance and captured Vector Sigma. When The Fallen mockingly thanks Overdrive for leading him to the planet's core, Shouki misinterprets the villain's words and turns on Overdrive, but is suddenly stopped when Alpha Trion materializes between the pair. The ancient Autobot has emerged from the Allspark, having sensed Vector Sigma's peril, and tries to calm down Shouki, directing everyone's attention the mega-computer even as it begins to glow brighter. Surging with power, Vector Sigma melts its way out of The Fallen's grasp, and transforms into its "Oracle" robot mode. Overdrive offers himself up to the Oracle, petitioning it to lend him its power so that he can rescue his comrades who are "trapped in time" and have them join in battling The Fallen. Infused with the Oracle's power and equipped with his Quantum Dial, Overdrive seemingly sacrifices himself to summon an army of Transformers. In response, The Fallen calls up minions of his own, and combines with them!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots/Maximals | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
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Notes
Continuity notes
- This story follows on from "Metrowars 2," in which Kickback attempted to exfiltrate Metrobomb after he stole Metroplex's data, using the same shuttle he has here. The data was lost at the climax of that story, so it's not clear exactly how much time has passed between then and now.
- Vector Sigma's alternate "identity" as the "Oracle" was previously established by the Kiss Players radio drama and 15 Go! Go! manga, which also revealed that they were alternate names/forms for Primus himself. Those stories also established Vector Sigma's ability to physically transform into a robot mode, but he had a different design there (see below).
Transformers references
- Kickback and Shouki make the same 正気 (meaning "sane" and pronounced shouki) pun as Razorclaw and Shouki did in "Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 2".
- This story was produced as a tie-in to Million Publishing's exclusive Shouki toy, a redeco of Classics Astrotrain. The idea of him using his shuttle mode to impersonate the Thunder Arrow was mentioned in the toy's bio.
- Most of the other characters appearing in this story are hypothetical redecoes that were created for a poll published in the same volume of Generations, so that readers could vote for one that would actually be produced as Million's next exclusive. The winner was Goshooter (a redeco of Generations Nightbeat), who received 29.3% of the votes; the others are:
- Alpha Trion from Generations Scourge (28.9%). The accompanying text notes that he would have come with a Vector Sigma accessory, presumably to be a golden redeco of Beast Wars Eggbot as seen in this manga.
- "Metals" Silverbolt from Prime Grimwing. (14.8%)
- Generations Drift redecoed in the colors of Age of Extinction Drift, with a placeholder name of "Autobot Drift Black Ver." (12.7%)
- The Fallen from Generations Onslaught, using the Ruination combiner head. (5.0%)
- Universe Sunstreaker redecoed in the "police" color scheme of the original Diaclone police version of the Sunstreaker toy. This would have presumably been a new character, with "Sunstreaker Police Type" as a placeholder name. (3.8%)
- A redeco of Universe Smokescreen based on the Generation 2 Decepticon of the same name (later established to be the same character). (2.9%)
- Overdrive from Universe Silverstreak. In-story, he apes the original Overdrive toy's "attack vehicle" mode with a makeshift configuration it is possible to finagle the toy into. (2.9%)
- Camshaft from Universe Ironhide. (1.6%)
- Downshift from Generations Wheeljack. (1.0%)
