Battle Lines, Part 3
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| "Battle Lines, Part 3" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Fun Publications | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #39 | ||||||||||||
| Story | Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Writers | Jesse Wittenrich & Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Pencils by | Dan Khanna | ||||||||||||
| Inks by | Dan Khanna | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Evan Gauntt and Jesse Wittenrich | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Jesse Wittenrich | ||||||||||||
| Managing editor | Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Wings Universe | ||||||||||||
The Elite Guard confronts Deathsaurus and the Combaticons.
Synopsis
[edit]As Magnum and his team search for Deathsaurus and his Decepticons, Thunderclash proposes splitting up to cover more ground. Magnum insists on sticking together, when they are interrupted by Side Burn, who proclaims to know where the Decepticons are. Side Burn proceeds to childishly mock the others, when a blast throws him off-balance. Magnum hauls an indignant Side Burn to the side, as the Decepticons begin to attack. Magnum realizes that the Decepticons knew they were coming, having spies all over the area, and has Ricochet scout out for the leader. Ricochet spots Starscream, and tries to relay the information, but the Seeker, mocking the flying Autobot, blasts him with his null-rays, sending him plummeting to the ground. Transforming, he instructs the Decepticons to attack...until he too is blasted out the air by Flak. Magnum orders his troops to attack as well, intending to beat them back to Deathsaurus. Almost as if on cue, the Decepticon leader lands, joining the battle..
Magnum rushes forth to attack Deathsaurus, telling the Decepticon that he will pay for what he did to the Combaticons, believing that he brainwashed him. A bemused Deathsaurus tells him that the Combaticons chose to turn against the Elite Guard, and the Combaticons, having also arrived, confirm his story. Deathsaurus goads Magnum, proclaiming that if the dedicated Combaticons could defect, then so could he; enraged, Magnum rushes forth, knocking back Deathsaurus. Thunderclash, Kup, Dion, Side Burn, and Landshark engage the Combaticons, trying to keep them from merging into Bruticus. Meanwhile, Flak, Outback, and Moonracer gather around Ricochet, who was mortally injured in his fall. The rookie Autobot asks if he did good, and when the others assure him, he takes comfort in that as he dies. There is no time to mourn, however, as Lyzack, armed with Leozack's blade, engages them. Side Burn is momentarily distracted by the female Decepticon, allowing Blast Off to take him down. As the other Autobots fall before them, Onslaught orders the Combaticons to merge into Bruticus to finish them off. But before their combination can be completed, they're blasted apart by an unseen party, one that Dion can't believe he's seeing...
Featured characters
[edit](Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons |
|---|---|
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Quotes
[edit]"They fired on me first... that still counts as me finding them, right?"
- —Side Burn
"Nice shooting, Flak."
"Well, all those missiles had to be good for something."
- —Magnum and Flak
"The mighty Magnum knows who I am? I'm humbled. But "vile"? Tsk. Watch your tongue when in the presence of your new emperor!"
- —Deathsaurus
Notes
[edit]- Characters mentioned but not seen include: Optimus Prime, Skyquake, Alpha Trion, and Lyzack's brother.
Continuity notes
[edit]- Skyquake was noted to have designed the Skyraiders in his BotCon 2009 tech specs; evidently, the Seekers are an upgraded version of the Skyraider body-type. Members of both are seen as part of Deathsaurus' army.
- Swindle previously tried to get Dion to sell him his guns in "Flames of Yesterday".
Transformers references
[edit]- Ricochet notes that Starscream's body-type is specifically a "Seeker 3.050" model; the original Starscream toy's UPC number was "0 38976 '05781 0".
- Several of the Decepticon's designs are influenced by the Transformers seen in the records of pre-war history in Transformers episode "Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2".
Real-world references
[edit]- Kup's remembers a battle with the "dreaded Omacronians of Persei Eight", referencing to the planet Omicron Persei 8 and the Omicronians from Futurama.
Errors
[edit]- On the second-to-last panel of page 1, Side Burn's speech balloon is missing, though its tail is still there. A transcript of what it was supposed to contain can be found on Wittenrich's DA journal: "Smelt it! Those gear-slippin’ Decepti-jokers know how to ruin a guy’s hero moment!"
