Landquake (Timelines)
| This article is about the Timelines-series Decepticon. For the Energon-series Autobot, see Landquake (Energon). |
- Landquake is a Decepticon from a Timelines addition (sort of) to the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Landquake has always been an unusual Decepticon at best. While he does possess a 'Con-like pragmatic craftiness, interest in battle, and instinctive distrust of anyone other than himself and his friends, he finds the constant in-fighting and bloodthirsty selfishness of the faction wearying. He also possesses a mastery of energon that some say goes past the capabilities of the Omnicons and Terrorcons, to almost supernatural levels of power. He can shape it in any number of ways, ranging from forging weapons and shielding (even against explosions) to powering his own systems, all with a touch of his hands, or sometimes with telekinetic force alone.
He had joined the Decepticons mainly because he had become bored with his job as an energon refinement specialist in Kalis, after he caught wind of Megatron's raids of Mini-Con villages. He had hoped it would give him the military discipline he craved, and his short attention span—combined with his daydreams for glory and adventure—further made him susceptible to the lure of Megatron's campaign. However, he soon found that Megatron was actually only interested in his own solipsistic plans, and Landquake once again became bored and disillusioned.
Then a chance meeting with the Autobot Skyfall finally showed him that his restlessness, unusual powers, and strange yearnings might mean he had a great purpose after all. He now finds himself with a new direction in life—to find out more about this ancient combiner he apparently is a part of, seek out the rest of his gestalt brethren, and claim his destiny.
"Guy, that is the least encouraging pep talk I've ever been given."Landquake's 'Con motivational methods and Skyfall's 'Bot sensibilities don't mix well, "Transcendent: Part 4"
Fiction
Cybertron comic
During the Mini-Con civil war, Landquake was enlisted by the Decepticon-aligned Mini-Cons to build a cannon designed to destroy the Autobot-aligned headquarters of the Mini-Con Council of Sages from afar. The Council of Sages drafted a handful of Autobots to their cause, among them Skyfall, who recognized Landquake immediately. Skyfall, who was desperate to discover his forgotten past, had been shown ancient markings on the walls of Cybertron's energon pools that resembled the forms of him and Landquake. Landquake sensed a kinship as well, and they forged a loose partnership. Revelations Part 4
Revelations Part 5 Revelations Part 6
Classics
Crossing Over: Part 1 Crossing Over: Part 2 Crossing Over: Part 3 Crossing Over: Part 4 Crossing Over: Part 5 Crossing Over: Part 6
TransTech
Landquake, Skyfall, and Breakaway emerged from the Caretaker's space bridge in a strange and unfamiliar place (with Cliffjumper now nowhere to be found). Landquake told Skyfall that he would guess they were on Cybertron, except that he had never before seen such a city there. One of the city's inhabitants, Silverbolt, greeted them with an explanation that they were in Axiom Nexus, and that they needed to go with him to "Processing". Landquake disliked the idea of being "processed" greatly, but the statues surrounding them bearing armed weapons convinced him to go along regardless.
As they were led along, Silverbolt explained further about Axiom Nexus and how the three travelers had arrived there. Landquake asked if the city had a Caretaker they could consult with, but Silverbolt was unfamiliar with the term. He told them that, once they were processed, their assigned guide Alpha Trion could possibly help instead.
After they had finished with Processing, Landquake complained that he was even less comfortable with the identification bolts they all had been forced to wear. Alpha Trion arrived in time to overhear the comment, and told them they would get used to the bolts. Landquake and the others followed Trion as their new guide explained Axiom Nexus and the TransTechs further, and led them off to go the "outworlder" sections of the city. Transcendent: Part 1
As they stepped onto a lift to the lower parts of the city, Landquake and Skyfall were alarmed to find that Breakaway had gone missing at some point. Landquake threatened Trion with his guns when Trion tried to restrain them from taking off to look for him, but relented when Trion explained that Breakaway had been taken by the TransTech, and he would help them with their rescue.
Trion explained as he led the two along that the TransTech were dangerous oppressors who were hijacking outworlders, and Trion and his followers were freedom fighters from peaceful dimensions. As Trion went on ahead, Landquake noted to Skyfall that he didn't trust Trion, and Trion's story had too many holes for the Decepticon's liking, although he didn't trust the TransTech either.
...then, when they finally caught up to Trion, he showed them his lovely collection of corpses. Transcendent: Part 2
As Skyfall reacted in horror to the corpses, he and Landquake were introduced to Topspin, and Topspin and Trion explained that the Transformers' sparks had actually been transferred "safely" out of their bodies and into either containment or other bodies. Landquake pressed for more details, skeptical that sparks could really be transferred between bodies. When Topspin demonstrated his abilities, Landquake was fascinated by the lethal possibilities. However, he was less-than-impressed by Topspin's expressions of fanatic loyalty to Trion, and glossed over it by asking more details about the transfer process instead. Transcendent: Part 3
Later on, Landquake and Skyfall discussed their situation while walking around Axiom Nexus. They both thought Trion was crazy, especially since Landquake knew Trion's claim they were hijacked was untrue, since he was sure that Topspin was the one the Caretaker had sent them to find. He proposed they pretend to go along with Trion's plans for their own reasons, to rescue Breakaway and prove Trion's beliefs wrong, so they could shatter Topspin's loyalty and steal him away. Skyfall seemed to find the plan quintessentially Decepticon.
They then discussed the underlying purpose of their quest, about their apparently being part of a combiner. Landquake was disturbed by the implication from the Caretaker that finding their purpose might somehow end their individual lives, yet he felt that it would be worth it regardless, if it meant fulfilling the cosmic duty he had been searching for all along. Skyfall found the thought of dying a bit... less than reassuring himself, and suggested they head back to Trion's headquarters. There they bided their time until word came that Breakaway had been found in Shockwave's laboratory, near a dimensional gate to Trion's home universe, and Trion made plans for everyone to attack. Transcendent: Part 4
They were successful in their initial entry to the Transwarp Complex, and Trion had Landquake, Skyfall, and Immorticon follow him to where Breakaway was being held. As they pressed forward, Skyfall was disturbed by the violence of Trion's attack, and Landquake lectured him that he should have known it would happen. Nevertheless, he still gave Skyfall a comforting gesture as they kept moving.
Once they reached the laboratory proper, Landquake and Skyfall moved to help Breakaway while the others battled Megatron and Shockwave. Landquake sensed that Breakaway would survive the injuries Shockwave had inflicted on him, but needed to be taken to safety to heal properly. Transcendent: Part 5 He carried Breakaway along as they all made their escape from the laboratory to the dimensional transit room, and he and Breakaway were then ushered through the gate by Nightscream... Transcendent: Part 6
Shattered Glass
...as he came out of the other side of the gate, Landquake found himself and most of the others in a disused laboratory. When Trion came through the gate soon after with Skyfall's newly-dead body, Landquake demanded that Trion tell him what had happened. Trion ignored the repeated inquiries in favor of issuing orders, until Landquake physically forced the Autobot to acknowledge him. Trion paused, then relented and claimed that Skyfall had been shot from behind as they went through the gate.
Landquake then briefly hid along with the others when Topspin noticed that an Autobot scout was approaching. After surprising the scout and striking him down with his sword, Trion ordered Landquake to clean up the body. Landquake refused, however, saying he refused to take Trion's orders, that the killing contradicted Trion's claim that his world was at peace, and that he wanted some answers. Trion condescendingly dismissed Landquake's demands and reiterated his orders. Breakaway then interrupted, reporting that Skyfall's wound had been caused by a blade rather than gunfire. Trion decided to change tactics upon hearing that, and Landquake soon found himself, Breakaway, and Topspin held captive by Trion's acolytes. Trion then revealed his true plans for Landquake's group—to use them as tools for his plans for personal conquest, then kill them. Reunification: Part 1
Landquake asked why Trion didn't just kill them now, and Trion explained that "reunification" wouldn't work with all of them dead. Landquake then quietly plotted with Breakaway and Topspin to make an escape. When his captor asked what he was whispering about, Landquake explained about his energon-shaping powers, and how he could use them in limited ways from a distance... such as telekinetically creating an energon spear to impale Breakaway's captor through the spark. Landquake then shot his own captor in the legs and threw out smoke bombs to cover their escape with Skyfall's body.
He yelled to Topspin that he had been betrayed, and should follow them in escaping, but Topspin was nowhere to be seen as they reached the outside. Landquake told Breakaway they should keep moving, but Topspin eventually emerged, asking if they would help him get revenge on Alpha Trion. Landquake pointed out that survival was more important, but he would help if the opportunity ever presented itself, if only to avenge Skyfall. He then ordered the three to transform and roll out.
Millicycles later, the three were holed up in a derelict building with some empties, with Breakaway and Topspin looking to Landquake for guidance. Landquake was adamantly against the suggestions of going to either this universe's Megatron or back to Alpha Trion. He also protested against them acting like he was their leader, since his first idea—to use their powers to resurrect Skyfall—had thus far failed. Also, unlike Skyfall, he had no clear idea of what to do next. Breakaway tried to give Landquake a pep talk, until Topspin reported that something strange had just happened. Reunification: Part 2
The "something strange" turned out to be their latest visitor, Aquarius, having encased them all in a slow time bubble. The strange alien explained that he was actually the one who had brought them to their current universe, and he was there to help them. Landquake pulled the others aside and complained that Aquarius seemed crazy and disquieting, but they convinced Landquake to listen to him regardless, so he returned and asked Aquarius to explain further.
After Aquarius explained that the Autobots were creating a dangerous superweapon called Omega Doom, Landquake asked what that had to do with them, as surely the three of them wouldn't be successful if even Megatron couldn't stop the superweapon. He was just confused further by Aquarius telling him that with Skyfall's body and their fifth member—who was with Megatron—they would stand a chance. He was also even less happy about learning that Computron was about to rip the roof off their hideout. Reunification: Part 3
Landquake ordered the others to make a run for it, then fired at Computron's optics to blind him temporarily, before catching up. As the others asked where they should go, Landquake reluctantly proposed they talk to the resident Megatron after all.
As they made a run for the Decepticon base, Aquarius continued his explanation to Landquake. He had activated a Vector Sigma recall program for a warrior to defeat Omega Doom, which had delivered Landquake and his friends as the response. Landquake then was surprised by almost running headlong into Abominus's foot, and briefly panicked, until the combiner waved them all on while he dealt with Computron.
Once they reached the base's entrance, Landquake was greeted by Megatron and finally reunited with the wayward Cliffjumper. Landquake explained the situation to the Decepticons once they were all seated inside the base, and Megatron brought out Heatwave and introduced him to Landquake's group. Then everything went south as Cyclonus assassinated Megatron on Alpha Trion's orders. Reunification: Part 4
Landquake had no idea what to do, until Breakaway suggested they try to revive Megatron. Landquake didn't think it would be any more successful than their attempt to revive Skyfall was, but Breakaway pointed out that Skyfall had been dead a while before they tried, and this time they had Heatwave to help. Landquake relented at this, and agreed to the experiment. As they started applying their energies to the body, Landquake felt uncomfortable and had a strange flashback to when he and Skyfall first met. He also heard Skyfall calling his name somehow...
Then he and the others were transported to a strange, white, featureless place, where Landquake was surprised to find that Skyfall was indeed alive. They were also greeted by Primus, who welcomed them home and gave the now-reunited gestalt a choice: to die, live as they currently were and eventually fade away, or be reborn as what they were meant to be. Landquake presumably chose along with the others to be "reborn", as Primus then commanded, "Arise, Nexus Prime." Reunification: Part 5
After being reborn, Nexus Prime finally entered the battle with Omega Doom he had been summoned for, as the Autobot superweapon had recently arrived. When Omega shot a missile into Cybertron's sun, Nexus Prime had to follow to repair the sun before it went nova. The part of his mind that was still Landquake wanted to stay on Cybertron to fight, but was overridden by the Skyfall and Breakaway parts of him who knew that all of Cybertron would burn unless the sun was healed.
After Nexus was successful in repairing the sun and defeating Omega Doom, Cliffjumper bid the Landquake and Skyfall parts of him goodbye, as he stepped through a Stellar Spanner to whatever his fate would be next... Reunification: Part 6
Toys
Timelines
- Landquake (Basic, 2006)
- Accessories: Dual cannon/radar (combiner foot/hand), Decepticon-style energon star
- A redeco of the Energon Blight/Kickback mold, Landquake transforms into an anti-aircraft tank similar to a Gepard. He has a clear-red energon star that can attach to most Energon-series toy molds. He is also capable of forming a limb to any combination of Energon-style combiners, but he is specifically intended to combine with Skyfall, Breakaway, Topspin, and Heatwave to form Nexus Prime.
- Landquake was an exclusive to the Fun Publications Transformers Collectors' Club, given as an "incentive" freebie to members who had purchased a club membership between April 2005 and April 2006. He is also available for normal sale through Fun Publications' web store.
- This mold was also used to make Universe (2008) Bruticus Maximus team members Blast Off and Brawl and their Revenge of the Fallen counterparts, Blast Off and Brawl.
Notes
- Landquake was originally intended to have a retooled robot head. However, the Chinese factories that manufactured the new parts for the BotCon 2005's "Descent into Evil" set had insisted on using a grade of steel for the molds that was prohibitively expensive; so while they went ahead with the convention toys' new molds to get them done for the show, for a toy that would largely be given away free, it was deemed unworkable. Heatwave was the only figure that ended up with a retooled part—the combiner head.
- Although Landquake does not appear in any Timelines-designated stories, his instruction sheet was printed with the Timelines logo. Pete Sinclair has claimed this was probably a mistake, and the instructions should have had the Cybertron logo that Skyfall's instructions did.
