The Gift Horse

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Specifics: interiors
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"Arrrgh! The sun! It burns!"
"The Gift Horse"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published February 17, 2010
Cover date February 2010
Writer Zander Cannon
Artist Chee Yang Ong
Colorist Moose Baumann
Editor Andy Schmidt
Associate editor Denton J. Tipton
Continuity IDW continuity
Chronology Current era (2010)

Bumblebee begins to question the morality of what he is doing as he goes on a solo mission to find the device that will free the Autobots...

Synopsis

Lieutenant Larsen, Colonel Gordon Horiuchi, and Lieutenant Daniel Klonowski are driving through the New Mexico desert to rendezvous with the Autobots to replace Bumblebee's badge, which was damaged by Blurr and has trapped Bumblebee in his vehicle mode, at least, that's what the Colonel believes to have happened. Klonowski states that they are running out of loyalists, and that their man at the Phillips site has been transferred to the surveillance team after some "Questionable Energy Allocation." The Colonel interrupts, saying that he is well aware of the situation and the severe punishment that will follow should their secret operation be discovered, but that Skywarp's capture, coupled with a team of obedient robot soldiers suddenly on their side will earn them promotions all around without any questions asked. Klonowski replies that it's the obedient part that bothers him.

At the Autobots' cave, Ratchet welcomes the Colonel and tells him that Bumblebee's state still hasn't changed, and that, regardless of what Bumblebee said yesterday, the rest of them fully support their plan. The Colonel acknowledges and tells Ratchet that they have Bumblebee's new badge, which should correct any problems caused by the damaged one. Ratchet tells the Colonel that they aren't really sure what happened when the Colonel enabled the kill-switch in Bumblebee's damaged badge, but that he's stuck in vehicle mode and is unable to speak. The Colonel seems surprised by this, because the badges weren't designed for that kind of incapacitation, and that his communication systems should still be functional. Ratchet states that they don't know too much about the badges and that the damage could have bypassed a safety or two. The Colonel barely acknowledges this claim and simply tells Klonowski to replace the old badge with the new one.

While Klonowski is replacing the damaged badge, Colonel Horiuchi turns to Ratchet and tells him that with the way things have gone in the past 24 hours, he can understand why the Autobots are upset with Skywatch. Horiuchi tells him that after they succeed with their mission and go public to both the rest of Skywatch and the rest of the world, then the U.S. Government might set aside a piece of land for the Autobots, a sovereign nation, safely apart from the rest of the humans. Ratchet is quick to call this new proposed piece of land a prison, but Horiuchi backpedals stating that it is simply a reward for their loyalty.

While this discussion is going on, Klonowski is hard at work attaching not Bumblebee's new badge. Klonowski begins to have a conversation with not Bumblebee when he notices some rust and that he didn't think Autobots got rusty. Klonowski also notices that not Bumblebee has also recently acquired a license plate, and is unable to recall if Bamboozlebee has always had a license plate.

Horiuchi punches Bumblebee's call sign into the control panel and nothing happens. The Colonel gives up on the control board and angrily orders Klonowski to tell Sanjay Bharwaney that he needs another one of these control boards. Horiuchi turns to Ratchet and tells him that the badge must have caused more damage to Bumblebee than previously thought. He tells Ratchet that they have to leave and that it's up to him to fix Bumblebee. Klonowski walks over to Bumblebee, and the Colonel asks if he has something to say. Klonowski, unsure if his suspicions are correct, dismisses this and just says that it's been a late night for him, as well. On their way out, Horiuchi temporarily places leadership in the hands of Ratchet and walks out. Wheeljack, via text-only frequency tells Bumblebee that the decoy worked and that they have acquired information on Sanjay Bharwamey, the technician who developed the control board and the Skywatch badges that the Autobots wear and tells him that Sanjay is most likely at home, due to the Horiuchi's informal behavior. Wheeljack also tells Bumblebee that, based on what Col. Horiuchi has said, that Sanjay is working on a second master control board that affects all badges, and that if properly altered, it may disable all kill-switch badges.

Bumblebee texts back to Wheeljack that he has been observing several cases that match the board's dimensions, as well as Sanjay's daughter Serena, who is playing out in the front yard, and that she may be able to help him gain possession of the control board if she were his friend. Bumblebee starts to get Serena's attention by honking his horn, and he notes that it seems to be working so far.

Ratchet tells the other Autobots that Horiuchi has temporarily made him leader and that their obligation to the humans still stands. Unbeknownst to them, Klonowski is listening in on their conversation, immediately growing even more suspicious when he learns that the Autobots have suddenly grown receptive to the idea of hunting down their comrades. Cliffjumper texts Ratchet asking if Bumblebee will be back before the deadline, Ratchet, unaware of Klonowski's eavesdropping simply says that he believes so. Klonowski rewinds the audio and increases the volume, his suspicions slowly being confirmed. Bumblebee drives by the Bharwamey residence and honks his horn again and actually gets Serena to reply. Back at the Skywatch base Klonowski knocks on the door and asks Collins if he is still monitoring the COMM output of the Autobot cave, Collins says yes, but that their hasn't been much time to run any type of decryption on it, but that most of it is mainly code that is generated by their internal systems. Klonowski asks Collins if he can check the last 48 hours or so of these transmissions to which Collins obliges.

Sanjay tells his daughter that he needs to go to work and that their housekeeper, Swati, is in the kitchen if she needs her. Serena turns around and sees Bumblebee drive off, she follows him around the corner, where Bumblebee transforms reveals himself to Serena. Rather than greet Bumblebee with fear, Serena, like any other child is filled with wonder and excitement. They introduce themselves to each other and Serena asks Bumblebee if all cars are robots, Bumblebee simply answers that not all cars are robots, just German ones. Serena pelts Bumblebee with a barrage of questions, to which Bumblebee is not quite sure how to answer in the first place. Swati calls Serena's name and asks her what she's doing. Serena tells her that she is talking to the "funny car" and Swati tells her that lunch will be ready in five minutes. Back at Skywatch, Klonowski is reviewing the COMM data, acknowledging that Collins was right about "this stuff's" ability to induce sleep when he notices Cliffjumper's encrypted message to Ratchet. Astounded by this discovery, Klonowski begins a search for similar transmissions in record, the computer returns with 74 matches.

Back at the house, Swati calls Serena back to the house for lunch. Serena asks her new friend to stay out here while she goes inside for a few minutes. Bumblebee tells Serena that he needs her to do him a favor, he asks her if she would be able to get the case that contains the control board. Serena says that she's not allowed to touch her father's stuff, to which Bumblebee lies to her, claiming that it's broken, and that her father could get hurt if he tries to use it. Not wanting her father to get hurt, Serena agrees to get the control board for Bumblebee.

Back at Skywatch, Klonowski is still shocked at his discovery, he asks himself what the Autobots have done to them and that they are going to ruin everything. He states that he must tell the Colonel about his discovery when the computer alerts him of a new transmission. Bumblebee, unaware that the text frequency was recently compromised, tells Wheeljack that he feels terrible about sending Serena to get the control board. Wheeljack tells Bumblebee to bring it back to base so that he could alter it, however, the altered board will burn out all badges and the power sources of any non-badged robot, and that both Bumblebee and Blurr will need to be out of range when the board is used.

Bumblebee begins to question whether what he is doing is the right thing, and that he feels uncomfortable betraying a friend. Wheeljack gets frustrated with Bumblebee and tells him that Horiuchi used the humans' fear and mistrust to capture them, Bumblebee simply tells Wheeljack that lying to a little girl in order to steal from her father only rationalizes the humans' concerns. This only sets Wheeljack off even more, but Ratchet interjects and tells Bumblebee that he sympathizes, but that there doesn't seem to be any other option.

At the Skywatch Phillips Base, smoke is pouring out of the entrance, Skywarp stares at a computer screen as he retrieves the information regarding the control board. Skywarp talks to himself and tells that if only the humans had cooperated, then their deaths may not have been necessary, having received the information he required, he transforms and flies off into the sky. Back at Sanjay's house, Serena returns to Bumblebee with the control board and Bumblebee states that he can't fix it, but he's talking to someone who knows how. He sends the schematics to Ratchet, who says that the device is simply too complicated and calls to abort the mission, Bumblebee says nay to that and asks if there is any way to hack it, as they only have 15 minutes until Sanjay returns from work. Wheeljack interrupts once more to belittle Bumblebee, with Bumblebee finally taking charge, telling Wheeljack to shut up and help him. Ratchet starts walking Bumblebee through the basic steps, and then calls Wheeljack over to help him.

Wheeljack begins where Ratchet left off, but Bumblebee tells him that he can't keep up with him. Wheeljack informs Bumblebee that time is running out and that he has to try. Swati calls Serena's name and says that Sanjay is about a minute away from the house, and that she should come in and get changed. Bumblebee finishes and hands the case containing the control board back to Serena and tells her to go in through the back and put it back where she found it. Bumblebee transforms and drives off, telling himself that Serena deserved at least a goodbye, and that he feels sorry for lying to her and abusing her trust, but she did him a great favor and that he hopes a day will come when he can repay her, unaware that Skywarp is directly overhead.

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans

Quotes

"After you prove yourselves, and we may go public, both to Skywatch and the rest of the world... Well, who knows? The Government may be able to set aside a piece of land for you. A sovereign nation, safely apart from the humans."

—Col. Gordon Horiuchi proposes the Indian Autobot Appropriations Act


"Hey... Is that rust? I didn't think you Autobots got rusty."

—Lieutenant Daniel Klonowski apparently doesn't know about Cosmic Rust


"Are—Are all cars robots? Ha!"
"No, not all cars are robots, Serena, just special ones. Just... ...uhh...German ones."

—Serena Bharwaney has Bumblebee explain the technical wonder that is the Volkswagen Beetle

Errors

  • Sanjay Bharwaney is a pretty odd name for a white dude, even before considering his red-haired daughter. And don't forget their housekeeper, Swati! Do we blame the colorist or the artist on this one?

Items of Note

  • The title is a reference to the ancient Greek story of the Trojan Horse, from which is derived the phrase "don't look a gift horse in the mouth".

Covers (3)

  • Cover A: A close up shot of Bumblebee's face while he is snooping through the shipping yard with Scavenger behind him; art by Guido Guidi with colors by Josh Burcham.
  • Cover B: A full body shot of Bumblebee crouched down and casting a shadow against some rubble; art by Chee Yang Ong with colors by Moose Baumann
  • Cover RI: Black and white sketch version of Cover B.
  • Scavenger's bringing home a baby Bumblebee...
    Scavenger's bringing home a baby Bumblebee...
  • Next I will make a little birdie!
    Next I will make a little birdie!
  • ...Or a giant robot with horns!
    ...Or a giant robot with horns!

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