Orbital jump
- Orbital jump is a technology from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
An orbital jump is a type of teleportation, typically used by Transformers to travel from an orbiting starship to a planet's surface and back. A variant, the orbital bounce, sends the traveler from one point on the planet's surface to another, presumably "bouncing" off the orbiting starship in transit. Orbital bounces over short distances aren't entirely accurate.[1]
The teleporting subject typically appears in a blaze of light, accompanied by a beam of light descending from the sky and retracting once the teleport is complete. It also sometimes appears as an energy portal.[1] Nightbeat says of this mode of travel: "not the nicest way to travel... but it gets you down fast, slips you past any kind of local sensor network." Despite its name, the technology still works when the transporting starship is on the planet's surface, even if it is buried under hundreds of feet of water or ice.
The subject Transformer arrives in primary mode, even when doing so risks breaking cover[2] or exposure to dangerous radiation[3], perhaps indicating that the technology has certain limitations. The process is highly traumatic and potentially lethal to humans, and possibly to facsimile constructs as well. Super-powered humans just get shaken up a bit.[1]
Fiction
IDW comics
Thousands of years ago, the Dynobots tracked Shockwave to prehistoric Earth as he worked on his Regenesis project. The team adapted their forms to have beast modes with a protective outer coating to defend against the planet's raw energon radiation. However, despite the need for this protection, when the newly-created Dinobots jumped to Earth's surface to face off against Shockwave, they arrived in robot mode. Spotlight: Shockwave
Megatron traveled from an abandoned Decepticon bunker in Nebraska to Starscream's Siege Mode base in Oregon via orbital bounce. Prior to his arrival, Bumblebee detected "a buildup of charged anti-protons" presaging the bounce. Infiltration issue 6
Nightbeat "jumped" from his orbiting spaceship to the surface of Gorlam Prime. Despite the need for stealth, he arrived in robot mode. Spotlight: Nightbeat
When the Autobots on Earth deployed to Brasnya, they traveled via orbital bounce. Of note, the teleporting ship, Ark-19, was parked at the bottom of Lake Michigan at the time. The Autobots arrived in robot mode, but immediately transformed to their Earthen disguises. Infiltration issue 4
Jazz, Bumblebee, and Wolverine used an orbital bounce to sneak in to the Decepticons' base in Latveria. Since it was a short bounce, it got them close to the target, but they still had to find their way. Prowl, Ratchet, and Spider-Man later used it to bounce out of the base and into the battle outside. Later, having their evil scheme thwarted, the Decepticons escaped using an emergency warp-out. Man and Machine, Part Four
An orbital jump may have been responsible for the Autobots' loss of the Georgi Koska facsimile construct shortly thereafter; Hot Rod transported the captured facsimile to the Ark-32 via orbital bounce, but the clone, wounded by shrapnel, expired by the time it reached the ship. Escalation issue 6
An orbital jump saved Earth's Autobots from the wrath of Sixshot. Setting up a remote control link to Ark-32, Nightbeat transported all of the team away via orbital jump, leaving only Prime behind to battle Sixshot to the finish. When Sixshot withdrew to deal with other problems, Prime ordered Nightbeat to clear him out via orbital jump, seconds before the Air Force carpet-bombed the battle site. Though Verity Carlo and Jimmy Pink did not survive the jump, Ratchet was able to successfully revive them shortly thereafter. Devastation issue 4
An orbital bounce allowed the recently-revived Grimlock to escape from the (literal) clutches of Scorponok; the damaged and weaponless Dinobot leader teleported away from a losing battle to have a chance at finding his lost teammates. This jump was of particular note since Grimlock had no clue if his ship, the Skyfire, even still existed. Despite being buried in ice below the planet's surface, the technology still worked, transporting him to the vessel. Spotlight: Grimlock
Yet again, the orbital jump technology saved the crew of the Autobot vessel Mirror-Manifold; the Technobots teleported four Autobots out of the damaged ship mere seconds before it was obliterated by Cyclonus. Spotlight: Sideswipe
