Eye in the Sky
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| "Eye in the Sky" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Fun Publications | ||||||||||||
| First published | May 1, 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Trent Troop and Greg Sepelak | ||||||||||||
| Illustrations by | Tom Whalen | ||||||||||||
| Cover | Tom Whalen | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Shattered Glass | ||||||||||||
| Page count | 29pp | ||||||||||||
The Decepticons fight to save Earth from Rodimus Prime's Autobots.
Synopsis
After Heatwave manages to locate Soundwave's stasis pod and get him reactivated, they gather up Soundwave's cassettes who have landed nearby, and go off in search of the Nemesis. They eventually find the ship's crash site, and discover there's a team of local scientists snooping around. After a misunderstanding between the scientists and Ravage, the Decepticons eventually learn that the humans—Professor Arkeville and his interns—are friendly and sympathetic, and invite them onboard to meet up with Starscream and Cliffjumper, who survived the crash.
Rodimus, on the other hand, meets up with his own set of human allies—the Witwicky brothers—when the three try to steal him. He takes them back to the Ark and convinces the other Autobots to accept the humans' help, though not before dealing with an attempt by Goldbug to usurp leadership. Rodimus ultimately wins, and, after listening to advice from the Witwickys and studying Earth's transmissions, hatches a plan: Hijack one of the United States' military bases, take control of the country's defense satellite, and use it to hold the planet hostage until the humans accept the Autobots as their new Mafia-like leaders.
The Decepticons learn of the Autobots' success in gaining control of the base, and launch an assault to free it, having managed to locate Crasher's pod in the meantime. During the fight that ensues, Heatwave is able to gain access to the satellite's controller and use it to disable the Autobots' control and evacuate the base. He then turns the satellite on the base itself, destroying it, and finally crushes the controller as well. The satellite then self-destructs.
When President Colton hears of the situation, he decides that, while the Decepticons are worth keeping an eye on, he's especially interested in the Autobots...
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Decepticons | Autobots | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Metal monsters from the center of the earth! The government said that'd never happen again!"
"Whoah, little meaty dudes! Fear not, for we come from outer space."
"The government said that wouldn't happen again, either!"
- —Will is not happy about meeting Soundwave.
"Sorry 'bout the memory failure there. They only recently started making bots like you back in my dimension, you'd think it'd help me remember you better."
"Bots like me?"
"Well, yeah, because... uh... I mean you're..." (Cliffjumper waves his hands in a vague hourglass shape) "That is, you've... y'see... there's bots and then there's... oh, hey, look Heatwave's here!"
- —Cliffjumper and Crasher discuss Crasher's... curviness.
Heatwave: I really don't like talking to your infoweb, I feel like I need a decon wash after every connection.
Ravage: Rilly? I think it's full of win.
Heatwave: Is that supposed to be a euphemism for—
Cliffjumper: Can we just get on with this?!
- —Heatwave and Ravage discuss the internet, much to Cliffjumper's consternation.
"You dudes may be numerous, but there's one thing you don't know. I have no mouth...yet I must rock."
- —Soundwave
"Hello there, I am Heatwave. I'm afraid I've got bad news. Yes, you've been hijacked by a hostile power. No, it's not them. I don't know who the 'Russkies' are, but the Autobots are worse, trust me on this."
- —Heatwave introduces himself to a military satellite defense controller.
"Clay...in all the years you've known me, where have the concerns of the international community typically lain in my priority list?"
"Somewhere between National Bran Awareness Day and your alimony payments, sir."
- —President Colton and Vice President Clay discuss presidential concerns.
Errors
- None yet identified
Transformer references
- The Ark ends up crashing in the ocean off the West Coast, and the Autobots use it for their underwater base. Meanwhile, the Nemesis crashes into the side of a mountain.
- Cliffjumper notes that fembots are a recent phenomenon in his home universe.
- Professor Arkeville has some cybernetic parts, the same as his counterpart, though for unknown different reasons.
- Autobots generally don't fly in this universe either.
- Abdul Fakkadi is a pacifist in this universe, and his people referred to as the "Ottomans".
- Goldbug confuses Frenzy with Rumble.
- Goldbug has stingers, just like his Animated counterpart.
Real-world references
- Sephie identifies Heatwave's Earth altmode as a "Stompbox Mobile Missile Deployer", yet another of writer Greg Sepelak's references to a They Might be Giants song, in this case the differently-parsed Stomp Box.
- In this universe, World War III occurred during the 1980s. In 1988 one specific attack destroyed the Western seaboard of the United States and sent most of it underwater. Other details are unknown, including the participants and who was on what side, though the current day military characters seem generally afraid of the Soviets and "communists", and the British are mentioned as wanting to invade the US. Rick also makes mention at one point of "rebels" of some kind operating in the US in the current day.
- The Statue of Liberty has a sword instead of a torch.
- The humans possess "oPods" and post on "Yatter".
- The monsters from the center of the Earth are a reference to the Inhumanoids, another Marvel/Sunbow production from the same era as the Transformers.
- Soundwave's line "I have no mouth... Yet I must rock", is a reference to Harlan Ellison's short story "I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream".
- Beachcomber's line "Cats in the cradle! And the silver spoon!" is from "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin, while his line "Now's your time to burn your mind!" is from "Fire" by Arthur Brown.
- The Decepticons discover Crasher's stasis pod in "Bay's Demolition Yard", a reference to Michael Bay.
External links
- Transformers Collectors' Club exclusive fiction (must be a logged-in member to access)
