Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox
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 A graphic designer's worst nightmare. | |||||||||||||
| "Herald", "Covenant", "Schism", "Paradox" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | 3H Productions | ||||||||||||
| First published | July 28, 2000 (BotCon 2000) | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | July 28-30, 2000 | ||||||||||||
| Script | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Illustrations | Lee Sullivan | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Generation 1 (via Universe) | ||||||||||||
Many players draw closer as Point Omega, the end of everything, comes.
Synopsis
Herald
Megatron inspects his captive, Antagony. Antagony is ashamed of her personal failing—how could a relative dinosaur like Megatron take down a Herald of Shokaract? Her shameful situation is compounded when Megatron uses the mind-drill on her to pry the secrets of the future from her.
Antagony, using hate to resist the mind-drill, thinks back to her service in Shokaract's empire. She witnessed Cataclysm's Ko-tu and took an immediate loathing of her fellow Herald. Cataclysm had gained his title through the tricking the resistance on Cybertron into a trap that crippled them.
Antagony and Cataclysm developed a bitter rivalry that came to a head during the Horus Campaign. Horus, a being worshipped as a god and capable of harnessing solar energy, was able to resist Shokaract's expansion into his space. And so Antagony sought to handle the problem in Shokaract's name. Distracting his troops, Antagony personally fought Horus. While the battle raged, Cataclysm destroyed the nearby star, almost killing Antagony and Horus. Despite her wounds, Antagony was able to finish off Horus, and Shokaract commended the two, assuming that they were working together.
Incensed by Cataclysm's attempt to kill her, Antagony struck back by nominating Cataclysm for a journey through time, a concept he detested. She also attacked on another front, arranging for Cataclysm's brother and pupil, the Cub, to be assigned to kill the fearsome Veteran as part of his Ko-tu. Shokaract changed his mind and assigned Antagony the task to travel back in time, so she would be unable to attend the Cub's Ko-tu.
Antagony finally fails to hold back the mind-drill and the failsafe device installed in her mind wipes her memories, leaving her a brain-dead husk. Megatron is only mildly disappointed; he knows more will come.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Covenant
On Protos, Leonicus enjoys the sunrise. He is eventually forced to return to the Sanctuary, where he sees his fellow members of the Covenant go on with their daily lives, sealed away from the Universe for millennia in preparation for Point Omega, or Shokaract. He is soon met with the Chronarchitect, who struggles to create a physical presence and warns Leonicus of an upcoming disaster. In a booming voice, The Chronarchitect tells Leonicus to "return to the beginning".
The Covenant convene in a zemstvo to discuss the Chronarchitect's foreboding words. They recall that the last time the Chronarchitect appeared was in 2005, when Optimus Prime died and the ownership of the Creation Matrix was in flux. For that event, they had readied for war, but the Matrix passed to Hot Rod, who used it to destroy Unicron and the Covenant went unneeded. Now, they again worry of the Grand Plan of their creator, Primus, and the impending Point Omega.
Leonicus reviews the Covenant's origins. In the beginning, a new universe was reborn from the ashes of the old. In this old universe, gods existed. One of them, Unicron, became a devourer, consuming the entire universe, other gods included. His task done, he slept in the void. Life still clung on, spontaneously creating a new universe and a positive counterpart to Unicron—Primus. The two mighty titans' battles devastated the universe, and so Primus concocted a plan: he would distract Unicron on the mental plane and trap their physical essences in metal asteroids. To test his tactic, he imprinted part of his lifeforce into Protos, creating life out of the dead moon. Twelve were born with sparks of Primus's essence—the Covenant. Satisfied that he could reshape his future metal prison to create life, Primus tasked the Covenant with observation and maintaining the Grand Plan, especially for Point Omega. The Covenant observed the evolution of the Transformer race and waited for the time when they would be called upon.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Covenant | Gods | Others |
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Schism
A victim of a devastating battle, the Cub, lies dying. This was supposed to be his Ko-tu ceremony, the end of which meant that he had become a Herald of Shokaract, like his brother, Cataclysm.
The Cub, after being granted power by Shokaract, was sent into the ruined Badlands as part of his initiation ceremony. He was to hunt down and prove himself against the Maximals and Predacons who still resisted Shokaract's absolute rule. Each pre-Herald was assigned an "alpha target" to take down; the Cub's was the legendary Veteran. The Cub eventually discovered his target, but his would-be victim deftly overcame the attacks and struck back. The Cub was defeated. Tired of war and death, the Veteran spared the Cub.
The Cub's body is looked upon by the Veteran and Sandstorm. Sandstorm had suggested that the Veteran merge his spark with the Cub's. Through this, they could access the Cub's memories and discover knowledge to help in the battle with Shokaract. The Cub, due to his failure to kill the Veteran, was put in combat with Cataclysm to restore his honor. The battle was ridiculously skewered, resulting in Cataclysm ripping his brother apart. After some reflection, the Veteran consents to Sandstorm's plan.
On Protos, it has been 200 years since the Chronarchitect's warning. Leonicus muses on the rise of Shokaract, known as the alternate name of Point Omega, and the sending of four members of the Covenant to find the cause of Point Omega. Only three have returned.
The Cub refuses to allow himself to be "possessed" by the Veteran. Nevertheless, the merge occurs and Windrazor is born.
In the Empire Room at the Royal Palace at Corumkan, Cataclysm prepares to enter a transwarp portal to the past, on Earth. He has been assigned to discover Antagony's fate after her journey to find the tracking device that would reveal the location of the Dark Essence. As he enters, Windrazor crashes into the room. Cataclysm recognizes his brother, but it is too late, as he has begun transportation.
In the Badlands, Sandstorm gathers a force of rebel Transformers. He reflects on Windrazor's revelation of Cataclysm's mission and tells his force of their destination: J'nwan.
Windrazor charges into Cataclysm and the two battle in the quantum tunnel leading to the past. Cataclysm is pulled into overspace, where his constituent particles disperse. Windrazor, on the other hand, ends up on a strange planet. Immediately, he sees a dragon rising out of a volcano. Windrazor realizes he is on prehistoric Earth, during the Beast Wars.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Paradox
The Hunter is cornered by aerial Skyblades on a barren planet. Out of cowardice, the Hunter presses against a cliffside to hide from the Skyblades. A rock on the cliffside shifts, revealing an underground passage. Inside, the Hunter is drawn to an abyss by a voice, who promises the Hunter his destiny.
On a planet, Antagony, Herald of Shokaract, brings conquest to the Kolar.
In Protos, Leonicus despairs over the spiral to destruction as Shokaract rises in power and control. Ariex alerts him to current events, such as the birth of Windrazor and the search for the Dark Essence. The Covenant use their personal transwarp abilities to travel to Earth during the Beast Wars. There, they know, will be Point Omega.
Windrazor is already there, and has discovered the beacon indicating the location of the Dark Essence. He goes forth to find it. At the Maximals' base in Mount St. Hilary, Rhinox as detected and reported the visitor.
Sandstorm arrives at J'nwan. The dimension's climate and topography are confusing and ever-changing, but Sandstorm uses his superior mental faculties to press ahead.
Using the beacon, Windrazor discovers the Dark Essence in the same cavern that the Hunter will in the far future. He stares into it.
Optimus Primal's Maximals face off against Megatron's Predacons. But it is just a distraction; Megatron has detected the time-traveller and flies off to his location. With no choice, Optimus Primal follows, leaving his Maximals to hold off Megatron's troops. In the cave, Windrazor stares at the Dark Essence, with the two voices inside him battling over what to do with it. He is attacked away by Megatron, who takes immense note of the dark pool. He realizes it is the cosmic destroyer, Unicron, and laughs. Windrazor won't have any of it and strikes head-first at Megatron. The dragon holds back Windrazor, but Optimus Primal arrives on the scene. The Dark Essence uses this opportunity to possess Windrazor, blasting out of the cavern that was its prison.
Sandstorm finally meets with the "Authority" in J'nwan. Sandstorm pleads with the Authority to assist with the impeding battle, but the inhabitants of J'nwan refuse. Their time is past, and a new generation must face this battle themselves. Sandstorm is not fond of this answer.
On Earth, Unicron in the body of Windrazor uses his formidable powers to play with the Earth-bound Maximals and Predacons. Inside Windrazor, the Cub and the Veteran fight back, expelling Unicron, who returns to the pit. The Transformers are unable to rest and ask questions, as Shokaract himself has just arrived.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Notes
- There are two mildly differing versions of the story "Herald", one published in the 1999 four-parter, the other published as illustrated prequel to the 2000 comic. Some details found in one of the versions are absent from the other, and vice versa, such as information Megatron "borrowed" the mind-drill from Tarantulas, a description of Cataclysm's Ko-tu and the extent of Antagony's revenge on him.
- Botcon.com presents "Herald" as chapter 4 of Reaching the Omega Point. The Botcon 2000 comic's presentation places it (more sensibly) as a prequel.
