Black Metal: Dark Cybertron Chapter 2

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Chapter 2 		»
"Black Metal"
Dark Cybertron Chapter 2
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published November 20, 2013
Cover date November 2013
Story by James Roberts and John Barber
Art by Atilio Rojo, James Raiz and Livio Ramondelli
Colors by Josh Perez and Livio Ramondelli
Letters by Gilberto Lacanzo
Editor Carlos Guzman
Continuity IDW continuity
Chronology Current era (2013)

Starscream's search for more information on the Titan unearths a haunting prophecy, while Orion Pax and the crew of the Lost Light join forces to penetrate the Dead Universe.

Synopsis

On Cybertron, Bumblebee gets his Autobots organized in response to the sudden emergence of the undead "Necrotitan"; Ironhide is raring to go, Arcee is quietly sardonic, and the Dinobots are characteristically less than responsive to Bumblebee's commands. A verbal smackdown from Bumblebee leaves even Slag at a loss for words, and he begrudgingly falls into line. Unsure of exactly what to do, the team wonders if the Titan is the same one which proclaimed Starscream ruler of the planet...

On the Lost Light, Rodimus brings Orion Pax to Brainstorm's workshop, where they call upon him to put the data he has gathered studying the Dead Universe to use devising a means for them to enter it without it sensing their presence.

In Iacon, Starscream is in the process of loading up with advanced weapons in preparation for the attack he presumes the Titan will soon initiate. Rattrap, on the other hand, considers the notion of using conventional weapons on the Titan a mistake, and suggests Starscream try to get some information from the incarcerated Scoop, whose firm belief in the divine nature of the Titans can offer another perspective.

Orion and Rodimus meet Ultra Magnus for a drink in Swerve's, where he immediately questions the public nature of their meeting. Orion defers to Rodimus, and Magnus acquiesces, instead choosing to focus his ire on Swerve for taking pictures of the trio. Orion and Rodimus agree they can both feel a sense of foreboding and discussing the events that have led them to this point, including Starscream's election and Megatron's brief return. Presently, Brainstorm pages them down to his lab to present his latest invention: generators that project forcefields laced with the venom of the cyberwraith, a parasite from the Dead Universe, which will prevent the universe from recognizing them as outsiders. The pair recruit Hardhead and a momentarily-hesitant Cyclonus to join them on their mission, and after Whirl tries and fails to start a fight over the matter, everyone says their goodbyes. Rodimus charges Magnus and the Lost Light with finding Jhiaxus, reassuring the larger 'bot by showing him his palm, which contains something extra he will be bringing on the mission with him. The team then proceeds to depart the ship and travel through the portal created by the collapse of Gorlam Prime.

After managing to convince the reluctant Jazz to give him a few minutes alone with Scoop, Starscream is bewildered to discover that the construction 'bot still believes in him as his leader despite his orchestration of his unwarranted arrest. His patience wearying due to Scoop's religious dogma, Starscream is about to leave until the ex-Autobot begins reciting an ancient prophecy he discovered in the Covenant of Primes: a prophecy of an "uncreator" who will arrive with a Titan, and who will unmake the world. Holding up his datapad, Scoop shows Starscream the symbol of this "false prophet"... a hieroglyph of Shockwave's face.

In Crystal City, Shockwave calmly voices his surprise at seeing Nova Prime and Galvatron together, given their past disputes. Via communication from within the Dead Universe, the pair proclaim that those experiences have only strengthened their bond, though Nova is quick to lose patience with both his comrades when Shockwave informs him that the Titan's space bridge vanished upon its transformation, leaving him unable to open a portal to bring Nova through. But naturally, Shockwave has a plan...

Arriving in the Dead Universe, Orion's team observe that the whole universe is breaking up and contracting toward a specific point. Noticing Cyclonus has disappeared, they assume he has been accosted by a swarm of fully-grown cyberwraiths, which now descend on the group, believing them to be young cyberwraiths because of the venom in their forcefields and intending to eat them. When Cyclonus suddenly reappears, however, the beasts immediately flee—and when Cyclonus then vomits up a stream of black energon, it becomes apparent that something is very wrong. Cyclonus refuses to acknowledge the issue, though, so the team can only stick to the plan and head for the universe's contraction point... but once they have departed, a fifth figure emerges to examine the puddle of black energon Cyclonus left: Nightbeat!

Back on Cybertron, Bumblebee insists that he cannot make any moves without knowing what's happening, but Prowl contests that that slow-to-action attitude was the downfall of his leadership. Punctuating his words, the Decepticons suddenly crest a nearby ridge and charge forward, weapons blasting, with Soundwave at the fore, announcing the beginning of "Operation: Salvation"!

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Others

Quotes

"Nobody orders Dinobots but Dinobots, Goldenrod. Anyway... not gonna make much difference what we do."
"No. What you do is the only thing that makes a difference. Take point and get your troops in a perimeter around that giant—if you want to be an Autobot. And if you don't want that—then get the hell off my battlefield."

—Slag finally causes Bumblebee to grow some bearings


"The Dead Universe is a parallel reality—a rival reality—one that operates on competing theoretical principles. Bit more than that, it's sentient. Not just sentient—omnicognizant. And hypermalevolent. And other words I haven't even made up yet."

—Brainstorm


"That apprehension... that sense of—of death deferred? That's Megatron. Back of the neck, tops of the fingers, edge of my spark. That's him. That's always him. Is he behind this? Only inasmuch as he's behind everything."

—Orion Pax


Hardhead: "Hands up if you're a coward, right, Cyclonus?"
Whirl: "Ooooh! Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Cyclonus: "No one's—"
Whirl: "Fight!"
Cyclonus: "—no one's fighting anyone, Whirl."
Whirl: "Fight?"


"Not going with them, Brainstorm?"
"Can't. I'm allergic to hostile environments."

—Chromedome and Brainstorm


"At least you believed in me."
"Believed in you? Seriously? You don't understand me at all. I still believe in you."
"Well, you're right about that. I absolutely do not understand you."
"That's only because you don't believe in anything."

—Starscream and Scoop

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Various characters wonder if the Necrotitan is the same Metrotitan that appears in the 2012 More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise annuals. We know it's not, though it is colored like that Titan as a result of confusion on the part of the artists.
  • Brainstorm recalls Cloudburst and Waverider's trip into the Dead Universe from Spotlight: Sideswipe, and name-checks the polydermal armor they used to make the journey.
  • The cyberwraith could previously be spotted in Brainstorm's lab aaaaall the way back in issue #7. A small round object that might be the forcefield generator is also visible in this issue; something similar can also be glimpsed in issue #14, but of course, those are a lot harder to identify definitively.
  • The banner in Swerve's reads: "Welcome Aboard, Thunderclash", having obviously been meant to celebrate the visit of that 'bot last issue. "Thunderclash" has been crossed out and replaced with "Orion Pax", but not before Swerve started writing "Optimu" and had to cross that out too!
  • Starscream had Scoop locked up in Robots in Disguise #20.
  • Nightbeat was last seen five years ago in Spotlight: Hardhead, in which he was killed by Hardhead himself and collapsed at the edge of a portal to the Dead Universe.

Transformers references

  • The two massive guns that Starscream tools up with are colored in homage to Armada Optimus Prime's rifle and the Requiem Blaster.
  • The "Covenant of Primes" evokes memories of the Covenant of Primus; the one-letter switch is probably due to the fact that belief in Primus is not particularly widespread in IDW continuity.

Real-life references

Errors

  • Hardhead is still being drawn in the almost-totally-made-up model that first appeared in issue #19 of Robots in Disguise.

Trivia

  • Artist breakdown: Rojo illustrates the scenes set on Cybertron; Raiz covers the Lost Light; and Ramondelli handles the Dead Universe pages.
  • Note how all of the Dinobots get their names rattled off in a big roll-call... except for Slag. Is this the story's way of getting around Hasbro's need to have the character labelled "Slug" in the cast page, without contradicting IDW continuity up until now?

Covers (3)

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