Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist
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| "Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist" | |||||||||||||
Rook investigates Axiom Nexus to bring you the truth!
Synopsis
- April 29 — A traffic jam has formed on the Hydra Loop, which Rook finds from Starscream and Rattrap to be the result of much-delayed construction at the nearby Turbo-Span Bridge. Rook muses that perhaps a rat shouldn't be in charge of the transportation committee and promises to keep an eye on any scandals that may arise around Rattrap.
- April 29 — Oil production in the southern portion of Cybertron is at an all-time high, thanks to an unknown substance found in previously unexplored caves and a new drill used by Sym-Phur and designed by Shockwave. Rook turns over the time to Andromeda, who interviews an expert from the science division about the new substance.
- May 1 — Rook interviews Krok about the mecha-soccer draft. They discuss promising candidates Kickstart and Heavyfoot, and Krok's team, the Granaught Gatoraiders. The time is turned over to Sonar and the weather at the interview's conclusion.
- May 4 — Equinicon racing, where an Equinicon is paired with a Mini-Con, is one of the most beloved sports on Cybertron. However, it has been recently hit with a cheating scandal—Mach Kick, the winner of the Epoch-Stakes race at the Baron Rift, is accused of taking energy from his partner Fastbreak in violation of racing rules. They are under investigation before they can compete in the Fulcrum Derby at Crystal City.
- May 6 — In the first of a series of reports on Axiom Nexus itself, Rook goes into the brief war that took place. During the "Liege Maximo incident", a group of Decepticons led by Jhiaxus that swore allegiance to the infamous member of the Thirteen formed and sought to overthrow the social order. They were thankfully stopped by the combined efforts of Optimus Prime and Megatron. Tensions between the factions lingered, but soon the "Early Travelers" appeared, and they were discovered to be from an alternate Cybertron. With the existence of the Multiverse being apparent, the TransTech diverted focus away from their problems and to other universes', assisting wayward travellers who fell into the cracks of reality. With many Offworlders deciding to call Axiom Nexus their home, aspects of this mission were assigned to the responsibility of different TransTech individuals, such as Starscream heading the Offworlder Zone Security Administration and Rhinox cataloging the Multiverse.
- May 8 — Rook explains the simple principle of "Dux non Intruitus"—no Offworlder leaders allowed in Axiom Nexus. Any detected by the TransTech's universal recovery net is sent back to their home universe. This is done so no inter-faction conflicts arise among the Offworlders to cause the TransTech headaches. But since the concept's first writing by Starscream, exceptions have arisen. One in particular is the Convoy, a group of Primes formed to help defend the Multiverse. But they proved unpopular among TransTech. They were kept secret, till two members revealed themselves publicly to recruit Depth Charge for a vital mission in another universe. In the resulting public debate, the TransTech's Optimus Prime explained the necessity of the group now that a negative polarity Ultra Magnus destroyed a universe that housed a artifact of the Thirteen and the defeat of Hytherion by the Alternity. Without the Beast of Time to destroy weak and damaged universe, infection was allowed to spread through the Multiverse. The Convoy was formed to help recruit others to minimize the damage done to the Multiverse, and after some initial tensions, even the Decepticons accepted the group's existence, reasoning that they were not at Axiom Nexus to lead anybody and were restricted to Axiom Nexus and Cloud World.
- May 9 — In this episode, Rook explains the role of Mini-Cons in Axiom Nexus. For many ages, the children of Micronus Prime were just a myth, and whoever were believed to be Mini-Cons were really just misidentified Micromasters. Till the Mass Reemergence. A group of Mini-Cons in the Aurex universal cluster suddenly came online. They possessed much power and the ability to alter the superstructure of larger Transformers that they bonded to. This led to their place as pawns in the war between Autobots and Decepticons, a fate which the Mini-Cons tried to escape by travelling to other planets. But this was only a temporary measure as they were eventually discovered on Earth and its Moon and the war reignited. The Mini-Cons caught the attention of Unicron, who also sought their power. To end this threat to their freedom, the Mini-Cons bonded together into one great aggregate and defeated Unicron. In the aftermath, the Mini-Cons demanded peace, and Heinrad emerged into the universe to give the Mini-Cons a choice: stay in the never-ending war or find peace at Axiom Nexus. Most chose peace.
- May 11 — Rook gives a sketch of Optimus Prime's career to date. Optimus began as an archivist who, fed up with the corrupt government, entered politics to change it from within. He formed an alliance with Megatron; with the military's support and political acumen, Optimus was able to expel the malodorous politicians, making a High Senate that actually worked for the people. Optimus and Megatron's relationship is often tested by their opposing perspectives, but compromise always wins out in the end. Optimus's compassion has led him to worry about the state of every universe, a concern that has led him to form the Convoy, forge alliances with the Flaternity and Cloud World, and call in Heinrad from the future.
- May 13 — It is now Megatron's turn for a career rundown. Rising from the gladiatorial pits, Megatron learnt that the way to peace was through any means necessary. Towards this ideal, Megatron has modified his body many times, including adding a Tetra-Singularity Fusion cannon. Megatron and Optimus Prime have had their conflicts, such as over Megatron's use of excessive force during the Alpha Trion situation. Upon hearing about the Convoy, Megatron tried to establish his own "Megatronus Squad", but the High Senate pointed out that Megatrons were often pretty evil. Megatron concedes that the current status quo at Axiom Nexus works, but could use some improvement...
- May 15 — Rook gets a rare interview of Rhinox, who is currently enrapt by the goings-on in Uniend 911.05 Alpha and Primax 1005.19 Gamma. Rook cuts the interview short after realizing his other questions involving television programming on Axiom Nexus are useless, and turns the rest of the segment over to Ask Vector Prime.
- May 18 — A visitor from a future time has an agenda that he is hiding from Rhinox, as a page from the 2015 BotCon comic is linked to.
- May 21 — Starscream gets his bio. Not a fan of Offworlders, Starscream is the TransTech Intelligence Directorate and a potential Senator, which means he isn't planning an overthrow of the government like other Starscreams. This Starscream, rather, knows how to work the system in order to accomplish whatever he wants. When his maneuvering doesn't work, he turns to Senator Ratbat, who has helped him set up multiple redundant and bureaucracy-clogged government programs and regulations. Addressing the rumors that Optimus Prime has tasked Prowl to spy on Starscream, Rook demands that the Intelligence Directorate is carefully monitored, declaring him a threat to peace if left unchecked.
- May 29 — Rook interviews Heinrad about his perception of time, his involvement in the creation of the Convoy and his impact on the stability of Axiom Nexus.
- June 1 — On tonight's "Punch/Counterpunch" segment, Beachcomber and Gutcruncher debate the topic of interns on the first day of Rokuneon, the season of incoming interns. Beachcomer feels that interships are violation of Axiom Nexus's anti-slavery laws, while Gutcruncher, as owner of Gutcruncher Multiversal Mining & Smelting, insists their experiences are voluntary. Rook then introduces Aurex Mini-Con intern Crosswise, who demands to know where the real Rook is so he can herald Unicron's coming.
- June 4 — Rook interviews Cheetor, who corrects Andromeda's earlier report. The Primal Prime she said was from Primax 509.28 Epsilon was actually from Primax 700.0 Beta, Hero Prime's stream was misidentified, and she forgot a classified agent. Waiving a question about the activities of classified agents, Cheetor ask Rook to run stories about the members of Cybertron's Most Wanted list, only to be met with a question about his speed.
- June 5 — Rook has an exchange with Vector Prime over perceived similarities between Rhinox's voice and his, leading Rook to declare that the act that he puts on with TransTech 'bots is a lie and that he really is a guardian of time and space. Rook is chastened for this by the editor, and promptly apologizes.
- June 8 — Taking a prompt from the Cheetor interview, Rook turns to the subject of Cybertron's Most Wanted. Having lost the data on the list's numbers 10 and 9 to a blackout, attention is placed on the joint number 8, Stepper and his Targetmaster partner Nebulon. While apart, neither robot is particularly fearful. The combination of the two, however, is quite scary, as the powerful Stepper is able to mind-meld with other Targetmasters, and Nebulon has the mind of an arch criminal. Next time, number
76 is featured.
Mentioned characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots/Maximals | Decepticons/Predacons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Notes
Continuity notes
- Around Cybertron was originally introduced in the comic strips of the same name. Rook and Andromeda were co-hosts there as well, although it seemed that it was the Generation 1 version of Rook that she was partnered with at the time.
- Rook's report on the "Liege Maximo incident" and what followed after were originally the subject matter of the profiles in the 4th year of the Collectors' Club magazine.
- Dux non Intruitus is a more formal version of the rule introduced in "Bee in the City": "No Primes, no Megatrons, no MacGuffins, and no soliciting."
- TransTech Optimus formed the Convoy back in "Invasion Prologue", in response to the destruction of Primax 207.0 Epsilon by Shattered Glass Ultra Magnus in "Invasion". The incident with the two Convoy members in the Offworlders section refers to the events of "Invasion: Epilogue", where Generation 2 Hero Optimus Prime and Cybertron Jungle Planet Optimus Prime recruited Depth Charge to find the Origin Matrix (the power the Thirteen had hid), leading into the events of Beast Wars Shattered Glass.
Transformers references
- The Hydra Loop is either a reference to the Masterforce character of the same name, or Andrew Hall, the fan who goes by the screenname "Hydra" and who has been involved with some of the then-recent Timelines output.
- TransTech Rattrap appears to be based on his Beast Machines counterpart's design.
- Sym-Phur is likely the same city as Simfur, originally introduced in Transformers: Defiance.
- Rapticon was a redeco of Transmetal 2 Dinobot from the Dinobots subline of the Beast Machines toyline.
- Mecha-soccer originated from the UK letters page. Krok was a well-noted player of the game, according to his Tech Specs. His team, the Granaught Gatoraiders, are named for his Action Master partner, Gatoraider.
- Sonar is a TransTech version of the Transmetal 2 bat from Beast Wars.
- Crystal City originated from Generation 1 cartoon episode, "The Secret of Omega Supreme".
- Mach Kick is a version the Beast Wars Neo horse Maximal.
- Hytherion's defeat at the hands of the Alternity occurred in the Alternity finale "Alternation".
- Cloud World is the Cybertron of the Autobots and Decepticons from Transformers Cloud, and, much like the TransTech themselves, those Autobots assist in universal affairs.
- Mini-Cons play in lobbing tourneys, a sport introduced in the Prime episode "Con Job".
- Some of the Mini-Cons previously cataloged could have been mistaken Micromasters, another subgroup of Cybertronians that are small.
- The Mini-Cons' fused form is likely a reference to the Unicron of Light from the Armada episode "Union".
- Vector Prime remembers a terrorist leader from Primax 984.17 Alpha, who presumably sounds like Starscream, a reference to Chris Latta, voice actor of those characters.
- The Cybertronian day Dixosol appears to be a reference to Buzz Dixon, a Generation 1 cartoon writer.
