Tracks inspires the Autobots with a tale about Jazz facing the Predacons.
Contents[][hide] |
Synopsis[]
On Cybertron, Cliffjumper vents his frustration on a wall in one of the Autobots' hideout bunkers, upset over how the they were put there by the Decepticons. Bumblebee tries to calm him down, but they end up arguing. It is ended quickly by Tracks, who states that the Autobots still have hope. When questioned by the two about what he means, Tracks tells them a story...
Long ago, before Thunderwing's rampage, Tracks was just another soldier who had been ambushed by Decepticons. Battered, almost blinded, and going into a temporary stasis lock, he is the lone survivor of his unit. Suddenly, he hears someone. It's Jazz, who has come to rescue him. Tracks, not seeing him clearly, asks Jazz if he's an Autobot, to which Jazz replies in the affirmative. Jazz calls for a transport shuttle, but as soon as it arrives, it gets blown up. Tracks's transition cog is badly damaged, so Jazz decides to carry him to safety. Above, the Predacons observe. Rampage asks Razorclaw to kill them from there, but Razorclaw says that "a worthy prey such as he, deserves a more hands-on approach".
Jazz and Tracks manage to hide, but Jazz believes that whoever shot down the shuttle will come to kill them, so he hatches a plan to strike back. Tracks thinks that a simple plasma rifle won't take out a whole Decepticon squad; Jazz agrees, but tries a little improvisation with his auxiliary energon reservoir. Tracks thinks he's crazy, but Jazz tells him that if they work together, they'll make it out alive and to have faith. Suddenly, the Predacons call them out. Tracks realizes who killed his team. Jazz tells him to fight them off, but Tracks believes that Jazz IS crazy. Jazz explains that he'd normally run for it if it was just five other Decepticons, but it's just the Predacons, and tells Tracks to trust him.
Outside, Headstrong and Tantrum get impatient and want to go after them, but Razorclaw tells them to restrain themselves. Tracks fires off a shot, and taunts the Predacons, calling them "Terrorcon rejects". Razorclaw tells Tracks that he was hoping to be lenient on Tracks and save the fun for his friend, but decides to kill Tracks instead. But before the Predacons can do anything, Jazz sneaks up on Tantrum and slices his neck, then grabs his arm, takes his sword, and slashes at him. Jazz transforms into vehicle mode and picks up Tracks by running into him. Headstrong and Rampage transform and go after them, but they fall into Jazz's explosive trap and are taken out immediately. Jazz and Tracks stop to hide, but Razorclaw and Divebomb find them. Razorclaw admits that he is impressed with Jazz for taking out three Predacons, but now he wants to end this.
Tracks whines, saying that they're surrounded and deserve to die, but Jazz shuts him up. Jazz's team on the shuttle that the Predacons blew up were his friends, and that they gave their sparks to save Tracks. Jazz then continues that when an Autobot puts on a badge, they've made a promise to both themselves, the citizens of Cybertron, and every Autobot past, present, and future: "We don't give up. We don't lose hope"
In the present, Track's audience of stranded Autobots is steadily growing in size.
Tracks asks what they should do now, to which Jazz replies "we don't do anything". Tracks is to pick a direction and start walking, while Jazz buys some time for him. Tracks tries to protest, but Jazz says that he always wanted to go out in style.
Jazz meets with the two Predacons, while Tracks manages to walk unnoticed to the three. Tracks can "see" them, then decides to risk his spark by transforming into his flying Cybertronian car mode and flies at Divebomb, knocking them both into stasis. With Jazz and Razorclaw by themselves, they battle one-on-one against each other. Both gain an advantage each time, but when Razorclaw slashes at Jazz, reclaims his sword, and is about to strike down Jazz, he is struck by a laser blast from another transport shuttle. Razorclaw takes the time to make a vanishing act, as the shuttle lands and Jazz is greeted by Bluestreak and Ironhide, who "followed the explosions".
Jazz and Tracks were rescued. On the way back to Iacon, Jazz briefs Ironhide on their run-in with the Predacons, but doesn't say anything to Tracks, to which Tracks doesn't mind, but as soon as Jazz appeared in Tracks's life, he was gone. While resting in the repair chamber, Tracks asks Ironhide who the Autobot who saved him was, to which Ironhide relies that he wanted to give him a message: that Tracks is an Autobot, and to "never forget what that means."
Tracks ends by stating that the Autobots have seen terrible times, awful things, and have had the chance to walk away from it, but they didn't and shouldn't now because they're the Autobots. As long as they stay true to that, they'll never be truly defeated. Reinvigorated, the Autobots listening to Tracks agree. Prowl walks away to talk to Jazz, who looks out gloomily at the ruins of Cybertron. Prowl tells Jazz about Tracks's story, to which Jazz asks him if it's the one about "that mysterious Super Autobot" who took on the Predacons alone, which results in a puzzled look from Prowl.
Jazz is happy that Tracks told his story, because what they need is a little hope. When the two go back inside, Jazz sends the Autobots back on patrol. Jazz then goes over to Tracks and reminds him of the situation, and he even admits to Tracks that he feels a little down himself, but then thanks Tracks with a smile, which Tracks returns.
Featured characters[]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | ||
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes[]
"Besides...we still have hope."
"Hahaha. Did you seriously just say that, Tracks?"
"And whadda you know about it, Commander Wax-N-Buff? When have you ever gotten your hands dirty?"
- —Bumblebee and Cliffjumper give Tracks grief about his positive attitude.
"This is really bad, isn't it?"
"Yup."
"Do you have a plan?"
"Yup."
"Care to share it?"
"Yup. You're gonna pick a fight with them."
"WHAT?!"
- —Tracks and Jazz discuss strategy for surviving an attack by the Predacons
"Ironhide! How'd you bots find us?"
"Heh, same way we usually do...just followed the explosions."
- —Jazz and Ironhide
Notes[]
Continuity notes[]
- This issue was released between All Hail Megatron #9 and #10, but everything in it takes place before that point. The framing scenes, set in the "present," feature the Autobots hiding out on Cybertron (before they're joined by Kup's crew in issue #4). According to co-writer Shaun Knowler, the scenes were written to take place between issue #1 and issue #3. The bulk of the story, meanwhile, is a flashback to pre-Thunderwing Cybertron, and was intended to take place prior to anything seen in Spotlight: Shockwave.
- Supporting the idea that the story takes place around the time of issue #2, Jazz is seen standing in the exact same position—both hands on the balcony and head down—as he was in the second-to-last panel of issue #1, whereas by #4 his pose had changed to looking upwards.
- It seems highly unlikely that Tracks still doesn't know that Jazz was the one who saved him, since Jazz's appearance hasn't changed very much, and presumably he still sounds the same. Neither of them is seen to acknowledge the truth, but we only see them interacting with or among other Autobots. Since the point of the initial anonymity was to emphasize that any Autobot was capable of such heroism, perhaps the two continue to keep mum to preserve their story's inspirational value.
- Sadly, the good vibes Tracks generates don't last into any part of All Hail Megatron.
Transformers references[]
- Tracks sarcastically suggests that Jazz could be "hiding a tow cable", a likely homage to Jazz's grapple line device in the original cartoon.
Other trivia[]
- This comic was written by Josh van Reyk and Shaun Knowler, who are in charge of Transformers: Mosaic, an IDW-blessed series of single-page Transformers fan-comics. It's little surprise, then, that this is a story about storytelling, with the despondent Autobots being uplifted by Tracks's tale.
- E.J. Su's drawing style is very different in this issue from his usual work. He may have been emulating Guido Guidi's All Hailstyle.
- On Cover B, Jazz's license plate reads "MEISTER", which is his Japanese name.
- The issue includes sketches of Jazz in both modes by E.J. Su.
Errors[]
- When the Predacons are preparing to attack Jazz and Tracks, Tantrum's use of the word "let's" is missing its apostrophe.
- As he walks away after hearing Tracks's story, Sideswipe is coloured in Sunstreaker's colours.
Covers (3)[]
- Cover A: Jazz vs Razorclaw; art by E. J. Su and colors by Priscilla Tramontano.
- Cover B: Smiling Jazz holding gun; art and colors by Andrew Griffith.
- Cover RI: cropped virgin uncolored version of cover A.