As Jetfire has always taught us, the Autobots can win... with science!
Synopsis
Around a campfire-like light, Slamdance tells his Autobot friends about how during Starscream's raid on the new Council of Ancients, Slamdance fell into a fissure, into ancient Cybertron. The newly discovered caves are suitable for housing the Autobots who managed to avoid capture by Megatron and his Aerospace Extermination Squadron. Perceptor interrupts the story to bring the Turbomasters to the Think Tank. There, Perceptor explains how if Megatron survived the Space Bridge Incident, then logically, Optimus Prime must have survived as well... hopefully.
Nightbeat's team of Autobots have managed to defeat two of the Aerospace Exterminator drones that were chasing Getaway, causing the third one to mysteriously go dormant. When Nightbeat approaches to attach an inhibitor claw (so the drone can be retrieved for study), the drone reawakens and materializes additional armaments to fight off all five Autobots at once. A flare blinds Siren, but together with Joyride, the two ram the drone backwards, impaling it onto a spike. However, even this doesn't halt the drone, who tosses an explosive at the two, and then moves to terminate Slapdash. But moments before Slapdash can be executed, Siren ends the drone's activity by attaching the inhibitor claw to the drone's posterior.
Rumble and Frenzy try to explain how neither of them were responsible for, under their watch, one of Shockwave's machines exploding. Angry at the delay in his investigation of the Aerospace drone technology, Shockwave leaves, but as soon as he's gone, another machine explodes on its own. The only clue why is a smiling face torn into the wall.
With Perceptor overseeing the kidnapping of the Exterminator Drone, the Turbomasters engage in a game of hide and seek beneath in the tunnels around the Autobots base. Flash cleverly doubles-back to hide in the Think Tank, but upon his return, he's caught in an anomaly from the machine being used to find Optimus. Flash lands on a strange alien landscape.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons |
|---|---|
|
Errors
- None yet identified.
Quotes
- None yet identified.
Items of note
- Cameos: Eject, Rewind, Dogfight
- Due to Dreamwave's closure, this was the last published issue of the miniseries. By default, Micromasters #1: "Destined for Nothing" would be the next chronological story. For some information about the unreleased Age of Wrath issues, see Dreamwave (unreleased issues).
- In one panel, the soon-to-be-executed Slapdash is colored like Siren, making the sequence more confusing than it needs to be.
- The images on Perceptor's screens are from "Confrontation".
- Frenzy lists the following dead Autobots which never received fiction: Galactica, Geronimo, Gizmo, and Glasnost. Grimlock's death was greatly exaggerated—apparently he survives since he's alive later on Earth. Also, an Autobot named Gizmo would later make an appearance in IDW Publishing's Spotlight: Hot Rod.
- The "Declarations of War" page has reader mail answered by Matt Hansen.
- The "Wavelengths" page has a letter from the desk of Ernst Dabel.
- Science rules!
Covers (1)
- A clone trooper attacks Nightbeat and Getaway, pencils by Joe Ng.
Advertisements
- Transformers/G.I. Joe: Divided Front #3: "In the Line of Firefly", which was never released
- Energon #30: "No Exit": "Throne Wars!"
- Dreamwave pocket books (back cover)
- Dreamwave/Dynamic Forces exclusive covers
- A special five-page advertisement for Warlands: Malagen's Campaign
- Generation 1 #12: "Cybertron's greatest hero returns...", which was never released (back cover)