Lively Pursuit

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The legendexists.
"Lively Pursuit"
Publisher	Transformers Collectors' Club(online exclusive)
First published	October 4,2016
By	Jesse Wittenrich
Illustrations	AK Cyrway
Colors	Erika L. Galán
Continuity	Of Masters and Mayhem
Page count	32pp

Wreckage gets a second lease on life after Impactor discovers an unexpected survivor.

Contents 1Synopsis 2Featured characters 3Quotes 4Notes 4.1Continuity notes 4.2Transformers references 4.3Real world references 4.4Errors 4.5Other trivia 5References 6External links

Synopsis

In a dilapidated building onCybertron,Bluestreaktells a tale to six figures, one that he's told countless times before. The Autobot gunner goes into excruciating detail about how he encountered PrincessAdronitia,expecting admiration and laughter from the crowd, but is met with silence. Nevertheless, Bluestreak excitedly announces that he's convinced her to stop in, when he is suddenly interrupted by a low rumble. Dismissing the ridiculous thought that it might be her, Bluestreak looks outside and finds that an alien ship he recognizes has returned...

On board theWreckers' ship,Counterpunchtries to convinceImpactorto investigate the signal from Cybertron, but the dour Autobot refuses. Impactor believes that, withAlpha BravoandOffroaddead, they've lost their shot at revenge. Even if this signal turns out to be another, he feels that Alpha Bravo was right:Wreckageis too monstrous to be controlled, the result of his broken components... and Impactor is just as broken as the rest of them.Fractylbrings up thethiotimolinefailsafe, but Impactor knows that all of them know about it now, and so the first thing Wreckage will do once combined is rip it out. Having already punched in the co-ordinates, Counterpunch snaps: he accuses Impactor of having used them, rebuilding them and giving them hope that they could take down the monsters who destroyed their planet, only to take it all away. When Counterpunch invokes all the other Wreckers Impactor has lost, the already furious Autobot heads over to Counterpunch's console and stares down the Decepticon, before turning on the engines. Grabbing a copy of the transmission, Impactor heads out of the room in a silent fury, as the Wreckers head for Cybertron. Elsewhere in the ship,Toxitroncools down after his temper tantrum, having wrecked much of the cargo hold. Impactor comes across Toxitron, equally as angry, and informs him that they're heading for Cybertron. Toxitron is quiet at first, but when Impactor mentions they've found another survivor, Toxitron laughs;Thunder Mayhemleft two survivors. When Toxitron inquires as to whether or not this survivor will join them, Impactor tries to choose his words carefully, informing them that for now, their focus should simply be on surviving. This turns out to be the wrong choice, as Toxitron looms over the Autobot, reminding him that he joined to get revenge on the Decepticons for experimenting on him, and heads off, telling his commander that he'll be ready when they set down on Cybertron...and that he should be ready as well.

One megacycle later, the Wreckers touch down on Cybertron, where they are greeted by Bluestreak, much to both his and Impactor's chagrin. Impactor explains to the others that Bluestreak has worked with the Wreckers before, serving asOptimus Prime's top gunner. Bluestreak, noticing the other Wreckers, noting that he's managed to survive the loss of another team, and that working with Decepticons isn't surprising, remembering the "Dark Star" mission. Counterpunch and Fractyl are confused, having believed that the two didn't know each other, but Bluestreak condescendingly claims that everyone knows the horrible things Impactor did during the war. Bluestreak then explains that when they first returned to pick up Toxitron, he watched them from afar, wishing to stay by himself rather to go with a bunch of murderers. Counterpunch and Impactor both question him as to watch changed, but Bluestreak refuses to say, instead having them follow him. Toxitron, interested by Bluestreak's story, questions him as to what "Dark Star" was. Along the way, Bluestreak explains how he and a team of Autobots were sent do hunt down the traitorous DecepticonStarscreamas he searched for theUnderbase.Impactor and his Wreckers, meanwhile, were sent to hunt down the High Circuitmaster who curated the Underbase, codenamedCybaxx.What they weren't told was thatMegatronhad already killed "Cybaxx" millions of years ago, and so they worked with Starscream to get their already deceased target. Starscream ultimately obtained the cosmic power of the Underbase, and tore through Bluestreak's group until the energy he craved tore him apart. Impactor listens to Bluestreak's tale, knowing that while some parts are accurate, Bluestreak has exaggerated or made up most of it. Counterpunch wonders if they can trust the Autobot, but Impactor, knowing that Prime trusted him, is willing to give him a chance. Arriving at Bluestreak's current residence, a recreation of thePraxusbarthe sonic & surgeinProtihex.Opening the door, Bluestreak begins greeting his "friends" and introducing them to the Wreckers, who see them for what they truly are: various bits of refuse welded into vaguely Cybertronian shapes. Bluestreak, noticing their stares, explains that he knows that they aren't real; he needed to talk to someone, and while he knows where the "real" ones are, he figured it was better this way instead of digging up corpses. Toxitron brings up he's talked to plenty of corpses, having killed hundreds of Transformers. Turning his attention to Bluestreak, Toxitron tries to goad him into talking about how many kills he has, but gains some respect for the Autobot when he refuses to let the Decepticon get into his head. Fractyl questions as to why a bar from Praxus is in Protihex, and Bluestreak cryptically gives him directions to what he wants to show the others. As Fractyl, Counterpunch, and Toxitron head off, Impactor and Bluestreak remain behind. Bluestreak begins to speak, but Impactor cuts him off: he does remember the name of every Wrecker he's ever lost. For the first time in a long time, Impactor opens up: he remembers how the exploits of the Wreckers were recorded byFisitron,until he died. Fisitron gave a data disc to Impactor containing their records, and for a long time, Impactor wore it, a reminder to both those he had lost, and the things he had done. However, when he lost it onPz-Zazz,he believed he had one mission left: to die, letting the universe forgetting the Wreckers. He gathered a group one more time to go up against the ultimate monster, hoping to end himself in the process to ensure a better universe...but now he realizes, even without him, the universe will remember him. Bluestreak has reminded him that his deeds can't be forgotten, and that he can only atone for them. Bluestreak is briefly rattled, realizing that Impactor is real and not just another imaginary friend, before being "reminded" by the refuse that he doesn't really know Impactor. Gathering his composure, Bluestreak has Impactor follow him to join up with the others. Soon, all three are together once more, finding what Bluestreak was talking about: Praxus, restored back to life, from a time before the Golden Age. Bluestreak explains that the robotic aliens known as theTeklaansgave it to him as a gift, a test for what they could do for the rest of Cybertron, restoring both it and everyone else to life. Fractyl, recognizing the name, is worried, but before he can place where he's heard it before, Impactor questions Bluestreak as to what they want in return. Bluestreak explains that they were built by an organic race to revitalize their homeworld, and as such, that is all that they need...aside from the four Wreckers. Suddenly, the four are confronted by the Teklaans, who knock them offline with stun guns. The Teklaans' leader,Cergo,thanks Bluestreak for his help; the Autobot lured the four into place, allowing for the Teklaans to capture them and study them to restore Cybertron's lost population. Bluestreak is regretful, knowing that the Teklaans will kill them in the process; Cergo "corrects" him, telling him that they are not programmed to kill, although the Wreckers will most likely go offline during examination. Bluestreak, convincing himself no one will miss the Wreckers, begins discussing Cybertronian weather systems with Cergo, as the other Teklaans gather the four Wreckers and head for the ship.

On board the Teklaan's ship, the Wreckers wake up to find themselves disarmed in energy dampening cells, unable to transform and access their special abilities. Fractyl spots screens showing data on the four, and figures out that the Teklaans are scanning them for data, but when he get to close to the force field, the barrier zaps him until Impactor pulls him loose. Two Teklaan scientists go over the preliminary scans, and find an anomaly: Toxitron. One of the Teklaans heads to the bridge with the scan data, where Cergo is discussing the revitalization process with Bluestreak. After Cergo takes a look at the scans, Bluestreak is reassured that the Teklaans will be able to revitalize Cybertron...as soon as they get rid of one small problem. Namely, though the Autobot promised the Teklaans four baseline Cybertronians, he's only managed to provide them with three and one highly mutated one, and as such, they'll need a replacement. Before Bluestreak can react, the Teklaans stun him as well, and drag him to cells. Counterpunch tries to goad the Teklaan guard carrying the Autobot into talking enough to replicate his voice and trick the doors into opening, but when he leaves, Bluestreak groggily informs Counterpunch that they also transmit them wirelessly. For a brief time, the five sit in silence, until Bluestreak admits he just wanted to know his friends' real names. He explains that he's changed names and made up stories to prevent himself from facing what he did in the war. But now, after all this time, he can't tell what's real and what isn't anymore. When the Teklaans came and offered to rebuild the planet, Bluestreak couldn't refuse: he could finally ask his friends for their names. However, he's interrupted by Fractyl when he mentionsMaarin,the Teklaans home planet, as things click into place for thePredacongeochemist. He explains to the others that the Teklaans are part of a group of robots built by the organic inhabitants of Maarin, tasked with rebuilding their dead world after they had ruined. The robots succeeded, and Maarin lived once more...until a virus built into the plant life wiped out the Maarin, and the robots took over the planet. Bluestreak half-heartedly suggests they let the Teklaans do it, believing that even a brief chance at life is better than nothing, but Impactor refuses. Turning to Counterpunch, Impactor inquires if he's gotten anywhere, and the spy replies that the Teklaans have their wireless signals on a loop. In 12 cycles, the Wreckers—and Bluestreak—break free.

Shortly after their jailbreak, the Teklaans have begun tracking down the Wreckers, though the first group are quickly taken down by Toxitron. Impactor orders Fractyl, Counterpunch, and Toxitron to find the armory, while he and Bluestreak head for one of the reconstruction labs. Alone with Impactor for a brief moment, Bluestreak admits that he only told the stories about Impactor to distract himself from the things he did in the war. If the Wreckers were around employing brutal tactics, he didn't have to think about all the lives he ended as a gunner. But if he lets the Teklaans bring everyone back, he believes he can atone for what he did. Impactor sadly informs Bluestreak that the world doesn't work like that, and even if it did, he'd still be dooming Cybertron to a Teklaan invasion. At that moment, Cergo confronts the two, plainly informing him that the Teklaans don't "invade" planets or "kill" anyone; they simply feel that viruses deserve as much of a chance as any other lifeform they bring back, and that they make them as perfect as they can, following their prime directive. Impactor pushes the furious Bluestreak into the reconstruction lab as the Teklaans fire, ready to fight, but the Teklaans are distracted when the ships alarms go off. Inside the lab, Impactor offers Bluestreak a place on the Wreckers, noting that if they ever want to rebuild Cybertron, they'll need to take down Thunder Mayhem first. Grabbing a data crystal from his storage components, Impactor explains that it holds body designs for theTechnobotsby former WreckerIronclad(which were ultimately abandoned after the Technobots incorporated Cybaxx intoComputronin an attempt to take down Thunder Mayhem, the Circuitmaster having survived by uploading his mind into the Underbase). Pulling up the form forLightspeed,Bluestreak realizes that Impactor wants him become a part of Wreckage, and wonders if they'll even be able to stop Thunder Mayhem. Figuring there's nothing else he can do, he decides to upgrade himself, and steps into the reformatting machine. Elsewhere on the ship, the other Wreckers are having trouble trying to navigate the halls, being bared down by Teklaans all the way. Finally, Toxitron elects to simply tear his way through the walls, and it isn't long before the three find themselves in the engine room, with the terraforming and rejuvenation equipment coming online...

Back at the reconstruction lab, the Teklaans' machines finally finish rebuilding Bluestreak into his new form, though the Autobot has stuck on to a few of his old upgrades. Turning invisible, Bluestreak heads out into the hall, where Cergo is waiting with his guards. The invisible Autobot takes down the Teklaans and holds Cergo hostage, as Impactor heads out to catch up with him. The Wrecker leader demands for Cergo to shut down the process, but the Teklaan simply tells him that even if he wanted to, his prime directive prevents him from doing so. The ship suddenly hums to life, and Cergo informs them that they're too late; if they try to shut it down by destroying the ship, they'll unleash unstable radiation that will catastrophically interact with normal space, sending a destructive wave throughout the universe. When they question him on how to stop it manually, the haughty Cergo tells them there's no way, unable to understand why fellow robots can't follow the logic, until Impactor bashes his face in, knocking him offline. In the engine room, Fractyl and Counterpunch both take turns trying to hack their way into the Teklaans systems, to no avail. Knowing that destroying the machine probably will end up causing them more trouble than they already have, Fractyl suggest that they could absorb the energy into a crystalline matrix, and Toxitron realizes its up to him to save the day. The geochemist separates the cable and plugs it into the open panels on Toxitron's back; the crystals initially are able to absorb the radiation, but soon it proves to much, as Toxitron howls in agony from the excess energy, causing both Wreckers and Teklaans to freeze in place. Impactor and Bluestreak arrive at the engine room, having followed the trail of destruction the others left behind, and the Wreckers try to remove the cable, but Toxitron stops them, knowing what will happen if he fails. Impactor realizes that Wreckage's extra mass might be able to better absorb the radiation, and with no other choice, the five Wreckers merge once more. With the inclusion of Impactor and Bluestreak into his mind, Wreckage finds himself thinking much more clearly than before, and the extra mass proves able to better absorb the radiation. Warning the Teklaans that they'll doom themselves if they shoot at him, Wreckage begins removing the excess energy buildup by firing off his weapons, and eventually the generator powers down. The Teklaans begin firing once more, but Wreckage ignores their blasts; removing the cable from his chest, he begins going on a diatribe, claiming that though the Teklaans believe themselves to perfect, they are unable to change. Perfection, he claims, is a lie, made by those who wish to rid those who are different. Ripping a hole through the ship and making his way to the cabin, Wreckage declares that though he is imperfect, he is able to learn from his mistakes—something the Teklaans never will. With the slice of his sword, he removes the cockpit, and rips the thiotimoline canister from his chest, demanding for the Teklaans to leave their ship, unless they want to join it in destruction. With self-preservation winning out over duty, the Teklaans exit, as Wreckage blasts the thiotimoline, leaving a crater where the ship once stood. Sometime later, the Wreckers load up the Teklaans into their cargo hold, preparing to take them back to their home planet as a message. Fractyl and Counterpunch try to puzzle through what they were saying as Wreckage, but to Toxitron it makes perfect sense. Inside the cargo hold, Impactor tells Bluestreak that he saw the latter's friends while they were merged, and wonders if Bluestreak was able to ask them their names. Bluestreak tells him that he couldn't bring himself to speak to them, but seeing them again was enough...for now. Bluestreak then remarks that he can't change the past, but he can prevent it from happening again, and is fully prepared to find Thunder Mayhem and take him down—something which Impactor whole-heartedly agrees with.

Later, after dropping off the Teklaans, the Wreckers pick up the signal of theMayhem Attack Squadon anunknown planet.When they arrive, Counterpunch is shocked to find that aside from Thunder Mayhem's other components, there's potentially ten other Cybertronian signals. Unsure of what this means, Impactor orders them to head down anyway...

...because it's time to wreck and rule.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Notes

• Characters mentioned but not seen include: PrincessAdronitia,Sonder,Smelter BaronAnecdoche,Exulancus,Wrecker Hook/Tow-Line,Pipes,Alpha Bravo,Thunder Mayhem,theMayhem Attack Squad,Optimus Prime,Hound,Mirage,Hoist,Brawn,Gears,Starscream,Boltax/Cybaxx,Megatron,Sideswipe,Thundercracker,Sunstorm,Grimlock,Noumenon,Aporia,Consumma Compersia,Master Aware,Fisitron,Fatale,Blurr,Fabulcon,Ironclad,theTechnobots,theProtectobots,Rook,theAerialbots,Afterburner,Strafe,Scrounge,Computron,Lightspeed,Ratchet,Inferno,theMecannibals,Offroad,Superion,Defensor,Victorion,Medix,Cliffjumper,andBludgeon.

Continuity notes

• After admonishing Impactor, Counterpunch admits to Fractyl that he was playing up what he said to convince the Wreckers leader to go forward, and that while he didn't know whether or not he was actually ever an actor, he remembers his training. Counterpunch (or rather, Punch) believed that he used to be an actor, as seen in "The Truth We Make".
• Bluestreak mentions how he avoided the first time the Wreckers returned to Cybertron, when they picked up Toxitron. This was seen in "The Toxic Transformer".
• Bluestreak mentions that he was the gunner on theArk.We saw the Autobots working on the "Ark Project" in "The Toxic Transformer", as part of an attempt to escape Cybertron and find new energy sources, but which was ruined when Toxitron found their location and ruined the engines. It appears that theArkdid eventually get built, but was used as a warship instead.
• Bluestreak mentions how Project: Firestormer began when Optimus went missing; "Pandora's Gift",the fifth chapter of the" Of Masters and Mayhem ", revealed how Thunder Mayhem had abducted Prime and imprisoned him on the Mayhem Attack Squad's ship, forcing him to watch as he slaughtered the Autobots and Decepticons.
• Bluestreak's upgrades from Ratchet, Medix, and Mirage were mentioned on his toy's tech spec card, released a few months before this story.
• The Mayhem Attack Squad arrived on Earth in "History",and began fighting with the Autobots in"Divination".The Wreckers, meanwhile, were shown to have arrived on Earth in" Pandora's Gift ", which takes place right before the story's epilogue. Counterpunch picks up what could be as few as eight or as many as fifteen Cybertronian signals on the planet; aside from the Mayhem Attack Squad, this presumably includesMetalhawk,Vroom,Crossblades,Skyhammer,Optimus Prime,Hi-Q,Megatron,Spacewarp,Ramjet,andStranglehold(the three clearer signals are presumably the first three, who were engaged with Thunder Mayhem at the time the Wreckers arrived).

Transformers references

• Princess Adronitia has a65356-9292-346transpo mode for vehicular form; this was the name for the body-type ofAnimatedBumblebeein his Cybertronian form given inThe AllSpark Almanac II,itself taken from the barcode number of theAnimatedDeluxe-class Bumblebee.
• After saying "scrap"(the swear word first used inTransformers: Primeto replace "slag"), Bluestreak quickly corrects himself, using the politer swear of"scrud",first used in the 2015Robots in Disguisecartoon to replace "scrap." He uses both swears several more times throughout the story.
• Princess Adronitia supposedly won theGirder Lift Championshipswith a score of 553 kilounits. Kilounits are a unit of Cybertronian measurement first mentioned in theAnimatedepisode "Rise of the Constructicons".
• The tow-bot who Bluestreak can't quite remember the name of is Tow-Line from the 2001Robots in Disguisefranchise. The other name he thinks of, Wrecker Hook, was his original Japanese name inCar Robots.
• Smelter Baron Anecdoche producedOre-47,which Princess Adronitia would sneak over to Kenopsia. It's named for theRegenesisores ofShockwavefrom the originalIDW Publishingcomic continuity,first introduced inInfiltrationand appearing on and off for the first two years of the comic continuity, before being heavily expanded upon in theRobots in Disguiseongoing.
• Impactor initially believes that even with the new signal, Wreckage is unusable, saying: "It's over. We're finished." This is paraphrased from one of severalphrasesthat repeatedly crop up in the works ofTransformerswriterSimon Furman.
• When Impactor muses about how he should have installed a combat simulator after Toxitron's tantrum, the Decepticon claims he would have done it anyone, finding "holograms and lightformers" unsatisfying. The latter of the two terms takes its name from theLightformers,a subgroup from the EuropeanThe Transformerstoyline in 1993 consisting of Autobots Ironfist andDeftwing.
• The destruction of Bluestreak's home city has been a key part of his character ever since his original toy.Praxuswas a city first seen in theDreamwave Productions2002 comic mini-series,The War Within,though it wasn't established to be Bluestreak's home until the 2004 novel,Transformers: Hardwired.
• The "Dark Star" mission is inspired by the four-issue "Underbase Saga"of the MarvelThe Transformerscomic, running from issue#47to#50,revolving around the power of the Cybertronian database, theUnderbase.The mission takes its name from the title of issue #50, in which Starscream, much as he does here, absorbed the power of the Underbase and used its cosmic energy to slaughter the forces of the Autobots and Decepticons, until it tore him apart. Other related references include:
  • Bluestreak's squad on the "Dark Star" mission includes himself, Hound, Mirage, Hoist, Brawn, and Gears. The six were all off-lined together by Starscream in issue #50, some of his first victims. He notes that only three of his team (including himself) survived, while the other three were offlined permanently after their circuits melted from the inside out. Bluestreak mentions how "Grimlock'sNucleon"wasn't able to help them; theDinobotleader went toHydrus Fourto obtain the energy source to revive his fellow Dinobots in issue#70of the MarvelThe Transformerscomic.
  • Impactor and his Wreckers were sent to track down the Underbase as part of "Operation Cybaxx," where they were to track down a High Circuitmaster code-named "Cybaxx". Bluestreak notes he can't remember the High Circuitmaster's name, only knowing that it was started with a "B" and that the last syllable was "-tax". Cybaxx was one of the components of theCombiner WarsComputron toy (see below for more details); while he wasn't given any tech specs or character, this story reveals that he is Boltax, the High Circuitmaster who looked after the Underbase, as seen in flashback in issue#48of the MarvelThe Transformerscomic. Bluestreak recounts how "Cybaxx" had supposedly died at Megatron's hands (a mere puppet, as Boltax had uploaded his consciousness to theTemple of Knowledgeto keep the Underbase safe), before Prime sent the Underbase to space, much like the original issue. However, Impactor reveals that he had survived by uploaded his consciousness to the Underbase right as Megatron tore apart his puppet body.
• Bluestreak mentions how Impactor and the Wreckers would kill their opponents even after they had surrendered, like Impactor's IDW comics counterpart did toSquadron Xin the mini-seriesLast Stand of the Wreckers.
• Consumma Compersia, one of Bluestreak's "friends," isConjunx Enduraewith both Princess Adronitia and another unnamed Transformers. "Conjunx endura" is the Cybertronian equivalent of a spouse, first introduced in IDW Publishing'sMore than Meets the Eyeongoing.
• the sonic & surge used to be anengexbar. Engex is a Cybertronian beverage that was first mentioned in theLast Stand of the Wreckersprose story "Bullets",and would go on to appear regularly inMore than Meets the Eye.
• Bluestreak mentions how Praxus had seen three wars; flashbacks in the SunbowThe Transformerscartoon episode "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4"indicated that the modern Great Wars was also known as the" Third Cybertronian War. "
• Mechanometers, a unit of measurement fromThe Transformersepisode "City of Steel",is used several times throughout the story.
• The replica of the sonic & surge is located in what used to beProtihex,another city introduced inThe War Within.
• the sonic & surge's sign is written inCybertronix,the cipher language with bothMaximaland Predacon variants from theBeast Warscartoon.
• At different points in the story, Impactor mentions two separate former members of the Wreckers inspired by two different takes on Ironfist from priorTransformersmedia.^[1]
  • "Fisitron," the recorder for the Wreckers mentioned when he and Bluestreak are alone in the sonic & surge, uses Ironfist's pseudonym as author of the datalogsWreckers: DeclassifiedfromLast Stand of the Wreckers.Thedata dische passed to Impactor upon his death, chronicling the history of the Wreckers, homages Ironfist'sdata slugcontaining theAequitasdata, which he similarly left behind forProwland (secretly)Verity Carlo.
    • Data discs themselves are the form taken by the partners ofSoundwaveandBlasterin theFall of Cybertronportion of theGenerationstoyline in 2012.
    • Impactor first noticed he lost Fisitron's data disc onPz-Zazzin a speakeasy owned by Fatale. Pz-Zazz was a crime-ridden planet seen in issue#62of the MarvelThe Transformerscomic. Miss Fatale, meanwhile, was an inhabitant of the planet who aidedNightbeatand his team of Autobots.
  • "Ironclad", from whom Impactor sourced his combiner designs, meanwhile draws more from theWings Universestories' take on the character, which hewed closer to his original G1 bio. The whole idea behind Ironclad comes from the original plans for Hasbro'sCombiner WarsComputron, before Takara's bespoke new tooling for the Technobots was available. With traditional team member Afterburner presumably planned to use the Legends ClassProtectobot Groovemold, a new Deluxe Class would need to be invented to form the limb, similarly to with Alpha Bravo, Offroad, and Rook (as Impactor observes). This was to be Ironclad (which would have been a new, trademark-friendly name for Ironfist—hence the Wrecker connection), who would have been redecoed from Rook with the mold's pre-planned alternateBrawlhead (which we previously saw withShattered GlassX-Brawnin the "Another Light"storyline). Impactor's account mirrors the development of the toys; he mentions a" more energy-efficient "upgrade for Afterburner who would have formed the arm together with Ironclad—which was rejected in favor of a" special arm "formed from Strafe, Scrounge and the data-rich Cybaxx as per the finalised toy—and notes how he specifically got his current body from Ironclad's design (which he describes as having a" mustard tan and gray "color scheme with a" red faceplate ").
    • Of course, the term "special arm" is a nod to Scrounge's own special arm, as seen in issue#17of the MarvelThe Transformerscomic.
    • Scrounge is classified here as an AutobotMinibotfor the first time.
    • Ironclad misspelt Lightspeed's name as "Lightsteed" on his blueprints, the trademark-friendly name given to Lightspeed'sCombiner Warstoy.
• Counterpunch comments that the revitalized Praxus looks "straight from the Forge," referring to theForge of Solus Prime,the artifact of theThirteen's weaponsmith,Solus Prime,which first appeared in thePrimecartoon.
• Fractyl believes the revitalized Praxus looks like Cybertron from the "pre-Kronoform" era.Kronoformwas one ofTakara'sattempts to sellDiacloneandMicromantoys in America prior toThe Transformers;several of the toys in this line (the "Time Machine" transforming watches) would see release in the early years ofThe Transformers,co-branded withKronoform,and two more would be released in theGeneration 2toyline.
• Bluestreak discusses the weather of Cybertron with Cergo, mentioning: the warm nitrogen gusts ofVos(first seen in the Marvel UKTransformers Annual 1986story "State Games"); the frigid halocarbon frosts ofKaon(first seen in the Dreamwave Productions mini-seriesThe Dark Ages); the tellurium thunderstorms of the sulfur plateaus betweenNickel City(see below) andHyperious(first mentioned in theWings Universeprose story "Flames of Yesterday"); theManganese Mountains(seen in the MarvelThe Transformers: Headmastersmini-series) south of theGlibaxflats (Glibax is also from "Flames of Yesterday" ), which had sparkling selenium snow tops; and theTerror StormsaroundTarn(also first seen in "State Games" ).
• Bluestreak name-drops a number of Cybertronian cities the Teklaans could rebuild while imprisoned with the Wreckers, including: Praxus,Burthov(first seen in the IDW PublishingRevenge of the Fallenprequel comicDefiance),Altihex(fromThe War Within),Crystal City(from SunbowThe Transformersepisode "The Secret of Omega Supreme"),Cyber City(the capital of Cybertron in Dreamwave Productions'Armadacomics),Iacon(the oldest city in theTransformersfranchise, first mentioned all the way back inJim Shooter's original pitch for the franchise), and theTorus States(fromThe War Within).
• Bluestreak mentions a number of diseases Cergo could bring back to Cybertron, including: thetransformation virus(used byMegatronin theBeast Machinescartoon),Corrodia Gravis(a degenerative disease first seen in theTransformers Annual 1990story "Destiny of the Dinobots!"), the Reverse Evolution virus (the alternate name given in fanmade English translations to themind changer virusfrom theMicromasterstoryline), and the Rust Plague (the alternate name given toCosmic RustinThe Covenant of Primus).
• Bluestreak mentions "Project: Firestormer," a combiner project developed when Prime went missing that would have saw Bluestreak, Ratchet, Hoist, Sideswipe, and Inferno. Named for theFirestormers(a unit of Autobots from Marvel'sGeneration 2comic), they too are inspired by unused (at the time) plans by Hasbro forCombiner Warstoys of those characters. Bluestreak presumably would have been hisCombiner Warstoy in his classic silver and red colors; Ratchet (a retool ofCombiner WarsProtectobot First Aid) saw release both as theBotCon 2016customization class toy and in the TakaraTomyUnite Warriorstoyline; Hoist would have been the pretool head ofCombiner WarsTrailbreaker(seen on theAutotroopersin "Another Light" ); Sideswipe would have been a straight redeco ofCombiner WarsBreakdown(as confirmed by Fun Publications); and Inferno was the pretool head ofCombiner WarsProtectobot Hot Spot,which eventually saw release two years after this story in thePower of the Primestoyline.
• Impactor believes that Alpha Bravo and Offroad were "seiber-saints" compared to him and Bluestreak, a term derived from "Seibertron," an alternative Romanization of Cybertron's Japanese name used by fans.
• Bluestreak mentions that Victorion also went up against Thunder Mayhem along with the other Autobot combiners; Victorion was the creation of the 2015Fan Built Combinerpoll, released in theCombiner Warstoyline.
• Bluestreak holds Cergo in a hold "that would have made even the most successfulIntergalactic Cybertronic Wrestling Federationchampion envious. "The Intergalactic Cybertronic Wrestling Federation was mentioned in the tech specs of 1989 DecepticonPretenderStranglehold.
• Bluestreak mentions how he and Mirage would sneak out of the base while invisible together, infuriating Cliffjumper and, in Bluestreak's opinion, making him jealous. Mirage and Cliffjumper have often been pitted against one another inTransformersmedia, starting with the SunbowThe Transformersepisode "Traitor".

Real world references

• Several of the names of Bluestreak's "friends," places he "remembers," and other concepts and ideas are taken from real life words associated with psychology, most of which relate to Bluestreak in some way. A large number of them come fromThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows,a website and YouTube channel dedicated to creating neologisms for emotions that have no descriptors. These include:
  • Kenopsia,a locale on Cybertron. It's named after "kenopsia," an eerie feeling of dread in a place where it is usually busy is empty, relating to Bluestreak's lonely state on Cybertron.
  • TheLachesium bridge.It's named for "lachesism," meaning the thrill of surviving a disaster, like Bluestreak has experienced.
  • Sonder, one of Bluestreak's "friends". They're named for "sonder," referring to the realization that every random person one meets has a life as complex as their own—and in Bluestreak's case, complex lives he may or may not have made up.
  • Princess Adronitia, "bit-spawn" (daughter) of Smelter Baron Anecdoche and "heiress to the seventhKaonfortune, "whom Bluestreak tells a story about. She's named for" adronitis, "the frustration resulting from how long it takes for one to know another person.
  • Smelter Baron Anecdoche, the father of Princess Adronitia. He's named for "anecdoche," a situation in which everyone is talking, but no one is listening; emblematic of both aristocratic society and Bluestreak's one-sided conversations.
  • Exulancus, another of Bluestreak's "friends" who is a glitz reporter. Their name comes from "exulansis," meaning when someone gives up talking about something because no one else can relate.
  • In one of the few references toThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrowsnot related to Bluestreak, Toxitron is in a state of "kuebiko" after his tantrum. Kuebiko describes the feeling of exhaustion after senseless violence, and the accompanying thoughts that force one to change their image of the world.
  • Noumenon and Aporia, two of Bluestreak's "friends" who are in a relationship with one another. Noumenon takes their name from the concept ofnoumenal worldfrom the writings of 18th century German philosopherImmanuel Kant,the world which we construct from what we believe, versus the concept of the phenomenal world, built from mans' senses. Aporia, meanwhile, takes their name from the concept ofaporiain philosophy, an insoluble contradiction or question that arises from multiple plausible yet contradictory premises—essentially, a Paradox. Both of their names comment on the validity of Bluestreak's stories.
  • Consumma Compersia, another of Bluestreak's "friends." Her name is derived from the wordsconsummate(spending one's first night together as a married couple, often considered the final validation of the pairing) andcompersion(meaning the joy one experiences when their partner has another romantic relation with someone else). Her name is meant to call to mind a melding of the minds resulting in joy and ectasy, rather than the monstrous, one-path mind of Wreckage in the previous story.
  • Master Aware, another "friend" of Bluestreak. He takes his name from the Japanese phrase "mono no aware,"which describes the beauty found in knowing that one way everything will die or disappear, contrasting with Bluestreak's inability to let go.
  • Fabulcon, the last of the "friends" Bluestreak mentions. He's the odd one out, as his name is a portmanteau of "fabulous" and "Decepticon."
• Fractyl notes that Praxus is 523 mechanometers south-southwest of the sonic & surge. Wittenrich derived it from the number on aLancia Stratosracing car (number #235), the same model of vehicle asWheeljack's alternate mode.
• the sonic & surge's sign notes that it is "An Engex Bar and Taproom byQUIXEL."QUIXEL is the name of a corporation, which was inspired by the technology companyInteland theirPentiumbrand of microprocessors, making this seemingly local bar really a corporate place. The sign also reads "It's a Praxus thing," derived from the marketing phrase "It's a [x] thing."
• Bluestreak instructs Counterpunch, Fractyl, and Toxitron towards the revitalized Praxus, telling them to go 5.78 mechanometers into an alley, turn left, then continue 8.2 mechanometers and take a right, continuing until they reach an opening. The first direction refers toNaomi Uemura,who became the first person to reach the North Pole solo in May 1978, while the second direction refers to 1982 opening ofEpcottheme park inWalt Disney World.Wittenrich says he put in the references after he got the phrase "it's a dangerous trip to go alone, but it's a small world when we come together" stuck in his head ( "It's a Small World"is a ride found in several of Disney's theme parts, though none of them are in Epcot).
• Cergo and Teklaans are alternate versions of theMekkans,an alien race from the world of Marvel. In particular, Cergo is inspired byTorgo, the original Mekkan,who first appeared inFantastic Four#91 as a slave in the gladiator pits on theSkrullcolony world of Kral. He wasn't given much of an origin beyond the fact that he hailed from the planet ofMaarin(mentioned here), and fought with theThingfrom that issue to issue #93. His origin would later be given inFantastic Four#173, whenMister Fantasticand the Thing journeyed to his planet to find a suitable world forGalactusto consume in place of theHigh Evolutionary'sCounter-Earth.In the following issue, Torgo explained how he and the other Mekkans were built by the human-like inhabitants of Maarin to terraform and mechanize the planet, including artificial plants. When a drifting space virus was oxidized by these artificial plants, all organic life on Maarin died, and the Mekkans took over, renaming the planet Mekka. Here, their origin is slightly different; the Maarin destroyed their world and had built the Mekkans (not named specifically here) to revitalize it, and they did. The virus was part of the remade planet, however, as the Mekkans' prime directive compelled them to revitalize all life. Cergo and his Teklaans, then, are a break off fraction, who continue their prime directive on other planets; while they're described as being physically identical to the Mekkans, they're slightly larger than Toxitron, perhaps indicating some sort of upgrade (Torgo was roughly the same size as the Thing, who is usually only slightly larger than the average human). Jesse Wittenrich would later reveal that he was meant to be a successor to Torgo, as there was no Fantastic Four to free him from the Kral gladiator pits.^[2]Other various Mekkan-related references include:
  • The Teklaans' weapons are noted to emit "crackling energy," referencing theKirby Krackle,a technique used by artist (and Torgo's co-creator)Jack Kirbyto indicate energy, explosions, etc.
  • Cergo references how the Teklaans are programmed not to kill, the same as the Mekkans, although they take a more loose approach as to what counts as "killing."
  • Several times throughout the story, the Teklaans communicate to each other through wireless signals, as the Mekkans were shown to be able to inFantastic Four#174.
• Cergo off-handedly mentions how he once mistook aHermaglopillarfor asporebloomerabout to pupate—Hermaglopillar essentially being a fancy name for theGlo Wormtoys made by Hasbro. They apparently have many fists, and Cergo had to buff out dents for a "firlonk" (a unit of time in the vein of "furlough" and "fortnite" ).
• Bluestreak makes reference to "the Nickel City", a new Cybertronian locale, named for one of the nicknames ofBuffalo, New York.
• Cergo mentions the planetsDesna(where packs ofpseudo-ligershunted a genus ofiron-ungulatesinto extinction) andEska(wheresingle-toed helium half-lopesconsumed the planet'srazor-grassinto extinction), named after a pair of twins from the animated seriesThe Legend of Korra.
• As with last chapter, Fractyl paraphrasesDoctor McCoyfromStar Trekwhile trying to figure out how to power down the ship's engines, stating he's "a geochemist, not a terraformer." Counterpunch also paraphraes the line when Fractyl tries to get into the Teklaans' computers ( "But you're a geochemist, not a computer expert" ).
• Cergo claims that radiation would engulf 500 forlaps of the planet's surface if the Wreckers destroyed the Teklaans' rejuvenation tech while in the process of building up. Forlap was the name of a renowned jumping horse owned by Belgian equestrianGrégory Wathelet.
• Wreckage shrugs off the Teklaans' stun rifles, considering them little more thanThulerian tzz-z-tzz-z flies."Thulerian" is derived from "Theria"(a subclass of mammals including placental mammals and marsupials) and" thulian "(an adjective describing minerals containing thulium)." Tzz-z-tzz-z, "meanwhile, is derived from theTsetse fly.
• During Wreckage's diatribe, he exclaims "It may make me a beast in your eyes, but in the beast is where real beauty rests!", in obvious reference to the fairy taleBeauty and the Beast.

Errors

• On page 3, "The Wrecker commander strode over to blue and black robot who had just unleashed the scathing rant," is missing a "the" between "to" and "blue".
• On page 11, the word "Fractyl's" is at one point misspelled as "Fracty’ls".
• On page 14, "or" should be "our" in the line "We’ll just have to adjust or plans slightly.”
• On page 20, "Mecannibal" is misspelled as "Mechannibal."
• On page 28, "if" should be "it" in the line "in his deep bellow if came across as nothing other than threatening."

Other trivia

• "Foundation and Wreckage Part 2" was accidentally left off of the title page.
• The sonic & surge is infested withrust mites.Author Jesse Wittenrich included them as a personal reference to the red/orange mites that infested the slide of his grandfather's pool.

References

External links

• "Lively Pursuit"at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club