Pod Part 2
From Transformers Wiki
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| "Pod Part 2" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | September 22,2021 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | September 2021 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Erik Burnham | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Winston Chan | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Sidvenblu | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Jake M. Wood | ||||||||||||
| Editor | David Mariotte,Jazmine JoynerandRiley Farmer | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Transformers: Beast Wars | ||||||||||||
Blackarachnia's loose in theAxalon—will the Maximals be able to find her before she brings down their base?
Contents |
Synopsis
Aboard theAxalon,Optimus Primalcan't reachCheetoron his commlink system, and althoughRhinoxwrites it off as a practical joke,Nyxhas her doubts. Indeed, when Primal consults the ship's systems to search for their missing comrade, they find that Cheetor's trapped in a back corridor of the ship; when they investigate, they find that he's been captured and webbed up in the middle of the corridor, and the moment they free him Cheetor shouts that a Predacon broke into the base and attacked him! Although Rhinox finds this unlikely, Primal reminds him that therearestillstasis podsin orbit, carrying protoforms; is it possible that one could've landed without their knowing? This comment jogsRattrap's memory;Tarantulasdidmeddle with some of the ship's computer systems, and might've even secretly landed a pod. But when Primal tries to order the ship to search for any other Maximal energy signatures, he discovers that the computer's locked him out—their uninvited guest has already broken into the system.
The Maximals split up to find the intruder, unaware thatBlackarachnia's already two steps ahead: as she watches them from the ship's security cameras, she sets to work hacking into the ship's datafiles, downloading files into her own systems as she goes; although she's fast, she knows that she won't be able to extract all of the ship's files before she's found and devises an alternate plan of sabotage: by connecting to the orbiting stasis pods, she can upload the Predacon code into their systems and turneveryprotoform into a loyal Predacon soldier. As the program works its way through the pods, however, Rhinox finally finds her, and this discovery forces her to cut and run, despite having only infected 51% of the stasis pods; as she outmaneuvers Rhinox's clumsy grab, she hits the button that triggers the landing protocols foreverystasis pod. Rhinox contacts Optimus to tell his leader what's happened: not only has their Predacon friend escaped, she's initiated the landing protocols for the pods, and with no designated flight path or landing zone some of them will not survive the descent. With the ship still locked down and sealed tight, Primal contacts all of the other Maximals and orders them to capture their mystery saboteur.
OnDinobot's suggestion, he Nyx, Rattrap, and Cheetor all converge on the ship's armory... until Dinobot suddenly tackles Cheetor and pins him to the wall! Although the suspicious Rattrap immediately suspects treachery, the ex-Predacon points out that they were blundering straight into a trap—if Cheetor had run into the web tripline just ahead, a set oftalvox grenadeswebbed to a tripwire would've blown them all to bits. At that moment, however, another explosion rocks the ship, and Rattrap realizes that the Predacon has made her own exit from the ship by co-opting some weapons from the armory. Upon spying the hole left by her exit, Cheetor pursues Blackarachnia into the jungle; although he manages to pounce on her and even disables her primary blaster, the spider-bot fools Cheetor into thinking that she's laid asecondbooby-trap for his Maximal allies, and the moment he races back to the ship to check on his friends, Blackarachnia easily escapes.
Some time later, the Maximals have regrouped on the ship's bridge to discuss their next move. Rhinox's report is not encouraging: their Predacon visitor has uploaded a version of her corruptiveshell programinto just over half of the orbiting stasis pods, a code that will overwrite the Maximal values of the unborn Transformers with an amped-up, out-of-control version of the most aggressive Predacon traits. Ignoring Rattrap's cutting remark, Optimus admits thathe'sresponsible for this—after Nyx's recent misadventure, the Maximal leader got too cautious. That ends now, however: after tonight, they're focussing on a new plan of attack... and hitting the Predacons where it hurts.
At theDarksyde,Blackarachnia easily enters the base, creeps past the sleepingWaspinator,and reports toTarantulasas the mad scientist tries to contact the unresponsive stasis pods. Initially, Tarantulas doesn't recognize her and demands to know how she got in; when she explains that she used the access codesheprovided, however, the Predacon puts two and two together and realizes that his experiments in theAxalonhave paid off... but his upload was only partly successful, for Blackarachnia isnotthe obedient slave he programmed. Indeed, when he commands her to kneel at his feet she promptly kicks him across the room. Despite this minor setback, Tarantulas is pleased that another Predacon has joined the fray, but Blackarachnia just smiles—who says that she's theonlynew Predacon on the way?
Featured characters
(Characters initalic textappear only in flashback.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons |
|---|---|
|
Quotes
"Intruder!Do you know what you've done?! "
"Of course! I'm keepingyoubusy! "
- –RhinoxandBlackarachnia
"Traitor!"
"Get off me! You can't betray someone when you've never had their trust, you idiot!"
- —Cheetorvs.Blackarachnia
"I let myself get cautious after Nyx. I let us hide behind a shield, working on repairs and studying the planet, just biding our time until we could find a way to deal with the Predacons more decisively. And it's gotten usnowhere.So we're changing tactics. We're going to focus on a new plan of attack, and, when it's as perfect as we can make it... we're going to hit the Predacons where they live. "
"I approve, but... well, Maximals aren't exactly known for launching preemptive strikes."
"Things change."
- —Optimus PrimalandDinobot
Notes
Continuity notes
- Rattrap recalls his encounter with Tarantulas during the Maximal/Predacon battle inissue #6.
- In an inspired bit of obfuscation, the readout on theAxalon's screen shows a holographic view of the planet... only for a red-alert box and Rhinox's head to block most of the readout and leave the shapes of its continents and islands ambiguous.
- During their final meeting regarding the corrupted stasis pods, Rattrap makes a snarky comment that Rhinox could "give the Preds a chance" --the Maximal engineer had previously expressed his desire to find a nonviolent solution to the conflict inissue #1.
- Optimus alludes toNyx's recent misadventure that ended with her falling into Predacon captivity, a storyline which ran from issues#2to#4.
Transformers references
- Rattrap's constant suspicion of Dinobot's motives evoke their turbulent relationship during the early episodes of the originalBeast Warstelevision show, where he'd frequently accuse the ex-Predacon of sympathizing with his former allies.
- In addition to his famousquasar riflefrom his original toy and theBeast Warscartoon, Cheetor also uses a whip-weapon based on his recentKingdomtoy.
- After Cheetor takes out her blaster, Blackarachnia resorts to using the repeating blasters located in her beast mode legs, a common fallback weapon for Blackarachnia in the original cartoon.
- Thecomplicateddynamic between Tarantulas and Blackarachnia goes all the way back to their earliest episodes together in the originalBeast Warsshow. As Tarantulas was the Predacon responsible for creating her, Megatron occasionally speculated that the scientist had... ulterior motives for creating a female spider-bot, but Blackarachnia eventually got out from under Tarantulas's thumb during the cartoon's second season and eventually went her own way by joining the Maximals. A version of this dynamic survives into the comic, as evidenced by Tarantulas ordering his creation to kneel before him—just like her cartoon counterpart, however, Blackarachnia has no time to be anyone's slave...
Other trivia
- Waspinator sleeps with a teddy bear!
- This comic puts an interesting spin on the protoforms. In the original cartoon, the Maximals and Predacons have to wait for each stasis pod to descend before racing each other to add another member to their ranks. The Predacons had to do additional reprogramming to turn the protoform into another Predacon. All of the stasis pods didn't land until the activation of thePlanet Buster.Here, the stasis pods are all landing much earlier and it's already predetermined whether each pod contains either a Maximal or a Predacon.
Covers (3)
- Cover A:Optimus vs. Megatron, byAndrew Griffith
- Cover B:Blackarachnia weaves a tangled web, byMartin Gee
- Cover RI:Tarantulas and Blackarachnia, byRyan Miller
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- The Last Ronindesign archive
Reprints
- The Transformers: Beast WarsVolume 2(June 29,2022)ISBN 1684059038/ISBN 978-1684059034
- CollectsBeast Warsissues #7–12.
- Bonus material includes alternate covers, and an one-page sketch by Burcham.
Beast Wars,Vol 2; cover art byJohn Yurcaba
