Crossing Over, Part 2

Landquake finds himself at the mercy of Decepticons from another timeline.

Synopsis

Megatron has returned to base with Landquake in tow. Tied up and stripped of his weapons, he tells Megatron of his arrival here from an alternative dimension. Starscream believes he is lying, but Megatron orders him to be silent, lest he has his speech centers removed. Scrapper confirms that what he is saying is possible, with Unicron's presence having been recorded to make dimensional anomalies, and scans of Landquake show that his systems are like nothing ever seen before by the Constructicon. Soundwave, meanwhile, has confirmed via telepathic scans that Landquake at least believes he is telling the truth, and believes his abilities to shape energon could be of use. Megatron orders for the newcomer to be unbound, and knocks Starscream when the Seeker protests. Megatron orders Skywarp and Scavenger to keep watch on Landquake at all times. Scrapper, meanwhile, has discovered something else; an energy source detected earlier in South America emits an unusual radiation signature identical to the one in Landquake's systems, and appeared at roughly the same moment at Landquake's arrival. Scrapper requests permission to dissect the newcomer or possibly consult with Shockwave, but the mention of the latter's name angers Megatron, who threatens to place him next to the currently indisposed former Decepticon leader. Megatron orders Starscream to gather up his Seekers. Going to the newcomer, Megatron tells him that he will show off his abilities, and will help them capture the Autobot he arrived with, to which Landquake, his fear of Megatron overriding his weariness, accepts. Megatron declares that this will be the key to final victory...

Soon, the Seekers and Astrotrain have taken to the skies, the rest of the Decepticons on board the Triple-Changer. Landquake thinks to himself about Skyfall; for all his life, he's been searching for something, and Skyfall was the key to finding out just exactly what that was. Bound to arrive in fifteenth clicks, the RUNT's air back up begin to attack the approaching the Decepticon, and Megatron order them to engage. Soon, the skies are lit with explosions, as the RUNTs are shot down or collided into by Ramjet...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

• Characters mentioned but not seen include: Skyfall, Unicron, Megatron, Shockwave, and General Barnett.

Continuity notes

• Although it's not clear at this point, later stories would reveal that the Decepticon's headquarters is the Ark, last seen in Marvel's The Transformers issue #79 crashing on Earth with several Decepticons on board
• Among the Decepticons seen in this chapter: Starscream was last seen on board the Ark in The Transformers issue #78, crashing with everyone else on board; Skywarp and Astrotrain were knocked offline by Starscream with the power of the Underbase in issue #50, and Ramjet's profile indicates he shared their fate. Meanwhile, the Constructicons disappeared some few issues before that, presumably being implied here as ones who were destroyed in Starscream's rampage; Soundwave was last seen with Bludgeon's Decepticons in issue #77, and has returned to Megatron in the intervening years. Shockwave was also one of those on board the Ark when it crashed into Earth for a second time; Megatron seemingly has him incapacitated and humiliated, but alive.
• The RUNTs are commanded by General Barnett; Barnett was the leader of RAAT who hounded the Transformers (mostly the Autobots, as anti-Transformers human agencies are wont to do in fiction) in the first half of the Marvel comic.

Transformers references

• Every Decepticon has been changed to a Classics body; in particular, the Constructicons are based on the Wal-Mart exclusive redeco of Energon Constructicon Maximus, while Soundwave is a toy accurate depiction of his Commemorative Series body, which was sold under the Classics line.