Garrus-9

Beautiful scenery.

A comprehensive detention and rehabilitation facility located on Elba, Garrus-9 (also known as Garrus 9 or G-9) is decidedly more humane than comparable Decepticon prisons. The penitentiary houses prisoners (Autobot and Decepticon) incarcerated under the Tyrest Accord by Duly Appointed Enforcers such as Ultra Magnus. Those who admit their guilt, or who are considered to be Threat Level Nine, have their sparks extracted, either to ensure they can be controlled or to make the passage of time easier on them. Such sparks are held in a special section known as "The Rig". Prisoners who are kept whole are kept in cells, with maximum security being located in the lower levels.

In the event of an emergency, personnel can hole themselves into a maximum security area known as "The Last Resort." This section also holds some of the most dangerous offenders. It follows a naming scheme started by Garrus-1.

Known staff

Friendly staff.

• Fortress Maximus—Warden
• Fastlane
• Cloudraker
• Kick-Off
• Rollout
• Sprocket
• Skyfall
• Rad
• Jackpot
• Turbofire
• Windbreaker
• Over-Run
• Vroom

Known inmates

Spacious accommodations.

• Arcee—Classified as Threat Level 9—"Escaped"
• Bludgeon—Escaped (or possibly freed during the galaxy-wide Decepticon assault)
• Longtooth—Seemingly reformed
• Repugnus—Possibly released
• Skyjack
• Ransack—Escaped (or possibly freed during the galaxy-wide Decepticon assault)
• Impactor—Freed by Snare
• Shockwave—Freed by Overlord
• Scorponok—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Grimlock—Abducted via the Warren
• Flywheels—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Skullgrin—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Finback—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Bomb-Burst—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Skip—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Kakuryu—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Rairyu—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Doryu—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Goryu—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Flame—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Howlback—Freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• 18 others freed by Overlord and assigned to Shockwave
• Several other unidentified individuals.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

Garrus-9 housed Aequitas, a massive Autobot supercomputer designed as a culpability drive—a machine capable of calculating guilt from the prisoners placed before it. Something known only to the highest echelons of the Autobot command was that not only was Aequitas used to determine the guilt of Decepticon criminals, but Autobot ones as well. Those Autobots who bore witness to the trials at G-9 were horrified by accounts of civilian executions, torture, morphcore harvests, rust injections, desecration of corpses, and spark transplants, all conducted by fellow Autobots. Chief Justice Tyrest agreed with luminaries such as Prowl, Xaaron and Nightbeat that for the sake of Autobot morale and the overall war effort, the trials would be kept secret until the final verdict.

Years ago, the Wreckers' commander Impactor was sent to Garrus-9 for the crime of executing the notorious Squadron X after he was ordered to let the Decepticons go due to political concerns. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5 Impactor's fate was sealed when his own first officer Springer testified to Aequitas that he saw him commit these crimes, though he thought his commander would be sent to a rehabilitation institution or an "open" prison instead of the notorious G-9. Because of his refusal to admit that what he did was wrong, Impactor was denied the mercy of spark extraction. Last Stand of the Wreckers #4 As Impactor was dragged away, Springer told him something that had would gnaw inside of him for his time in prison: Squadron X deserved to die, but Impactor didn't have the right to kill them. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5

Can it wait for a bit? I'm in the middle of some calibrations.

Seventeen years later, Jetfire was assigned to the facility by Optimus Prime after the apprehension of the Monstructor gestalt. The task was given high priority, as combiner technology falling into Decepticon hands would be a disastrous upset of the Cybertronian galactic cold war. Spotlight: Optimus Prime Though Fortress Maximus expressed unease that the combiner team was not being kept in spark stasis like the other inmates, Jetfire explained that the alterations Jhiaxus had performed on them had rendered such options moot for now.

Tipped off by Dealer, Banzai-Tron sent the Combaticons to blitz the facility and retrieve the coveted technology. This forced the warden's hand, and so Fortress Maximus freed one of his most dangerous inmates, the Autobot female Arcee. She made impressive inroads on the otherwise fearsome strike team, but ultimately was unable to prevent their retreat with the assets.

After Jetfire convinced the warden to look the other way, Arcee was allowed to escape and pursue her quarry. Spotlight: Arcee

However, word of the events on Garrus-9 reached the Autobot Orbital Command Hub and were relayed to Optimus Prime. Devastation #5 The sensitivity of what the Decepticon raid might have gained forced the Autobot leader to withdraw from Earth, even with the danger of Megatron and Sixshot looming large. Devastation #6

Arcee captured a survivor from a crashed Decepticon attack ship, tortured him for information on Banzaitron's whereabouts and beheaded the prisoner after she was done. This was later discovered by Optimus Prime and Prowl's team when they arrived at Garrus-9, but both Jetfire and Fortress Maximus decided to keep quiet about what they knew. Spotlight: Cyclonus The troop deployment at Garrus-9 was re-strengthened while Optimus's team was stationed there.

From the Last Resort's command center, Optimus could only watch helplessly as Thunderwing effortlessly swept aside both the Wreckers and Hound's unit on Corata-Vaz. At the same time, Jetfire got in touch with Omega Supreme who identified the mysterious bots who had attacked Hound's detachment, while the Technobots worked on perfecting Thunderwing's symbiotic carapace technology. While Optimus Prime pondered the risk of using the dangerous technology, Dealer contacted Garrus-9 to suggest using the Magnificence to answer their many questions. Spotlight: Hardhead

In search of Optimus Prime, Nemesis Prime attacked and breached the Last Resort, killing the first two Autobots that challenged him and shrugging off the hail of gunfire from the others. Optimus Prime had Fortress Maximus call off the guards and confronted Nemesis personally in the generator sub-level. Meanwhile, Jetfire attempted to take control of Thunderwing using Bludgeon's Axis Cradle. Unfortunately, Jhiaxus had prepared for this eventuality and activated the imprisoned Bludgeon from within his cell. Spotlight: Doubledealer

Nemesis attacked Prime using the Darkness but was blasted in the back and killed by Galvatron, who wanted the Darkness for himself. He offered to spare Optimus's life in exchange for the Darkness, but the Prime tricked Galvatron, tossing him into a solar pool after the Darkness completed its transfer. Elsewhere, when Arcee defeated Jhiaxus, his control over Bludgeon was gone and the Pretender went inert again. Spotlight: Sideswipe

Some time after the Expansion, Hot Rod brought the Magnificence to Garrus-9 where it was entombed beneath Aequitas. The Ties That Bind

Grimlock, Shockwave, and Scorponok were taken to Garrus-9 by Ultra Magnus after the destruction of Scorponok's Machination empire on Earth. Maximum Dinobots #5 When Grimlock arrived, the Magnificence was removed from beneath Aequitas and placed in the only place harder to get into than a fortified prison planet: the Dinobot's chest. The Ties That Bind

Galvatron survived the pool, and later left the facility with Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps. Rebirth

First-rate entertainment.

During the Surge, Megatron wanted the prison to be taken over by the Decepticons. Skyquake and his Predators were given this task, but the rogue Decepticon general Overlord had different plans though: he usurped the operation and led a vicious massacre before freeing all the inmates. He announced everyone would be staying here with him, and he'd see them entertained... Said entertainment being "hideous violence", begun when he threw Fortress Maximus to his former charges and turning into pointless bloodsports and deathmatches involving the captured Autobots. Last Stand of the Wreckers #1 Overlord kept Grimlock alive, forcing him to watch the slaughter of his fellow Autobots, and knowing he could do nothing, it possibly drove the Dynobot insane. Last Stand of the Wreckers #4 He also freed Shockwave after almost a year of controlling G-9, in exchange for the mono-toned scientist removing the blindspot virus that Megatron had infected Overlord with. Shockwave knew that all of the bloodshed and slaughter on display here was nothing but a provocation, an invitation for Megatron to intervene so Overlord could face him in combat. Last Stand of the Wreckers #3

When Shockwave left the prison, he took with him a hand-picked bribe crew that just so happened to be on the List so he could buy off the Decepticon Justice Division. Having discovered the ruse, Scorponok, Flame, and Flywheels jumped ship. While the latter was found by the Foragers, the former two were recruited by the Grand Architect who pressed them into service. Needing the Magnificence for his plans, Scorponok manipulated the Warren to open a portal in Grimlock's cell, abducting the Autobot from the prison. The Ties That Bind Kill All 'Cons

After three years of this, and having Autobot ships gunned down when they tried to reach Garrus-9, the Wreckers were dispatched to bring Garrus-9 back under control. Last Stand of the Wreckers #1 Snare, a Predator who now realized that he was trapped on G-9 and was sick of the horrors he had seen, freed Impactor, the former Wreckers commander who had been imprisoned for unspecified crimes, in the hopes that he could escape the prison and bring back help. Impactor made it off the planet and reported to Ultra Magnus and the Wreckers what had been happening on G-9. The Wreckers broke through G-9's lattice forcefield in two drop pods from Ultra Magnus' ship, but were shot down and separated. Last Stand of the Wreckers #2

When Overlord learned the Wreckers had arrived on G-9, he gave the order to execute all remaining Autobots left in the prison. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5 While Springer's team were on the run from dozens of Decepticon ex-convicts, Perceptor's team had the misfortune of landing in The Pit, right in front of Overlord. Last Stand of the Wreckers #2

Springer's team split up into two smaller teams: While he, Impactor and Twin Twist would go find the other Autobot prisoners, Kup and Guzzle would go find Grimlock. Unfortunately, Springer's team were captured shortly after discovering the corpse of Kick-Off, one of the former G-9 guards who had been forced into becoming a pit fighter for the Decepticons' amusement. Meanwhile, Perceptor's team escaped the Pit with the loss of Rotorstorm and made their way to Aequitas' chamber, where they found the dismembered, but still living Fortress Maximus, the warden of G-9 who had been hooked up to the door to Aequitas as a living lock-pick. Last Stand of the Wreckers #3

Kup and Guzzle made their way to Grimlock's cell, only to discover it was empty. Snare appeared, explaining what Overlord had done to Grimlock and what his state of mind should be, before leading them to the Spark Extraction Chamber where Stalker was torturing Springer's team. For his trouble, Snare was shot in the head by Stalker (who in turn was killed by Springer), then Overlord blasted his way in. Meanwhile, Perceptor's team made it inside Aequitas, but when he tried to download its hard drive, he discovered that with all of G-9's personnel gone, the only way to access the supercomputer was for one of the team to willingly give up their spark. Topspin stepped up while the others argued, stating that it could give both he and his branched-spark brother Twin Twist a dignified death, rather than suffer at the hands of Stalker. With the computer unlocked, Perceptor selected Ironfist to be the receptacle for Aequitas' knowledge, but with the knowledge of all of Aequitas' judgments and the truth shook him to the core. With the Decepticon prisoners about to breach to the door to Aequitas, Perceptor prepared to detonate the deterrence devices installed in the head of every G-9 inmate. Realizing this would kill Impactor as well, Pyro objected and it was put to a vote. Ironfist, now knowing the full extent of Impactor's crimes, voted to kill the prisoners. Last Stand of the Wreckers #4

The battle between Overlord and Springer's team took to them outside the G-9 facility, where Guzzle and Kup were the first to be disabled. In the Aequitas chamber, Verity managed to convince the Autobots against detonating the deterrence chips and instead fight their way out. However, Pyro volunteered to stay behind as a distraction while the others snuck out with Fortress Maximus' body and the Aequitas data. On their way to the roof, Ironfist stopped by G-9's armory and retrieved a very large rotary cannon with a load of deterrence chips, which was then used by Springer to inject into Overlord. Though Springer himself was quickly defeated by the Decepticon madman, Ironfist used the knowledge of Aequitas to detonate the chips specifically inside Overlord, crippling him. Once Verity revealed that Megatron had died on Earth three years earlier, whatever remained of Overlord's sanity was dashed away, and he told Impactor to put him out of his misery. The former Wreckers commander refused, for Overlord was as guilty as he was when he executed Squadron X, and the Decepticon would be brought to trial for the atrocities he had committed. The remaining Decepticons fled before Ultra Magnus arrived to collect the survivors and the fallen. For his part in liberating Garrus-9, Impactor was given a full pardon and left with Guzzle for parts unknown.

The real prison is in your mind...

While Ironfist died en route to Earth, he managed to copy the contents of Aequitas into a data slug, which Ultra Magnus handed to Prowl Last Stand of the Wreckers #5 along with a hidden backup slug, left to Verity Carlo. In Word and Deed

After capturing the creature known as the Firstborn, the Scavengers attempted to transmat to Garrus-9 so that they use the spark extractors to remove Rat-a-Tat-Tat's spark from the organic. Kill All 'Cons Instead of providing them with the prison's coordinates, the Magnificence, a mouthpiece for the Omega Guardians, The Unremembering listed the coordinates of Mederi, the artificial moon presenting itself as Garrus-9 as per their expectations. The arrival of Nautica, who believed Mederi to be the Afterspark, caused both illusions to shatter. Kill All 'Cons You Are Here

Animated cartoon continuity

The G-9 penitentiary was a maintained by the Autobot Commonwealth on Elba. The AllSpark Almanac II

Recordicons

Commissioner Garboil and Howlback alerted Batbot to the escape of Blackcat from G-9. Recordicons #5

Of Masters and Mayhem

The Garrus 9 Incursion was one of the legendary missions of the Wreckers, known to Autobots and Decepticons alike. Impactor's profile in Club magazine #68

Games

Transformers Legends

Garrus-9 was taken over by Dreadwind and the Air Strike Patrol. After a few months of lost contact, the Autobots sent in Impactor's Wreckers team, which defeated the Decepticons and largely destroyed the facility. The Wreckers

Notes

• As originally written by Simon Furman, "Garrus-9" probably meant the ninth planet of a system named "Garrus", but More than Meets the Eye by James Roberts established "Garrus" as a system of prisons. Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac identified Garrus-9's planet as Elba in homage to the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon episode "Escape from Elba", which was later affirmed by Lost Light #14.