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Transhuman

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Transhuman Sephie kills.jpg
"Transhuman"
Publisher Transformers Collectors' Club(online exclusive)
First published July 15,2011
Written by Trent TroopandGreg Sepelak
Illustrations by Casey Collerand Greg Sepelak
Colors by Trent Troop
Continuity Shattered Glass
Chronology 2009
Page count 33pp

After Shockwave is critically injured protecting Sephie, she looks for a way to defend herself against the Autobots.

Contents

Synopsis

At the Decepticon base on Earth, the heroic robots have been very busy. Utilizing the plans taken from the Autobots, they have built astellar spanner,clearing the debris at the top of the mountain to get a signal toCybertron.StarscreamandSoundwaveperfect the final adjustments, and attempt to contactMegatronon Cybertron. The two are answered byHeatwave,who has survived being forced into the Autobot's now destroyed stellar spanner, and they send over the spanner's specs, so the Decepticons on Cybertron can build a receiver. Less than a week later, theConstructiconshave finished their end of the spanner on Cybertron, andMegatronprepares to send a volunteer through.Professor Arkevilleis ecstatic, butRick Ottmancan't help but wonder whereSephieis, thinking that it is odd for her to miss such a momentous occasion. Activating the spanner, the Decepticons watch as the sky opens, releasing a bolt of light into the metallic ring, which opens to reveal Decepticon AmbassadorShockwaveand his assistantFistfight.Shockwave greets the Decepticons and their human allies, and explains that Megatron has ordered for half of the Decepticons to return to Cybertron, to be replaced by reinforcements. The Decepticons picked to return enter the spanner…only for it to malfunction, causing the entire base to blackout, and setting them back a few days once again. The patient Shockwave doesn't mind; after all, a little delay won't hurt anyone Later, Rick meets up with Sephie, informing her of everything she has missed. Noticing her unusual lack of excitement, Rick is surprised when she reveals that she's been hired byR.J. Blackrock,the super-rich oil baron, out in Maine. Rick congratulates her, but is unable to hide his disappointment that she'll be so far away. A few days later, Sephie begins her new job in the R&D department. Unused to the monotony of the office, Sephie is somewhat surprised whenGrady,a lower-end programmer, tells her that Blackrock wishes to see her. Upon arriving at his office, Blackrock gets right down to business, and explains to her the troubles they've been having with the Autobots. Next week, Blackrock plans to unveil the company'sMega-Rig,designed to suck up oil and convert it into high-energy hydrogen fuel cells. Knowing of her connection to the Decepticons, he asks her to invite them, both to protect the Mega-Rig and for publicity.

A week later, Decepticons Starscream, Soundwave, Shockwave, andCliffjumperare at the Mega-Rig's unveiling, held in the waters miles off theLouisianacoastline. As the audience quiets down, Blackrock begins to deliver his speech, but is soon interrupted by the Autobots as they emerge out of the sea. The Decepticons engage againstGoldbug,Big Daddy,Beachcomber,Elita-One,andRodimus Prime,forced to use hand-to-hand combat to avoid hurting the humans. Sephie helps to evacuate the guests to Blackrock's yacht as Shockwave stands guard. One guest, SenatorShore,refuses to leave, ranting about the war; Sephie attempts to get him to move as well, but his rants make her realize that the Autobots want them to board on the yacht. Shouting for everyone to move back, she watches as the AutobotSeasprayrips through the yacht, sending the deckhands flying. Annoyed about the hostages escaping, Seaspray spots Sephie amongst the crowd, and fires off a missile in revenge. Sephie can only watch as the missile intended for her is intercepted by Shockwave, grabbing her to shield her from the explosion. Critically damaged, Shockwave uses the last of his strength to blast a hole straight through Seaspray's torso, and enters stasis lock. Rick rushes to help Sephie, but her attention is locked on the Decepticon that risked his life to save her.

Back at Decepticon base, Shockwave is in a stable condition, with theConstructiconson standby waiting for the stellar spanner to be fixed. Sephie blames herself for his injuries, ignoring Rick's claims that it's not her fault. Sometime later, she decides to finally meet up at an abandoned automotive plant with "Stormbringer99", a mysterious individual who she has been chatting with for weeks, desperate after Shockwave's sacrifice. The stranger reveals himself to beJetstorm,an odd, unaligned Cybertronian, who claims that he wants to help humanity defend themselves from the Autobot/Decepticon war. Having chosen her for her vision, he offers her a supersuit, in exchange for her defending her species. AtFranklin Burns High School,Buster Witwickyand the AutobotTailgatecause chaos, the former taking out his anger on his ex-classmates, and the latter doing so because he considers humans pets. Sephie confronts the two, and uses her suits electric powers to blast Tailgate back. Angered, Tailgate grabs her and uses his magnets to drain her energy, but is shocked when she copies his power, throwing him back and stealing his energy in turn. Unfortunately, it proves too much for the suit to handle, and it overloads, sending all three flying back. Butch gets Tailgate to transform and escape as Sephie wakes up, surrounded by high school students. Left naked as her suit crumbles, she takes a jacket offered to her rushes off to her car, leaving the students amazed at a real-life superhero. Enrapture by her experience, Sephie quickly returns to Jetstorm, demanding for more power. Jetstorm decides to take it to next level, and tells her to prepare for pain, getting ready the surgical equipment… At Decepticon base, Rick andWillare horrified when Sephie shows off her "upgrades," having become a cyborg. Rick insists on getting her back to normal, and tells the Professor, who in turn tells the Decepticons. Starscream, not believing she has the technical know-how to upgrade herself, and unaware of Jetstorm, considers her a danger to herself, confining her to quarters until Arkeville can disable her upgrades, ignoring her claims that she can protect herself now. Meanwhile, out along theArizona Bay,Blackrock has his men dump oil barrels fitted with trackers into the ocean. One of them begins to rise back up, as the Autobots emerge from the ocean. Unfazed by their threats, Blackrock offers as much fuel as the want in exchange for weapons technology. Rodimus ignores Goldbug's mistrust of the human, and makes a deal with the human. At Decepticon base, Sephie stews in her room when she receives a call from Blackrock, who claims that he was approached by the Autobots and forced into making a deal with them, and asks for the Decepticons help. Wanting to prove herself, Sephie flies off, leaving only a note behind. The Decepticons try to figure out where she has gotten her upgrades from; Cliffjumper is convinced Sephie is a danger to herself and everyone around her, having been attacked by his version ofherback in the day. Rick, flooded with emotions, insists on going after her, believing that she might listen to him. Cliffjumper, knowing that it's futile to try and stop him, proposes giving him a suit of armor to protech himself. Fistfight volunteers to be reformatted into one, and Starscream approves, sending out the Decepticons to search for her. Sephie, meanwhile, has been busy. Coming across Elita-One andGrooveraiding a skyscraper building site, she takes out the latter. Absorbing Groove's fuel-absorbing ability, Sephie, or rather, Emulator, attacks Elita-One. Recognizing her attacks as having coming from Groove and Tailgate, Elita-One is taken aback, as they should only be able to be used with apower chip rectifier,something that Emulator shouldn't have. Emulator explains that she has been gifted a blank one that can copy powers, and uses Groove's abilities on her. Surprising, Elita is unaffected, having used her own ability to freeze herself in time, rendering her nigh-invincible. Knocking her back, Elita attempts to escape, but is knocked off the road, forced into stasis lock as Emulator evaporates her fuel and copies her abilities. Later, Sephie observes the Arizona Bay, and is surprised when Rick, protected inside Fistfight's newly retrofitted torso, confronts her. Rick tries to convince her that what she's doing is dangerous, and when she ignores that, he admits that he likes her. Before Sephie can say anything, Rodimus emerges from the ocean surface. Sephie prepares to attack, but is knocked out byWheeljack,using a microwave projector to fry her circuitry. Fistfight and Rick are taken out just after they contact Starscream, as the Autobots take the two. Waking up sometime later, Rick finds himself stuck in, with Fistfight welded to an armored car, and Sephie on Wheeljack's vivisection table. Unable to radio Starscream, Rick is forced to watch as Wheeljack prepares to take her apart. Fortunately for her, Beachcomber begins to shout, as a wide-spectrum jamming cuts him off from the frequencies he normally hears. Rodimus prepares to use the humans as a hostage, and gets everyone into position. As the Decepticons Starscream,Slugslinger,Blitzwing,Cliffjumper, Soundwave,Crasher,andDemolishorarrive, Rodimus and Goldbug aim there weapons at the hostages. Starscream is still confident, as the Decepticons outnumber him, but Rodimus laughs, as the other Autobots and theScroungesemerge from the wreckage surrounding them. Forced to surrender in exchange for the humans safety, the Decepticons hand over their weapons and are imprisoned, with one Autobot, the normally calmSwoop,ready to tear them apart, held back only byRatchetandBrawn.Rodimus has Big Daddy prepare the firing squad, wanting to take out Soundwave so the jamming field turns off. Soundwave, however, reveals that he's not jamming anything, having believe the Autobots put up the field themselves. Goldbug is perturbed by this information, and all eyes are drawn as a cargo plane flies overhead, depositing a massive mechanoid and dozens of metallic orbs. The Autobots assume it's another Decepticon, but a voice from inside the robot reveals itself to be Blackrock, having donned his newest creation: Project: Shieldbreaker, akaCenturion!Having used the Autobots weapons to finish it's creation, Blackrock intends to take the Autobots out and reverse engineer the rest of their tech. Quickly taking out many of the Autobots, Big Daddy attempts to get a lock on Centurion, but the small orbs quickly reassemble into small mechanoids themselves, which Blackrock call hisTeleoperated Battlefield Ordnance Batteries.The Decepticons, meanwhile, attempt to escape and aid Centurion; Soundwave uses a high-frequency vibration to dismantle his restraints, and attempts to get the Decepticons weapons. Unfortunately, he too is attacked by Centurion, who shatters his windshield chest and takes him out with an EMP blast. After all, Blackrock reasons, their technology is just as important to national defense!

As the battle rages on, Rick convinces Fistfight to let him out of a cockpit. Grabbing an oversized gun, Rick carries it over to the operating table. Freeing Sephie, he tries to get her to call inAstrotrain,but Sephie tells him there's no time. Remembering her encounter with Tailgate, Sephie prepares to recreate the accidental outcome, and tells Rick to run. With the Autobots and Centurion concentrated on each other, Emulator flies over to Cliffjumper, freeing him, and tells him to free the other Decepticons, expecting him to do the most practical thing in the situation. Absorbing his power, she quickly flies off as Cliffjumper gets to work. Blackrock, meanwhile, is impressed with the test-run of Centurion, unconcerned with Emulator as she flies towards him. His attention is soon drawn to her, though, when she uses her magnets to knock Goldbug into him. Emulator tells him to stop hurting her friends, but Swoop, enraged upon seeing her, disengages from Centurion and attacks her. Knocked back after a Scrounge barrels into him, Swoop tries to claw her once more, but Emulator uses her newglass gaspowers to destroy his hand, sending him flying off in pain. As Centurion aims his weapons at the struggling Decepticons, Emulator flies forth to stop him. Ratchet attempts to offline her, accidentally causing her to blast him blank point in the head, blowing it apart. With the Autobots medic critically damaged, Rodimus orders the others to retreat, and they drive back into the ocean with their wounded. Clamped onto Centurion, Emulator uses Groove's powers to suck its energy dry, causing the suit to overload. Blackrock launches the head to escape, and with the suit going critical, Emulator is forced to take it into the sky. Blackrock, while angered that the prototype was destroyed, considers his field test a success, before noticing Emulator rocketing behind. Watching the suit explode, the Decepticons assume the worse, but she soon comes back down, having used Elita-One's power to save herself. The Decepticons turn to Blackrock, preparing to arrest him, but Blackrock has prepared for that. Pointing out that he's done nothing technically illegal, and that the Decepticons assaulted him and destroyed his property, pointing out that he's one of the government's biggest weapon suppliers. Firing Beller, he gives them three minutes to get off his property before he sends the tanks in.

The Decepticons arrive back at base, having avoided being followed. Sephie is surprised to see Shockwave back on his feet with Professor Arkeville, who explains that using scans of Sephie's systems, he and the Decepticon medics on Cybertron upgraded Shockwave's self-repair systems. Starscream and Cliffjumper apologize for not believing in her, and offer her a place on the team. Sephie is honored, but declines, believing humanity needs to learn to defend itself. Promising to check in, Sephie hugs Soundwave, and embraces Rick, flying off on her own. At Autobot base, Rodimus rants, going through their losses and missing comrades. However, he quickly changes his tune, knowing it's better to have loyal and happy troops than angry ones, somethingOptimusnever learned. Doubling rations, abandoning theArkrepair plans in exchange for weapons salvage, promising increased rations for anyone who brings in a target or offlines a Decepticon, and promising to approve of any special projects, Rodimus gets the Autobots talking and battle-ready once more. Stepping away, Rodimus takes a private call, greeting the returnedAlpha Trion.At Jetstorm's place, the Enigma tic Cybertron finishes his newest upgrades on Sephie, his usual non-emotional ways showing the barest hints of pride. Asking her if she has copied Soundwave's power, Jetstorm tells Sephie that he needs her to find something. Sometime later,Side Burn,Demolishor, and Jetstorm all contact each other. Jetstorm deems Project Transhuman viable; Side Burn is pleased, explaining that he's nudge Rodimus into allying and eventually betraying Alpha Trion. Demolishor has had more troubles; the Decepticons have moral concerns with Sephie's upgrades, as expected. Additionally, Cliffjumper has become more suspicious of Demolishor ever since Heatwave left, not recognizing him from his home universe; Demolishor doubts he sabotage the stellar spanner again without him noticing. Swoop is another problem; one ofOmega Terminus' more recent creations, the Dinobot seems to be able to "smell" Demolishor's different physiology. Unconcerned with the two, Side Burn cautions against moving too fast, and notes that Blackrock's an unexpected player, but one they can use to their advantage. Side Burn is interrupted whenStar Saberenters his quarters. Having always known something was off about Side Burn, Star Saber attacks him, blasting holes into him…but Side Burn begins regenerating, and converts his hands into tentacles. Grabbing Star Saber, he knocks him offline with a surge of electricity, and proclaims with Demolishor and Jetstorm that theUnderbasewill be whole once again!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Decepticons Autobots Humans Others

Quotes

"Inverted vortex capacitor?"
"Inverted vortex capacitor operational!"
"Barium shield capacitors?"
"Barium shield capacitors operational!"
"Pipefor?"
"Pipefor... wait. What's a pipefor?"
"For blowin' exhaust, dude!"

—StarscreamandSoundwaveperform last-minute checks on the Stellar Spanner.


"Huh. You talk exactly like you type."
"I do not type."

—SephiemeetsJetstorm


"Butch, your temperature's going up. You want a new friend? I don't see its car... it's a stray! We can take it home and you can play together."

—Tailgate


"Humanity plus, humanity squared, transhuman... They're all accurate. I'm what humanity needs to be… the next step; a self-determined, self-defined, self-designed being. You can call me Emulator."

—Sephieintroduces herself to Elita-One.


"Whoah, whoah... Somebody's got manufacturer issues. Scrappin' me ain't gonna make daddy Starscream love you, little girl, or whatever it is you're after. Oh for the luvva... now the fat kid's got power armor? This is gettin' outta hand."

—Rodimusprefers fleshies without add-on parts.

Notes

Continuity notes

  • The Decepticons obtained the stellar spanner plans from the Autobots in the previous prose story, "Blitzwing Bop",after Blitzwing downloaded the plans in an attempt to prevent Heatwave from being transported to Cybertron, which is where he is located in this story.
  • Shockwave was previously mentioned in the original "Shattered Glass"comic.
  • The idea thatShattered GlassCybertronians are unfamiliar with Primus was introduced in the original "Shattered Glass" comic.
  • The prose notes that Primus manifested in front of the combined Autobot/Decepticon forces, including Cliffjumper, preparing them for battle with Unicron; this was seen in MarvelThe Transformersissue#74.However, see "Errors", below.
  • Blackrock's company,Blackrock Petroleum and Energy Concern,was mentioned in "Blitzwing Bop", among the various transmissionsThunderwingpicked up from Earth. There, it was called Blackrock Oil, which is presumably a short version of the full company name above.
  • Senator Shore was originally mentioned in "Blitzwing Bop". He mentions a war; "Eye in the Sky"established that in the 1980's,World War IIIoccurred, with one of the combatants being the Inhumanoids. Later in the story, Sephie notes that despite the U.S. government claims, there is no radiation in the quarantine zone, and remembers her father's conspiracy theories about the government keeping people out, worried that their subterranean foes might return.
  • The Constructicons plan to bring, among other things, a fresh case of Diagnostic Drones; the original "Shattered Glass" story indicated they served as nurses to the Constructicons.
  • Sephie was shown to be in contact with Jetstorm/ "Stombringer99" in "Blitzwing Bop".
  • Cliffjumper brings up theNebulanand the various "Master" enhancements they went through when suggesting a suit of armor for Rick. He also notes that those Nebulans who joined the Autobots are unwelcome on their own home planet, as seen at the end of the MarvelHeadmastersmini-series.
  • Crasher brings up herMayhem Suppression Squadtraining; she was seen as the leader of that group in "Dungeons & Dinobots".
  • Bonecrusher is mentioned, finally rounding out theShattered GlassConstructicons, with Scrapper, Hook, andLong Haulhaving appeared in the original "Shattered Glass" comic, and Scavenger andMixmasterin "Reunification: Part 6".
  • Blaster was trapped on the moon in "Blitzwing Bop" when attempting to use the stellar spanner to escape to Cybertron.
  • Alpha Trion has returned to his Cybertron from theTransTechversion, as seen in "Reunification: Part 1".He and Rodimus were shown to be allied in"Reunification: Part 3".
  • Side Burn has always seemed off;Blurrnoted that he didn't "belong" with the Autobots in "Dungeons & Dinobots", and he showed a keen interest in humans in "Eye in the Sky". His self-repair abilities have been hinted at before; he was blown in half by Blitzwing in "Blitzwing Bop", only to appear fine later, writing off his supposed demise as a trick of the light.
  • The Underbase was previously mentioned in "Do Over".Like its positive counterpart, it is missing, having been launched from Cybertron some time ago.

Transformers references

  • The logo on the cover is theBeast MachinesVehiconfaction symbol.
  • As usual, new characters introduced in this story take their appearances from a variety of sources:
    • Shockwave is a virtual redeco ofEnergonShockblast,with the inverted colors of hisGeneration 1counterpart.His partner, Fistfight (based onGeneration 1Shockwave's Action Masterpartner), is described as orange and black in color, the colors of fellow Action Master partnerTyrannitron.
    • R.J. Blackrock is the mirrorverse version ofG.B. Blackrock,the Autobot industrialist ally from the MarvelThe Transformerscomic. Among his employees are Grady, a low-end programmer (his Marvel UKThe Transformerscounterpartwas one of the head scientists of theIntelligence and Information Institute) and Professor Morris (his counterpart,Peter Anthony Morris,worked atRoxxon Oiland had a hatred for G.B. Blackrock, believing him to be the creators of the Transformers. He's noted to be one of the scientists working on Centurion; in the positive universe, Triple-I forced his counterpart to pilot the positive-universe Centurion).
    • Jetstorm is a repurposing of hisBeast Machinescounterpart's Deluxe class toy. In this story, he is emotionless and to the point, compared to his positive-universe counterpart's more verbose and giddy personality.
    • Franklin Burns High School is theShattered Glassequivalent ofBenjamin Franklin Pierce High SchoolfromThe Transformersepisode "B.O.T."(see" Real-world references "for more on that below). Among the student body attending are Lisa Presser, the cheerleader counterpart to nerdyElise Presser,also from "B.O.T.", and Jesse, the selfish counterpart of MarvelThe TransformerscharacterJesse,who wasBuster Witwicky's girlfriend. Additionally, Lisa is reminded of "two loser computer nerds" after Sephie defeats Tailgate, obviously a reference to delinquentsMartin and Rolandfrom "B.O.T."
    • Tailgate is described as aquamarine and yellow, the colors of South AmericanMalignustoyCamaro,who was redecoed fromWindcharger,the toy that also served as the positive-universeTailgate's base mold. As opposed to his counterpart's personality of hating the humans for enslaving the machines (well, his personality beforeMore than Meets the Eyecame along, anyway), Tailgate is depicted as a lover of humans, although he considers them non-sentient and tries to keep them as pets. His ability to steal energy from others using magnets reflects his positive counterpart's ability to use magnets and latch on to other vehicles, conserving his own fuel.
    • Groove is repurposed fromCybertronRansack,specifically from the green "GTS" redeco.
  • There are a fair few callbacks to theMarvelThe Transformerscomic:
    • Shockwave refers to the Decepticons on Earth asEarthforce,after a group of Autobots stationed on Earth in Marvel UK's later, continuity-ignoringThe Transformersissues.
    • The Autobots attacking the Mega-Rig and Shockwave saving Sephie are a reversal ofShockwaveattacking G.B. Blackrock'soil-drilling platformand injuringJosie BellerinThe Transformersissue#6.
    • Sephie's transformation into Emulator mirrors Josie's transformation into Circuit Breaker. Her initial "superhero outfit" is described as a ribbon of golden circuitry that barely covers her body, much like Circuit Breaker's outfit.
    • Sephie wears a trench coat and hat to conceal her cybernetics before revealing them to Will and Rick, much as Josie Beller does before revealing her exoskeleton to Blackrock inThe Transformersissue#9.
    • Blackrock, like his positive universe counterpart in issue #9, makes a deal with the Autobots to supply them oil in return for protection, although there the deal was initiated by the Autobots.
    • The positive-universeCenturionwas a robot built by Triple-I to fight the Transformers, as seen in the Marvel UKThe Transformerscomics. TheShattered Glassversion of Centurion resembles his counterpart's appearance inThe Transformersissue#125/Action Forceissues #24-27.
    • TheUnderbasewas the subject of a story arc culminating inStarscreamabsorbing it and going on a rampage.
  • Megatron is stationed inHelixat the beginning of the story, a polity introduced in the Marvel UKThe Transformerscomics.
  • The stellar spanner functions much in the same way that thespace bridgedid in the originalThe Transformerscartoon, with two interconnected bridges on Earth and Cybertron. Another scene that is payed homage to isShockwave's contact withMegatronin "Transport to Oblivion",with the story describing the screen on which Starscream attempts to contact Megatron as" white noise [...] broke into multi-colored bands "before resolving into Heatwave's visage.
  • With the reveal that Stormbringer99 is aShattered Glassversion ofBeast MachinesJetstorm, it becomes clear that the 99 in his screen name refers to 1999, the yearBeast Machinesbegan.
  • Tailgate swears by the "spires"; these are theCelestial Spires,towers that the Autobots often swore by in the MarvelThe Transformerscomics.
  • Power chip rectifiersoriginate fromThe Transformersepisode "Heavy Metal War",where they were shown to be responsible for the various powers that the Transformers possessed.
  • Elita-One's ability to freeze herself in time reflects her positivecounterpart'sability to freeze time, as seen inThe Transformersepisode "The Search for Alpha Trion".
  • Sephie claims she has the right combination ofpower plansto stop the Autobots; Power Plans were diagrams included on the packaging ofAction Mastertoys.
  • Rodimus tells Starscream that "it's finished. Over," reversing the usualFurmanismof "over, finished."
  • Bonecrusher believes the Decepticons could create an automated repair chamber using Sephie's self-repair technology; obviously, this is aCR chamber,introduced in theBeast Warsseries.
  • Rodimus calls Trion "A-3", the original name of his postive universe counterpart as seen inThe Transformersepisode "Forever Is a Long Time Coming".

Real-world References

Other trivia

  • Professor Arkeville's first name is revealed to be Henri.
  • Sephie notes thatShattered GlassEarth has a population of only three billion humans; presumably, this is the result of WWIII.

Errors

  • Cliffjumper's profile in the Club Magazine noted that he was offlined by Starscream during his Underbase-fueled rampage, and would not be resuscitated until years later, which contradicts the idea that Cliffjumper witnessed Primus and Unicron personally.

External links

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