Safe Spaces
"Safe Spaces" is the tenth Beast Wars: Uprising story, and is the third part of the finale. It was released ten days after the previous installment, "Cultural Appropriation", on December 19th, 2016. It sets the stage for the finale, following several Resistance members as they find that their movement has their own problem of corruption that they once fought against, and introduces a new enemy that threatens to destroy everything the Resistance has worked towards. The story was written by Jim Sorenson and David Bishop, with art by Christopher "IKY" Colgin, Bill Forster (who are, unfortunately, accidentally not credited for their contributions), Matt Frank (with colors by Gonçalo Lopes), and Josh Burcham.
A "safe space" is a term used to refer to places where marginalized individuals can gather, free to discuss their problems without fear of attack. In the United States, at least, it rose as a term in the mid-1960's to refer to gay and lesbian bars, where patrons could drink without fear of attack for their sexuality. In this story, it refers to the Resistance's Protihex Arena, which they seem to have under control without any fear of attack from the Builders. However, there is two points of irony: for Preditron, at least, the Arena serves as a trap for him; and in the case of the Builders, they've implemented their own trap with the Micromasters the Arena holds as prisoners.
The cover is by Christopher Colgin, and is a fairly simple image: it features Ser-Ket (who we'll get to with Preditron and Cheetor) in flight, coming down on the Protihex Arena. Before the story proper starts, there is a map by Bill Forster, showing the territorial split of modern Cybertron during the sixth stellar cycle of the Grand Uprising; the title of the map notes that it is currently "Stellar Cycle 6.3.17" of the Grand Uprising, which I take to mean that it's been about 6 years, 3 months, and 17 days since the war began, give or take. Rather than going through it randomly, we'll go through each of the major players bit by bit, going from Builder-controlled territory, the Resistance-held territory, the contested areas between them, the Maximal Nation, the Independent Predacus States, and the various bits here and there, while also tying in their previous appearances in Beast Wars: Uprising. The Builders hold most of the Northern hemisphere not held by the Resistance, something that becomes important later. Fully-held Builder territories include: Iacon, the first city-state ever created for Transformers fiction, first mentioned in Jim Shooter's story outline created for Hasbro at the very beginning of the franchise, which has been mentioned regularly up to now as the capital of Cybertron, along with putting in an appearance in "Trigger Warnings"; Nova Cronum, a city first seen in Dreamwave Productions' The Dark Ages, which was noted to be the location of the Grand Mal in "Not All Megatrons"; Plurex, a new city, presumably taken from the Plurex Flats mentioned Wings Universe comic "Battle Lines, Part 6"; Gygax, a city mentioned in the Classics prose story "A New World" and the Shattered Glass prose story "Dungeons & Dinobots", named for Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax; Nyon, a "Torus City" which first appeared in IDW Publishing's Autocracy miniseries-it previously appeared in "Broken Windshields", having been converted into the Nyon Coliseum; Glibax (misspelled here as Gilbax), which appeared in the Wings Universe prose story "Flames of Yesterday"-it appeared as the home to Lio Convoy when he was still serving the Builders in "Broken Windshields" (this creates a slight continuity error, as "Broken Windshields" claimed that it was located on Cybertron's equator; ultimately, it does make more sense for a Builder stronghold to be closer to Iacon); and Hexima, which first appeared in the Risk board game branded as a tie-in to the first Transformers live-action movie in 2007, under the name "Hexima State"-it was previously mentioned in "Not All Megatrons" as one of the areas where the Darksyders had some level of influence.
The Resistance, meanwhile, controls virtually all of the southern hemisphere of Cybertron, and is making headway into the northern hemisphere. It was noted back in "Not All Megatrons" that there were many rumors about how, despite what Builder media had claimed, the south pole of Cybertron had been taken by the Resistance-rumors that have obviously been proven true. Resistance-held areas include: Peptex, an area of Cybertron first mentioned in IDW Publishing's Spotlight: Orion Pax, which was where Stiletto was previously located before becoming partners with Overshoot, as seen in "Burning Bridges"; Carpessa, first mentioned in issue #3 of IDW Publishing's Sins of the Wreckers comic; Median, first seen in the aforementioned "Flames of Yesterday"; Ibex, a quadrant of Cybertron seen in issue #77 of the Marvel The Transformers comic as the location of the planet's Central Spaceport-it was previously mentioned in "Not All Megatrons" as the location of the Starsreach Central Spaceport, but was also described as a quadrant of Iacon itself-given that it's not exactly near Iacon on this map, perhaps it's a sort of exclave for Iacon that's since been taken over by the Resistance; Rodion, which first appeared in issue #22 of the 2009-2011 IDW Publishing The Transformers ongoing, named for the main character from the 1866 novel Crime and Punishment by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky; Crystal City (or at least what remains of it), first seen in the Sunbow The Transformers episode "The Secret of Omega Supreme", which previously was mentioned in "Burning Bridges" as having been destroyed in a Resistance bombing; Hydrax, which is presumably derived from the Hydrax Plateau, also mentioned on the map-that area of Cybertron was first mentioned in the DK Publishing guidebook, Transformers: The Ultimate Guide, and previously appeared in "Not All Megatrons" as an area where most of Cybertron's space fleet was left for storage, an area which was once home to the most powerful of Cybertron's spaceports; Stanix, an area of Cybertron first mentioned in the prose story "The Magnificent Six!" in the Marvel UK Transformers Annual 1991-it previously appeared as one of the cities on the Hydrax Plateau in "Not All Megatrons" and is later mentioned in the story as the headquarters of the Resistance; Damaxus, a city which was first mentioned in the prologue to the first major Beast Wars: Uprising story "Alone Together", the road to which was believed to be the location in which Rattrap died (which turned out to be false)-it also showed up in "Head Games" as the location of Buzzclaw's preferred bar, The Proton Blaster, and is named for the Biblical parable of the conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus; Harmonex, first seen in IDW Publishing's Monstrosity mini-series; Petrex, first mentioned in #9 of IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye ongoing; Corumkan, a city serving as Shokaract's main base of operations in the "Reaching the Omega Point" storyline, first appearing in the prose story "Herald", published at BotCon Europe 1999-it was previously mentioned in the Cybertronix sections of "Broken Windshields" as home to the "Corumcan Corrupturs" (presumably meant to be the "Corumkan Corruptors") volleyblast team; Helex, which first appeared in issues #213 and #214 of the Marvel UK The Transformers comic, which was previously mentioned in "Trigger Warnings"; Dodecahex, which first appeared in issue #1 of 3H Productions' The Wreckers comic, and showed up in "Broken Windshields" as the place where Lio Convoy assassinated Supersonic, leading to the start of the Grand Uprising; Petrohex, which is an interesting case-Lower Petrohex was first mentioned in issue #22 of IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye, and to complement it, Upper Petrohex was mentioned in Ask Vector Prime-fittingly, the city is separated by a tributary of the Rust Sea; Polyhex, a Decepticon stronghold which first appeared in issue #17 of the Marvel The Transformers comic-it was mentioned in "Head Games" and "Trigger Warnings", the latter of which noted it was the home of Wolfang; Altihex, a city first seen in Dreamwave Productions' The War Within miniseries-it was previously mentioned in "Burning Bridges" and "Not All Megatrons", the former of which noted that a sonic canyon separated it and the city of Kalis, connected only by the Melpomene Bridge, somethign that is reflected here; Nuon, first mentioned as "Nuon City" in "Pilot (Part 1)", the first episode of the 2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon; and Protihex, the location of this story, an area that takes up much of Cybertron's south pole; it was another city created for Dreamwave's The War Within. There are a few more cities within Resistance territory, which this story and the following notes to be breakaway states. These include the Rageland states of Perihex, Triax, and Praxus, and Hyperious, the ruler of which we'll learn about in the next story, "Derailment". "Head Games" noted that Queen Rage had all but conquered Triax, and "Not All Megatrons" noted that she had since annexed Perihex; Praxus, too, has been annexed in that time. Perihex was first mentioned on the previously discussed Transformers edition of Risk; Triax was first seen in IDW Publishing's Autocracy; and Praxus (spelled here as Praxis, an error that "Derailment" will rectify), first seen in The War Within, and established to be the destroyed home city of Bluestreak (as mentioned in his original tech specs) in The Transformers Trilogy novel Hardwired. Hyperious, meanwhile, was first mentioned in "Flames of Yesterday", and previously appeared as renegade Autobot scientist Leatherhide's area of experimentation in "Not All Megatrons".
There are a number of contested cities on Cybertron, some of which are still mostly command of the Builders, some of which have been largely annexed by the Resistance, all of which are noted along the red line labelled as "The Front". These cities include: Vos, a city-state mentioned in the prose story "State Games" from Marvel UK's Transformers Annual 1986-it's been mentioned a few times before now, and "Trigger Warnings" mentioned that it bordered Iacon, having previously been home to Twirl before she fled to Iacon; Thetacon, which first appeared in IDW Publishing's Dark of the Moon prequel miniseries, Foundation- it was the location of the Cortex, Eject's head of operations, in "Broken Windshields"; Tesarus, first mentioned in issue #4 of IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye; Grimlock attempted to unleash the G-Virus on the Tesarus Arena in "Micro-Aggressions"; Ultrix, which showed up in IDW Publishing's Autocracy-it was mentioned in "Burning Bridges" as where Overshoot had served in the MCSF before being transferred to the Melpomene Bridge; Ky-Alexia, mentioned in DK Publishing's guidebook for the 2007 Transformers movie, Transformers: The Movie Guide-The AllSpark Almanac II noted it rested on the shores of the Mithril Sea, which is reflected here; Simfur, a city introduced in IDW Publishing's various movie tie-in comics, starting with the Movie Prequel mini-series, and was named for Transformers writer Simon Furman-it was previously mentioned in the Cybertronix sections of "Head Games"; Valvolux, a city mentioned in The Transformers Universe profile for Decepticon Triggercon Ruckus, published in issue #66 of the Marvel The Transformers comic; Yuss, a town mentioned in "The Magnificent Six!"-it was noted as being on the Hydrax Plateau near Stanix and Fort Scyk in "Not All Megatrons"; Proximax, seen in "The New World" and mentioned in the TransTech story "Gone Too Far"-it showed up in the previous story, "Cultural Appropriation", as the area of Cybertron the Monster Gobots attempted to lure humanity to before being stopped by Overshoot and his comrades gathered by the Oracle; Uraya, another original city from The War Within-it was mentioned a few times starting with "Broken Windshields", but most importantly it was mentioned as bordering Proximax in "Cultural Appropriation"; Kaon, a Decepticon-controlled city from The Dark Ages-it was mentioned as being home to the Museum of Decepticon Heritage in "Identity Politics", which was then seen in "Cultural Appropriation", and which is hear established as being partially located in the IPS territory; and Kolkular, seen in The War Within and established to be the capitol of Kaon in The Ultimate Guide, though here, it's a separate city-the name of Kolkular was previously used by Simon Furman (the writer of The War Within and The Ultimate Guide) in the semi-canonical Marvel Generation 2 sequel novella, Alignment, as a city that had been recreated by the Decepticons on the terraformed world of New Cybertron.
The Maximal Nation was introduced at the end of "Cultural Appropriation", after the Maximal High Council seceded from Builder control and pledged neutrality to both sides. Their octagonal territory (outlined with a pink border) is made up of the Tagon Heights, first seen (as the "Tagan Heights") in The Dark Ages. The states within the Heights include: Tetrahex, a city first mentioned in issue #1 of IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye; Ultirex, seen briefly in IDW Publishing's Autocracy series; Decagon, originally seen as an Autobot fortress in The War Within-the Risk game established that it and Tyrest were located around the Tagon Heights; Durax, a city mentioned in the third installment of the Shattered Glass-themed Around Cybertron comic strip in the Collectors' Club magazine-it was previously mentioned in "Not All Megatrons"; and Tyrest, a Decepticon-controlled city-state first seen in issue #164-#165 and #170-#171 of the Marvel UK The Transformers comic.
The Independent Predacus States are new and will be discussed in more detail in the story itself; it's obvious, though, that the Tripredacus Alliance has followed in the Maximal High Council's footsteps and created a nation of their own. Their city-states (outlined in a purple border) include: K'th Kinsere, first mentioned in issue #1 of IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye; Burthov, a city originally seen in IDW Publishing's Revenge of the Fallen prequel miniseries, Defiance-it was mentioned as Scylla's home in "Broken Windshields"; Kalis, a city seen through the storyline published in issues #164 through #169 in Marvel UK's The Transformers comic, mentioned as being separated from Altihex by one of the sonic canyons of Cybertron in "Burning Bridges"; Tarn, the home of Megatron first seen in "State Games"-"Head Games" established that Fortress Maximus was located there, serving as the Builder's maximum security prison before the outbreak of the Uprising; Galaxxon, seen in IDW Publishing's Autocracy series; and Praxium, first mentioned in "Flames of Yesterday".
Other features of Cybertron on the map include: the Rad Zone, an inhospitable area of Cybertron first seen in issue #78 of the Marvel The Transformers comic; several of the Sonic Canyons, which were originally mentioned in the tech specs of 1988 Autobot Headmaster Siren-they prominently appeared in "Burning Bridges" and "Cultural Appropriation"; the Mithril Sea, first mentioned in the tech specs of Autobot Mini-Vehicle Rook, sold as an exclusive at BotCon Europe 2002, and which was named for the metal seen in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings; the Rust Sea, Cybertron's most prominent sea, first mentioned in the letters' page of issue #162 of the Marvel UK The Transformers comic, which has gone on to appear in many stories across the Transformers franchise-it's been mentioned several times before now; and Rodimus' Folly, the only new location on the map. Like the Rad Zone, it is colored in a sort of purplish gray; we know from "Micro-Aggressions" and behind the scenes material from Jim and Dave that Hot Rod's tenure as Rodimus Prime was something of a disaster, and one can guess why, as Rodimus' Folly looks to be a massive crater.
Now, with that out of the way, we can get into the story proper.
Section 1: The previous story, "Cultural Appropriation", opened with a flashback to the early days of the war on Earth, as part of an extended pastiche of the original The Transformers cartoon. On first glance, then, this would also seem to be a similar flashback, featuring the Autobot and Decepticon Micromasters seemingly fighting one another on Earth; however, when it mentions how one of them begins having a "wracking cough," it quickly becomes apparent that something is off. Roadhandler was the leader of the 1989 Autobot Micromaster Race Car Patrol, who transformed into a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am sports car; he took a brief turn at a wrestling career in issue #55 of the Marvel The Transformers comic, hence his use of wrestling moves on poor Metrobomb. Metrobomb was a slight redeco of fellow Decepticon Micromaster Skystalker for the 1990 Zone toyline in Japan; a member of Metrotitan's Metrosquad, he transformed into a Porsche 959. "Decepti-creep" was a common insult from the original Sunbow The Transformers cartoon; also originating from there was the idea that Autobots had orange lasers, and Decepticons had purple. Free Wheeler the Lamborghini Countach (who was previously mentioned as a racer in the Iacon 5000 in "Broken Windshields") and Tailspin the Porsche 962 were two of the other three members of the Race Car Patrol; the fourth member, Swindler the DeLorean DMC-12, is nowhere to be seen in this story. Perhaps, given what we learn later, he's already dead. Roadhandler notes that an Earth-based car is larger than his alternate mode; this would make sense, as the average Micromaster is only slightly a few feet taller than a human in robot mode, certainly in line with his depiction in the Marvel comic. Astro ticks were mentioned in issue #5 of Devil's Due Press' G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers miniseries. The "huge triangular tower composed of girders" is the Eiffel Tower, a large tower in Paris, France, for reasons we'll learn more about later. Skyhopper was a Decepticon Micromaster from 1989, a Dassault Rafale fighter jet (who shared a mold with the Air Strike Patrol member Storm Cloud) who came with the helicopter Micromaster base, a helicopter that turned into a base that he could interact with in both of its forms. Starcatcher, meanwhile, is another example of a continuity-imported Mini-Con whose been made into a Micromaster; Starcatcher was one of the Mini-Con partners of Cybertron Astrotrain, sold as a Timelines exclusive toy from the Collectors' Club website in 2007. A redeco of Armada Comettor, he turned into both a six-wheeled moon buggy and landing gear for Astrotrain's space shuttle mode. Skyhopper's micro-bombs are just generic artillery, I believe.
The first Cybertronix break is here, which we'll get back to at the end of the story. In the Predacon font (created by Mainframe Entertainment for the Beast Wars cartoon), it translates into Preditron's The Predacon Manifesto. The detailing around it is obviously an upside-down Predacon symbol.
Section 2: Cheetor and Preditron were mentioned as being saved from Fortress Maximus back in "Head Games" (something that is brought up in the story multiple times), and are finally given some time to shine here, after receiving another namedrop in "Cultural Appropriation". Cheetor (whose history is one I'm sure you know of) was one of the first characters mentioned in relation to the Beast Wars: Uprising fiction, though again, this is his first true contemporary appearance; he was mentioned in Blackarachnia's profile in issue #25 of the Collectors' Club magazine as a member of Optimus Primal's unit alongside Blackarachnia and Nightscream, who lead the latter two in killing their leader and turning against the Builders after Rhinox and Silverbolt died and Rattrap was seemingly killed; Cheetor was injured during an attack on the Builders, after which Blackarachnia, Nightscream, and some others fled their reality; evidently, he was found and imprisoned by the Builders sometime after.
Preditron, the second of three protagonists of this story, is a complicated case. As discussed, he was mentioned back in "Head Games" as having been freed by from Fortress Maximus; that story noted he had founded the Tripredacus Council/Alliance before being usurped and imprisoned. "Cultural Appropriations" went even further, revealing he had written the manifesto on which the faction was founded. In any case, his origins are what are truly complicated. The name Preditron was first used for the Go-Bots toyline from Playskool, a division of Hasbro who made toys for younger children. He was an unruly version of Beast-Bot, one of the main characters from the line, who had been altered by an accident into a villain, who transformed into a robotic wolf. This Preditron would be imported into Generation 1 continuity in the 2010 Wings Universe story "A Team Effort", as one of the Decepticon Warlords early on in the days of the Great War, leading his sub-faction of Destrongers, before being assassinated by Deathsaurus. The name would show up again in hidden text in the TransTech comic "Timeless", before being introduced to the world of Beast Wars: Uprising in "Head Games", as previously discussed. The name and the fact that he turns into a beast is about all this Preditron shares with the Wings Universe one; this version of the character is an honorable bot, whose writings would lead to the creation of the Predacon faction, with him being described as the first of the Predacon proto-race. His personality, and way of speaking, is influenced both by Beast Wars Dinobot (likely establishing that, at least in this universe, Dynobot took to heart Preditron's teachings), and the honorable Klingon Starfleet member Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation, according to co-writer David Bishop. His form, meanwhile, is repurposed from Armada Predacon, a slight retool of Beast Wars Transmetal Megatron. Predacon, like Megatron, turned into a robotic Tyrannosaurus rex with hoverfans, and also came with two Mini-Con partners, Side Burn and Skid-Z. Aside from that though, Preditron's personality is completely different from Predacon's: Predacon was a mad scientist obsessed with merging Transformer bodies with organic material. Notably, his appearance in the story's artwork seems to have been based on the washed-out stock photography of Armada Predacon's toy that was present on Predacon's wiki page at the time of its writing. Relatedly, the Tripredacus Council having usurped the founders of the Predacons had occurred before in the Club's fiction, with BotCon 2006's "Dawn of Future's Past" comic and BotCon 2009's Razorclaw's tech specs establishing that the original Decepticon Predacon leader had been assassinated by the Council.
Cheetor's depiction in this story is largely influenced by his more mature, more questioning personality in Beast Machines. Neither this story nor the following one really describes what he looks like; it mentions here that he has a yellow face, a feature only his technorganic body in Beast Machines had, but when questioned, Jim figured he likely had his first Transmetal body from Beast Wars. A little error here, as Cheetor's internal monologue claims it's been five stellar cycles since the war started, not the correct six as seen on the map.
Section 3: We're going to wait until the end of the story to get into who Star Dasher is, for reasons that will become apparent. This is the first time we've seen the Resistance lobotomize Builders trapped in their vehicular forms and used as vehicles; a similar idea showed up in "Intersectionality", when, running out of options, Magmatron had Dead End lobotomize Trypticon so Full-Tilt could take back control of the massive Decepticon's form. "Safe Zone Alpha Two" is just generic jargon. Autojetter was one of the Predacon Autorollers from Beast Wars II. A redeco of one of the unreleased Generation 2 Auto Rollers, he turned into a F/A-18 fighter jet; we don't know what his Beast Upgrade form it is, but given the mention of him having "cerulean wings," he could be a bird or a flying insect of some type.
Queen Rage first showed up back in "Broken Windshields", the Beast Wars: Uprising version of Rāge, a jellyfish Transformer who resided alone on the planet Wednesday as its ruler, as seen in the prose story "To Jellyfish with Love! Cry Out, Stampy Blade", published in the Beast Wars Neo manga's collected edition. As previously mentioned, Queen Rage's ambition to create Rageland was hinted at early on; it was mentioned in "Head Games" how, after Lio Convoy disrupted the game she was meant to be part of, she had taken over Triax, and "Not All Megatrons" had mentioned how she had turned her attentions to Perihex. This is the first mention of how Cybertron's satellite networks were destroyed; the Gung Ho was Big Convoy's ship from Beast Wars Neo, and it was previously mentioned as part of Cybertron's fleet in "Intersectionality", having since become part of the Resistance like the crew of the Dinosaur. Aleph-2 is derived from aleph, the first letter of the Semitic abjad writing systems. Note that despite his importance to the Resistance, Cheetor's been shut out of Lio Convoy's circle, a grave portent for things to come. It's established here that the Independent Predacus States are a recent development, still working towards establishing their borders. Radio Free Cybertron was first mentioned back in "Broken Windshields" as an underground pirate broadcast, named for the real-world Radio Free Europe radio organization and the Transformers fan podcast of the same name, while ICS is the Iacon Communication Service, mentioned in the previous few stories and originating from IDW Publishing's Robots in Disguise ongoing. It's established here that it's been about a year since "Cultural Appropriation", with the mention of the Maximal Nation's formation. Psycho-Orb was a Predacon armadillo introduced in the 2004 Japanese toyline, Robotmasters. A redeco of the Beast Wars Maximal Armordillo, he was a Maximal protoform who was recovered by the Predacons and implanted with a shell program, similar to Blackarachnia and Inferno in the Beast Wars cartoon. He had great defensive capabilities and psychokinetic powers. The details about Cybertron's orbit and tilt are new, I believe; axial tilt refers to the angle of a planet's rotation axis in its relationship with a planet's orbit. Earth's tilted about 23.5 degrees from its orbital plane for reference. The Protihex Arena's introduction has sinister undertones, for reasons that will become clear soon...
Section 4: Ikard was a Maximal squid from Beast Wars II. A redeco of Beast Wars Maximal Claw Jaw, he was the cousin of Scuba (the Japanese counterpart of Claw Jaw), a courier and something of a know-it-all, who came with the Tako Tank, a large, squid-themed vehicle with water-squirting features and other gimmicks. His mannerisms in this story are inspired by the similarly named Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation; in fact, according to Takara toy designer Hisashi Yuki, his name was a deliberate combination of "ika," the Japanese word for "squid," and Picard's name. We'll come back to the Manifesto mentioned here in a bit. In addition, there's a lot of little sections for the next few pages, such that the annotations for those sections will be very brief, if at all.
Section 5: "Lotus position" is a real-world meditation pose, I'm sure you've seen it before. Roadhandler's luck appears to have taken a turn for the worse; Free Wheeler and Tailspin don't appear at all for the rest of the story. We previously met Ser-Ket back in "Head Games", one of Buzzclaw's few friends who excitedly pushed him to get involved with the Resistance, only for his death (planned by the higher ups as a necessary sacrifice) to render her disillusioned with the Resistance. The seeming loyalty to Ikard she shows here is merely a front, as we'll see. The reveal of the Micromaster POWs being forced to fight in Games ironically parallels "Micro-Aggressions", where captured Resistance members were forced by the Builders to fight one another in an attempt to restart the Games. Ser-Ket's hiss seems directed at Preditron, but it's really Lio Convoy's name that upsets her.
Section 6: As mentioned, the true nature of Buzzclaw's sacrifice in "Head Games" is quite different as its presented here with the Buzzclaw Memorial Games and Cheetor's knowledge of what went down; he was a winner of the Games, coasting off his former glory to get himself drinks at bars with little to no friends beyond Ser-Ket, who mostly pitied him. Cybershark took advantage of his desire to prove himself to Ser-Ket (having been somewhat shaken by the revelation that Lio Convoy had been influencing the Games and that his only victory in life might not have even been his own) to recruit him, sending him on a mission to Fortress Maximus where he fell under the thrall of the "ghost" of Cerebros, allowing the Resistance to take the giant Builder out by killing Buzzclaw while his link was active. "Hab-block" is presumably short for "habitation block," aka the living quarters.
Section 7: Drill Bit was a Predacon boll weevil from the second year of the Beast Wars toyline in 1997, an infantry soldier adept at burrowing underground for surprise attacks. His personality here probably owes something to his profile in IDW's Beast Wars Sourcebook, which characterized as him hiding his ambitions under a veneer of being a simple grunt, working his way up without revealing his ambitions to others. The Pack was Lio Convoy's black ops intelligence unit from IDW Publishing's The Gathering and The Ascending mini-series, who we'll learn more about in "Derailment".
Section 8: "Engex" was a beverage first mentioned in the prose story "Bullets", from the trade paperback collection of IDW Publishing's Last Stand of the Wreckers miniseries. Preditron is noted to be quite large for a proto-race Transformer, perhaps as a result of him being one of the first.
Section 9: Not much to note here, aside from the fact that Blackarachnia has grown cold towards Cheetor, when he was her original comrade in starting the first Resistance attempt, as previously mentioned. Note that Carpessa and Damaxus have gone dark...we'll find out why later.
Section 10: Lio Convoy's messages about Maximals and Predacons being one extend back to "Broken Windshields". Innermost energon was a concept introduced in IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye on-going, the energon that resides around a Transformers' spark, only leaking out when they're about to die. We'll learn more about Preditron's pillars later. "Bread and circuses" is a phrase attributed to Roman poet Juvenal, used to describe the ways that politicians gain public approval via distractions rather than public policy. Gladitorial combat has a long history in Transformers fiction, stretching back to the aforementioned "State Games". Cyberdroids, I've gone over: they're Transformers who were once Headmasters or Powermasters (and formerly, Targetmasters). The Oracle and the Pit are concepts I've gone over plenty of times by this point. Blackarachnia provides some foreshadowing with her comments about what the Builders might have in store. The "side-project" Cheetor mentions was Blackarachnia's encounters with Twirl and Wolfang in "Trigger Warnings", in which she never confirmed if she was there officially for the Resistance or not; this story seems to indicate it was the latter. Like Cheetor, Blackarachnia's Beast Upgrade body is never specified, though the phrasing of her pointing "an accusatory claw" at Cheetor seems to indicate she might have her Transmetal 2 body.
Section 11: Ser-Ket's pride in her heritage was previously seen in "Head Games". The mention of the reenactment of battles from Earth helps to reveal that the seeming Earth setting from earlier, including the faux Eiffel Tower, were copies of Earth locations. Ser-Ket recaps the events of "Head Games", and what she did after. Note that she insists that Buzzclaw won his Game fairly; even now, it's obviously a spot of contention for her, even though the majority of the Resistance seems to think he was courageous as well. Maxima, the first Maximal, is similar to Preditron in her somewhat complex origins. She was an original character created for Machinima's Combiner Wars cartoon, a native of Caminus who was killed during a fight between Computron and Mensaor, leading her friend, Windblade, to seek vengeance on all combiners. A sort of "virtual retool" of Windblade's original Generations toy, Jim sought to salvage her by putting her in a Beast Wars: Uprising story as a protagonist, but never had the time to write that story. Instead, she's introduced here as the first Maximal, further the connection between the Maximal race/faction and Fortress Maximus, as revealed in "Head Games"; the Cybertronix text will shed a little bit more light on her.
Section 12: This section is subject to an error that sees the Cybertronix section on the bottom of page 14 cover up half of the first paragraph. In full, it should read:
"Cheetor sat and fumed, Blackarachnia had well and truly piston-blocked him. He didn't think it was just paranoia that he had never truly been able to get close to Lio Convoy. His potential cachet as First Resistor had put him in a difficult political position as soon as he was sprung from Fort Max. He didn't think Lio Convoy himself was insecure enough to worry about that sort of thing, but consciously or unconsciously he had people like Blackarachnia to handle it for him."
Ikard barks out a "come," similar to Picard, and his ordering of "visco, 20-weight, hot" to his quarter's systems emulates that of Picard's common request of "tea, Earl Grey, hot," to his quarter's replicator. In addition, the description of his room sounds like Picard's quarters onboard the Enterprise. Visco is a drink mentioned in the 2010 Aligned continuity novel, Exodus.
Section 13: Preditron's opponent and Ikard's lackey is Gaidora, a continuity import of the Predacon griffin from Transformers Go!, another example of a Prime-style Predacon becoming a Beast Wars one. A redeco and retool of the Beast Hunters Predacon Lazerback, the original Gaidora was male, but as with several Beast Wars: Uprising characters, this version is female. Jurassanoids were previously mentioned in "Intersectionality" as Cybertronian versions of dinosaurs. The idea of "recommended tolerances" for transformation is a fairly generic idea, but might owe something to Spotlight: Orion Pax, where Rack and Ruin had lost their ability to transform thanks to them disabling the safeties that prevented it from happening too fast. Cyber-steel was mentioned in the Classics prose story "At Fight's End". On the bottom of page 16 is an illustration of the fight between Preditron and Gaidora, drawn by Matt Frank and colored by Gonçalo Lopes. I dunno if Ikard's electrical attack is something new or something from the Beast Wars II cartoon. Energo-whips are weaponry equivalent to energo-swords and the like. "Make it so" was a common way Picard phrased affirmatives. And here, we see Lio Convoy's not quite as moral-minded as he used to be...
Section 14: Nothing to go over here.
Section 15: A couple Micromasters here, two members of the Air Strike Patrol, and two members of the Off-Roaders. The Air Strike Patrol was one of the initial Micromasters Patrols in 1989. As mentioned, Storm Cloud was a Dassault Rafale jet fighter, while Whisper, the team's leader, was the supposed top-secret F-19 stealth fighter. Tailwind, another member of the team with an A-10 Thunderbolt II alternate mode, showed up previously in "Broken Windshields"; Nightflight, the final member of the team with a Grumman F-14D Tomcat vehicle mode, doesn't show up in Beast Wars: Uprising at all. Meanwhile, the Off-Roaders are two continuity import Mini-Cons-turned-Micromasters, who were both sold as "Micron Boosters" in the Japanese version of the Energon toyline. Torque was a redeco of the Armada Adventure Mini-Con Team member Ransack and turned into a jeep. Crunch, meanwhile, was a redeco of Ransack's teammate Armada Dune Runner, and turned into a "sand rail"-style dune buggy. Crunch was also the name of a Micromaster who appeared as a casualty of war in the first issue of Dreamwave Productions Micromasters mini-series, who was created by James McDonough, Adam Patyk, and Rob Ruffalo; the two Crunches are combined into one here. Torque, Crunch, and Spoil (the final Adventure Team Mini-Con redeco, in his case of Armada Iceberg the snow plow) were established to be a team of Mini-Cons known as the Off-Road Mini-Con Team in the Facebook version of Ask Vector Prime; their name is similar to the 1989 Micromaster Autobot team, the Off Road Patrol, and Torque and Crunch are implied here to be members of that team, known as the "Off-Roaders" in this world. Cybo-dendons are part of the Cybertronian brain, first mentioned in issue #46 of the Marvel UK The Transformers comic.
Section 16: Like energo-whips, an energo-club is equivalent to an energo sword; this is presumably her toy's tail, which becomes a weapon in robot mode. "Color-fade" refers to a Transformers body turning various shades of grey upon dying, as seen with Optimus Prime in 1986's The Transformers: The Movie.
Section 17: Equilibrium circuits were mentioned in the Sunbow The Transformers episode "Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1".
Section 18: Nothing to note here.
Section 19: "Dark night of the spark" is presumably taken from "dark night of the soul," a term in Catholic spirituality that refers to a spiritual crisis in a journey towards union with God. It comes from the title given to a poem by 16th-century mystic and poet Saint John of the Cross, who experienced such a crisis of faith.
Section 20: The two faux monuments that Preditron comes across here are the Statue of Liberty, located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York, the United States of America, and a painted-on stand of Big Ben, AKA the Elizabeth Tower, a massive clock tower located at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, the United Kingdom. The junkyard he happens upon, meanwhile, appears to be just that. Chronometers have been mentioned a number of times throughout Transformers fiction, possibly starting with issue #272 of the Marvel UK The Transformers comic, and is essentially a fancy way of referring to a watch or clock. Here, we see the Vehicons proper for the first time, after they were hinted back in "Not All Megatrons"; creations of Galva Convoy (as manipulated by a mysterious entity whose identity will be properly revealed next story, though it has been heavily hinted at), powered by anti-sparks. The jamming field is also inherent to the Vehicons, something that wasn't part of their depiction in the original Beast Machines cartoon; we'll learn why next story. Roadhandler and Torque both get reformatted here into Tank Drones here. Another feature the original Vehicons didn't have that these do is an ability to speak, albeit limited to three words: "Seek. Locate. Destroy." Roadhandler's transformation into a Tank Drone is like a dark mirror of the way the Maximals transformed in Beast Machines, enveloping their bodies in light that goes outward from their center as they morphed between robot and beast mode.
Section 21: Nothing much to note here.
Section 22: More about the Vehicons origins will be revealed next time in "Derailment".
Section 23: Here, we see Aero Drones as well, leaving the third batch of initial Vehicons, the Cycle Drones, to appear in the next story. Ikard's warped transformation here is a little homage to when Picard was assimilated by the Borg to become Locutus. Art on page 25 by Josh Burcham represents this transformation, with Ikard's infected form being based on the European-exclusive "Transmetal" version of Beast Wars Claw Jaw, sold with a VHS of a Beast Wars episode which varied by country. Also in the art one can see the remains of a Tank drone. And with that, we set the stage for the explosive finale...
Before we get into the Cybertronix sections, like "Not All Megatrons", we have a Beast Wars Sourcebook-style profile for Star Dasher, written by Christopher Colgin, who also provides the art for his robot, train, and space shuttle modes. Here, we properly learn who and what Star Dasher is. The character was originally mentioned in the Wings Universe Facebook page and BotCon 2014 tie-in Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur as a deceased member of the Star Seekers, a crew of space pirates including Cybertronians and other various species. Named for a 2004 My Little Pony character, he was created by Jesse Wittenrich, and was described as a bot so loyal to his captain that he ended up making others suspicious of his loyalty, resulted in his death. For his physical appearance, he's based on the version of Astrotrain sold in the Premium Edition Decepticon Triple Changers two-pack with Blitzwing, a redeco of the original Astrotrain toy, bizarrely rendered in white, orange, and purplish-blue rather than the classic white and purple.
The Star Seekers originate from the Aligned continuity, where they had originally been planned to be the main antagonists of season three of the Prime cartoon, hunting down Cybertronians looking for vengeance for their planet being colonized and abandoned by the Transformers. However, with the event of Beast Hunters, these plans were scrapped, leaving them only with a few appearances elsewhere. They were introduced in the 2011 novel Exiles, appearing in the 2014 follow-up novel Retribution, were intended to appear in the short-lived Chinese MMO Transformers Online, and Thundertron, the Star Seeker leader, even received a toy in the Prime toyline. The green symbol seen here comes from the Transformers Online game; a white version of the symbol was seen on his toy and on his packaging. In a little cute alteration, Star Dasher retains his Decepticon insignia on his wings and front part of his train mode, but the rubsign on his right leg replaces the hidden Decepticon logo with a hidden Star Seeker symbol.
Cannonball was a Decepticon pirate with a station wagon alternate mode introduced in Cybertron, a redeco of Cybertron Red Alert. An Aligned version of him was mentioned as a Star Seeker in Exiles, while BotCon 2014's "Hoist the Flag" comic and surrounding fiction depicted him as the leader of the Star Seekers in the Wings Universe. The original Cannonball's Cyber Key Code bio revealed that Cannonball wasn't just his identity, but a name used by a series of pirate captains, creating the reputation of an immortal pirate captain, in homage to the character Dread Pirate Roberts from the 1973 book The Princess Bride by American writer William Goldman, and its 1987 film adaptation. According to his bio, Cybertron Cannonball was the 10th pirate to bear the name, while the Wings Universe Cannonball was the fifth. Star Dasher was mentioned as serving under one of the older captains, possibly Cannonball the Third, as seen here. Nightmare Fuel was a beverage first seen in issue #11 of IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye; the term "nightmare fuel" originated from the comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000, which was then popularized as a term by the website TV Tropes. Kolar was planet mentioned in the prose story "Paradox" from the 90's BotCon storyline "Reaching the Omega Point", home to a race of synthetic aliens dedicated to music, who lived in sky-based cities of ember and crystal. Aether crystals are new; aether was the "fifth element" in ancient and medieval science, following fire, water, wind, and air, supposedly a material that fills the universe beyond the "terrestrial sphere" of Earth. Deathballs were little, golf ball-like explosives seen in the Super-God Masterforce episode "Ginrai: God On of Rage!!"
The Nebulon is both Cyclonus' Targetmaster partner Nightstick and Headmasters Stepper/Ricochet's partner Nebulon. See the annotations for "Not All Megatrons" for more on his origin; the Cybertronix in that story mentioned how he had become a space pirate after the end of the war. The two Headmaster mercenaries that hunted down the the Star Seekers are bounty hunters (though one of them isn't fond of that term) from Transformers fiction. The first, Devcon, was an Autobot bounty hunter seen in the Sunbow The Transformers episode "The Gambler", a space-based Autobot with a spacecraft alternate mode who hunted down Decepticons; he previously went up against the Star Seekers as one of the Cybertronian Knights in "Hoist the Flag". His Headmaster partner, Slizardo, was a little reptilian alien also seen in "The Gambler", a former stooge of the Decepticon-aligned crime boss on Monacus, Lord Gyconi, who would turn against his boss and help Devcon and Smokescreen save a group of Autobots who had been captured, before becoming Devcon's partner. However, in the later episode "Grimlock's New Brain", he showed up as the partner of the Decepticon-employed mercenary, the Skuxxoid, having evidently parted ways with Devcon in the intervening time. Devcon's partner, meanwhile, is not named, but his identity is obvious from context clues; he's Death's Head, the alien mechanoid and "freelance peacekeeping agent" who showed up in Marvel UK's The Transformers comic, starting with issue #113, who was created by Simon Furman and Geoff Senior. He was owned by Marvel, rather than Hasbro (hence his name not being directly mentioned), thanks to him appearing in a one-page comic before his Transformers appearance, and would go on to star in his own series, appearing on and off in the 30-plus years since his original appearance. His Headmaster partner, Spratt, was also a Marvel creation, his human partner who first appeared in issue #1 of the Death's Head series in 1988. A native of the world of Dragon's Claws, a dystopian series set in the year of 8162, he was created by Simon Furman and Bryan Hitch, and would appear regularly in Death's Head's early appearances, before being killed by the mystic entity Charnel in 1992's Deaths Head II #3. Several other Star Seekers are namedropped in this section. Neurotoxin was one of the Dread Pirate Crew, modified clones of the 1987 Decepticon Clones, Pounce and Wingspan. They came in two types: land-based redecos of the Prime: Robots in Disguise Vehicon toy (of which Neurotoxin was one of) and air-based redecoes of the Japanese-exclusive Prime Jet Vehicon toy. Neurotoxin, like Star Dasher, was created by Jesse Wittenrich for Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur, and was named after a Cobra Sand Scorpion trooper from the G.I Joe: Valor vs Venom toyline. Guillotine, too, came from Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur; created by Jesse Wittenrich, he was a brutish bot teamed with the sadistic Gallows, who took their names from a pair of Cobra Plague Troopers. Bilge is another example of a Mini-Con turned Micromaster continuity import; a redeco of Armada Stormcloud, he was the leader of the Aqua Raider Team, and transformed into a speedboat armed with a missile launcher. He was exclusively sold with Volume 9 of the Japanese Legend of the Microns DVDs (the Japanese version of Armada) and was characterized in the pack-in Linkage manga as a pirate, complete with the accent. Tornado was a character seen in #15 of the Marvel UK The Transformers comic, a Decepticon with speed powers created by Simon Furman and Mike Collins. After appearing as a member of Squadron X in IDW Publishing's Last Stand of the Wreckers, he and fellow Squadron X member Ferak had toys of them created for BotCon 2014, where they were characterized as having joined up with the Star Seekers after the rest of Squadron X died. Ferak was a redeco of Universe Cyclonus, while Tornado was redecoed from his partner, Nightstick, hence him showing up as one of the smaller members rounded up by Devcon and Death's Head's Headmaster partners. Pillage (and Plunder) were names given to two of the Arms Mini-Cons sold with the Dread Pirate Crew by Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur; they were redecoes of the Arms Micron Igu from the Japanese Prime toyline, transforming from robotic lizard to gun. Pillage was the name given to the gray one, and was the partner of Thunderclap; Plunder, meanwhile, was the teal one, partnered with Rolling Thunder. Engex we've already gone over.
Trobulum was a super-tough, silver-white element seen in the Transformers Animated: Be the Hero choose-your-own adventure book, Web of Deception. The Inferno Creature was the name given to the creature morph of both Visser Three toys released in Hasbro's Animorphs toyline, based on K.A. Applegate's young adult science fiction series of the same name from Scholastic. The first Visser Three toy was armed with "Fire Fangs" that shot from the Inferno Creature's palms. Like Astrotrain, Star Dasher's shuttle mode can mass-shift, allowing for a small crew of Transformers who would be his robot mode's size to fit inside him. Star Dasher's gun is given the name Tech Wrecker, after a machine that could disrupt technology seen in the Rescue Bots episode "Bots and Robbers". Boomshakes are little Energonicon explosive/seismic charges from the Angry Birds Transformers mobile game. Tekkaido was a Cybertronian martial art first mentioned in BotCon 2001 Arcee's tech specs.
Now, onto the Cybertronix section. When translated, it reads as the first portion of Preditron's The Predacon Manifesto, and reads as follows:
It is with great reluctance and a heavy spark that I sit down to pen my thoughts. Who am I to tell others what to do, how to live their lives? Yet, I find myself compelled. For today was the funeral of Maxima, first daughter of Fortress Maximus. Already those who consider themselves the heirs to the legacy of the Autobots are coalescing around her banner, that of her ever present, ever loyal lupanoid steed.
Fools! They seek to turn her into something in death that she never was in life -- a force of exclusion, walling us off from half our history. It is true that we proto-formers, we descendants of the Builders of Cybertron, have much to learn from the Autobots. Oh, not the sad, hollowed-out remains of the Autobots as they exist today, but the legacy they aspired to. Names such as Alpha Trion and Yoketron and Star Saber. But it is equally true that the Decepticons, with their calculus of brutality, have much to offer. I fear that, should the proto-races follow Maxima's example and walk entirely down the path paved by Guardian Prime and his progeny, they shall prove lacking in balance. The Autobot Code is a noble volume, full of high-minded principles, but it is a volume that works best for a society at peace. It ignores the reality that we Cybertronians are a violent race, whose conflicts have shaken from their orbits. To neglect the examples of the philosopher king Jhiaxus, the tactical geniuses Trannis, and the indomitable guerilla Razorclaw, is to court disaster.
And so, I have taken it upon myself to share my own musings, humble though they may be, of how the proto-formers could and should live their lives. I don't imagine this volume will be pleasing to the audio receptors of every member of the class to which I was forged. For that matter, I am certain that our Builder overlords shall find much in this work vexing. I have experienced the Assembly's hospitality on more than one occasion, and expect that I shall likely do so again in the future. It is not my intention to supplant the reflections of Maxima, but to supplement them. There has been enough artificial division among our kind already.
In combing through the writings of the great Decepticon leaders and thinkers of yore, I have been struck by certain themes that echo through the ages. I have attempted to reconcile these very different individuals, actions and reactions each to a unique set of circumstances, into a single coherent code of behavior. I have observed eight foundational elements -- I shall call them pillars -- that undergird the thoughts and actions of the most notable and successful of the Decepticon heroes. Each pillar shall receive its own chapter, with all due analysis, but, taken in toto, they are:
1) Ambition. Not the blind ambition of the vainglorious, but the laser-focused ambition of a bot who understand the universe and seeks to secure his or her highest place in it. To stand still is to fall backwards.
2) Honor. In understanding that one's word is bond, and that those who violate oaths will soon find themselves mistrusted and, eventually, ostracized. Remember, too, that honor is never blind, and should honor lead you down the wrong path, perhaps your understanding of the situation needs revision.
3) Valor. It is on the field of battle that one is most fully alive. Never shirk from this reality.
4) Pride. The earned pride of a bot of accomplishments, not the foolish hubris of those who are slaves to their own ego.
5) Loyalty. Loyalty based on mutual respect, given to a superior or subordinate or equal based on their history. Loyalty is not a shackle, to be welded on and never shed, but a rope by which you can pull up your allies when they stumble, by which you can collectively ascend to the highest peaks.
6) Justice. Those who do ill to you or your kin should face the appropriate retribution. Those who stand by you in times of tribulation, likewise, are deserving of your unswerving support.
7) Sacrifice. Nothing in this universe comes without effort. Be willing to give of yourself when the cause is worthy.
8) Cunning. A fair fight is one in which you might lose: avoid fair fights. Seek every advantage, as long as you can do so with your head held high.
I have attempted to live my life by this pillars, though it is only recently that I have thought to codify them. I have not always succeeded, but I have always made a sincere attempt. It is my fervent hope that others might find this mindset, this Way of the Warrior, to be of value. In each of the eight subsequent chapters I shall expound upon these pillars with examples-- one might call them parables -- drawn from my own experiences, and my musings on morality, and from the rich history of the tragic but, at its core, noble Decepticon cause. For, in the words of the mind-maelstrom Scrash, "Those who spurn the corpus of history will inevitably become her corpses."
The Predacon Manifesto was mentioned in "Cultural Appropriation", and follows the naming conventions of similar real-world manifestos, such as The Communist Manifesto. A little more info about Maxima, including her being the "daughter" of Fortress Maximus, and her loyal lupanoid steed, as mentioned in "Cultural Appropriation". Alpha Trion is an obvious reference, the ancient Autobot who lead the resistance against the Quintessons and would later turn Orion Pax into Optimus Prime, as seen in the Sunbow The Transformers cartoon, and he's since gone on to appear in a similar role in later media. Yoketron was the sensei of the Autobot Cyber-Ninja Corps, seen in the Animated episode "Five Servos of Doom", named for Diaclone, Micro Change, and Transformers designer Hideaki Yoke; a Generation 1 version of him was mentioned in "A Team Effort". Star Saber was the leader of the Autobots from Victory, an honorable swordsman and Autobot Brainmaster with a space fighter alternate mode. Guardian Prime was mentioned in issue #8 of Dreamwave Productions' guidebook series More than Meets the Eye; created by James McDonough and Adam Patyk, he was listed as the second Matrix bearer, preceding Sentinel Prime. Years later, an Ask Vector Prime section in The AllSpark Almanac II would assign the name Guardian Prime to the fourth, Rodimus Prime-like Matrix bearer seen in the Sunbow The Transformers episode "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4". The Autobot Code was mentioned a few times as a sort of honorable guideline for Autobots several times in the Marvel UK The Transformers comic, before physically appearing as a tome in issue #265. Jhiaxus was a commander (a "Liege Centuro") of the Cybertronian Empire in Marvel's Generation 2 comic, created by Simon Furman and Derek Yaniger, a former Decepticon jet fighter who hid his violent impulses under a veneer of high-minded advancement, showing disdain for the "primitive" Autobots and Decepticons. Later, he appeared in IDW Publishing's comics as a mad scientist serving Nova Prime, and these two portrayals are combined here, with this version of Jhiaxus being labelled a "philosopher king". Trannis was first mentioned in the text feature "Cybertron: The Middle Years!" in issue #83 of the Marvel UK Transformers comic. His creator is unclear (it could have been Simon Furman, the main British writer at the time, or possibly Ian Rimmer, the comic's editor at the time), but he was established to be the leader of the Decepticons on Cybertron between Megatron's departure to chase down Optimus Prime and the Autobots on the Ark and the reign of Lord Straxus in Polyhex. In 2004, 3H Productions toyed with the idea of releasing a redeco of Robots in Disguise Rail Racer (and his components Railspike, Rapid Run, and Midnight Express) as Dominus Trannis (made up of Astrotrain, Steamhammer, and Cowcatcher/Loco) for OTFCC 2004, an idea that was dropped, but later explored in the Facebook version of Ask Vector Prime, which also retconned the purple Decepticon leader seen in the flashback "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4" into being a version of Trannis. Dominus Trannis is nodded at by refering to Trannis as "tactical geniuses," in the plural. Razorclaw was the leader of the original Decepticon combiner team of the Predacons, transforming into a lion and forming Predaking's torso; he's been depicted as the founder of the Beast Wars Predacons in several pieces of club fiction, as mentioned earlier. The idea of "pillars" as a foundation upon which manifestos and ways of living are founded is an idea that has appeared throughout history; the oldest well-known example of this is the Five Pillars of Islam, part of the Muslim faith. Many of these pillars reflect the previously mentioned parallel of Dinobot and Preditron, while also reflecting the worse parts of the Decepticons and how they should not be part of the Predacon way; namely, the treachery of Starscream and the like. The "way of the warrior" is the translated term for bushido, the moral code followed by Japanese samurai, similar to what Beast Wars Dinobot followed. Scrash was High Regent of the Earth-based Decepticons in the Operation Combination toyline, story pages, and telephone audio adventures. He didn't have a toy or a physical appearance, but many fans theorized he was based on the European Predator leader Skyquake, thanks to several of the Predators being released in the Operation Combination toyline, and the fact that the audio adventures described him as having a huge jet mode. However, when Scrash appeared in the United EX storyline and the e-HOBBY comic "Badlands" (packed in with Generations Magnificus), it was revealed that he was more than he appeared, an entity of some sort that had possessed Skyquake and used him as a shell to hide his true nature. Ask Vector Prime, with input from Andrew Hall, the writer of Scrash's more recent appearances, established that he was a "bodiless terror," the result of "military science gone awry," and this story follows suit, describing him as a "mind-maelstrom." His quote is a variant on "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it," a phrase attributed to 19th/20th century Spanish-American philosopher and novelist George Santayana.