#3 - "Disclosure" / "Primeval Dawn," part 3

"Disclosure"

Credits

Story and Script - Rob Gerbracht / Art - Guido Guidi / Inks - Chuck Gibson and Vince Russell / Colors - Blond / Letters - Simon Bowland

Story

The Wreckers struggle to cope in the wake of Cyclonus' theft of the Divine Light (last issue). Tigatron and Ramulus feel they must soldier on, but Apelinq is crushed by fear that they're on a futile quest. When Rodimus jokes about the Akalouthans' rapid recovery, Glyph reminds him that this is a black mark for them all. Arcee wonders why she didn't forsee any of this, and why her precognitive visions have stopped, while CatSCAN reports that Fractyl and Rotorbolt still need extensive repairs. And to himself, Primal Prime fears these failures are a sign of his unworthiness to lead.

That evening in the ship, Primal Prime insists they leave at dawn. When Apelinq and Rodimus argue to help the Akalouthans rebuild, Prime tells them about his vision from the Oracle from last issue, and how they must rush to fulfil it. The next morning, Glyph declares over Tap-Out's protests that she's staying behind, and CatSCAN vows to remain as well. With a quick farewell, the others leave for a small system nearby.

Meanwhile, on the temporary homeworld of the Quintessons, Cryotec chats with them about Cybertron's new trans-organic nature. The Quintessons dismiss this, along with the loss of the Oracle, and suggest their business transactions are at an end. Cryotec agrees to escort them to their new home as promised, and reassures them that loose ends will be tied up.

The Wreckers land on a barren planet of ice; a lone life-signal is detected, and Primal Prime pushes the team to quickly investigate. The Wreckers soon find a sole Quintesson, who identifies himself as Al-Badur, Special Projects Researcher. He explains that the Quintessons were originally dispatched by Unicron to find Primus for him. But upon finding Primus dormant within Cybertron, they realized that controlling their own god was a unique opportunity, and decided to exploit Cybertron themselves. Though their early efforts to control Primus' power -- like the Plasma Energy Chamber -- were failures, they finally succeeded by creating a "wrapper" computer program around Vector Sigma to blunt Primus' influence over his creations. When researchers like Al-Badur warned against exerting more control, they were banished, and the Transformers' subsequent rebellion against the Quintessons proved them right.

Apelinq concludes that the Quintesson's "wrapper" was the Oracle, and that Primal Prime's vision was a breakthrough warning from Primus to secure the Divine Light while the other teams were sent on false errands. Al-Badur offers to reveal the secret of the Divine Light to the Wreckers in exchange for a ride off the planet; Prime agrees, but insists he stay with them until the artifact is recovered.

Just after the Quintesson agrees, the Wreckers are attacked by a swarm of Sharkticons! The Wreckers fight back fiercely while guarding Al-Badur, quickly decimating the mindless horde. They then check in with the ship, where a similar attack was repelled by Tigatron, Tap-Out, and Skywarp.

When the Wreckers board the ship, Al-Badur notes the presence of the Vok on Tigatron, and declares them to be enemies of both Transformers and Quintessons. As Skywarp prepares the ship for lift-off, Al-Badur explains that the Divine Light is a direct conduct to Primus itself -- and can grant its powers to whoever wields it!

Elsewhere, at a disreputable spaceport CSSB-16, Devcon is talking to a number of mechs in deep shadow, wanting to recruit them to help him destroy Cyclonus. The four agree, and stand revealed as the scarred survivors of Magmatron's Dinobots...

"Primeval Dawn", part 3

Credits

Story and Script - Simon Furman / Art - Makoto Ono / Inks - Chuck Gibson and Vince Russell / Colors - Glass House Graphics / Letters - Simon Bowland

Story

Inside the Ark on prehistoric Earth, Primal Prime hangs in unconscious limbo. While Airazor and Tigatron ponder their next move, Ramulus testily insists on preparing for another attack from the Predacons. Airazor and Tigatron awkwardly leave the room to confer, and Ramulus huffs that he won't be waiting idly...

Primal Prime, meanwhile, is receiving a vision from the Vok. He learns that the Vok were once voracious destroyers of all reality; they eventually were enlightened with understanding of a grand scheme for a unified multiverse, then dedicated themselves to guarding and nurturing that plan.

Meanwhile, at the Predacon base, Tarantulus oversees the construction of a transwarp portal. Spittor gripes about leaving their earlier fight with the Maximals (last issue), which provokes Ravage to threaten him for dissent. Tatantulas calls them off, and promises Spittor a fight very soon.

In his vision, Primal Prime talks with the Vok about how they can recover from the loss of the Matrix to Tarantulus. The Vok declare that the solution is to become pure energy to rival the Matrix, then suddenly suffuse themselves into Prime's body...!

Back in real-time, Airazor and Tigatron wonder about their failure to contact the Vok when the Ark is suddenly under Predacon attack! While Airazor activates the defense systems, Tigatron tries to get Ramulus -- only to find that he's disappeared!

As the Predacons begin breaking through, Tigatron laments their abandonment ...and Primal Prime steps forward, announcing himself as the vessel of the Vok, ready for battle!

Notes and Comments

• The comic book was published by 3H Productions, the organizers of the Official Transformers Collectors' Convention. It was available to attendees of OTFCC 2004.
• This issue also includes character profiles for Apelinq and Ramulus.
• The surviving Dinobots are Magmatron, Terranotron, Triceradon, and Dinotron.
• After the publication of Transformers: Universe #3, Hasbro stripped 3H Enterprises of all licenses to Transformers, citing 3H's ongoing problems of meeting customers' orders problems as a breach of contract. As a result, it seems unlikely that any more issues of Transformers: The Wreckers will be published.