#1 - "Night of the Combaticons"

Credits

Writer - Brad Mick / Pencils - Don Figueroa / Inks - Elaine To / Letters - Ben Lee / Colors - Espen Grundetjern and Rob Ruffolo

Story

On a pale moonlit evening on Earth, Starscream stands in smug pride. He is pleased at having orchestrated the defeat of Earth's remaining Autobots (as seen in issue #2 of the War and Peace limited series). He looks up as Jazz's battered body is held before him; after an exchange of insults, Jazz is handily disabled by the Decepticon gestalt Bruticus. But Starscream's good mood is spoiled -- two Autobots are missing!

Nearby, a battle-weary Brawn and Ratchet are heading back towards the Ark's crash site. They need to get inside and radio Cybertron for help, but the Ark's defenses are malfunctioning, and identify them as foes. The two attempt to rush past the defenses, but Brawn is pinned down by the barrel of a photon cannon. Ratchet warns Brawn not to move or make a sound, but the cannon prepares to fire...

Meanwhile, on Cybertron, Runamuck and Runabout are searching the ruins of Shockwave's tower, looking for a working CR chamber to heal their injuries. They find a set of stasis tubes containing various deactivated Transformers. Runamuck investigates a glowing tube at one end of the room, whereupon a hand bursts out and grabs him by the neck! Nearby, Runabout is investigating some odd data in the computer when he suddenly begins to malfunction and collapses. The glowing figure burns off Runabout's head, then offers a prayer before flying off into space...

Back on Earth, Starscream and Bruticus have tracked Brawn and Ratchet to the Ark. He sends Bruticus after him, with a warning to leave the Ark undamaged. In the Ark, Brawn mutters about how Ratchet saved him by judicious use of firefighting foam, as they pass a cell where the rest of Starscream's forces are imprisoned. The two reach Teletran-1 just as Bruticus begins his attack -- the giant tears through the Ark's defenses, then rips open the cell and frees the other Decepticons. In response, Brawn sends an emergency message to an Autobot shuttle bound for Earth; he explains to mission leader Bumblebee how Starscream used the other Decepticons as a feint, capturing the other Autobots with Bruticus once they thought the attack was over.

Just as the message completes, the ceiling of the Ark collapses as Bruticus peels through the hull. Snapping on a battle mask, Brawn engages the goliath, even as Ratchet sets Teletran-1 to self-destruct. The two Autobots then run outside, barely leaping clear as the Ark explodes! The Autobots' celebration is short-lived, though, as Bruticus rises up out of the flames, and Starscream is furious at the destruction of the Ark.

In orbit above Earth, Bumblebee's shuttle drops out of warp space just as a massive fireball buzzes past them. The fireball zooms toward Earth, briefly revealing within the glowing figure from Cybertron -- a Decepticon flier, glowing with fiery yellow...

Notes and Comments

• This series continues soon after the events of the War and Peace limited series.
• Starscream's coronation fantasy is from Transformers: The Movie, down to his gaudy crown and cape, and his outrage when the ceremony is interrupted.
• Several of the Transformers in Shockwave's stasis tubes are various Japanese recolored toys and characters, including Artfire, Stepper, the Diaclone version of Ultra Magnus, Soundblaster, and Twincast.
• Bumblebee's shuttle team is composed entirely of minibots, including Cosmos, Seaspray, Cliffjumper, Powerglide, and Bumper. "Bumper" was the fan-given name for a yellow-colored minibot toy that was mispackaged as Bumblebee; this issue is the first canonical appearance of the character.