#10 - "The Route of All Evil"

Credits

Writer - James McDonough and Adam Patyk / Pencils - Don Figueroa / Inks - Elaine To / Letters - Ben Lee / Colors - Espen Grundetjern and Rob Ruffolo

Story

On a storm-swept island, Starscream has the Combaticons on military review, and isn't pleased with their performance. After chastizing Swindle for subversion, he sends them to attack Sky Lynx as a training exercise. But when Sky Lynx proves tougher than expected, Starscream stops the drill -- just as Predaking rises from the sea! As the Combaticons fight back, Starscream radios Soundwave for help, unaware that his other Decepticons are already reaffirming their loyalty to Megatron...

At the Pentagon, Marissa Fairborne is debriefed by a Colonel on the EDF's mission with the Autobots. He chides her for becoming emotionally close to them, then orders Project: Centurion restarted. Citing the danger of reverse-engineering alien technology, Marissa refuses at first, but reluctantly agrees when he reminds her of the stakes. She is then dismissed, and we get a glimpse of his name tag, "Witwicky."

Meanwhile, in the Alaskan wilderness, Brawn and Ratchet lead the Autobots along a distant mountain trail. As Wheeljack wonders where they will stay now that the Ark has been destroyed, Brawn unveils a sprawling construction site manned by Autobots, the future home of Autobot City.

Back at the island, the Combaticons form Bruticus against Predaking's assault; Brutus attacks quickly with raw fury, but Predaking triumphs with superior intellect and superior firepower. Meanwhile, Starscream has escaped to the Nemesis, where he's suddenly shot by Soundwave -- who's back under Megatron's command!

Declining to take revenge, Megatron instead recalls the origins of the Decepticons -- how he, in defiance of the High Council, explored Cybertron's forbidden ruins and found a Golden Disc etched with arcane knowledge, then used evidence of the Council's lies and corruption to rally others to his side. Megatron also belatedly thanks Starscream for slaughtering the Council (see Transformers: The War Within: The Age of Wrath issue #1), as he claims they were under the influence of the Quintessons. Taking this in stride, Starscream teases Megatron with news of Sunstorm's awakening and recent adventures on Earth -- which prompts Megatron to quote prophecy, then turn to Shockwave and start demanding answers...

On Cybertron, while a stranger examines the shattered remains of Blitzwing's head, Ultra Magnus gives new defense zone assignments to the Autobots. Hot Rod wonders why he's relegated to security duty, given his past leadership experience; Magnus explains it's merely a result of their current needs, but Hot Rod bristles under the explaination and Springer's teasing. And on Quintessa, the Quintesson watch Hot Rod's reaction with pleasure, then summons their Extraction Team. With a thrown javelin, the team arrives, led by a stern-faced female Transformer...

Notes and Comments

• The statues of ancient Transformers found by Megatron in his flashback are the Autobot Dai Atlas and the Decepticon Deathsarus. Dai Atlas is from Transformers: Zone, while Deathsarus is from Transformers: Victory, two Japanese-only Transformers cartoon series from Takara.
• The female Transformer summoned by the Quintessons is Elita-1, who appeared in the original Transformers cartoon episode "The Search for Alpha Trion" as a former companion of Optimus Prime.