#2 - "Brothers' Burden"

Credits

Writer - Brad Mick / Pencils - Pat Lee / Inks - Rob Armstrong / Backgrounds - Edwin Garcia / Letters - Paul Villafuerte / Colors - Espen Grundetjern, Alan Wang

Story

Outside of the Ark in Oregon, Ramjet gets himself shot by the automated defenses, and is berated by Ultra Magnus for his blunt approach. As Magnus challenges the Autobots to come out and surrender, Optimus Prime and Grimlock watch from inside and ponder their next move. Meanwhile, after Shockwave disciplines Starscream for ejecting Megatron into deep space (see last issue), the shuttle lands on Cybertron, and the Decepticons are incredulous to see that he has indeed unified the planet and brought peace to Iacon itself.

Back at the Ark, an impatient Blitzwing threatens to destroy the nearby city of Portland, Oregon if the Autobots do not surrender immediately. He is immediately slapped down by Ultra Magnus, just as Optimus Prime and the Autobots step out and offer their surrender. Unknown to Magnus, however, Jazz leads a small team of Autobots away from the Ark and towards Portland for a covert mission of their own.

On Cybertron, security guards Topspin and Twin Twist are grousing about Shockwave's latest moves when they receive a call from Perceptor -- he has to speak with Shockwave immediately about some odd planetary motion from Cybertron. Inside, Shockwave is holding a briefing for the arriving Decepticons; they are to have an energy-transfer module installed to enable them to tap directly into Cybertron's core. Perceptor interrupts the meeting with his call, and Shockwave dismisses the others to see Octane.

As the Autobots of Earth are being hered aboard Sky Lynx, Optimus Prime scuffles briefly with Blitzwing and Ultra Magnus, but is quickly subdued. The Autobots are then led to a cell, where Prowl's survey team awaits them. Cliffjumper accuses Mirage of being a traitor for turning them over to Ultra Magnus, but Prowl explains that Magnus had them repaired and recharged, and is only imprisoning them because of uncertainty over their reactions. As they head for Cybertron, Grimlock journeys alone to the Arctic, where he finds a hidden cache from Megatron -- containing a Decepticon shuttle and the Dinobots in suspended animation.

While Thundercracker and Skywarp rest and weigh current events on Cybertron, Shockwave offers to take Soundwave as his lieutenant, then leaves as Astrotrain summons him on other matters. After Shockwave leaves, Soundwave dispatches Ravage to inspect a suspicious sound, but both are quickly ambushed and disabled by Starscream. And as Sky Lynx approaches Cybertron, Ultra Magnus argues with Shockwave over his new orders -- to deactivate Optimus Prime and the Autobots upon arrival...

Notes and Comments

• Jazz's team of Autobot escapees consist of Ratchet, Brawn, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, and Windcharger.
• No explaination is given for how Wheeljack survived his apparent death at the end of the previous Dreamwave Generation 1 limited series.
• Cliffjumper's accusation of Mirage being a traitor appears to be a small tribute to the second-season Transformers cartoon episode, "Traitor." As the name implies, the episode centers around Cliffjumper falsely accusing Mirage of betraying the Autobots to the Insecticons.
• Ultra Magnus' team is identified as "Security Team Dion." This seems to be a sidelong reference to the original Transformers cartoon episode "War Dawn," which presents Optimus Prime as he was before the war, along with his girlfriend Arial and his friend Dion.
• Though unnamed, the three Decepticons manning the communications center are Spectro, Spyglass, and Viewfinder, whose toys combine to form the camera Reflector.