Transformers: Spotlight #2 - "Nightbeat"

Credits

Writer - Simon Furman / Art - M.D. Bright / Letters - Sulaco Studios / Colors - John Rauch

Story

On the trail of a mythical artifact -- a flight controller proportedly from a long-vanished Cybertron ship -- Nightbeat travels to Gorlam Prime, only to find his trader-contact dead, the ship deserted, and the controller missing. Disguising himself as a vehicle of the technologically-blossoming Gorlam Prime, Nightbeat descends to the planet's surface and begins searching excavation sites.

At the fourth site, Nightbeat finds a few faint clues, hints of Cybertronian tech existing on Gorlam Prime long before the rise of its native population. Taking precautions, he uploads his findings to his ship, then heads deeper, unware that he's being followed by four transforming mechanoids.

Nightbeat soon finds a vast underground network of tunnels leading to a sealed door. Ignoring caution over his curiosity, Nightbeat presses forward, revealing a massive cavern containing a huge mercurial lake -- a dimensional portal of incredible size. He starts to investigate, but is confronted by the mechanoids, who mutely draw guns and try to take him captive. Nightbeat escapes and races for the surface, using every trick available to evade them; unfortunately, the other robots use their superior speed, weaponry, and knowledge of the tunnels to take him down!

Realizing too late that his trip to Gorlam Prime was an elaborate trap, the incapacitated Nightbeat is taken to a laboratory, where his mind is violated with a cerebral implant and unspecified instructions...

After a futile search of the Durzan Sector, Nightbeat receives a call from Optimus Prime, calling him to rendezvous on Earth for assistance. Nightbeat gladly agrees, but can't shake the odd sense that he's missing something -- and is unaware of the ship's computer, prompting him for action on a file uploaded earlier...