Transformers: Stormbringer #1

Credits

Writer - Simon Furman / Art - Don Figueroa / Letters - Robbie Robbins / Colors - Josh Burcham

Story

Aboard the Autobot science vessel Calabi-Yau, Jetfire leads the Technobots on a survey mission over the lifeless remains of Cybertron. They're surprised to find a faint energy trace; analysis reveals it to be an energon hybrid, perhaps a sign that the planet is healing itself. To investigate further, Jetfire, Strafe, Lightspeed, and Scattershot descend to the irradiated storm-ravaged surface, where they trace the energies to Thunderhead Pass, the site of the final conflict that led to Cybertron's destruction.

In the Autobots' Orbital Command Center, Optimus Prime has a flashback to the same cataclysmic battle on Cybertron, as Megatron rouses him for a final fight with their mutual adversary. The remebrance is interrupted as Searchlight delivers a priority communique from the Autobots on Earth, about the Decepticons' unexpected invocation of Siege Mode. Despite the gravity of the news, Optimus dismisses it to resume his introspection.

On Cybertron's surface, Scattershot wonders if their investigation might instigate another cataclysm, but Jetfire warns that merely ignoring their readings might make things worse. Jetfire recalls when the Decepticon scientist Thunderwing gravely informed his fellow researchers -- Autobot and Decepticon alike -- that Cybertron's war-ravaged atmosphere has been destroyed beyond recovery, and they must prepare for the inevitable cataclysm.

After launching a probe into the depths of Thunderhead Pass, the Autobots prepare to leave, but are suddenly ambushed by invisible enemies! Strafe and Lightspeed fall almost immediately, while Jetfire and Scattershot try to fight back but are quickly felled also. Missiles are fired from the surface upon the Calabi-Yau; Afterburner launches a distress buoy just as the ship explodes!

In another flashback, Optimus Prime recalls the final showdown as the Autobots and the Deceptions fight the Cybertron-destroying entity, and fears its return is inevitable.

And somewhere beneath Cybertron's surface, Jetfire is awakened by faint voices chanting rhythmically, and follows it. He discovers a group hailing the return of Cybertron's destroyer... Thunderwing!

Notes and Comments

• The text of the inside front cover reads:
  

  For countless years, civil war has gripped Cybertron -- an escalating series of conflicts between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons that have shaken the planet to its core. So focused on each frontier or beachhead, neither faction spared a thought for the planet itself, and the untold damage they were doing to it and their future. Until now...

• The events of this comic book series takes place shortly after the start of IDW's Transformers: Infiltration series.
• Searchlight's communication from Earth is the message sent by Ironhide in Transformers: Infiltration issue #3.