Escape Part Two

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"Escape Part Two"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	February 10, 2021
Cover date	January 2021
Written by	Brian Ruckley
Art by	Beth McGuire-Smith
Colors by	Priscilla Tramontano
Letters by	Jake M. Wood
Editor	David Mariotte, Tom Waltz, and Riley Farmer
Continuity	2019 IDW continuity

The Autobot refugee convoy encounters dangerous enemies and an ancient ally in the wilderness, while the Insecticons go behind Shockwave's back to raise an army.

Synopsis

The Insecticons enter Shockwave's hidden bunker—one which previously served as a stronghold of Exarchon's during the War of the Threefold Spark. Pushing past Skystalker, they demand an audience with their would-be benefactor. A displeased Shockwave pointedly reminds them that he told them to keep a low profile, and their antics in Iacon have only jeopardised his efforts further and put them all at risk of discovery. Bombshell demands to know the status of his cloning project, but the scientist waves them off by telling them that he'll contact them when the time is right. As they go, Shockwave's minion Soundblaster asks if he's told the Insecticons that he doesn't actually need the trio to finish his project. Shockwave answers: the Insecticons are dangerous, unknown quantities, and even they do not yet understand the full scope of their power... though he resolves to keep a close eye on Bombshell, the cleverest of the three, who's already probing the limits of his abilities.

Wheeljack, Nautica, and Hound have scraped together a Darkmount-bound evacuation convoy consisting of A'ovan refugees, former inhabitants of the Xeno-Quarter, injured Cybertronians, and Autobot guards. As they trundle out of Iacon, Wheeljack wonders aloud why Hound cares so deeply for the A'ovans, and Hound explains that his time out among the colonies broadened his horizons, and opened his eyes to the value of all life. Long ago, he once visited the A'ovan homeworld with Crosscut and Meteorfire, who introduced him to the planet's delicate beauty... and when the Thraal attacked, that beauty was almost lost forever. Hound sees it as his duty to preserve whatever remains of that world and Wheeljack agrees, but reminds his friend that their plan hinges on whether Highbrow and his compatriots can persuade Darkmount's notoriously temperamental senator to turn over the Arks.

In Crystal City's Academy of Research, Highbrow and his associates Geomotus, Azimuth, and Mainframe put through a call to Highbrow's old colleague, the reclusive Senator Straxxus. Haughty and arrogant as ever, the theoretician-turned-senator is far more interested in discussing his latest scientific findings regarding the planet's geology than the Arks. Geomotus, on the other hand, has read his recent papers and is quite interested in what he has to say—if Straxxus's calculations are correct, he postulates, then the increasing tremors could very well fracture the impermeable layer that surrounds the Sea of Rust. The idea horrifies his compatriots, but Straxxus finds these postulations intriguing—if these trends continue, he predicts then the planet could very well shake itself apart. That's why he's already hauled one of the Arks out of storage, and begun the process of refitting it into an escape vessel for the citizens of Darkmount should this prediction come to pass: he's quite happy to let Highbrow have the other three vessels, however... and an exasperated Highbrow groans that it would've been much easier if Straxxus had simply been upfront with them from the beginning.

As the Autobot convoy makes its way through a winding canyon road, they don't see Skytread and his Decepticons camped out on the ridge above them. Roadtrap points out that these civilians pose no threat, but Skytread points out that these refugees are Decepticon subjects now. Not only are they being abetted by known enemies of Megatron, they also don't have permission to leave, and Skytread orders his detachment to open fire on the caravan below. The ambush catches the Autobots off-guard, and Hound shouts for everyone to get to cover while he calls in Road Rage. Nautica's bodyguard obligingly takes to the sky and draws Airwave's artillery fire, but warns Hound that she can't win this fight alone. Just as Hound calls in reinforcements, however, the ground shakes, heralding the arrival of Dai Atlas, whose very presence sends the four Decepticons running!

In Shockwave's laboratory, Skrapnel wants a word with Skystalker; although the little Decepticon thinks that the Insecticon is just there to bully him some more, he's surprised when Skrapnel tells him that he's there to sympathise with his loss. Believing that he's found a sympathetic ear, Skystalker vents his emotions as he laments the disappearance of his friend Vigilem and so lost is he in self-pity that he doesn't see Bombshell creeping up behind him -until Skrapnel and Kickback suddenly pin him down while Bombshell jams a cerebro-shell into his neck! The Insecticons aren't interested in waiting for Shockwave: their new slave can procure the machinery they'll need, while the three Insecticons harvest the fuel to run them...

While Nautica and Mudslinger chat with the A'ovan Pra'jak, Wheeljack and Hound catch up with Dai Atlas. No Cybertronian in history has ever returned from immersion, but Dai Atlas explains as best he can: this body holds only a portion of his old self, while another part of him still continues his spiritual journey onwards to the place where immersant Sparks go. Hound is just relieved that he showed up when he did to see the Decepticons off, but Dai Atlas corrects him—he renounced violence long ago, and specifically went immersant to find a place without conflict. Road Rage demands to know why he's come if not to help them fight their way through the trials to come... but before she can get a real answer to her question, the group receives a distress call from Nautica: the rearguard is under attack! Skrapnel attacks Nautica and Tote, and though Road Rage arrives just in time to prevent Skrapnel from killing Nautica, Kickback and Skrapnel incapacitate her. Hound warns the Insecticons to back off, but the trio only mock his affection for the fragile organics. Determined to uphold his promise, the taunts only galvanize his resolve, and he squares up to take them all on by himself!

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in flashback.)

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"There were these creatures that lived in the soil. And they transformed and became lighter-than-air. On a single night, they all rose into the sky and mated and died and disintegrated and fell back into the ground. Like snow. It was beautiful and terrible, fragile and ancient. That's how Meteorfire described it. It was... kind of glorious, I suppose. It was all lost when that world was destroyed. The universe got smaller and less interesting. Turns out, I prefer my universe big."

—Hound

"We save what we can, of the organic and the inorganic. The injured, the innocent, and the alien."

—Wheeljack

"Shockwave thinks we can't do anything without him. He never did respect us. None of them ever did. But they feared us. Now we'll show them they never feared us enough."

—Bombshell

"Ambidextrous. Huh. Is that a real word, Nautica?"
"Yes, Mudslinger."
"Hey, Tote! Did you know that there's a thing called ambidextrous? And that these organics aren't?"

—Mudslinger and Nautica

"You're not seriously going to fight for all these soft creatures, are you?"
"Yes, I am."
"Why? They don't last anyway! They'll all be dead before long. Dying's what they do!"
"There you go, making it even easier. Now I'd be fighting against you, even if there was no one to defend."

—Bombshell and Hound

Notes

Continuity notes

• Skystalker last appeared in Transformers issue #19, where he was distraught over Vigilem's disappearance after his Titan partner destroyed the Tether. He's still camped out in Shockwave's bunker where the Decepticon scientist ran the Rise before Megatron cleaned house in issue #15; indeed, Skrapnel mocks him for this prior defeat.
• Soundblaster last appeared in the final issue of Galaxies, which ended with him returning to Cybertron well before Ultra Magnus and the other 'bots aboard the Fist of Iacon. That issue didn't entirely lay out what his deal was, but this one clarifies that he'd been sent out into space to gather the necessary parts to jumpstart Shockwave's cloning operations... though it's still not clear if Soundblaster himself is a clone of Soundwave.
• Crosscut previously appeared as a diplomat during a flashback in Transformers issue #11, where he and Nautica helped negotiate a peace treaty between the Thraal and the Occulted Dremden.
• The geologists Geomotus and Azimuth last appeared in Transformers #21, where they were investigating tectonic anomalies out in the badlands for Highbrow.
• Highjump appeared in a crowd scene with several other new Autobots in Transformers #26. He makes a cameo here along with fellow Off Road Patrol members Mudslinger and Tote—traditional team leader Powertrain is conspicuously absent, however, perhaps because Galaxies #10 already depicted him as a crew member aboard Ultra Magnus's ship.

Transformers references

• Meteorfire is based on the the Cyberverse character of the same name. In that continuity, Meteorfire was an explorer who hosted the television program Alien Hunt!; appropriately enough, this universe features him as a member of Cybertron's xenobiology division.
• The refugee convoy includes several injured Transformers recuperating inside stasis pods, based on how they appeared in the 2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon.
• Skytread swears by the Void upon seeing Dai Atlas, just as Sixshot did in Transformers #11.

Errors

• Gutcruncher's drawn with a visor, instead of the two optics he's usually got.
• On page ten, panel four, Airwave is coloured black.
• As he gloats on page thirteen, Bombshell's insect legs are mistakenly coloured purple rather than silver.

Other trivia

• Originally solicited for January 20, this issue arrives three weeks late.
• Cybertronians are apparently naturally ambidextrous.

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Hound, Wheeljack, and a Cybertron in jeopardy, by Beth McGuire-Smith
• Cover B: Dai Atlas goes immersant, by Anna Malkova
• Retailer incentive cover: Mirrored art of Bombshell, by Nicole Goux

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Reprints

• Transformers Volume 4: Declaration of War (January 19, 2022) ISBN 1684058066 / ISBN 978-1684058068
  • Collects Transformers (2019) issues #25–30, Transformers Valentine's Day Special, and Escape issues #1–5.
  • Bonus material includes alternate covers.
  • Hardcover format.

• 

  Volume 4: Declaration of War – cover art by Cryssy Cheung

External links

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