Hope for the Next Generation

« Transformers United EX #10
"Hope for the Next Generation" 次世代への希望 (Jisedai e no Kibō)
First published	November 17, 2012
Written by	Andrew Hall
Art by	Hidetsugu Yoshioka
Continuity	Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Packaged with	Assaultmaster Prime Mode

Clouder once again takes control of a Transformer body to join the Autobots in battle, but finds himself up against something much more sinister than expected...

Synopsis

Part 1

The full ranks of the Autobots' Master Class assemble at their base for briefing, in preparation for an attack on the Decepticon base, whose location had been obtained from Tankmaster and Marinemaster. They are met by their human ally, Major Clouder, who is piloting Assaultmaster, a spark-less body developed by the Department of Defense, with some help from Wheeljack, originally for use by Optimus Prime. Announcing that the Power Core Combination technology is a product of both human and Autobot endeavour, Clouder states his desire to fight alongside the Autobots to protect it, if they will have him. Jetmaster speaks for the group, happily welcoming him to join the battle, and the team sets out for action.

Part 2

Having arrived at the Decepticon base, Clouder ventures inside the mysterious cave the villains are using as a headquarters while his comrades hold their enemies in battle outside. Although feeling drawn into the darkness, Clouder can detect no signs of life within the cave and begins to doubt that the so-called "High Regent" that leads these Decepticons even exists... until a mysterious voice begins speaking inside his mind, from within Assaultmaster's body. It is the voice of the High Regent, Scrash, who reveals that he intends to take Assaultmaster as his own body. His control of Assaultmaster fading, Clouder sets the droid's Immobilizer unit to overload, vowing to never let Scrash win now that he understands what he really is...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

• Both parts of this story were included with the Assaultmaster toy. The ninth chapter of the United EX story, "Unearthed Future", takes place between the two parts, detailing the Autobots' arrival at the Decepticon base.
• Clouder, of course, is thoroughly experienced in piloting a lifeless Transformer body, having done so back in his Godmaster days during Super-God Masterforce.
• Assaultmaster is described as a "spare body" for Optimus Prime, immediately hearkening back to the last time this was attempted by the Transformers, resulting in the creation of the Transtector that would become Ginrai's. Wheeljack's involvement in its development, however, looks forward to the short post-Generation 2 story from e-HOBBY, in which the Autobot mechanic would create many duplicates of Optimus Prime known as Eldedroids. The Assaultmaster body is essentially a prototype Eldedroid, then, even sporting the robots' black and teal color scheme.
• Wheeljack has contributed a paralyzing Immobilizer to Assaultmaster's design, originally created in the Generation 1 cartoon episode "The Immobilizer".
• Scrash just gets more and more mysterious! He has never appeared in fiction before now, and this chapter suggests why, indicating that he is a bodiless entity of some kind. When he communicated with Combatmaster in chapter 3, an image based on Skyquake appeared on a computer screen, in reference to the fandom's long-standing belief that that's what he was always supposed to be, but it looks like that was a red herring!
• But in any case, we'll have to wait a while for answers—this is the final United EX chapter, deliberately left at a cliffhanger by writer Andrew Hall with the intention of hopefully being picked up in a future piece of fiction that will resolve the story and a few other dangling plot elements from earlier chapters. Watch this space!

External links

• "Hope for the Next Generation" in English at TFPulp on The AllSpark