The Coming Storm: Part 5

The Elite Guard comes under fire as Deathsaurus makes his move.

Synopsis

Metalhawk and his squad are out on patrol, having been sent to an abandoned region by command after possible reports of Decepticon forces returning to the area. Dion, however, feels the assignment is pointless, wanting to look for the missing Combaticons. Ironfist and Metalhawk share his sentiments, but the latter tells Dion that until command calls them back, they're unable to do anything. The conversation about the Combaticons draws out a small robot, one Dion recognizes as an Empty from his time on the docks. The Empty begins to ramble about a coming storm, one that will strike at the Elite Guard, and indicates that the Combaticons are somehow involved. Over-Run pushes the Empty into a nearby wall, but the unfazed robot continues his rants, telling them that the Combaticons role is a surprise. The Autobots leave the bot, thinking him crazy, when a distress signal begins to come through. A holographic message from Sentinel Major orders every Elite Guardsman in the field to head back to the base, which is currently under attack. The shocked Autobots transform and roll out.

Soon, the Autobots arrive at base, finding information clerk Ricochet complaining about the destruction of office equipment. Ricochet explains to Metalhawk that the base was attacked by Decepticon forces, mostly composed of weaker Decepticons, and is quick to point out his minor contributions to the battle. Ricochet then hands the Autobot jet a viewscreen, showing Sentinel Major rounding up the last of the Decepticon forces: the Combaticons! Dion notices that something is different about them, as Sentinel Major orders Onslaught and the others to surrender, unable to fathom why they would side up with Decepticon "losers". Onslaught tells his former commander that he's the one giving orders now, and as Sentinel tries to arrest them one last time, he and the rest of the Combaticons combine into Bruticus! The large robot grabs Sentinel and crushes him in his hand, declaring he hates the Elite Guard, as Guardsmen begin to fire on the massive gestalt...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

• Mentioned characters include: Orion Pax and Roadfire.

Continuity notes

• This story takes place a week after the previous chapter.
• Dion remembers the Empty from his time at the docks, his previous profession as established by "War Dawn".
• Starscream can be very briefly glimpsed in one panel, setting up next year's "Battle Lines" storyline.
• A ruined statue of Vector Sigma is seen among the wreckage of the Elite Guard base.

Transformers references

• With this chapter, almost every Elite Guardsman shows up, although some are not as easily identifiable as others. While most had shown up in the two prose stories released the same year ("Flames of Yesterday" and "A Team Effort"), and there's still some who do not appear, we'll list them all out here to make it more simple. Aside from Elite Guardsman previously appearing in this storyline (including, Magnum, Sentinel Major, and the squads of Thunderclash, Metalhawk, and Onslaught), these include:
  • Big Bang, based on an unused Return of Convoy design.
  • The Stealth Team, whose members include Powerflash, Sprocket, Rumbler, and Tap-Out. Powerflash was a European exclusive Action Master from the original The Transformers toyline. Sprocket was another Action Master, one of those that were released in America, and he would be redecoed for Europe as Rumbler. Tap-Out, meanwhile, was an exclusive toy from BotCon 2002, a redeco of the keychain Generation 1 Cliffjumper toy.
  • The Artillery Team, whose members include Halonix Maximus, Windsail, Clear Out, and Padlock. Of the four, only Halonix Maximus (or Halo, for short) is based on a pre-existing Transformer; the giant Autobot hologram seen in The Transformers episode "Heavy Metal War". All of the colors of the other three were created by colorist Josh Perez; Windsail's is based on Perez's character Alan, a duck/penguin hybrid; the other two are based on Perez's non-Transformers toys, with Clear Out based on the Red Dragon Thunderzord from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, while Padlock is based on Fly Trap from GoBots.
  • The Fast Attack Team, whose members include Ranger, Blacker, Braver, and Laster. Ranger is a Godmaster from Masterforce, while the others are all Brainmasters from Victory.
  • The Recon Team, whose members include Roadfire, Delta Seeker, Crosscut, and Rest-Q. Roadfire was one of the Powered Masters from Zone, while Delta Seeker was a Cyberjet from the Robotmasters series. Crosscut was an e-HOBBY exclusive redeco/remold of Skids, based on the Diaclone version of the toy. Rest-Q, meanwhile, takes his name from the Gobots Guardian, and his based on an early coloration of Hubcap seen in the Toy Fair 1986 catalogue.
• Empties originally appeared in the Marvel The Transformers comics, Cybertronians so low on fuel they couldn't even transform.
• Supersonic is among Deathsaurus' forces invading the Elite Guard base. A Micromaster from the Operation Combination series, he was originally sold as an Autobot, but was turned into a Decepticon for the Japanese Micromaster series.
• Sentinel's companion, R-Third (previously seen in "A Team Effort"), has the unique insignia from the First Transformers toyline on his chest.

Real-world references

• Dion notes he and Orion Pax used to deal with the empty seen this chapter at Galleon, a location named for the Chinese Dragon/pirate galleon mecha from Dennō Bōkenki Webdiver.
• R-Third is based on the Tick's companion Arthur. Sentinel Major's inspiration, Animated Sentinel Prime, was designed to look like the Tick.

Errors

• On page 4, Ironfist is miscolored as Swindle.