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The Line Between Us

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TAAO4 regcvr.jpg
It was on this day that Cybertron received a grim reminder...
"The Line Between Us"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published September 21, 2016
Cover date September 2016
Written by Mairghread Scott
Art by Sara Pitre-Durocher
Colors by Joana Lafuente
Letters by Tom B. Long
Editor John Barber and Carlos Guzman
Continuity 2005 IDW continuity
Chronology Current era

When the Combaticons unleash their combined form of Bruticus, Chromia realizes that the only way to save the day is to unleash some secrets of her own.

Contents

Synopsis

Onslaught activates the Enigma of Combination, merging himself and the other Combaticons with the brain-dead Swindle to become "Bruticus". Vortex revels in the unchecked power of their new form, while Brawl finds himself caught in the terror of Swindle's memory of death; Blast Off tries to keep their minds united, calling to Onslaught for help, but the Combaticon leader is focused on rooting through their shared consciousness to find the information that is the reason for their combination. It does not take long: Onslaught soon locates Swindle's memory of Starscream recruiting him to attack Caminus, and discovers that Swindle secretly recorded their entire conversation. Onslaught, Vortex, and Brawl all vow vengeance upon Starscream for what he has done, but Blast Off reminds them that their goal is to expose Starscream so justice can be properly done, and urges them to go in search of Swindle's recording. With ideologies dueling inside his mind, Bruticus violently emerges onto Iacon's streets and is soon confronted by Ironhide and his security forces. Realizing that the combiner is formed from the Combaticons—including his recent protégé Blast Off—Ironhide offers Bruticus a chance to surrender; Blast Off tries to make his comrades see reason, but Onslaught considers the security forces as just another obstruction and has Bruticus begin attacking them all.

As the Council of Worlds is evacuated to safety, Starscream calls Windblade to his side. He blames her failure to follow his orders to spy on Onslaught for the chaos that Iacon now finds itself in, and demands she find a way to kill Bruticus. Windblade refuses to kill to protect Starscream's secrets, but Starscream once again reminds her that if she does not comply, he will reveal the secrets he knows about her and Chromia's bombing. This proves the last straw: refusing to live under Starscream's thumb any longer, Windblade contacts Chromia and announces her intent to help the Combaticons expose the dirt they have on Starscream, regardless of the consequences for her. But once Bruticus has been brought down, she insists that Chromia must go back to Caminus, never to return, to keep her safe from reprisals.

Chromia convinces Ironhide and his men to stand down while Windblade attempts to talk to Bruticus. Unfortunately, it does not go well: the Combaticon combiner angrily swats her out of the sky. Chromia rushes to her side, just as Bruticus levels his cannons to blast them both... forcing Ironhide to take drastic action, emptying his rocket launcher directly into Bruticus's head. Gravely damaged, Bruticus disengages into the separate Combaticons; with his last words before passing out, Blast Off apologizes to Onslaught for being unable to save him from himself. Even as Windblade desperately tries to rouse the unconscious Combaticons to get the vital information needed from them, Chromia turns on Ironhide, accusing him of ruining everything. Surveying the scene, Chromia spots Circuit and Longtooth reporting on the event, and sees a chance to yet make everything right. She marches over to the two news-bots, and, live on-camera, explains that she was responsible for the bombing in Acrolight District a year ago, and the earthquake that followed. Ironhide is left with no option but to reluctantly arrest her, but Chromia just smiles a sad smile and tells him that one cannot stay in the shadows for ever. As the Combaticons are carried away, Starscream grimaces at the loss of his leverage, and Windblade stands alone on the battlefield, having lost both her chance to expose Starscream... and her best friend.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Others

Quotes

Blast Off: "Keep it together! We have to work—urgh—together!"
Vortex: "Haha! Do you feel it? So powerful! We're Bruticus!"
Brawl: "No... we're dead! He shot us—we'redeadwe'redeadwe'redead"

—The Combaticons react to their first combination


"I'm—I'm sorry, Onslaught. I wanted to— I couldn't... save... you..."

—Blast Off


"My name is Chromia of Caminus, and I have a confession to make. When I first arrived on Cybertron, I set a bomb in the Acrolight district, killing three 'bots: Scrap Cruncher, Exhaust, and Technimus. I am also responsible for the earthquake that happened afterward."
"Uhhh... why?"
"Because I was just like that combiner, or the Badgeless that killed that 'Con behind Maccadam's, or everyone who won't give up their stupid war. I thought I was different... an "us" against "them." I acted alone because I thought I was alone. I thought no one else mattered. I hope you learn from my mistakes."

—Chromia and Circuit

Notes

Continuity notes

  • And with this issue, the fourth and final of the original 1986 "Special Team" combiners finally makes an appearance, a mere 6 years after the first one appeared way back in The Transformers #5. At least Bruticus made his appearance before any of the 1987 combiners showed up...
  • The memory Onslaught recovers from Swindle is from The Transformers #39. Pitre-Durocher redraws the final panel from page 16 of that issue, and the whole scene is presented with a slightly murky, static-textured overlay in a likely nod to the art style of Livio Ramondelli, who drew that issue. Starscream is correctly drawn in the Armada-inspired body he was sporting at the time.
  • Among the fleeing crowd on page 4 is Beast Wars Fuzor Air Hammer, who previously appeared in the original glimpse of Eukaris offered in Windblade vol. 1 #4.
  • The names "Technimus" and "Exhaust" seen scored into Chromia's skin in issue #1 are revealed to be those of the civilians who died in her bombing from Windblade vol. 1 #1. The third 'bot who died is named Scrap Cruncher, but we don't see his full name; only the letters "er" are visible on part of her upper head. Presumably, his name is on the other side.
  • Windblade will next appear in the Titans Return one-shot and The Transformers vol. 2 #57 before resuming the regular Till All Are One lineup.

Transformers references

  • Ironhide's emotional reaction to Chromia being in danger and the actions he takes as a result of that are another nod to the characters' romantic relationship in the original Generation 1 cartoon episode "The Search for Alpha Trion," which has been "ship-teased" a few times since Chromia and Ironhide started sharing page-space in IDW.

Covers (3)

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  • TAAO4 subcvr.jpg
  • TAAO4 cvrRI.jpg

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