Insight

While Spike and the Pretenders try to evade detection, Impactor tries to help a wounded "friend".

Synopsis

Though the mugger's bullet has done enough damage to splash some of his mech-fluids onto Spike's shirt, Metalhawk is none the worse for wear, but the glowing blue wound in his chest has blown his disguise. Terrified at the revelation that the "man" he shot isn't a man at all, the mugger shouts for the others to stay back, but Vroom and Crossblades restrain him before he can do anymore harm. The group is unsure what to do with the man now that he knows their secret, but before they can decide on anything, the police show up to arrest them all. Several hours later at the Merida Police Station, Metalhawk has almost finished his self-repairing his Pretender shell, when two detectives show up to interrogate them. With the mugger-Mendez-unwilling to talk and implicate himself in any crime, the pair question the five. When asked about the mech-fluid on his shirt, Spike passes it off as being oil from the family he helped out of the car accident the previous day. Unimpressed, the pair then question them on several inconsistencies: a gunshot was heard by the officers and confirmed by ballistics, but neither a bullet or a ricochet strike was found at the scene. Vroom, worried, nearly blabs the Autobot's secret, but Elizabeth shuts him up, using her history as a field medic for the army to claim that she checked for wounds on everyone nearby. Satisfied, the detectives let them go, though one of them, attracted to Elizabeth, gives her cell phone number in case they can think of anything else, to her partner's annoyance. The group prepares to leave, as Metalhawk listens to the detectives discuss how they hope the "robots" never come back...

Several galaxies away, on the mechanical paradise of Paradron, hidden from sensors by the Stremus Nebula, former Wrecker leader Impactor wanders through a marketplace. The Autobot grimly reflects on this world of "peace", believing that they've done nothing more than give up, considering that though they've outlawed weapons, none of them are willing to force Impactor to remove his. Returning to Lifeline's medical center, the medic's snide attempts to aggravate Impactor are ignored, as she leads him to her patient, Impactor's "friend". Lifeline explains that the patient suffered damage that, normally, would be fatal. However, thanks to his dual-robot mode, they were able to save him...by removing the most damaged robot mode. Disgusted, Impactor refuses to listen to Lifeline's explanation that it was either this or death, and storms out...only to force himself to turn around.

Back on Earth, the freed Ramjet surveys the land as the sun rises, disgusted that by the humans inhabiting this universe that serves as his prison, vowing to find the source of power he detected and free himself. At the police station, Spike and the others prepare to leave, when the man who observed them the other day confronts them, realizing that some of them are robots from Cybertron. Ignoring Vroom's feigned incredulity, the "man" tells them that he doesn't care what they're doing, and that he has come to simply deliver a warning.

"He'll be here soon."

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Impactor: I brought him here for your help, and instead you turn him into that! You say you abhor butchery but this...
Lifeline: It was the only way to save him. It was this or let all of him die.
Impactor: Then he should be dead!

Notes

• Characters mentioned include: the police captain, Jed, Allan, Sam, and "the other".

Continuity notes

• A man at the police station is wearing a shirt with an Autobot symbol with text reading "I STILL BELIEVE", indicating that not all of humanity is glad to be rid of the Transformers, as opposed to the signs seen last issue.
• One of the detectives notes that the captain still has nightmares about the Transformers with her, "Jed, Allan and Sam," indicating that the captain is Robin Lindley of the Spacehikers, a group of children caught up with the Autobots seen in several issues of the original Marvel The Transformers comic, introduced in issue #35.
• The other detective (the one who flirts with Elizabeth) notes that her brother used to be a member of R.A.A.T. and a R.U.N.T. driver. RAAT, or Rapid Anti-robot Assault Team, was an organization created by the United States government government to hunt down Transformers, introduced in issue #21 of the Marvel comic. RUNT, or Armored Robot Hunters, was the replacement for RAAT dedicated to fighting Decepticons, introduced in the Classics "Crossing Over" storyline.
• The identity of Impactor's "friend" will be revealed in "The Truth We Make", a prose story published a month after this comic came out, but its obvious from Lifeline's description of him as having "dual robot configurations" that he's Counterpunch, who had recently had his upcoming Transformers Figure Subscription Service toy revealed.
• Lifeline notes that Impactor's "friend" will wake up in a few breems, a measurement of time originally mentioned in issue #17 of the Marvel comic.

Transformers references

• Metalhawk's mention of a "holo-frame" and Vroom's attempt to explain that nearly blows their cover explains how the Pretenders are hiding as normal sized humans: using holomatter to simulate clothing (holomatter was introduced in IDW Publishing's 2005 comic continuity, starting with The Transformers: Infiltration), and internal subspace generators to mass-shift down to human size. Vroom also refers to the Pretender shells as "techno-organic", a term usually used to refer to Transformers who mechanical and organic tissue fused as the cellular level, as seen in Beast Machines.
• Paradron was a peaceful Cybertronian colony introduced in the Sunbow The Transformers episode "Fight or Flee". Among the inhabitants is Autobot Triple Changer Sandstorm, who was shown to be an inhabitant of the planet in "Fight or Flee", alongside the "Paradron communicator" (later named Playback by Ask Vector Prime, after an Autobot from issue #230-231 of the Marvel UK The Transformers comic) and a number of the generic, nigh-featureless Paradronians seen in a number of color schemes and shapes throughout the episodes, though a fair few were a yellow-tan color. However, see "errors" below.

Real-world references

They must have taken the wrong warp pad.

• Elizabeth's history as a registered nurse and a former US Army field medic seems likely to be referencing the original intention for her character role to be served by Carla "Doc" Greer from G.I. Joe.
• Other inhabitants of Paradron include two of the "Fight or Flee" generics colored like the Crystal Gems Peridot and Garnet from Steven Universe, and Bender from Futurama.

Other trivia

• As with last issue, several Spanish words are used, including:
  • "¡Paren!", meaning "Stop!"
  • Several male characters are addressed as "Sr.", as in "señor", the Spanish word for "mister".
  • "Dios mio," meaning "my God."
• The "Peridot" and "Garnet" generics were last minute references; the generics were originally light green/reddish-orange and blue/grey, as seen here.
• Paradron's hiding spot behind the Stremus Nebula explains why Thunder Mayhem hasn't attacked there; he can't detect them.

Errors

• It's not an error per se in this issue, but the framing of the Paradron scenes make it appear as though they're happening concurrently with the events of Earth. The Of Masters and Mayhem prose stories would make it clear that the formation of the new Wreckers couldn't have happened over the course of two days, as the comic does.
• Playback is colored maroon and tan with yellow accents, rather than the proper red and white with blue accents.