Reunification: Part 1

As Alpha Trion returns to his home dimension, his betrayal of Landquake and company continues to unfold.

Synopsis

In an abandoned laboratory on Cybertron, a light erupts, as a portal spits out the corpse of Skyfall, as Alpha Trion and his group arrive. Landquake asks how his friend died, but Alpha Trion ignores him. Knowing that scouts will be investigating the energy surge, the old Autobot begins directing his troops to gather up supplies and stay on watch. Angered, Landquake pointedly demands to know what happened to Skyfall. Alpha Trion gives him a hateful glare, before telling him that Skyfall was shot from behind before Trion could do anything. Their conversation is interrupted when Topspin spots a scout, Downshift, coming to investigate, and Trion orders everyone to hide. Downshift enters the facility, attempting to contact Hound, only for his comrade not to answer as Alpha Trion suddenly appears. Downshift tries one last attempt to call Hound, warning him the "Old One" is back, as Trion cuts him in half.

Alpha Trion tells Topspin to keep watching, and orders Landquake to dispose of Downshift's corpse. Landquake, however, refuses, pointing out that Trion killed one of his own; this isn't the world of peace Trion promised. Trion, angered, tells the Decepticon that this is his Cybertron, but Breakaway interrupts the two. Breakaway has examined Skyfall's corpse, figuring out that he wasn't killed by an energy blast, but a blade. Alpha Trion sighs, and with his troops arriving, he orders them to take Landquake and Breakaway captive, as well as Topspin. Sky Lynx gives Alpha Trion a Decepticon scout as an offering, welcoming him back to Cybertron. Topspin begs his leader to know why he has done this to him, as he has been loyal. Trion tells him that his usefulness has ended, and that he, along with Landquake, Breakaway, and the corpse of Skyfall will be used as tools to conquer Cybertron once he finds the "fifth"...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"What happened?"
"Scouts will be here soon in response to the energy surge. We must be prepared..."
"I asked you a question, Autobot. What happened?"
"Nightscream, pack up what we need. We move as soon as the others arrive."
"You are ignoring me. What. Happened. To. Skyfall?"

— Landquake gets the cold shoulder from Alpha Trion

Notes

• Mentioned characters include: Hound, Megatron, and the "fifth".

Continuity notes

• Downshift was sent to investigate the energy surge in the concurrently released prose story "Do Over". The story would show that Hound sent him there intentionally, knowing that Alpha Trion was returning.
• Alpha Trion told Landquake that his Cybertron was at peace in "Transcendent: Part 2".
• Dirge and Perceptor previously appeared in "Dungeons & Dinobots" and "Shattered Glass", respectively.

Transformers references

• The new Shattered Glass characters appearing in this story are, as usually, colored as/based on toys of other characters. These include:
  • Downshift, who is based on his positive-universe counterpart in the colors of Generation 1 Spyglass.
  • Sky Lynx, who, in a bit of departure from standard Shattered Glass practices, is depicted with an all new body as a flying cat. His profile in a few issues would also reveal he can split into a separate reptile component. Unlike his self-aggrandizing positive-universe counterpart, Sky Lynx is rather humble.
  • Kickback is repurposed from e-Hobby toy Shothole.
  • The Technobots all use the colors of the Generation 1 Terrorcons.
    • Scattorshot is in the colors of Hun-Gurr.
    • Strafe is in the colors of Cutthroat.
    • Afterburner is in the colors of Sinnertwin.
    • Nosecone is in the colors of Rippersnapper.
    • Lightspeed is in the colors of Blot.
  • Breakdown is heavily based on the toy of his positive-universe counterpart (specifically based on the art seen in Dreamwave's More than Meets the Eye series, with his wheels facing out towards his arms, rather than facing each other like on the toy), but with his colors reversed.
• Perceptor gets his only bit of characterization here: he loves violence, as opposed to his mostly non-combative positive-universe counterpart.

Other trivia

• The mix of evil guys in stolen TransTech bodies, evil Autobots, other evil Autobots, and evil Decepticons who should be good Decepticons makes it a leeeeetle confusing to keep track of who's on what side.