The Future Buried...

As Primus makes his moves, one more god enters the battle, ensuring that nothing will ever be the same.

Synopsis

Following the battle of Decepticon City, Galvatron and the Decepticon fleet return to the "Classicsverse" Earth, traveling at full speed. Ultra Mammoth tries to assure Galvatron that with Ultra Magnus gone, the battle is won, but Galvatron's now-weak connection to the Thirteen tells him that something-or someone-wants everyone to go to Earth. As they converse, Spike Witwicky and the Autobot Pretenders pick up a strange energy signature, one that Spike seems to remember. Suddenly, he disappears into thin air, as do the human-shelled Pretenders, with reports coming in across the planet that all humans have disappeared! Meanwhile, down in the Rarified Energon vaults, Wheeljack and Perceptor pick up another set of strange readings; the Energon is beginning to act like a life form. Perceptor muses that normal Energon is the lifeblood of the Transformers; in turn, Wheeljack wonders what Rarified Energon powers, as an astral hand rises from the pool behind him...

On Cybertron, Nova Prime and his fellow Knights of Unicron have rounded up the Autobot forces. As he stands guard, Nova is contacted by Unicron, who warns his disciple that Rodimus still lives, and something even worse awakens. Nova's connection to his lord is cut off, as the planet begins to transform around him; a new voice into his mind, disappointed with his new-found heroism. Still, others are willing to fight for the voice; as Nova hangs on to a shifting panel, Rodimus, now Prime once again, stands triumphant over his former commander. Rodimus orders the Autobots to the shuttles, as Cybertron finishes its transformation into...Primus! Seeing the stars for the first time in millennia, the god heads towards the "Classicsverse" Earth, intending on removing these "stowaways" from his "perfect" universe!

On Earth, Ultra Mammoth orders the Autobots and Decepticons to the shuttles, but before they can board them, Primus arrives, destroying the ships with his eye beams. In space, Galvatron and his fleet arrive, awestruck by the massive Transformer. Primus is pleased that the Decepticons are there, planning on eliminating his enemies in one fell swoop and leaving only him and his "superior" Autobots. Blasting them with his godly breath, the Decepticons ships are left dead, floating in space. Back on Earth, the heroic Autobots and Decepticons watch the battle, horrified. Hope emerges, however, as Grimlock's ship, separate from the rest of the fleet, picks up Ultra Mammoth's forces.

With the Decepticons unable to fire back, Primus allows them to live, intending to let them watch as he destroys their friends. Before he can destroy the planet, however, Earth's crust begins to crack itself...as it falls away, revealing a mechanical core underneath, which transforms into Primus and Unicron's long-lost sister, Gaea! Gaea explains that she was hidden away as the Rarified Energon core by the Thirteen long ago, in preparation for when she would be needed, though she never expected it to be her brother. Primus, however, doesn't recognize her; regarding her as little more than an anomaly, he engages his sister. On his surface, meanwhile, Nova's Knights help drag him up, and they head north to Primus' face. Primus rants, proclaiming that as the God of Order, all things must fit his uniform vision, and that abnormalities like her bring chaos. Gaea tries to reach him, telling him that being different is the ultimate form of order, many voices creating a universal harmony. Primus scoffs at her "silly dream", and Gaea, knowing she can't change his mind, blasts Primus, destroying his right eye. Pained, Primus swears that the future will be one where everything is the same, and that he will never be stopped. But Nova, having arrived with his Knights of Unicron, proclaims that the future cannot be stopped, no matter how scared Primus is of the progress it brings, and unleashes his firepower into Primus' remaining eye. Blinded, Primus tries to summon Rodimus Prime, but the treacherous Autobot leader leaves him to his fate. Gaea declares that the multiverse has no need for an evil Primus, and she unleashes a blast that reduces Primus to a head.

With the war seemingly over, Gaea reverts to her planet mode, inviting all Transformers to return to live there. With the copious amounts of Rarified Energon, there is enough resources and energy to go around for the Cybertronians of two worlds. A new government has been formed, a council comprising the heroic Autobots and Decepticons, with the Knights of Unicron as their guardians. Gaea explains through Nova that she used the last of her multiversal power to transport the humans to another Earth, uninhabited by humans, to ensure their survival. The battle-weary Decepticons and Autobots are happy to set aside their arms, rebuilding society...

...but truly, it never ends, as the returned Megatron and his Decepticons find the world, ripe for conquest!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Being different is not evil. It is simply being. True harmony is found in a chorus of many ranging voices. Chaos comes from those like you who refuse to be part of the harmony."
"Charming metaphor. It should have Ponies and sparkles. They would be appropriate for your dream. Your fantasy."

—The negotiations between Gaea and Primus proved far from pleasant.

Notes

• Characters mentioned include: Ultra Magnus, the Thirteen, and Ironworks.

Continuity notes

• After eight years, the origin of rarified energon is finally revealed; it is the lifeblood of Gaea, having been hidden away to protect her until she was needed, presumably having originally been intended to fight Unicron.
• Spike recognizes the signature accompanying his disappearance; the "Classicsverse" Primus pulled a similar move to Gaea in issue #73 of the Marvel The Transformers comic, where he summoned all Transformers on Earth to Cybertron, who disappeared in a flash of light like the humans and Pretenders here.
• Blaster mutters that he hopes the Decepticon reporters aren't here to witness their capture; these are presumably Esmeral and Counterpunch, the DBN reporters seen in the Shattered Glass strips of Around Cybertron.
• Rodimus renames himself "Rodimus Prime" once more; it was never explicitly stated, but after rejoining Optimus Prime's forces at the start of "Another Light", he apparently went back to being known as Rodimus, removing the "Prime" surname he had given himself on "Shatteredverse" Earth.
• After disappearing way back in "Shattered Destiny", Megatron finally reappears, ready to lead his Decepticons in conquest. Most of his Decepticons accompanying him are not recognizable, though one of them appears to have a fin, like the Seacons who accompanied him to prehistoric Earth in "Beast Wars Shattered Glass". The only one whose identity is discernible is Spinister, who was previously seen as one of Gigatron's Decepticons in "Invasion"; Gigatron's fate is unknown, but considering the animosity between him and Megatron in other continuities, things don't look good for him.

Transformers references

• As with the other chapters, this comic homages The Transformers: The Movie, with both visuals and dialogue lifted or paraphrased from the film:
  • As Spike disappears, he shouts "Oh sh--": his counterpart shouted that in full in the film, after his and Bumblebee's attempt to destroy Unicron failed.
  • Unicron contacts Nova Prime about Rodimus, with Nova insisting he has been destroyed; this scene paraphrases dialogue from the scene in which Galvatron appeared to destroy Ultra Magnus' ship, only for Unicron to psychically contact him over his failure. Rather than the painful red glow that accompanied this psychic message, Unicron's message here is accompanied by a pleasant light blue light, similar to the glow that emanated from the Matrix of Leadership when Hot Rod picked him up.
  • While it doesn't pull from any specific quote, Perceptor's dialog in this issue is based on the verbose speech pattern the film gave him.
  • Primus' conversation with Nova cribs several lines of dialogue from Unicron's first meeting with Megatron; Primus declares that Nova Prime's fate "belongs to [him], now," while Nova demands that Primus show himself. And of course, Primus transformation mirrors Unicron's in the film, with Nova stumbling to grab hold of the shifting panels, much like Galvatron did.
  • When Starscream asks Galvatron what Primus is, Galvatron tells him he doesn't know, having never seen anything like it, quoting Kup's response to seeing Unicron.
  • Primus' fight is chock full of references to Unicron from the film. Primus has similar abilities to the ones Unicron used in the film, including green eye blasts and blue plasma-breath. His pose as he prepares to destroy Earth is identical to the pose Unicron pulled as he prepared to rend Cybertron with his hand. His eyes are destroyed in the reverse order of Unicron's from the film, who had his left eye destroyed first, then his right. After his first eye is destroyed, he begins to say Gaea "cannot stop--"; presumably, the final words are "my destiny", quoting Unicron's final line in the film. Finally, after being destroyed, his head orbits "New Cybertron", much as Unicron's orbited Cybertron at the end of the film and the following third season of the cartoon.
  • In a less specific reference, Nova Prime flies away from Primus using his blaster, a visual homage to Galvatron's use of his particle cannon to fly.
• Gaea is introduced to Transformers canon for the first time, the secret sister of Primus and Unicron. Obviously named for the personification of Earth from Greek Mythology, she was first created for the unofficial BotCon 2004 by Erik Sturdevan and Rob Meyer, depicted as emerging from within the Earth on merchandise exclusive to the convention, like T-shirts, art prints, and the back cover of the program guide. Her pose is nigh-identical to the one seen on said merch, though her design has been modified to be a lot less sexualized.
• Primus' Shattered Glass form is based on his Cybertron toy, using the black, orange, and green colors of the Energon Unicron toy.
• Three Acolyte of Unicrons are seen on the final page, identical to their appearance in Marvel's The Transformers issue #74.
• Spinister and Needlenose's are seen showing off colors of paint to a Shattered Glass version of Runamuck. He's based on an early grey color scheme for his positive-universe counterpart seen in the Hasbro Toy Fair 1986 pre-show catalog.

Real-world references

• Primus mocks Gaea's dream for peace, claiming they should have "ponies and sparkles", obviously referencing My Little Pony.
• In the trading station, a small robot seen at one of the stands is colored as Capcom video game hero Mega Man.

Errors

• On page 2, Goldbug says "he's no Optimus anymore", instead of "he's not Optimus anymore."

Notes

• Strangely, Perceptor's face has been colored to resemble his original appearance in issue #17 of the Marvel The Transformers comic, which, perhaps as a result of misinterpreting the faceplate on his toy, colored the bottom half of his face blue.
• Additionally, Ratchet has reverted to his Henkei! Henkei! toy colors, which colorist Evan Gauntt previously used in "At Fight's End".