Betrayal

« Transformers: The Wreckers No. 2 »
Featuring the deaths of all your favorite Wreckers!
Enter the Wreckers, Part 2: "Betrayal"
First published	July 26, 2002 (BotCon 2002)
Story	Glen Hallit, Rob Gerbracht
Script	Rob Gerbract
Pencils	Dan Khanna
Inks	Dreamwave Productions (original), Chuck Gibson, Terry Pallot, and Hi-Fi Design (director's cut)
Colors	Dreamwave Productions (original), Hi-Fi Design (director's cut)
Lettering	Wes Abbott & Richard Starkings' Comicraft
Continuity	3H Beast Wars continuity

The Wreckers suffer defeat at the hands of a supposed ally.

Synopsis

Several months after the defeat of Unicron, Rodimus Prime announces plans to send out teams of explorers to prepare for future menaces. Over the protests of Skids and Perceptor, Rodimus defends his policy of "aggressive caution". Glyph is looking forward to her mission, and is introduced to Tap-Out, her bodyguard. Rodimus wishes the crew well as their ship launches. Mere weeks later, the ship reconnoiters the Archa system. As it prepares to depart, an energy burst hits it, burning out the engines and sending it crashing toward the surface.

Centuries pass...

On Arkus, the Dinobots can find no answers to their quest. Uncomfortable with the silent world, Magmatron orders all hands to return to their shuttle. A legion of zombie-like robots erupts from the planet's surface; the Dinobots fight their way through, only to find the final path blocked by a massive worm-like monster...

The Mutants have likewise arrived on their destination world to find themselves on a fool's errand. They are brought before a Quintesson judge, who takes little time to find them in contempt of court. The sentence: death by Sharkticon. Quintesson Judge Derodomontatus watches, with Cryotek by his side; the two argue over the value of the Transformer race, and discuss in vague terms their plans for Cybertron... and the Wreckers.

Said Wreckers, meanwhile, are dealing with an overly-aggressive stowaway, as Devcon distributes beat-downs and obnoxious quips with equal abandon. Fractyl charges the invader, but a massive energy discharge causes him to collapse. Devcon finally notices Rodimus and Apelinq standing in front of him, and they manage to get him to stop hitting people.

On the ship's bridge, Rodimus explains how they were able to convene this new Wreckers crew. Devcon notes that he is the only Cybertronian Peace Marshall to survive Megatron's onslaught. Devcon isn't very happy about having Packrat—"a two-bit thief with a conviction record six parsecs long"—along for the ride, and even less so the Decepticons, who he claims are "nothing like him". The 'cons prove the point by keeping their mouths shut.

In the repair bay, Arcee, Ramulus and Apelinq are working to save Fractyl, whose laser core has become misaligned in the wake of the reformatting job by Arcee. The ship's Lifeline Cybernetic Diagnostic Module issues instructions, but needs an actual medic to carry them out. In a move born of desperation, Apelinq uses his Transfer Interlink to download the bodyframe of an old comrade into reality, then loads the diagnostic program into it. The resulting bot immediately begins repairs... and asking questions.

In the ship's aft hold, Spittor and Sonar are still recovering from their run-in with Devcon, when an explosion tears through the section. On the bridge, Devcon recognizes the hits as internal—someone sabotaged their ship. With aft control circuitry failing, Packrat jettisons the section against Primal Prime's orders. Spittor, Sonar, and the Deployers are left to their fate as the rear section explodes seconds later.

Rodimus is furious at Packrat, but Prime orders him to man his post. Packrat is relieved of his duties and escorted off the bridge by Cyclonus and Devcon.

In the repair bay, Prime finds that Fractyl has been saved, but the "temporary" medic is becoming more and more permanent, as Apelinq can't dissolve the body back into the nonreality it came from. The new medic is exploring his world and his capabilities, pulling out a pair of huge swords as Arcee speculates that he won't be a problem... maybe. Prime restrains Ramulus from delivering a beat-down to Packrat, and is suddenly distracted by a vision of a leonoid Alpha Trion: "Your destiny awaits. Seek the future—recover the lost. Beware the theft of your trust."

The ship arrives in orbit over the 9th planet of the Archa System, where Skywarp picks up an Autobot homing signal. Rodimus and Apelinq immediately recognize it as one of the Autobots' lost post-Unicron survey expeditions. Rodimus explains the mission... and berates himself as Apelinq tells Prime that three of the ships were never heard from again.

Tigatron has been resting and meditating, recovering from the exertion of destroying Quake. Ramulus rouses him as the ship lands; Tigatron senses grave danger ahead.

Cyclonus, meanwhile, notes to Devcon that Packrat is not to be trusted. Devcon, surprisingly enough, chooses to antagonize the Decepticon. Cyclonus doesn't care much for Devcon either, but recognizes that they have some common heritage now. Devcon says he's just along for the ride and plans to bail as soon as he can. What a jerk.

The Wreckers land and deploy. One team organizes a base camp; another establishes a perimeter; Primal Prime leads a third group on a recon survey. The new medic, dubbed CatSCAN by Apelinq, offers to come along as well.

Stylized lighting or correct coloring? You only get one.

Later that night, as the recon team advances through a forest, CatSCAN detects movement, and is sent ahead to investigate. He soon finds himself under attack from torch-bearing humanoids, who seek to defend their sacred ground. CatSCAN defends himself, but the Autobot Tap-Out soon joins the fray on the side of the natives. CatSCAN subdues him, but only angers the natives further. The others join him and are likewise targeted... but the arrival of Glyph calms the natives, as she identifies them as "The Protectors".

Glyph disperses the mob, attunes the Wreckers to the native Akalouthans' language, and introduces herself and Tap-Out as the sole survivors of the Sojourner's Passage. She notes that they've been awaiting rescue for some 300 years now. En route to the natives' village, Prime explains their vague mission, and mentioned that he's recently been reassured that the mission is of great importance—a claim which causes Apelinq some silent discomfort.

Glyph explains that the natives have helped her and Tap-Out survive with energy derived from an energy-generating object called the Divine Light. Prime calls in the rest of the team; they arrive to celebration and fanfare among the Akalouthans. Glyph explains that they've been expecting the Wreckers for a thousand years. Glyph's text research shows numerous references to a protective force arriving to defend the Divine Light against "the five faced demons".

Later, Glyph takes the crew to the Dwelling of the Divine Light, where a spikey crystalline form is suspended atop a pyramid. Local myth claims that the object fell from the sky thousands of years ago; Apelinq finds its energy readings familiar. Packrat speculates it's worth a fortune; Cyclonus reminds him that he's watching. As the others leave, Cyclonus assigns Rotorbolt to monitor the thief's activities. Apelinq identifies the Divine Light as a battery of sorts with a unique power core. Prime orders the others to gather, and Devcon goes off to find Packrat and Rotorbolt.

Devcon finds Rotorbolt first—pinned to a wall, mangled, and slipping into stasis lock. Devcon races back to the dwelling, with Prime, Apelinq and Ramulus following. But they're too late; the divine light has been seized... by Cyclonus! The giant air warrior tosses aside Packrat's battered body, vows to become steward of a renewed Decepticon Empire, and takes to the sky as Devcon swears vengeance.

Glyph arrives, and Prime breaks the news that the Protectors have failed...

Aboard the ship, CatSCAN reconstructs Devcon back into his old Autobot form, though he retains his jerk personality. Devcon rejects Apelinq's offer to stay with the team, casually jokes about callously killing a one-time partner, and flies off to hunt down Cyclonus.

Cyclonus, meanwhile, calls in to Cryotek to report success. Cryotek had anticipated Vector Sigma's interference, thus planting Cyclonus in the Wreckers' ranks to scuttle the plans. He scoffs at the Quintessons, who are intent on the conquest of Cybertron via the use of the Oracle and its "legends and half-myths", and gloats that he has taken his first triumphant step.... AHHRG BLAUGLE BLAGH BLAR BLAR BLAUUGH!!!! IN CONQUERING TIME ITSELF!

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in the past or in visions.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"I liked her better when she had that kid in her head."

—Devcon is a fan of "The Rebirth" and little else.

"You know, you can actually say, "I, CatSCAN" once in a while, kid—you don't have to creep around like some apologetic Mini-Con."

—Via casual racism, Ramulus brings Mini-Cons into a Generation 1 continuity for the first time.

Notes

• Characters mentioned but who don't appear include: Primus, Airraptor, Terranotron, Tricderadon, Megatron, "that kid," Prime Nova, and Devcon's partner.
• Characters mentioned in the profile section but not seen include: Drelnar Feh'd and Albert Einstein.

"Director's Cut"

The original BotCon 2002 printing of the issue featured only the 40-page Wreckers story. Inks and colors for the issue were provided by Dreamwave Productions, and received criticism for numerous errors and dark coloring that left many scenes muddy and indistinct on the page.

In 2004, a "Director's Cut" of the issue was released at both OTFCC and to the direct market, with brand-new inks and colors not provided by Dreamwave. In addition to the original 40-page comic, the new edition also included an all-new four-page flashback prologue, the 12-page "Primeval Dawn Part 2" as a backup story, and Dreamwave-style profiles for CatSCAN, Cryotek, Cyclonus, Devcon, Glyph, and Tap-Out.

• 

  Clarity? What, you think this is a visual medium?

• 

  Third floor, total darkness...

The Director's Cut corrects many of the coloring errors (see list below), while also omitting some of the original version's stylistic choices, such as the red warning lights bathing the bridge of the Wreckers' ship, the torch-lit forest on Archa Nine, and the dimly lit, doom-laden atmosphere of the Dweller's world. In doing so, however, it reveals that the drawings actually have a background.

Continuity notes

• The prologue flashback is set some time after the events of The Transformers: The Movie, but before season 3 of The Transformers, as the Decepticons are still in hiding.
• The Dweller last appeared in "The Dweller in the Depths", where it was apparently destroyed in a collision between a power plant and a Quintesson ship. Looks like it survived and crash landed on Arkus instead.
• Megatron is revealed to have been a former student of Cryotek.
• Cryotek says the Wreckers' "escape" was an "isolated anomaly", implying that the Wreckers were intended to die trying to capture the shuttle in "Departure".
• As quoted, Devcon refers to Arcee's time as a Headmaster as seen in "The Rebirth, Part 2", with Daniel serving as her partner.
• This issue clarifies where Packrat came from before the Beast Wars, revealing that he was arrested by Devcon, and sent off-world on the Axalon in a stasis pod.
• Rodimus refers to his "short term" as Autobot leader, which was seen over the course of the third season of The Transformers. He also refers to "less than stellar" decisions, nodding to fan perception of Rodimus being a pretty whiny and indecisive Prime.
• Glyph nearly calls Rodimus "Rodimus Prime" when they meet up on Archa Nine.
• Cryotek drops a big retcon on Beast Machines by saying the Oracle is not a real shell for Vector Sigma but a creation of the Quintessons, intended to manipulate the Transformers.
• Devcon reveals he left Slizardo floating in space shortly after teaming up with him in "The Gambler". When Slizardo next appeared in the cartoon in "Grimlock's New Brain", he was seen working along the Skuxxoid working for the Decepticons; this presumably serves as an explantion for why.
• Cryotek's bio reveals he gained his Transmetal II form when Megatron returned to Cybertron, meeting up with his former teacher. Cryotek was knocked out during an attempt to copy Megatron's body and power, and only came back online after the Vehicon invasion had begun.

Transformers references

• Glyph references the Firestormers in her goodbye to Rodimus in the prologue, a group of Autobot commandos seen in the Marvel Generation 2 comic.
• Aside from Tap-Out and Glyph, the crew of the Sojourner's Passage includes Windmill, an Action Master Elite from the European The Transformers toyline, and Crosscut, an e-Hobby exclusive.
• Archa Nine's name is taken from a pre-production name for Glyph: Archaix (IX being the Roman numeral version of 9).
• Ramulus starts off the story in the green and tan color scheme that was going to be applied as a running change to his toy, but was never produced. Halfway through the story, Fractyl's discharging spark energies cause him to morph into the burgundy and gray colors of his actual toy.
• Some Sharkticons are based on Beast Machines Maximal Hammerstrike in new "Sharkticon" colors. However, see "Errors" below.
• The Quintesson's reason for executing the Mutants: "unmarketable product". This is reportedly the cause of many deaths here.
• The Quintessons refer to Cryotek as a "free trader," a term used by the aliens in The Transformers episode "Money Is Everything".
• The Quintesson court scene is obviously inspired by their introduction in The Transformers: The Movie.
• Aside from the Cheetor body type, other body types that appear on the screen when CatSCAN is created are that of Saber's, a fan character of artist Dan Khanna, along with Generation 1 Inferno.
• Primal Prime swears by Prime Nova, one of the Matrix bearers before Optimus Prime mentioned in issue #65 of the Marvel The Transformers comic.
• Targetmaster Quickmix and Action Master Rad appear in flashback, advising Rodimus Prime on scientific issues.
• "I, Catscan" is a play on the "introdump" seen in the original Marvel comics, where characters would introduced themselves in very clunky dialogue.
• Beast Machines was unpopular with a lot of fans at the time, particularly turning Cybertron leafy green at the end. So here's some fans writing for other fans implying that was all a big trick by nasty villains!
• CatSCAN's bio in the director's cut is one Senator Drelnar Feh'd, from the Mirtonian Confederation-this might be related to the Mirtonian constellation mentioned in Generation 2 Laser Optimus Prime's bio, or homeworld of Carcass, an alien from G.I. Joe.
• Tap-Out's bio reveals he was consigned to the same grease pits originally mentioned in the tech specs of Kick-Off.

Real world references

• Packrat refers to Sonar as "Batgirl", a superheroine from DC Comics.
• Also quoted in CatSCAN's bio is Albert Einstein.

Art and technical errors

I'll just put this back into the background where it came from.

• Sharkticons based on Hammerstrike's design appear alongside the traditional Quintesson Sharkticon designs from Generation 1 on New Quintessa. However, these drones were miscolored as Hammerstrike in the initial printing; the "Director's Cut" reprint fixes this, giving them a black and purple color scheme.
• In the original printing, the ghostly apparition of Alpha Trion is colored with the red-orange "hair" and gold face of Beast Machines Snarl. While no longer colored as Snarl in the "Director's Cut", Alpha Trion's actual colors in that version are nearly impossible to make out due to the digital "oil painting" effect applied over the scene.
• In the last two panels of page 23 of the original version, both Cyclonus and Devcon are miscolored as Skywarp.
• In the original version, when the Wreckers are repairing the shuttle, the whatever-the-hells Rodimus and Arcee are carrying are rendered as if they were background elements; no ink-lines, washed-out-even-for-Dreamwave colors. On top of this, the panel is so dark it's hard to tell Arcee is carrying anything.
• A page or two later, an image of CatSCAN running through the nighttime forest is very nearly completely black.

E-nun-ci-ate!

• In the original printing, the end of Cryotek's final line is obscured by its own font. The line is supposed to end, "...in conquering time itself!" but instead reads like Cryotek descends into incomprehensible madness mid-sentence. Like many other things, this was fixed in the "Director's Cut".

Other errors

• In "Departure", T-Wrecks is cited as the Dinobot leader but now it's Magmatron.
• Arcee says she's only heard of Devcon but he talks as if they've actually met.
• Devcon is startled to see Rodimus and Apelinq, but Rodimus is visible in a panel of Devcon staring down the Wreckers.
• Devcon calls the Wreckers "an Autobot unit" but at this point in time, and from "Apelinq's War Journals", it's the Maximals they work for.
• Primal and Rodimus seem pretty unconcerned about Fractyl's injuries and want to talk Devcon into being a team player, but it's then revealed in the next scene that Fractyl is on the verge of death! Cold, guys.
• Cyclonus tells Rotorbolt to spy on Packrat when he himself then has to cripple the 'copter to steal the Light. This would make sense for his scam if Cyclonus and Rotorbolt weren't the only people there when he proposed the plan.
• Primal Prime comes to realise he ignored the needs of his team. That doesn't quite work when the problem is Cyclonus was a traitor that nobody on said team suspected.
• The Oracle is a Quintesson creation, yet this is the same Oracle that brought back Alpha Trion last issue and is presumably responsible for Trion's warning.

Other notes

• The original BotCon 2002 edition of the issue is available on the archived BotCon website, although pages 28 and 29 are missing.
• "Departure" had given this story an absolutely massive cast split across three teams. The sudden annihilation of two teams and half the Wreckers, five of them characters we'd barely heard from wiped out in a random page, comes off like someone realised this was unworkable and course-corrected fast.
• Sonar was to show up in "Primeval Dawn" as an ally of Primal Prime's. This never got done in the end, as "Dawn" fizzled out, but if it had then we'd put it in Errors that Primal Prime doesn't act more dismayed his old comrade just died. (He is angry but that seems on principle rather than personal)
• Dinobots Airraptor, Terranotron, and Triceradon are mentioned, but do not appear.
• It was sure convenient for the twist that Rotorbolt doesn't just answer "Cyclonus dun it" when asked who near-killed him, eh?
• While the Dinobots and Mutants were tricked by the Oracle, the Wreckers' mission is apparently really from Vector Sigma.

Covers (2)

• Regular cover: An anguished Primal Prime atop the bodies of his allies, by Dan Khanna
• Director's Cut cover: The original cover re-inked and recolored

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• UniverseWreckers2DC.jpg

External links

• Betrayal online at Botcon Archives