Lodestar (Titan)

Lodestar is an Autobot-allied Titan from the 2019 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Hey, Armin. We found Annie for you!

Lodestar functions as a transport for the peacetime Autobot government of Cybertron. Lightbright is her designated cityspeaker and the two share a deep bond and love of music.

Fiction

2019 IDW continuity

• First appearance: Transformers issue #10

Lodestar shine down on my home town, fill my memory, light my way.

Smaller than most other members of her kind, Lodestar was forged at some point before the War of the Threefold Spark. Titans After the end of the war and the ratification of the Nominus Edict, Lodestar was one of the only Titans who did not enter stasis in Cybertronian orbit, and maintained a diminished but still active role in day-to-day Cybertronian life. The Change In Your Nature Part Five She and her cityspeaker Lightbright had many adventures together, including a memorable voyage through a field of crystalline asteroids. Light/Star

During the reign of Sentinel Prime, Lodestar served as a diplomatic cruiser, who transported the Autobot leader, his cabinet, and multiple alien delegates offworld for a tour of Cybertron's various colony worlds. In this role, she sported multiple living quarters for various alien diplomats, and Xenorelations head Nautica even had Lightbright repurpose one of her rooms into an improvised cold store where visiting aliens could keep raw meat. While Lodestar was docked at the Hexagon asteroid colony, Sentinel Prime announced his intention to return to Cybertron early in response to escalating political tension, and despite hosting a complement of Thraal diplomats on board for the voyage, Lodestar became the target of a concerted sabotage attempt by anti-A'ovan Thraal extremists, who smuggled an autonomous artificial-life bomb aboard. Thanks to the quick thinking of Lightbright, Nautica, and Road Rage, Lightbright overpressurzied some of Lodestar's energon valves and vented the bomb out into space, where it harmlessly exploded. Nautica: Home Lodestar made the rest of the trip without incident and safely returned to Iacon's spaceport to drop off her passengers. The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Four

Some time later, members of The Rise carried out a terrorist attack on the planet's Titan Net as part of a plot to awaken Vigilem and prevent the authorities from rousing the planet's defense fleet. As the only Titan not linked into the network, Blaster contacted the pair and ordered them to intercept Vigilem as he set a course for the Winged Moon and the Tether that connected it to Cybertron. It soon became clear that Vigilem could not be reasoned with; despite her best efforts, Lodestar found herself outmatched by Vigilem and helpless to prevent him from ravaging the Winged Moon and the Tether. As Vigilem breached her hull, Lodestar mustered the last of her strength to warn Lightbright that the Tether was collapsing. The Change In Your Nature Part Five

Badly damaged but still alive, Lodestar limped to Polyhex for repairs but remained grounded. Orion Pax opined to Sentinel that security around the Titan should be beefed up. All Fall Down As repair crews worked to get her spaceworthy, Orion visited her drydock; with Vigilem on the loose somewhere in space, Orion informed Lightbright that once Lodestar was repaired, they'd report to the Black Hub for a weaponized refit to deal with the rogue Titan before he could return to Cybertron. Swindle's Once Lodestar was spaceworthy, she and Lightbright set out for the Black Hub. Tremors

After undergoing a full refit at the Black Hub into a combat-ready configuration that included extra armor and multiple long-range weapons, Lodestar and Lightbright set out into deep space to find Vigilem. This time, however, they were joined by Scattershot and his Technical Solutions team, who brought an imploder weapon on board; Lodestar was unnerved by its presence, as a similar weapon had been used against Croaton during the last war. Eventually, the group discovered that Vigilem had fled to Hexagon, and set course for the colony. Lodestar tried to contact Vigilem, but the other Titan refused to return to stasis. While Scattershot and his group went to Hexagon to directly intervene, Lodestar confided in Lightbright that she had no desire to kill Vigilem, and that Titans were never meant to fight one another.

Annie needs her Armin.

Not long afterwards, Lightspeed successfully disengaged Vigilem from his berth, prompting the older Titan to warm up his engines and return to Cybertron. Lodestar pursued him, but despite her heavy armor and extra weapons, she was still unable to match Vigilem's strength; at Lightbright's urging, she ejected the imploder weapon from her airlock and punched it deep into Vigilem's chest to blow him apart. The subsequent explosion left Lodestar badly damaged, missing an arm, and unable to transform, and with just barely enough power to find Scattershot and his stranded team before limping back to the Black Hub. On the way back home, Lightbright and Lodestar picked up a transmission that all of the other Titans orbiting Cybertron had been destroyed, leaving Lodestar as the very last Titan. Light/Star

Before she reached the Black Hub however, Lodestar received a distress call from Cybertron. Changing course for home, Lodestar made a dramatic touchdown at Crystal City just as the Decepticons had broken through the Autobot lines. A Dust of Crystals Though her landing scared away most of the Decepticons, Lodestar was too damaged to fight, managing only to deploy Computron who engaged Strika's Heavies long enough for Optimus Prime to demand surrender, Lodestar slamming the ground to convince Strika to agree. Shortly before a parley commenced, Lightbright navigated Lodestar in the direction of Darkmount. The Landscape of Fear Lodestar was still being repaired and recharged when a horde of Insecticon clones approached Darkmount, and was unable to come to the city's defense. End of Time

Lodestar was soon repaired enough to transform into cruiser mode again, and launched from Darkmount under heavy Decepticon attack, ferrying evacuees off Cybertron. She headed for the Winged Moon alongside the Ark and Sky Lynx to plan a future out among the stars. Fate of Cybertron

Notes

• For Lodestar's on-panel debut in Transformers #10, Brian Ruckley left the specifics of her design up to artist Anna Malkova, who deliberately gave her a design which was as overwrought as possible.^[1]
• Lodestar is the first known female Titan in Transformers fiction. She would later be followed by Cargohold.
• A lodestar is a guiding star, traditionally used to set one's course by in sea navigation. Fitting for a wayfaring Titan.

References