The Coming Storm: Part 3

Metalhawk's squad and the Combaticons embark on a mission to take out some of the Decepticon leaders.

Synopsis

Metalhawk and Onslaught's squads are out on patrol, looking for Decepticon activity. The two commanders trade stories, but Onslaught has everyone hush when he here something. Spotting a Decepticon truck carrying cubes, the Autobots watch as it swerves around the corner, dropping one of cubes. The cube transformers into a Decepticon warrior, and the Combaticons take him to an abandoned structure to interrogate him. Vortex assures Metalhawk that they won't need any help, as Brawl threatens the Decepticon with a sword. Moments later, a shot rings out, concerning Metalhawk, but Onslaught tells him it was the result of a self-destruct mechanism. As Brawl exits the structure with his smoking gun, Onslaught tells Metalhawk they've obtained coordinates for their target, a supposed Decepticon leader named Shadowcaster. Although Metalhawk is disquieted, he follows the others to the coordinates, ignoring Onslaught's obvious lies.

Later, the Autobots find a heavily fortified base. Ironfist grabs his explosives, having upgraded them since their last mission together, and Onslaught comes up with a plan. Metalhawk is to drop the charges from above, while Vortex keeps watch on the leaders and where they flee. Swindle is to drop a fog grenade into their hideout, flushing them back out into the open. Over-Run, Ironfist, Dion, Brawl, and Blast Off will distract the guards, while Onslaught will take out their leader. The bots put the plan in action; Brawl is somewhat annoyed he doesn't get to lead the charge, to which Over-Run responds with a crack about the Autobot tank's speed. Vortex spots the officers heading into a large purple building, and Swindle goes to drop the fog grenades, although not without complaining about the lack of loot, earning a reprimand about his thieving habit. Spotting his target, Onslaught snipes Shadowcaster, offlining the Decepticon. The Autobots disengage, heading back to Checkpoint Alpha.

At Checkpoint Alpha, near an abandoned bar, Onslaught is greeted by Metalhawk and the others. The Autobots commend each other, with even the braggart Over-Run complimenting Onslaught's aim. Onslaught notice that Swindle and Vortex aren't at the checkpoint yet, and sure enough, the two are carrying a large piece of equipment. While the mission was successful, Onslaught can't help but feel that something is off. Taking Metalhawk to the side, Onslaught tells him to head back to base with his squad, as he plans to look around for a few more cycles. Although reluctant, Metalhawk agrees, and his squad rolls out back to base. Later, Metalhawk tells Magnum about their victory, and that they suffered no casualties...while back in Decepticon territory, the battered Combaticons are captured by a shadowy figure...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"So the Decepticon says, 'I may not have a gun, but I have a bomb!' And pulls the pin. Wouldn't you know it was a dud? So there he is, optics darting between us and the useless metal sphere in his hand, and he still has the gall to say, 'I AM THUNDERWING! ONE DAY YOU WILL ALL PAY FOR THIS!' I was afraid that not even the stasis cuffs were going to shut him up."

—Onslaught regales everyone with a war story.

Onslaught: "Ironfist, do you have the charges?"
Ironfist: "Do I have the charges? Who do you think you're talkin' to, mate? An' I've been tinkerin' with them since Praxeeum. You kin expect them to be bigger an' louder!"
Metalhawk: "Bigger?!"
Onslaught: "Louder?!"
Ironfist: "Oh, yeeh! You kin count on it!"

—Ironfist, cheerful Autobot mad bomber extraordinaire.

Notes

• Characters mentioned include: Thunderwing and Blue Bacchus.

Continuity notes

• A caption box indicates this chapter takes place weeks after the previous one, which lead directly into "Flames of Yesterday".
• Ironfist mentions tinkering with his explosives since Praxium, a city mentioned in "Flames of Yesterday".
• The Decepticon the Combaticons interrogate is one of the "cubeformers" seen in Transformers episode "War Dawn".

Transformers references

• Two Decepticon warlords are mentioned: Thunderwing, the Ultra Pretender from Generation 1, and Blue Bacchus, one of the Crossformers from Victory.
• The fortress Shadowcaster's Decepticons are operating out of is based on Generation 1 Trypticon's city mode.
• Shadowcaster was originally meant to be Fearswoop, but due to the BotCon 2010 Generation 2 theme, he was renamed and recolored to be yellow and grey. Nevertheless, Fearswoop never actually appeared in "Generation 2: Redux". One of the generics by his dead body, meanwhile, is based on Generation 1 Thrust.
• While the Decepticon seen in the final panel is unnamed and in shadow, the details on his legs point him to being Victory Deathsaurus using his BotCon 2005 toy body, who had already appeared in the prose story "Flames of Yesterday".

Real-world references

• Onslaught mentions a location named Praxium, named after a company logo writer Jesse Wittenrich would see on the sides of trucks during his college years.
• Over-Run tells Brawl he's slower than a Slitheen slime snail, named for the Slitheen from Doctor Who.
• Swindle hopes the Decepticons have a Zardak Power Converter (named for the Convertors toy that was redecoed from the Macross VF-1S Super Valkyrie toy, much like Jetfire. A Transformers version of Zardak would later show up in "A Team Effort".) or a Regilian Shield Generator (named for the alien turtles from Star Trek, although the species name is meant to be spelled "Rigellian").