Infiltration # 2
Written by Simon Furman
Penciled by EJ Su

Summary:

Picking up after last issue, Decepticons Runabout and Runamuck tower over the humans and Ratchet, Runabout demanding they hand over the palm computer.  Ratchet quickly assesses the situation around him, and comes to a fateful decision.  The humans are too panic-stricken to move, and Ratchet knows he has to act now to protect them.  His holographic "human driver" avatar offers the palm computer to Runabout.  When the Decepticon bully touches it, Ratchet initiates an overload of his holo-matter projector, sending massive feedback into Runabout and knocking him over.  Ratchet's "holo-driver" vanishes and he reveals his true form as the ambulance transforms into his robot mode, crashing through the ceiling of Jimmy Pink's garage.  Angered at the sneak attack, Runamuck draws his weapon from a holster compartment on his leg and targets Ratchet, but the resourceful medic blasts the Battlecharger first with a blinding chemical spray.  With both Decepticons temporarily stunned, Ratchet transforms back to ambulance mode and urges Hunter, Jimmy, and Verity to get in.  The humans recover from their shock and obey, as Ratchet peels out and drives onto the highway, swerving around traffic to gain some distance from the Decepticons.  Meanwhile, in the Arizona desert where Hunter and Verity first met up, the police have discovered a dead body lying out in the sun.  It's the businessman who Verity stole the palm computer from (In Infiltration # 0); and it seems like the cause of death was a simultaneous fracturing of all his bones and internal organs.  The policemen cannot find any means of identification on the man.  However, one cop knows who the dead guy is and walks away from the rest to report the finding to a strange group of men in a room with a giant, stylized "M" on the wall.  Elsewhere, Ratchet is still zooming in and out of traffic as Hunter again asks if the computer that Verity stole is what the Decepticons are after.  Ratchet confirms this and says he was only able to procure a little information from it so far, but what he saw is enough for the Decepticons to want them all dead.  Ratchet informs them that his "group" intercepted a Decepticon communiqué that stated that a certain human male (businessman guy) was going to be assassinated.  The medic believes he now knows why and states that the guy marked for death managed to do something Ratchet's group wasn't able to do.  But before he can say what that was, Ratchet quickly engages his sound mufflers; Thundercracker is passing overhead!  A deafening sonic boom sounds, disorienting all other cars on the road, which forces Ratchet to employ some evasive maneuvers to avoid them.  Making matters much worse, the Battlechargers have recovered and are tearing after Ratchet again in car modes, smashing any civilian cars that get in their way.  When they get close enough behind, their car forms convert to weaponized modes.  Ratchet figures if the Decepticons are breaking stealth protocol, then the information on the palm computer must be incredibly valuable and worth going to this extreme for; these Decepticons are not going to stop until it is retrieved.  Meanwhile, in a hidden base in Oregon, the commander of the Earth-based Decepticon unit, Starscream, examines a strange glowing chunk of rock.  Another Decepticon, Blitzwing, scans the "ore" and detects no contaminants; they can begin.  Starscream is pleased; their unit has broken protocol and it's only a matter of time before someone responds.  He examines the chunk of ore in his hand and proclaims that he won't let anything deny his destiny now!  Back to the high-speed pursuit on the highway, Verity can't believe that Ratchet doesn't have some kind of "disintegrator ray" for these types of situations.  Ratchet informs her that he is a medic and prefers other methods, as he deftly lures Runamuck and Runabout into the path of an oncoming truck.  Ratchet manages to avoid it, but the Battlechargers get slammed head-on and knocked into the air.  As the Decepticon cars tumble off road and down a ravine, Ratchet drives off in another direction.  But Verity has had enough and breaks down, screaming for Ratchet to stop.  Ratchet hits the brakes, and allows the girl to exit him.  Verity runs off a short distance; she doesn't want to deal with this anymore.  Hunter is about to go after her, when Jimmy stops him and says that he'll talk to her.  Hunter agrees, and Jimmy runs off after the panicked girl.  He finds Verity staring off into space and tries to comfort her.  Jimmy comments on the weirdness of the situation and how "normal" life seems to scare people like them more; they're outcasts.  He's doing pretty well with his pep talk until a tractor trailer drives by and honks loudly, scaring the crap out of Jimmy.  That seems to make Verity calm down and laugh a bit.  Back in Ratchet's driver compartment, Hunter finally asks what Ratchet's name is (Apparently, it's "Ratchet"- who knew?) and asks what his "group" is called.  They banter back and forth about the situation until Verity and Jimmy leap back into the vehicle, urging them to leave as fast as possible.  When Hunter looks to see why, he sees a missile fired by Thundercracker headed straight towards Ratchet!  But Ratchet doesn't immediately move, causing the kids to panic.  Finally, when the missile is only a few feet away at most, Ratchet accelerates with the help of booster rockets that emerge from the back end of his ambulance mode and avoids the explosion in the nick of time.  Getting back on a country road, Ratchet prepares to begin evading Thundercracker's further attacks when a trio of vehicles suddenly appears on the horizon.  A police car, van, and sports car rapidly approach Ratchet's position, as weapons emerge from hidden panels on each one.  The three begin firing on Thundercracker, causing him to veer off his pursuit of Ratchet.  A final missile from the sports car strikes Thundercracker's wing, sending him into an abrupt retreat.  Ratchet deploys a parachute from his back to slow himself down, and calms Hunter's fears that the three vehicles are more attackers.  They are in fact Ratchet's Autobot comrades Prowl, Ironhide, and Sunstreaker.  However, when Ratchet greets Prowl, the trio's response is to transform to their robot modes and point their weapons at the ambulance.  Prowl cites a number of protocol and code violations on Ratchet's part and asks if he has anything to say in defense.  Ratchet responds in two words, describing what he learned from the palm computer; "Siege mode".  Prowl is visibly stunned at these words.  We cut to a mountainside somewhere in Oregon, where we can clearly see an alien base construct with a large, brazen Decepticon symbol gleaming out towards the world.  The time for covert tactics has clearly passed!  TO BE CONTINUED!


Slagged!: 

-Ratchet burns out his holo-projector to lay Runabout out on his ass with an electric shock, then sprays Runamuck in the face with some kind of withering liquid spray.

-The businessman who Verity first stole the palm computer surfaces here, quite dead.  Signs point to being crushed by a giant robot.

-Ratchet suckers the Battlechargers into a head-on collision with a tanker truck; they don't come out on top.

-Vehicle mode Prowl, Ironhide, and Sunstreaker send some hardcore firepower at Thundercracker, banging him up pretty bad.


Sightings:

-I'd just like to take a moment to point out EJ Su's awesome redesigns of everyone with more modernized vehicle modes.  Hasbro, if you wanna make an Alternator Ratchet or Ironhide, here's your templates.  If only Alternator Prowl was as cool as the design showcased here.

-Starscream and Blitzwing are seen in the poorly lit Decepticon base, and I'd wager that the ore sample Starscream is examining is a form of Energon.

-Take note of the black tractor trailer truck that Ratchet swerves in front of and later honks at Jimmy; looks kind of like Gen 1 Stunticon Motormaster, don't it?  Intentional?

-The weaponry that Prowl's group uses in vehicle mode is consistent with previous incarnations of the characters.  Ironhide fires a pressurized spray of liquid (super-heated lead?), Prowl fires bullets (acid-pellets?), and Sunstreaker fires missiles (laser-guided?).

-The Decepticon base seen at the end has a giant Decepticon symbol next to it, attached to the mountainside.  The Cons had a similar base in the classic Gen 1 episode "Enter the Nightbird", with the giant faction symbol and all.  Of course, in the episode they called it a "secret" base, which was kind of dubious seeing as the giant Con symbol gave it away.  But here, I think it's supposed to show that the Decepticons are done hiding, and are preparing to go into, well, "siege mode".  Wonder if it's called "Fortress Sinister"?


Hearings:

-Nothing particularly notable, actually.


Wreck and RULE!:

-We get much more insight into Ratchet this issue, and he's clearly a bit more battle-hardened and resourceful than previous portrayals of him.  He manages to evade and generally make fools out of three Decepticon warriors the entire issue; he's clearly been doing this awhile.  I especially liked his able maneuvering on the highway and dodging Thundercracker's missile at the last moment.

-Starscream breaking protocol and pursuing his own ambitions???  Perish the thought!  It just wouldn't be a Transformers story without Screamer breaking the rules.

-The art is excellent, especially the Transformers themselves.  From vehicle modes, to vehicular battle modes, to robot modes, Mr. Su manages to make all of it cool and detailed.  The humans are a bit "manga-influenced" (especially with facial expressions), but they don't seem out of place.  All of the transformations work too, with no "cheating" involved- very nice all-around.

-I like the more-military approach with the Autobots.  Instead of coming to Ratchet's rescue, Prowl's group responds by leveling weapons at him.  No happy friends to see him here; Ratchet's been insubordinate and Prowl isn't having that.  Hopefully, next issue we'll see if what Ratchet's learned is worth his breaking protocol.


Wreck and ROT!:

-Runamuck's shattered right door window becomes un-shattered in the panel where he and Runabout smash through cars on the highway.  I suppose it's possible his internal systems repaired it, but I might as well be anal about it.  Actually, the more I look at the panel, I think their colors might have been accidentally switched again, as Runabout has the cracks in his windshield that Runamuck had earlier in the issue. 

-Ratchet's trying desperately to protect his three new human friends, but he's a bit more cavalier with the lives of the other human motorists on the road.  I know it's a bad situation, but I guess it's just a mark of "New IDW Ratchet" that he doesn't take the time to even acknowledge the humans that were sure to have been killed by the Decepticons in pursuit of him.

-Isn't it a bit, I don't know, RISKY for Ratchet to stop so Verity can have her little nervous break down when there are Decepticons hot on their trail? 


Final Judgment:

This issue is a marked improvement in the action-department over last issue.  And we get our first glimpses at both the Autobot and Decepticon operations here on Earth.  Top it off with excellent art by Mr. Su and an engaging script by Mr. Furman and you've got a winner.  Any quibbles I had with this issue were rather minor, and I'm certainly glad to see that the Autobots will be taking center-stage next issue.  The human characters didn't take up much panel room this time around, and mostly served as a sounding board for Ratchet to explain the situation to the audience (Although Verity's outburst was a little sidetracking).  While it's still early in the game, I can't help but feel great things in store for this series.  I hope IDW keeps up with their schedule (late books were always a problem with Dreamwave) and churns these out consistently.  Pick this up now!  Peace.


A Thunderwing review