Infiltration # 6
Written by Simon Furman
Penciled by EJ Su


Summary:

In the main Decepticon command bunker located in Oregon, Runabout and Astrotrain nervously wait outside as Starscream recharges with the Ore-13 extract in a sealed chamber.  Both express their growing doubts about this plan, especially after seeing what Megatron did to Skywarp and Blitzwing (last issue).  Starscream emerges from the recharge chamber, his body crackling with newly-gained power.  He dismisses his troops' worries and claims that this new purified energy source will allow him to destroy Megatron.  Meanwhile in Iowa, Ratchet drives Hunter, Jimmy, and Verity back to the Ark; he knows he's risked their lives enough and their part in this mission is over.  Verity protests a bit, but Hunter and Jimmy are all for taking a well-earned rest.  Once the thought that they all could have died has set in, Verity finally breaks down and cries.  Ratchet thanks them for their help and tells them that the other Autobots will handle things from this point on.  Speaking of them, Prowl leads Wheeljack, Ironhide, Sunstreaker, and Jazz in vehicle modes as they speed towards the Decepticon command bunker.  He radios Bumblebee, who has already arrived there, for a status report.  Bumblebee reports everything as quiet so far, as Jazz inquires what the plan is.  Prowl responds that they need to establish a perimeter and make sure any fighting doesn't spread to the local populous.  Bumblebee speaks up over the radio-link, informing Prowl that Megatron has arrived in front of the command bunker via an “orbital bounce”.  Megatron wastes no time and calls Starscream out as Bumblebee continues to observe.  The main gate of the command bunker opens and Astrotrain, Thundercracker, Runamuck, and Runabout appear on an elevated platform.  The platform lowers to the ground, and Megatron faces his insubordinate troops.  The Decepticon high-commander bluntly tells the foursome that they are expendable and if they don't stand down immediately, they'll be killed.  The Decepticons consider a moment, then decide Megatron's wrath is not worth risking and meekly step aside.  At that moment, a super-charged Starscream flies out from the command bunker in jet mode, calling his troops cowards.  He lets fly two missiles at the ground, scattering his troops but not making much impact on Megatron.  The shockwave from the missiles knocks the nearby Bumblebee over, as Prowl tells him over the radio-link that the other Autobots will arrive soon.  Bumblebee responds that he thinks they are only going to be bystanders or collateral damage to this conflict.  Megatron fires his fusion cannon at Starscream's jet mode, relating that he had hoped that such power-plays were behind them and that he is disappointed in Starscream.  One of his blasts finally clips Starscream's wing, so the Seeker transforms and decides to take the fight to the ground.  Redirecting power into his fists, Starscream dive-bombs Megatron, smashing the larger Decepticon into the ground.  He says that he once looked up to Megatron, but realized it wasn't respect he felt, but fear.  Starscream grabs Megatron by the wrist and sends him crashing into a wall, and then unleashes a flurry of firepower on the Decepticon high-commander.  Starscream claims that the Ore-13 has evolved him beyond Megatron's capabilities and says that he felt it was an insult to assign him to Earth.  Finally, Starscream's barrage ends as he runs out of energy, and he lowers his weapons.  But to his horror, Megatron reveals himself to be more or less unscathed by Starscream's attacks.  The other Decepticons prepare to watch Megatron's retaliation, when suddenly Runabout notices the spying Bumblebee.  He opens fire on the small Autobot, but gets blasted from another direction before he can do any damage.  Prowl and the other Autobots have arrived at this point, and are overlooking the battle now.  Prowl tells the Decepticons that they are only going to observe, so there is no need for a fight.  Starscream can't believe his new power still wasn't enough to defeat Megatron, and begins to shrink away in fear.  Megatron denounces Starscream's leadership as a disgrace and claims the Seeker's self-interest as “unforgivable”.  In a lightning fast move, Megatron closes the distance between him and his treacherous lieutenant and shoves his fusion cannon into Starscream's chest cavity.  Telling the traitor to “take his punishment like a Decepticon”, Megatron fires, blowing away most of Starscream's torso.  When the smoke clears, what's left of Starscream crumbles to the ground.  Megatron turns to his remaining soldiers and tells them to take the remains inside and begin repairs; if Starscream lives, Megatron will decide what to do with him later.  When Runamuck inquires about the Autobots, Megatron simply turns and locks optics with Prowl, intoning two simple words; “Phase two”.  With that, the Decepticons return inside their command bunker.  Sunstreaker expresses relief at not having to fight Megatron at this time, and Prowl muses that Earth has suddenly become very important with the Ore-13 discovery and Megatron's arrival.  Prowl decides it's time to take drastic measures and orders the Autobots to transform and return to the Ark.  Later on that night, the Autobots finally return to Lake Michigan.  Prowl and co. simply engage airtight seals and drive off a dock into the water in vehicle modes.  Nearby, a group of human spies watch this bizarre spectacle of cars driving into the water and realize they've found what they are looking for.  The Machination agents prepare to move in and capture a Transformer.  In the Ark, Sunstreaker wonders why the humans are walking around, prompting Jazz to poke fun at his expense.  Prowl admits out loud that Ratchet was right from the get-go and decides it's time to call in Optimus Prime.  At that moment, Optimus Prime himself walks into the room, flanked by Ratchet, as Hunter comments “he's already here!”


Slagged!:

-Starscream tries his bestest to hurt Megatron, slamming him hard enough to make a crater in the ground and blasting until his ammo's dry, but he can't do diddly to the Big Meg even hipped up on super-fuel.

-Megatron unquestionably delivers the ass-whupping of the issue two installments in a row as he makes a whopper of a hole in Starscream's chassis with his fusion cannon.


Sightings:

-Curiously, Wheeljack is exactly the same kind of car he was originally, but he has a somewhat redesigned robot mode.

-All the other Autobots have their own personal holo-avatar people as well.  Interesting choices for Jazz and Sunstreaker…

-And now to engage in some creative speculation.  If you wonder how Starscream could have possibly survived after having his torso (and assumedly spark chamber) totally blown out, you have a few options;

*A.  Starscream still has an immortal spark in this continuity.  Megatron's blast simply dislodged the spark chamber and it is counted amongst the “remains” of Starscream.

*B.  As mentioned in Dreamwave's MTMTE profile books, a spark suffuses the entire being of the Transformer and possibly only appears as an orb outside the body when the Transformer wills it or opens their spark chamber.

*C.  We've gone back to the old Marvel comics' way of the brain being the thing that keeps a Transformer alive.

*Personally, I'd think it's a combo of all three options.

-Optimus Prime looks to be more or less the same design-wise, keeping in step with his Masterpiece toy.


Hearings:

-The Decepticons appear to have something of a structured empire in IDW's continuity, where treachery and personal ambition may be looked down upon.  Funny, it seems like an almost Shockwave-like ordered and structured approach to things that Megatron has taken here.  No silly schemes here; this Megatron is a ruthless military commander.


Wreck and RULE!:

-Megatron continues to be totally awesome in this issue.  I especially love the panel of him uh, screaming Starscream's name without a word bubble and in enormous text.  And the way he makes his troops stand down without lifting a finger is equally bad-ass.

-Starscream and Megatron's fight goes down much as one would expect and leaves you with this question; if Starscream amped-up on Ore-13 can't hurt Megatron, how much power would Megatron command if he were using Ore-13?

-EJ Su turns in some nice pieces of art with nearly every portrayal of Megatron, especially him meting out Starscream's punishment.  And of course Optimus Prime's appearance on the final page is appropriately grand.


Wreck and ROT!:

-No doubt the people who waited for the trade paperback will enjoy this story arc a bit more; it really seemed like too little happened over these six and a half issues, especially over this span of months.  I know this is only a foundation tale, but still…doesn't mean it can't be exciting.  These last two issues have been the best so far, but I'm still left a little wanting.

-I don't know if it's just me, but Su's art becomes a little too “cartoony” at some points in this issue, especially with his portrayal of Sunstreaker.  Comparing his rendition of Megatron just a few pages before to the Autobots in the Ark, there almost seems to be a loss of detail.  Maybe it's just me, but it just seems off.  Also, some of his action scenes seem a bit stiff and lifeless, like Starscream's dive-bomb attack on Megatron.

-Furman pushing the humans out of the picture early in this issue was a good move, but also a move that might have been better made a few issues ago.  While I don't find Verity and the gang that annoying, their combined amount of panel-time throughout this whole series sort of irritates me.  Hopefully, the next arc “Escalation” will increase the spotlight and characterization the Transformers receive.


Final Judgment:

This series as a whole has supporters and a whole lot of critics.  I like to focus on the positive, but I can certainly see where all the criticism comes from.  But I do trust Furman's judgment and the slow, methodical way he has laid the building blocks out for this continuity gives me faith that he has some crazy-cool stuff in the works for the future.  EJ Su's artwork ranges from superb to sub-par over this entire arc.  He has the chops to truly take a place among the best Transformers artists, but he needs to remain consistent.  I really like many of his re-designs, but some admittedly just don't work (Starscream!).  Let's hope a hiatus as he begins work on Escalation will tighten up his pencils.  I'm willing to take a lot on faith here in regards to this new master plan for the Transformers comic universe that Furman and IDW are undertaking.  Let's hope they don't pull a Dreamwave.  Peace.

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