Memory's Splinter

The siege of Decepticon City comes to a head, as Galvatron and Optimus Prime duel one last time...

Synopsis

On Shatteredverse Earth, Galvatron and the Decepticons onboard the Annex arrive to find that Decepticon City is under siege by the villainous Autobots, casualties already piling up on both sides. Dirge spies Superion on the battlefields below, and so Galvatron sends the Predacons into battle. Grimlock, not believing the tiny Micromasters will be able to defeat the combiner, accompanies them, much to Galvatron's consternation. Grimlock is surprised, however, when Superion turns out to be made up of Micromasters; his components split up before Grimlock can drop down on him, rearranging behind him and shooting him in the back. Splitting up again, Superion forces Grimlock into position, as his helicopter component blasts into the Dinobot. The Predacons soon arrive and free their new comrade; Razorclaw admonishes Grimlock and tells him to meet up with the other Decepticons like planned.

As the Annex sets down, Galvatron tells Scourge and Cyclonus to go find Starscream, so they can gather enough troops for a counter-offensive. Transforming into helicopter mode, Galvatron declares that Optimus will be stopped, no matter the cost. The Autobots spot Galvatron overhead, and begin firing, but Rodimus tells them to stop; after all, this is Prime's fight. Galvatron transforms back into robot mode, and is quickly met by Optimus, who accuses his underlings of being cowards. Galvatron knocks him back, but Optimus is quick back up on his feet; destroying Galvatron's gun with a swipe of his sword, Prime boasts that he'll keep Galvatron's optics for his collection. Galvatron uses his rotor blades to parry with Optimus, and knocks his sword out of his hands, taking to opening to stab Optimus in the abdomen. Angered, Prime punches him down and knocks him back, taking back his sword. Galvatron attempts to get back up, but Rodimus rushes up to him, supposedly in an attempt to keep him down. Optimus orders Rodimus to back down, and so he does, surreptitiously throwing his gun and Galvatron's feet. Prime declares that it's over; Galvatron, heroic to the end, grabs Rodimus gun and aims, telling Prime it never ends...

To be continued...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Notes

• Characters mentioned include: Starscream and the Thirteen.

Continuity notes

• Scourge makes his first full appearance here, after only previously being mentioned by others and having a profile. He swears by the Vaults of the Unknown, which his profile indicates he guards.
• Dirge was last seen as part of Alpha Trion's disciples in the "Reunification" storyline; looks like, as with Cyclonus, he's been pardoned. Outside of being mentioned by other characters, Long Haul (who appears onboard the Annex, block colored and only discernible by his dump truck bed) last appeared in the original "Shattered Glass" comic. The Predacons last appeared in "Do Over"; Predaking makes his debut here.
• Rodimus is back under Optimus after having betrayed him and gone to Earth with his own group of Autobots onboard the Ark. It's never really explained in the comic why he's returned under his command, but the "Teletraanic History Record" for Soundwave in issue #65 of the Collectors' Club magazine indicated that Rodimus had fallen under Optimus once more, as part of a planned surprise attack on the unprepared Decepticons; presumably, with the Decepticons having gained the upper hand in the war, Prime was willing to ignore old betrayals, at least for the time being. Rodimus had renamed himself "Rodimus Prime" when on Earth; he sarcastically tells the others that Galvatron is "a Prime's fight", referring to his former title. Big Daddy was last seen with Rodimus' forces on Earth.
• Prime mockingly asks Galvatron if he can see him waving, a question that Shattered Glass Ravage likes to ask.

Transformers references

• This whole chapter, of course, is a big reference to the Battle of Autobot City from The Transformers: The Movie. Specifcally:
  • The Annex is based on the shuttles used by the Autobots throughout the movie.
  • Grimlock and the Predacons fight against Superion mirrors that of the Dinobots and their fight against Devastator, with them jumping straight from their ship; the Dinobots were defeated in the film, but the Predacons are much more successful here.
  • Galvatron departing the Annex and declaring that Prime will be stopped, "no matter the cost", mirrors Optimus Prime's departing from the Autobot shuttle and stating the same, with Scourge and Cyclonus taking the places of Hound and Sunstreaker.
  • Galvatron transforms into vehicle mode and comes upon the Autobots, who briefly fire upon him before being told to stop by Rodimus; in the film, Prime entered the fight by ramming into the Decepticons in vehicle mode, with them firing upon him, unable to stop him.
  • And of course, Galvatron and Optimus' fight mirrors that of Prime and Megatron's fight, with some swapped dialogue and motions. Specifics include: Prime's line of "As though I would stop you from throwing away your life so foolishly", paralleling Megatron's line "Why throw away your life so recklessly"; Prime threatening to rip out Galvatron's optics; Galvatron stabbing Prime in the stomach; Prime knocking Galvatron back with his two hands wrapped together in a fist; Prime standing over Galvatron with his sword, mirroring Megatron standing over Optimus with his gun; Prime's line "I would have thought the power of the Thirteen would have made you stronger than this" paralleling his heroic coutnerpart's line "I thought you were made of sterner stuff"; Rodimus interfering with the fight, as his counterpart did: Galvatron and Prime's exchange of "It's over, Galvatron" and "Never...", swapping their counterpart's final exchange in the movie.
• As usual, new characters introduced this chapter are based on a variety of things:
  • Cosmos' wounded body is seen in the first panel; he's based on his positive-universe counterpart in the colors of Decepticon Action Master Krok, in homage to a popular fan theory that Krok turned into a UFO before becoming an Action Master.
  • Predaking has been added to the Predacon's roster. Rather than being based on the Generation 1 combiner Predaking, he's based on the Prime Predacon dragon Predaking, having been repurposed from Classics Nightscream.
  • Superion is based on the Decepticon Sixwing from the early 2000's Micromaster toyline; none of the members are named, but we can probably guess that the helicopter is a Shattered Glass version of Alpha Bravo, a new Aerialbot from the Generations: Combiner Wars toyline. Sixwing would eventually be redecoed into a different Superion in the 2003 Universe toyline.

Other trivia

• A Shattered Glass version of Sky-Byte was originally scripted to be in this chapter. SG Sky-Byte would have had Groundbreaker's colors so as to be a "tiger shark".^[1]

References