Date: Tuesday, December 1st 2009 2:38pm EST
Categories: Site Articles,
Site News,
Transtopia
Posted by: Dead Metal |
Credit(s): Transtopia
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Yes you read that right the Transtopia Newsletter is back baby! I want to apologize for October missing out on the Newsletter fun it was due to me having a lot of problems and personal issues that prevented me posting it but that#s what the XXL in the title of this edition is for, yes this is October and November!
You might have noticed that we have a a new
Transtopia Newsletter feedback thread which you can use to tell us how awesome we are(:P), well it's more for feedback really, just use it to tell us what would improve the Newsletter and we'll see what we can do!
Also i would like to announce that we need a new editor to take care of kitbashes, repaints and scratch-builds, should you be interested in doing taking that part, just send Dead Metal a pm!
Also I would like to add that there will no longer be a Transtopia art challenge as I simply can't be bothered doing them without having people join in, but enough of that and read on.
-Dead Metal
How to Showcase Your Work...
The newsletter is your opportunity to show off your work and talent. We rely on your articles, artwork, and customs to make it interesting. Entries will be reviewed on a monthly basis. You can submit your work here:
Repaints,
Kitbashes,
Scratchbuilds
Fan Art
Fan Fiction
Guides
Newsletter Credits:
Design - Flix
Formatting – Mattyc1007
Fan Art - Mykltron
Customs - Dead Metal
Fan Fiction – Name_Violation
Editing – Dead Metal
Just click the images to visit the repaint's thread with full-sized images!
Classics Omega Supreme by blacklion29
ROTF Soundwave by zfeaky
Animated Orion Pax by lleobraker1977
See more in the
repaints forum!
Just click the images to visit the kitbash's thread with full-sized images!
Movie style Unicron by Mykltron
G2 Inferno with lights and sound by bellyboy
Brave Max by ^o^CORVUS^o^
Visit the
kitbash forum for more!
Just click the images to visit the scratchbuild's thread with full-sized images!
ROTF Constructicons/Devastator by L_K
Desktop Decepticon by Pete Standing Stone
Grave Digger Transformer by StreetSweeper
Universe Skyfiere by hXcpunk23
For more visit the
scratchbuild forum!
Each month I'm supposed to write something about one of the pieces of artwork in the newsletter but occasionally we just get too much great stuff for me to single one item out. This month we have Autobot_Switchback's own invention Rollbar. Designing a Transformer must be a tricky task and this design also has plenty of eye-candy detail without going overboard. Kriksix has given us some truly epic comic cover art in which Megatron has torn the Matrix from Prime's carcass. A nice touch is that it even has a 32p price tag which will probably get some of us older members reminiscing about 'the good ol days'. Altitron's commissioned artwork featuring Blackarachnia from five different universes is finally complete and coloured beautifully. After seeing this evolve over ten months its a relief to finally see this in all its glory. Last but not least Rally Racer has given us a poster of what would probably be the greatest metal group of all time if they had ever stopped shooting at each other's feet and formed a band.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind all you artists to follow the submission guidelines before submitting your work for the Transtopia Newsletter:
1) don't post pictures in the submission thread, just post a link to your thread
2) the picture(s) must be in a thread here on Seibertron
3) artwork must be visible in the thread, not merely a link to another location
The Transtopian Forums have been rather quiet recently so if you've enjoyed looking at someone's work please tell them so! They'll appreciate a little compliment and it doesn't take long to post. Constructive criticism is often welcome too.
And now the artwork, just click the images to visit the artist's thread with the full-sized images and sometimes even more artwork!
Autobot Rollbar by Autobot_Switchback
The GRATEST Transformers poster ever made! by Rally Racer
Blackarachnophobia by Alitron
Optimus Prime vs Megatron: The end by kriksix
On the Wings of heroes by Alitron
Or just visit the
art forum!
Send us your artwork!
Art entries are reviewed on a monthly basis for the newsletter. Send your entries
here by October 12th for the October newsletter.
Do you have modeling or art tips to share with other members? Why not write a guide? Feature tips from - repainting, kitbashing, drawing, sculpting, and even computer graphics: Send an email to
Transtopia.Guide@gmx.de for details.
"Now is not the time for grievances; we need to work together if we are to survive"
Once every great while a duo teams up...
Batman and Robin, Rumble and Frenzy, Peanut butter and Jelly...
and now, Hellkitty and Carriemus Prime!!!
Thats right folks, the writers of my last two months selections teamed up. They have been co-authoring the tale Cave In. When good an evil must work together, and its a matter of survival, alliances will be forged and broken. This is possably my favorite piece i have read yet. I definitely give this 5 Autobot/Decepticon Super Scramble subgroup combiners out of 5!!
So now for the other news: This being October now, I also recommend the Alien and Zombie TF stories submitted. I would also really enjoy if anyone felt like writing a spooky or creepy Halloween story. Starscream's Ghost? Terrorcons or Horrorcons maybe? Metroplex becoming a haunted house?
So untill you see me next month,
Name_Violation, Hiding, lurking, waiting..
For extra interactive fun, see if you can figure out who wrote what!
************************************************
The new ship had worked much better than predicted. It sailed easily into the vacuum of space, even with its new payload of Neptunium* Nadya Cherenkov was pleased as she worked the controls of their new ship. She and Philippe Stokes had been given clearance to fly the ship on its maiden voyage to Neptune’s largest moon Triton, to mine the new mineral, as they had been some of the only astronauts to have knowledge of their allies. Glancing out of the cockpit window, she gave a small wave. The small yellow Autobot inclined his head in a nod and waved back, he was joined by a much larger black and white mech who cast him a stern look. Bumblebee chastised, returned to escorting the shuttle back to Earth.
“How you holding up back there, Philippe?”
“I really wish you didn’t call me that.”
“It suits you.” Nadya laughed lightlyat the grumbling from the back of the reverse-engineered shuttle. Stokes glided up to join her in the cockpit.
“Shame they couldn’t figure out the artificial gravity from the Ark’s specs.” He sighed as he buckled himself in.
“You should be used to the zero g by now.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it. How’s our taxi service doing?”
Nadya glanced once more out of the cockpit. “We have three escorts that I’ve seen. Bumblebee has already got the glare from Prowl; Ironhide is taking up the rear.”
“Man, Prowl doesn’t relax does he?”
“Not that I’ve noticed. I like it—he gets the job done.” Nadya chuckled, as Stokes pulled a face.
Their comm. system filled with static as they left the vicinity of Neptune.
“Optimus to the Intrepid.”
“Go ahead Optimus, this is Nadya.”
“What is your status?”
“We’re on our way back, ahead of schedule and we have enough Neptunium for you guys to work with for at least a couple of decades.”
“That’s good news, Intrepid; the Ark is positioned outside the asteroid belt. We willdock you with you in approximately 30 minutes. Optimus out.”
“Bet they’re pleased,” grinned Stokes. This mission had been planned for just over a year with the help of the Autobots after the first discovery of naturally existing Neptunium was detected by their very own ISS. The President had thought it fitting to provide their new allies with the means to collect energy to sustain themselves and potentially replace their dwindling energy reserves after what they had done to save planet Earth.
****
Blackout’s cargo hold recoiled as he fired his main gun. Dead End jumped, his eyes shifting nervously.
“Calm down,” Barricade said. He rose to his knees, fixing the attachment points of the booster pack under his fairings. “Means it’s about time.”
The smaller bot scrambled, grabbing at his own pack, running nervous hands over the pile of carry harness.
“I am calm,” he lied.
“Know your job?” Barricade grabbed for a handhold as Blackout swung wide.
“Yeah,” Dead End said, hotly. “Know what I’m doing.” He lost his footing and fell into the pile of plasmetal straps.
Blackout cut in. “Why we trust you with the explosives, Barricade.”
“Thought you were hoping I’d blow myself up,” Barricade said dryly.
“That too.”
“The love here overwhelms me.” Barricade frowned. “Hate these things.” He jerked on a lower attachment of the booster pack.
“Think you hate them?” Blackout groused. “Rotors pinned back so tight it’s blurring my damn optics. Don’t get me started on the heat.” Blackout notoriously hated space combat—his rotors could get no lift, and like Barricade and Dead End, had to don an awkward external thruster system. Starscream had thrust in any atmosphere, of course. Bastard could probably get lift in a black hole.
“Done chatting, ladies?” Starscream cut in sourly across the comms. “If you don’t mind, we do have a tactical situation that might prove diverting.”
“…divert you;” Blackout muttered, cutting his external comm. “Get ready. Taking you in now.” The interior chamber filled with the roar of Blackout’s added thrusters. The door peeled open. Barricade grabbed the explosive case, slinging the detonators over his shoulder, and jumped out. His light boosters carried him toward the steel-white sides of the human spacecraft. Behind him, Blackout swung around, his guns blazing in suppressive fire. Two of the Autobots came up from Blackout’s six. Blackout’s move fouled Dead End’s exit—the small red bot tumbled, the carry harness falling out of its tidy configuration. Great, Barricade thought: Dead End’s in his usual form.
He slung his explosive case against the side of the shuttle, hearing its magnets clang on. With one last look behind him, he got to work. Simple job: Blow the cargo hold free of the rest of the ship. Get the Neptunium; bring it back to the Nemesis. Secondary orders, according to Soundwave (muttered in Barricade’s private comm) were to blow the Neptunium. Deny the asset to the enemy if nothing else works.
Dead End squealed, recoiling back from the ship, his boosters sending him spinning wildly. Barricade cursed and shot off after him. He grabbed the smaller bot roughly by the ankle and thrust him back toward the cargo hold. “Squishy!” Dead End said. “In the ship!”
“Squeamish?” Barricade taunted. “Do your damn job.”
“Haste would be appreciated,” Starscream cut in. He was really overusing the all-comms channel. Apparently thought his every utterance was worth wide broadcast. “The actual fighters here are outnumbered. And they have called for reinforcements.”
“On it,” Barricade said, with one last glare at Dead End, and turned back to the shuttle.
****
Nadya noticed a little bit of commotion flash in front of the cockpit. “Whoa!” she gasped; Stokes glanced up. “What is it?” Without warning the shuttle was rocked violently, alarms sounded from the control panel. Smoke hissed above their heads.
“Fire! We got fire!” Stokes unbuckled himself and grabbed the nearest extinguisher. Another violent motion knocked the defenseless shuttle, sending it careering off course.
“I can’t hold position! Navigation is shot!”
“Take us back, reverse course it’s programmed into the autopilot!” Stokes yelled as he was thrown into the nearest bulkhead. Nadya struggled with the violently bucking ship. She could see the Autobots frantically yelling to each other outside. They were firing at someone. She saw Bumblebee take a hit and go spinning across her vision, barely missing the cockpit.
“We’re being attacked!”
“What?!” Stokes managed to crawl back into his seat and buckle in.
He stared incredulously outside the window, Prowl was firing rapidly after managing to grab a hold of Bumblebee to stabilize him. Ironhide’s cannons could be heard over the din of the alarms.
“Send out the distress beacon. Let’s hope they don’t blow it up.”
Nadya punched a red button in response. With expert dexterity she managed to punch in the ship’s Autopilot and the ship bucked to the right sharply in response.
****
Blackout dodged another of Ironhide’s cannon bursts. He let loose with one of his own missiles. Went wide, of course, as the recoil wobbled against his forward thrust. With these damn thrusters, he couldn’t shake his vehicle mode.
Next to him, Starscream spun agilely, swiping at Bumblebee as he zipped past. Ironhide rippled a salvo of shots after him, almost hitting his fellow Autobot. Even the Decepticons could hear Bumblebee’s squeal of outrage.
Where was the third? There were three. Blackout swung his thrusters, dropping below the shuttle. Unlikely the Autobots would assign a coward to escort duty. The third Autobot was around here somewhere. Where?
There. Crawling up the dark side of the ship, trying to flank Barricade. Barricade was engrossed in the delicate work of laying the detonating cord in the explosive gel, measuring the timing fuses against a calibration on his wrist. A light flow of the thrusters pressed him against the ship. Behind Barricade, Dead End scrambled with lengths of the carry harness; oblivious to everything except the mess he was unsnarling. Needing, of course, an actual warrior to save their baseplates.
Blackout roared his thrusters, swooping to snatch the Autobot off the ship. Before he could reach him, the Autobot made his move, firing at Barricade. The Decepticon leapt back, on pure instinct, the thrusters turning his leap into a spinning loop in the null g. Barricade flailed, detonators flying. Prowl launched himself bodily at Barricade. He pounded on Barricade’s head and face, the Decepticon unable to block his blows—his arms pinned against his torso. Prowl growled in Barricade’s audio’s as he forcibly tried to remove him from the ship; his voice was eerily calm and controlled. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to disembark.”
Beyond them, Starscream and Ironhide had engaged. The smaller Autobot had somehow managed to get in close with Starscream, bodily forcing his right arm upwards, out of the way. Starscream pounded him in the head with his free hand, knocking him off, closer to the body of the ship. As Ironhide stabilized his spin, he spotted Blackout, rising up over the shuttle, aiming his reticle at Prowl, waiting for the two bots to stabilize until he got a clear shot.
Ironhide fired, as Starscream laid into him from the side with his chain gun. The pulse cannon’s blast zipped harmlessly past the two struggling bots, and straight into the explosives case.
Blackout had time for one thought, and that obscene, before the black of space went white, roaring into silence.
Part 2
The ship careened violently, the explosion sending the fragile shuttle into terrifying spin; alarms and smoke filled the cockpit as the two occupants tried desperately to control the inferno that now raged inside the metal hull. White clouds of oxygen vented into space, forcing the ship into an unstable tumble as it was caught in Triton’s gravity field. In one last desperate attempt the shuttle pilot managed to swerve the shuttle violently, forcing it into autopilot as it straightened and plummeted towards the surface. The gaping wound bleeding precious oxygen into space. The Autobots realizing what she was doing raced after the damaged ship letting out cover fire as they raced back to the moon’s dark surface.
Ironhide evaded Starscream, who snarled in frustration and chased after him, grapping hold of the smaller mech they tumbled towards the shuttle, casting off an orange glow from its nose as it hit atmosphere.
Bumblebee tackled Blackout, wrenching at the copter’s bound-back rotors. He found himself losing the upper hand against the bigger, stronger Decepticon although he prevented him from reaching Prowl and Barricade who were wrestling near the ship.
Barricade’s armour was blackened and scorched from the initial explosion, his booster pack had fused to his back plates and he was struggling to see clearly through the pain. He had inadvertently shielded Prowl from the blast and was now at a severe disadvantage; with a roar of agony and anger he clambered onto Prowl’s frame and managed to get a couple of punches to the black and white mech’s head.
“Having a really bad day!” He snarled angrily, in time with his punches. “This almost makes it worthwhile.”
Prowl shoved him hard into the side of the ship, causing Barricade to cry out in pain as he landed on his scorched, twisted back plates. “I’m about to make it worse!” Prowl answered, drawing his weapon and raising it at Barricade’s face. Without warning the struggling mass of seeker and weapons master slammed into Prowl, sending him flying into Barricade causing him to howl as the booster pack was forced into his back even further, at the force of the blow.
Struggling, Starscream managed to get clear of Ironhide who was closer to the nose of the cone, almost obscured by the leaking oxygen. Raising his weapons he sneered in satisfaction.
“NO!” All three mechs cried out at once as Starscream opened rapid fire at Ironhide; the oxygen cloud ignited and engulfed them and the ship, Starscream screamed in surprise and pain as they hurtled towards the moon.
****
Stokes dragged a limp Nadya from the cockpit, forcing her into one of the emergency space suits, the breach was venting fast. He struggled to get into his suit as the shuttle jerked against the thin atmosphere of Triton, clicking his helmet shut his eyes were greeted by a white hot glow of a secondary explosion. Shutting his visor he caught a last glimpse of the moon racing toward them, and then everything went black.
*****
Starscream hit the surface of the moon with a force hard enough to bounce. The oxygen had exploded on him, blinding his optics and blowing out the barrels of one of his chain guns. He was shrieking in pain, his limbs flailing wildly, casting clouds of dust and small stones into the thin atmosphere. They spread slowly in the low gravity, obscuring vision.
Sheer luck had Barricade turned so that Prowl broke his fall. Sheer luck and the fact that the first explosion had locked his booster pack into forward thrust. He heard a satisfying crack through his external audio before the top of his head jammed into Prowl’s faceplate.
Bumblebee’s attack on Blackout had torn the rotor-ties free. For which the Decepticon was grateful—as he hit atmosphere, he flared his rotors for lift, landing lightly on the surface, tearing off the thrusters with thinly disguised hatred. Starscream’s shrieking filled his audio. He tried subvoc to Barricade. Nothing. He’d seen the little yellow Autobot pest (redundancy) fall far to the delimiter side, spinning into shadow. Be a while before he even caught up enough to matter. And on solid ground, it would be a different story. First step—try to find Barricade. Starscream was easy enough to spot—somewhere in the middle of that rising cloud of grey-red dust. Just follow the noise.
Unfortunately, Ironhide found him first.
“You again.” Blackout said, as Ironhide’s first shot went wide. The low-g or possibly the fall had damaged Ironhide’s targeting system. He heard the Autobot curse. “Distance combat’s for cowards,” Blackout said, blandly, grabbing his tail rotor. He liked it better close in. No one could beat him in close quarters.
Ironhide took the bait, rising up from the berm he’d concealed himself behind and running straight at Blackout. “I won’t give you the chance to go the distance then!”
Blackout deflected the smaller bot’s punch with a backswing of his off-arm, and then brought his spinning tail rotor down, slicing through the Autobot’s pulse cannon. Sparks flew from metal. The Autobot flipped in the low-g, nailing Blackout squarely in the head with his sturdy, reinforced heel. Blackout fell to one side, his tail rotor spinning wide, slicing into his own armor, then careening off the ground to plant itself squarely in Ironhide’s leg. He howled in pain as he felt his knee joint crack, the rotor blade jammed itself through the tough wiring impaling him to the ground.
Barricade thrust his weight off of Prowl, digging his hands hard into the Autobot’s throat as he did, trying to use the jammed-on thruster to right himself. His optics blurred. No, that wasn’t it—a cloud of dust enveloped them. He tried comm. Starscream ran a litany of curses through his voc. Barricade pushed through the cloud, stinging as small pebbles hit his optics. “Starscream,” he called. A limb loomed out of the cloud, over his head, a giant claw slashing wildly. It knocked Barricade to his knees, scraping along his side. Shearing – thankfully – the thruster-pack off his back. “Starscream, dammit, it’s me. Stop swinging.” He staggered into the cloud, tripping over the jet’s torso. Starscream grabbed at him.
“I cannot see!” the jet’s voice sparked with panic. “Barricade: My optics. Are they damaged?” He jerked the smaller bot close to his face. “Tell me!”
“I will if you shut up and let me look,” Barricade said, twisting to free his arms from Starscream’s grasp. He sucked in a breath looking at the jet’s face. Black scorch marks covered him from shoulder to crown. The near eye was spider webbed with cracks. Gone. The right optic glowed only dimly. Marginally functional. “They’ll need to be replaced. And your right gun’s gone.”
“Again?!” The jet dropped Barricade to investigate the damage with his hands.
“Don’t worry,” Barricade said. “We’ll get you back to repair bay. It’s all fixable.”
“Easy for you to say,” snarled the jet. “Uninjured.”
“Really? You mean beyond the whack you just gave me? I still have thruster pack assembly force-welded to me.”
“Do you?” The jet’s hands leapt to investigate.
“Stop touching me,” Barricade muttered. “It’s weird.”
“I’m sorry, am I interrupting something intimate?” Prowl appeared through the cloud, his weapons leveled on the pair.
“Where is he?” Starscream hissed, trying to aim his good arm by sound alone. He almost knocked Barricade down.
The dust cloud caught up in a whirl. “Actually I think I’m interrupting,” Blackout dropped down, pointing his weapon at Prowl. “Thought I’d find you doing your usual nothing, Starscream.”
“Shut up,” Barricade said, hitting subvoc. “He’s blind.”
“Not deaf,” Starscream cut in, acidly. “And bad news. We have clustered together like a nice easy target. And reinforcements have arrived.”
****
Prime shot off after Bumblebee, who was plummeting towards the moon at an uncontrollable rate. Ratchet and Sideswipe manned the Ark. Their weapons trained on the armed Decepticons in front of them. They sat in stalemate, unable to do anything other than watch the small human shuttle burn through the thin atmosphere of the dark moon.
“Can’t we just blast em?” Rumble sneered on Soundwave’s comm.
“We are out numbered and out gunned Rumble. Have patience.”
“Easy for you to have patience, all the way up there,” Dead End whined. “They’ve got a whole ship. We’ve got….you.”
“And we also have…you.” Soundwave said, acidly.
“That’s his way of saying ‘less talkie, more fightie’,” Rumble added.
Sideswipe shifted uneasily on the bridge of the ark, glaring out of the viewer. “Ratchet, the Ark’s weapons would disintegrate them: we should fire while we have the chance.”
“Those aren’t our orders, Sides, stand down,” Ratchet replied calmly. He spotted Prime returning in the distance trailing a rather shook up young bot behind him. Dead End and Rumble backed away slowly in the distraction, not bringing attention to themselves as they drifted subtly towards the moon.
“Ratchet, we have injured on the surface. You will join myself and Bumblebee, Sideswipe, guard the ship, maintain a high orbit. We may need you.” Prime’s deep tone filled the bridge.
“Understood.” Sideswipe grumbled as Ratchet exited the ship. “Hey where’d the ‘cons go?!” He yelled. Prime spotted them already entering the moon’s atmosphere. He cursed softly.
“Autobots, we have to move fast, before the shuttle touches down on the surface. Let’s move!”
****
Weapons fire rained on them from above, Prowl ducked and rolled out to avoid being blown apart by a volley of plasma blasts that burst onto the rocky ground. Starscream shrieked loudly, in panic.
“Who’s firing?!” He whirled around frantically; Barricade tried to restrain him and failed abysmally as the jet crashed into a crouched Prowl. Blackout couldn’t help but snigger at the sight of Starscream flailing. Barricade growled and hauled the jet from the stunned Autobot.
“Could help.” Barricade glared at Blackout who continued to snigger.
“Why? This is the most fun I’ve had all day.”
“This your idea of fun?” Barricade glowered at him, as Starscream tried to tear his arm free, almost sending the smaller bot sailing off in the low-g.
Starscream cut in: “I can still hear you, Blackout.”
“Yeah, you can still talk unfortunately too.” Blackout grumbled as he caught Starscream’s other arm. Dead End burst through the thinning cloud, his weapon pointed at Prowl who was still sprawled on the floor.
“Look who decided to show up,” Blackout said, acidly.
“Who?” Starscream swung his face around. “Who is it? What’s going on?”
“Dead End,” Barricade explained. “Covering Prowl.”
“You mean that he actually knows how to use a weapon? And I can’t see it?!”
A cannon blast shot out of no where, striking Dead End’s shoulder knocking his aim, allowing Prowl to scramble out of range. The gun flew wide.
“Guess no on that last one, Starscream,” Blackout said.
Prowl was greeted by an injured Ironhide. One of his cannons was virtually shredded and his right leg was dragging behind him, leaking vital oil and coolant. His optics widened in surprise, “You’ve looked better.”
“Save it, Prowl. We have ‘cons to deal with.”
“Ironhide, you can’t fight like this, you’re badly damaged, and your leg is leaking energon at an alarming rate.”
Ironhide turned on Prowl fiercely, “Try and stop me.” He limped to the group of Decepticons his remaining weapon raised as another volley of weapons fire burst through the atmosphere, followed by Prime, Bumblebee and Ratchet.
Bumblebee slammed into Blackout, he was small and quick and swiftly irritated the larger mech. He managed to get a hold of Bee’s leg and slammed him into the ground. “Hoping you’d run into me again,” Blackout said, his fingers denting the yellow bot’s armor. The younger mech let out a squeal of pain as Blackout lifted him once more and launched him into the approaching Prime, who grunted in surprise as Bumblebee landed awkwardly at his feet. Growling, the small yellow ‘bot charged his weapons and shot after Blackout once more.
“Oh good. Dumb, too,” Blackout snatched his tail rotor, crouching into a ready stance.
Ratchet managed to duck out of the way and found himself face to face with Barricade. Not a natural fighter, Ratchet hesitated for a split second; Barricade took his chance, his fist made solid contact with Ratchet’s helm sending him stumbling off balance, Barricade launched himself at the medic only to find himself colliding with a much larger, stronger force. Ironhide slammed into him, sending them crashing to the ground, skidding some way in the dust they collided with the legs of Starscream who yelped in surprise. “Stop!” the jet shouted. “Get away from me! I have you on targeting!” His targeting subroutines sent him target-lock information. He had no way to see what it locked on. Barricade scrambled back. “It’s Ironhide. Get him!”
Prime launched himself at the jet, just in time to send the jet’s missile firing wide. He landed heavily on the jet, who flailed on the ground, kicking his long legs into Prime’s body. “Get off! Get off me!”
He clawed at Prime’s arm, finding purchase he dropped his weight sharply, flipping Prime over his head, he grunted as he landed heavily on the rocks. Dead End wasted no time, raising his weapon he fired into Prime’s torso at almost point blank range. “Got him!” he yelled excitedly. Prime cried out in pain as the plasma burned through his circuits, barely missing his spark chamber, exiting through his back shattering some of his back plates. Lifting his weapon to fire at the fallen leader’s head the small red bot took aim for another shot.
Find out what happens next in Fan Fiction
Well everyone Name_Violation here reminding you its that time again. I was looking over the fan fics when i found this months selection. Set in the post-Beast Wars Cybertron, its an interesting tale that will have you guessing at every turn. Definitely a worth while read. If you like what you see here, stop by
Fan Fiction and check out the rest of the story, and some other great works. I give Beast Wars Beyond 3 faces of darkness out of 5.
Beast Wars Beyond by Armorock
Technorganic Cybertron, 112 A.V. (after Vehicons)
A light blue jet flew over the dark side of Cybertron. Past the billboards, the cheap advertisements, the propaganda of a supposed better world. Not all had excepted the ideas of being a technorganic, some didn't even want peace between the Maximals and Predacons. There could never be peace.
"I have sights on the fugitive" the jet sounded off through his communicator.
"Roger that," the reciever held the form of a green sportscar. "He in robot, beast, or vehicle mode?"
"Vehicle. He's a copter. I'll take him out of the skies, you beat him to the ground."
The jet easily caught up to the rogue copter, which took evasive maneuvers. A machine gun opened on the back of the fugitive and fired upon the jet. The jet unleashed a sonic screech which knocked out the copter's internal systems. It transformed and landed on the ground below the towering skyscrapers.
"Come and face me you cowards! Unicron's will be done!"
The green sportscar appeared around the corner of a building and transformed. The robot shot the gun from the fugitive's hand.
"Unlucky." The green robot held his gun pointed at the fugitive's head.
The jet landed, and transformed. He held a pair of scimitar blades to the fugitive's neck.
"I would like to negotiate your surrender," he told the fugitive.
"Like he has a choice," the green one laughed.
"I'll see you both in the Pit!"
That remark merited the fugitive a bullet in the foot. The jet knocked him out with the blunt of his blade and heaved him over his shoulder.
New Cybertropolis, Capital Building
The pair of bounty hunters dragged the fugitive up the steps of the capital building. A technorganic senator met with them.
"Must you drag your victims through our meetings all the time?"
"You're lucky you have people like us in the first place Senator Longhorn," the green bot spoke. "YOu're even luckier this fugitive ain't dead."
"Easy," spoke the jet. "We'll just take our pay and leave."
Longhorn wrote out a number on a datapad and passed it to them.
"You should really consider a reformatting. Your father would have wanted it for you. I know he left you a long time ago, but he really cared." Longhorn consolled the jet-former.
"No he didn't," the jet scowled. "He cared more for his real son Cheetor. That's why he's Supreme Commander, isn't it? He winds up being my dad's golden boy, so we forsake the past governing system and worship a technorganic cat. Yeah, my father really cared."
The jet and his partner began to leave. Longhorn continued to call after them.
"Why keep his name? Why call yourself Optimus Primal? You're destined for great things, for more than a life as a crummy bounty-hunter. The seeds of the future lie buried in the past Primal, it's destiny..."
They both were gone. Back to the meager livings that Cybertron had to offer in a time of peace.
"So...still mad at you dad?" the green car laughed.
"Shut up," he said.
"Let's go do something, take your mind off of it. I got an idea, why don't we explore the old battlefields?"
Primal looked at his friend, "You have something in mind already don't you?"
"Follow me," the bot transformed and rolled out. He dove into a sewer drain that the warriors of the Beast Machines were so familiar with. After miles of distance was covered he changed into robot mode and climbed to the surface, followed closely by Optimus Primal the Second. Before them was a large Technorganic hill.
"Great, a hill," Primal was not impressed.
"Watch this," the green one laughed. He shot the hill, which was hollow. "This was once the Grand Mal. You wanna see it?"
Primal didn't hesitate, perhaps against his better judgment. They both entered the den of iniquity, once the home of the greatest of evil, the very house of Megatron's spark.
"Creepy isn't it?"
"Only for a weak spark," Primal said. He wasn't truly confident, the very essence of this place could make even Cheetor's spine shake.
"Hey I think I see a light up ahead," the green one went deeper into the Mal. "I think it's a spark..."
A flash of blinding light emerged and the robotic cars began to shake. Primal watched in horror as his body trembled and corroded into gray ash. He ran away from his fallen friend, he transformed and he flew as fast as he could.
His friend, however, did not die. He arose and laughed, eyes glowing a fiery orange.
"Yes..."
*******************
If you like that there's plenty more over in
fan fiction. Go ahead take a look. You know you wanna.
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Date: Sunday, November 15th 2009 10:03pm EST
Categories: Comic Book News,
Company News,
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People News,
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Posted by: tigertracks 24 |
Credit(s): Mike Costa, IDW Publishing
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Mike Costa, writer of the new Transformers on going series set to debut this week is answering a few of the questions posed by Seibertron.com staffers i_amtrunks, Darth Bombshell, and tigertracks 24. Mike also contributed to the recently completed IDW title, G.I. Joe: Cobra, a book that surprised many fans with its seriousness, and more mature handling of this particular portion of the joe-verse.
Mr. Costa is living the dream that so many folks in our community would love to get to do...get paid to be creative with Transformers and have your work officially effect the Transformers mythos, effectively carving out your own little niche in our beloved franchise.
Speaking of your own little niche, Mr. Costa, here are some questions relating to your work with the upcoming Transformers ongoing series...
-- What direction are the Costa written Tf stories going to take? Will we be heading back to a universal scope of war ala what Furman was working up to, or will we be getting an Earth-centric style story? Will the ongoing feature one large, over-arching plot with several ongoing subplots set up along the way?
All great questions. I'll try to give them great answers.
Here's the thing - Shane literally blew up the world in his last storyline. That is a really, really tough act to follow. I mean, I can't really blow up the world again. So rather than try to top that with spectacle - I guess I'd have to blow up the galaxy or something - I'm going to start small again, and then gradually expand the canvas. That's not to say that there won't be big events - there will be. They'll just be big character-events at first. No less status-quo changing, but we're staying Earth-centric in the beginning. You're going to find out why Earth is such an important place for the Transformers - and it's probably not the reason you think it is.
We'll definitely be building to events that, currently, are pretty far-off in the future. But the template I'm trying to follow is the one set by Bill Willingham in his Vertigo book FABLES. What that book does so well is juggle big storylines with smaller one, two or three-issue vingettes in between. With a cast as vast as Transformers, I feel like that's the best way to give as many characters the opportunity to shine as possible. But every issue will build on the next, even if it doesn't seem to at first. There's no guarantee how long I'll be on the book, of course (so... please, tell everyone to buy it and write glowing reviews online!) but hopefully I'll get to do all the things I have planned. That'll take quite a while.
-- Will the series be easy to get into for those who may have only become fans due to the live action movies?
I hope so. But the fact is, it's not a total reboot, like GI Joe was. These are still the same characters in the same continuity we've been seeing at IDW, so obviously there are many differences from the movie. I think we've struck a good balance though, between honoring previous continuity and being new-reader friendly. It would be great if fans of the movie jumped on. I think they'd really like what they'd see.
-- How much work have you had to do to correct errors of AHM, or has the CODA done this job for you?
AHM was planned quite a while before we consolidated our ideas for this new ongoing, so rather than start monkeying with Shane's story and forcing him to change his ending to better dovetail into our series, we created the CODA series to tie up the loose ends that the ongoing wouldn't have time to get to in the first few issues, and to work as a bridge between the two series'. Obviously all the issues are out now, so you guys can tell us how successful we've been in doing that.
We all have certain characters we want to see, but overall, we really know we want good characterization of whomever is in the story. The next set of questions revolve mainly around characters in your new series.
-- Will there be any lesser known personal favorite characters that you plan to bring to the fore in the ongoing series? Will you be able to use more of the obscure generation one characters, or even characters that were previously known only to the Japanese G1 universe (such as Victory Saber, Overlord, or Dai Atlas)? Are we following the same characters as were used in AHM? Will the cast start out small and then expand? Will the cast focus on a small group of characters or will we be moving all over the place and get to see different perspectives from different groups of characters?
The cast will definitely have it's core characters whom the major storylines follow, but we will break away from them occasionally to focus on other characters in the universe. Also, the core cast will definitely be evolving, expanding and contracting. It's not going to be "Optimus Prime and the Same Five Other Autobots" every month, but you'll definitely be able to tell who the important characters are by the end of the first arc.
Most of those "core" characters will come as no surprise to Transformers fans, but I'm definitely throwing some curve-balls in there as well. One of the major characters of my run will be someone I've had my eye on for quite a while. Shane in particular gave him some really interesting development in AHM. His inclusion in my cast will be the logical extension of what happened to him there.
As for the Japanese characters. Hm. Not a bad idea...
-- Can you please kill Drift ASAP? (Note this is a question submitted that not everyone agrees with.) Along these lines, will we see any more new IDW and creator originated characters in the near future, or will you be pulling from only currently existing Generation One Transformers?
I have no plans to kill Drift. But... I have no plans to use him right away either. So, everybody wins. Also, I can't speak for Zander or Nick, who are both doing auxiliary books, my intention is to exclusively use currently existing G1 Transformers. Of course I'll be creating supporting cast members, but the core cast will be recognizable faces for the time being.
-- What kind of Starscream are we going to get in the series, the Starscream of Infiltration, the Starscream of late AHM, or AHM #13 Starscream? They all were a bit different, there seemed to be no consistancy, or it was not explained well enough why he suddenly changes.
Every writer is going to have his or her own interpenetration of a character, and now you've seen mine of Starscream. I can tell you guys he's my favorite character, and that's why I was very excited to make him the star of my first-ever Transformers story in CODA #1. (Clever readers with an eye for pretentious writer-gags might even have noticed that I made sure his name was the first word written on the first page.) I'll agree there are some differences in how the character has been portrayed, but in a hugely collaborative medium like comics, those core character attributes are all you really need for a character. Brian Bendis doesn't write exactly the same Spider-Man as Stan Lee, or Gerry Conway, or David Michelinie. But he'll always be smart, guilt-ridden, wise-cracking and heroic. And Starscream's core attributes are always the same - he's ambitious, treacherous, manipulative and often cowardly. Anything after that is just an artifact of the medium.
And now Mike, we would like to know a bit more about you, and your feelings about the titles you have been involved with. Answer as honestly as you want (or at least as honestly as you feel you can to these questions).
-- Who is your personal favorite TF artist of all time? And what is your favorite previous TF story arc (from any series, comic or show)?
Guys... that first question isn't fair. I'm going to be working with a lot of great artists on this title (and I have already in CODA) and I can't make that call. I will, however, say that working with Don on my first stroyline is like getting Spider-Man and having John Romita draw it. And the man does not disappoint. When I saw the art he turned in for the first issue, my mind was blown. I'd really never seen anything like it on a book I've written. I couldn't be more thrilled about it.
As for my favorite Transformers storyline... that's hard. Recently, I really did like AHM a lot. It had a lot of really great, fan-pleasing bring-the-house down moments. From the older, original marvel run, it's probably issue #13, written by the legendary Bob Budiansky, where Megatron temporarily loses his memory and is found by a criminal who uses him on a crime spree. That was over 20 years ago but the story - and the cover image - have stayed with me even though I was probably 7 when I first read it.
And from the original cartoon - not counting the movie, which is actually the first movie I ever saw in theaters - it was probably The Return of Optimus Prime. That Hate Plague really scared me as a kid.
-- What's your personal opinion on the Transformers stories IDW has written thus far? Good, fair, poor, lame... How do they stack up to what has been done in the past by previous companies Marvel, and Dreamwave?
Here's the thing: There are two legends in the Transformers comic book canon. One is Bob Budiansky. The other is Simon Furman. For the past five years, Furman has basically been the driving force behind IDW's Transformers universe (not counting Shane's AHM of course.) I think anything he did for us here is pretty equal to what he did for Marvel back in the day.
--- If given the opportunity to write for the Movie-verse, would you take it? What kind of story would you like to do?
At the risk of bouncing myself out of later work opportunities, I'm going to be honest and say that, though I actually do think some of the ideas underpinning the Movie-verse are good ones, I much prefer the continuity I'm in. More characters to play with, really. And I like our Spike better than Sam (sorry Shia!)
--- Having written a GI Joe tale (GI Joe: Cobra), which franchise can you say you enjoy writing more?
This is a lame answer, but I enjoy them both in different ways. COBRA is a really dark espionage tale that I get a certain kind of evil satisfaction from. Writing about the bad guys is not only fun, but cathartic. They do stuff the good guys would never do, and finding motivations for chaos and mahem is a really rewarding challenge. But Transformers was always my first love, and the satisfaction I get from that is on a totally different level.
Back when I was in college, Wizard broke the news that Dreamwave had gotten the license for Transformers after Marvel lost it. I sat down at my job at the college library, and over two days I typed up a full pitch for a new ongoing Transformers series, planned up until about issue 60. It was the first comic book proposal I'd ever written. Of course, I never heard anything back about it. Obviously they already had their plans made before the announcement, even if I wasn't some totally unknown 19-year-old punk.
But to think that now, less than ten years alter I am actually writing a Transformers ongoing, starting at issue 1... well, that couldn't be more of a dream-come-true type situation.
--- GI JOE: Cobra was a very gritty, mature tale. Can we expect Transformers to start heading into a similar direction? In other words, you aren’t going to pull any punches with these robots, right. Humans will get squished, Robots will get atomized and not return, etc.
Humans will be getting squished and robots definitely get atomized, but this is not going to turn into a dark, gritty book like COBRA. COBRA is a very specific tone for a very specific book - if I was given the chance to write the G.I. JOE ongoing, I wouldn't use COBRA's tone there either. That tone works in that franchise specifically because we're only looking at a small corner of it, and the main book exists to give it context. Now I'm handling the flagship of Transformers, and my job is to keep that ship steady so creators like Zander, Chee, and Nick Roche can party below decks if they want.
I'm very lucky to have spent the last year watching how Chuck Dixon handles those kind of flagship responsibilities on G.I. JOE, and I have learned a lot from him - specifically how generous he is to creators like me, who handle the smaller books. I hope I can do as good a job as he does of both writing the main book, and staying involved with the smaller ones.
--- Should the next Transformers cartoon have a similar style to the very popular G.I.Joe Resolute cartoon that saw airtime recently?
As long as they don't make me look bad by being better than the comic, they can do whatever they want.
(But seriously, I think it would be great if they aimed at a slightly younger audience than Resolute did. I discovered the Transformers cartoon at age 6. It would be nice to have something that could be enjoyed for people that age again, now that the previous series is over.)
--- Can you comment on your feeling of the use of humans in Transformers storylines? At times, the stories seemed to forget that we buy Transformers because they are books about huge sentient robots that have the same faults, and strengths that humans do, not to see how humans react to said robots upon interaction.
It's a difficult line to walk. Sure, the hard-core fans want to see robot action, but for your average reader, they're going to pick up the book and say "who cares about all these robots? I have no idea what's going on." In my opinion, having human characters is a way of grounding the story in a familiar world, and having an instantly relatable character.
That's why the Transformers movies make sure they have a major plot line involving Sam Witwicky trying to get with the hottest girl on Earth - because that's a lot more relatable to audiences than an interstellar war between talking cars. Whether you think those subplots are brilliant or terrible, I can guarantee you those movies would not have been as successful worldwide if they didn't have a kid, his car, and his girlfriend along with Optimus and Megatron.
That said, my stories are definitely going to err on the side of more robots rather than more humans. But humans are definitely major characters, on par with the Autobots, and we will definitely be seeing some stories through their eyes. Just not as many.
--- Simon Furman started this whole IDW Transformers generation of comics and wrote many beloved issues for Marvel, Marvel UK, and Dreamwave as well. How do you feel about what Simon has written in the past for Transformers? Do you think he really deserves all the credit that he gets for what people expect in a Transformers story? Do you love Grimlock as much as Simon does? Any pressure trying to follow up this force in the world of TF lore?
I have not met a die-hard fan that doesn't credit Simon as having written some classic storyline that established these characters in comics for them. He is a living legend, and he really did set a template for how to write Transformers comics, the way that Chris Claremont defined X-Men comics for a generation. The pressure to follow that is huge, certainly. I really hope I don't blow it.
--- Who is your favorite Autobot? ...Favorite Decepticon? Do your favorites change when you have to consider writing them in stories? For example, HASBRO may tell you, you can’t write your favorite bot that way, so you strategically decide not to include him/her in the comic book.
My favorite Autobot is Blurr, and I make sure I gave him at least one scene in the first storyarc. My favorite Decepticon, as I mentioned above, is Starscream, all the way. And though Starscream and most of the other big Decepticons are going to be benched for a little while, they will be back in a big way.
But this is the way the story is working out. I don't want to shoehorn in tons of scenes with Blurr or Starscream just because I like them. I don't even think about it, really. When they're needed, they'll show up. And luckily, Hasbro has not questioned this at all. So far, they're happy with what I've been doing, and have been very supportive and helpful.
--- Who are your favorite GI Joe and Cobra characters?
To write, it's Tomax, Xamot and Hawk. As a fan, it's Flint. Back in the old cartoons, I was always wondering why he wasn't kicking Duke's butt.
--- ‘Rise of Cobra’, or ‘Transformers Revenge of the Fallen’, which movie is better?
You guys are just intent on getting me in some kind of trouble. The honest answer is, I have not yet seen GI JOE, so I can't say. But a friend of mine just got it (and REVENGE OF THE FALLEN) for me on Blu Ray, so definitely own both.
--- GI JOE and Transformers crossover, are you interested in writing/planning one especially now that IDW has both licenses?
If the right idea struck me, I’m definitely interested. But even though (or maybe because) I write for both sets of characters, their universes feel totally different to me. It would be like crossing Mickey Mouse over into the JLA. I'm not a good enough writer to make that work. We definitely have people out there who are though, so I suppose it is always a possibility.
--- Sienna Miller, Rachel Nichols, or Megan Fox?
I never kiss and tell. I'm a gentleman of the old school
--- Does gender exist in Transformers? Can you share where you stand on the whole fembot issue?
Gender definitely does exist. And where I stand on the fembot issue is this: A Cybertronian robot should have the right to marry anyone he or she desires, provided that they are consensual beings.
--- Who would be your ultimate Transformers comic book production crew? Artist, Writer (I would assume you would write it), inks, etc.? What might this ultimate story be about? Who would be featured?
Other than the book I'm working on (duh)... I'm going to say that the ultimate Transformers comic book would be anything that Nick Roche is working on. I first met him at BotCon this year, and I have learned so much from him, not just about who these characters are, but how to tell stories with them. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there is no writer/artist double-threat working right now who knows and cares as much about Transformers as Nick. I will follow that guy anywhere. I am really, really lucky to have him as support on this book.
And finally, what can you tell us about Supreme Convoy that members of our community should know about him? He talks about you guys ‘geeking out’ together, what exactly does this involve?
I've known Supreme Convoy for probably two years now. He's a cool guy and part of the very cool circle of the writer/comic book fan friends I've made since moving out here to the Los Angeles. As for what our "geeking out" entails... once again, a gentleman never tells.
Seibertron.com would like to say thank you to Mike Costa for answering our questions about the new Transformers ongoing series, and our questions about Transformers comics in general.
Be sure to check out Mike’s work in the new Transformers ongoing series, starting this November!!!
*TF Ongoing is set to be released this Wednesday, you can pick yours up at your local shop. Not sure if you want to or not, check out
First Gen's review here, or the 8 page preview
here.
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