Starscream goes to the Hoover Dam to find Frenzy. He kills a lot of people.

Synopsis[]

Starscream arrives at Hoover Dam to find a number of soldiers there to meet him. He gives the puny flesh creatures a chance to surrender. Their response: a bazooka shot to his face. Starscream makes it clear that this was a bad idea via his cluster bombs, but even so, the humans' assault starts to overwhelm him. More irritated than injured, Starscream's priority is nevertheless to find Frenzy, and he flies into the dam's interior to do so.

Once inside, Starscream can sense residual All Spark energy, amused by how Megatron must have been driven insane by its closeness during his captivity. He can also sense Frenzy nearby, but is unable to pinpoint him due to interference (of the bullet kind) from nearby pests. He exterminates this annoyance and continues deeper into the dam, through narrow corridors that almost hinder his search, but not quite.

Outside, Sector Seven Agent Salazar contacts his troops. After ensuring that Agents Simmons and Banachek and Secretary Keller are out of the area, he tells them to get out now that "N.B.E.-3" is apparently trapped.

Meanwhile, Starscream has reached the dam's radio room, monologuing on how his Seeker attributes have not been hindered by this planet, nor has his ability to adapt. He detaches his hand from his arm, his wrist stretching out into little more than ropy wires, and reaches one of those wires into the room, pulling out Frenzy, as well as two human scientists. Surprisingly, he allows the two scientists to live, providing they give up Frenzy without a fight. They comply, and Starscream stores the little spy in his cockpit before rocketing quickly upwards out of the dam.

Outside, Sector Seven is waiting. Starscream cannot waste anymore time or energy fighting. He intends to run, but one of the humans addresses him by name, surprising him.

Agent Salazar orders Starscream to stand down. Starscream is not amused, but still cannot risk a fight. Sector Seven does not see it that way, and Salazar unleashes a "secret weapon": L.M.-1. Starscream senses an odd energy signature from the vehicle and realizes what it must be as it begins to transform. Even though it cannot complete its transformation, Starscream's curiosity gets the better of him, and he lowers his guard, giving Sector Seven a window in which to attack. Berating himself, Starscream pounces on Salazar's jeep, captures it and the agent, and takes off into the sky.

Apparently, merely flying is relaxing to Seekers, as Starscream's energy reserves begin to recharge. Using this time to his advantage, he tosses the jeep back to Earth and begins his interrogation of Salazar, demanding to know how the agent knows his name. Salazar uses the excuse that he's not authorized to tell Starscream anything, and an irritated Starscream drops him, then dives down and catches the plummeting flesh-creature, saying its job is now to tell Starscream what it knows or else be "returned" to its planet. Salazar stubbornly still refuses. With fighter jets appearing on the horizon, Starscream can no longer waste time with this game. He shoves Salazar into his cockpit, intending to take him back to Decepticon HQ. Transforming back to F-22 mode, Starscream prepares for his journey to Mars, confident that his Earth alternate mode can survive the trip.

His "passenger"? Not so much.

Approaching Mars, Starscream hopes his subordinates aboard the Nemesis have made themselves useful, theorizing that it's only a matter of time before they are discovered. As a certain, green spaceship observes him entering Mars' atmosphere, transmitting his findings to his friends on the planet's surface, Starscream's theory proves correct.

Almost out of energy, Starscream arrives at the Nemesis just in time, and "one of his own" is there to help him. Starscream has no time to waste in answering stupid questions and is quickly taken to the regeneration device.

After his recovery, while comfortably seated in his command chair, Starscream muses to his fellow Seeker on how interesting humans are, capable of great achievements, like destroying Megatron and the All Spark. Thundercracker expresses confusion at this, since apparently Starscream had told him that he had the All Spark. Belittling his subordinate for stupidity, Starscream explains that he does not have the All Spark itself, but rather a way to recreate it and Cybertron—under his rule, of course. Thundercracker, apparently confused, instead questions Starscream's Earth mode. Starscream assures him that while they may look like Earth vehicles, their adaptive abilities mean that they are not limited to the vehicles' abilities, and the modes will prove useful when they rule Earth. However, his priority is to rule their own planet, and the data in Frenzy's memory is the key to doing so.

Starscream orders Thundercracker to plug in Frenzy and start transmitting the data to Cybertron, also asking if a space bridge terminal has been constructed. A view outside confirms that one has been, but due to their distance from Cybertron, it will not be a straight trip, but rather a connection through multiple space bridges. This makes no difference, as Frenzy's data can be sent back to Cybertron ahead of Starscream making the trip himself. He is confident that with Optimus Prime on Earth, nobody will be able to stop his conquest of Cybertron.

Nobody, except perhaps the team of Autobots heading his way.

Featured characters[]

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes[]

"This planet hasn't robbed me of my Seeker attributes... or my species' inherent ability to adapt."

—Starscream confirms what we all suspected.

"It would be impossible to shift forms now. But it looks as if my Earth mode will survive the trip. The same cannot be said for the human."

—Starscream explains why he left Earth's atmosphere in F-22 mode, and Salazar meets his end with a rather sickening "POP!"

Errors[]

• In Salazar's word bubble on page 6, Agent Banachek's name is misspelled as "Banechek".
• What exactly makes Starscream believe that Sector Seven learned more about the AllSpark in less than 100 years than what Cybertronian scientists could learn in well over 1 million?

Items of note[]

• Cameos: Wreckage (on monitor)
• Fast Action Battlers get some fiction love: in addition to the appearance of Smokescreen, Starscream uses the arm blades featured on his FAB toy.

Covers (4)[]

• Cover A: Starscream vs Landmine and Sector 7; art & colors by Alex Milne
• Cover B: Starscream closeup; art by James Raiz & colors by Kieran Oats
• Incentive Cover RI-A: Uncolored lineart of Cover A
• Incentive Cover RI-B: Uncolored lineart of Cover B

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