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Tread & Circuits Part 4 - Transformers Wiki

The Wreckers have one last chance to stop Mayhem from pulling off their most ambitious scheme yet—but will this mission herald the end of the team, or a new beginning?

Synopsis

Despite the recent attack on the Speedia 500, the mood on Velocitron is jubilant as Transformers from all across the planet crowd the Senate building to get a glimpse of Knock Out's swearing-in as the planet's new First Senator... a crowd that includes Thunderclash and the Wreckers, who've gone undercover to keep an eye on the ceremony. Certain that their Mayhem foes will attempt something, he's posted the other members of his team to monitor every possible access point to the building...and so caught up is he in his private doubts that he's taken by surprise when Leadfoot claps him on the back and congratulates him for running a good race. Already on edge, Thunderclash hastily excuses himself, then hurries over to meet the rest of his team as they enter with the other Speedia racers to watch the ceremony. As it turns out, the other Wreckers have been debating what they'll do next: although Aileron's certain that Mayhem will try to disrupt the ceremony, Hot Shot and Ricochet remain unsure. More pressingly, however, Aileron wonders if they've pushed their luck too hard on this one: after multiple racers saw them in action during the Speedia debacle, their usual travelling performer cover story will be difficult to maintain. Perhaps, she suggests, it's time to step down... but before the other Wreckers can interject, Xaaron steps up to the podium to begin the ceremony.

Knock Out takes the stage amidst general applause and begins his acceptance speech: while he begins by roundly denouncing Mayhem and their recent attack on the Speedia, he admits that their anger at the system is not misplaced. For too long, the people of Velocitron have put speed and showmanship over sound systems of governance... and the Ascenticon party will change that for good. But, as Knock Out continues his speech, Minerva glimpses a Mayhem agent in the crowd: as Submarauder sneaks up to the balconies, Minerva gives chase, quietly radioing for the other Wreckers for backup as she goes... but as Knock Out launches into the climax of his speech, Submarauder takes aim. Minerva pounces on her foe and tries to wrestle the gun away—and, amidst the struggle, the gun goes off and harpoons Knock Out squarely in the chest.

Terror sweeps the building as the First Senator collapses, and Submarauder shoves the gun into Minerva's arms before he bolts for the nearest doorway. Security forces pile into the building and order Submarauder to freeze, unaware that the real Submarauder has already abandoned his outer shell and rigged it to blow. The ensuing explosion sends Minerva flying and kills the security 'bots who might've otherwise secured the building; while Breakdown gets the high-ranking dignitaries to cover, panicked civilians find that the doors have sealed shut and won't open. Thinking quickly, Thunderclash body-slams the nearest door open, only for the hulking Skullgrin to catch him in a flying tackle. As Ricochet and Hot Shot force a second door open, Thunderblast and Slugslinger blast their way into the building... but Leadfoot shouts for his fellow racers to follow his lead, and their improvised charge gives the two dazed Wreckers the crucial seconds they need to regain their bearings. Aileron tries moving Knock Out—although Octopunch claws his way up through the floor to ambush her, the flying Autobot quickly dispatches him with a concealed blaster she'd smuggled into the ceremony. Bit by bit, the tide turns in favour of the Wreckers: Thunderclash successfully piledrives Skullgrin into the floor, Hot Shot and Ricochet switch foes and double-team their opponents, and by the time that security makes it into the building, the Wreckers have already rounded up and incapacitated every member of Mayhem. It seems as though the Wreckers have successfully saved the day... but as Aileron helps the wounded Knock Out to his feet, Breakdown unexpectedly rounds on the group: members of Velocitronian security found Minerva, alone, at the site of the explosion, holding the attempted murder weapon. A disgraced Minerva is led away by members of Velocitronian security... a team of officers who also happen to be Mayhem operatives who've discarded their outer shells.

Some time later, the remaining Wreckers lift off from Velocitron; aboard the Stuntmaster, Thunderclash is confident that Knock Out will put in a good word for Minerva and hopefully expedite her release. A conscious but still-wounded Circuit announces they're live, and so Thunderclash and the other three Wreckers begin their latest broadcast to their adoring fans. This will be their final broadacast for the time being; after the Speedia, Thunderclash announces that they're stepping down for now, and the team sign off with one last "wreck and rule". Circuit has just enough energy to complete the recording and broadcast it across the galaxy... then, finally, succumbs to his injuries and dies. The Velocitron fiasco has now cost the team two Wreckers and the ability to hide behind their usual cover story—with no clear path forward, Hot Shot wonders if this marks the end of the Wreckers. Optimistic to the end, Thunderclash insists that they can't just give up, and points to Knock Out's recent speech indicating trouble on Cybertron. That's where they need to be, now... but Aileron informs him that the entire spacebridge network has gone dark, effectively stranding them millions of lightyears away from their home. Fortunately, Thunderclash has a different idea—even if the crew of the Stuntmaster can't get home, they do possess a top-of-the-line communications system. Already, Thunderclash has put out the call to some of the most trustworthy 'bots he knows—inspired by Leadfoot's recent example on Velocitron, why not, he asks, recruit some new Wreckers?

On Velocitron, some time later, a shackled Minerva has realized the horrible truth about everything that has transpired: Knock Out and the Ascenticons—now the Decepticons—masterminded the entire Mayhem affair, all part of a plot to eliminate the competition and put one of Megatron's loyalists in power. Flanked by the former members of "Mayhem", now sporting their new Decepticon insignias, Skyquake sentences her to indefinite stasis; as his guards haul her away, Knock Out reclines in his new throne and smirks: "long live Knock Out..."

Featured characters

Characters who appear in italics only appear on a screen.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Ascenticons Others

Ascenticons

Mayhem

Quotes

"Mayhem can run. They can hide. But Circuit is in critical condition back in the Stuntmaster. Be it this cycle or another, they will not get away. We're Wreckers. There are no vacations."

—Thunderclash


"We've done so much that no one can ever know about but... I can't remember the last time it was this hard."

—Aileron


"The chaos on Velocitron is over! We stand on the edge of a bold new era! A better era! One where we truly accept we are not Cybertron—not any longer! We are our own world with our own needs! We are not fallen tethers, we are not forgotten miners, we are not death! We are life! We are speed!"

—Knock Out


"I know you're together, but you might want to get a new sec-ops chief. One better equipped for crises."

—Aileron


"Are you equipped for crisis? Ready for mayhem?"
"Yes, actually. Would you believe Sec-Ops would let someone in with a weapon? Seems awfully lax to me."
*PKOW*

—Octopunch vs. Aileron


"We are Mayhem. Long live the Decepticons."
"And long live Knock Out!"

—Skyquake and Knock Out

Notes

Continuity notes

  • In his speech before the Velocitronian Senate, Knock Out mentions the fall of the Tether on Cybertron, which occurred in Transformers issue #17. Subsequent issues—most notably issue #18, the 2021 annual, and a few issues of Galaxies, implied that the disaster took out Cybertron's entire spacebridge network and rendered faster-than-light travel impossible; the penultimate scene of this comic seemingly confirms this, as Aileron mentions that without a functioning spacebridge it would take a megacycle for them to get back to Cybertron.
  • After shooting Knock Out, Submarauder abandons his outer armor and slips away, using his smaller robot form to blend into the crowd: he employed a variation of this strategy in the previous issue to escape Security Operations after they tried to arrest him. Presumably he had a backup shell offscreen?
  • The final scene of the comic, which features Knock Out, his entourage, and the former members of Mayhem all wearing Decepticon badges and openly hailing the movement, must be set at some point after the events of issue #23, in which Megatron formally renamed his faction "the Decepticons" and overthrew the Cybertronian Senate—like a few other recent side stories, a safe bet would be that it takes place at some point during the forty-cycle timeskip between issues #30 and #31.
  • Ruckus appears on Thunderclash's list of prospective Wrecker recruits; however, he joined the Ascenticons sometime before Transformers #1, later fell in with the underground terrorist cell known as The Rise, and was rendered comatose by an explosion in Transformers #14 until a recently-revived Exarchon stole his body in Transformers #36. If the Wreckers' selection therefore seems out-of-date, they mention in the same scene they've been "out here" among the colonies for nearly two megacycles (2,000 years) or basically ever since the War of the Threefold Spark.
  • After she's imprisoned, Minerva angrily calls Knock Out a "mechanic-maniac" in reference to their video game face-off in issue #2.

Transformers references

  • Video screens and friezes inside the Velocitronian Senate prominently feature the red lightning-bolt symbol used in the Cybertron cartoon to represent the planet, which featured prominently on Velocitron's Cyber Planet Keys.
  • In his inauguration speech, Knock Out announces that his reign heralds the beginning of a "bold new era" for the planet—"A Bold New Era" was the tagline originally used to advertise the first year of IDW's Transformers reboot, and ran up until issue #18. He also refers to "chaos on Velocitron," which was the name of a boxed set from the Titans Return toyline.
  • As he grapples with Skullgrin, Thunderclash announces that he's got "better things to do than die", copping Springer's line from the first act of The Transformers: The Movie.
  • A Velocitronian bystander on page twelve is drawn to resemble Beast Wars Spittor.
  • Two more generics in the crowd attending Knock Out's speech are drawn as car-fied versions of Lawrence's Lost Light creations Anode and Lug (not to be confused with the real deals already accounted for on Cybertron).
  • Thunderclash kicks off their final broadcast by using the famous universal greeting from the animated film: "bah-weep-graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong."
  • The list of potential Wrecker recruits features a huge variety of characters: these include characters who've appeared as Wreckers in other continuities, characters who've crossed paths or been associated with the team in varying capacities, and a few new faces thrown in for spice. Most prominently, the team features most of the classic Wreckers from "Target: 2006": Impactor, Topspin, Springer, Whirl, and Rack'n'Ruin, although those last two are drawn to resemble their Cyberverse counterparts. IDW-original Wreckers include Leadfoot, who joined the team in Regeneration One, and noted Wreckers fanboy Ironfist from Last Stand of the Wreckers. Bulkhead and Moonracer were both Wreckers in the Aligned continuity family, while Siege promotional material identified Smashdown as the team's mascot. Non-Wreckers in the mix include Carnivac and Ruckus, who were both members of the original Mayhem Attack Squad, Star Saber, who briefly crossed paths with the team in IDW's Secrets & Lies miniseries, a Cyberverse-inspired Lockdown, Goshooter, and finally, IDW's original character Stardrive, who's never joined the Wreckers but did work with Prowl's rogue unit in the pages of Optimus Prime and Unicron, so maybe that's what they're riffing off of. Moonracer, Impactor, and Bulkhead are based on their Power of the Primes, Siege, and Legacy toys, respectively.

Errors

  • On panel five of page two, Breakdown and Skyquake accidentally switch color schemes: Breakdown is green and Skyquake is blue.
  • As Thunderclash explains his previous combat experience, the "Threefold Spark" is erroneously hyphenated as "Three-Fold".
  • In issue #1, Octopunch showed a hologram of Velocitron that depicted it as Earth-like, with green continents and liquid oceans. As the Wreckers leave the planet in this issue, however, it's instead shown to be a metallic, Cybertron-like world.

Covers (3)

  • Tread&Circuits 4 cvrA.jpg

  • Tread&Circuits 4 cvrB.jpg

  • Tread&Circuits 4 cvrRI.jpg

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