Another Time & Place

Grimlock returns to Hydrus Four, seeking a cure for the curse of Nucleon.

Synopsis

Far in the future, Optimus Prime remembers the events that led to the end of the war...

Optimus Prime stands, depressed, looking out onto Cybertron. As Prowl, watching him, reflects, Prime had lost his ability to transform shortly after the Last Autobot had reconstructed him from HiQ's body, a result of HiQ's being "soaked" with Nucleon when he accelerated Grimlock's reconstruction. Of the "Nucleon generation"—those revived by Grimlock with Nucleon, plus Prime and Grimlock himself—Prowl was one of the few still able to transform, while the ashamed Grimlock had gone into hiding and most others, like Prime, were depressed and felt emasculated by the handicap.

Prowl interrupts Optimus Prime's thoughts to inform him that Grimlock had gone, and, after being shocked by a curt response, tells him that Grimlock was going to Hydrus Four, the Nucleon source. Prime is briefly shocked, but tells Prowl he "doesn't know" what to do.

Meanwhile, upon Grimlock's landing on Hydrus Four with the rest of the Dinobots—of which only Slag is still able to transform—they get into a fight with a native monster, and Grimlock is almost killed by futilely trying to transform at a vital moment, before recklessly killing the beast. He then thinks of how he had heard a rumour of a cure for Nucleon's effects on the planet, but volunteers were needed to test it. Having told Optimus Prime, who had in turn told him not to go despite clearly wanting to due to the risk of Decepticons following them and reviving deactivated Decepticons, he proceeded to go anyway, out of hatred for what he had caused and become as a result of Nucleon.

Shortly after, the Dinobots are beaten and captured by Bludgeon, Dreadwind, and Fangry, who plan to revive Megatron.

Grimlock awakens, badly beaten and strung up on chains, to find himself in the midst of a Decepticon grouping chanting Megatron's name, and with the rest of the Dinobots in no better shape. When Bludgeon notices his return to consciousness and tells him of his grand plan to revive Megatron, Grimlock manages a yawn, but is emotionally crushed further when Bludgeon laughs the reaction off.

Meanwhile, Prowl is shocked and embarrassed when Optimus Prime apologizes for his actions earlier, and reveals he had put together an assault team and medical crew since their talk, and humbly asks that he join them.

The assault succeeds, and Grimlock discovers that the new version of Nucleon indeed allows him to transform once more. Ultimately, Swoop sics a repair spider on Bludgeon, which disassembles him, and Grimlock and Optimus Prime team up to rip the half-alive Megatron in half.

And that was the end. But Optimus Prime has now heard of a new generation of Decepticons. Truly, it never ends!

Featured Characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

• The framing sequence of "Another Time & Place" is set millennia in the future, essentially forming the original conclusion of (or coda to) the Marvel US Transformers comic.
• The storyline serves to restore the transformation ability of those turned into "Action Masters" (a term never used in the comics at any point).
• Prime speaks of "a new, more powerful breed of Decepticons" gathering, an idea that would be explored in the Generation 2 book. However, the events of the story make it entirely incompatible with the Generation 2 comic.
• In the Timelines prose story "Withered Hope", TransTech Rhinox makes a reference to this story as a "universal stream" (catalogued as "Primax 1291.0 Zeta") that had been destroyed by a rogue splinter timeline. The story is never outright named, but translating the catalog code (see link above) points to "Another Time & Place".
• Furman's device of "an Autobot awakening amongst a group of Decepticons chanting another's name and looking to resurrect him" would be seen again during the events of Stormbringer when Jetfire finds himself captured by the cult of Thunderwing.

Errors

• In "End of the Road!", the inhabitants of Klo are referred to as Klozians, but here they are called Klovians.
• Prowl tells Optimus that Hydrus Four is a semi-populated world in the Hunfi system, but when Grimlock originally set course for Hydrus Four in "Eye of the Storm" it was in the Styrakon System.
• There is a scene in the text where Optimus Prime supposedly blasts Battletrap in his tank mode. Battletrap doesn't have a tank mode, and for once Quake isn't blown up anywhere else in the story, so odds are it was meant to be him.

Courtesy of my...

• During the fight with the monster, Swoop launches a missile at it, then Grimlock engages it directly with his energo sword.
• The likes of Dreadwind, Fangry, and Quake use electro maces to frequently prod their prisoners, whether they step out of line or not.
• Springer uses a thermal knife to cut off Fangry's hands.
• Grimlock takes Crankcase's concussion blaster.

Reprints

• Transformers: Best of the Rarities: Soundwave and Ravage "cassette" by James Biggie.

• 👁 (thumbnail)
  

  Transformers: Best of the Rarities
  (IDW Publishing, 2022)