Issue #4

• Writer - Simon Furman
• Inker - Elaine To
• Colorist - Rob Ruffolo
• Lettering - Dreamer Design
• Editor in Chief - Roger Lee
• Ass't Editor - Matt Moylan
• Penciler - Don Figueroa

Summary

  Groggily awakening from his deep fall (see last issue), a dazed Optimus Prime tries to find his way out. He is quickly attacked by Megatron, who calmly prepares to sieze the Matrix from Optimus, one way or another.

  On Cybertron's surface, Starscream idly informs Shockwave that Megatron is dead, then orders the Combaticons to probe Laserbeak for Megatron's plans. Meanwhile, Grimlock gathers a small team of Autobots for a new mission. When Ironhide asks why they aren't helping the Autobots under attack at Iacon, Grimlock explains that the Autobots are using the attack to strike under-guarded Decepticon positions. Ironhide muses that Grimlock's willingness to abandon Iacon sounds similar to Optimus' willingness to abandon Cybertron (issue #1).

  Back below Cybertron, Optimus Prime and Megatron and locked in combat. Megatron scoffs at Prime as a glorified clerk, but when he boasts of his plans to reactivate Cybertron's planetary engines, Optimus fights back with renewed vigor. And as Shockwave's Decepticons breach Iacon's walls, Starscream deduces that Cybertron does have a second planetary layer, and considers activating it at Iacon itself...

  At the ruins of the Forum of Enlightenment, Grimlock's team rappels down into the planet, in hopes of rescuing Optimus Prime, who's locked in fierce combat with Megatron. However, Megatron manages to get the jump on Optimus, and forces open Prime's chest casing with a blinding flash of light. The released energies overwhelm them for a moment, then clear away, and the two leaders suddenly find themselves transported to a strange planet... Earth!