A Flash Forward, Part 2

Cliffjumper puts some Autobots to the test while the forces of darkness plot.

Synopsis

It's another normal, peaceful day at Autobot City, as ambassadors from various groups and planets gather to meet. Ultra Magnus reflects on how peaceful Earth has become since the majority of the Decepticons left, with only a few minor pests here and there. For some, however, peace is hard to get used to. Such is the case of Cliffjumper; the minibot, distrusting of the Second Generation Autobots ever since their exposure to forestonite two years ago, has gathered them to test their abilities. Ultra Magnus attempts to call him, reminding him that they're Autobots, and that he should be on the ambassador's security detail. Cliffjumper ignores him, and has the six he's gathered show their stuff on Decepticon practice dummies; Firecracker's pyrotechnic abilities, Electro's sword focused lightning bolts, Manta Ray's energy loops, Aquafend's ice streams, Windbreaker's wind attacks, and Road Rocket's teleportation abilities, which he uses to scare Cliffjumper.

At Autobot City's command center, Ultra Magnus meets with Rapido, Pyro, and Sizzle, informing them that Quantum Laboratories has reported that their vaults were breached and had sensitive information and schematics stolen, and assigns them to track down the culprits. Pyro has Sizzle use his new ability to send his consciousness into the future to find out where they'll go to find the culprits, and it isn't long until he discovers where, declaring that they'll need a starship...

On Cybertron, Jhiaxus is messaged by Clench, the young Decepticon checking up on their business deals. Clench's underling, Ramjet, has obtained the Quantum Laboratories schematics he wanted, and Clench has sent him the Firecons as a bonus. Jhiaxus is interested in their forestonite abilities, but Clench refuses to give up his advantage. Unfortunately for him, Jhiaxus doesn't need his help on that front-Sky-Byte has betrayed Clench and has given Jhiaxus all the information he needs. Cutting him off, Jhiaxus tells his underlings that they need to leave, telling them to recall the Battlechargers. Below the planet, the two are still looking for personality components, making questionable progress as they descend down a shaft. Hitting the bottom, the two accidentally trigger emergency lights, and a long abandoned stasis pod comes back online. The two watch as it opens...revealing Side Burn within!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Magnus. What is it?"
"They're Autobots."
"I know that."
"You occasionally need a reminder."

—Cliffjumper and Ultra Magnus

"Did you find what the boss is looking for? The glowing pink cubes with robots' thoughts in them?"
"I think so, but we have so many glowing pink cubes on this planet! Can't they glow different colo-"

—Runabout and Runamuck

Notes

• Characters mentioned include: TORQ V.

Continuity notes

• All the ambassadors visiting Autobot City are various one-episode humans/aliens characters from the Transformers cartoon, including: Bosch from "The Gambler", Alana from "Sea Change", Dirk Manus from "Money Is Everything", and Astoria Carlton-Ritz from "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide".
• Ultra Magnus drives past statues of various Autobots who died in the Battle of Autobot City, including Wheeljack and Windcharger, whose corpses were seen in The Transformers: The Movie; Huffer, who was mentioned as having died in "Dark Awakening"; and Red Alert, who was killed by the Constructicons, as seen in a flashback last chapter.
• The Second Generation Autobots gained their new Forestonite powers in "Generation 2: Redux". However, see "Errors" below.
• Quantum Laboratories first appeared in "Day of the Machines". Their new computer, TORQ V, is an upgraded version of TORQ III from that episode.
• Ramjet's club toy bio noted that Clench was not happy with him edging in on his turf; evidently, they've managed to cut a deal since then.
• Jhiaxus has computer screens in his lab displaying images of Soundwave, Frenzy, and (as next issue would reveal) the original Nightracer. Each image is a screencap of the original cartoon, with Nightracer in particular being an edited screencap of Nightbird, as revealed by Pete Sinclair and Jesse Wittenrich on the Allspark Forums.
• Runabout notes that Jhiaxus sent them out to look for the "glowing pink cubes with the robots' thoughts in them"; these are personality components, depicted as nearly identical to energon cubes in "Starscream's Brigade", something which Runamuck lampshades.
• Side Burn, along with the majority of the Cybertron-bound Autobots, went into stasis in "Battle Lines, Part 6". How he got separated from the others is unknown, but given that the Battlechargers find him in a bunch of rubble, it's possible his stasis pod was lost during a cave-in.

Real world references

• Cliffjumper compares Firecracker's pyrotechnic abilities to the Fourth of July.

Errors

• Despite the fact that the "A Flash Forward" takes place in 2012, two years after "Generation 2: Redux" in 2010, the Second Generation Autobots are treated as if they had just gotten their powers.