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With most of their opposition incapacitated, theDecepticons continue their conquest ofNebulos.Lord Zarak leads an assault on theMercury Gardens of Melanossus, killing off a number ofAutobot defenders and driving off the survivingMonsterbots. Confronted by a news crew, Zarak vehemently defends his "defense" ofNebulos, but, standing amid the smoking ruins of the Gardens, he has a moment of hesitation when asked if he considers the battle a victory for the planet.

The Monsterbots return the Autobot encampment, and report on the lost battle. The Autobots, under constant harassment from the Decepticons, have been forced to retreat into a dismal swamp, where they have been joined by severalNebulan dissidents.Hot Rod, meanwhile, reports that he's received a distress call from Autobots on some planet calledEarth. When word arrives that the Decepticons are planning a takeover of theNursery,Pointblank leads a contingent of Autobots to defend it—the same group that surrendered their weapons to the Nebulans—along with their newly bio-engineered Nebulan allies.

Held captive alongside his fellow Autobot Headmaster partners,Galen finds himself awoken from stasis byLlyra, who is both fascinated and revolted by the changes wrought in the man she loves. Zarak arrives as Llyra leaves, and taunts Galen with his victories and new power. Galen asserts that Zarak is becoming blinded by battlelust, which Zarak denies... just before running off to assault the Autobots at the Nursery.

GUNS

The Autobots arrive at the Nursery, and are introduced to the facility's role in developing food and plants for the planet's population. Just then,Scorponok and theTerrorcons burst out of the trees and attack the seemingly weaponless Autobots. The Autobots have a new trick up their sleeves, though; the six Nebulans transform into their new weapons, and theTargetmasters unleash a devastating attack on the Decepticons. The battle is a fair match, but the Nursery is being destroyed, so Pointblank orders a retreat. Zarak rails at his retreating enemies, vowing that he will destroy them and thus save Nebulos...just like he "saved" the now-ruined Nursery. Suddenly it all becomes clear...

Back atKoraja,Vorath has duplicated the Targetmaster process, creating a group of five Decepticon Targetmasters. Zarak doesn't really care; he storms straight to Galen, awakens him again, and tries to explain: Scorponok ischanging him, rewriting his mind, making himdo things. Zarak says he'll see Galen on the next world—Earth—and sets him and his allies free. The five Autobot Headmasters waste no time in rejoining their bodies and bashing their way to freedom. After a skirmish with the Decepticon Targetmasters, they flee.

Rejoining his allies in the swamp base, Galen explains that Zarak knew that if the Autobots leave Nebulos, the Decepticons will follow, and his world might yet be saved. The Autobots agree to this idea, and prepare to abandon the planet, heading for Earth to answer the distress call. Llyra arrives just then; having witnessed her father in the most recent battle, she has come to doubt all that he has told her about Galen and his supposed war-like nature, and seeks reconciliation. Knowing he cannot leave Nebulos while she still loves him, Galen blows her off, and she leaves in tears. The Autobots depart and the Decepticons soon follow, leaving a war-torn Nebulos to rebuild once the Transformers have left.

This story is continued in "Trial by Fire!".

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Nebulans
Doublecross (2) Grotusque (4) Repugnus (6) Crosshairs (18) Kup (19) Hot Rod (20) Blurr (21) Pointblank (22) Sureshot (29) Fortress Maximus (49) Hardhead (50) Highbrow (51) Brainstorm (52) Chromedome (53)	Mindwipe (1) Weirdwolf (3) Snapdragon (4) Apeface (5) Scorponok (7) Sixshot (14) Triggerhappy (15) Flywheels (16) Sinnertwin (34) Cutthroat (35) Blot (36) Hun-Grrr (37) Rippersnapper (38) Slugslinger (40) Scourge (41) Misfire (42) Cyclonus (43)	Spasma (8) Vorath (9) Krunk (10) Zarak (11) Monzo (12) Galen (13) Llyra (17) Pinpointer (24) Peacemaker (23) Sparks (25) Recoil (26) Haywire (27) Spoilsport (28) Duros (30) Gort (31) Arcana (32) Stylor (33) Selani (39) Blowpipe (44) Caliburst (45) Fracas (46) Aimless (47) Nightstick (48)

Quotes

Nebulan News Network reporter: "And do you consider today's battle a victory for you...and for Nebulos?"
Zarak surveys the wreckage of theMercury Gardens, pauses.
"Yes."

"I thought you said they wereweaponless, Zarak! What's that they're shooting --bugbot repellent?"
"Shut up and, Blot, and shoot back! Everyone --fight without mercy!"

—Blot is less than enthused by the appearance of the AutobotTargetmasters, andZarak is less than enthused by Blot's wisecracking.

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

Instead of firing generic beams of light like in most of the series, the Targetmasters' weapon-fire was actually drawn like the individual weapons theirbios attribute to them. Kup's "old-style musket laser" even gives off a puff of gunsmoke... while firing laser beams.
Cover — Kup is two shades of orange, and Rippersnapper is gray with green limbs and weapons. Cutthroat is all yellow with a few brown highlights.
Page 1 — Scorponok says, "Snapdragon, Mindwipe, Apeface F -assume headmaster mode!"
Page 3 — First panel: Spasma's dialog is attributed to Zarak/Scorponok; Spasma addresses Krunk as Vorath; Monzo addresses Grax as Krunk; and Zarak addresses Vorath as Grax. Got that? Good, there'll be a quiz tomorrow.
Page 5 — Third panel: unsurprisingly, the nigh-identical Targetmaster Nebulans cause quite a few art/dialog mixups:
- The speech balloon placement makes it unclear who is who when "Sparks" and Pinpointer are introduced.
- From left to right...
- Spoilsport is drawn, but introduced as either "Sparks" or Pinpointer.
- Pinpointer—in the foreground—is colored gray instead of red.
- Firebolt (aka "Sparks") is drawn, and colored in red/gray rather than black/gray, but introduced as Recoil.
- Haywire, shockingly, is completely on-model.
- Recoil is drawn, but introduced as Spoilsport.
Page 10 - Last panel: the Targetmaster Nebulan shown is the Decepticon-allied Blowpipe, in Peacemaker/Pinpointer red and gray.
Page 14 — As the Autobots retreat, a vaguelySandstorm-like vehicle is drawn instead of Hot Rod.

He swallowed a helmet! He swallowed a helmet!!

Page 14 — Zarak's head is drawn and colored as a bizarre melding of flesh and metal; he has a squared-off nose and mechanical mouth, both flesh-colored, with a metal-colored chin attached.
Page 16 — Eighth panel: Gort's suit is once again drawn as Chromedome's body.
Page 17 — This time it's Highbrow who's on steroids, taller and more massive than the other four Headmasters, including Fortress Maximus.
Page 18 — Second and third panels: And again, Fortress Maximus is drawn with Cerebros' head.
Page 21 — Second panel: Pointblank is missing his head.
Page 22 — First panel: As the Autobots leave and reboard their ship that is in orbit around Nebulos, several of the non-flying Autobots are given a friendly ride by Decepticons (Slugslinger, Misfire, Triggerhappy).
Page 22 — The Decepticon ship is written as having been parked in orbit like theSteelhaven, but Springer draws it as if it launches from the ground, complete with launching pad. (Consequently, this confused later artistJosé Delbo, and thus the ship is drawn in its second appearance in "Trial by Fire!" with its launching platform attached to it.)

Continuity errors

Continuity notes

In Fortress Maximus's absence, command of the group seems to have fallen to Pointblank, though it's not explicitly stated.
The message Hot Rod receives on page 6 was sent byGoldbug in US issue#37.

Real-life references

UK printing

Issue #142

AdditionalTransformers story: "Child's Play"
Other strips:Robo-Capers
InGrim Grams,Grimlock attempts to clear up the confusing timeline between the main UK series and theHeadmasters backup stories and that those accursed mistake-proneStubbies also infected the producers ofThe Transformers: The Movie.

Issue #143

AdditionalTransformers story: "Spacehikers!"
Other strips:Robo-Capers
AtoZ:First Aid andFrenzy
InGrim Grams, Grimlock discusses plot points in the UK annuals while expressing his dislike for aDinobot combiner, and shoots down a letter supposedly fromStylor to correct a typo which renderedGort as Grot, saying he prefers the way Grot sounds.

Issue #144

AdditionalTransformers story: "Spacehikers!"
Other strips:Robo-Capers
InGrim Grams, Grimlock kindly corrects the spelling mistakes caused by some poor Mum's typewriter, attempts to explain some of theStubbies' mistakes in theHeadmasters back-up stories, and again expresses his extreme distaste for the idea of a Dinobot combiner.

Issue #145

AdditionalTransformers story: "Stargazing"
Other strips:Robo-Capers
Grimlock shows up in a Father Christmas costume, opening a letter with hisenergo-sword inGrim Grams.
A spot-the-difference competition (based on a panel from "Distant Thunder!") offered 40 lucky readers the chance to win a copy ofMSD/Tempo Video's newest release, featuring "Heavy Metal Wars" and "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide".

Other trivia

Two exclamation points. Because it'sthat exciting.
For the UK printing, the title was modified to the UK spelling of "Armour". Sadly, during the process, it lost one of its exclamation points, making the UK version considerably duller.

Courtesy of my...

Blot calls out hisslime gun.
Hun-Grrr taunts Crosshairs over the ineffectiveness of hisrocket-propelled grenades.

Changes in the IDWClassic Transformers reprint

Page 5, panel 3 - Recoil is colored correctly and Spoilsport now has pink arms and goggles.
Page 7 - Vorath's red limbs are corrected to purple
Page 8 - Krunk's purple limbs are corrected to red
Page 16 - Stylor and Gort's swapped colors are corrected

Covers (5)

Headmasters #4 cover: Targetmasters Hot Rod and a golden Kup, byFrank Springer andDanny Bulanadi.
UK issue #142 cover:Bruticus whippingDefensor with a train, byDan Reed andRobin Bouttell.
UK issue #143 cover: a giant claw about to grabBlast Off, byMartin Griffiths.
UK issue #144 cover:Grimlock leaping/falling feet first from theArk, byBarry Kitson.
UK issue #145 cover:Starscream hatesChristmas, byBarry Kitson andRobin Bouttell.