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Stranded on an alien planet with Swerve, Sunstreaker, Perceptor, and Bob, Hoist learns he has nothing to fear but fear itself. And Swerve's big mouth.

Synopsis

Hoist,Swerve, andPerceptor weresupposed to be going on a routine mission to scavenge what they could from a desertedDecepticon outpost, but things took a turn for the worse whenSunstreaker and his petBob decided to join them. While piloting the craft, the vain Sunstreaker was distracted by his own reflection in the radar screen and wound up crashing the ship. With Perceptor's legs melted to the ceiling by the overloading heat coils (well, the floor, actually, since the ship winds up upside-down), Hoist sets out to do a little reconnaissance, only to suddenly be attacked by one of the worst 'bots imaginable:Tarn of theDecepticon Justice Division. Hoist flees back to the ship and activates its cloaking field, hiding them from view, but the effects will only last six hours before their energy reserves dry up, and theLost Light isn't answering their calls for help.

Swerve fills the time by talking, and talking, and talking some more. He lists his greatest fears, besides Tarn and the DJD, (Megatron,Overlord,Sixshot,Shockwave, and ahypothetical combination of all four), asks questions about Bob and his origins, and just generally bickers with a very grumpy Sunstreaker. After four hours, Sunstreaker angrily suggests he try turning his insult comedy on Hoist instead, but Swerve finds no potential for humor in the exceedingly ordinary maintenance 'bot. An hour later, conversation shifts to near-death experiences, and Swerve manages to annoy Hoist enough into talking about one of his: a time millions of years ago when his ship crashed in theRust Spot after acollision with another vessel, and he was the only survivor, stranded alone in those desolate wastes. To illustrate his story, Hoist tosses a pipe to the ground, but when he bends to pick it up, he spots a gaping wound in Swerve's side that the little 'bot has kept a secret, distracting everyone from it with his endless chatter. Realizing that the injury will be fatal if Swerve does not get treatment soon, Hoist and Sunstreaker resolve to take on Tarn in hopes of appropriating his ship and getting off the planet.

Loading themselves up with an assortment of weaponry that the engineer has quickly built, Hoist and Sunstreaker venture out and split up to search. Sunstreaker, mired in self-loathing, is caught unawares by Tarn and quickly taken down, but when Hoist rushes to his aid he discovers not the DJD leader, but Megatron, Overlord, Sixshot, and Shockwave, who all promptly combine into agargantuan robot! Hoist's crossbow proves ineffective against the giant, but just as it is about to stomp on him, it simply fades away to nothing. Realizing that something is very wrong, Hoist races back to the ship, where Swerve has passed out. Listening to the details of his story, Perceptor realises that the planet is protected by aphobia shield, a defense mechanism created by theGalactic Council to ward off Cybertronian incursions that creates tangible illusions out of fears plucked from the minds of those that stray into its area of effect. When Swerve lost consciousness, the illusions the shield was creating based on his fears ceased to be, but as the ship suddenly shakes, the pair realise that the shield was locked onto someone else's mind... Bob's! Hoist drags his friends out of the ship seconds before the titanic foot of an illusoryMetroplex crushes it to powder, and chases after a fleeing Bob, leaping a chasm. Just as Perceptor is thanking him, Hoist coldcocks the scientist to prevent the shield from reading his mind, then does the same to Bob, causing Metroplex to fade away just in time. And so, Hoist is the only one left for the shield to lock on to, and his worst fear comes true around him... the fear of being stranded alone, in those desolate wastes...

Featured characters

(Characters initalic text appear only in flashbacks, fantasies, and/or phobia shield illusions.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons
Hoist (1) Swerve (2) Sunstreaker (3) Bob (4) Perceptor (5) Metroplex (6) Optimus Prime (11) Prowl (12)	Tarn (2) Megatron (7) Overlord (8) Sixshot (9) Shockwave (10) "Overmegasixwave" (13)

Quotes

"For your information, apart from Tarn and the D.J.D., I'm scared of—(one, two, three four...)—five things in this life:One, Megatron. (Obviously.)Two, Overlord.Three, Sixshot.Four, Shockwave. Andfive, somenightmare combination of Megatron, Overlord, Sixshot and Shockwave."
"They can'tcombine...!"
"Matter of time. Decepticons areobsessed with combining. Put two of 'em in a room and within seconds one will be standing on the other's shoulders.Fact."

—Swerve andHoist

"I wouldn't mind all thechatter but half the time it's dig, dig, dig, have a go at Sunstreaker. Why not pick on—onHoist for a change?!"
"Hoist? Nah."
"Why? Why not?"
"Look at the guy! I've got nothing to work with! If someone said to me, 'That Hoist, what's helike?' I'd say 'He's green.' And if they said, 'No, but what's hereally like?' I'd say, 'He's green and he's got a tow line.'"

—Sunstreaker andSwerve

"You know why you can't get ahandle on me? Because I'm anordinary person. I'mnormal. I'm just a mid-rankingmaintenance engineer who takes each day as it comes. I'm not particularly chatty, handsome or clever, but you know what? I get by. Imanage. So don'tdismiss me just because—unlike all your pals on theLost Light—my personality isn't the product of acrippling psychological disorder."

—Hoist

"Overmegasixwave is a bit of a mouthful. How about we just go forugly?"

—Hoist

"I'm thinking.... that this planet is protected by aphobia shield."
"A phobia shield!Brilliant! ExceptI don't know what one of those is...!"

—Perceptor andHoist

Notes

Continuity notes

This story occurs concurrently with the previousSpotlight issue,Spotlight: Trailcutter, which showed on its final page Hoist returning from the away mission this issue chronicles. The team are unable to contact theLost Light for most of this issue because the ship's crew are all frozen as a result of the events ofTrailcutter.
Swerve notes that he's seen the DJD in action before, something we heard about inMore than Meets the Eye#4.
Sunstreaker refers back to when he was left in bits on Cybertron following the events ofAll Hail Megatron.
We saw Hoist's ship's collision with another shuttle from the other side back inSpotlight: Orion Pax. The ship that crashed into them was the oneOrion Pax was strapped to byBludgeon.
The Galactic Council and its dislike of Cybertronians were properly introduced in theMore than Meets the Eye2012 Annual.

Transformers references

The sketchiness of the image makes it hard to be sure, but the phobia shield-generated 'Autobots' attacking Decepticons in a flashback resemble theDinobots. Given the group's nature, it should be little surprise that they're some Decepticons' greatest fear.

Real-world references

The bridge Sunstreaker was left under followingAll Hail Megatron gets a name, theJuda's Bridge, referring, of course, to the Biblical Judas, betrayer ofJesus, and nodding towards Sunstreaker's own betrayal of the Autobots during that story. Bit on the nose with that one, there, thoughRoberts has form in that regard.
Hoist's solution to the phobia shield is similar to Kryten's solution in theRed Dwarf episode "Legion" in which the android defeats an enemy formed from the neuroses of the crew by knocking them out so it can only latch onto his personality.Roberts has form in that regard.

Errors

It can't really be considered an accident given that the comic is intended to be packed in with the toy, but Hoist has spontaneously gained his new 2013Generations toy body for this story, which he didn't have when he showed up inSpotlight: Trailcutter shortly after this.
Perceptor has slipped back to his pre-sniper design, lacking his targeting eyepiece and with chunkier forearms.
Sunstreaker is drawn with large gashes on his face, resembling a sketchyMachination Headmaster head.
In the two panels in which he appears, Sixshot is colored likeBlack Shadow.
When Overmegasixwave first combines, the cannon on his left arm is coloured as part of the background.
The crashed shuttle is initially shown teetering on the edge of a chasm. When Metroplex stomps it, it's on flat, unbroken ground.

Edits

Come here and do some meanie nasty things to us!

In the version of the issue packed in with Hoist'sGenerationsThrilling 30 toy, several edits to the speech bubbles are made:
- On page 5, panel 2, "killing machine" is changed to "destruction machine".
- On the same page, Swerve's "murder us to death" in panel 5 is changed to "blast us".
- On page 13, panel 5, Sunstreaker's dialogue is lacking the word "damn", the emphasis has been moved from "damn" to "good", and the entire balloon has been reduced in size as a consequence.
On the other hand, on page 10, both "dead" and "near-death experiences" are left unchanged, so just like withSpotlight: Trailcutter, there's no real consistency to the edits.

Soundtrack

As withMore than Meets the Eye, writer James Roberts offered up a "soundtrack" for this issue on theIDW Publishing forum.

Foreign Localizations

Swedish

- Title: "Den Fruktansvärda Väntan" ("The Horrible Wait")

Covers (4)

Cover A: Metroplex looming over Hoist, by Agustin Padilla andEsther Sanz
Cover B: Hoist staring down the barrels of Megatron, Shockwave, and...Galvatron? ...'s guns, byLivio Ramondelli
Cover RI: Hoist byClayton Crain
Hasbro exclusive cover: Mirror-flipped, cropped-in version of cover RI, exclusively available withGenerations Deluxe ClassHoist.

Red Alert? Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb.
Hey, we can use the escape plan from "Revenge of the Surf-boarding Killer Bikini Vampire Girls"!
Just because I look like Herman Munster's stuntman doesn't mean to say I can't appreciate art.
Here, let me fix your wound... by BLOWING IT OFF!

More than Meets the Eye #17
Robots in Disguise#17
IDW Limited Transformers books
Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time
Beast Hunters comic
Regular Show
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: City Fall

Reprints

The Transformers: Dark Prelude(August 14,2013)ISBN 1613777167 /ISBN 978-1613777169
The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 2(August 12,2015)ISBN 1631403648 /ISBN 978-1631403644
Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 53: Liars, A to D(December 26,2018)

Dark Prelude – cover art byNick Roche &Josh Perez
The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 2 – cover art bySaren Stone
The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 53: Liars, A to D – cover art byDon Figueroa &Alex Milne