The Transformers Trilogy Book 1 »
Transformers: Hardwired
Publisher	ibooks
First published	June 11,2003
Cover date	July 2003
Writer	Scott Ciencin
Continuity	Dreamwave Generation One continuity
ISBN	ISBN 0743458982 ISBN 978-0743458986
Page count	336

Three Autobots and a Decepticon are snatched across space to take part in the experiments of the Keepers.

Synopsis

Seeking to repair their relationship with humanity after the disaster inCalifornia, the AutobotsOptimus Prime,Jazz, andBluestreak are inTokyo,Japan for a meet-and-greet. Their event is interrupted byMegatron, and a battle wages until a mysterious force suddenly strikes the city streets, spiriting away the four Transformers and over 200 humans present.

In their absence,Starscream makes his bid for leadership of the Decepticons. He begins by destroyingSideswipe in an aerial duel, then gathers all the Decepticons who will follow him in assuming control of the human city ofLas Vegas. Rather than outright conquering the town, Starscream instead makes a deal with the humans, offering them advanced technology, protection, and even the opportunity to make loads of cash starring in their own Reality TV stories about the occupation. The humans largely accept and, with few other options available to them, the American government reluctantly cedes the city to Decepticon control. Not willing to allow Starscream to consolidate a power base for himself,Bumblebee andProwl join forces with the renegadeGrimlock and his secret army of human allies to take back Vegas.

Meanwhile,Spike Witwicky is approached by a clandestine figure namedFranklin Townsend, who claims to represent the NSA. Franklin informs Spike that he is "of interest" to certain underground parties (including the zealous Transformers groupie cult known as theFollowers), and that his help is needed on matters of national security. He also informs Spike that his family has been placed in protective custody to ensure their safety from these dangerous individuals, but is none too subtle in implying that their safety is entirely contingent on Spike's cooperation. Franklin reveals he is an augment, one of a select group of human cyborgs that have been enhanced by Transformer technology. Their first stop is to see a naval officer namedHugo Fortuna, who recently reported seeing a phenomena much like the one in Tokyo, and Franklin sends Spike in first as bait to confront the man about what he knows. The officer tries to kill Spike almost on sight instead, and is executed in a murder-suicide by a traitor in Franklin's team before he can explain why. Franklin and Spike find a massive collection of Transformer artifacts in the man's basement as well.

Optimus Prime and the others are, of course, not dead. Instead, they have been transported across the known galaxies by a race of seemingly all-powerful beings known as theKeepers, who apparently wish to study them and their reactions to stimuli. The Transformers are forced to fight opponents in arena style combat, with the human captives' lives at sake if they refuse. Among the battles, Optimus Prime is compelled to execute a helpless opponent, and later confronts a recreation of his own predecessor,Sentinel Prime; Jazz is forced into killing Bluestreak in single combat; and Megatron fights a series of matches against various alien opponents. Megatron initially believes he has entered into an alliance with the Keepers, but soon realizes they have no intention of keeping their bargain with him.

Back on Earth, Spike and Franklin continue their search for answers. They come to realize that Spike contains information in his mind from a time years ago when he was briefly transplanted into the body of a Transformer. The details of this information are vague at best, but seems to be highly valuable to the Followers. On the other side are Fortuna and his group of "Anti-Followers", who wish to kill Spike before the information in his brain can be harvested. A group of augments attempt to assassinate the pair, but Spike's latent knowledge enables him to completely disable the cyborgs. Franklin then decides they need to head for Las Vegas, following a signal that was being beamed at the augments during the skirmish.

All roads lead to Vegas. Grimlock and his allies battle theConstructicons on the outskirts of the city, and begin moving inwards to confront more Decepticons. Spike and Franklin are picked up trying to enter the city by Followers working forDarren Norbert, who apparently made some sort of deal with the Keepers allowing them to snatch the Transformers from Tokyo in the first place. He taunts Spike with the gateway key briefly before the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons reaches his penthouse, and Darren is killed by flying debris, allowing Spike to retrieve the key.

In the Keepers' realm, Megatron and the Autobots have joined forces to save the remaining humans from the Keepers' games. In order to secure Megatron's cooperation, Prime is forced to grant Megatron a favor to be named at a later date. The Transformers learn that the Keepers, who had previously seemed to be merely bodiless voices, were actually leviathan sizedtechnorganic creatures. The conflict with the Keepers grows fierce, and Optimus Prime begins to unleash the power of theCreation Matrix, in an effort to destroy the Keepers' stronghold and all of them with it. Before this suicidal ploy can be completed, the gateway back to Earth opens, and Optimus returns to the human planet with the others. Unfortunately, the Keepers travel to Earth as well, including one who has taken Bluestreak's corpse as a host body.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"I hate that I can't move"
"Anyone who's ever seen you dance already knows you can't move, Jazz."

—Jazz andOptimus Prime

"Listen to their cries! Their screams of fear and anguish are music to my ears!"
"You have strange taste in music then."
"So you say. Now listen to my greatest composition—my magnum opus."

—Soundwave andProwl

Notes

• Chronologically,Hardwired follows on fromDreamwave'sPrime Directive.
• Spike is hinted to have undergone experiences similar to "Autobot Spike".

Continuity Notes

• The nuclear strike on Los Angeles (though see errors) at the end ofPrime Directive issue 6 is expanded on significantly. As a result, much of the city has been evacuated and the American entertainment industry has been destroyed. Subsequently Australia and New Zealand having become major players in this industry.
• Shockwave is briefly mentioned as being active on Earth and a potential threat to Starscream’s leadership, although his current whereabouts are unknown. (see Errors)
• An article by journalist Chris Killah appeared as back up material inissue 1.
• Paul Charteris’s age is given as 41 and its stated that Transformers first appeared when he was a teenager. Prime Directive took place in 2002, which would put the Transformers awakening in the mid to late 70’s. (Again, see Errors)

Transformers References

• The book appears to have usedThe Transformers Universe profiles as references, as a result various characters element described there appear:
  • Prowl’s observational abilities.
  • Bumblebee use of his lesser seen telescopic vision
  • Devastator's solar energy rifle
  • Bluestreak being the sole survivor of a city destroyed by the Decepticons. The city is here identified asPraxus which was introduced inThe War Within issue 1.
  • Skywarp’s loyalty to Megatron seems to be an extrapolation his bio, which noted he need constant supervision from him.
  • Soundwave's telepathy and role as a blackmailer.
• Sideswipe, Bluestreak and Sentinel Prime haveTrithyllium coated armor.
• Skywarp name dropsChaar, the planet which served as the Decepticons base in the third season of the cartoon. It’s spelt using the old fan spelling of Charr, which would later be used in issue 8 of More Than Meets The Eye.
• The parking garage Ryan is given to meet up in, is listed asG-2.

Errors

• The city hit by anuclear bomb inPrime Directive was San Francisco, in this book it has been changed to Los Angeles.
• Charteris’s age doesn’t line up with issue 8 ofMore Than Meets The Eye, which gives 1984 as the year the Transformers awakened.
• Shockwave is mentioned as being active on Earth.War and Peace would completely contradict this, according to the comic he should still be on Cybertron.
• Reflector's presence in Dreamwave'songoing series (let alone Spectro's death) creates a similar discrepancy, as he should also be on Cybertron. The third book in this trilogy,Fusion, retroactively justifies this, by explaining that the comics Reflector was a copy.

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