All Hail Megatron issue 6

	; Kid friendly, mother approved!
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	January 2, 2009
Cover date	January 2009
Written by	Shane McCarthy
Art by	Guido Guidi
Colors by	Josh Burcham
Letters by	Neil Uyetake & Chris Mowry
Edits by	Denton J. Tipton
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	All Hail Megatron

Man, conquest and victory can be short and very bitter!

Synopsis

On Cybertron, Jazz and Kup discuss the Autobots' dire situation. Kup describes how the Trion's computer systems were hacked with codes from the Decepticons' secret Autobot informant, and that before the crash, he received messages from other Autobots being attacked. He decides to merge the two Autobot groups into one, with Jazz as his second-in-command. Prowl comes in, mentioning that Springer should be second-in-command, but Kup says that Springer can handle not being selected. Jazz questions the decision, but Kup tells him to save it. Prowl tells Jazz that he was trying to help, but it appears it did more harm than good.

On Earth, Megatron is in Israel, thinking back to a conversation he had with Starscream, who said that although they had managed to attack and conquer much of Earth, Megatron's speeches weren't enough and it wasn't clear what they should do next. Megatron replied that the Decepticons should embrace their victory, but Starscream retorted that the victory looked more like a distraction. Megatron's thoughts are interrupted by an Israeli air strike against him.

In Beijing, Skywarp argues with Bombshell. Skywarp has killed just under half of Beijing's population and now doesn't mind killing Bombshell next. Bombshell trys to play mind games with Skywarp, finally stating that new favorites have replaced the Seekers in Megatron's eyes, to which Skywarp responds by blasting him.

Skywarp dares Bombshell to fire back, but before he does, Thundercracker aims his weapon at the Insecticon's head. Kickback and Shrapnel arrive to save Bombshell, but Skywarp appears behind them, thanks to his teleportation skills. The Insecticons flee, and Skywarp is thrilled that he scared them off, but Thundercracker isn't impressed. Skywarp is upset at Thundercracker, noting that it felt like old times, but with Thundercracker unhappy and Starscream absent all the time, he's starting to feel alone. He flies off, leaving Thundercracker alone himself.

Back on Cybertron, Prowl asks Kup if he's going to tell the Autobots about the Matrix of Leadership being stolen from Optimus Prime by Megatron. Kup decides not to for now, fearing that morale is too low, and the only thing that holds the Autobots together is purity from the Matrix. Kup states that the Great War started over the Matrix and what it represented. Although they don't have the Matrix, they still have Prime, and since Megatron can't destroy the Matrix because of how old it is, as long as the Autobots have Prime, the line can't be broken. Throughout Cybertronian history, a Prime has guided Cybertron, representing their highest ideal, which they believe is something greater than the Decepticons. Without it, old arguments will escalate into feuds, feuds into battles, and battles will lead to new factions. Kup decides to give up rebuilding the Trion and use its stored energon instead to fix Prime and regroup; Jazz agrees to fall in line.

He's totally in my face!

Outside, Ironhide and Roadbuster have a chat. Ironhide is just about to propose something, when they spot a swarm scout. Jazz wants to send some Autobots to take care of it, but Drift and Perceptor handle it. Kup decides that being outside is dangerous and that Drift will handle patrol duties.

Back on Earth, Megatron swiftly decimates the Israeli military with ease, while thinking about the conversation with Starscream again. Starscream told Megatron that he only has himself to blame for building an army and feeding his doctrine to them, and wondered how long it would be before the Decepticons realized that the battle was going nowhere. Megatron replied that Earth will be their new seat of power and galactic domination. They had managed to conquer New York City and will use the position to hold the world hostage. Starscream accused Megatron of stalling, wryly noting Megatron's worst move was to win. Blitzwing interrupts Megatron's thoughts, having come looking for him. Megatron tells him that he wanted to be alone to think and to prepare. Blitzwing observes that Megatron was unprotected without one of Soundwave's cassettes, but Megatron is Megatron, and the humans were of no threat to him.

In Versailles, France, a group of world leaders casually enjoying tea and discuss their families before turning their attentions to the threat that the world faces. With New York, Beijing, and Israel gone, the world's countries have decided to unite and plan a powerful counterattack. Faced with little alternative, the world leaders have reached a decision: New York City is to be nuked!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots

Decepticons

Jazz (1)
Kup (2)
Prowl (3)
Springer (12)
Hot Rod (13)
Ratchet (14)
Bumblebee (15)
Blurr (16)
Perceptor (17)

Tracks (18)
Cliffjumper (19)
Trailbreaker (20)
Blaster (21)
Mirage (22)
Sunstreaker (23)
Ironhide (24)
Roadbuster (25)
Drift (27)

Quotes

Tracks: "That was scary. Perceptor--Perceptor is scary. When did Perceptor become scary?"
Cliffjumper: "That was so cool."

—Perceptor the sniper engenders mixed feelings.

Notes

Continuity notes

Kup mentions Megatron has killed two Primes in the past. At the time, this was a confirmation that Sentinel Prime was dead in Megatron Origin #4 (although future issues would address that further). It also hinted at the fate of the only recently mentioned Zeta Prime, whose final demise would not be confirmed until Autocracy #8.

Errors

On page 8, Shrapnel is to Kickback's left at first, but on the next panel he is suddenly to Kickback's right.
On page 12, the word "feuds" is misspelled "fueds" twice.
Page 12 also sees a tense error: the feud is meant to be in the possible future, yet "gave" is used rather than "give".
Kup claims the Great War started over the Matrix and what it represented, contradicting the war origin as given in Megatron Origin, where it began over widespread institutional corruption in Cybertron's society and oppression of a sub-class. This would be smoothed over and made to work together a few years later in "Chaos Theory Part 2", in which the aforementioned excessive oppression was revealed to be an effect of draconian security measures introduced by the Senate as part of their attempt to sequester Matrix bearer Nominus Prime and gain control over the Matrix's power, indirectly making the talisman responsible for the war.

Trivia

This issue was released in Canada on December 31. It was released in the United States on January 2, due to Christmas and New Year's Day.
Scourge exists in this continuity and is a Decepticon; this is all that remains of a plot Hasbro wouldn't let Shane do,^[1] and would later be contradicted in issue #14 of this series. However, it could be rationalized that there is another Cybertronian with the name "Scourge" (which will happen several times in the IDW continuity).
Skywarp says that in an hour, he has killed just under half the population of Beijing on his own. That's just under 8,715,000 people. Holy crap! You better hope he was exaggerating to look big!
- This, if true, becomes especially jarring considering Skywarp's job seven years later.

Covers

Cover A: Drift kneeling, while Hot Rod and Springer fire away; art by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente.
Cover B: Swarm of Insecticons; art by Trevor Hutchison.
Cover RI: Pencil sketch of Kup by Guido Guidi.