Summary: We open with a one-page panel, showing us Superion towering over the Joes at Ft. Lewis. "We are Superion! You have killed one of our allies and we will have what is ours!"

The Joes are, understandably, in a tizzy since the robot they destroyed was puny in comparison to this towering behemoth.

A footnote on this page reads: "The GI Joes inadvertently killed the Autobot Transformer, Bumblebee, in the first issue." Inadvertent my ass! It was more like "Mind that shell; what shell? *BANG!*" The Joes screwed it up in the first issue and they're going to be paying for that mistake in this one. Serves 'em right.

Scarlett calls for reinforcements. The other Joes head out, wondering what the alarm could be. Ace, Lady Jaye, Dial Tone and Sgt. Slaughter are among the Joes who come out to try and assist their fellows.

Hawk gets word of the fight while he's elsewhere at Ft. Lewis and tells the Senators what's going on.

The Joes continue to try and whale on Superion, whose heart isn't in the fight. The Joes continue to fire on him; Hawk tells the Joes that they can't give up the fight.

Well, Jaye has to give up the fight, since she's managed to get herself hurt and can't move one of her arms.

The Joes pound away at Superion, giving it everything they've got. Superion wonders how much he can take before he's forced to (presumably, since he doesn't come right out and say it) kill someone.

That's when Blaster calls and orders Superion back to the Ark. Optimus Prime has been assassinated; all Autobots are being ordered back to base. Superion takes off, leaving the Joes scratching their heads and cracking bad jokes.

Inside the fort, the Joes are mulling over what's happened. Jaye's arm is in a sling; Mainframe and Crankcase are looking over Bumblebee's parts.

Mutt wonders why Superion just flew away; Sgt. Slaughter says that it looked to him like Superion's heart wasn't in it, since he could have easily destroyed them. (Slaughter's not kidding, all Superion would have had to do was stomp once and presto, instant Joe soup.)

Mainframe agrees with Slaughter, wondering who and what the Transformers are. Not to mention where they came from and who's controlling them.

"There's more to this picture than meets the eye," he says. 'But all I have here are a few pieces of what seems to be a rather beat up VW."

Hawk tells Mainframe that he's counting on him to make sense of this. He tells the Joes that they need to get to the bottom of this and stay on their toes.

An unknown amount of time later, Hawk shows up at Senator Larkin's quarters. She invites him in for drinks. Go Hawk! It's your birthday! You're gonna party like it's your birthday!

Meanwhile, the Decepticons have set up a new base in the Florida Keyes. Shockwave and Megatron are talking; Shockwave chides Megatron for letting his emotions get the better of him, saying that they'll destroy him. Megatron believes that the road to his destruction is already paved.

Ravage wonders why Megatron isn't happy about the death of Optimus Prime.

Note for Cartoon Transformers Fans: In the comics, unlike the cartoons, Ravage (the tape that turned into the panther) could speak. And Shockwave was a cold and logical being who wanted to lead the Decepticons, unlike the prissy, slightly hysterical Yes-Mech he was in the cartoon.

Shockwave mulls over the thought of challenging Megatron for leadership of the Decepticons as Megatron stares unseeing at a view screen showing the events he's set in motion as they unfold. Bombshell has Power Station Alpha under his control via a cerebro shell in its main computer.

On Cobra Island, the Cobra high command is watching the power station. The Baroness offers Serpentor some food. Serpentor accepts, saying: "Even at a time of crisis, you find the time to appreciate the finger things in life, dear Baroness." Destro looks at the two of them with disgust on his steel face, thinking "Oh, how nauseating." He then asks Dr. Mindbender why he's' staring at the power station, since nothing is happening.

Mindbender tells Destro to take a closer look. The station is moving as if by remote control. In fact, it's taking off.

Meanwhile, Hawk and the Senator are kissing! With an "mmmm" and everything! Hawk done got some! They notice the rumble from the station taking off and as Hawk says: "Either you're the world's greatest kisser or something's happened to Power Station Alpha!"

Shockwave gloats about the ease with which the Decepticons have managed to snag the PSA. With it, he says, there will be a new era, a new way, with the Decepticons ruled by Shockwave's unwavering logic.

On Cobra Island, Dr. Mindbender uses an 'electronic helmet' to track the power station's flight path and uses it to turn around in mid-flight, effectively stealing it from the Decepticons.

Back at Fort Lewis, Hawk says goodbye to the Senator, who tells him "Just promise that you'll take care of what's mine!" before Hawk runs off, joining the Joes who are going in search of the station. Lady Jaye tells Ace that she wishes she could go, but her banged-up arm is keeping her behind. Ace tells her not to be silly, that she's done enough and should focus on getting better.

At a nearby Washington farmhouse, Anthony is sitting on his bed, unaware of his surroundings. His mother is worried, since she'd hope that he'd have come around by how. What she doesn't know is that he's still under the effects of Bombshell's cerebro-shell.

Meanwhile, Mindbender is still controlling the power station, which is now being escorted by a group of Cobra jets. All is good, until the Joes show up and an air fight ensues.

The Joes are winning the dogfight when a nearby cruise ship spots the fighting. One Mr. Blackrock who is having a private party with some of his friends owns the ship. At first, he's not too worried about the fight. After all, as he tells one of his chippies, who would be interested in their little pleasure cruise?

Folks, this is why I NEVER say stuff like that. 'Cause the minute anyone ever says something like "No one'll be interested in us" or "What could possibly go wrong" or "Victory is ours" Mr. Murphy takes notice of you and *BAM*, you're screwed.

And of course, that's what happens to Blackrock. Serpentor and Mindbender have spotted his ship and figure that it's just what they need to use as a bargaining chip against the Joes. Serpentor tells Mindbender to have the station circle the ship and tell the pilots to pass a message on to the Joes: let Cobra have the power station or the cruise ship gets it.

Ace forwards the message on to Hawk and the Senator. The Senator tells Hawk to destroy the station if necessary, the lives are more important than Alpha.

Hawk says "no". He's sworn to protect the station and there may be a way to regain control of it. Besides: destroying the station would endanger the citizens he's sworn to protect. He can't risk exposing them to fallout from the station.

Hawk tells Ace to let Cobra take the station. A Cobra pilot gets shot down and lands on Blackrock's shop, where Blackrock's security guard captures him. Ace is glad of the cooperation, but ticked that the battle's lost. (How he saw this happen from his vantage point 30,000+ feet up is beyond me but hey...) He's also glad that he's not the one who had to make the decision.

Serpentor, on the other hand, is very pleased that Cobra now has the station. He tells Mindbender to bring the station to Cobra Island and to have the pilots open fire on the ship, since that'll give the Joes something to do. Mindbender seems startled by the order.

The Cobra pilots fire on the ship; Ace tells the Joes to bring in rescue crews and Dirge watches the entire scene, reporting it back to Shockwave. Shox tells him to follow the station wherever it goes.

The Joes rescue Blackrock and his fellow partygoers, bitching about losing the station and about having to deal with the Transformers. Blackrock also seems to know something about who the Transformers are and says that he may be able to help the Joes.

Note to non-Transfans: G.B. Blackrock is an industrialist character who originally showed up in issue #5 of the American Transformers comics. He's a wealthy, flashy guy who had several dealings with the Autobots in the American comics.

On Cobra Island, Serpentor gloats more about having snagged the station. He talks about how this will help his reputation among the citizens of Cobra and help them forget about the "late" Cobra Commander (see issue #55 to find out if CC is really dead!).

Dirge lands on Cobra Island and transforms. At first, Serpentor thinks that he's a Joe plane but Dirge tells him that no, he's a Decepticon. Bombshell also transforms to robot mode and introduces himself.

Dirge and Mindbender chat. Dirge complements the Cobras on the theft of the station. He tells Mindbender that he's come because the Decepticons can't let Cobra simply steal the station.

Mindbender is pleased by the fortuitous nature of the meeting, while mentally considering that there must be a way for Cobra to take control of these creatures and use their powers for their very own (which is exactly what Cobra is doing in the current Devil's Due GI Joe/Transformer crossover).

Mindbender proposes an alliance between the Decepticons and Cobra, since they seem to be kindred spirits. Each can benefit from the other.

As insurance, Mindbender plants a bug on Dirge, who has agreed with the idea and flies off to tell Shockwave about the message, saying that he'll return with the Decepticons' reply.

Meanwhile, Anthony's mother has taken him to the doctor since he hasn't snapped out of it yet. An X-ray shows the cerebro-shell is still in his brain, but of course the doctor has no idea what the shell really is.

Mindbender tunes into the bug he planted on Dirge. He fears the Decepticons, as well he should. Shockwave is pleased with Dirge's performance and with the idea of a Decepticon/Cobra alliance. All of this, he says, will help the Decepticons take control of the Transformers' home world: Cybertron.

But how? asks Dirge.

Shockwave tells him that by making adjustments to Alpha, the Decepticons will use it to cause disturbances in geo-thermal levels and fault lines across the earth. They'll drain the planet, using it as a resource to repower Cybertron.

Mindbender now knows what the Decepticons' plans are and they're fairly simple: they mean to destroy the earth.

Commentary: Okay, the first issue introduced the factions, this one gets them interacting with each other (well, okay, so the Joes interacted with the Autobots in #1, but I'm talking something more than just blowing Bumblebee to bits). Interesting, ain't it, that the Joes' first meeting with the Autobots is a fight but the Decepticons and Cobra manage to talk together like civilized (if untrusting) folk?

Again, my main complaint with this mini-series is the fact they're mixing in the regular continuities of both issues. Because of that, characters vanish (Prime and Cobra Commander are both apparently 'dead' now) with no real explanation given within the story except to reference other comics. Okay, okay, between my own Transformer and GI Joe comic collections and my copies of "Now You Know" and "Prime Targets" by Lars Pearson, I've got more than enough background information to fill me in on what was going on in both storylines but I shouldn't *have* to go to another source to understand this storyline.

The romance between Hawk and Senator Larkin seems a bit premature, but then it's more of an infatuation than anything else at this point. And heck, it's nice to see Hawk get to do something other than be the head Joe for a change.

Also interesting to see that Mindbender is afraid of the Decepticons, even while he's hoping to exploit them. Smart of him, granted, but still interesting.

Things are gonna get funky next issue, let's move on shall we?

Next Issue: "Ashes, Ashes...." (though the title given at the end of #2 is "Ring of Fire."