Optimus Prime has reached his goal: the gates of Megatron's citadel. Prime has only one thing in mind and he won't let anything slow him down... Megatron's death is all that matters.

Synopsis

At the foot of Megatron's citadel, Optimus Prime attempts to convince Ironhide to return to base and leave him to do what he must. Ironhide refuses, vowing to stay by Prime's side: a dedication proven moments later when he pushes him out of the way of a stream of molten metal poured on them from above by Megatron. The Decepticon leader's lieutenants presume that he seeks their deaths, but Megatron chides their lack of vision, recalling the beginning of the war so many years ago...

Years ago, the war begins as Optimus and his group are ambushed in Metrotitan by Starscream while on their way to Trypticon, where Megatron is in the process of holding a rally to reshape his Defense Force into the Decepticons. Realizing the extent of Megatron's ambition, Optimus defeats Starscream and races to the archaeological dig in Simfur, where Elita-One, Sentinel Prime and the others are under attack. He is accompanied by Elita's sister and Defense Force defector Chromia, and together, they are able to get their allies to safety. Optimus explains that Sentinel was right all along: a symbol found on his helmet matches one on an artifact unearthed by the dig, proving that he is indeed a Prime.

Time passes, and the Decepticons launch the starship Nemesis. Sentinel and Optimus watch it depart, and Sentinel impresses upon Optimus the urgency of his taking command of the Autobots to truly fight back against Megatron's forces. Prime is still racked with guilt and self-doubt over his earlier refusal to believe Sentinel's claims about his heritage, and is unsure if he is up to the task, but as Sentinel says: "Fate rarely calls upon as at a moment of our choosing..."

Time rolls on. The war worsens, and Cybertron itself suffers. With Optimus Prime refusing to adopt a strategy that will result in the wholesale deaths of the Decepticons, fearing it will make the Autobots no better than them, Sentinel Prime presents an alternate possibility: a mysterious "torch" he has invented, which will somehow end the war. The torch must make contact with the AllSpark in order to be activated, so a large Autobot force storms the temple at Simfur in order to do so, though they find no Decepticon resistance as they approach. Upon arriving at the temple door, however, they discover that Megatron has been waiting for them...

Optimus Prime smashes his way into Megatron's tower, leaving Ironhide outside, and finds himself face to face with Megatron, who has surrounded himself with defenseless hatchlings. This is Megatron's sick gamble: Will Prime's desire for vengeance lead him to sacrifice his ideals and kill the innocent young of Cybertron in order to get to him? Either way, the victory is Megatron's. But after what Megatron has done, Prime vows, the answer is obvious...

Featured Characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons
Ironhide (1) Optimus Prime (2) Bumblebee (6) Arcee (7) Chromia (8) Wheeljack (14) Sentinel Prime (15) Elita-One (16) Smokescreen (19) Unknown Autobot (20) Jazz (21) Ratchet (22) Cosmos (23) Big curvy Autobot (24) Prowl (25) Wingblade (26) Strongarm (27) Deadguy (28) Crosshairs (29) Cannonfodder (30) Cliffjumper (31)	Megatron (3) Starscream (4) Shockwave (5) Dreadwing (9) Stockade (10) Ramjet (11) Thundercracker (12) Ravage (13) "Relic" (17) Soundwave (18)

Quotes

"Another Prime? Has it become contagious?"
"Indeed. And it is up to us to end this outbreak."

– Starscream and Megatron

"Hiding behind hatchlings, Megatron? How very like you."

– Optimus

"Are you finally willing to do what is necessary? Will you fulfill your vow to kill me and my Decepticons, regardless of the cost?"

– Megatron keeps up the pressure.

Notes

With this issue, Foundation catches up to the previous comic that it has been complementing and building upon, Defiance. Between the conclusion of the previous issue and the beginning of this one, the events of issues #1-3 of Defiance have taken place, with the opening few pages of this issue retelling the final events of Defiance #3. Over the remainder of the issue, time progressively jumps forward, bringing events up to the timeframe of Defiance #4, and expanding on the large portion of time in that issue that is glossed over.
- In all of these flashbacks, Optimus Prime continues to sport the red and blue color scheme introduced in the Foundation comics instead of the all-grey colors depicted in Defiance, based on his Protoform toy. We can't really call that an error, though, as it's a deliberate artistic choice to make Prime colorful and recognizable.
- Likewise, Soundwave appears as a protoform version of his robot mode in the Dark of the Moon movie, ignoring the robot mode he had in the Revenge of the Fallen toys, comics, and game (since we never really saw his robot mode in the movie).
The molten metal Megatron pours on Optimus and Ironhide is from the smelting pool.
Issue #1 showed us that Optimus got "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" from Sentinel. This issue reveals he also lifted Revenge of the Fallen's "Fate rarely calls upon us..." line from him as well. Optimus needs some original material!