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Keepers Trilogy

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The "Keepers Trilogy" is set of Transformers novels set in Dreamwave's version of Generation One continuity family.
Cover of the 2004 omnibus Hardcover (SFBC exclusive)
Cover of the 2004 omnibus Hardcover (SFBC exclusive)

In 2003, capitalizing on the recent success of the Dreamwave Transformers comic book Prime Directives (#1 in sales for the year,) iBooks released a trilogy of Transformers novels.

The three books form a continuous narrative that takes place in the missing year betwen Prime Directives and Dreamwave's follow-up miniseries War and Peace.

All 3 novels were collected into a hardbound omnibus in 2004 for the Science Fiction Book Club.

The short story Two for the Price of One by Brandie Tarvin in the 2004 anthology Transformers Legends seems to be set in the same continuity. Ironically, since this story takes place after Megatron's return to power, which had just started when Dreamwave went belly-up, it represents the latest known point on the Dreamwave continuity timeline.

Contents

[edit] Events of the Keepers Trilogy

[edit] Hardwired

Seeking to repair their relationship with humanity after the disaster in California, the Autobots Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Bluestreak are in Tokyo, Japan for a meet-and-greet. Their event is interrupted by Megatron, 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 destroying Sideswipe in an aerial duel, then gathers all the Decepticons who will follow him in assuming control of the human city of Las 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 and Prowl join forces with the renegade Grimlock and his secret army of human allies to take back Vegas.

Meanwhile, Spike Witwicky is approached by a clandestine figure named Franklin Townsend, who claimed to represent the NSA. Franklin informs Spike that he "of interest" to certain underground parties (including the zealous Transformers groupie cult known as the Followers), 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 named Hugo 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 the Keepers, 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 compeled 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 Transformer. The details of this information are vague at best, but seems to be highly valuable to the Followers. On the other side was 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 the Constructicons 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 for Darren 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 sized techno-organics creatures. The conflict with the Keepers grows fierce, and Optimus Prime begins to unleash the power of the Creation 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.

[edit] Annihilation

Las Vegas is in chaos, as everyone present begins reacting to the sudden appearance of the missing Transformers and the awe-inspiring Keepers. Optimus Prime and Jazz are attempting to preserve the lives of the various assorted aliens who also arrived from the Keepers' world. Megatron is searching for Starscream to reclaim his throne, and the other Autobots and Decepticons present continue to battle as best they can. Unnoticed to most anyone, the human hostages from the Keepers' world also begin trickling back into population, including Paul Chateris and Melony Harcourt, two of the Followers.

Megatron confronts Starscream and learns the extent of his traitorous ex-lieutenant's plans. However, due to his own severe injuries battling against the Keepers, Megatron finds that he is in no position to quash Starscream's rebellion at this time. Megatron is reluctantly forced to cede leadership of the Decepticons to Starscream, but he refuses to bow before the new "leader". Instead, he tears off his insignia and officially quits the Decepticon forces, planning to seek his own means of dealing with the threat of the Keepers. Many other Decepticons follow suit, splitting their ranks in two: Thundercracker, Skywarp, Rumble, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Devastator and the Insecticons remain with Starscream, while Soundwave, Frenzy, Ravage, Spyglass, Viewfinder and the Omega Sentinel leave with Megatron.

With the aliens properly cared for, Optimus Prime confronts the Keepers in the new humanoid and semi-humanoid host bodies they have taken for themselves. A spokesperson for the group, referred to only as The Voice, informs Prime of their intention to conquer the entire planet within three days' time, if it is not surrendered to them beforehand. When Optimus physically assaults the Voice for his arrogance, the Keepers unleash a wave of nullfying darkness over the city of Los Angeles, apparently destroying it and all who live in its boundaries.

Throughout these games and powerplays, Grimlock's army had been continuing their fight with the Decepticons to retake Las Vegas. Recognizing the threat of the Keepers and the consolidated Decepticon forces, Optimus Prime orders a retreat to outside the city before any further action could be taken. Grimlock was locked in combat with Devastator and could not be evacuated, but Optimus Prime, Jazz, Bumblebee and Prowl, along with Spike Witwicky leave Vegas to regroup with the other Autobots. Spike's ally Agent Franklin remains behind to guard their escape.

Meanwhile, Paul and Melony are taken hostage again, this time by the LVPD operating under Starscream's discretion. Starscream is interested in sending a message to the Followers, inviting them to flock to his city and truly become "Followers" of the Transformers. He has Melony scheduled for execution when she speaks out of turn, but lets Paul go free to convey the message to his superiors. That superior would be Allister Greaves, founder of the Followers, who was already aware of the message thanks to Franklin, his double agent in the NSA who observed Paul's confrontation with the Decepticons. Franklin approaches Paul on the street and invites him back to Greaves' base of operations to discuss what the Followers should do next.

Starscream's offer is quickly rendered moot, though, as he has a confrontation with the Keepers. The Keeper formerly known as Bluestreak approaches Starscream under a flag of truce, but then overloads the Decepticon leader's circuitry with a surge of energy, leaving him on the brink of death and a perfectly-fitting host for another of the Keepers to possess. The other remaining Decepticons attempt to flee, but are caught in an impenetrable energy barrier cast by the Keepers, and held prisoner.

Outside the city, Autobot reinforcements have arrived in the form of Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Ratchet and Wheeljack. At Soundwave's approach, Optimus Prime leaves to make contact with Megatron, and the two agree to join forces against the Keepers. Elsewhere, Allister Greaves and the Followers make their plans as well. Contacts from inside the government have informed Greaves that a two-stage military assault is being planned against the Keepers, with a wave of combat vehicles to be followed by an all-out nuclear strike if the first strike is unsuccessful. Horrified, Greaves sends Paul back to Las Vegas to try to save Melony and evacuate as many of their people as possible, while directing Franklin to reconnect with the Autobots and offer any assistance he can to their inevitable counter-strike as well.

The Keepers were hardly idle all this time, though, and were more than aware that various factions were conspiring against them. They make an attempt at "shock and awe" to cow the planet's populace into submission by grotesquely mutilating and transforming Melony into a new Keeper, casting her soul into the same endless void that Bluestreak and Starscream have been reduced to since giving up their forms.

As Optimus Prime and Megatron enter the city with their troops and the first wave of US miltiary forces, they join up with Skywarp and the remaining Decepticons from Starscream's faction, and so the war with the Keepers begins. Spike is still trying to reactivate the gateway key, in the hopes of sending the Keepers back where they came from. As the other Transformers strike out at the aliens, Bumblebee and Agent Franklin remain with Spike until the key can be activated. Devastator and Omega Sentinel begin fighting with Keeper-Starscream and Keeper-Bluestreak, as the others fall in behind them.

Then a bunch of things start to happen at once.

First, the US government deliberately steps up their timetable, launching the nuke at Las Vegas early in the hopes of obliterating the Transformers along with the alien threat. The Keepers controlling Bluestreak and Starscream are suffering damage in their battles, and so physically and mentally join forces to become a more powerful gestalt being. The other Keepers are busy, however, as Melony Harcourt manages to retake control of her physical body and begins violently lashing out at the Keepers. Grimlock re-emerges as well, having found a vein of pure energon running underneath Las Vegas after his climactic fight with Devastator a day earlier. And, as a final twist, Franklin Townsend reveals himself as a triple agent who was been working for the Keepers all along, and threatens to kill Spike if he doesn't hand over the gateway key his masters' desire.

As Optimus Prime comes upon the pool of energon, he conceives a plan to manipulate the Matrix to use against the Keepers. Infusing himself and the Matrix with pure energon to temporarily become super-powerful, Optimus then asks his fellow Autobots to give up the majority of their own life-energies to merge with his own. Bumblebee, who had left Spike's side to inform Optimus of the energon pool, realizes his mistake and returns just in time to stop Franklin from murdering Spike. Still, Franklin recovers the gateway key and brings it to his masters in the hopes of escaping. Time, however, has run out. The nuclear warhead strikes earth, and the massive radioactive shockwave begins to race over the land. Devastator, Omega Sentinel and Bumblebee are too far away, but the super-charged Prime manages to protect the other Autobots and Decepticons from the onslaught. He then gathers the nuclear fire up in a net of Matrix energy, casting it all back at Franklin and the Keepers just as they open the gate, blasting them to atoms and out of our solar system.

In the aftermath, those outside Prime's protective bubble are heavily damaged, including Spike Witwicky who was hiding under Bumblebee and needs to be rushed for medical treatment. Devastator and Omega Sentinel may never be reactivated. Bluestreak and Starscream had combined mental force at the last moment and overwhelmed the Keeper who controlled them, destroying their captor and shattering their bodies back into separate pieces, with the possibility of revival still open. Paul Chateris and the Melony-Keeper both apparently died fighting against the Keepers before the blast. And, as the dust settles, Megatron calls Prime on the favor he is honorbound to grant from their time on the Keepers' world:

Megatron wants to be named the new Prime.

[edit] Fusion

Though absolute disaster was narrowly averted, the Keepers' allies on Earth attempt to open a gateway to bring them back. Intrigue abounds between the American government, Transformers enthusiasts, and secret societies to determine who will possess the manifold advantages of alien technology.

[edit] Characters

The Keeper's trilogy pioneered the use of fake-sounding names, which would later be used in IDW's Infiltration series.

Listed in order of appearance

[edit] Oddities/Errors

While the nuclear explosion in Prime Directives took place in San Francisco, the Keepers Trilogy moves it to Los Angeles for no apparent reason.

[edit] Fan Reaction

Most Transformers fans were disappointed by these novels.

Scott Ciencin (writer of the first book and part of the second, though uncredited) left many readers cold with a mix of sex, gore (Her severed spine jutted from her torso, and entrails uncoiled and slowly snaked out from her body, slippery and eager to stretch out and relax.) and faux-edgy pop culture references. In addition, Ciencin's actual knowledge of Transformers was visibly limited, consisting of what appeared to be hasty perusals of some sources - his description of Bumblebee, for instance, was clearly derived from a cursory glance at his Marvel Transformers Universe profile, presenting him to be blue and yellow (a result of the limited colour palette of the comics), rather than the correct black and yellow. Energon is described as a silvery-gold liquid (before the Energon series depicted it as such), and presented as the power source of the Matrix.

David Cian's half of the trilogy, which dropped the shock tactics and seemed better-researched, was much more positively received.

The Trilogy takes much of its tone from the first Dreamwave miniseries Prime Directives, which was also featured gratuitous gore, nuclear missiles, government conspiracies, a vague sense that Transformers had little sense of free will, and an angsty, indecisive Optimus Prime under the illusion he's engaged in a cosmic struggle of robot vs self. He uses the Matrix twice.

The Keepers baffled fans by being extremely, extremely similar to the Quintessons in method, technology, outlook, relationship to the Transformers, and (to some degree) appearance. Ciencin seems to have simply been unaware of the Quintessons' existence when he created them.

On the positive note; the Keepers Trilogy is one of the few stories to explore the long-term impact of Transformers' interaction with human society.

Retrieved from "http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Keepers_Trilogy"
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