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| “ | I do not wish to hurt a lesser being than myself. But I was sent here by my leader, Soundwave. And to fulfill my duties? I will kill all your weak in one blast if I must. | „ |
| ~ Astrotrain holding a hospital hostage in exchange for Spike Witwicky |
Astrotrain is a supporting antagonist of the 2023 ongoing comic series Transformers. Like his other incarnations, he is a Decepticon triple-changer who can turn into both a space shuttle and locomotive, and is designed exactly like his original version. Notably, while his original version could transform into a shuttle or train large enough to comfortably fit standing Decepticons, Astrotrain's alt modes are clearly human-scale now, as his shuttle mode cockpit was scaled to Spike Witwicky.
Astrotrain was introduced in the 8th issue of the series.
Biography[]
Past[]
Millions of years ago, Astrotrain served the Decepticons during the Great War against the Autobots, presumably filling his usual role of both heavy assault and transportation. At some point, he had a lover, presumably a fellow Cybertronian. However, for reasons unknown, Megatron eliminated Astrotrain's lover. Driven into a vengeful rage from grief, Astrotrain turned on Megatron, who had Astrotrain imprisoned aboard the Decepticon battleship Nemesis, much to the triple-changer's rage. Astrotrain remained imprisoned aboard the Nemesis even while Megatron used the ship to attack the Ark ferrying the Autobots off a dying Cybertron, and when the two vessels crashed- the Ark into a mountain and the Nemesis into the Pacific Ocean- Astrotrain remained aboard, still trapped and stewing in betrayal, swearing vengeance on Megatron.
Transformers[]
Millions of years later, in the late 20th century, the Autobots and Decepticons who were aboard the Ark had reawakened, with the Decepticons quickly setting out to claim Earth's resources for restoring Cybertron. With Megatron missing and presumed dead after the crash, Soundwave took command of the Decepticons after deposing Starscream, and set out to the crash site of the Nemesis with Thundercracker and the Constructiconsto use the ship's communications array to call for reinforcements. When they approached the brig, they heard Astrotrain pounding against the doors, and Soundwave opted to release him to bolster their forces, even while Thundercracker was cautious.
Thundercracker unlocked the doors on Soundwave's orders, and the moment they began to open, Astrotrain ripped them apart and demanded to know where Megatron was, grabbing Thundercracker and angrily beating him even while Soundwave insisted he didn't know. As Astrotrain became increasingly enraged, swearing to tear Megatron apart and consume his energon, he ordered Soundwave to swear on the Decepticon cause that he truly did not know Megatron's whereabouts. Soundwave swore, and promised Astrotrain that when Megatron was found, he would be handed over to Astrotrain for retribution. Astrotrain accepted this and joined forces with Soundwave, who promptly opened communications with Cybertron, contacting Shockwave to create a spacebridge between Earth and Cybertron.
Shockwave requested organics to experiment on, specifically asking for Spike Witwicky, a human boy who had become a close ally of the Autobots, and was crippled during a skirmish between Optimus Prime and Skywarp. Soundwave thus ordered Astrotrain to collect Spike, giving Astrotrain a description of the boy's hair and his location in the Farmingham Hospital. Astrotrain quickly arrived at the hospital while Spike was attending a follow-up appointment about his wound, punching the roof of a building and shouting for Spike to come out. A doctor and security guard exited to meet him, the doctor pleading with Astrotrain to stand down, as the hospital was full of sick innocents. Astrotrain claimed to understand the doctor's concerns, for he took no pleasure in harming those beneath him, but would do so for the sake of his mission, levying his blaster at a hospital floor and threatening to kill all the patients within. However, Spike promptly wheeled himself out and turned himself over to Astrotrain, who admired Spike's inspiring bravery. Astrotrain then transformed into shuttle mode, pulled Spike into his cockpit, and took off without incident.
In the air, Astrotrain saw the beam of Shockwave's newly-activated spacebridge in the Pacific, flying to it. Spike asked him what it was, and Astrotrain explained the plan to harvest Earth for restoring Cybertron. Spike protested that Earth was home to humanity, and Astrotrain merely retorted that humans were a weaker species, giving his condolences to Spike but still saying that Cybertron's superiority was merely the natural order. Spike then asked where Astrotrain was taking him, and Astrotrain decided to answer honestly, admitting that Spike is being sent to be tortured and dissected by Shockwave, as Soundwave believed that presenting a live human to Shockwave- who had become Cybertron's effective ruler in their absence- will solidify ties within the Decepticon ranks. However, before Spike could protest further, Astrotrain was suddenly struck by a disruptor device from a beach below, shutting off his engines.
Going down, Astrotrain called for Spike to hang on, crashing into the beach below as Spike was promptly pulled out of Astrotrain by Beachcomber, an Autobot who had been hidden on Earth for many years after being marooned on the Moon during the Ark crash. Beachcomber had shot the disruptor at Astrotrain, and Astrotrain reverted to robot mode after the crash. However, before he could recover, Beachcomber bound him on his knees with powerful chains taken from ships, preventing Astrotrain from breaking free. Spike sat with Beachcomber as Beachcomber explained his past, while Astrotrain seethed and refused Beachcomber's friendly offering of energon, refusing to accept a gift from an Autobot. Astrotrain then confirmed that he was tasked with taking Spike to Shockwave, and that Shockwave and Soundwave would bleed Earth dry. Soon, the spacebridge began drawing Cybertron itself to Earth, Astrotrain cheering in triumph as the planet became visible in the sky.
Beachcomber scouted out the situation, confirming that Cybertron would be funneling Earth's resources into itself soon, Astrotrain reiterating the supposed natural order justifying that. Beachcomber and Spike then left Astrotrain on the beach, where the triple changer could only scream to be released, angered at being imprisoned once again.
Soon, Optimus Prime cut off the spacebridge, even while it could doom Cybertron, severing a piece of the planet that then fell into the ocean. Astrotrain remained imprisoned throughout this, still screaming and thrashing, and was eventually found by none other than Starscream- heavily damaged following Soundwave's takeover, reduced to a torso atop a tank that a group of humans had grafted him onto. Said humans, agents of M.A.R.S., had taken Starscream for their own purposes. Upon seeing them approach, Astrotrain was shocked to see Starscream again, explaining how he was freed by Soundwave, and was then freed from his chains by a shot from Starscream's null ray. However, when Astrotrain talked about Soundwave promising him revenge on Megatron, Starscream claimed that Soundwave was lying, citing the fact that Astrotrain had been left abandoned on the beach. Starscream then offered for Astrotrain to join him for real revenge, only for the falling piece of Cybertron to create a tidal wave. Astrotrain promptly transformed to shuttle mode, urging Starscream to get aboard his cargo hold and leave the humans behind. However, the leader of the M.A.R.S. troops, Horton, had already wired Starscream's tank base to a controller, allowing him to keep Starscream from boarding, and had also wired explosives into Starscream's body that would go off if Horton was killed. Starscream managed to convince Horton to get aboard Astrotrain with him, the humans entering with Starscream as Astrotrain took off.
In flight, Astrotrain soon saw two downed Combaticons, Onslaught and Brawl, floundering in the water, flying down and letting Starscream pull them aboard. Horton became increasingly irritated at the number of Decepticons joining, ignoring Astrotrain ordering everyone to brace due to being too low to the turbulent waves. Soon enough, a wave hit Astrotrain, throwing the humans against his ceiling and knocking them out.
Later, Astrotrain had arrived at the piece of Cybertron, depositing his passengers and reuniting Starscream, Brawl, and Onslaught with the rest of the Combaticons, Astrotrain swearing allegiance to Starscream alongside the Combaticons. As Starscream began outlining a plan to take command back from Soundwave (who the Combaticons also believed was plotting against Shockwave), Horton tried to detonate the explosives in Starscream, only to find that while he was out, the other M.A.R.S. troops had removed the bombs to strike a deal with Starscream to be let go. However, Starscream promptly murdered all the M.A.R.S. troops and Horton, leaving only a soldier named Private Martin alive, so that the human could use his artistic talent to make drawings of Starscream's return to power. Starscream then gleefully declared that Earth was his and for Soundwave to be ready for him, while Astrotrain readily stood by.
Starscream tracked Soundwave to the Autobot's base camp, a power generator they built next to a dam. Astrotrain, in shuttle mode and carrying Starscream and the Combaticons in his cargo hold, flew in just as Optimus Prime arrived, who was unknowingly tracked by Soundwave, firing on the Autobots just as they tried to revive Trailbreaker. Optimus tried to shoot down Astrotrain, only for Astrotrain to come in for a landing and knock Prime over. He quickly deployed Starscream and the Combaticons, who ignored Optimus to instead engage Soundwave, who had just entered the dam from the opposite side with his own forces. As the Combaticons merged into Bruticus, Astrotrain flew around the battlefield, watching as Soundwave's Constructicons combined into Devastator. While the two Combiners battled, Starscream engaged Soundwave in combat, only for Astrotrain to swoop down and transform to train mode, ramming Soundwave off the dam. In the waters below, Astrotrain reverted to robot mode and pummeled Soundwave, who denounced Astrotrain as a coward for switching sides. However, Astrotrain shot back that he did not care about sides, only with joining whoever could let him get revenge on Megatron. Then, just before Astrotrain could crush Soundwave's head, Thundercracker got ahold of Starscream's lower body controls and used it to send Starscream off the dam, crashing onto Astrotrain and knocking the pair over.
As the pair recovered, Soundwave ordered Thundercracker to help him, but the disillusioned Seeker instead flew off, leaving Soundwave to face Astrotrain and Starscream alone. As the fight continued, Optimus, who had escaped to a nearby shore with Jazz and Wheeljack, tried to call for the Decepticons to stop fighting, as the battle could destabilize the dam and destroy the nearby human city. Astrotrain ignored him and kept beating Soundwave as Starscream refused, only for Optimus to suddenly be overtaken by an unknown corruption. Optimus, who had previously retrieved and grafted Megatron's right arm onto himself, promptly used the arm's fusion cannon to fire on the battle, the blast narrowly dodged by Astrotrain. The shot proceeded to hit the dam, causing it to crack and burst, sweeping away Astrotrain and the Decepticons in the rush of water.
Personality[]
Astrotrain is depicted as being more loyal to the Decepticon cause than malicious for its own sake, driven primarily by a sense of duty to his home planet a burning desire for revenge against those who betrayed him. He is a Cybertronian supremacist, believing that weaker planets and species are simply fated to be sacrificed in the name of Cybertron's survival, but takes no pleasure in this supposed fact, finding the prospect of destroying Earth saddening but necessary, outwardly appearing grimly indifferent of it. However, Astrotrain is not completely indifferent or heartless towards those weaker than himself, such as noncombatant and injured humans, not wanting to personally harm them. While not appearing to pity humans as much as Thundercracker, Astrotrain still respected Spike's bravery in surrendering himself, and spoke candidly to a human doctor about his beliefs and duty, also sparing all the humans after he got what he wanted. Astrotrain also appeared to have once had a softer side with an unidentified lover in the distant past. Despite this, Astrotrain's duties take precedence over any morals he may have. Additionally, Astrotrain harbors a strong animosity against the Autobots, not wanting to accept any form of help or charity from them, even when clearly done as a peace offering.
