Herald

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The perfect follow-up to a lighthearted comedy!
"Herald"
Publisher	3H Enterprises
First published	First version: August 13, 1999 (BotCon Europe 1999) Second version: December 8, 2000 (BotCon: Beyond)
Cover date	July 28–30, 2000
Script	Simon Furman
Illustrations	Lee Sullivan
Continuity	3H Beast Wars continuity

Antagony remembers her past as Megatron interrogates her.

Synopsis

Megatron inspects his captive, Antagony. Through all of the tortures and tribulations he has subjected to her, Antagony has remained consistently unfazed. He knows not who she is, where she came from, whom she serves, or what her mission is. However, a thorough metallurgical examination of her superstructure has determined her to be a Predacon from a distant future far beyond Megatron's own era of origin. Knowing this, Megatron aims to pry from her what info he can about the future of the Predacons and himself, to aid in his quest to return to Cybertron and rewrite history to suit his liking.

Antagony, meanwhile, is outraged and ashamed of her personal failing. She, a Herald of Shokaract, forced to suffer such audacious humiliation at the hands of one as insignificant as Megatron! She had come on a mission to find an artifact that concerned her master, Shokaract (as well as to find the Dark Essence), only for her to drop her guard and end up Megatron's captive. She would have none of it!

Seeking a more cerebral approach in lieu of conventional torture, Megatron procures Tarantulas' mind-drill and proceeds to use it on Antagony. As the drill's nanoprobes attempt to infiltrate her mind, Antagony builds up a mental resistance to disable the probes by focusing all of her emotions into an impenetrable wall of hatred; a hatred for her fellow Herald, Cataclysm.

Antagony flashes back to Cataclysm's Ko-tu, his ceremony of awakening, in which he first became a Herald of Shokaract. Previously, Cataclysm had singlehandedly dealt a significant blow to the Maximal/Predacon resistance that opposed Shokaract's empire, and when his and Antagony's eyes first met during the ceremony, Antagony took an immediate loathing of her fellow Herald.

Antagony and Cataclysm developed a bitter rivalry, with the latter constantly undermining the former, always managing to stay one step ahead in gaining Shokaract's favor. Their conflict eventually came to a head during the Horus Campaign. Horus, a being worshiped by his people as a god and capable of harnessing solar energy, had resisted Shokaract's expansion into the Argos Cluster. Both Antagony and Cataclysm saw an opportunity for self-advancement and sought to handle the problem in their own ways.

Using meticulous diversionary tactics, Antagony distracted Horus's troops and engaged the despot in personal combat aboard his own flagship. While the battle raged, Cataclysm took a more direct approach by destroying the nearby sun, almost killing both Antagony and Horus. Despite her wounds, Antagony was able to finish off Horus, and Shokaract commended the two equally, believing they have been working together.

Incensed by Cataclysm's attempt to kill her, Antagony sought to uncover and exploit any of Cataclysm's weaknesses. She first struck back by nominating Cataclysm for a mission involving time travel, a concept he secretly feared. Upon recognizing of Cataclysm's hesitance, Shokaract assigned the mission to Antagony, dealing a crushing blow to Cataclysm's ambitions. Before she departed, Antagony also exploited another of Cataclysm's weaknesses: She arranged for Cataclysm's fission-brother and pupil to be assigned to kill the fearsome Veteran as part of his Ko-tu. Expecting the brother to fail, Antagony had relished the disgrace that would be wrought upon Cataclysm.

However, Antagony's hate-filled thoughts soon falter as she suddenly realizes that, for all her attempts to best Cataclysm, her own failure of this mission would inevitably pave the way for Cataclysm to swoop in and replace her as Herald Maximo. Realizing this, Antagony is overcome by despair and finally gives in to the mind-drill. As the nanoprobes enter her mind, a failsafe device installed in her head goes off and wipes her mind clean, leaving her a brain-dead husk. Though robbed of any future knowledge, Megatron is only mildly disappointed; he knows more will come.

Featured characters

Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"My kind of girl. My kind of girl."

—Megatron does no favors in helping make the top pic any less creepy.

Notes

Production notes

• Mentioned characters: Optimus Primal, Tarantulas, the Veteran (first version only), Optimus Prime (first version only)
• As indicated by the above release dates, there actually exist two different versions of this story:
  • The first version tells a very lengthy, very detailed account of the story, written more as a direct follow-up to "Visitations" but with earlier ideas and concepts that Furman would revise or drop altogether in the later chapters of the Omega Point storyline. It was originally released unofficially at Transforce 1999 on June 6, three months ahead of its official release at BotCon Europe 1999. It was later posted on BotCon Online on August 22 of that year.^[1] An illustrated version was then featured in the BotCon 2000 comic book, whose text and illustrations were later posted on BotCon: Beyond on December 10, 2000^[2][3] and later to BotCon Online after the site was revamped on November 13, 2001.^[4] Official scans of the comic version were later added to the site on December 12, 2003, replacing the previous text-based version.^[5]
  • The second version gives a much shorter account with some details condensed and summarized, other dropped entirely, along with some updated information to make the story align better with the later developments of the larger storyline. It debuted first on BotCon: Beyond, where it was bizarrely presented as "Part 4" of the Omega Point prose stories,^[6] instead of its more properly serving as a prologue like the first version (possibly a result of that version having been officially released after the main three chapters at BotCon Europe 1999). This version was later moved to BotCon Online during the November 13, 2001 revamp, where it was still presented as "Part 4", a notion that has remained unchanged to this day. As for why the second version was even created in the first place, it was most likely meant to be another recap included with those of the other Omega Point installments that were recapped in the BotCon 2000 comic, but instead, it was the first version that was printed in the comic.
• Among the differences between the two versions, all of the following from the first version was left out of the second version:
  • Megatron visually notes the physical details of Antagony's menacing superstructure, impressed as though she were a work of art.
  • Megatron recalls how he and the Maximals ended up in the Beast Wars on prehistoric Earth.
  • In her disgust at Megatron's attempts to torture her, Antagony reminisces about her past glories of conquest as a Herald of Shokaract, the unusual anxiety she sensed from her master when he assigned her this mission, and the events that led from her arrival in the past to her present captivity by Megatron.
  • The nature of the artifact Antagony was searching for is alluded to by Shokaract.
  • Megatron muses about Tarantulas' inventiveness when it comes to interrogation, in spite of the spider's deceitful nature.
  • There is a brief scene of Megatron noticing Antagony's growing sense of hatred and realizing it to not be for him but for another of her acquaintances.
  • Antagony recalls how often her duties as Herald Maximo took her away from Cybertron on missions of galactic conquest, explaining how personally little she originally knew of Cataclysm prior to his Ko-tu.
  • A earlier idea for the specifics of Cataclysm's Ko-tu is given: He infiltrated the Maximal/Predacon resistance, gained their trust, and led a massive assault on Shokaract's capital, only to betray his resistance troops by leading them into a trap that slaughtered them all. This is changed in the second version (see below).
  • There is a brief scene of Antagony continuing to successfully resist the nanoprobes, in which she compares Megatron to Cataclysm for their both having underestimated her.
  • It is mentioned that Antagony had to depart for her mission before Cataclysm's brother could complete his Ko-tu, preventing her from learning of its outcome.
  • Right before she finally gives in to the nanoprobes, Antagony had secretly siphoned energy from the other Predacons inside the base, and was nearly ready to break free of her restraints and kill Megatron. Only the sudden despair that dawned upon her right then and there quashed her drive to free herself.
  • It is specifically noted that Antagony was not killed when her mind went blank.
• The following new information added to the second version:
  • Most notably, Antagony's mission is directly stated to involve her locating, safeguarding, and retrieving the Dark Essence, in addition to finding the artifact. The Dark Essence isn't mentioned or even alluded to in the first version, suggesting that Furman hadn't yet conceived of the idea of the Dark Essence until his penning the later chapter "Schism".
  • Megatron obtains the mind-drill from Tarantulas by his having, ahem, "borrowed" it.
  • Antagony stresses to herself the importance of preventing both the Dark Essence and the artifact from falling into Megatron's hands, no matter what.
  • Instead of Cataclysm becoming a Herald by severely crippling the Maximal/Predacon resistance's numbers (as described in the first version), he simply killed "one of the toughest members" of the resistance as his alpha target, displaying its head on a trident for all to see. This is more in line with how the Cub's Ko-tu would be carried out in "Schism".
  • In addition to all of his other descriptions, Horus is said to also be a "mad despot".
• Partly due to this story's dual-nature, both its chapter and series titles have varied over the years depending on the source:
  • When the first version was first posted on BotCon Online in 1999, it was given the series title of "Reaching the Omega Point" and the chapter title of "Prologue: Herald".^[7]
  • The BotCon 2000 comic book release of the first version titled the story as just "HERALD", with a newly-added subtitle of "A bridging chapter of Reaching The Omega Point". Both were retained when the comic version's text and illustrations were added to BotCon: Beyond on December 10, 2000^[3] and to BotCon Online on November 13, 2001.^[8]
  • When the second version debuted on BotCon: Beyond, the site's new Storyline section titled it as "Part 4: Herald (The Fate of Antagony)", and re-titled the first version as "Chapter 2: Herald (The Fate of Antagony)".^[9] These titles were retained after BotCon Online was revamped on November 13, 2001, ^[10] with the former having remained unchanged throughout all proceeding updates made to that section,^[11] while the latter was removed after the official scans of the comic were posted on December 12, 2003.
  • Also when first put on BotCon: Beyond, the actual webpage of the second version changed both the series and chapter titles to "The Omega Point" and "Part 4 - "Herald" "^[12] This too was retained when the story moved to BotCon Online during its 2001 revamp.^[13]
  • Finally, when BotCon Online was given its December 12, 2003 updates, the series and chapter titles on the second version's webpage were amended one final time into "The Omega Point: Part Four" and "Herald", their final and current renderings.^[14][15]

Continuity notes

• This story picks up immediately after the BotCon 1998 script reading "Visitations", in which Antagony first arrived in the Beast Wars via a Transwarp portal, sought a mysterious artifact, and was ultimately captured by Megatron. As that story took place during Season 2 of the Beast Wars cartoon, so too must this one.
  • While torturing Antagony, Megatron notes that she has endured such degrees of pain that would have left any one of his troops long since broken and spilling any secrets they hide. This could be an indicator that Rampage has not yet become a member of Megatron's crew, since his mutant nigh-indestructible spark enables him to endure such intense forms of pain and suffering.
  • Megatron also expresses an open awareness of Tarantulas's traitorous nature. While he was aware of this throughout most of the series, Tarantulas makes his most direct declaration of defiance right to Megatron's face in "Other Visits (Part 1)". Megatron's colorful description of the spider in the story's first version could be read as a direct callback to the duplicitous partnership the two shared in that episode.
  • Combined with the notion of Rampage most likely having not yet joined Megatron's team, this would place both "Visitations" and "Herald" directly between "Other Visits (Part 2)" and "Bad Spark".
• In the first version, Megatron states that the Beast Wars have been going on "for well over a year" by this point.
• This story introduces us to a future ruler named "Shokaract" who has conquered both Cybertron and much of the known galaxy at a point in the far future, far beyond that of Optimus Primal's Maximals and Megatron's Predacons.
• In "Visitations", Antagony had introduced herself as "Herald of the Destruction". Here, it is elaborated that she is a "Herald of Shokaract"; moreover, she is "Herald Maximo", the highest-ranking of the Heralds, second only to Shokaract himself.
• Antagony still aims to find the artifact that she came to search for in "Visitations". However, this story will be the last time that the artifact factors into the Omega Point storyline in any meaningful way. While it will reappear again later, its relevance is silently superseded by a completely different plot device in subsequent installments of the storyline, with its later reappearance only serving to remind readers that it simply exists.
• By Shokaract's time, the Maximals and Predacons have formed a united resistance movement against him.
• Cataclysm is stated to have a "fission-brother" (who will later be featured in "Schism"). This is one of the earliest allusions to an explanation for how Transformers can physically have siblings, suggesting that the Cub and Cataclysm underwent a sort of fission process in their creation, like Budding.
• Cataclysm's fear of time travel would later prove to be justified in "Schism".
• The Maximal known simply as "the Veteran" is mentioned in the first version of this story. Like Cataclysm's brother, he too would later be further explored in "Schism".
• The Ko-tu of Cataclysm's brother would also later be witnessed in "Schism".
• In the second version, the Dark Essence is stated to be a vital object of Antagony's mission. While this version of the story wasn't released until after the very end of the Omega Point storyline, nothing about the Dark Essence beyond its name is actually stated here, so as to maintain the air of mystery that it is supposed to have at this point in the storyline.

Continuity errors

First version

• The artifact Antagony was searching for is described by Shokaract as a "key" capable of "breaching - or indeed sealing - the dimensional wall." Previously, "Visitations" described the artifact as a "Predacon" device of "futuristic" design. Coupled with the description given here, this all suggests that the device was originally supposed to have come from Antagony's future era. However, that notion would later be retconned by "Apelinq's War Journals", in which the artifact would instead be declared to be a personal belonging of the Maximal Apelinq, who did not come from Antagony's future era. Of note, this description of the artifact is not mentioned in the shortened version, aligning with that version's slight amendments made to fit better with the later chapters of Omega Point.
• Antagony's recollections of how she was captured don't quite match up with how things played out in "Visitations":
  • This story claims that she had gotten involved in a "petty dispute" between the Maximals and Predacons, which never happened in "Visitations".
  • Antagony's power reserves are said here to have been depleted before she could make use of the local energon deposits, whereas in "Visitations", energon was never mentioned, while Antagony was instead bested in battle by Optimus Primal.
  • Instead of tricking Antagony into wasting the last of her ammo on Waspinator, Megatron is stated to have simply attacked and overpowered the weakened Antagony himself.
  • Lastly, Antagony conveys an awareness of the artifact having been "stolen by party or parties unknown", when she instead only first arrived after the device was taken, having never learned of its true fate.

Second version

• Megatron expresses a pre-established awareness of the artifact that Antagony originally came to find, when the script reading gave no indication that Megatron had ever even known about it prior to this point. Unless she had mentioned it to him at some point between the two stories, possibly being the one and only bit of info he ever got out of her.

Other errors

First version

• In the first paragraph after the second break, the line "His mind spun seemingly endlessly variations on a well-worn theme," contains a typo. The word "endlessly" should instead be just "endless".
• In the single paragraph after the third break, the word "had" is missing from the phrase "to neutralize the virus that been introduced into her system." It should be between "that" and "been": "the virus that had been".
• In the third paragraph after the seventh break, the word "or" should be "nor" in the line "The potential here for self-advancement was lost on neither Antagony or Cataclysm."
• In the sixth paragraph after the seventh break, in the phrase "while Horus's divided fleet engaged the various Reavers divisions", the term "Reavers divisions" should instead be "Reaver divisions".
• In the original 1999 BotCon Online version and the BotCon 2000 comic version, in the second paragraph after the second break, the world "microscopic" was/is misspelled as "microscropic". This error was not present in either the BotCon: Beyond version^[3] or the 2001-2003 BotCon Online version.
• In both the BotCon: Beyond version^[3] and the version that was hosted on BotCon Online from November 13, 2001 to December 12, 2003:
  • In the second paragraph, the word "served" was misspelled as "sewed" in the phrase "Not for the first time, Megatron wondered who the visitor sewed."
  • In the first paragraph after the first break, the first sentence ends with no punctuation mark (specifically, a period).
  • In the first paragraph after the first break, the word "would-be" was mistyped as "wouldbe".
  • The second break was misplaced one paragraph lower from where it was placed in all other releases of the first version.
  • The third break was missing, its place taken instead by the illustration of Cataclysm's Ko-tu.
  • In the single-sentence first paragraph after the sixth break, a comma is missing from right after "Corumkan".
  • In the fourth paragraph after the sixth break,"Antagony know" is a typo of "Antagony knew"
  • In the first paragraph after the seventh break, the phrase "a number of well-placed spies" is missing the word "placed", rendered as "a number of well- spies".
  • In the second paragraph after the seventh break, the word "Reaver" was misspelled as "Heaver".
  • Of the thirteen times the word "Horus" appears in the text, eight of those times misspelled the name as "Horns".
  • The ninth break was missing, its place taken instead by the illustration of Antagony surviving her near-death experience in the Argos Cluster.
  • In the third paragraph after the ninth break, the phrase "he would have to kill his own fission-brother." is missing the "brother." part.

Second version

• In the first paragraph, the word "painstaking" is misspelled as "paintaking".
• In the ninth paragraph, the word "Antagony" that begins the second sentence is misspelled as "Anatagony".
• In the tenth paragraph, the word "orchestrated" is misspelled as "ochestrated".

Transformers references

• Antagony's title of "Herald Maximo" calls to mind the name/title of the Liege Maximo, another creation of Furman's.
• References given only in the first version:
  • As noted above, Megatron recalls the events that led to the start of the Beast Wars, as seen in the opening moments of "Beast Wars (Part 1)".
  • Shokaract had told Antagony of a "great unraveling, a disruption in the timeline that had to be righted." This would later be revealed in "Terminus" to refer to a rupture in the fabric of space-time leftover by the timestorm that Megatron would cause in his later-set attempt to kill Optimus Prime in "The Agenda (Part III)", meaning Antagony ended up arriving in the Beast Wars before the "great unraveling" came into being.
  • The Veteran is rumored to have "fought alongside Optimus Prime in the first great civil war itself."

Real world references

• Horus's name and solar-based powers are obviously derived from the Egyptian deity of the same name, whom the story even alludes to as "some primitive sun god".
• In the illustration of Cataclysm's ceremony, a Cyberman from Doctor Who can be seen behind Antagony's right arm.

References

External links

• Scans of the BotCon 2000 comic, featuring the full-length version of "HERALD" (Pages 3-8), on the BotCon Online archives
• "The Omega Point: Part Four - Herald" (the shortened version) on the BotCon Online archives