Dear Vector Prime, What can you tell us about the "nervous bot" that ran afoul of Bumblebee just before the Plague of Rust ravaged Velocitron? Did he intentionally carry the plague there, like was hinted?
Dear Pandemic Ponderer,
I believe that anxious mechanoid's name was Goldwheel. As for his culpability in such deeds, that matter is more complicated than might be apparent.
Goldwheel was one of several unaligned Cybertronians taken from Decepticon Prisoner of War camps by Shockwave. As part of one of the scientist’s diabolical schemes, the captives were told to deliver containers of Cosmic Rust via the space bridges to Cybertron’s settled worlds. To ensure their cooperation, each had one of the containers implanted in them by Shockwave—to be removed by the Decepticon recipients upon delivery, thereby freeing the unwilling plaguebearers.
Unbeknownst to Goldwheel and the rest, however, was the fact that Shockwave had already ordered the retreat of all the soldiers on these worlds. Poor Goldwheel was left stranded, looking for someone who didn’t exist, until the rust plague escaped and started to consume everything.
