Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor

In the war between the Solstar Order and the Dire Wraiths, Rom the Space Knight trains a new generation of cadets. One of them, Stardrive, faces racism and prejudices everywhere she goes in spite of her being a model student.

Likely because she's 20 feet tall and capable of transforming.

In another part of the galaxy, Autobots and Decepticons battle for dominance but their lack of regard for alien races caught in the crossfire means Cybertronians are a feared and hated race. If the Autobot/Decepticon war ever intrudes on Solstar space, Stardrive will have to make a choice between her people and her home.

Set in the past of the Hasbro Comic Universe, Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor focuses on the first encounter between the Solstar Order and the Transformer race.

Tropes used in Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor include:

• And Then John Was a Zombie: It looks like Ultra Magnus is going to pull a Big Damn Heroes moment in issue 4 but no, he's been infected by Vekktral.
• Asshole Victim: It's safe to say no tears were shed when the same Jerkass Galactic Council captain who killed Stardrive's guardians and fellow protoforms got assimilated by Dire Wraiths.
• Awesome but Impractical: A Wraith possessing a Cybertronian. Sure they get huge size and durability but they're locked in robot mode and can't transform or assimilate anyone else.
• Big Bad: Starscream wants a Big Bad Duumvirate but Vekktral is clearly the Big Bad.
• Bittersweet Ending: Just a step above a full-on Downer Ending. Though the Decepticons and Wraiths have been defeated, 48% of Xetaxxis has been rendered sterile, the Energon synthesizer has been destroyed, Convoy and Sky Blast are dead and Stardrive has no faith in anyone anywhere. The only person who's happy is Livia.
• Black and Gray Morality: Stardrive's view on the Wraiths and Solstar Order respectively. The Wraiths are actual monsters but the Space Knights are sociopathic Holier Than Thou assholes.
• Broken Ace: Stardrive could honestly be one of the greatest Space Knights ever. But her upbringing has been so warped that she has no self-confidence to use her power to its full extent.
• Butt Monkey: Astrotrain.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Stardrive absolutely explodes at Rom and Livia when it turns out not all Cybertronians are planet killers.
• Continuity Nod: More Than Meets the Eye‍'‍s Galactic Council is given prominence here.
• Deadpan Snarker: Starscream.
• Evil Is Petty: In the epilogue, the Galactic Council representative starts a flame war with Orphion over who has the more dangerous enemies.
• Friend to All Living Things
  • Rom's reasoning for rescuing Stardrive. It's his moral duty to do all he can to assist someone in need.
  • Bumblebee. He tries to make friends with everyone and helps some freezing natives keep warm. Unfortunately, the latter group was a bunch of Dire Wraiths who banked their plan on this.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Stardrive is quick to peg the Solstar Order as this.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Ultra Magnus allows Rom to kill him so Vekktral can be defeated.
• Honor Before Reason: The Wraiths analyze Vekktral merging with Cybertronians and swear it off because mechanical lifeforms are contrary to the Wraith's goals.
• Hypocrite:
  • Livia looks down on Transformers for rendering whole worlds lifeless and yet she fully endorses a World-Wrecking Wave, even preventing others from stopping it. Stardrive lampshades it.
  • More or less how the Knights' treatment of Stardrive works. If they approve of what she did, she's a worthy Space Knight. If they don't, she's Just a Machine.
• Ignored Expert: Dirge isn't an expert on the Wraiths but he can clearly tell they're not to be trusted. Starscream brushes his concerns aside.
• Jerkass Has a Point: What makes Livia so infuriating.
• Line-of-Sight Name: Stardrive's name is derived from her car and space shuttle alternate forms.
• Mythology Gag: The planet Xetaxxis is from Season 3 of the original Generation 1 cartoon. The inhabitants are now organics however.
• Never My Fault:
  • Livia openly shits on Stardrive every chance she gets but no Livia can't possibly be held accountable for Stardrive's desire to leave the Solstar Order because she in fact stood up for Stardrive.
  • As he dies, Vekktral curses the Cybertronian race for their interference, despite seeking them out in the first place.
• Not Quite Cybertronian: Ultra Magnus is a Bumblebee sized bot in a suit of Powered Armor. As a result, he's not totally taken over by Vekktral.
• Out-of-Character Moment: The whole damn crossover for Ultra Magnus. It's eventually revealed that stick-in-the-mud Minimus Ambus is on sick leave and the hot-headed Convoy is subbing in.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At the end, Stardrive decides that the Solstar Order can go to hell and warps away.
• Secret Keeper: Apparently a lot of high-ranking Autobots confide in Bumblebee.
• Shrouded in Myth:
  • Deconstructed. The Solstar worlds have been brought up to know the Transformers as robotic killing machines that destroy worlds without pity or remorse. As issue 3 points out, they've never actually met a Transformer.
  • The Dire Wraiths themselves. Beyond Solstar space, they're not heavily known.
• Sociopathic Hero: If you ask her, Livia is pragmatic but it's very clear she doesn't care about anything expect killing Wraiths.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: It's clear that neither the Autobots or the Space Knights want to work together to stop the Decepticon/Wraith alliance (who aren't exactly chummy either) but also that doing so is their best chance of success.
• Token Heroic Orc: Subverted. The Solstar Order clearly thinks Stardrive is this but the Autobots are living proof that she's not.
• Villain Team-Up: Starscream and Vekktral's troops. Neither one gives a damn about the other or their goals.
• We Have Reserves: A point of tension. The Dire Wraiths do, the Decepticons don't.
• The Worf Effect:
  • Auxin is blown in two by Astrotrain. By accident. Stardrive even notes she's never seen a Space Knight die.
  • Sky Blast is assimilated by a Dire Wraith to show the Wraiths do pose a threat to Cybertronians. Said hybrid then rips a Decepticon Red Shirt apart.
• You Are a Credit to Your Race: Most of what the Space Knights tell Stardrive can be boiled down to this. As she furiously points out however, she's lived her whole life with the Space Knights being "her people".
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After assimilating Ultra Magnus, Vekktral turns on Starscream. Starscream pays him back by triggering a World-Wrecking Wave and flying off.