M.A.S.S. Device
From Transformers Wiki
Created by Cobra munitions manufacturer Destro, the M.A.S.S. Device is a powerful teleportation system able to traverse interplanetary distances. The device is powered by three "catalytic elements" which must reach "transmutational synergistic stasis" for the machine to function. It has not, however, been perfected: though travellers do reach their destination, they are burned alive in the process. To date, only Destro himself has proven able to survive use of the M.A.S.S. Device, due to his partially cybernetic physiology.
Contents |
Fiction
Transformers vs. G.I. Joe
Returning to the Decepticobracropolis, island headquarters of the Cobra/Decepticon alliance, Destro ordered the M.A.S.S. Device prepared so that he and a squadron of Crimson Guardsmen could travel to Cybertron for a face-to-face talk with Megatron. Every single guardsman was immolated by the journey, still dying horribly in interdimensional fire as they arrived in Megatron's throneroom, leaving a slightly "frayed and tattered" Destro the only survivor—exactly as he had predicted. Funeral for a Friend
Intending to use the M.A.S.S. Device to reach Cybertron himself, Snake-Eyes performed a meditation ritual, focusing his control of body and mind in the belief that it would allow him to survive the journey. Thinking that Snake-Eyes had defected to Cobra, a revenge-seeking Duke tackled the ninja into the M.A.S.S. Device portal, and the pair were set adrift in the void between worlds. Form Follows Function
Ask Vector Prime
Cobra used the M.A.S.S. to conquer Earth in Primax 1185.04 Alpha. When Megatron tried to conquer it too, he found that Cobra could warp their legions to anywhere he showed up. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/13
2005 IDW continuity
Commissioned by Cobra, the M.A.S.S. Device was constructed by Destro. G.I. Joe vol.1 #3 Though it could transport its users to anywhere on Earth, its teleportation range could go no further than the lunar surface. Enter the Shadow A Game of Chess
After Cobra fell, Destro retained ownership of the device. When G.I. Joe founder turned super-villain Joe Colton began planning his genocidal crusade against Cybertron, he sought out Destro to secure usage of the M.A.S.S. Device so that he could actually reach Cybertron. Arriving in Castle Destro via the device, he explained his plan to Destro to piggyback the M.A.S.S. Device's signal off of a Cybertronian Spacebridge. A Game of Chess
After Garrison Blackrock had stumbled upon the Talisman and the Iron Ring's scheme, the villains used the M.A.S.S. Device to bring the Talisman to Section Sabine. Crisis Intervention Action Man was inadvertently brought along however with the Revolutionaries following to rescue their friend. The Iron Ring made a quick escape via M.A.S.S. Device. Enter the Shadow With Snake Eyes masquerading as Tomax Paoli, the commando and Blackrock infiltrated the Iron Castle via M.A.S.S. Device to use the latter as a trojan horse. After successfully gathering the intelligence they needed and sowing chaos, the two and Mayday teleported out. The Iron Klaw
After the Revolutionaries had captured Garrison Kreiger and retreated to the Onyx tower in Buenos Aires, Centurion hacked into the tower's defences to allow the Iron Ring to teleport in. When Eagles Scream The Ring soon opted to beat a hasty retreat back to the Iron Castle after Optimus Prime and Metrotitan joined the battle. Seeing the device in action, Optimus compared it to the orbital bounces and feared humans having such technology. Ghost in the Machine
On the day of Earth's induction into the Council of Worlds, the Ring bounced the M.A.S.S. Device's signal off Metrotitan's Spacebridge and arrived in Iacon. Primeless, Part 1 G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., and Soundwave eventually deduced how Colton's cabal had reached Cybertron and set out to replicate the method. First Strike #2 The Torchbearer twins combined the core of the Spacebridge with the M.A.S.S. Device with the hybrid device being capable of transporting all directly to Iacon before its unstable core detonated. First Strike #3
Games
Transformers Roleplaying Game
Doctor Mindbender was attempting to synthesize the rare elements that powered the M.A.S.S. Device when a freak accident merged him, Shockwave, and Lord Zedd into the evil Lord MindWaveZ. Worlds Collide: Battle for the Multiverse
Notes
- The M.A.S.S. Device was the central plot device of the original G.I. Joe animated mini-series, which revolved around the search for its three catalytic elements: radioactive crystals, heavy water, and meteor dust. In that continuity, its name stands for Molecular Assembler Scrambler Sender, though when IDW introduced the machine into their comic book continuity, it was changed to Multipoint Asynchronous Subether Station.
- Transformers vs. G.I. Joe is coloured to appear as if it is printed on older paper that has yellowed with time, but in a cute trick, the light of the M.A.S.S. Device is stark white, as if it were so bright that it was burning the yellow off the page.
