History of the Transformers
In the Beginning
A single omnipotent being of unknown origin travels the galaxy, discovering life along the way. With no other creatures equaling its power, the being begins to converse with itself, and in time two unique personas form. The first is Primus, a reassuring presence that accepts the universe at is; the second is Unicron, who discovers and seeks to correct perceived flaws in the order of the universe. The two personas grow increasingly divergent from one another, and begin to argue. In time, the being splits physically, creating two separate bodies for each half of its warring psyche. Unicron grows increasingly rapacious and destructive, while Primus grows increasingly withdrawn. Eventually, Primus takes up arms to stop Unicron from devouring the galaxy. This struggle lasts for eons, with neither side able to gain an advantage over the other.
Age of the Thirteen
To try and turn the tide, Primus creates the Thirteen, each given a unique role, nature, and artifact of power to aid the struggle. In order of their creation, they are Prima, Vector Prime, Alpha Trion, Solus Prime, Micronus Prime, Alchemist Prime, Nexus Prime, Onyx Prime, Amalgamous Prime, Liege Maximo, Megatronus, and the Thirteenth Prime
The Expulsion of Unicron
The newly created Primes begin training and strategizing for the upcoming conflict. Solus Prime, the artificer of the Thirteen, creates many weapons and icons of power for them to use. At the urging of Megatronus, she creates a great weapon to fight Unicron, although Solus herself worries that this power could corrupt them. The Thirteen vote seven to six to keep the Requiem Blaster and not destroy it. Ultimately, the Primes defeat Unicron, and the Chaos Bringer's inert form drifts off into space, where it later forms the core of Earth. His fossilized blood, spilled in this conflict, becomes known as Dark Energon. Following the defeat of Unicron, Primus becomes one with the Core of Cybertron, where he gives life to future Transformers through the AllSpark, within the Well of All Sparks. Although the Primes stand triumphant, Unicron's influences has tainted all of them with a touch of darkness.
The War of the Primes
After a period of peaceful building and construction, tensions between the Primes slowly grow. Secretly manipulated by Liege Maximo, Megatronus kills Solus Prime, causing the first schism in the Primes. After Megatronus is defeated, the Liege Maximo makes his own play for power, but is defeated in the process. After this great battle, Nexus Prime fragments himself into five robots, each one carrying and guarding a fragment of the Cyber Caliber.
His components are dubbed Clocker, Mainspring, Chaindrive, Cannonspring, and Pinion. The fight has lasting repercussions for the Thirteen—Megatronus, now "The Fallen", and the Liege have left the Primes for good, the once idealistic Vector Prime despairs and seals himself away in a pocket dimension, and Solus Prime is dead. Onyx Prime, Micronus Prime, and the Thirteenth Prime willingly enter the Well of All Sparks and sacrifice their lives in order to jump-start its creative processes, with the intent of creating a new race to inhabit the world.
Alpha Trion and Alchemist Prime vow to remain on Cybertron and nurture this new civilization. Quintus Prime ravels into deep space with his Emberstone, with the intention of creating new races that will ally with future Cybertronian civilizations. Meanwhile, far out in space, the forgotten Requiem Blaster gradually accrues a collection of space junk around it. As its gravitational pull increases, more and more drifting shipwrecks and space junk gather around it, eventually forming an artificial planetoid. This artificial planet will later become known as Junkion.
Sealed away in a parallel dimension, the Fallen swears revenge for his humiliation and exile.
The Age of Evolution
The three Primes that entered the Well activate the AllSpark, which in turns emits a great burst of energy. From this beam of energy comes a wide variety of mechanical life, including precursors to modern Cybertronians. On the last stellar cycle, the Allspark's largest and most powerful creations of all, the Predacons emerge. Predaking, their leader, is the first of their kind, followed by Lazerback and Twinstrike. Many more follow, and some of them come into conflict with humanoid Cybertronians.
Cybertron's fledgling ecosystems continue to grow and prosper for tens of thousands of years. Eventually, however, a passing red giant star interferes with Cybertron's own sun, causing meteor strikes and solar flares. While many humanoid Transformers take shelter underground in stasis lock, the Predacons remain unshielded on the surface. They do not survive, though they leave behind a multitude of fossils containing extractable CNA.
The Age of Origins
The surviving Cybertronians are quick to rebuild their wounded world. In the era that follows, many small settlements and villages form as protection from marauding warlords and barbarian armies. One such settlement, known as Iacon, becomes home to an influential group known as the Patterners. Composed of survivors from the Great Cataclysm, this group of rationalists and philosophers rallies under the leadership of Azimuth. Their quest for knowledge leads them to study the movements and patterns of the stars, and eventually carve great geometric symbols into the face of Cybertron. Their movement eventually spawns many splinter groups and counter-cults, such as the cult of Random led by Galvatron.
At some point during this time, the Dark Spark is discovered and studied by the Patterners and Disciples of the Thirteen, with some debate as to its origins. After witnessing its dark power, the Crystal Guardians decided that it was too powerful for study to be allowed to continue, and locked it away in vaults deep beneath their city.
Eventually, the Quintessons - creations of Quintus Prime - discover the world of Cybertron. Remotely observing the world by a system of probes secretly inserted into Cybertronians, the aliens begin preparing to invade the world, secretly intending to turn Cybertronians into mindless workers and selling them into slavery.
The Age of Wrath
A young Ratchet discovers a Quintesson probe inside the worker Coldwelder. Not long afterwards, the first Quintesson ships descend from the sky in a grand arrival, setting themselves up as benevolent emissaries sent to "uplift" Cybertron into the galactic community. They win the public support of Cybertronians by "teaching" them how to transform - in reality, they are simply activating the dormant transformation cogs in the bodies of all Transformers.
Buoyed by popular opinion, the Quintessons soon establish a globalized puppet government ruled by Sentinel Zeta Prime and a High Council of thirteen Transformers. Under Quintesson guidance, Cybertronians rapidly develop both public and private infrastructure, and eventually master spaceflight and dimensional travel. Before long, however, cracks begin to show in their benign façade. The Quintessons establish a new Supreme Court in line with their twisted ideals of justice, while other Quintessons siphon off the fruit of Cybertron's labour for their own ends. Some Transformers are even modified to serve as transportation for their rulers, such as installing cockpits on the bodies of the Seekers. The Quintesson occupation has a negative effect on the Well itself; Cybertronians begin emerging from the Allspark without names or personalities. One such Transformer is the newly born D-16, who is assigned a position in Cybertron's mines.
When a resistance movement finally exposes the many lies of the Quintessons, they are overthrown and routed from the system in a war effort headed by Sentinel Prime himself, the Elite Guard, and the aforementioned resistance. D-16 is one of the many working-class Cybertronians called to arms. With new space bridges engineered from the Quintesson's half-completed projects, Cybertron enters its Golden Age.
The Golden Age
The Golden Age brings sweeping changes to Cybertronian social structure and hierarchy. Sentinel Prime takes full control over the ex-Quintesson bureauccracy with the support of the High Council. The Well of All Sparks brings forth many new sparks, many of which are eventually harnessed as part of Cybertron's colonization efforts. Under Sentinel's rule, the new space bridge network allows trailblazing Cybertronians to colonize more than two hundred faraway planets, including Archon, Neutronia, Gigantion, Velocitron, Junkion, Aquatron, and the Hub. Concerted construction and cyberforming efforts turn many of these worlds into miniature Cybertrons. While these new colony worlds are initially supported by Cybertronian energon, many of them harness "torches" to create miniature Wells, rendering them completely independent from Cybertron.
The construction of the spaceport on the Hydrax Plateau begins, and Moonbases One and Two are constructed on the Mini-Con inhabited moons of Cybertron.
Trypticon Station is put into orbit as well, and a crew of Seekers are tasked with defending the Dark Energon stored within, remnants of Unicron's attack on the planet. The High Council encouraged the gathering and storage of Dark Energon aboard the vessel. The first Cybertronian data cylinders are created, which store and preserve the accumulated knowledge of Cybertronian civilization.
At some point during the Golden Age, a civilization known only as the Ancients arises. A civilization of explorers and astronomers, they travel the galaxy using Space Bridge technology, gather treasures from many worlds, and chart the known universe in their stellar cartography chamber. Among the planets visited by the Ancients is Earth. The Ancients are undone by a mysterious cataclysm that also devastates the nearby region, creating the lifeless, inhospitable region known as the Rust Sea. Many of their structures survive intact- albeit forgotten- including the large tomb that also houses their maps.
After 80,000 years of prosperity and exploration, the Golden Age draws to a close. The Well of All Sparks begins slowing down its production of new life, and other cracks begin to show in Cybertronian civilization. Meanwhile, among the colonies, the dreaded Rust Plague sweeps from star system to star system via the space bridge network, devastating some worlds and completely sterilizing others. In desperation, Sentinel orders the destruction of the space bridge network entirely to prevent the spread of the contagion. Cybertron is spared from destruction, at the cost of its many colony worlds. Millions of Transformers stranded across the galaxy continue adapting to their homeworlds, and many forget their origins entirely.
As time goes by, various crises on the ex-colony worlds lead to drastic changes among their inhabitants. Velocitron's inhabitants, plagued by resource shortages, slip deeper and deeper into their racing obsession as a form of cultural diversion. The Junkions begin building cities and structures entirely out of their planetoid's bountiful supplies of garbage and trash, forming a stable and productive society. The Neutronians discover Amalgamous Prime's mythical transformation cog, changing the entire population into omnicombinational shifters known as Mutacons. Aquatron is re-colonized by Quintessons, who forcefully incorporate the planet into their Imperium while simultaneously tampering with the planet's inhabitants to create the Sharkticons
The Age of Rust
In the waning years of the Golden Age, the caste system is implemented, where civilian guilds oversee and assign newly created Transformers to jobs, and it eventually becomes a major social institution under the urging of Sentinel. Alpha Trion grows troubled with the increasingly oppressive social system, and consults the supercomputer Vector Sigma for guidance, hoping to use the Matrix to revitalize Cybertron's culture. Vector Sigma declines his request, but reassures him that the time will soon be right for the Matrix's reactivation. Instead, Vector Sigma gives him the Badge of Vector Prime, a gift for Sentinel Prime. While Alpha Trion waits for the Matrix, he retreats further and further into the Hall of Records, eventually becoming a recluse.
Cybertron abandons many ancient traditions, such as travelling through the Underworld. These controversial reorganizations do not go unnoticed, though, and many newly born Transformers become dissatisfied with their lot in life, some seeking change. Cybertron's culture and society stagnates greatly as a result; the dynamic architecture and artwork that characterize older eras of society are replaced by dull, drab buildings.
The city-states of Kaon and Slaughter City, populated mostly by low-caste miners and workers, soon turn to gladiatorial combat as a way to escape from the drudgery of their lives. The High Council, aware of why the games began, does nothing to stop them. D-16 begins a prosperous career of pit fighting, and eventually takes on the name Megatronus in honor of the Prime of the same name. He later shortens it to Megatron. Megatron uses his newfound publicity to denounce the stifling caste system. His rhetoric inspires a group of followers that includes fellow gladiator and spymaster Soundwave and the sadistic scientist Shockwave. Realizing the threat that this upstart poses, Sentinel Prime sends his agents Bumper and Fastback to infiltrate his organization. Megatron soon discovers the duo and has them executed.
At the same time, a young data clerk named Orion Pax, monitoring transmissions from across Cybertron, befriends Megatron, and the two of them begin a secret correspondence. Alpha Trion encourages his protégé, in the hopes that Orion's ideals will temper Megatronus's extremism. They have intense but friendly debates over the nature of free will and the dangerousness of their ideals, and soon Orion begins training with Jazz, learning to fire an ion-cannon and to fashion his arms into an axe and a sword.
An energon thief named Drift comes to Megatron's attention who rebrands him "Deadlock". Deadlock trains under Shadow Raker.
Before long, Orion visits Megatron in person in Kaon. Terrorists, calling themselves "Decepticons", begin bombings in Megatron's name, attacking such popular spots as Six Lasers Over Cybertron. Megatron himself makes his first public announcement on the Grid, stating he is not responsible for the attacks and will bring the perpetrators to justice. In reality, however, Megatron had heard rumors about the bombings and terrorist attacks but did nothing to prevent them. Megatron and Orion are eventually granted a meeting with the High Council.
In his speech, Megatron demands that he be named the next Prime, and threatens to violently overthrow the Council if they do not comply. Orion, does not believe in violence, and follows him up with a speech of his own. He argues that the members of Cybertron should be autonomous robots, or "Autobots", and that everyone should be able to make their own choices in life. Orion's speech moves the Council and inspires them to appoint Orion a Prime. They give him the new name of "Optimus". Megatron is incensed by the fact that his speech went unnoticed. In a fit of anger, he kills the Council member Halogen and spitefully severs all ties with his former friend. At Optimus's urging, the two sides retreat for now to avoid further bloodshed in the Council halls. However, the Council itself has fragmented; Contrail, Ratbat, and Drivetrain now support the Decepticon cause. Megatron officially declares war on Optimus Prime and his followers, sparking the Great War.
The Great War
The war quickly spreads beyond the High Council, and before long battle lines are drawn as various city-states declare their allegiances. Autobots and their allies control the most important locations on Cybertron, including Iacon and Kalis. Shortly after the declaration of war, the Allspark stops producing new Cybertronians; some interpret this as an act of divine rebellion. Undeterred, the Decepticons launch their first strike by seizing Fort Scyk. Ultra Magnus and his Council Guardians manage to hold the line long enough for the Autobots to send reinforcements. The Decepticons then attack and occupy the Hydrax Plateau. With this crucial region under Decepticon control, Megatron quickly takes over the majority of Cybertron's eastern hemisphere, which remains in Decepticon hands for the majority of the war. Decepticons then capture the Satellite Command Center at Polyhex. The battle of Crystal City sees the Constructicons deploy their combined Devastator against the Autobots, razing the city. Many of its scientific treasures survive the destruction. Many dangerous weapons, such as the Cybonic plague, are developed by the Decepticon Biological Warfare Program.
The Autobots win their first major victory at Kalis, where Optimus Prime, Sideswipe, and Jazz topple the Decepticon combiner Bruticus. Kalis remains in Autobot hands and the Autobots begin using long-range combat against Decepticons. Shockwave's armies occupy the cities of Tarn and Vos. Shockwave manipulates the two cities and turns them against one another, destroying them both. The Decepticon campaign reaches Praxus, where they encounter stiff Autobot resistance. The city-state is ultimately leveled by the fighting, and to this day the outcome is unclear. Prowl and Ironhide, citizens of Praxus, join the Autobot cause and become part of Optimus Prime's inner circle of confidants.
Megatron, still stinging from the loss of Praxus, orders Bruticus Maximus to spearhead a massacre at Nova Cronum. In the meantime, Minicon saboteurs manage to steal and reverse-engineer Shockwave's secrets, and before long the Autobots create their own combiners. Optimus Prime assigns Ultra Magnus to lead the unruly squadron known as the Wreckers in the hopes of instilling discipline into their ranks, and with the aid of the newly created Defensor the team defends the Tagan Heights against the Constructicons, although the fighting between Defensor and Devastator demolishes the area.
At some point during the war, Optimus Prime survives an assassination attempt by Skyquake at the Battle of Technahar.
After centuries of stasis, the AllSpark creates a final generation of Transformers, most of whom side with the Autobots. Among them is the Autobot Bumblebee, who distinguishes himself on the battlefield and becomes one of Optimus Prime's closest compatriots. Another young Autobot named Smokescreen enters the boot camp of the Elite Guard with hopes of becoming a full-fledged soldier.
Arcee and her combat partner Tailgate serve in Delta Team for most of the war. After a raid on a Decepticon munitions depot, both of them are captured and interrogated by the Decepticon Airachnid. Although Arcee is rescued by Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, they are too late to save Tailgate. At least some battles take place off Cybertron with the Wreckers having an adventure on Sandokan.
As the war continues, the Autobots are gradually outnumbered and outgunned. Optimus Prime makes the painful decision to eject the AllSpark from Cybertron, so that Megatron cannot create more Transformers. In the ensuing battle, the Allspark is fired into deep space from Tyger Pax. The Autobots also decide to eject the data cylinders from Cybertron to prevent Decepticons from using the vital knowledge within. With the Allspark gone, the Decepticons focus their attention on Iacon, one of the last regions still under Autobot control.
At some unspecified time, Primus warned Windblade of a rising evil, and sent her to Earth after modifying her body and enhancing her sensors.
Seeking a new edge in the war, Megatron storms Trypticon Station and wrests control of it from Starscream, empowering himself and other Decepticons with the Dark Energon stored there. As part of their next strike, the Decepticon-allied Seekers travel deep underneath Cybertron in search of the long-abandoned Geosynchronous Energon Bridge beneath the ruins of Crystal City, which will allow the manufacture of new Dark Energon for the Decepticons' use.
Megatron leads a group of Decepticons into Iacon, to find a means of travelling to the very core of Cybertron to spread the Dark Energon. Though Sentinel Prime attempts to stand in his way, he is soon defeated by the vengeful Decepticon—but unbeknownst to Megatron, Omega Supreme is reactivated due to these events, and is intent on stopping the Decepticons. The Decepticon forces manage to cripple the Guardian's alternate mode, and Megatron and his troops soon defeat him on ground level. Because of this, the Decepticon leader manages to reach Cybertron's core and corrupt it with Dark Energon—a critical blow against the Autobots.
The Autobots, however, are not yet defeated, and muster a counter-attack to rout the remaining Decepticons from Iacon. Sentinel, now imprisoned in Kaon, is able to send a transmission, and a small group of Autobots, lead by Optimus, soon launch an incursion into the prison to recover him. However, the former Prime perishes just as he has been rescued. The Autobots return the body to Iacon, and Optimus officially comes to accept that he is a Prime and must take up his role as leader. From then on, he fully becomes known as Optimus Prime, the last of the Primes. Optimus's first task as true Prime is to cleanse the infected core. Heading down through Cybertron's inner layers, Optimus finds much of the planet is thoroughly infected by Dark Energon. The core tells Prime that Cybertron is so greatly corrupted that it will take millions of years of shutdown in order to undo the grievous damage done by Megatron's Dark Energon. Optimus is given the Matrix of Leadership by the Core, a fragment of Prima's powerful sword that contains a portion of Cybertron's spark.
With the core's shutdown, Windblade is left in stasis on Earth.
Great Exodus
As soon as Prime reaches the surface, he orders that an exodus from Cybertron will take place immediately. Preparations are made to flee the planet, but many of the escaping galactic transports are shot down by Trypticon Station before they can leave Cybertron's orbit. Trypticon itself comes to life, thanks to multiple sparks implanted by Shockwave, and Optimus Prime leads his forces in a battle to knock it out of orbit. The ensuing battle results in Trypticon hurtling towards Cybertron's surface. However, Trypticon is not killed, and it transforms into its robot form. After another battle with it, Optimus and his forces regroup at the site of the Ark, a deep-space interceptor and the flagship of the makeshift Autobot fleet.
With the Decepticons in control of most of Cybertron, the remaining Autobots begin fuelling the ship with scavenged Energon. Both factions develop an interest in the ancient, powerful artifact known as the Dark Spark, and the Decepticons manage to locate and open the vault below Crystal City that contains it. Shockwave makes contact with the Insecticons, subterranean creatures that have been driven to the surface after Cybertron's core shut down. The Decepticon scientist manages to form an alliance with these creatures, and their sentient representatives- Kickback, Hardshell, and Sharpshot- join the Decepticons, pledging the support of their numerous feral brethren.
However, the Decepticons and Insecticons are tailed by the Autobots, and a running battle ensues, with both groups trying to return the artifact to their respective strongholds. Eventually, the Decepticons succeed in bringing the Dark Spark to Megatron at Kolkular, where he places the artifact in his chest in imitation of the Matrix of Leadership. Optimus Prime arrives to confront the Decepticon leader, but is set upon by a horde of undead Autobots reanimated by the Dark Spark's power. The Autobot leader overcomes these corrupted foes and engages Megatron, and the two combatants unleash the powers of the artifacts in their chests. The power of the Matrix of Leadership wins out, violently ejecting the Dark Spark from the Decepticon leader and into space. With the artifact no longer a threat, Optimus orders the Autobots to fall back to Iacon and the Ark.
While most of the Autobots ready the Ark for liftoff, the Lightning Strike Coalition warrior Swoop discovers a massive reserve of untainted Energon in the Sea of Rust. He tries to contact Grimlock and the other Autobots, but is captured by Shockwave before he can reveal the nature of his discovery. Grimlock and the rest of his squadron disobey Prime's orders and hijack an Autobot dropship to rescue him. Grimlock, Snarl, Slug, and Sludge reach the outskirts of Shockwave's tower, but are overwhelmed by Shockwave's Insecticons and taken captive by Shockwave, who has plans for the quintet of warriors. Inspired by alien lifeforms he has viewed with ancient Space Bridge technology, he begins experimenting on them.
Shockwave uses the critically injured Sludge as a test run, successfully rebuilding his alternate mode into a sauropod dinosaur, before ordering Kickback to dump his body in the tunnels underneath the Rust Sea. Shockwave rebuilds the rest into powerful berserkers with saurian alternate modes and imprisons them in his tower, intending to use them as his own personal warriors.
With Grimlock missing in action, Optimus leads his warriors to buy time for the Autobots to shut down Iacon and launch the Ark. Optimus discovers the existence of Metroplex, an enormous Autobot incorporated into Iacon's structure who has lain dormant for millions of years. Optimus and Metroplex team up to help fight the Decepticons, and despite suffering numerous injuries Metroplex manages to deal a lethal blow to Megatron, grievously injuring him. However, the attack depletes all of the Autobot's remaining supplies of energon. With Megatron out of commission, Starscream takes advantage of the situation and declares himself the new leader of the Decepticons.
Jazz and Cliffjumper go searching for Grimlock and his forces in the Sea of Rust, where they find Shockwave's tower, Sludge's body in stasis lock and the uncorrupted Energon Swoop had discovered earlier. However, on Starscream's orders, the Combaticons attack the Autobot convoy, then combine into Bruticus and crash the transport, recovering half of the Energon. Starscream is unimpressed with their performance and orders their imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Soundwave has recovered Megatron's remains and rebuilds his body, using an infusion of Dark Energon to revive him. Megatron confronts Starscream and resumes control of the Decepticons. Seeking use of Trypticon, Megatron heads for his location in Iacon and successfully scavenges many of his components.
In Shockwave's lab, a disgraced Starscream discovers Grimlock, who he attempts to recruit to his cause. Grimlock throws Starscream into the wall and escapes. As he fights his way through Shockwave's cadre of Decepticons and Insecticons, Grimlock reunites with the surviving members of the Lightning Strike Coalition, although he believes Sludge is dead. Now operating as the "Dinobots", Grimlock confronts Shockwave and destroys his space bridge. Both are caught in the ensuing explosion.
Metroplex sacrifices his life to ensure that the Ark can launch. Optimus and many of the Autobots escape aboard the Ark. They are pursued, however, by Megatron aboard Trypticon, now a spacecraft dubbed the Nemesis. The two vehicles and their respective crews battle as they race for the space bridge above the planet, which explodes, scattering the two vessels across the galaxy
After the Great Exodus
Grimlock, having fallen to the ground from the collapsing space bridge tower, is found by his Dinobot comrades. Four cycles after the launch of the Ark, an Autobot cleanup crew discovers Sludge's abandoned body and manage to bring him back online.
Sludge, Grimlock, and the other Dinobots all join up with Ultra Magnus's Wreckers, and together they continue to fight against Shockwave's forces for control of Cybertron, even as the planet commences its shutdown sequence.
The Space Bridge detonation takes the Ark and Nemesis to the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy, where Optimus detects a faint signal left behind by the Allspark's passage. Prime and his crew are guided by the Matrix to nearby Velocitron, teetering on the brink of civil war. However, Makeshift, having infiltrated the crew, manages to provoke enough civil unrest among the Velocitronians that Ransack and his group of political malcontents attack Override, sparking a civil war. The Autobots manage to escape through a space bridge, Optimus having recovered two pieces of the Blades of Time on Velocitron's surface, though he mistakenly believes they are pieces of the Star Saber. The Autobots next travel to Junkion, where they befriend the native Junkions and begin repairs on the Ark. However, Makeshift once again sabotages the repair effort, but is caught.
Meanwhile, Alpha Trion is put under house arrest by Shockwave, but manages to send the Autobot Chaindrive to Optimus with another piece of the Blades of Time. Armed with a hazy knowledge of the future from the Covenant of Primus that Optimus Prime would eventually end up on Earth, Alpha Trion launches Cybertronian relics located within the Iacon Hall of Records to Earth, not to keep them from the Decepticons, but to ensure that Optimus would eventually find them. Smokescreen, having ended up on security detail for Alpha Trion, is taken by Decepticon forces during their attacking the Hall of Records, but not before Alpha Trion secretly manages to hide one of the relics within the young Autobot.
The Nemesis, following the trail of the Ark, lands on Velocitron and later Junkion. Axer, an ex-Decepticon, recovers the Requiem Blaster from the core of Junkion, causing the demi-planet to tear apart. Prime, meanwhile, manages to contact Vector Prime in his pocket dimension, who also helps to reunite five bots the Autobots have met (Chaindrive among them) into Nexus Prime. A climatic battle takes place on Junkion, with the Autobots triumphant and the Blaster destroyed. However, the Junkions themselves are enslaved by space-pirate expatriate Transformers called the Star Seekers and taken to places unknown.
With Autobot control over the planet steadily weakening, Shockwave and the remaining Decepticons take control of Iacon, forcing the Wreckers to retreat to Cybertron's comparatively barren polar regions to launch hit-and-run attacks on Decepticon convoys.
Shockwave builds his newest tower in the center of Iacon and continues his experiments, studying the effects of Dark Energon on the city's beleaguered inhabitants. He eventually kidnaps Alpha Trion and tries to use him to access Vector Sigma to forge a Decepticon Matrix that will further enhance his control over Cybertron. The Wreckers team up with Omega Supreme to launch a rescue mission.
Simultaneously, out in space, Optimus Prime and company discover the seemingly utopic world of Aquatron, inhabited by friendly amphibious robots. In reality, the Aquatronians are subjugated servants of the Quintessons, and their leader Inquirata manipulates both Optimus Prime and Shockwave to further his own ends. The Nemesis arrives not long afterwards, following a skirmish with Thundertron, but the two sides are forced into a temporary truce by the Quintessons. When the Quintessons reveal their true colours, Optimus Prime and Megatron are forced to work together to escape from the Quintesson's twisted courtrooms Thanks to Shockwave's experiments with Dark Energon on Vector Sigma, the Quintessons are able to launch a second invasion of Cybertron using their Sharkticon shock troops. Although the Wreckers manage to save Alpha Trion, they are too late to stop the invasion. General Tyrannicon storms Iacon, takes down both Omega Supreme and Devastator, and allies with Senator Ratbat to gain access to the Hall of Records. The invasion is only stopped when Megatron, still on Aquatron, discovers the Sharkticon Matrix of Leadership and uses it to override Tyrannicon's command over his troops. The Wreckers manage to keep the Hall of Records in Cybertronian hands while Rack n' Ruin splits off from the group and rigs Shockwave's tower to explode. In the ensuing fight underneath Aquatron, Tyrannicon and Inquirata are killed, while Optimus and Megatron barely manage to escape the detonation of the Space Bridge. The two factions depart the now-freed Aquatron while Optimus continues his search for the Allspark.
Cybertron's conditions continue to deteriorate, and eventually Ultra Magnus puts out the call for the final Autobot evacuation of the planet. A convoy of ships escapes, but Magnus's personal craft is shot down, and the Wrecker leader is captured by the Forged, a faction of ex-Decepticons serving under Shockwave. The Dinobots mount a rescue mission to a Forged prison in the Sea of Rust, where they find not only Magnus, but scores of other Autobot prisoners. They stage a prison break, but are confronted by the leader of the group, Ser-Ket, who has been altered with Predacon CNA in much the same way that they were altered with dinosaur DNA. Grimlock is able to defeat her in battle, but Shockwave arrives soon afterwards, and Magnus and the Dinobots are recaptured.
The Decepticon scientist attempts to complete his work on Grimlock and erase the Dinobot's free will, but his teammates and Ultra Magnus are able to escape their cell in time to intervene, violently decapitating Shockwave. However, a hologram message reveals that Shockwave is in fact alive and well, and what the Dinobots just killed was merely a remote avatar. With the immediate threat passed, Magnus sets off to join the leaving fleet, whilst the Dinobots resolve to remain on Cybertron, seeking to hunt down their nemesis Shockwave and help the few Autobots that remain.
Eventually, energon shortages force Cybertron's remaining population into the tunnels under the surface, where they scavenge fuel from underground deposits and by hunting the planet's subterranean fauna. Survivors group together to establish underground cities, one of which is led by "king" Grimlock, and the surface is left desolate and ruined.
Across the galaxy, the Great War continues on other planets. A battle sees the Decepticon Deadlock nearly destroyed before he is taken in by the Circle of Light and taught the ways of the warrior and blade. Retaking his original name, Drift abandons the Decepticon cause and defects.
Another alien world to see combat is the planet Earth, which is seeded with energon by Cybertronians. During Earth's Stone Age, a group of Autobots rescues a tribe of primitive humans from a meteor shower. Among the Decepticon combatants are a group of genetically engineered Predacons created by Shockwave. Their presence inspires the human legends of dragons, although they eventually die, leaving behind remains. Other Decepticons include Skyquake, dispatched to Earth to guard its energon resources. At some point, a group of Autobots visits ancient Greece, where they leave behind an Energon Harvester. The Cybertronians on Earth eventually leave, die, or enter stasis lock, leaving Earth abandoned... for the time being.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:01, Wed 27 Sept 2023.