The planet Cybertron was unusual, in that it was composed almost entirely of metal. It was very large as well, a diameter of 52,000 kilometres across, making it one of the biggest planets in its particular solar system. It was also quite old, having been formed around 4.4 billion years ago.

The sentient life-forms on the planet Cybertron, the Cybertronians, were also metallic, and possessed the ability to change their form from their primary form to an alternate mode, which in most cases was a transportation vehicle. Created by the Well, which housed the AllSpark, newly created Cybertronians, or Sparklings, were then assigned their particular alternate form before being sorted into a particular caste and Family. There were dozens of castes on Cybertron, each fulfilling a particular role in society.


For the past nine million solar cycles, Cybertronian society had been divided into castes, and very few Cybertronians remembered what it was like before the castes, partly because only two or three of them had been born before the castes. But there was a time before the castes, when Cybertron was the hub of a great economic and political empire, stretching across the galaxy. That was the time of the Golden Age, when all of the planet's citizens prospered and were free to choose their own role in life. A true democracy flourished on Cybertron.

During this time, the great writer and statesman Alpha Trion served on the Cybertronian High Parliament for many thousands of solar cycles, first as Chief Minister for Justice and the Law, then as Chief Minister for the Arts and Culture, both of them being part of the Lower House, the Federal Council, before serving in the Upper House, the Senate. After the caste system was put into place, he left the public gaze. Nobody asked where he went. Nobody cared.

The planet was divided, politically and socially, into city-states. The most powerful city-states were Iacon, Kaon, Crystal City and Polyhex. Vos and Tarn were equally important, but held less power. The governors of the city-states were called magistrates, and the politicians who stood in High Government for their city-states were Representatives.

The Houses that formed the Cybertronian High Parliament were headed by two different politicians. The Chief Senator was in charge of keeping order in the Senate, scheduling meetings of the Senate and announcing the results of a vote in the Senate when a bill was introduced. The Consul was the Chief Senator's equivalent in the Federal Council, but he also had the duty of opening Parliament.


The Head of the Cybertronian High Government was the Prime, who was also Head of State. The first Thirteen Cybertronians were each named as Primes, but had quickly descended into war when Solus Prime, the first female of their kind, was killed by Megatronus Prime, who became known as The Fallen. Only three Primes survived the war: Alpha Trion, who hid this fact about himself. Megatronus Prime himself, who was quickly placed into a prison so secure nothing could get in or out as punishment for his crimes. Finally there was Prima, the youngest and strongest of the Primes.

Prima, before his death five million solar cycles later, told the people of Cybertron he had sworn to lead and govern with righteousness after the War of the Primes, that the Matrix of Leadership, a powerful artefact which somehow possessed the ability to enhance the bearer's physical attributes and hold the knowledge of all that had previously worn it, and hold copies of their consciousness, would be used to choose all Primes from there forth.

However, only a direct descendant of Prima, and as a result, the Thirteen Primes, could fully use the entirety of the Matrix's power. This did not matter, as the Matrix always chose those who possessed the highest virtues and greatest respect for life to be Prime. That was how it went for the next six million solar cycles. In that time, the Golden Age took place, and many explorers left the planet and founded Transformer colonies on different planets.


Then, the invasion happened.

The Quintessons, five-faced tentacle creatures of great intelligence and power, sought to invade Cybertron and control it as part of their Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere, which was merely a cover name for their oppressive empire. The invasion and subsequent siege lasted for two hundred and fifty thousand solar cycles and led to much devastation on the Cybertronian side, the Matrix of Leadership going missing in the Battle of Kaon City.

The siege resulted in a victory for the Cybertronians, but much destruction and breakdown in social order, along with the end of the Great Cybertronian Empire. As a result, the surviving Senators and Councillors met with the surviving military generals at the Styx Base to draw up plans to bring about social order: The caste system.

For nine million solar cycles, Cybertronian society was divided by the castes. Inter-caste marriage had to be approved by the magistrates, and could only be to a member of a caste of equal standing. The Primes were no longer chosen by the Matrix, but by both the Councillors and the Senators. In time, government became corrupt, and many low-caste Cybertronians dwelled in poverty.

But all that was about to change.