a/n: So, since I was having trouble working out how to do the crossover part of "Transformers Autodrive" I figured I'd do a prequel focused entirely on how the war on Cybertron started. Don't worry, this story will be focused entirely on the Transformers. Let us start with the beginning.
Prologue: Protomatter
Deep within the metal planet's surface, a sea of protomatter surged, flooding through the mechanical planet's pipelines. The protomatter consisted of countless nanobots, a slurry of mechanical sludge, each nanite holding a blueprint for a larger machine. However, within this sludge was a solid shape, writhing and struggling to break free from the flow. Its arms and legs banged against the edges of the pipe, punching and kicking at the walls of its prison, unable to scream for help. Eventually, however, the shape hit a weak-spot, and the flow diverted, spilling out into the cold air, and the protoform fell to the ground, shaking, shuddering, and holding itself.
"Where… Where am I?" it uttered in an electronic tone. It then became aware of the fact that more protomatter was spilling out of the pipes and slipping through the grated floor. The shape reached around, groped at the area around it until it grabbed ahold of something. The shape pulled itself off the floor. "I need… Energon…" The shape wasn't sure where it had heard the word, but it knew it needed this "Energon" to survive. It limped away from the burst, not noticing that the pipe had already begun to seal itself behind it.
"What in Primus' name is going on here?" a voice shouted, and the shape lost its footing. "You there! Did you cause this protomatter breach?" The shape turned to face the newcomer, and raised a hand to guard its optic sensors from the bright light. "Merciful Solus, how did a fr-" the worker muted himself, "How did a Protoform get down here?"
"Proto, Form?" the shape asked as it lowered its hand. The shadowy figure knelt down, revealing him to primarily be red, with glowing blue optics on a silver face.
"You're still covered in loose protomatter," the figure replied, "How did you come online so far from the AllSpark Fountain?"
"Huh?" The figure offered a hand, and the "Protoform" hesitantly took it. The bulkier robot helped the featureless, slimmer machine to its feet.
"Look, I'll take you topside," the other robot replied, "We can figure out what to do with you there." The robot's parts then loosened up, and shifted around, until a red vehicle was idling before her. The back of the vehicle opened up. "Get in," he ordered, "You can power down while I drive us up to the surface." The Protoform paused, then nervously climbed into the back of the vehicle, which closed behind it. It wasn't sure what had happened, it was still in a confined space, but at least it wasn't trapped in that terrible sludge anymore. With that thought, it closed its optics, and powered down.
a/n: Part of the reason I want to do this is that I want to do some world building for this universe, so I figured I'd start with Protoforms. In this universe, a Protoform is basically the Cybertronian equivalent to a child, hence why the other Transformer censored himself. That said, if it wasn't obvious, what just happened in this chapter wasn't normal. Regardless, in the next/first chapter, we're gonna see what happened to this Protoform.
