AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE
X: The War of the Gods (or That Light Little Skirmish We Had Before Tea And Scones): the gods (and there were billions of them) were deciding who would get to create the first race. There was a huge disagreement, and Primus and Unicron killed everyone.
10,000,000,000 BI: The Big Crunch (heat death of the old universe), followed by The Big Bang (birth of the new universe): The Remnants (demons; non-rational energy beings, left over from the old universe, surviving the Big Bang, and thus existing in and out of reality, defying the laws of physics).
Primus and Unicron forged Cybertron from a dead star. From the fabric of this world, they created the Thirteen:
Prima, the King;
Megatronus Prime, the Warlord;
Solus Prime, the Engineer (f);
Quintus Prime, the Enkindler;
Liege Maximo, the Liar;
Onyx Primal, the Beast;
Micronus Prime, the Smol (f);
Alchemist Prime, the Chemist;
Amalgamous Prime, the Trickster;
Nexus Prime, the Uniter;
Vector Prime, the Timekeeper (f);
Alpha Trion, the Scribe;
Mortilus Prime, the Reaper;
Affiliated with order: Prima, Solus, Micronus, Nexus, Vector, Alpha Trion. Affiliated with chaos: Megatronus, Quintus, Liege, Onix, Alchemist, Amalgamous. (Mortilus didn't give a crap).
The Thirteen created the space bridge network to unify the galaxy once life started to spread, and the vaults to preserve the devices they had created. They then realised that the space bridge network had been built, perhaps unconsciously, around breaches in the fabric of reality, from which poured the demons. So they attempted to fight them.
They succeeded, but realised it was only a temporary victory, and they didn't have the numbers to fight all the demons in the universe. So they returned to Cybertron, with their powers of great enormity, and spent quite some time deliberating what course of action to take. Eventually they realised their infernos (souls) were bright enough to create billions of mini-souls, so they devised a grand sacrifice: they divided the planet into thirteen sectors and divided their souls to bring life to billions of empty steam-powered shells they had crafted from the planet itself. They channelled the power of Primus and Unicron into the core of Cybertron, igniting the planet itself, so that it would eventually produce a limitless number of sparks. And thus the Cybertronians were born (except for Steve, fuck that guy).
Initially, Cybertron wasn't named thus, so Cybertronians called themselves the People. They were divided into thirteen tribes, each one convinced they were the only inhabitants of the world. (Northern hemisphere contained the order tribes, southern contained the chaos tribes, and the Legionnaires [Mortilus' tribe] hung out near the equator. Each tribe possessed an artefact from their creator.)
The Thirteen Artefacts (can only be used by a Prime):
Star Sabre (Prima): a huge fucking two-handed sword, glows blue when held by a Prime, physically able to cut through any material known to Cybertronians.
The Vorpal Sabre (Megatronus): basically the Star Sabre, but instead of cutting shiz, it absorbs energy and matter (basically a sword-shaped black hole).
The Forge of Solus Prime: a hammer and anvil, capable of creating any device imaginable.
The Chimera Stone (Quintus Prime): can trigger and manipulate evolutionary powers.
The Harp of Dischord (Liege Maximo): transmits knowledge of how to cyberform planets.
The Triple Mask (Onyx): allows you to see the past, present and future simultaneously.
The Unification Drive (Micronus): source of Minicon powers.
The Philosopher's Stone (Alchemist): transmutes inorganic matter.
The Cog of Infinity (Amalgamous): allows one to take on any form.
The Enigma of Combination (Nexus): combiner blueprints.
The Cyber Caliburn and the Map of Time (Vector): sword that cuts time, map that shows you all of time and space.
The Matrix (Mortilus).
9,000,000,000 BI: The First Unification: The first tribes to meet each other were Solus and Primus (the engineers and the imperials). They aligned, and created the Glorious United Army of Light.
The Great Expansion: The GUAL marched south to see what other tribes were out there. They almost immediately came into conflict with the Scribes, who disdained the Engineers for their "pointless practicality". The Scribes walled off their lands with their mystic arts (the tribes used to have non-rational energy powers [magic] left over from the transference of Primus and Unicron into the planet). The GUAL then entered into a protracted conflict (about a hundred years) with the nomadic Hunters (robot wolves), with the Hunter losing and being enslaved by the GUAL. (They were treated as beasts of burden, because other Cybertronians didn't recognise them as being sentient.)
The GUAL then encountered the tribe of Nexus, who were all mentally linked, and ruled over by five boss dudes who were the first combiners. The Nexus tribe surrendered, because the GUAL had greater numbers, and because the global water supply was running low (which was a problem because Cybertronians were still steam-powered at this stage). And so they were inducted into the GUAL.
Same thing basically happened with the Timekeepers and the Scribes, and so the GUAL grew to an army of 4,000,000,000 soldiers (including the enslaved Hunters). So they kept moving south, consolidating their control, fortifying everything they found, until they ran across the Legionnaires who were holding the borders. The Legionnaires refused the invitation to join the GUAL, as they wished to remain neutral in all conflicts. So the GUAL tried to invade, but were rebuffed by the Legionnaires' superior defensive tactics. They then started moving east, where they discovered the Minicons. These diminutive Cybertronians possessed a unique ability to enhance other Cybertronians by touch. The Minicons' allegiance was easily bought, and the army grew increasingly powerful.
After spreading further east, the GUAL found another junction. (By this time their numbers had thinned, as they had left various troops behind to consolidate their newly acquired territories.)The first of the southern tribes they encountered were the Silvertongues, who managed to enter into mercantile deals with the GUAL: in exchange for safe passage through Silvertongue territory, the GUAL gave them a generous supply of water.
After leaving Silvertongue territory, the GUAL encountered their most formidable opponents yet: the Shifters, who had the most advanced transformation cogs on the planet. The Shifters would infiltrate the GUAL and eliminate key leaders, tacticians, etc., and even free the occasional enslaved Hunter. They induced a state of infighting and distrust, which nearly ripped the GUAL apart. However, the GUAL eventually managed to find the leaders of the Shifters and hold them ransom in exchange for cessation of hostilities. The Shifters surrendered, and shortly after went into hiding.
The GUAL continued expanding south, but were locked into a stalemate with the other chaos tribes, who had banded together to fight back. Meanwhile, the Timekeepers and Scribes banded together to attack GUAL forces in the north. Cybertron then descended into a state of utter chaos.
Amid the constant warring, Cybertron began to run out of water, so Cybertronians had to upgrade to combustion power (which had the side effect of poisoning their planet's atmosphere, but hey, they didn't need to breathe).
8,999,990,000 BI: The Unification Wars: During the horrific conflicts that marred and marked the end of the Great Expansion, the first Prime rose from relative anonymity. Her original name was Arcus, and she was a Legionnaire. She claimed to hear the voices of Primus of Unicron, and echoes of the Thirteen. The GUAL disbelieved her, until she discovered (or was led to; the history is uncertain) the Matrix, which, once installed within her body, completely rebuilt her entire physical form. (She now looked like Saber.) She then took on the name of Arcus Prime, the greatest orator of all time.
After undergoing apotheosis, Arcus Prime united billions under her banner, and waged brutal war against the GUAL. Dividing and conquering being the strategy of the day, she split apart the GUAL, separating each tribe from their allies and recruiting from the defeated, promising them a better life in the new world. The Prime being entirely unheard of in her strategy and leadership tactics, she brought an end to the war in just 5,000 years.
8,999,985,000 BI: The First Golden Age of Cybertron: progression to nuclear power; the First Great Discovery (space flight).
8,998,985,000 BI: The Bestial Revolutions: Near the end of the Golden Age, the Hunters and Minicons were being increasingly marginalised, and treated as commodities rather than sentient beings. A leader of the Hunter tribe (Megatron) and his colleague in the Minicons (Leader 1) rose up and styled themselves as the first great revolutionaries. They discovered something that no Cybertronian had ever considered: the ability to change between forms at will. Megatron could transform from saurian to bipedal mech, and Leader 1 could transform into a military vehicle. Using this new-found power, Megatron stoked the flames of revolution within the Hunters, renaming them Predacons. The Minicons engaged in similar activities, the two factions feeding on the resentment that had built up in their ranks over millions of years of mistreatment. Megatron and Leader 1 promised equality for their followers, engaging in a guerilla campaign against their oppressors. The situation slowly escalated, with sympathisers from the other tribes joining the Predacon cause. (Non-Hunter supporters were known as Maximals.) The revolution began to tear Cybertronian society apart, until eventually Megatron was chosen by the Matrix to become Predacus Prime (whose beast form was a dragon). His first action was to declare Cybertronian trafficking illegal. He then executed the leaders of the tribes who had supported the oppressive regime. His reign, while not tyrannical, was far more brutal than that of Arcus Prime. However, during his reign, Cybertronians achieved the Second and Third Great Discoveries: transformation and energon, respectively. The final act of his primacy, before he relinquished his position, was to colonise the second world in the Cybertronian system, Velocitron.
8,998,735,000 BI: The First Colonisation: The Fourth Great Discovery (faster-than-light travel) allowed Cybertronians to colonise four more star systems (Solus, Megatronus, Quintus, Leige) within 500 years (Primus was the star orbited by Cybertron).
8,998,734,490: The Unification of Theology: A great theocrat known simply as the First began preaching the evils of free will, and so founded the Primalist religion. Claiming that his doctrine was divinely inspired (which was partially true), he claimed that all life's final purpose was to become part of a single unfeeling machine, dominated by the will of Primus. He demonised Unicron and the worship of Unicron, proclaiming that to do so was the ultimate sin. He decried the very idea of the Thirteen as mere fantasies concocted to control the early tribes. The almost immediate response: the nihilistic beliefs of the Devourists, who were led by a man known as the Divider. They claimed that the only purpose to life was to induce chaos and disorder in the world. A moderate group rose in response to both these extremes, known simply as the Inheritors, who held the belief that harmony between order and chaos was the only true way to live life. However, the Primalists had the greatest amount of support from the government and military, and for the next 4,000,000 years, Cybertron was governed by the brutal and xenophobic Primalists.
8,994,734,490 BI: The Primal Crusades: The intention of the Primal Crusades was to seek out other forms of life and convert them to Primalist beliefs—by force if necessary. This led to first contact with what was known at the time as the Galactic Council: a loosely affiliated mercantile group made up of representatives of various spacefaring species. When met with commands to convert to Primalism or die, the Council responded with scorn and derision. So the Primalists blew up every single diplomatic starship in the area, officially declaring war on the Council and their represented species. The war waged on for several thousand years, ending eventually with the defeat of the Primalists. They lost two star systems, they were annexed, their leader (Templar Prime) was publicly executed by the Galactic Council, and a cordon was set up around Cybertronian space, preventing any ships from coming in or out. Additionally, Cybertronians had to pay reparations to injured parties for the next millennium.
8,994,727,490 – 8,991,734,490 BI: The Age of Rust (Primalists are discredited. Inheritors become dominant.)
8,991,734,490 BI: The Fifth Great Discovery: Trigun Prime (the first Minicon Prime) discovered the space bridge network with the help of the Matrix. He went to the fringes of the Prima System and saw that one particular asteroid had never moved. So he "mined" the asteroid and chipped away the outer crust, revealing an almost perfectly shaped ring with a docking bay and gun turrets. After several failed attempts to access the relay, he managed to decode the access sequence to the network. This discovery led to the activation of every known bridge in space. So the Galactic Council lifted the embargo and gave back the Quintus and Liege Systems in exchange for access to the space bridge network (the Prime also insisted on a space bridge toll). Shortly after, the demons appeared, and nine billion years of war ensued.
0 AI: Imperial Genesis: The Sixth and Final Great Discovery: creation of sparks. This granted the Cybertronians a limitless military which enabled to rebuff the demons into dark space. The Galactic Council had long since been reduced to almost nothing by the demon onslaught. So the Cybertronians, overseen by Legate Prime, took advantage of the power vacuum and unified the galaxy under their imperial rule. Thus the Cybertronian Imperium was founded. (The Senate was formed in the Liege System, but eventually moved to Cybertron after the official construction of the Senatorial Tower on Cybertron. Their purpose was to relay the orders of the prime and govern individual systems, day to day operations, etc., so the Prime could take on more important duties.)
0 – 5,000,000,000 AI: The Great Expansion: The CI colonises worlds, does R&D, develops new technologies, expands and consolidates empire, makes alliances, etc. By the end of this epoch, the CI has control of six galaxies. At the very end of the expansion, the Cybertronians encounter a race called the Quintessons, who claimed to be the true creations of Quintus Prime. They turn out to be a race of slavers, merchants, and virulent anti-Cybertronians. The CI enters a cold war with the Quintesson Mercantile Guild, and Nova Prime is chosen by the Matrix for his intellect and drive to succeed.
5,000,000,000 – 8,000,000,000 AI: The Great Shutdown: Cybertronians close their borders and cease communication with the Quintessons. They focus on consolidating their territories and researching military tech. The Ark is discovered. Nova Prime commissions the construction of his official starship, Vicious Subjugation. Then the Quintessons breach Cybertronian borders using organic starships that are invisible to normal detection software. They initiate a number of sneak attacks that annex a great deal of territory before the Cybertronian military can formulate a tactical response.
8,000,000,000 – 9,000,000,000 AI: The Omega Genocide: Nova Prime initiates Executive Order 000, employing a biological weapon of his own design ("The Purifier") against the Quintessons. It alters their genetic sequence so that they cannot reproduce without killing both parties involved. The effects slowly spread, and then Nova Prime triggers the Purifier and the Quintessons die out overnight (except for thirteen scientists who were impotent). The Matrix responds to this abomination against nature by physically ripping itself out of Nova Prime's chest, shattering his mind and leaving him a twisted husk of his former self. The CI declares him the Forbidden Prime and strikes his name from every single record in the Imperium. He is exiled to a random world in Cybertronian space, and the Penitent Prime is chosen to succeed him.
9,000,000,000 – 9,002,000,000: The Second Golden Age: Under the rule of the Penitent Prime, art and culture flourishes, and the CI begins to make amends for Nova Prime's shenanigans. The Ark is fully active, and seen as the ultimate sign of imperial might. The Axalon, conversely, is the ultimate sign of imperial mercy. During the final stages of the golden age, a certain Cybertronian ore miner, whose original name remains lost to the mists of time, decides to take up the mantle of Megatron (which has not been used since Predacus Prime). He is a staunch Devourist, and creates his own Matrix by invoking the spirit of Unicron and tearing off a fragment of his essence, infusing it into dark energon, and placing it into his chest, creating a horrific beast who will forever remain in the nightmares of Cybertronians.
9,002,000,001 – 9,002,001,001: Rise of the Decepticons: Megatron, styling himself as a revolutionary of the Cybertronian people, leaves Cybertron and goes to the edges of the galaxy, where, using Cybertronian supremacist rhetoric (which has not been used since the Crusades), he exhorts his fellow Cybertronians to rise up and enforce Cybertronian superiority over all organic races that have polluted their empire. He gathers an inner circle of like-minded Cybertronians:
Shockwave, the scientist;
Black Shadow, the thug; loyalist
Thunderwing, the annihilator; loyalist
Soundwave, the voice of Megatron;
Six-Shot of the many forms; ninja-y
Onslaught, the tactician;
Scorponok, the fortifier; separate entity from Zarak
Thundertron, the disgraced one. Noble pirate rather than hating all Cybertronians.
Together, they found the Decepticon Separatist movement, and their actions eventually lead to the separation of three galaxies from Cybertronian Rule. (These become the Decepticon Expanse.)
In the year 9,002,001,001 AI: on Unification Day, the Decepticons cyberform all their planets, and in so doing, they slaughter every single organic being within the Decepticon Expanse that they can find, and they declare war on the Cybertronian Imperium.
9,002,001,001 – 10,000,000,000 AI: The Eternal War: The Penitent Prime steps down, and is replaced by Ironblood Prime, who is basically Olivier Armstrong. She changes the name of the Cybertronian Imperium to the Autobot Imperium (an Inheritor term for one who is free to make his own decisions / self-determining), and leads a brutal retaliation against the Decepticon Separatists. She goes a bit overboard and starts blowing up random planets, and is eventually killed by Megatron in the year 9,003,000,000. She is then replaced by Sentinel Prime, who has to use his diplomatic skillz to repair relations with Autobot allies. However, he is an incompetent tactician, which leads to a stalemate with the Decepticons after a thousand years of his reign.
In the year 9,003,001,000 AI, the Senate votes for the Bill of Military Reform, which allocates funds from the military to the Senate. Supposedly this is to move the focus from research to production, but is actually just to give the Senators more money. This widens the gap between the Warborn and Peaceborn Autobots. (The Warborn are now forced to focus on quantity over quality.) Peaceborn become more and more prejudiced towards Warborn.