At the beginning of time, there was the thirteen: Prima, Vector, Alpha Trion, Nexus, Solus, Megatronus, Alchemist, Maxara, Amalgamous, Elixus, Azare, Unixa, and Ixonus, all of which were Primes, created by the great Primus. Together, they built civilizations on the planet of Cybertron, our home, through the use of the Allspark, an object of immense power that they used to create their descendants. However, there was one Prime, Megatronus, who had become corrupted by Primus' greatest enemy, Unicron.
Megatronus Prime had become infused with the dark power that was bestowed to him by Unicron. With it, he marched his army across the surface of Cybertron, killing any that refused his will. The other twelve Primes united together and fought back against their tainted brother. The ignited war would last for almost a hundred years, with the Allspark being destroyed, almost bringing the near extinction of our entire race. By the end, only Alpha Trion was left to fight the fallen Prime; with all his strength, he defeated Megatronus in a final dual, but was severely injured. Defeated, Megatronus would vanish into exile, while Unicron had escaped into unknown space.
Knowing that our race would die off, Alpha Trion built a new Allspark forged from the remnants of the original with the guidance of Primus, and used it to recreate life on our world. Before his life ended, he combined the sparks of all his fallen brethren and sisters and created the Matrix of Leadership, which he then passed down to his successor, Alpha Prime. He would then vanish from the optics of all cybertronians, never to be seen again. This is what has been told in ancient texts for thousands of years. I am Optimus Prime, and I put these words down to begin my story.
PROLOUGUE
1118 HOURS, FEBRUARY 17, 2018 (EARTH MILITARY CALENDAR) / IN NEW YORK CITY, CENTRAL PARK, PLANET EARTH
People began to surround it, both military and civilians. It was a large spaceship that crashed straight into Harlem Meer, narrowly avoiding the tall skyscrapers that surrounded the park. No one was sure whether to be filled with fear or amazement, as it laid in the water all cooled down. Corporal Jonathan Witwicky was shocked by its appearance as he looked out the door of the Military helicopter he was riding in. The ship was dark black with a shade of purple streaking across its hull. It had a five-pointed near star shape: a head section and four "legs." It also had a silver-colored symbol on the front of it that was shaped as an angular face with four points on the top of its head. Jonathan was unsure if this was alien, or just some government experiment gone wrong. He didn't want to think about it; all he needed to do was focus on his team's mission. He took his attention off the crashed ship and redirected it back to Sergeant Fraitz, who was re-stating their objective to make sure everyone understood what they were supposed to do.
"The army and the city's police department have already created a perimeter around the UFO," Fraitz stated. "Once we land, we're going to find a way inside that ship and survey the inside."
"What if we can't find a way inside that thing, sir?" Corporal Tachman, another Marine onboard the helicopter, asked with a sense of humor.
"Then we're gonna blow a giant hole into that thing and make an entrance," Jonathan replied with enthusiasm.
"Oorah!" A trigger-happy Marine Private complied.
"Ten seconds until we land, Sergeant," One of the pilots shouted.
"All right, lock and load, Marines," Fraitz ordered as he turned off the safety of his assault rifle.
The helicopter's door opened just before it touched the ground. The Marine team stood up from their seats with their guns ready. Jonathan felt stress in his fast-beating heart; in his mind, he was praying that the ship wasn't harboring something that would kill them all.
"Marines, move out!" Fraitz ordered.
The fifteen-man Marine team began stepping out of the helicopter, with Jonathan being the last one out. He looked around, seeing the huge crowds of people swarming around the police barrier. Several M1 Abrams tanks and Humvees were set up around the perimeter, with their guns aimed straight at the ship in case it was identified as a threat.
"Jonathan, come on; let's get a move on!" Sergeant Fraitz shouted, snapping Witwicky out of his distracted focus.
The team walked towards the edge of the lake, which was now mostly evaporated and extremely shallow due to the extreme heat that radiated from the object's outer surface. Corporal Tachman took the first step in the few centimeters of boiling water that was still left. Slowly and cautiously, the team followed, keeping their eyes focused directly on the vessel.
"Should we really be getting near this thing, sir?" a fellow Marine asked Fraitz. "I mean, couldn't it be radiated or something? It came through the atmosphere after all."
"The boys in coats said its radiation levels are too low to harm us, but they're not sure why," the sergeant replied.
"Guess we're about to find out," Jonathan added.
The team stopped right at the back of the colossal machine; they were like the size of bugs compared to it.
"Spread out and look for a way in," Fraitz ordered.
The Marines began separating, searching all around the object for a way inside. Jonathan got a closer look at its wall; he didn't see any sort of mechanism that could get this open. It seemed that this thing was completely sealed; frantically the team searched, but no way in could be found. There wasn't even any physical damage on the object. Jonathan remained persistent though, re-tracing the area he just searched, making complete that there wasn't anything missed. Just then he thought he heard a thump-like noise. He pressed his ear up against the strange metal wall to hear if something was moving inside; he heard a few more thumps coming from the object.
"Sir!" he shouted. "I think you'll want to hear this."
"What is it?" Fraitz asked as he went over to Jonathan's position.
"There's a sound coming from inside this thing."
Fraitz put his ear up against the object, listening thoroughly to see if he could hear what Jonathan was hearing. Soon he began to hear the same thumping noise, and also noticed ripples in the water coming from the vibrations of whatever was moving inside. Soon, the rest of the team began hearing the same sound.
"What the heck is that?" Tachman asked.
The noise became louder and louder, with the vibrations becoming more noticeable. The sound was at its loudest when all of a sudden, it went silent.
"It stopped," Fraitz said with a tone of curiosity and wonder.
Suddenly, a large jolt of blue lighting ran through the entire ship's hull, emitting from the back part of it. The Marines reacted by pulled back a few yards cautiously as the rear section of the ship began folding inward, revealing its interior, which was filled with freezing vapors. Everyone looked inside to see what would emerge from the fog. Jonathan then saw what appeared to be six figures in the haze, all of them humanoid, but massive in size, and with some having strange body proportions.
Abruptly, the first the one arose out of the vapors, revealing itself as a dark gray mechanical behemoth with dark purple stripes across its shoulders. The giant's appearance reminded Jonathan a little bit about a human skeleton's structure. Its menacing red eyes scanned the area, seeing the frightened crowds and the Marine team that stood in front of it.
"Insects of this planet!" the behemoth shouted as it stepped forward and transformed its hand into what appeared to be cannon. "Die!"
The behemoth then fired its weapon, releasing an orange ball of energy towards the crowd; it arched through the air before impacting with a tank, causing a large explosion that killed several people. The crowds of pedestrians began to frantically scatter away from the area as the five other figures emerged and began firing their weapons at the police and military.
"Return fire!" Fraitz ordered as he shot his assault rifle at the behemoths.
Jonathan and the rest of the team began firing their weapons just as the military forces behind them did the same. Bullets just seemed to bounce of the mechanical beings, while tank shells at least seemed to bruise them. One of the machines then turned its attention towards Fraitz's team, and fired its triple-burst weapon at them. The energy bolts instantly vaporized six of Fraitz men.
"Pull back!" Fraitz shouted. "Get to the barricade!"
The behemoths began marching forward, firing their energy weapons at the military forces. One of the giants started charging towards Fraitz's team as they retreated.
"That thing's gonna kill us!" Tachman yelled.
"Just keep moving!" Jonathan replied.
The giant was stopped by the combined fire of several tanks, forcing it down on the ground, allowing Fraitz and his men to reach the barricade. They got over the sandbags just as the machine got back on its feet; it roared out in anger before it destroyed two Humvees with its cannon.
"Concentrate all fire on that one up front!" Fraitz shouted out.
All of the tanks, Humvees, Marines, and policemen fired at the machine, ripping it apart after several barrages. The first one was destroyed, but five still remained, destroying several more vehicles with their weapons. Jonathan then saw more mechanical figures emerging from the ship, but they were closer to human size; soon, nearly a hundred appeared, joining in the attack.
"What are these things?" a policeman yelled.
"Doesn't matter; just keep shooting!" Jonathan replied.
The Corporal reloaded his rifle and aimed down its scope; he saw the smaller machines running towards the barricade, and fired. The bullets hit the smaller machines, penetrating their armor and killing them. The mechanical force was too much though; they were killing everything they saw. The military force was dwindling as the machines continued their rampage. Military helicopters arrived but were shot down almost immediately; it was hopeless.
"Everyone, retreat!" The commanding officer ordered.
Fraitz's team began retreating as explosions went off all around them. People started abandoning their vehicles, leaving them behind just to escape while the machines marched over the barricades. New York had been invaded.
Megatron surveyed the destruction of the area that his forces just caused; it was all glorious. He enjoyed watching the pathetic creatures run away as if they would be able to escape his wrath. Their doom would only be inevitable, but Megatron had always enjoyed having a bit of sport.
"Decepticons!" he yelled. "Rally up!"
The remaining four of his troops, Starscream, Brawl, Blackout, and Overshock, made their way back to their leader, while the miniature Protocons secured the area.
"These beings fall prey to your will, my liege," Starscream said, acting like his usually, pathetic self.
"I do not care to hear compliments from the likes of you, you servant," Megatron replied with disgust.
Megatron always did view Starscream as an incompetent scheming wretch, and nothing would ever change that.
"By the end of this planet's day, I want this city within our grasp," Megatron continued. "Spread out and kill every insect you find. Show no mercy."
"Yes, Lord Megatron," the group complied in unison.
"Then move!"
The four Decepticons separated, heading out to find and hunt down every creature they could find. Before Brawl left, though, he took an interest in one of the vehicles the aliens fought with and abandoned. He scanned its appearance and adapted his exterior plating to fit with its design, before going off to fight. Megatron walked over to see the lifeless husk that was Destron; he was unworthy to bear the title of Decepticon for dying so easily via the insects' weapons.
Megatron then extended his mace from his right arm and used it to smash Destron's face. Failure was not an option. Nothing was going stop him from finding the Antispark, not even these useless excuses for soldiers. He then turned around to see the large ship that he and his team had arrived on.
"Devastator!" he shouted. "Transform!"
Slowly, the ship began extending and rescinding parts of itself, steadily reformatting into a gigantic, four-legged, hulking beast. The colossal monster turned around, shaking the ground every time it took a step and faced its master, before letting out an ear shattering roar.