Chapter 17
Events from 1986 to present (alternate timeline):
The year 1986: After the disappearance of the time-traveler Hotrod things seemingly return to going on like they had before.
The war between the Autobots and the Decepticons continues.
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October 1886: The Decepticons are successful in understanding and replicating the time-travel technology they had gotten from the Autobot Hotrod.
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December 1986: The Autobot resistance on Cybertron is able to establish contact with the Autobots on Earth.
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The year 1987:
January 1987: The Decepticon leader Megatron conceives a secret plan to create a improved and larger version of the time-travel device they had acquired from the time-traveling Autobot.
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March 1987: The Decepticons begin with the construction of the pyramid at a secret location.
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May 1987: Under the leadership of Ultra Magnus the Autobots on Cybertron starts a organized counter-strike against the Decepticon rule under the code-name "operation volcano".
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June 1987: During the progress of "operation volcano" the Autobots retake control of Iacon and a couple of other sectors on their home-planet.
Starscream blames the success of the campaign on Megatron spending time and resources on his "pyramid project". (In the "normal" timeline the Decepticons found out about this campaign early and it was crumbled before it even started.)
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July 1987: The mysterious Transformer named Galvatron, along with his lieutenants Cyclonus and Scourge, appears on Earth and tries to wrestle control of the Decepticons from Megatron.
Optimus recognize them as the group of Decepticons he and Ultra Magnus had encountered 9 million years ago.
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August 1987: Galvatron has gathered a group of followers and is successful in staging a coup against Megatron.
After a number of devastating defeats for the Autobots it becomes clear very quickly that Galvatron is more powerful and dangerous than Megatron ever was.
The Autobots Ultra Magnus, Kup, Hotrod and Blurr arrive on Earth and join the local Autobots in the fight against Galvatron.
Optimus is introduced to Hotrod in their "first" meeting.
During a confrontation with Ultra Magnus Galvatron reveals to him that, like the time-traveling Autobot, he is from the future and came to the past to prepare the Transformers for a coming threat.
Comment: It is unsure how much of Galvatron´s claims to have an benevolent motive can be believed. What however is to be mentioned is that in retro-perspective Galvatron and his followers didn´t cause as much damage to the Autobot troops as they, with their strength and fire-power, could have.
If they just wanted to preserve their own time-line, if they thought the Autobots could be useful assets against the coming threat or if they had completely different reasons to hold back is unclear.
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September 1987: The imprisoned Megatron is able to break out with the help of a few loyal Decepticons and Starscream. He agrees to a temporally alliance with the Autobots.
Comment: It is well known that Starscream has no loyalty for Megatron. But he probably backed him up because he thought he would be more easy to overthrow later than the nearly invincible Galvatron.
In a long and hard fight the allied forces are able to defeat Galvatron and reinstall Megatron as the Decepticon leader.
Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge disappear. It is thought that they returned to their own time.
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October 1887: After retaking his position as Decepticon leader Megatron starts a offensive to bring Iacon back under Decepticon control.
During the following events Optimus Prime took personally command of the Autobot forces on Cybertron.
The "Second Battle of Iacon", as it became known, was been waging for entire days. In the end the Decepticons failed to reconquer the city and the Autobots were able to defend their ancient capital. But it was on the price of heavy losses on both sides, hundreds of Autobots and Decepticons were killed, a great part of the Iacon sector was devastated.
The ultimate outcome of the battle was that the Autobots were able to corroborate their hold over the Iacon sector and their presence on Cybertron.
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The year 1989:
April 1989: The construction of the new Earth-base of the Autobots is beginning, the code-name of the project is "Autobot city".
Like the name suggests, it will be a large and transformable city complex, a permanent home for the Autobots on Earth and both military and technological, a great improvement over the crash-landed Arc.
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May 1989: After the loss of another two sectors of Cybertron to the Autobots, the moral in the Decepticon army is badly damaged.
Starscream sees his chance and is starting a rebellion. He declares openly that Megatron´s waste of resources for the construction of his new time-machine is responsible for the losses and challenges Megatron for leadership.
While most of the Earth bound Decepticons were not particular impressed, they just knew him too well, some of the ones from Cybertron were more open to his suggestions.
A group of cybertronian Decepticons, dissatisfied with the situation, comes to Earth and joins Starscream´s rebellion.
The Decepticons split up, with Megatron, Soundwave, the most of the seekers, Reflector, the Stunticons and the Combaticons at the one side
and Starscream, the triple-changers, the Insecticons, the Seacons, Darkwing, Dreadwind and others on the other.
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June 1989: Open war breaks out between the two Decepticon factions on Earth.
The fighting very quickly becomes a threat to the human population. While Optimus claims that the "internal struggles" of the Decepticons are not the Autobot´s business, the protection of the humans is.
So the Autobots, besides engaging Decepticons of both sides on a daily basis, try everything to keep the confrontations in check and keep the Decepticons away from larger population centers.
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Juli 1989: The construction of Autobot city is nearly complete. Before it can get active however the Decepticon faction under Megatron begin an attack to destroy the base before it becomes a threat to them.
The Autobots win the initial battle and are able to save the city, but only at the price of high causalities and the loss of many warriors.
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August 1989: The Decepticon civil war is decided in one last battle. Megatron turns out to be the winner and prevails as Decepticon leader.
Starscream flees from Earth and goes into exile.
Despite the Autobots best efforts human towns and facilities were often harmed during the Decepticon´s power struggle. Damage was wide-spread, but without the influence of the Autobots it would have been worse.
Comment: During all this, a special assigned group of Decepticons continued in secret the construction of the machine that would be known as the pyramid.
This however wasn´t known to the Autobots until years later.
Comment: Starscream´s original justification for his latest rebellion was that Megatron´s obsession with the time-travel technology and his waste of resources were weakening the Decepticons.
Despite the obvious level of truth in this reasoning the civil war started by him only resulted in damaging them even further and lessening their stand in comparison with the Autobots.
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The year 1992:
The fighting on Cybertron comes to an standstill, with the Autobots owning 30 % of the planet and the Decepticons 70.
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The year 2005:
May 2005: The chaos bringer Unicron has finally found the sector of Cybertron´s location and is preparing his attack.
As his messengers he chose a abandoned long-range patrol of Decepticons who had gone lost on a dangerous mission.
As he found the ship of the desperate robots in space he made them an offer that was none, the possibilities to serve him or die.
Unicron reformates the robots on a molecular level, gives them new identities and reprogram or some would rather say "brainwash" them into doing his bidding.
Comment: Under this reformated Decepticons were also Cyclonus and Scourge.
The mystery around Galvatron was in some sense solved, at least for Optimus and Ultra Magnus.
Galvatron, so they thought, was a Transformer who had at some point in the future been re-created by Unicron and time-traveled back in the past for multiple times to follow one so far unknown agenda.
So far the theory. It is however likely that he, through his own interference, changed the timeline so far that he didn´t even exist anymore, since Galvatron was not under the Decepticons that had been reformated.
All this implies one thing, that Unicron was indeed the coming threat that Galvatron had warned the Transformers about years earlier.
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Unicron´s group of Decepticons attacks a supply shuttle of the Autobots and kills the crew. Then they continue their way to Earth, to execute their one order given to them by their master, destroy the Matrix.
They attack Autobot city and finally confront Optimus Prime himself.
But their assault is thrown back. The Autobot garrison is able to beat the unicronians and they retreat back into space.
At the same time Unicron enters the star system of Cybertron.
To help their friends on their home-planet Optimus and his crew start to Cybertron. On their way however they are tracked down by the unicronians who do everything to keep them from reaching their destination.
Comment: Optimus claims that he "has a feeling" that the Matrix is the weapon that can stop this enemy.
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While his minions are keeping Optimus Prime occupied Unicron is attacking Cybertron directly.
As the threat becomes obvious Megatron and the leaders of the Autobot controlled sectors of the planet agree to a temporally alliance.
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In space Optimus group is attacked by the unicronians once again.
After a long fight he and Ultra Magnus are able to defeat Cyclonus and Scourge in combat and the rest of Unicron´s creations are fleeing.
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But when they finally reach Cybertron´s location it is already too late. Their home-planet is gone and all they can find is debris and ashes.
They found a few ships full of survivors and heard from them what had happened, how the "planet" transformed into a robot of giant proportions and destroyed the planet itself.
During the fight, Unicron identified himself as the legendary Chaos Bringer, a being known from cybertronian mythology.
Comment: Optimus makes a decision, to spare other planets the same fate as Cybertron he will go after Unicron.
He says that he won´t force anybody to go with him on this mission and asks for volunteers.
A large number of Autobots and Decepticons, even Megatron, agrees to come with him.
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They find Unicron in a neighboring star system and start a desperate attack on him, partly out of revenge, partly from the wish to protect others.
During the fight Optimus succeeds in opening the Matrix. As it´s light hit Unicron it seems to have an devastating effect. It is overloading his systems and burning through his armor. It caused heavy damage, but ultimately it failed to destroy him.
The Transformers had to retreat from the system, knowing that the threat Unicron presents is removed for the moment, but not forever.
Comment: It seems when the Matrix was opened it was simply in a too great distance to Unicron. Only a small part of the energy that the Matrix unleashed actually reached him.
For the Transformers it was a small victory after the loss of their home-world and the greatest part of their species, but ultimately it was only a partial one.
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The year 2006:
The surviving Autobots have settled on Earth. Many have long accepted the organic world as a second and now their only home-world. Autobot city is now the center of what is left of their civilization.
At the same time, the Decepticons have vanished from this sector of the universe.
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The year 2010:
Februar 2010: The Decepticons have not been seen for 5 years.
On Earth the Autobots have started to rebuild themselves. But then suddenly the Decepticons return.
They attack with a brutality that was unknown up to this point, not only power plants and factories, but also human towns are targeted and destroyed for no visible reason.
The Autobots are trying everything they can to prevent the worst, but the war is only escalating. Besides hundred thousands of humans, many Transformers on both sides are killed.
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April 2010: The towns New York, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, Los Angeles and San Diego are attacked and laid waste to.
Comment: Nobody knows the motivation behind the destruction. Speculations were going on if Megatron has gone insane. Others say he follows some desperate tactic for some reason.
But nobody really knows the truth.
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November 2010: After 24 years the construction of the pyramid is nearly finished.
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The year 2011:
The present…