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TRANSFORMERS BEYOND
LEGENDARIUM
Chapter IX
The Age of Expansion (The Golden Age of Cybertron)
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The Age of Expansion, better known by galactic historians as the First Golden Age of Cybertron, was considered to be the heyday of the Transformer race right after they exiled the Quintessons from their homeworld and its colonies, creating a vast galactic empire that promoted joy, peace, exploration, knowledge, prosperity, and most important of all, freedom...
Approx. 250 million stellar cycles ago:
Nova Prime aims to further expand the reach of the Great Cybertronian Empire and, inspired by the folktales of the Knights of Cybertron, begins planning what he calls the "Expansion", a massive wave of interplanetary exploration and colonization across the known galaxy. To do so, the Cybertronians made use of the technological advances left behind by the Quintessons and created a new Space Bridge network in orbit around the planet. With its completion, the Space Bridge Network is then activated by Nova Prime himself, connecting Cybertron to the wider galaxy beyond on equal terms for the first time in recorded history. Contact begins to be made with other forms of life, and Cybertronian explorers and adventurers flood out into the galaxy in search of wonders and riches and their abducted brethren taken by the Quintessons during the previous Age of Wrath.
The Seekers are dispatched to scout out the star systems outside of Cybertronian space for other life and habitable planets.
The Primal Vanguard is formed to maintain peace between Cybertron, the colonies, and their alien allies.
Approx. 245 million stellar cycles ago:
In anticipation of the Expansion, Nova Prime requires a fresh generation of new Cybertronians, but, around this time, the life-giving, hot spot-igniting pulse waves from Vector Sigma and the AllSpark slow down. Nova tasks a team of scientists to extract new sparks from the Creation Matrix of Leadership, exponentially boosting the Cybertronian population and further dividing Cybertronians along "forged" or "cold constructed" lines. After the first wave of newborn Transformers are sent off-world for colonization, all of the additional sparks, which then stored in protoforms within stasis pods, are all placed in a gigantic facility known as the Matrix (named after the Creation Matrix), located in an isolated region of the Sea of Ages just outside of Iacon.
Nova Prime commissions the construction of the Proudstar, his personal starship to oversee the establishment of new colonies.
The Cybertronians begins the development and mass production of War Titans, Titans purposely designed to wage war, built with nigh-invulnerable armor and armed to the teeth with massive firepower. These new Titans are tasked to defend colonization fleets from possible hostile threats as they explore deep space. A few Titans such as Fortress Maximus, Citadel Secundus, Stormbreak, and Citadel are modified to become War Titans.
The first planet colonized by the Great Cybertronian Empire is Archon, the first of hundreds spreading out across the galaxy in all directions in the eons to follow. Using the Seeds created by the Quintessons from the reverse-engineered technology of the Omega Lock, the Cybertronians cyberform any uninhabited worlds they colonize, turning them into tiny copies of Cybertron, connected to the homeworld by the Space Bridge Network.
A team of scientists led by Jhiaxus conceives a way in which the Well of All Sparks, or at least its power, could be duplicated on the colonies in the form of the Cyber Planet Keys, devices empowered by a small portion of the Well's energy in order to keep the colonies powered for seemingly forever. In a ceremonial running of the torch, a spark of life from the Well was acquired and carried from the Well to the Space Bridge of Iacon, across interplanetary distances to Archon, where the first Cyber Planet Key is constructed. With the torch, they successfully ignite the Archon Cyber Key, resulting in spark-wells and hot spots to spread across the planet, ensuring that new Cybertronians could be born of the colony worlds as well. The establishment of a Cyber Planet Key is repeated on the old colony worlds.
Following the lessons, successes, and failures on Archon, the Senate inaugurates the Colonization Guild to oversee future colonization efforts. The Guild institutes expansion via a series of hubworlds linking back to Cybertron by Space Bridge and on each of which is constructed a Cyber Planet Key like Archon's. From these hubworlds, subsidiary colonies begin to radiate out under the central control of their hubworld.
Approx. 230 million stellar cycles ago:
Maccadam decides to retire from politics, content with fading into the background as he decided to settle down at Iacon and make his own bar called Maccadam's Old Oil House, the biggest single source of good fuel and beverages, not just on Cybertron, but the entire Great Cybertronian Empire.
Approx. 222 million stellar cycles ago:
The Regulon Conflicts: A series of newly-founded colonies are discovered scoured of mechanical life after suddenly falling silent. Investigations by the Primal Vanguard eventually track the source of the attacks to the biomechanical world of Regulon IV, where they too are destroyed by its natives, only known by the Cybertronians as "the Regulon Metal-Mongers." After a series of humiliating defeats in which each Metal-Monger is equal to hundreds of Cybertronian troops, the Regulon forces attack the hubworld of Mekatron, devastating the civilian population. The Elite Guard, supported by repurposed Terrorbot drone units left behind by the Quintessons, responds in force and, with horrific casualties, secures a victory against their enemy (Kup is among the survivors of this apocalyptic battle). After this initial Cybertronian victory, the conflict wears on with neither side able to claim victory until the Elite Guard launches a final desperate assault on Regulon IV and succeed in delivering their enemy a crippling blow that ends the war, though the leader of the Elite Guard forces-General Stormbreaker, a veteran of the Second Quintesson Wars-is killed in the fighting.
Having witnessing the horrors of the Quintesson occupation of Cybertron, Nova Prime fears the possibility of a counterattack and invasion of the homeworld by the Regulon Metal-Mongers. With the support of the Senate and the Council of Ancients, he orders the sterilization of all life on Regulon IV, wiping out any and all traces of the Metal-Mongers' existence as a Cybertronian garrison colony is then established on the planet by the Elite Guard. While many agreed to deal with the Regulon Metal-Mongers before they became a serious threat, a silent majority within the Senate, including Alpha Trion, questioned Nova's unsavory methods at the end of the war.
A statue commemorating the Regulon Conflicts-consisting of General Stormbreaker and other heroes, including Kup-is erected in Iacon Central Plaza. (Note: During the Third Cybertronian Civil War, Kup will express one moment of gratitude to the Decepticons when their assault on the capital during the Third Battle of Iacon destroys "that damnable statue" of Kup's likeness.)
Cybertron Security Operations (CSO) is formed to provide espionage and intelligence on future threats to Cybertron and its colonies so that they can never be taken unawares by another threat like the Regulon Metal-Mongers.
Approx. 220 million stellar cycles ago:
Cybertron becomes the center of a vast sprawling galactic federation, renowned across civilized space as a center of knowledge, culture and wisdom. Hundreds of alien species-organic and mechanical-trade with the Cybertronians and explore the depths of their archives for possible solutions to the issues facing the pan-galactic civilization.
Approx. 217 million stellar cycles ago:
Jhiaxus, a senior member of the Science Guild by this point, first notices a young but brilliant scientist from the city-state of Protihex named Shockwave working on one of the teams he is responsible for overseeing. Jhiaxus takes Shockwave under his tutelage, helping to unleash the full brilliance of that young mind by assigning him to projects that stimulate the young bot's intellect. He becomes Jhiaxus's protégé and begins aiding the elder scientist in his researches into multi-adaptive alt-forming based on Quintesson Triple-Changer/Multi-Changer technology with the aim of developing Cybertronians with multiple alt-modes that can adapt to any and all environments.
Approx. 215 million stellar cycles ago:
The Third Quintesson Wars: The Quintessons attempt to reconquer Cybertron as a large fleet of the Quintesson Expeditionary Forces just suddenly enter Cybertronian territory and unleash a catastrophic attack, destroying several of the outer colonies. After a hard-fought war, the Quintessons eventually relented under the Cybertronians' superior military forces and retreated back to their native space. Despite the valiant efforts of the Cybertronian Armed Forces, numerous casualties were across the Cybertronian people.
In order to maintain security and supremacy within the Great Cybertronian Empire following the Quintessons' attempted conquest, Nova Prime sanctions the construction of the Omega Sentinels led by the mighty Omega Supreme, powerful giants capable of transforming into deep-space battlecruisers to quell attacks by hostile forces within the Empire's borders, whether domestic or alien.
Approx. 206 million stellar cycles ago:
The Omacronian Encounter: A group of Cybertronian colonists are slaughtered on Cestus IV when the process of cyberforming the planet into a new spokeworld for the Empire. When the Primal Vanguard responds to this, they are immediately attacked by Omacronian forces and almost overwhelmed before reinforcements from the Elite Guard led by the charismatic Delta Magnus, commander of the famed Magnus Corps, rallies the troops and routs their opponents from Cybertronian space.
Approx. 195 million stellar cycles ago:
The Edgespace Wars: A far-off interstellar empire known as the Galran Khanganete are able to successfully breach the outer rim of the Great Cybertronian Empire, with the goal to eventually invade Cybertron for the AllSpark, so they can use its incredible power to expand their dominion across the galaxy. Nova Prime is given emergency military powers, assuming full command over the Cybertronian Armed Forces. The Cybertronians are able to push the Galran forces from their territory, however, not without many casualties on both sides. From aboard the bridge of the Proudstar, Nova orders a fleet of Omega Sentinels and War Titans to accompany him to the heart of Galran space, where they unleashed an orbital bombardment on the Galran homeworld of Daibazaal, exterminating all surface life to ensure that the Galran Grand Khan and Head of Military don't escape. He then orders Galvatron, who was Commander-in-Chief of the Elite Guard at the time, to conduct an invasion of the remaining Galran worlds to destabilize their remaining military forces with the aim of assuring the complete destruction of the Galran Khanganete and any vestigial threat it posed to the safety of Cybertron and the AllSpark. The subsequent "Galran Holocaust" reduces the Galran Khanganete from a vast galactic superpower to a small collective of warlords and marauders struggling in deep poverty following their homeworld's destruction.
In the wake of the Edgespace Wars, many Cybertronians cheered for Nova Prime's actions against the Galrans and thought that he was just taking precautions to assure Cybertron's safety. However, Nova did have his fair share of critics, though they were a few in number around this time.
Approx. 182 million stellar cycles ago:
After facing hardship and turmoil from the many previous conflicts with hostile aliens, Nova Prime begins the extreme militarization of the Great Cybertronian Empire in preparation of any possible threats, making the democratic federation resemble more of a military dictatorship. He cuts off all contact with Cybertron's alien allies, believing that non-Cybertronian lifeforms could not teach the Empire anything beneficial and that their only purpose in life was to marvel at Cybertron's beauty as it further expanded to the stars. Nova advocates for the colonization of inhabited worlds, annihilating their native populations in the process, claiming that it was all to deter these aliens from a chance of invading Cybertron and its colonies. While Nova Prime still had his many supporters, among them Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, Jhiaxus, Ember, and Steelheart, there was now a growing number of people who claimed that the Matrix-bearer's plans were not spreading enlightenment, but instead the conquest of everything not born of Cybertron. Many of these "malcontents" would be quietly arrested by Nova Prime's secret police over the eons and sent to off-world detention facilities to be imprisoned.
Approx. 170 million stellar cycles ago:
The Monstructor Incident: Hoping to rediscover the lost art of combination, Nova Prime conspires with Jhiaxus in using the ancient powers of the Enigma of Combination in an attempt to revive Combiner technology, seeking to use the process as a tool of conquest in the possibility that the Great Cybertronian Empire expanded to other galaxies. After a long period of experimentation, Jhiaxus tests the Enigma on six volunteers-Birdbrain, Bristleback, Icepick, Scowl, Slog, and Wildfly-who combine to form Monstructor. Though physically powerful, Monstructor is also violently insane as a result of his components lacking mental unity. The savage Combiner then proceeds to run amok across Cybertron until he would eventually be defeated by the combined might of Omega Supreme and the Elite Guard. Monstructor is separated back into his original six components and are then placed in protective statis before being sealed away in the underground vaults of Crystal City.
Disappointed by the experiment's disastrous results, Nova Prime leaves the Enigma of Combination under the care of Senator Alpha Trion, who safekeeps the artifact in the Iacon Hall of Records, and orders the permanent discontinuation of all research concerning Combiner technology. Jhiaxus's protégé Shockwave would secretly attempt to try to replicating the combining process without the use of the Enigma but with no avail at this time.
Approx. 160 million stellar cycles ago:
Scientists in the city-state of Arcanex uncover the remains of several Maximals and Predacons in the Great Abyss. Studying their CNA, they begin to unlock the secrets of the ancient beastformers. The leader of the research team, Dragotron, takes their research a step further when he and his fellow scientists decide to inject themselves with Maximal/Predacon CNA, transforming themselves into the Arcanexian beastformers.
The Council of Ancients in Iacon orders the experiments ended and the research destroyed, but Dragotron rebels and, along with a band of followers from Arcanex, takes control of the Titan Hyperborea and leaves the planet to continue their experiments elsewhere. Hyperborea and his crew crashes on a distant jungle planet they name Animatros, where they are all eventually reformatted into beastformers.
Approx. 144 million stellar cycles ago:
Nova Prime commissions the development of the Teletraan series of artificial intelligence supercomputers. The first model, Teletraan Alpha, is installed aboard Nova's flagship, the Proudstar. The second, Teletraan I, is assembled within Alpha Trion's private office in the Iacon Hall of Records to serve as his personal AI assistant.
Approx. 139 million stellar cycles ago:
Cybertron Security Operations detects a strange extradimensional anomaly within the nearby Benzuli Expanse. Nova Prime departs Cybertron aboard the Proudstar to closely investigate this anomaly to see if it was beneficial or harmful to the homeworld's security, with notable crew members being Galvatron, Ember, Cyclonus, Scourge, Tempest, Jhiaxus, Grindcore, Hyperflight, Cyberwarp, Skyjack, Treadshock, and Riotgear. Understanding the inherent dangers of travelling into potentially hostile space, Nova Prime chose to remove the Creation Matrix of Leadership, leaving it on Cybertron under the care of the Matrix Templars in his absence. This act may have potentially saved the Creation Matrix.
When the Proudstar arrived at the Benzuli Expanse, Security Operations suddenly lose all contact with the ship right after it begins to slowly approach the anomaly. The Primal Vanguard is deployed to investigate but they find no trace of the Proudstar and its crew, and the anomaly. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, the extradimensional anomaly was actually a space-time rift that transported the Proudstar and her crew to the Dead Universe, a malevolent realm that exists in the space between realspace and unspace. All aboard perish and are resurrected as undead creatures to serve the will of an undead, eldritch intelligence known as the D-Void.
With Nova Prime gone, Cybertron enters a brief period known as the Interregnum. The Elite Guard, now led by its new Commander-in-Chief Delta Magnus, establishes itself as the planet's acting ruling body until a new Matrix-bearer can be found. Tensions begin to emerge between Cybertron and the colonies as various rebel and successionist factions appear to oppose the rule of the Great Cybertronian Empire. The Elite Guard then dispatched off-world to pacify of the insurrectionist groups across the colonies.
After this period of unrest, the Matrix Templars chose a rising star from the ranks of the Elite Guard, a young officer named Guardian Major, as the new Prime. Once the Creation Matrix deems him worthy, Guardian Major becomes Guardian Prime, Cybertron's new Supreme Commander. In the first three thousand years of his Primacy, Guardian casts aside many of Nova's fascist policies, reestablishing peaceful contact with neighboring civilizations and focusing attention on the colonization of uninhabited worlds.
Approx. 125 million stellar cycles ago:
Start of the Ejoornian Crusades: The remote Cybertronian colony of Exillion is attacked by unknown alien raiders. Though the ships are repulsed by the colony's militia, the attack is followed within the next day by a fleet of warships that attacks Exillion, devastating the hubworld and capturing the planetary Space Bridges and the colony's Cyber Planet Key, though not before a technician encrypts the coordinates for the other hubworlds and Cybertron itself, though Exillion's spokeworlds soon report invasion forces. Cybertron Security Operations's investigations discover that the invaders are the Ejoornians, a nomadic species of cybernetic aliens that have been harrying worlds beyond Cybertronian space for ngs: raiding, conquering and exacting tributes from weaker species. The Primal Vanguard, supported by a fleet of Omega Sentinels and Titans, are mobilized and attack the Ejoornian starfleet at Exillion, but they are unable to break through and retake the hubworld. For the next 4 million years, the crusades wage on along the borders of the Great Cybertronian Empire with both sides claiming individual victories but neither is able to strike a decisive blow.
Approx. 124 million stellar cycles ago:
The Battle of Ettacron: Cybertronian Elite Guard units successfully defend the colony world of Ettacron from an Ejoornian strikeforce. Among the Cybertronian defenders were Kup-now promoted to a field commander-and a lieutenant from the industrial village of Arkenstone named Ironhide.
Approx. 123 million stellar cycles ago:
The Siege of Halcyon: The hubworld of Halcyon comes under attack from the Ejoornians. The Elite Guard detachment on the planet-including a young Thunderclash-successfully hold the planet against the aliens for four meta-cycles until reinforcements manage to break through the siege lines around the planet and drive off the Ejoornian fleet.
Approx. 122 million stellar cycles ago:
A member of the Science Guild named Pistonhead hopes to create a method by which Cybertronians could survive and thrive on any world, in order to gain the upper hand in the war against the Ejoornians. During his experiments, he learns of the power of the martial art known as Chōkon, originating from the inhabitants of G Nebula 89 who believe it to an abstract force that exists inherently within most forms of natural life, from stars and planets down to living beings. Pistonhead learns that Cybertronians do not seem to naturally possess Chōkon Power, but is able to harness a limited form of the energy in engines installed into battle armor. This results in the development of experimental Powermaster Armors for specialized units within the Cybertronian Armed Forces. This new innovation sees many great warriors, including Guardian Prime, being refitted with Powermaster Armor, finally giving the Cybertronians the edge over the invaders.
Approx. 121 million stellar cycles ago:
End of the Ejoornian Crusades: Cybertron Security Operations traces the Ejoornians back to their home base within the Eshems Nebula. While the Cybertronian Defense Forces distracts the Ejoornians with attacks on several of their sector fleets, the Powermaster-equipped forces of the Elite Guard under Delta Magnus and the Primal Vanguard under Guardian Prime himself launch an assault on the nebula, destroying the Ejoornian command carrier. The Ejoornians surrender to the Great Cybertronian Empire, ending the Ejoornian Crusades once and for all.
Several Ejoornian captives under interrogation by Security Operations reveal that they became galactic nomads after their homeworld Ejoornus was captured by a far more advanced species called the Quintessons, the same technorganic aliens who enslaved the Cybertronians many eons ago and have also attempted to reconquer Cybertron several times by this point. When word of the Quintessons' involvement of this reaches Guardian Prime, the Senate, and the Council of Ancients, they order all colonization efforts in the region of the Ejoornian Crusades to be ended and classifies the reasoning, granting the Ejoornians favorable terms in the peace treaty to end the conflict, using them as a buffer between Cybertronian space and suspected Quintesson territory.
Approx. 110 million stellar cycles ago:
Rust worms are first brought to Cybertron by stowaway on ships that arrive at the Hydrax Plateau spaceport. The rust worms feast on the metallic innards of the surrounding Oxide Wastes, secreting liquid rust as they consumed. As the eons pass, the Oxide Wastes is slowly transformed into the lifeless, inhospitable region known as the Sea of Rust.
Approx. 100 million stellar cycles ago:
Cybertron's Energy Guild reports that energon reserves are dwindling faster than the core can replenish them. At the same time, the Well of All Sparks begins producing fewer and fewer new Cybertronians with each passing giga-cycle. The Cyber Planet Keys planted on the colony worlds are likewise reducing output of sparks and energon. The Senate and the Council of Ancients orders new exploratory craft built to seek out worlds and survey them for other sources of energon.
Approx. 96 million stellar cycles ago:
The Fifth Quintesson Wars: Taking advantage of the energy crisis, the Quintessons once again attempt to invade the Great Cybertronian Empire. Despite the valiant efforts of the united Cybertronian Armed Forces, the Empire still suffered great losses, with several colonies destroyed by the Quintesson Expeditionary Forces. Thankfully, with the support of their Ejoornian allies and Cybertronian Elite Guardsmen equipped with Powermaster Armor, the Cybertronians are able to drive the Quintessons from Cybertronian territory once more.
While the Empire won the Fifth Quintesson Wars, it brought many tragedies and losses. The war also forged great heroes. The great general Zeta, conjunx endura of Guardian Prime and head of his private military guard, the Protecton Guard. Together, she had fight alongside her lover in many battles with no surrender for cycles without rest. The hero Nominus, a young bot who greatly admired of the old legends of chivalrous warriors such as the early Primes and the Knights of Cybertron. During the war, he began his career as a Rescue Bot, rising the ranks as the head of his taskforce, Rescue Force Alpha-84, as he saved the lives of thousands in his relentless search & rescue efforts.
Approx. 85 million stellar cycles ago:
The Cybertronians attempt to colonize the terrestrial planet Probat, but they discover that the planet is inhabited by a sentient race of bat-like humanoids called the Probats. It was initially unknown what would happen to the Probats if the Cybertronians colonized the planet. Some said they should leave them be, some suggested they should be relocated outside of Cybertronian territory, and a few radicals even suggested sterilization of the planet. This debate over Probat raged on for some time until scout drones discovered that the planet held material that could converted into a form of energon, something that the Great Cybertronian Empire was in dire need of due to the energy crisis. As such, after some time, the Primal Vanguard landed on Probat, and Guardian Prime strode to the planet's capital in person to start negotiations with the Probats, promising to raise them to the wider galactic community, asking only to set up energon processing facilities on their homeworld. Excited to meet other lifeforms and see the wider universe, the Probats graciously accept Guardian Prime's offer, allowing the Cybertronians to build their facilities and even building statues of the Cybertronians who first arrived on their planet, establishing Probat as a protectorate within the Great Cybertronian Empire.
Approx. 83 million stellar cycles ago:
The Stentarian Incursion: The Cybertronians encounter another mechanoid race with transformational abilities similar to their own called the Stentarians. Originating from the Andromeda Galaxy, these Stentarians are dominated by the hostile and aggressive Ammonite Imperium that threatens the Great Cybertronian Empire as they begin to expand their sphere of influence into the Milky Way, harrying several colonies along the border between the powers. When the Ammonites attack the hubworld of Chaldron, the Primal Vanguard delivers them a crushing blow that ends their dreams of expansion.
After the defeat of the Ammonites at Chaldron, Cybertron Security Operations infiltrates Stentarian space to prevent further attacks by undermining their Imperium. They make contact with an underground rebel movement of intellectuals and political dissidents calling themselves the Terradores. The agents of Security Operations supply these dissidents with intelligence and tactical support that enables them to trigger an uprising that splits the Stentarian civilization in two. With Cybertronian support, the Terradores drive the Ammonites from their homeworld of Stentara and several major colonies, but their war effort is halted once the Rust Plague strikes the Cybertronians in the near future and their allies become unable to maintain their support. The Stentarian Civil War degrades into a morass in which neither side is able to gain the advantage, dragging on for millions upon millions of years with no end in sight.
As the Stentarian Civil War spills into the Milky Way Galaxy, several worlds inhabited by less-developed alien races are caught in the crossfire and heavily devastated, resulting in the deaths of billions. This event would be known as the Shattering. In response to this, the Galactic Council is formed as a diplomatic coalition of thousands of sapient organic races who attempt to prevent civilizations from being caught in the Stentarian Civil War and other horrific conflicts, with notable founding worlds including Captiuncula, Hedonia, Vho, Throm, the Kenara System, Archon Ren, Zebes, Miliarium, the twin planets Jol and Nar, Gromflom Prime, Norion, Kzin, Vulcan, Moll Primus, Bryyo, Elysia, Hymenosia, Ethos, Reptizar, Aesgard, and Kymellia III.
With many of the Galactic Council's founding worlds having already lost a large number of their respective populations in the crossfire of the Stentarian Civil War, much of the Council's leadership and population largely becomes anti-mechanoid.
Approx. 70 million stellar cycles ago:
The colony world of Tsiehshi is ravaged by an outbreak of a deadly and untreatable Rust Plague that was picked up on an exploration ship. The plague spreads rapidly across cyberformed world, infecting infrastructure, technology, and Cybertronians alike. Over the eons that follow, further outbreaks are reported on far-flung colonies, eradicating all mechanical life. Though Cybertronian scientists and medics search desperately for a cure, none is found and the crisis grows exponentially as colony world after colony world is quarantined and falls silent. The Rust Plague's origins were never discovered, but conspiracy theorists claim that the plague was actually a biological weapon manufactured by the Quintessons as revenge for their countless defeats in the Quintesson Wars, however, there is no substantial evidence to this theory.
Approx. 68 million stellar cycles ago:
With the Rust Plague accelerating in its spread across Cybertronian territory, the Council of Ancients passes an edict at the urging of Guardian Prime and the Senate to blockade the Great Cybertronian Empire's borders and expel all non-natives from Cybertron and its colonies once it's discovered by scientists that organic lifeforms can become asymptomatic carriers of the disease, infecting any form of mechanical life around them. This action brings an end to Cybertronian cultural dominance of the galaxy as the peace they had maintained among dozens of alien races fractures.
Approx. 66 million stellar cycles ago:
With the Rust Plague spreading like wildfire, the Council of Ancients orders the closure of all Space Bridges until the crisis has passed. All transit between worlds is limited to ship travel in realspace so that quarantine measures can be instituted on all shipments and travelers. The order slows the spread of the Rust Plague but doesn't halt it completely.
(Updated on 11/2/24)
Nova Prime is based off of his IDW counterpart. However, instead being a fascist at the start, Nova was originally a good ruler who sought to find uninhabited worlds for the Transformers to settle colonies on, similar to how he was characterized in the Transformers: Devastation videogame. He became a dictator as Cybertron was continuously attacked by aliens during the height of the Golden Age, which reminded him of the Quintesson invasion and occupation of the planet in years past. This makes him become increasingly xenophobic and a perfectionist who wished to improve Cybertron, not caring who gets negatively affected by the results.
In the Beyondverse, instead of devices used to activate the Omega Lock (since the Omega Keys already exist), the Cyber Planet Keys act as the power sources for the Cybertronian colonies.
Like his IDW 2005-2018 counterpart, Shockwave is a former student of Jhiaxus.
The Omacronians were an alien race briefly mentioned in the Wings Universe and are a reference to the race with the same name from Futurama.
The Galran Khanganete is an alien empire that ruled a small portion of the Milky Way Galaxy who were referenced in the Transformers Animated: AllSpark Almanac II and The Complete AllSpark Almanac books. As their name suggests, they are a reference to the Galra Empire from the 1981 mecha anime Beast King GoLion, which was then adapted in 1984 as Voltron: Defender of the Universe.
Monstructor's origins based of his IDW 2005 counterpart and the Abominus from the IDW 2019 continuity.
The Ejoornians appeared in the Transformers: Defiance comic book.
In the Beyondverse, Powermaster technology was originally developed as power armor for certain members of the Cybertronian Armed Forces, similar to Animated Optimus Prime's Wingblade mode and the Power Armor of the Fallout franchise. It also takes small elements of the Godmasters from Transformers: Super-God Masterforce, with the armor's power engines running on Chōkon Power from G Nebula 89.
I made Guardian Prime and Zeta Prime conjunx endura because I just felt like putting in a power couple in the Prime Lineage. I also made Zeta genderbent female.
The Stentarians and the Galactic Council are from the IDW 2005 continuity. I'll talk more on the Council's affairs with the Cybertronians in future chapters.