#Artifacts of Solus Prime

[logos-primes-pr-guy]

Losing my mind over Transformers: Earthspark

Gonna be discussing some spoilers for the first episode of the show here (both stuff that was revealed in-episode and also just theorisin') Aight, so, Quintus Prime!!! I am so so SO hyped to see one of the OG Thirteen getting more love, especially Quintus! Cyberverse set the bar big time with Maccadam/Alchemist, hoping we’re seeing a trend being set here! Even if we wouldn’t have known it was Quintus speaking if it wasn’t for the name drop in the end credits, I’ll hecking take it. Mayhaps we'll even have some flashbacks where we get to see Solus Prime do something cool other than dying, ehh?

Gotta say, it doesn’t look good for my poor boy. His line seems to be a recording, so it’s entirely possible Quintus is straight up dead by now. (I do have to admit, thanks to my horrible auditory processing, I thought he was speaking a Cybertronian language, and only realised he was saying “Legacy of hope” after translating the scrolling Autobot glyphs, which say the same thing on loop. It’s unclear if he’s rigged the cave with some kind of universal translator or if we’re just hearing the words in English for our benefit, but either way, it’s interesting… And also strangely poignant?

The thing is, Quintus Prime is famous for creating the Quintessons, so if he’s confirmed to be in it, they’re probably not far behind. Which begs the question… Why’d he make this cave in the first place? The cool swirly rock can probably be safely assumed to be the Emberstone, which is a very important artefact to leave lying around for just anyone to discover and possibly (mis)use. If he knows the Quintessons are coming, a weapon to defeat them with might make more sense from the Transformers’ perspective, but Twitch and Thrash have made it clear they’re not really interested in fighting, they’d rather play and learn cool stuff. Quintus is a pacifist who loves all forms of life, so it makes sense that he didn’t want to build a weapon. The Quintessons thrive best by sowing fear and mistrust between organics and Cybertronians, so Quintus left behind something that would bridge that gap, something which shows how organics and mechanoids can not only co-exist, but actually thrive and need each other. A legacy not of war, but of hope. That’s a message I can really get behind for the TF franchise!

Yeah, we’ve only seen 20 minutes of this show and I’m already Emotional, what of it?

[justanotherperson1]

Hi Hi!!

This is my first time asking on Tumblr, and your blog is probably the only one I was super drawn to. I love all of your art and your love for Bayverse Optimus. Bayverse Optimus is my favorite iteration of the character, and I always come up with some head fanfiction about how he would act in Transformers: Prime and the IDW comics.

Is there an in-universe reason for how Bay Op got to the Transformers: Prime world? This whole AU could be a great fanfiction if someone wrote it (not me, though). I also wondered how Bay Optimus would react if Prime Optimus hugged him straight up.

Hi Hi!

First ask… that’s pretty special! Thank you! I love that you enjoy my little corner of the fandom so much!! And you pose a really good question. So, as far as I puzzled it out, the ‘jump’ from the Bay! Universe to the Prime! Universe would have happened with some fuckery with a relic from one of the origional 13 Primes- Vector Prime. The guy was a demention and time hopper and in ‘Solus Prime’ fashion, would have left something behind that contained some of his power. Optimus gets ahold of it, and with his Prime-y power activates it, so another one of ‘him’ gets ripped out of his own universe and brought into TFP. I didn’t really know if I wanted a scientist of sorts to have tried to replicate Vector’s technological artifacts he may have left behind, or it just be Vector’s object itself though. Following the scientist’s route, the machine would have been powered with energy pods that would have to have been tracked down for multiple uses. The energy pod it would have been preloaded with would be used on-contact, and then the story would be kind of framed around Team Prime trying to find more (and prehaps Bay! cutting a deal with Megatron to use his resourses to get home but IDK).

As for the hug? The both neeeeeeed one for sure, but neither would ask. IF tackled with one Bay! Would probably try to unlatch immediately like a cat in a bathtub. A horrible case really. Tfp, if he would do it, would have to approach Bay! as though it was HIS idea, and if it worked it would probably be the epitome of the meme “What’s this? Affection? Pathetic… but do it again.”

[asimp4bee]

How did Mea get take weird artifact(?) in her chest? Was it a gift? Something else?

The Dagitab relic was originally Solus Prime’s relic, then Zodiac (formerly Angelus Lux, Solus’ creation) claimed it and then it was given to Mea as a parting gift by Zodiac himself.

[witchofthesouls]

Hi there! I wanted to ask about the Rudis ask, if you could comment more about the TFP-Soundwave option? All your fic ideas are lovely! Have a nice day :) !!

When it comes down to it, I just really want to delve down into the mythos that the Aligned universe gave us.

TFP in general seems to pull a lot of influence from Ancient Greek and Roman culture and mythos as well as pulling from Judeo-Christian roots.

I mean, there's so much going on, and yet... It feels undersold or fallen wayside. Even though it's all right there!

The War kicked off exponentially when the High Council named Orion Pax as the next Prime

The Autobots on Earth fell apart without Optimus

Questions about the role of the Matrix of Leadership: Is Orion Pax and Optimus Prime completely separate entities?

The Primal Artifacts and their immense power (and Megatron's willingness to desecrate a Prime's corpse)

Smokescreen getting worked up when Ratchet question Optimus' decision to destroy the only thing that could revive their homeworld

Fucking Unicron sleeping in Earth's core

And this is just the top of my head.

So being a Prime isn't just a leadership position, but has some deeply religious/mythical divine status akin to a mortal God-king.

And the sheer fact that Megatron managed to oppose an actual Prime chosen by the damn Matrix itself, just shows how much of a force of personality and charisma the guy is as well as how much faith he inspired in his own people.

There is so much more that could have been done, especially since people are biting for more lore on Decepticon culture. Like FUUUUUUUU-

There seems to be a fandom take that Decepticons are either atheists or deeply reject religion as opposed to the very pious Autobots. That doesn't seem to work in the Aligned universe.

There should be sects and cults surrounding the Thirteen Primes, especially with the theme of the triads and duos: Prima and Megatronus. Megatronus and Solus. Liege Maximo, Megatronus, and Solus. Prima, Alpha Trion, and Alchemist Prime. (Like where's the rest of the myths and parables? )

Shoot, secret ones!

So hear me out, what if Megatron was the rallying call for the Decepticons because the Fallen was considered the patron of the oppressed? He was the Prime of Chaos, the closest to the Unicron by Primus' own hand, the Undefeated.

It was said that he and Solus were lovers, so is it too much of a step that they were the First Conjunx?

I am the one within all of you, little brother.

From Prima to Thirteen. From those forged within Solus and those that rise from below. In the deep Wilds touched by none and the very spark of our fledgling civilization.

Amalgamous may share the claim to Nature with his beastly shapes, but I am the Shadow to the Light, the unfettered Instinct without Rationality, the Unmaker upon our Creator, the Beast of Madness that dwells within everyone and everything. 

Even you, quicksilver and trickster, cannot deny my Domain. Not even Prima, the Eldest of us all, can deny my power.

-- excerpt of a WIP where Megatronus Prime answers Liege Maximo's questions on his wanderings and leeway to everywhere

Megatron walking away from the High Council would cement his position among his people -the downtrodden, the lower castes, the lost and forlorn -the "Uncrowned Prime." He had purposely invoked the Fallen's name since he needed the ferocious strength to force change in society. Megatronus is the only Prime to remain victorious against all foes; his siblings didn't force him to yield, Megatronus Prime willingly laid down his arms and exiled himself.

It would explain the fanatical devotion and outpour of support against Optimus, the chosen official Prime, especially with the religious angle of Prima slighting Megatronus once more should the Matrix be explicitly connected to the first Prime. And then there's the fact that Prima was a founding father of Cybertronian civilization, so there's the slant of "rebel and tear down the established regime!"

The very name of the Decepticons could have been a hail to Megatronus' companionship with Amalgamous and Liege Maximo, both Primes were mainly tricksters. (In the gladiatorial clades, they were often invoked for victory.)

TFP Soundwave isn't just the Decepticon, he's Megatron's Decepticon. Whatever Megatron wants, he does. Soundwave put down Airachnid when she tried to set the Nemesis off Earth.

I've seen takes where Soundwave is deeply in love with Megatron or the ghost of the old Megatron, and that's why he stayed even when there's nothing left but dust. I've seen a take where Megatron sets fire to Cybertron as a "love song" in a style to mimic how Megatronus and Solus changed Cybertron.

I have yet to see a deeply faithful/religious Soundwave seeing Megatron as a Sign from his chosen God/Prime to hold the match, prep the gas, and start a firestorm. He essentially used his rudis as kindling upon the altar of Megatronus Prime; Wilds and Passion and Madness Incarnated. (And seeing the Decepticons take back cities and planet, Dark Energon zombies, and Megatron's multiple resurrections from the dead or near death, Soundwave's fucking deep in devotion.)

[deadlysoupy]

There is, in fact, an artifact that is a hammer within the TF lore (the forge of Solud Prime).

And Bee, in fact, has already had a hammer as a weapon in the past.

GASP you're right!!! i totally forgot about the forge of Solus Prime!! man. earthspark can do the coolest thing ever

[autoacafiles]

The Tale of the Dark Ages

"It has been twenty stellarcycles. More than two vorns since the Thirteen Primes, the Firstforged, turned arms against each other. Nobody has seen the Primes in years, and there has been a generation or two who earnestly believe them to be figures of myth. The realm of Iacon, the great towers, has become naught but a ruin, covered in ash and snow, roads that once led across the world now cracked and broken due to lack of maintenance, towers collapsing under the weight of our sins. We have ruined Cybertron, our home, for the sake of personal glory. Though we, the people of Iacon, persist and maintain our cultural balance, there's not much for us to claim as home but a broken temple and cracked ground. And every day, we get reports of Darklanders encroaching on our territory, Flockers stalking in the shadows of our city, and the Demons have claimed most of the ruin for their own barbarism.

If the rumors are true, an order of knights led by a Darklander, claiming to be the granddaughter of two of the Firstforged, have taken to fighting against the darkness. They shed the icons of their gods, coat their armors in sheens of silver and gold, and strike back with weapons glowing with power none have seen before... power erupting from their very sparks. Desperate measures have been taken by those that follow this so-called Septimus Prime, and other warlords have been waiting for them to slip up.

We cannot wait long enough. So we have taken desperate measures of our own. Young sparklings who have yet to truly live have been kidnapped in the night, lowborn kindlings sold so their scions can afford more energon for themselves, and drifters in need of purpose coerced into our service. And when the time comes and Septimus asks for our cooperation against the demon hordes, we will stand against them with our own knights. No need for glowing weaponry. No need for spark energy. They will stand with their old allegiances stamped boldly on their armor, their eyes aglow with the energy they need, and they will bring this world to order... Our warriors. The Primal Guardians. Our heroes." - Reforgis of Iacon, text recovered from an ancient ruin found in the depths of Lower Iacon.

What the people of Cybertron know of the Dark Ages that followed the Age of the Firstforged is a shadowy picture that you'd have to squint at to make anything out. A lot of old stories distorted by myth and legend, some artifacts that remain intact only by sheer luck, and very rarely a body that hadn't been eaten from the inside out by desperate scavengers or rusted to dust by the ages. As a result, the exact series of events that led to the fall of the Firstforged are not well known, nor anything from between their fall and the rise of modern Iacon and the establishment of the Age calendar. The cynical might say that the Iaconian government at the time would likely have either neglected to fully preserve the history of the Firstforged and Dark Ages from then due to personal ambitions, with some even going so far as to claim that they opted to bury the information outright in hopes to legitimize their perceived legacy as the stewards of the new world. As a result, scholars had to piece together what information they have or are able to glean from what few accounts remain. 

The most commonly accepted idea is that Megatronus, Prime of Destruction, struck down fellow Firstforged member Solus, Prime of Technology, and caused the rift between all the different members of the Firstforged, and thus the Schism is all Megatronus's fault. However, if you look closely at the details of this, then the chronology starts to look a little janky. Many accounts paint Solus and Megatronus as being close allies prior to this event and some even claim that the two often got intimately personal, so the change that would lead to Solus's death is kinda hard to track down. There are even some accounts of members of the Radiant Forges, Solus's tribesmen, fighting alongside the Darklanders against troops from the House of Light, even though most historical records recount them either allying with the House of Light or outright abandoning Cybertron. Some even say that while Solus is confirmed to have died before the Schism happened, the two events might not even be remotely connected.

Even more radical historians like to point out this discrepancy and claim that the Schism might've marked an end to the Age of the Firstforged, no event like it legitimately occurred that would justify calling something a new Age - not even the passing of the Matrix of Light, which these historians claim was never a legitimate claim to the seat of power that Prima himself once held. These historians boldly claim that the age of darkness that followed the Schism never truly ended, and it'd only be a matter of time before one of them revealed themselves to the population of Cybertron and usher in a new Golden Age for the commonwealth.

But this is considered naught but the ramblings of madmen who fail to recognize progress. Aside from Amalgus's involvement with the Combatron War, there has not been any evidence to suggest that any member of the Firstforged would make any return...

[storm-and-starlight]

so the idea of an Earthspark fic following the bots not on Earth after the spacebridge broke has been rattling around inside my head basically since the show first came out, centering around "what if the Quintessons took advantage of Optimus and Megatron being out of the game and Rodimus had to step in", but I never really had a plot for it until about two-ish weeks ago when one just Showed Up.

I'll warn you now it just straight up doesn't have an ending, but who knows, maybe that'll show up too someday.

Anyways since I doubt I'll ever be able to write in in a way that does it justice, here's the bulletpoint outline of what I do have, under a cut bc Long

Important Backstory Notes (not, like, a prologue, just stuff that would need to be sprinkled throughout as context)

The whole Knights of Cybertron thing was well before the Thirteen Primes, enough that it's mostly fallen into legendary-type history instead of commonly-taught history, though the process is more pronounced due to how centralized information storage (and really the entire concept of information storage that isn't entirely dependent on a living being like a Titan) wasn't really a thing until late(er) in the Age of Primes, and only became standard until after the loss of most of Cybertron's Titans.

The Thirteen Primes, Prima and all the rest, rose to fame during the last Quintesson war by being generals and heroes and scientists, the figureheads of the war and the people who saved the Cybertronian species from perpetual slavery.

All but one of them, that is. Quintus Prime, researcher, scientist, who loved life in all its forms (and, some would say, who loved organic life a little too much), disappeared with his artifact the Emberstone -- the final safeguard against the loss or corruption of the Allspark -- and was later found to have defected to the Quintessons, with his technology and that of the Emberstone showing up in the Quintesson efforts.

The Primes eventually won, and beat the Quintessons away from Cybertron.

Unwilling to lose their image of planetary harmony that they worked so hard to create even before the war, the remaining Primes recorded his disappearance as a death in battle, implying that the loss of him, his Titan, and the Emberstone was simply a terrible accident), and went about rebuilding and beginning the Age of Primes.

(Timeline note: the Thirteen Primes unified Cybertron, got attacked by the Quintessons, fought in what was actually the Second Quintesson War -- the first was the initial liberation of Cybertron before the Knights set out on their explorations -- and then started the Age of Primes, which ended in the betrayal of Solus and the departure of the colony Titans.)

(post-betrayal leads into another age of unrest, before the new lineage of Primes (ones without the Matrix) begins the Cybertronian Golden Age, which really wasn't all that golden.)

Story begins millions of years later, about, oh, twenty years before the events of Earthspark

Most of section one takes place well before the spacebridge closes, and the initial journey back to Cybertron takes a few years, so from the time of Hot Rod's capture to their return to Cybertron just after the spacebridge closes is probably in the vicinity of five-to-six years.

Hot Rod, way out in the middle of nowhere on a mission, is captured by the Quintessons and presumed dead by the Autobots. He's not, but he's been enslaved by them -- however, they're still operating on their understanding of Cybertronian neurological defenses from before the Autobot-Decepticon War, meaning that their ability to control him is unable to keep up with his anti-virals and is slowly weakening over time. He gains more and more autonomy back, right up until the Quintesson ship he's on discovers Theophany (by horrible chance) and elects to begin the Quintesson resurgence right then and there.

Crucially, Crystal City hasn't been part of the war, so their anti-virals aren't at Hot Rod's level, and so nearly the entire city is enslaved and formed into the first and worst core of the Quintesson army.

In the middle of the attack, he finally manages to grab back almost full motor control, flames on, and burns out most of the adaptive nanites that are serving as a reservoir for the control code even as his anti-virals keep destroying the stuff that makes it into his processor. He flees the battle, ending up in the wastes of Theophany while Crystal City is overrun and the Third Quintesson War begins.

There is, however, one mech in Crystal City who has war-grade antivirals and manages to survive the inital assault of a non-nanite transmitted code infection (think radio broadcast) and who fled the city at Wing's request once it was clear the entire city was lost and the Knights of Light taken captive and the city destroyed.

He meets Hot Rod once they both come back to the ruins of the city for lack of anywhere else to go, and Hot Rod reveals what, exactly, happened to everyone around him. Hot Rod manages to convince Drift that they need to go and warn whoever else they can find, so they take one of the least-damaged ships in deep storage and set out to warn Cybertron.

En route to Cybertron, they slowly gather together a crew of various outcasts and misfits -- people who for one reason or another have been stationed out in the reaches of deep space, far away from Cybertron -- and even the odd prisoner (Whirl), all packed together on an ancient tiny shuttle and still desperately trying to outrun the Quintessons and make it in time to warn Optimus and Megatron.

At one point, they meet the Camien trio, Windblade, Nautica, and Chromia, who are also heading to Cybertron to ask for aid for Caminus completely unaware of the Quintesson threat, but in finding an ancient, injured Titan who's already been taken over by the Quintessons everyone learns of the risk they're all facing, and the dangers of letting this war spread further than it already has -- the destruction of Crystal City was bad, but the fact that every Cybertronian infected is another weapon in Quintesson hands is what really sinks in here.

At another point, they come across the remains of the Ark and manage to pull two people out of stasis: Cyclonus, the perfect warrior and Galvatron's right hand, and Tailgate, sanitation worker kept in stasis since the launch of the Ark as auxiliary personnel that they wouldn't have to feed since he wasn't awake.

The major climax is encountering Kimia, a secret Autobot research station under attack by Decepticons. With the Quintessons right on their heels, Hot Rod and Drift attempt to reconcile both the primarily-Autobot crew and the Decepticon squad attacking (maybe Deathsaurus's?), but negotiations keep breaking down until the Quintessons show up with an entire army of enslaved Cybertronians. Hot Rod manages to destroy their ship by crashing the entire station into it, but only a handful of people on either side survive the battle (Chromedome, Rewind, Brainstorm, Perceptor, and probably a handful of Decepticons that I haven't decided on yet), and everyone in their tiny enclave of free Cybertronians realizes that this is bigger than their old war, and that if they don't work together they're never going to survive.

End Section One

Section Two

They finally make it to Cybertron, but it's already too late -- the spacebridge to Earth is closed with most of the Autobot and Decepticon high command on the other side of it, the Allspark was lost somewhere while it closed (it's actually stuck in-between the planets in subspace, since the subspace route is still open but inaccessible with one end of the bridge destroyed, but this isn't relevant to the rest of the fic) and the Quintessons have already arrived and begun a planetary takeover -- most of the ground troops still remaining on the planet have become part of their forces.

Jazz has escaped with a handful of special ops from both sides and is hiding down in the deep underlayers struggling to survive and start up a resistance, and the arrival of Hot Rod and his motley crew is a huge boon and a huge hassle, since most of them (yes, even the Kimia scientists) was assigned that far from the front lines for a reason. About the only ones who're really considered command material are Cyclonus, and he's still struggling with the fact that he's been in stasis for millions of years and has no desire to lead what he sees as a pack of misfits and rejects, and Ultra Magnus, who has no desire to be in command whatsoever, so Hot Rod got the job largely by virtue of being the person to start this mission in the first place.

Moreover, they can't even get off Cybertron because the Quintessons have a major planetary cordon eliminating anyone who tries to flee.

Still, they try to get a resistance going and start figuring out how to actually fight the Quintessons, rather than just escape them, and are making some progress. Slowly. The deep planetary tunnels are largely safe, and a lot of the Kimia scientists have managed to use one of Shockwave's labs to find some protection against Quintesson influence -- as long as they don't get physical access to your brain, you probably won't get enslaved! -- and are attempting work on a cure. It's starting to look like it'll be long and hard but they might even manage to win this war!

And then the judge shows up, and brings with them not just the limited number of Cybertronian slaves they have, but nearly uncountable hordes of mass-produced Sharkticons, because they have access to Cybertron's entire industrial complex and all its fabricators.

On top of that, the Quintessons have discovered the existence of the deep underlayers, and are preparing an assault on the resistance bases.

Right before the assault goes down, Drift gets a vision (he's been having weird premonitions his entire life but it's only after he started actively using them to avoid Quintessons that they've started getting noticeably stronger) and gathers together a group (definitely Hot Rod and Rung, maybe also a bunch of the Camiens/some scientists) to try to find the location of a ship he saw, one that can get them off the planet.

They've been gone less than a day but are already entirely out of range when the Quintessons attack

Magnus and Cyclonus rally, together, against the assault and and try a desperate attempt to repel it and save the scientists' work that might be the only hope to save their species.

NOTE: Prior to this, Magnus and Cyclonus had not gotten along, with both of them having an extremely rigid code that is not... entirely compatible with the other but when it comes down to the wire and both Hot Rod and Drift are off on hopeless errands, they're the only ones left to coordinate the defense and try to save what they can.

Midway through Drift and Hot Rod's journey, the planet transforms (something it has, quite notably, not done since the Age of Primes) and cuts Hot Rod and Rung off from the rest of the group, with the only way out being down deeper into the planet, past even the deep layers and down into the core.

Separated, they continue on.

Drift ends up in the Hand of Primus, way out in the middle of the wastes, the site of the last true hotspot on the entire planet (after it was harvested during the early years of the Golden Age, all new sparks on the planet came from the Allspark). Deep below the surface, underneath a strange spiky red metal formation, they find a ship literally embedded in the stone, not entirely spaceworthy but possible to get to working conditions, and with a set of unique quantum engines that might be enough to get them away from the planet before the Quintessons can shoot them down.

Leaving Nautica (and possibly any other scientists they brought with them?) to try to repair the ship and get it flying, Drift and the rest race back to the base only to find it under attack. Magnus and Cyclonus manage to punch a hole through the Quintesson ranks and start the evacuation, and they all race up through the sublevels back to the surface.

Meanwhile, Hot Rod and Rung are (apparently) desperately trying to find a way out of the deep tunnels and back to the surface, but every turn they make just redirects them deeper towards the core, and eventually Rung comes to the conclusion that whatever's at the center of the planet must want them to go to the core. As they travel, it's apparent that there's something going on with him, though he won't tell Hot Rod what (the truth is that he's regaining his memories of being a part of the long-dormant core of the planet, and he's realizing that the Core, that Primus, the heart of their world, is somehow calling Hot Rod in).

Upon reaching the core, Rung acts almost as cityspeaker for the planet, one of the many fragments of its great multi-part mind that's separate enough to speak for itself, and offers Hot Rod a Matrix -- not the Matrix, the old one, the original one, the one that Optimus Prime still carries and that was lost on Earth when the spacebridge fell -- but a new, empty one that still nevertheless holds the ancient property that the Matrix was made for in the first place -- protection against the Quintesson scourge, a way to store crucial information in a way that can't be stolen by them and is much harder to lose if groups are split up or scientists killed, and most importantly the chance at a true cure. 

Hot Rod accepts the Matrix from Rung, and becomes Rodimus Prime.

Rung, in making a new Matrix, returns to the Core and cannot return with Rodimus, who races back up through the planet desperately, trying to reach the ship before they write him off as dead and leave.

Right as Nautica and the rest get the ship's strange quantum engines online, engines that almost seem to work as a spacebridge in their own right, Rodimus appears and gets on board, and they flee the planet ahead of the approaching hordes, abandoning Cybertron entirely to the Quintessons.

End Section Two

Section Three

Now the fight has gone to the stars -- there are still the colonies, Caminus and all the rest of the titans, to consider -- though there are a couple that aren't in Caminus's or Cybertron's records at all, such as the titan of the traitor Quintus Prime, who in the last war against the Quintessons led by the Thirteen Primes that cemented them in history as a collection of heroes.

The project begun on Cybertron, with the addition of the Matrix, has mostly succeeded -- they have effective defenses against Quintesson mind control, and with the Matrix in hand the scientists are making real breakthroughs on a genuine cure, instead of something that leaves the "cured" screaming and nearly catatonic.

Rodimus, still trying to figure out what it means to be Prime and what it means to now be considered the unambiguous leader of the remaining Cybertronian forces instead of having to deal with balancing the authority of Jazz, Magnus, Cyclonus, Windblade, and several of the more prominent Decepticons, is in command and is trying to find and gather the remains of the Autobot and Decepticon fleets into something that can actually fight against the Quintessons.

He's... not the best at it.

While they're fighting and gathering new members, they intercept some kind of Quintesson communication and find out that Caminus, thought safe because of how hidden it is, is under attack. The Lost Light and the few other ships they've got (Vis Vitalis, maybe? which is another major source of character conflict, becauseRodimus still feels inadequate as a leader in the face of Thunderclash's... everything, and lets it lead him to make bad decisions) race to Caminus to try to save the city.

They try, during which there is a huge battle, but they cannot stop the Quintessons from infecting Caminus, who sacrifices himself to save his people as they all flee, and Cybertronians become a species without a home, adrift in space. At the same time, the records of the last Quintesson War are given to them by Caminus, revealing the strategies used by the Thirteen Primes and the record of Quintus Prime's treachery that nearly lost them the war -- as well as the fact that Quintus Prime's Titan is still alive -- lost, but alive.

The war continues, and Rodimus slowly gets better at learning to be a general and at gathering people together to try to survive this. They start making progress, though it's hard and often painful. Maybe Caminus is the end of the section, maybe there's something more that's less of a downer ending, I don't know, but Section Three is all about the war as it goes on in space, a tiny desperate fleet trying to beat the odds and win.

Oh also at some point the Lost Light is revealed to be a newborn Titan, the first one to be born in millions upon millions of years, who aligns herself with Rodimus because he's a Prime and also her captain.

Also Metroplex possibly shows up at some point, and he and Windblade form a very strong bond together, to the point where when he dies, not even in sacrifice but just straight up in battle, it deeply deeply affects her, to the point that not even Lost Light can help. (Might be a plot point, might not be, depends how dark I want the overall story to end up.)

End Section Three

Section Four

Years into the fight, Rodimus is a far better leader than he was -- massively depressed about the whole thing, but still learning how to be an effective general. They haven't quite been making progress, but they've been surviving and gathering together fighters from all the different colonies, and it looks like the tide might turn any day now.

Drift, prompted by visions he's been having of Quintus Prime, is working alongside Nautica and a handful of other historians to put together the true story of what happened during the last Quintesson War. The facts aren't entirely adding up -- if Quintus was truly a traitor and gave the Quintessons the Emberstone, why weren't the Thirteen Primes overwhelmed by endless armies of newsparks? Why was it only certain pieces of Quintus's hybrid technology that got integrated into the Quintessons, and not the organic-Cybertronian bonding elements that would have massively increased their ability to control Cybertronian slaves? Why did he disappear, only recorded by his technology showing up in Quintesson warships, and why did his Titan drop completely out of the spacebridge network, even though Caminus insisted that he was still alive?

He realizes that figuring this out could be the key to actually winning the war, instead of grinding along slowly getting themselves worn away by attrition the way they've been doing -- the Quintessons can constantly replace soldiers while the Cybertronians have lost every method they had of reproducing, and on top of all that any soldier captured or infected on the battlefield will turn against them.

With Rodimus and Jazz and Brainstorm's knowledge (and maybe a few others, haven't decided yet), Drift fakes his death and goes flying out to search for answers, thinking that there has to be something Quintus was hiding and that it might be the answer to surviving, if not winning.

Meanwhile, Rodimus and the rest of the United Cybertronian Fleet's (name subject to change) high command find out from Jazz and his espionage corps that the Quintessons are looking for something, some kind of newly created weapon that can be used against them more effectively than anything created before (over the course of this war, they've gone on a total scorched-earth policy with regards to their planetary conquests and any species, biological or cybernetic, that even remotely gets in their way -- the new Judge created to lead this war is ruthless and angry and isn't interested in things like "public relations" -- so while there isn't really anyone who can fight back against them the way the Cybertronians can, because in terms of firepower and who's willing to get involved in this, they're kind of the only ones, it's totally plausible that there might be the last remnants of a destroyed species out there who are working on creating some kind of weapon).

Both of their paths, Drift's journey looking back through the records of the last Quintesson War and the history of the Thirteen Primes, and Rodimus's search for something to turn the tide, lead them back towards Earth, which somehow hasn't been found by either side yet, and has remained totally undisturbed. No matter how hard anyone looks, they can't find any outward sign of Cybertronian activity that might indicate Earth's location.

Drift, following the history of what happened to Quintus and his Titan and the Emberstone, finds a subspace connection that leads him to a strange system of caverns, filled with green light and old Cybertronian writing and technology that looks extremely similar to Quintesson tech and yet has somehow been neutralized without being destroyed.

Rodimus, following something (maybe some kind of connection through the Matrix?) lands in secret on green and blue planet that looks a whole hell of a lot like Earth, and traces the signal down into a system of caves.

Both Rodimus and Drift get attacked by an ancient Quintesson defense system, bioengineered monsters that feed off energon and which pursue them through the tunnels and herd them towards a central location, where bang they run into each other--

--and also into Optimus, Megatron, quite a lot of both Autobot and Decepticon High Command, and the Malto family, who are all down in the tunnels for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with either Cybertron, ancient weapons, Quintus Prime, the Emberstone, or the Quintessons, and everyone is very confused and also kind of panicked about what to do about the giant monster.

But when it arrives, the Maltos and the Terrans are able to fight it, without being affected by its energon-eating nature or the defenses it usually has against Cybertronians.

They flee down the only route they have left, deeper into the cave systems, where they pass through a massive and very strange green door into a set of corridors that look like metal, and that are decorated with icons and emblems of Quintus Prime, though woven through with Quintesson mind-control tech -- ancient Quintesson mind-control tech, not the modern kind currently in use and not even the kind of outdated tech that was used on Hot Rod before they managed to adapt to modern Cybertronian neurological defenses, but the kind that was in use back in the last Quintesson War, against the Thirteen Primes, and the pattern of the tendrils seems to be leading them somewhere.

Where it's leading them to is a massive processor chamber, one for a Titan -- Quintus Prime's titan, lost all these many millions of years.

Drift, finally, reveals what he's learned about Quintus Prime's supposed betrayal, and what really happened -- how he tried to be a double agent, learning about the Quintessons: half just for the sake of learning about them -- remember, he was most noted for his fascination with organic life -- and half for the sake of finding ways to end the war.

Before he could find a way, his Titan was overrun, exposed to an experimental piece of technology that would take over not just his mind but his body, turning him into an unending weapon that couldn't even be killed.

Quintus fled to Earth, looking for a way to save his Titan, and apparently died there.

worked against the Quintessons from the inside, stealing away secrets of their technoorganic engineering and their mind-control techology and eventually fleeing with his Titan and the Emberstone to an unknown location, and Rodimus reveals that they're here hunting a supposed "weapon" that the Quintessons are terrified of.

The Titan (name TBD) manages to tell Windblade the story of what really happened, that Quintus defected with the Emberstone to try to find a way to use it to create Cybertronians who were naturally immune to Quintesson control, who could live in peace away from the war and everything and never have to worry about being made into slaves, and all of the bots that have been trapped on Earth all this time turn to look at the Malto family -- and the Terrans.

End section four

aaaaaand that's more or less where I run out of ideas, because I have no clue how to effectively pay off this reveal with how the Terrans are supposed to defeat the Quintessons, but who knows, maybe I'll think of something

[quetzalpapalotl]

In Furman's early IDW Optimus wasn't written as carrying the Matrix because Nova was supposed to have taken it with him to the Dark Universe where it got corrupted. But then McCarthy wanted the Matrix in his story so Nova's anti Matrix was just the vague darkness thing and Optimus had the Matrix this whole time (so Nova didn't have it when he got lost). Then Roberts in Chaos Theory called Nominus a Matrix bearer, had the mysterious Senator do the noncon body mod of a Matrix casing in Orion and established that the Matrix can create life. Later he had Matrix have a map inside left by the Knights. Around the same time Dille and Metzen wrote that Orion found the Matrix by accident when he fell into an underground vault (so Zeta wasn't carrying it). In Shadowplay, Roberts further links Nominus and Sentinel's Primacy to the matrix while also establishing they carried fakes. Some issues later, Robert reveala the Matrix as the source of cold construction in a program started by Nova (so Nova was in possession of the Matrix one way or another) and that it was this that led to the Matrix being replaced with a fake by a guy who felt bad about the whole thing (presumably before Nova left?? Since the spark reserves are referred as Nova's and the guy felt bad over "Nova's heresy"). Barber writes that Nova became the ruler of the planet and named himselr Prime after unifying it after the First Civil War with no mention of the Matrix, but he does write it as an important artifacts for the mythos of the Primes in the colonies. Later Barber confirms that Zeta ruled with a fake Matrix also which was implied by everything else. Then that Solus did put the Matrix in the hilt of Prima's sword (and Nova had been Prima's lieutenant so maybe that's how he got it???). And finally finally we have Roberts reveal that Rung who is Primus who is special but not actually divine is a Matrix making machine and that anyone can tap into the Matrix if they believe in themselves enough.

There are some things I want to say about this but I don't know how.

[annabelle-creart]

Okay, maybe I just became kind of crazy but-

FUCKING SHIT!

Okay

The 13 Primes Au

Remember when I told you about Prima and Megatronus becoming more connected after Prima’s first panic attack? That wasn’t the end of the shit

Fellow Primes: Prima, Megatronus, Amalgamous, Micronus, Solus, Onyx and Liege

Probably you remember Liege used Megatronus to kill Amalgamous and then Solus? Okay, do you remember Micronus was too worried with the shit on the house that forgot completely about Quintus and now he blames himself for Quintus’ death? Also, did you know Micronus is remembered for being innocent? Now, you’re probably asking how am I supposed to fix the plot hole of Micronus knowing everything but not telling a thing about it?

It was because of the Chimera Stone, as much as I know, it’s an artifact (a relic) made by Solus, Onyx and Micronus for him to pass his power to the rest of the Primes and for contact them

Well, a headcanon of mine, to fix this plot hole, is that Micronus always knew something was off with Liege, but unfortunately, Liege, using the stone’s power, made some kind of curse that makes impossible for Micronus to say a thing about his worries about Liege, it was something that Liege created just for him, because of it, nothing related with Liege’s plans were revealed, that was the start of Micronus fall of grace, slowly losing both his sense of self seeing he was so easy to manipulate and the fact he had to mantain those secrets for himself instead of splitting it out like usual

But the worst came when Amalgamous died, because Micronus felt he wasn’t anymore in the mortal plains, finding both Prima and Megatronus on the crime scene, and you will ask, what is Prima there? Is Liege disguised as him? No, that was Prima, but he was too scared to do something that could hurt all his siblings and preferred to keep the secret, hurting himself of course, but having to hurt Micronus with the same curse Liege gave Prima time ago to gain part of his trust, and so, no one ever knew how Amalgamous just appeared dead on the middle of hallway (not like that, the three of them actually tried to make it look like an accident), then, it was Solus and Onyx, and Megatronus disappeared for a while, and with each day both Micronus and Prima had to deal with the fact they were part of the cause that killed 3 of their siblings, and also, Micronus guilt for not paying attention to Quintus’ alerts from the beginning, and not even with Liege’s death the curse could get broken, so, when Prima died, Micronus inmediatly throw himself to the Allspark, compared to his siblings, he didn’t did that because of the death, but because he knew by a premonition that the Allspark could make him mortal, becoming a minicon on his mortal lives after it, happening the thing that I already told you on the Servo and Mitsky’s song My Love Mine All Mine post, and yes, he remembers most of his life as Prime, because for some reason, compared with the rest, he never lost his memories as Micronus, but at least he could have a rest of it, saving all his power on the Chimera Stone and hiding it, so, Servo himself doesn’t have powers because of it

And that’s the story of how I traumatized Servo by accident…

Ta-dah…

[vigilante-bardock]

Awakening

Orion's POV

"WHAT?!" We all exclaimed as we looked at the artifact.

"Us?" I said, " Heroes?" There had to be some sort of mistake. There was no way in hell that something as powerful and mystical as this Matrix would ever choose us three: A Greek-Mexican guy conceived during his parents' late teens to early twenties. A Jewish otaku who's considered a shame to most of her relatives because of her natural pink hair. A Japanese-Irish guy who was the result of an affair gone wrong.

"There's got to be some kind of mistake, Mr. Matrix, sir," Ariel said, running a hand through her hair. "There's no way that the three of us are worthy of your power."

"Ah," The Matrix replied, glowing softly as it spoke. "But you are worthy. In more than one way." It turned its attention toward me and spoke. "Orion is humble and kind. He's always had the heart to do what's right and the strength to put his own life on the line for the sake of others." It then focused on Ariel. "Ariel is always thinking ahead and quick on her feet. When the going gets tough, she gets going." Finally, it came to Dion. "Dion has always been quiet but is never afraid to speak his mind when he needs to. When he sees the weak being hurt, he's more than willing to help them and take the punishment." 

"What about Ladybug and Cat Noir?" I asked. "They're probably more worthy than we are."

"There is darkness and corruption within the Black Cat..." The Matrix hissed as soon as I said that. "The Ladybug is filled with nothing but lust and an obsessive desire for perfection..." Its blue core glowed brightly. "It was the Guardians who murdered Sentinel Prime! The Miraculous wielders must never obtain the Matrix of Leadership, for if they do..." The Matrix seemed to pause for a moment as if it was scared.

"I think we get it." I said, "So let's say we do accept your power and we become heroes as you say we will."

"What will happen if we're confronted by Ladybug and Chat Noir and they try to force us to hand you over?" Dion inquired, speaking for all three of us. "I don't think they'll like the idea of other heroes operating independently from them."

"You will simply fight back." The Matrix replied nonchalantly. "They can never obtain the Matrix for in doing so they will cause a severe imbalance of the cosmos..."

"Who would we even be fighting against?" I asked. "Other than Hawkmoth I really can't think of anyone else." If there was one thing I learned from watching a lot of anime, it was that when someone was offered something like The Matrix or power like it, it was because of some great menace that was coming.

"A valid question," The ancient relic replied, "You would be fighting against the Decepticons, a faction of rogue Cybertronians led by an Emperor of Destruction. The one Sentinel Prime faced was Straxus." The Matrix then went on to explain that long ago, on the distant mechanical planet Cybertron, there was a race of robots that called themselves Cybertronians.

At one point they became engulfed in a war that eventually spread to other worlds, reaching Earth around the beginning of the Greek Empire. 

"The Greek Empire?" I exclaimed, making a realization. "That was 2,000 years ago! That means-"

"Indeed..." It proclaimed. "The lineage of Primes have existed since the time of Alexander the Great..." It then went on, talking about how when the Cybertrons, the good guys, were about to leave Cybertron, they all had a vision of the Matrix being here. After that, it then talked about how the first Prime was an ordinary Greek farmer named Pavlo who, along with his friends Ulysses and Aria, became Prima, Magnum, and Ena, the first humans ever chosen by the Matrix. And how when they died, It had chosen a Japanese woman named Aitō Hahaoya, who became Solus Prime along with her friends, Sumire Narukami and Shota Akagi, who became Yui Magnus and Izanagi-1.

"So it's kinda like One for All," Ariel whispered. "Always being passed on from generation to generation..."

"Indeed," The Matrix replied, "It has been passed down for centuries, always choosing someone worthy of its power."

"Now we've been chosen..." I trailed off. My thoughts were then interrupted by my phone ringing. I took it out only to receive a nasty surprise.

"Giant Transforming Robots invading Paris!" Ariel exclaimed her face in a state of shock and worry. "Nathaniel!" She gasped.

"Decepticons..." The Matrix said, its core glowing brightly. "The choice is yours. But know that if you do accept this power, you three will become targets of the Ladybug and Black Cat..."

I thought about this for a moment. "Can you give me and my friends a moment please?" I inquired, a little unsure about all this.

"Well?" Dion whispered. "What do you guys think?" 

"I think we should take the offer," Ariel replied. "It doesn't seem right to just let Ladybug and Chat Noir be the only heroes in Paris." She then growled a little. "Besides, it's like what the Matrix stated." Dion and I looked at each other in confusion.

"That being?" I inquired, unsure of what she meant.

She sighed. "I saw the way Ladybug looked at you, Orion. It wasn't an innocent look at all." Ariel's face turned angry as she continued. "She was undressing you with her eyes. I know that look because I used to do it to you too." My face began to turn red immediately after hearing that.

"That aside," Dion said, ignoring what Ariel said. "How do we even know that it's telling the truth?"

"We don't." Ariel replied, "but we also don't know if it's lying either, so we're at an impasse."

"We accept the power, there's no telling what could happen after we beat the Decepticons," Dion pointed out, "Orion, what do you think?" 

I thought hard about it. The power was tempting but there were also consequences. What would happen if we beat the Decepticons? What would happen if Ladybug and Cat Noir tried to obtain the Matrix?

Would they use it properly? Or would they try to abuse its power?

"I say we accept," Was my reply. "We owe the people of Paris that much."

Dion and Ariel looked at each other before nodding at me. "We'll follow you till the end, Orion," Dion commented.

"Just like how you've always had our backs." Ariel finished, her eyes burning with determination. 

I took a deep breath as I turned towards the Matrix. "We accept," I said, my eyes full of conviction. 

"Very well then...." The Matrix responded. "I have taken heed of your resolve...." The relic then slammed itself into my chest as it began merging with me. "Arise... Optimus Prime..." I fell to my knees as I tried to hold myself up. Two beams of light appeared from my chest and hit Ariel and Dion at the same time. Dion fell to the floor as if he had a nasty case of indigestion. Ariel, on the other hand, looked like she was gonna vomit from it.

The great transformation awaits, Autobots..." the Matrix stated. "Prepare to be...reformatted..." Our eyes began to glow a brilliant blue as we changed...

Nathaniel grunted as he ran away from the Decepticon Blackout, whose attention they had caught by accident when Nathaniel, being the dumbass he was, decided to free the people that were in the prisons, only for Blackout to suddenly pass by and chase him when he caught the artist picking the locks. That didn't blow his cover though. He didn't blow his cover was blown when he was questioned to recite the book "Towards Peace" (which he managed to somehow bullshit through). His cover was blown when the real Métsóded showed up. Luckily for Nathaniel though, he had managed to figure out how to fire the blaster that Blitzwing gave him.

He had told Alix it be better if they split up so they couldn't be followed by Blackout. "You cannot run forever, Gaian!" Blackout proclaimed as he chased after Nathaniel. 

But I can sure as hell try. Nathaniel thought as he turned a corner and hit a street lamp, causing him to collapse in pain. Shit! That fucking hurts! He thought as he put his hands over his nose, trying to stop the nose swelling.

"Time to die Gaian," he heard Blackout say. Nathaniel looked up and saw Blackout pull out a blaster from his chest before preparing to fire. 

See you soon, Mom... Nathaniel thought as he closed his eyes and welcomed death...

Only for a slash, and the clanging of metal to be heard and Blackout screaming his head off. Nathaniel opened his eyes to see a yellow robot with jet-like appendages destroying Blackout with no effort. The most unique thing about him though was the sigil on his chest. It wasn't purple and sinister like the Decepticon insignia, but red and resembling more of a face. He turned towards Nathaniel, revealing his burning blue optics.

Nathaniel and the new robot looked at each other, not taking each other's eyes off the other. The artist didn't know why, but for some reason, he thought the robot was very familiar.

"Go," the robot said in an unusually calm voice.

"Huh?" Nathaniel went confused as to why the robot had decided to help him.

"Go." The robot repeated, "Your friends are safe. Help is already on the way."

"Who are you?" Nathaniel asked, somewhat scared of this new arrival.

"I am what you will soon be." The robot replied, turning his back towards Nathaniel and activating his forearm wing blades. "A survivor."

Meanwhile...

Decepticon drones littered the streets of Paris as Megatron watched in glee. Paris was just the beginning. Soon all of Earth would be under Decepticon control. And not even Ladybug and Cat Noir will be able to stop me! Megatron thought with absolute glee.

"You've caused enough destruction, Megatron!" He heard a young masculine Gaian voice say. Megatron turned and saw a blue-haired boy with blue antennae on his ears and a white mask covering his mouth. His body was consistent with that of a 1979 Freightliner truck.

"I haven't even started!" Megatron cackled maniacally as he fired his fusion cannon at the boy. Instead of killing him as it should have, the blasts simply bounced off like nothing. "You!" He exclaimed in shock. "Who are you?!"

"Your worst nightmare, Megatron!" The boy said. He then proceeded to charge at Megatron, slamming into him. Thinking fast, Megatron ejected a beam saber from his hand only for it to be crushed by the boy.

He's moving faster than I can register! The giant alien warlord thought as the boy punched him in the torso. This strength! Only one type of being can have this amount of power! "You intrigue me, boy!" Megatron commented as he broke free from the Prime's grip. "You might be worth my time!" 

Ladybug

Ladybug grunted as she dodged another attack from the Vehicons drone she was fighting.

"Damn it!" She exclaimed, "these guys are tough!" She was suddenly tackled by a robotic cat, causing her to fall on her back. "Get... off... me!" Ladybug huffed as she tried kicking the mechanical feline off of her.

The cat simply growled as it prepared to bite when it was blasted on its side, turning both of their attention towards Ladybug's savior.

It was a red-pink car with white highlights and a red face on its front hood. Its appearance looked like that of a futuristic Convertable with guns coming out of its hood, firing at the cat. The robot cat then jumped off Ladybug and then landed on the car, trying to scratch it up.

The car then transformed, throwing the cat off, into a human girl that had hot pink hair and sapphire blue eyes. The newcomer's hair was done in a high ponytail, a silver ring keeping it in place. Her armor was the car reassembling itself into a more female humanoid figure. Attached to her back was a pair of wing-like appendages that had the front of the car mode on them. On her head a pair of white horns jutted from her head at an angle, reminding Ladybug of a rabbit or antelope.

"Figured you could use a hand." She commented as she pulled out a gun and started firing. "Name's Elita-1," the girl introduced herself. "The big bot said you guys need all the help you could get."

"It's just you?!" Ladybug asked, panic appearing on her face. "This is not how I wanted to go out!"

"Calm down, Bug girl." Elita-1 replied, her expression unchanging as she pulled out a beam saber, "Your partner's getting back up too." She turned toward Ladybug. "You know how to fight with a sword?"

"Yes?" The spotted heroine replied, a little confused by this new arrival's attitude. If she didn't know any better, she would've guessed that Elita-1 had planned for this.

"Aim for the cat's neck!" Elita-1 suddenly exclaimed, "You cause him to transform into their altmode!" Ladybug then dodged a swipe when she did just that, causing the cat to suddenly convert from a robot cat to some kind of cassette-like form.

Huh, Ladybug thought as she sliced at another Decepticon. Who knew? 

Ariel's POV

As much as I hated to say it, Ladybug wasn't that bad when it came to fighting with a sword. I dodged a few shots from a Vehicon drone before pulling out my blaster and shooting its head off. Then one Decepticon suddenly generated electricity from their hands. "Nice ability," I commented, sweeping their legs, "Mind if I try?" I grabbed his hand, which caused mine to glow for a second. 

"What the-?!" The con exclaimed before being shocked by me.

"That was quite the shocker," I said, before chuckling a little bit. Suddenly all the Decepticons around me began to groan from the pun. "That was a good one!" I exclaimed, glaring at them. Ladybug simply shook her head in response.

"Nobody can challenge the rule of Megatron!" A Decepticon named Lugnut exclaimed. I then drove up to him, transformed, and then uppercut him.

"Then call me that: nobody!" I exclaimed as he fell on his back. Acting fast, I then pulled my blasters and started firing at the giant, right before he got back up.

"Enough!" He screamed as he threw his hand back, causing a red button to appear, which started to beep rapidly. "In the glorious name of Megatron, I shall-" Lugnut didn't get to finish what he was saying, mainly because Ladybug threw her yoyo and pressed the button, causing the thing to go off, completely obliterating his arm. "GAH!" Lugnut screamed, holding a servo to his now missing arm.

"You read my mind," I commented turning toward Ladybug with a smile on my face.

"He was getting on my freaking nerves," Ladybug replied. "One more word about Megatron and I would have resorted to a Lucky Charm."

"So you could get a weapon to beat him up with?" I guessed, punching a Decepticon in the face when they tried to sneak at me from behind.

"No," Ladybug replied, throwing her yoyo into a Vehicon's optics, "So I could blow my brains out."

"Yikes," I said, wincing a little at that statement. Suddenly, the two of us heard a roar coming from the Louvre.

Chat Noir

Chat Noir was having a hard time. He just kept getting pummeled by the robots that called themselves the Combaticons and already used up a Cataclysm on a random mech. He was running on fumes at this point when he was hit in the back by the one called Swindle.

"That ring of yers could fetch a huge price on the black market," the Decepticon commented. "I think I'll take it as a form of collateral." He pinned Chat Noir down as he stretched a servo towards his hand, ready to remove the ring.

Suddenly a honking sound was heard, getting their attention. A white 1979 Freightliner truck with a red and blue car carrier drove into Swindle, causing the other Combaticons to scatter. Suddenly, the truck shifted into a more humanoid form. The white truck shifted into a humanoid form as the pieces of the red and blue carrier covered its head, shoulders, chest, forearms, thighs, and feet.

"By the order of the Tyrest accord and in violation of the rules set in place by the Geneva convention you are hereby under arrest for crimes against humanity and Cybertron!" The boy exclaimed, aiming his blaster at the Combaticons.

"A Magnus?!" Onslaught exclaimed.

"That's Ultra Magnus to you, criminals!" The boy corrected as he began firing at them.

"Who're you?!" Chat Noir exclaimed, confused at the arrival of this new individual. "Are you some kind of Miraculous hero?!"

"No time to explain," Ultra Magnus replied, smashing a Vechicon's head in. "I'll buy you some time so you can recharge!" Chat Noir stood in shock before being snapped back to reality by his new ally.

"WHAT'RE YOU WAITING FOR?!" Ultra Magnus growled as he beheaded a drone. "GO!"

Dion's POV

When Chat Noir had left, I immediately turned my attention toward the Combaticons. "You have two options here, 'Cons..." I said, pulling out my Magnus Hammer. "Either you surrender right here and now or I beat you all into submission and turn you all in myself."

"How 'bout we go for option 3: Where we kick your ass and send you to the scrapheap!" Onslaught exclaimed, pulling his gun and firing at me.

"Think I'll pass on that," I replied as I dodged the blaster fire and hid behind a wall. I looked up and realized that Onslaught was above me. A second later all five Combaticons had surrounded me. "Can we talk?" Suddenly,  A roar was heard coming from the Louvre, gaining the Combaticons' attention. Realizing my chance, I pulled out my hammer and did a 3 Stooges slap on their heads, effectively knocking them out.

Now to investigate that noise. I thought as I transformed and followed the source of the noise, running over any Decepticons that were in my way.

Megatron

"You're one very persistent little Gaian!" Megatron groaned as he, a 28 ft tall robot, clashed blades with a 5'8" Gaian male. "I admire that in an opponent!"

"My name," The Prime replied as he struggled against the strength of Megatron's blade, "is Optimus Prime!"

"Then let our battle be as memorable as those of the ancients, Optimus Prime!" Megatron proclaimed.

"You destroy everything you touch, Megatron!" Optimus Prime said, his hand becoming an ax.

"That's because everything I touch is food for my hunger... Hunger for power!" Megatron's hand became a purple flail.

"No!" Optimus Prime proclaimed as he pointed at the Decepticon warlord, "I'm going to end your hunger once and for all, Megatron!" Optimus then swung his ax at Megatron, missing him by an inch or two.

"Almost Prime," Megatron mocked, "but almost doesn't get the job done!"

"You're old, Megatron!" Optimus Prime exclaimed. "Yesterday's model, ready for the scrap heap!" He dodged a swing.

"We'll see who's ready for the scrap heap!" Megatron retorted.

"Junk!" Optimus retorted. "That's what you are, junk!"

"SILENCE!!" Megatron roared. He then smacked Optimus in the face, knocking him down. "Looks like you're going to the scrap heap, Prime!" Megatron walked up to Optimus Prime.

Optimus Prime looked at the Decepticon warlord. The blow had rendered his left arm and eye useless. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" Optimus said, pulling out his ion blaster and firing at Megatron.

"A trick?!" Megatron commented as he dodged it. "I'm almost impressed, Prime!" He then stomped on Optimus Prime's chest, causing him to drop his blaster. "As I said before though," Megatron then kicked him across the battlefield and into a wall. "Almost doesn't get the job done!" The resulting blow knocked his opponent out.

Orion's POV

Pathetic!

Stupid!

What the hell was I thinking, taking this job in the first place?! I fight Megatron for a few moments only to be knocked out by him kicking me into a wall.

I needed to win!

I wanted to win!

I had to win!

Then let us help you...

Megatron smiled as he walked toward Optimus Prime's unconscious body. Once he removed the Matrix from the Prime's body, there would be nothing that could stop him! "Let's see what makes you tick, boy." Megatron cackled as he reached for the boy's chest. Much to his surprise though, Optimus grabbed Megatron's index finger. Then, without warning, Optimus began crushing it. Thinking fast, Megatron fired his fusion at Optimus, causing him to let go.

What was that?! The Decepticon warlord thought as he jumped back a few feet. That blow should have knocked him out! Then to his horror, the smoke cleared, revealing Optimus Prime with even more battle damage. His faceplate was partially gone, exposing most of his mouth, which had a chunk of his left cheek missing, revealing some of his teeth. His left arm hung uselessly as his chest windows were cracked, having taken most of the blast. The Prime looked at Megatron with one eye, the other shut closed.

"What are you boy?!" Megatron exclaimed. "How are you still capable of standing after an attack like that?!"

Optimus said nothing. Instead, he reared his head back and opened his mouth, the remains of the faceplate moving. 

A loud, inhumane sound was heard as it spread across the entire country. It was said that everyone who heard it felt a foreboding sense of dread.

(Warning: Do not wear headphones at full volume.)

Optimus got up and he began charging at Megatron, still roaring as he jumped into the air, landing on Megatron's chassis. Megatron then shot his fusion cannon at the Prime, sending him flying only for the berserker to land on his feet. Optimus spun around simply to continue his assault on Megatron.

Megatron quickly activated a forcefield that prevented the Prime from coming too close to him.

Optimus Prime slammed into the shield, growling before painfully opening his eye and lifting his left arm. Suddenly without warning, Optimus Prime's left arm and face fixed themselves, his right eye doing the same. With full functionality restored to both body parts, Megatron could only watch on in horror as the Prime then began to rip the shield apart, allowing an entry point to appear for him to step through.

Impossible! Megatron thought, his face now in a state of shock. He managed to break through the forcefield like it wasn't even there! He then aimed his fusion cannon and fired directly at the Prime. Optimus then roared as a decagonal shield appeared in front of him, shielding him from Megatron's Fusion Cannon, the resulting impact causing the blast to dissolve into nothing. He managed to raise an AT shield like it was no big deal?! Megatron thought as he dodged a swipe from his opponent.

Without warning, Optimus stopped for a moment, almost like he was contemplating something. Then, he roared again as blue and yellow spheres began popping into existence, stopping around him before forming into a dark green sphere in front of his mouth.

Before Megatron could have a chance to assess the situation, Optimus fired the energy sphere, intentionally missing Megatron by a few centimeters, which made it go into the sky before hitting a random Seeker. The result created an explosion so large and intense, it would have made Michael Bay jealous and terrified at the same time.

Megatron, realizing what Optimus intended to do, did the last thing anyone expected the warlord to do. "DECEPTICONS!" He screamed, getting every surviving Decepticon's attention. "WE MUST RETREAT! OUR OPPONENTS HAVE THE UPPER HAND IN POWER!" He then began flying off as the other Decepticons followed his orders, intent on preserving their own lives. "YOU'VE WON THIS TIME, AUTOBOTS!" He proclaimed, shaking a servo at them. A green portal then opened up, allowing the Decepticons to escape.

For a moment, all was quiet. Then all hell broke loose as cheering was heard from the people. "Did we just...?" Optimus wondered, suddenly regaining control of himself.

1 hour later...

Ladybug looked over the reconstruction of Paris as the people did what they could to return to their normal lives as much as possible. It wasn't easy though, given the state the city was currently in. It was odd enough that when she summoned a lucky charm, she got a face.

What baffled her, even more, was when she fought the Decepticons, the girl who had come to help her wore the same sigil on her body. Now, the boy she was looking at seemed to have the same sigil on his left shoulder. Was there some kind of connection? Maybe by interacting with him, she'll get answers. 

She approached the boy from behind, hoping to somehow catch him off guard. "Hey," she heard Chat Noir say, getting the boy's attention. Ladybug groaned instantly as she smacked herself on the forehead. "Thanks for the help, you saved our butts there today."

The boy simply chuckled, "No problem," he replied, "You looked like you needed help, so we helped ya out." his faceplate moved up and down as if to indicate he was talking.

That's kinda cute actually... Ladybug thought before shaking her head. "We just wanted to thank you, Monsieur..." she said, before blanking out on his name.

"My name is Optimus Prime," the red one, the leader probably, introduced himself as a girl that wore pink car armor and a tall guy with blue and red truck armor walked up from behind him.

"I'm Elita-1." The pink girl replied, "Need me to kick some aft or ask for dating advice, I'm your chick." She pulled out a knife and twirled it, sending a shiver down Chat Noir's spine, almost as if he knew she could kick his ass with ease.

"You may call me Ultra Magnus," The tall guy greeted, "I hope we get along more in the future." He bowed to show respect towards Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"Are you three miraculous wielders as well?" Chat Noir asked.

"Not quite," Optimus replied, "We don't use miraculous like you guys. We rely on something else to give us power."

"No need to lie," Ladybug said, "You're just more Miraculous holders like me and Chat Noir."

"He's not lying, Ladybug," Ultra Magnus added. "We don't have any Miraculous to fight with." He then pointed towards Optimus Prime's chest, "What we use is something called the Matrix of Leadership."

"Regardless of what you use," Ladybug remarked before continuing. "I just want to say thanks, but we could have handled it ourselves."

Elita-1 scoffed at that. "Yeah," she muttered under her breath, "If they were Akumas."

"Beg pardon?" Ladybug said, causing Elita to look at her.

"Those weren't Akumatized people, Ladybug." Elita explained, "those guys were, dare I say it, aliens from another world." She gestured towards the destruction that the Decepticons had wrought. "They didn't come here because someone got angry, the Decepticons are an army of robots that are set to universal domination."

"And I'm the Queen of England," Ladybug replied. It was then that they heard a beeping noise coming from the duo.

"That would be our cue to leave." Optimus stated, "We will meet another time, Ladybug." He then turned towards his teammates and said, "Autobots! Transform and Roll Out!" The thing that happened next surprised her: they all transformed into vehicles and drove off.

Orion's POV

"I can't believe we just saved a city!" Ariel huffed as we drove away from the Miraculous duo, "I was so fucking scared the entire time!"

"You and us both Ariel," I replied as we drove towards an ally. "Although, now that I think about it, driving away from Ladybug and Chat Noir was probably not the best idea."

"What're you talking about?" Dion asked as we drove into an abandoned alley. "Their timers were running down and we had no choice anyway. You know what the Matrix said about those two."

"It makes me wonder though," Ariel commented as we transformed and shifted back to our human selves. "The Matrix said something about Ladybug being full of lust and having a desire for perfection." She recalled, dusting off her skirt "Do you think it was talking about the woman behind the mask or the miraculous itself?"

"I'm more worried about what the Matrix said about Chat Noir," Dion stated as he smoothed out his sleeves. "It said that the Black Cat was full of darkness and corruption." He turned towards me, "What does the Matrix say about that, Orion?"

"I don't know," I answered, pushing my glasses up as the three of us walked towards the apartment. "It hasn't said anything to me since our little adventure in the cavern." I pressed my hand against my chest, gesturing to the Matrix being inside my chest. "The only thing that I even remember that even sounded like it was speaking was when I heard someone say to let them help me..."

Ariel unlocked the apartment door, letting the three of us in to see if Nathaniel was around. All we saw was the destroyed remains of a coffee machine-based Decepticon along with tiny holes in the walls.

"This place is a mess," I stated. "Hope Nathaniel's okay." 

"Ya know, Orion," Ariel said, fixing the apartment up. "I was thinking, as heroes we ought to have our own catchphrase."

"What do you propose?" I asked.

"How about, 'You can fight, Transformer!'" She suggested, fixing up a door that had fallen over.

"I feel like that's something you'd hear in a song on a hentai show..." I cringed, remembering when I accidentally played a broadcast of Avengers Kiss Players. I shuddered at the thought.

"What about 'Heroes Together, Autobots Forever!'" Dion suggested, getting a look from both Ariel and me.

"That sounds too much like Power Rangers, Dion," Ariel commented, a sweatdrop appearing on her forehead.

"Till All Are One..." I heard a voice say in my head. I didn't know why, but for some reason, it felt right to say.

"I've got it!" I said, snapping my fingers. "Till All Are One!"

"Huh?" Both Ariel and Dion went, confused by what I said.

"It's the battle cry that our predecessors would say before they headed into battle," I explained. "Every time they thought they were about to die, the Prime would say a prayer followed by the phrase 'Till All Are One.'" Ariel and Dion looked at each other before smiling at me. Smiling back, I knew what to do next. "Let this mark a new beginning as we march forward into a new era of our lives." I looked up at the ceiling. "TILL ALL ARE ONE!" I screamed, holding my fist up, proclaiming the battle cry that our predecessors had once said.

"TILL ALL ARE ONE!" Ariel and Dion said with me as they too put their fists in the air. Right then and there, we truly felt like we were a team and it felt like nothing or no one could stop us.

Clank!

We turned around to see Nathaniel, who was wearing an eyepatch on his right eye and his left arm in a sling. He had dropped his phone apparently when had he walked in on us. And what could he say about the stunning revelation that his cousin and her friends were the ones that had saved Paris other than-

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

[transingthoseformers]

I am very fond of the Quintessons, mostly because my favorite Transformers Era is Season 3 of G1 so incredibly biased and I loved Quintessa's design in Bayverse. More lore! It's a pretty productive sick day, since I'm turning my notes into fairytales. Sorry if their a little stodgy sounding. I read The Silmarillion way too often and it definitely impacted how I write myth and lore.

THE GREAT GIFTS

The celebration that welcome the Quintessons lasted thirteen days and thirteen nights. Cybertronians and Quintessons interacted happily exchange stories and gifts and friendship. The First Born, who named herself Quintessa to honor her Creator, was welcomed directly into the homes of the Thirteen who greeted her as they would have their brother and Prima gave her Quintus's seat at their table. They marveled at the new strange forms the Quintessons took as she marveled at they and their people’s ability to change shape, some taking aspects of the Quintessons into their own forms during their time together.

Gifts were exchanged each day and on the final day, Quintessa presented them herself. The highest of these gifts among them though were reserved for the Thirteen, built solely by Quintessa’s hands.

Before the Thirteen’s eyes these gifts transformed into small Cybertronians with frames smaller even than Minibots. Quintessa introduced them as Mini-Cons, her first creation to serve and foster among the Cybertronians as an everlasting show of the link between their people. Each gift was specially crafted to assist and amplify each Prime’s power. All accepted them graciously and only Micronus and Liege Maximo remained somewhat wary of them, but did not turn away their new companions.

Each artifact’s component pieces in turn swore allegiance to their Prime beginning great and long lasting friendships. Or so it seemed.

For Megatronus, she gifted the Requiem Blaster. From the blaster came the single Mini-Con, Requiem who swore herself as Megatronus partner in combat forever more. Moved by her fierceness, Megatronus dropped to his own knees and swore himself to be her partner and helpmate in all things forever more. They became the first Conjunx Endura swearing themselves to each other and going forth in many fierce battles against Spawn leftover from the First War against Unicron in defense of their people.

For Prima, she gifted the Star Saber and Skyboom Shield. Assistants to him and his focus on law and order they worked with him and his administrators to formalize society and shared rules among newborn Cybertron. A great respect was shared between them, though they remained somewhat aloof.

For Micronus, she gifted the Apex Armor. The components were the largest Mini-Cons, larger even than Micronus and once they separated did not form again as instead of armor Micronus missed Quintus's companionship and found traces of his brother in them. They all took great joy in their friendship, never wearing the armor as intended. They became near indistinguishable from his thriving chaotic nest of Minibots, only standing out by the distinct audial horns the Twins possessed.

For Vector, she gifted the Frozen Watch. This watch was the Mini-Con Scorpia serious and grounded and clever, she froze time linking Vector back to the present so he did not loose himself in the infinite. She grounded him and settled him in ways no one could and he revered and honored her, leading slowly to a blooming affection and eventually romantic love. They are the second Conjunx Endura.

For Solus, she gifted the Creation Lathe. It’s six components became her Torchbearers and closest confidantes with whom she’d plan her ideas and help her focus and execute them. With them she raised her beloved students and built her greatest and longest lasting achievements. To them she bore her Spark and they all claimed themselves as Amica Endura, forming the first Sorority.

For Alchemist, she gifted the Ten. A helpmate and friend the two experimented and laughed daily. Ten had clever hands and was a well of creativity, able to transformers into a great vat to brew in.

For Onyx, she gifted the Triptych Mask. The somber triplets become children to Onyx doted on and squirreled away among his many formed children, their own animalistic forms never once thought of oddly.

For Nexus, she gifted the Omni-Saber.

For Adaptus, she gifted the Scythe.

For Epistemus, she gifted the Cortex Helm.

For Mortilus, she gifted the Ledger of the Departed.

For Liege Maximo, she gifted the Chaos Edge.

Of these last five their names were lost as they themselves were in the War that would erupt between the siblings. But this was not yet known and the partings at the end of this celebration was joyful.

Fr i was *just* talking about bayverse Quintessa with someone earlier! The Quintessons fascinates me because of not only how unique they are, but how big of an impact they have on everyone/everything around them.

Of course, it started off with gifts and celebration. That tracks.

It's so interesting how both the Quintessons abd Cybertronians are curious about each other's forms

Mmmhm and the minicons come into play

Interesting to see how closely Megatronus took to Requiem, considering what I know of Megatronus prime.

It's super duper interesting to see how the minicons become/start a Big Thing for the various primes, I'm staring at Solus yes yes

Damnnn makes sense some parts of the tale were lost to time, after all that tends to happen

[tigressaofkanjis]

Transformers: Lost World - All 14 Legendary Transformers

Legendary Transformers are only found after all 186 Transformers have been documented and going to the Universal Nexus will trigger their release. They can be found in only one spot per bot in the overworld in all available colors that can spawn, but no outbreak can occur so hunting all colors (if you do that) would take some time. Unlike regular Transformers, they have a unique radiance among their color schemes. 

Alpha Trion and Amalgamous Prime require a specific amount of Artifacts recovered to appear in the overworld however. At least 15 out of 50 total Artifacts must be obtained to get them to appear in their respective areas. Unicron requires 10 Relics found, and Primus requires all animals of any type documented.

187. Prima (Leader) - Can be found in Basic, Chevron, and Hexagonal Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Waves (White and Cerulean with White Lights), Howlite (White and Grey with White Lights) 

Regal Colors: Forbidden Depths (Slate, Deep Teal, and Deep Grey with White Lights), Futuristic (Blue, Grey, and Red with Blue Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Silver, Gold, and White with White Lights; Manticore), Shattered Glass (Black, Red, and Orange with Red Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Origin Form (Gold and Cerulean with Blue Lights), Prime Guardian (Dark Blue, Gold, and White with Blue Lights) 

188. Vector Prime (Leader) - Can be found in Basic, Tobiano, and Saddled Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Charm (Silver, Gold, and Magenta with Pink Lights), Ivory Glamour (White, Gold, and Red with Red Lights) 

Regal Colors: Diamond Ring (White, Cerulean, and Silver with Blue Lights), Imperial (Silver, Gold, and Purple with Purple Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (White, Pink, and Purple with Pink Lights; Unicorn), Shattered Glass (Dark Green, Copper, and Dark Silver with Yellow Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Galaxy Force (Windsor Tan, Black, and Orange with Orange Lights), Key Collector (Brown, Black, and Silver with Pink Lights) 

189. Micronus Prime (Leader) - Can be found in Basic, Tribal, and Triangular Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Snowflake (White and Baby Blue with Blue Lights), Aqua Spring (Deep Blue, Light Blue, and Teal with Teal Lights) 

Regal Colors: Spatial Wonder (Blue, Gold, and Silver with Blue Lights), Ominous (Teal, Black, and Silver with Blue Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Silver, Cerulean, Gold, and Green with Green Lights; Cockatrice), Shattered Glass (Orange, Yellow, and Gold with Red Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Cloudburst (Crimson, Deep Blue, and Black with Blue Lights), Minicon Master (Gold, Teal, Baby Blue, and Dark Blue with Yellow Lights) 

190. Solus Prime (Leader) - Can be found in Basic, Flames, and Tribal Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Purpurite (Purple, Lavender, and Gold with Yellow Lights), Techno Rave (Dark Blue, Purple, and Gold with Light Blue Lights) 

Regal Colors: Black Citrine (Black, Yellow, and Orange with Red Lights), Purple Labradorite (Purple, Black, and Brown with Yellow Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Gold, Tan, Purple, and Lavender with Purple Lights; Behemoth), Shattered Glass (Light Green, White, Yellow, and Light Orange with Orange Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Titan Master (Burgundy, Teal, and Silver with Yellow Lights), Blacksmith (Black, Silver, Indigo, and Copper with Purple Lights) 

191. Liege Maximo (Leader) - Can be found in Basic, Leopard, and Wide Double Striped Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Old Shed (Green, Dark Brown, and Black with Green Lights), Malachite (Dark Green, Green, Light Green with White Lights) 

Regal Colors: Baptisia (Purple, Camo Green, and Deep Purple with Green Lights), Venom (Black, Green, and Silver with Yellow Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Dark Brown, Black, Deep Green, and Tan with Green Lights; Minotaur), Shattered Glass (Red, Silver, White, and Light Yellow with Yellow Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Maximum Disguise (Silver, Pink, and Green with Green Lights), Sinister Motive (Black, Brown, Green, and Red with Red Lights) 

192. Megatronus Prime (Leader) - Can be found in Basic, Tiger, and Flames Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Obsidian Sun (Black, Orange, and Deep Copper with Orange Lights), Supernova (Black, Red, Orange, and Silver with Red Lights) 

Regal Colors: Witch Doctor (Lavender, Black, and Slate Purple with Red Lights), Blood Moon (Black and Crimson with Red Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Dark Brown, Tangerine, and Crimson with Red Lights; Dragon), Shattered Glass (White, Blue, and Baby Blue with Blue Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Cold Spark (Dark Blue, Teal, and Black with Purple Lights), Fallen Prime (Grey, Yellow, Orange, and Black with Yellow Lights) 

193. Quintus Prime (Leader) - Can be found in Basic, Mackerel, and Saddled Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Citrus Melody (Green, Orange, and Yellow with Orange Lights), Tropical Dusk (Burgundy, Amber, and Lavender with Orange Lights) 

Regal Colors: Spicy Pepper (Orange, Green, and Red with Orange Lights), Sphene Titanite (Gold, Green, and Burgundy with Orange Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Green, Dark Red, Purple, and Dark Blue with Red Lights; Kraken), Shattered Glass (Blue, Light Green, and White with Green Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Quintesson (White, Green, Orange, and Slate with Green Lights), Emberstone (Indigo, Green, and Lavender with Purple Lights) 

194. Amalgamous Prime (Leader) – Can be found in Basic, Hexagonal, and Tribal Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Autumn Night (Gold, Orange, and Black with Yellow Lights), Elegant Eclipse (Gold, Black, and Silver with Yellow Lights) 

Regal Colors: Cauliflower (Purple, Green, and Orange with White Lights), Legrandite (Gold and Yellow with Orange Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Tan, Brown, Grey, and Green with Yellow Lights; Chimera), Shattered Glass (Green, Red, and Black with Green Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Shapeshifter (Pink, Yellow, Blue, and Red with Purple Lights), Cuttlefish (Brown, Cream, White, and Red with White Lights) 

195. Alchemist Prime (Leader) – Can be found in Basic, Wide Double Striped, and Tiger Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Zultanite (Camo Green, Windsor Tan, and Grey with Blue Lights), Neutral (Tan and Grey with Yellow Lights) 

Regal Colors: Aurora (Purple, Green, and Black with Purple Lights), Agamidae (Dark Green, Amber, and Red with Blue Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Tan, Purple, Blue, and Gold with Blue Lights; Sphinx), Shattered Glass (Dark Blue, Crimson, and Silver with Red Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Submarauder (Teal, Blue, Pink, and White with Blue Lights), Barkeep (Orange, Gold, Silver, and Cream with Blue Lights) 

196. Nexus Prime (Leader) – Can be found in Basic, Wide Sports Striped, and Ocelot Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Crimson Rosella (Red, Blue, and Black with Red Lights), Berry Platter (Blue, Red, and Teal with Red Lights) 

Regal Colors: Parade (Cerulean, Teal, and Crimson with Red Lights), Cosmic Nebula (Blue, Black, and Pink with Pink Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Green, Red, Blue, and Teal with Red Lights; Mesoamerican Quetzalcoatl), Shattered Glass (Yellow, Slate, Black, and Purple with Blue Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Regal Throne (Orange, Grey, Gold, and Silver with Red Lights), Pink Moon (Maroon, Pink, Rose Gold, and Slate with Pink Lights) 

197. Onyx Prime (Leader) – Can be found in Basic, Leopard, and Tiger Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Gothic Luxury (Black, Gold, and Crimson with Red Lights), Dragon’s Breath (Dark Brown, Orange, and Grey with Yellow Lights) 

Regal Colors: Regal Galaxy (Black, White and Gold with Yellow Lights), Vampire (Black, Purple, and Red with Red Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Copper, Gold, Orange, and Silver with Red Lights; Hippogriff-Dragon Hybrid), Shattered Glass (Silver, Purple, Lavender, and Green with Blue Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Twisted Senator (Teal, Dark Blue, Orange, and Yellow with Red Lights), Mythical Macaw (Dark Red, Yellow, Blue, and Teal with Red Lights) 

198. Alpha Trion (Leader) – Can be found in Basic, Triangular, and Narrow Single Striped Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Fuchsia (Pink, Purple, and Gold with Blue Lights), Rose Bouquet (Red, Magenta, and Yellow with Blue Lights),  

Regal Colors: Pink Dream (Pink, Purple, and Maroon with Purple Lights), Tourmaline (Pink, Green, and Dark Green with Red Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Purple, Maroon, Grey, and Black with Blue Lights; Winged Tibetan Mastiff), Shattered Glass (Blue, Black, Dark Grey, and Dark Blue with Red Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Landmine (Gold, Silver, and Slate with Green Lights), Archivist (Cream, Tan, Navy Blue, and Maroon with Blue Lights) 

199. Unicron (Holoform/Leader) – Can be found in Basic, Tribal, and  Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Halloween (Orange, Black, and Grey with Orange Lights), Shaded Canyon (Copper, Purple, and Black with Green Lights) 

Regal Colors: Starry Night (Black, Indigo, and Copper with Purple Lights), Tiger’s Eye (Orange, Black, and Crimson with Red Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Brown, Gold, Windsor Tan, and Black with Purple Lights; Wendigo-Kirin Hybrid), Shattered Glass (Blue, Gold, and Silver with Orange Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Entity Ingestor (Purple, Yellow, and Slate with Red Lights), Galactic Nightmare (Black, Silver, Slate, and Red with Red Lights) 

200. Primus (Holoform/Leader) – Can be found in Basic, Tiger, and Chevron Patterns. 

Normal Colors: Star Sapphire (Slate Gray and Deep Blue with Blue Lights), Constellation (Navy Blue and Silver with Blue Lights) 

Regal Colors: Mystic Mist (Slate, Lavender, and Yellow with Yellow Lights), Decorum (Silver, Copper, and Indigo with Purple Lights) 

Rare Colors: Beast (Blue, Baby Blue, and White with White Lights; Phoenix), Shattered Glass (Dark Green, Orange, and Brown with Red Lights) 

Legendary Colors: Holoform (Gold, Copper, Red, and Blue with Blue Lights), Dark Energon (Silver, Black, Purple, and Lavender with Purple Lights) 

Combiners: Only obtainable by collecting all component Transformers and putting them on your field team. Combiners rely on high energy and trust to combine, and the power only lasts for a few minutes until they are drained. They will separate until the energy rebuilds. As a Combiner, they can collect massive amounts of resources with one swipe. To have the best results, take all components to the location of your choice and have them combine to then take on a heavy-resource area. They can destroy pretty much everything! Unlike regular Transformers, Combiners don’t have set color schemes, relying only on the individual components than being their own entity. 

201. Devastator 

202. Bruticus 

203. Menasor 

204. Superion 

205. Optimus Maximus 

206. Volcanicus 

[thenamesblurrito]

eleven whole ask dumps

that’s a LOT! topics this time are: survivalists, cavemen, survival tv shows, Bloodron, plantformers, food storage, eating underwater, beast mode mouths, Rodimus and Abominus and flammability, and Rock Lords

as a matter of fact yes! it’s sort of difficult, because it’s a labor intensive process to mine, purify, distill, and store enough energon and other foodstuffs all by yourself unless your alt mode is like an energon refinery or something. so it isn’t a quick and easy solution for just anybody who has issues with the current regime. as it stands, it’s genuinely easier and safer for many junkers to hang around in the city than it is to rough it in the wilds, otherwise they’d be gone in a heartbeat.

but!

there’s certainly been folks who prefer roughing it to living in civilization. this has been true throughout history and isn’t specifically driven by the corruption of the Stratocracy. a popular counterculture in Kup’s youth was spelunkers/squatters who would specifically seek out old buried ruins and underground places to live in, like cavemen if you will, just because they could. there are antisocial folks and hermits and extreme introverts who would rather homestead than deal with anyone in their vicinity. there’s one crazy kook of a dedicated scientist in particular that i am still waffling about actually showing in SNAP’s storyline, but old gramma Glyph is definitely still kicking somewhere in the Forbidden Zone and has been since before size classes became a thing! she would absolutely fill the role this ask describes (not the same Glyph as the JAAT student, mind you, it’s just another common name)

there are still people who live in caves. no, not the folks i mentioned in the above answer, i mean like there are entire underground cities and everything. there’s a lot of stuff down there anyway! living underground is not unusual on Cybertron and a good percentage of infrastructure and industry isn’t even visible from the surface in some places

that said, there is archaeological evidence that the original Cybertronian civilizations actually developed below ground and migrated upward/outward! First City, a set of ruins swallowed by the Rust Sea, is the aptly named earliest appearance of a proper settlement aboveground, but it shows evidence of being a base camp before a proper city, and contains artifacts and materials thought to have been taken from belowground before being put in the city. the entire concept of Simfur was of a holy temple city that was already supposed to be underground before some great cataclysm sundered it so far beneath the surface that not even its original inhabitants could find it. so “cavepeople” were, in a way, the default from which mecha have branched out from to live on the surface

and re: eating mechanimals, that’s definitely a (relatively) recent cultural value, and it isn’t even universal. there’s been people eating mechanimals throughout history, and likewise there have been people squeamish and disapproving about it for just as long. the current social climate is disapproving, but that’s variable depending on when and where you look into history

fsdfhgljfsdghfk yknow what sure. on Carcer and Eukaris specifically because these are the cultures i think would be into that. the more widespread popular version of this is probably space travel survival instead of on-planet wilderness. like can you pilot a ship for a vorn with limited supplies out into the black and make it to your destination with minimal contact kind of challenge. not unlike those solo sailing challenges i suppose

okay so this was a joke ask from Jensen that has now fleshed out a piece of SNAP history thanks

Bloodron was a tyrant of Caminus during the Prime Wars who took over after the murder of the previous de facto Camien leaders, Solus Prime’s children Magnum and Pyra (the original Magnus and Mistress of Flame, respectively). he was successful where other conquerors had not been in part because of his ruthless execution of the original usurpers who murdered the twins, instead of trying to pander and please. while his methods were cruel, he was debatably the safest option for leadership at the time and was instrumental in putting down further unrest on the colony as even Cybertron was swallowed by chaos. he and his enemy/conjunx/??? Convoy (a name at this point, not yet a fancy title) worked together to thwart scheming insurrectionists vying for power amongst their familial and political blocs, which resulted in a mostly unified culture for Caminus many centuries later and gave them a legacy of being a very strong, put-together colony. the academic community remembers him and his period of history with mixed feelings. while what he did for Caminus was pretty good, all things considered, he was not exactly a good person himself

excellent questions!! i think the only plantformer i’ve got in my cast list atm is Botanica so i won’t have a lot of examples here. unlike beastformers looking like mechanimals, not a lot of plantformers actually take after a specific species of cyberflora. most seem to generate their own unique specimen, although in root mode many of them are quintoid frametypes

since cyberflora grow out of/need to be rooted to some kind of hotspots, plantformers often have very strong sparks, or at least a very high degree of energy cycling, and act as their own personalized hotspot. this gives them quicker and better than average healing, but it does mean they have a higher metabolism. some of them have alt modes that can process energon and/or package it. these are considered “fruit bearing” cyberflora alt modes, and are often given fuel processing functions much like vending machine, distillery, or refinery alt mode. this is really the only kind of food you’ll get from a plantformer, even though actual cyberflora are used for food in many many more ways than just energon fruit. most plantformer alt mode products won’t be eaten and are instead used in their function’s industry, or perhaps as a rare and expensive knick-knack in the same vein as some kind of handmade collector’s item

their mobility isn’t usually very high, in keeping with how most cyberflora function. filling a niche in the ecosystem may look like sifting metal, crystallizing minerals, conducting and rerouting electricity, or another small but significant part of planetary upkeep. as such, the majority of plantformers have alt modes designed to slot into a given environment where they can participate in the ecosystem, often moving only at the whims of their environment. a heavily cabled transmission tower tree meant to fit in amongst buzzing mangroves will have flexible bases and strong grounding roots as it connects to other trees with its cables. a lone lightning rod pine out on the prairie will have similar grounding roots that go even deeper and broader, meant to conduct lightning all the way to a planetary leyline, and windmill sequoias have perhaps the sturdiest, broadest trunks to brace their height against the movement of their milling boughs. on the opposite end of the spectrum, tangled cable tumbleweeds can unplug at any moment and be set adrift to seek out any new crevice or cranny to worm its wires into. it really depends on the plantformer’s individual alt mode. Botanica has root cabling to keep her steady when in alt mode, but her leaves and boughs are still mobile

this actually has less to do with stuff like mold or sour milk and more to do with expiring chemicals, decaying materials, and loss of charge. the point of energon is how it inherently carries a charge instead of just being burnt for power, but if you leave energon or batteries or what have you for too long, it’ll lose that charge. maybe it can be recharged, but you’ve lost an important part of your fuel just from waiting too long. undercharged energon is better than nothing, but it won’t fix your lethargy. expired chemicals can either be inert and useless or highly flammable/explosive/dangerous in some way depending on what it is and what kind of reaction it had over time. you don’t really wanna raid the pantry and pick up something that explodes in your hand because it expired a month ago. and decay isn’t always bad, with stuff like steel woolies turning into rust bunnies, but if you’re need an iron meal and instead find just a hunk of corroded rusty junk, that’s not gonna meet your nutritional needs. proper food storage is about minimizing corrosion and decay, preserving or restoring charge, and preventing adverse chemical reactions when possible, as well as keeping out pests like scraplets

that said, i think edible-grade energon can retain its charge for... at least a good while? it’ll longer than a month and still be a full meal, i’d say, if it’s just straight liquid energon on a regular charge. that’s why it’s kept in glass despite its delicacy, since glass isn’t a good conductor. so community pantries, dead drops, hideyholes and such are all fairly effective as long as everyone remembers to keep the spaces pretty clean and make sure nothing gets left too long, which is never a problem

ummmm.... hm. this is an off the wall question. i guess i think it would be weird and difficult. like, could you eat underwater?? could you take a bite of like i dunno what’s something that doesn’t instantly fall apart in water..... a candy cane? could you safely eat a candy cane underwater? probably yes if you were very careful to keep your throat closed and also try to force out all the water in your mouth before chewing and swallowing, but it would be hard. mecha aren’t in danger of choking/drowning like humans, and it’s safe to assume that if they’re already underwater then they probably have the seals for it, but still consuming a lot of water isn’t great for a mechanical species, and it’s not easy to make sure you’re not swallowing that along with your food

oh sure, like they’re perfectly functional mouths and all, the issue is just the connection to the fuel systems. no throat, as it were. whereas the folks who can eat in beast modes essentially have two esophagi that rearrange depending on what mode they’re in. for folks like Strafe who have intact beast heads in root mode, it’s possible they can use their jaw? like she in particular uses them as a second set of unwieldy hands, but a pocket is a good idea too, or a can opener, etc etc. chewing food just to spit it back out is probably something only a very determined person with a specific food craving is going to do, because most folks who aren’t able to chew would just get silted shakes to sip with a straw

oh all the time. Rodimus’s whole THING is setting himself on fire and just throwing himself into the fray. like that one Denethor scene in LOTR but madly cackling. he only bothers showing some finesse when around Drift who he wants to impress clearly requires more careful application of skill to beat. Abominus can’t set himself on fire like Rodimus can, but he can shoot flames from his beast head and will fan them higher with his wings, which means he can essentially generate a firestorm to stand in if necessary that will drive everyone else away. Elita 5 has some immunity to flame too as a pyrokinetic hero, but is in fact still vulnerable to heat unlike the other two. she won’t get scorched, but she does need to watch her temperature

in general mecha aren’t like extremely flammable, they have much much higher heat contact tolerance than humans, but ironically have lower atmospheric heat tolerance, because the majority of them use air cycling for cooling systems and so hot weather makes them overheat easily. buncha pansy computers. but they’ll think nothing of holding an open flame, picking up embers right from a fire, ducking through a burning doorway, setting off firecrackers in their hands, etc. their caution is more about smoke and soot clogging vents, or discolored paint, or getting dents from small explosions than actually burning. they start endangering themselves when the heat gets high enough to overtake their cooling systems or melt their kibble, or has enough force to punch like in an explosion, but even then they can struggle through until actual vital internal components are compromised, at which point they’re in danger of catching fire themselves. energon isn’t super flammable when in a controlled environment like their insides, and a liquid trail can catch fire, but it’ll take a mortal wound to really get someone burning up inside

hhhmmmmmmmmm i... don’t think i’m going to use them in SNAP, or at least this storyline. i’d probably make them extraterrestrial creatures sort of like what they were in TFA. they’d fit in with stories of demons and invaders for sure

[asimp4bee]

Mea, forgive me for acting dumb, but what is the thing on Mea's chest? : 0

I can't reveal too much without spoiling "Genesis" (my fic) but here's the info that I have posted on my tiktok a while back!!

The circular device on Mea's chest is called the 'Kyklos Armor', it's an artifact that was forged by Solus Prime. It works in a similiar fashion to the Apex Armor but instead of an armor, it's kinda similiar to the Magnus Armor in MTMTE n LL where it's like a second body.

How did Mea get such an artifact exactly?? It was passed down from Zodiac to her as a gift for her companionship and his affections for her before they parted ways.

That's pretty much all I can say without spoiling the upcoming plans I have for my fic hahshsh

[witchofthesouls]

Is it bad that after reading your soundwave dionysian ritual thing my first thought was "and that kids is the story of how I met your mother"

You're actually not far off.

In the Dionysian Effect, I'm going to explore more gladiatorial culture and influence upon Soundwave as well as the religious/spiritual impact of the Thirteen, especially what drives some mecha to name themselves after such beings. (Gotta be more than hubris, right?)

I headcanon that he came to the Pits as a sparkling (pre-adolescent child), so it greatly shaped his outlook and values. In particular, the surviving practitioners of the Cult of Megatronus among life-long gladiators and the Volupi (think of them as indentured prostitutes by the gladiatorial clades).

But going back to the story, it's very AU for sure. There are definitely more artifacts from the Iacon database, especially Primal ones with certain effects.

Soundwave thinks it's a Sign from his chosen Prime that the artifact he was tracking was not only Megatronus' and Solus', but it latched onto the stranger due to the... prerequisites to activate it. He's claiming her as a War prize/spouse since Megatronus "obviously" had a hand in getting a "Wilder" femme on Earth of all places, so who is he to deny the will of Megatronus Prime and of Primus?

(I'm smashing in tropes that I enjoy into the fic, including humans-into-Cybertronians, so cue shenanigans of culture clash between Earth animal bride, magicks, and ancient Kaonite/Vosian wedding customs, and this is how Cyber!Jack was born in this AU.)

[gayrobos]

Prima is best known as the first and only Oracle who could perfectly interface with Vector Sigma, through the Creation Matrix, an artifact supposedly granted by the will of Primus. Most depictions historically play this up and show them with their chest open to display the Matrix. I've drawn them here in their aspect as a god of righteous warfare; Autobot mythology latched onto a semi-canonical story where Prima received a vision of a sword that they would use to defeat some enemy and had Solus Prime create the Star Saber.

Prima is usually depicted with platinum armor, symbolizing their role as a catalyst whose role as Oracle allows them to change the course of events without being directly involved. Their wings are arranged like sparks springing off the Matrix or, metaphorically, off of Primus, and they are sometimes considered the protector of hot spots and protoforms. They are often depicted with jet and/or drill alt modes to symbolize watching over Cybertron from above as well as digging down toward Primus.

(other Primes)