"This world is older than you can imagine. It has sailed the starscape...tending budding galaxies...forever a buffer to the approaching darkness. And now its fate...is in your hands."

There are many theories about how Cybertron came into existence. Perhaps it evolved from its original organic form into the living metal that it is today. Or perhaps Cybertron was created by the hands of some unknown alien species more ancient than the stars themselves. The most commonly accepted theory follows the story of two multiversal brothers of immense power: Primus and Unicron. Each carried enough raw ability to devastate entire universes with a mere word. For eons, these two opposites did battle; Primus, creator of life, fought against Unicron the Chaos-Bringer. They were locked in a deadly combat that would last until the end of days and neither would surrender to the other, despite how futile their fight truly was. Eventually the two came to an agreement: they would change the rules of their contest. No longer would they wrestle using physical might. Nay, the gods decided to test the other's mettle (or, indeed, metal) in a conflict of wits. Each created for themselves champions: a champion of light, and a champion of darkness. These champions would wage war in place of their gods. Each brother created their champion and each thought that theirs was superior. So Primus built a place for their warriors to call home: a giant world made of steel and metal, the size of Saturn, and they called that world Cybertron.

Cybertron is a shining metal, technological world; a planet of towering future cities without end and vast metallic plains, spiraling metal mountains and bottomless neon-lit chasms. Its beauty and worth was without measure. The first Transformers to walk Cybertron were primitive, violent and territorial. They formed small factions based on which god they followed and constructed cities with which to live in and launch their raids on other factions from. The followers of Primus were responsible for what is now known as Iacon, the capital city of Cybertron. The followers of Unicron built their own city, calling it Kaon. The two sides battle for three millennium before the wars finally slowed to a halt. As warfare ceased, members of both sides migrated to the countryside and began constructing villages, towns, and new cities of their own. City-States unaffiliated with either god began to form and it seemed that peace would reign on Cybertron. Primus and Unicron each began to enlighten certain members of their society with knowledge of leadership and politics, allowing these beings to rise to power. The city of Iacon quickly adopted democracy and elected a Council of Thirteen of the most intelligent Transformers to lead them. The members of this council were awarded the title of Prime. In Kaon, meanwhile, Unicron raised a single man up rule over all of his followers; this man declared himself emperor and conquered nearby city-states not affiliated with Primus or Unicron. He was called Megatronus, the first Decepticon. The followers of Unicron flocked under the banner of this emperor. Fear of the oncoming horde led many city-states to align themselves with the council in Iacon. With so many new cities under the banner of democracy, it was decided that a senate needed to be formed to keep the Primes in check.

The line was drawn in the sand. The armies of the new empire stood at the gates of the fledgling Iaconian democracy and threatened their very existence. Someone would need to lead Iacon to victory under a single, united name. That someone was Zeta Prime.

Zeta Prime was elected military leader of the forced of Iacon and charged with the duty to push back against the emperor's dark armies. Zeta Prime marched head first into conflict, using his supreme intelligence and tactical know-how to defeat the larger but less organized armies of Megatronus. Realizing that he was losing the war, Megatronus turned to science in an attempt to stomp out resistance to Unicron's will. Megatronus constructed the starship-sized Trypticon and placed a false-spark within the creature. Trypticon was brought to life using the power of dark energon, and turned its might against the advancing forces of Zeta Prime. The super weapon caught Zeta and the other Primes completely by surprise and their troops were massacred as a result. Desperate to stop the enemy's super weapon, Zeta Prime recruited the help of renowned scientist Alpha Trion. Alpha Trion discovered the secret to the creation of an artificial spark and used that knowledge to build a super weapon of his own: Omega Supreme. The two titans clashed. Everyone knew that the winner of this duel would go on to win the war for their side. Omega Supreme was victorious, casting Trypticon into the deepest abyss he could find. The armies of the Primes marched on Kaon and captured that city, executing Emperor Megatronus before bringing the rest of Cybertron under the banner of the council.

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."

With the world of Cybertron united under a single banner, the Council of Primes set their sights on the stars. Fleets of exploration ships were built and expeditions were gathered. The Primes would go out and conquer the final frontier. Using their advanced technology, the Cybertronians were able to master rudimentary space flight in a matter of decades. Using nothing but oversized rockets, the Transformers managed to colonize the fours moons orbiting Cybertron as well as set up a space station within a nearby astroid belt for mining and research purposes. Energon quickly became the go-to source of power for everything on Cybertron, so it was no surprise that the first bases built on other celestial bodies were in search of this resource. When small pockets of Energon were discovered on Moon Base Three, it was decided that more focus should be put on reaching the nearest planet and searching it for Energon as well as setting up permanent colonies there. Ground Bridge tech was adapted for use at much longer ranges transporting much larger objects. These new bridges were designated as Space Bridges, and were quintessential to inter-planetary travel. Now extra fuel was no longer needed for a ship to move between Cybertron and another celestial body. The previously built exploration fleets were kitted out with this new technology and sent to the farthest corners of the solar system to find the best source of Energon. In only three hundred years, the Transformers had colonized every planet in the Hadeen solar system and were well on their way to mining out all the Energon in the asteroid belts. There were pleny of moons around to search, however the Primes realized that the further they got away from Cybertron the less Energon they found.

This lack of available resources soon led to a resurgence in exploration as expeditions set out to explore other solar systems. The mad frenzy that was locating new sources of Energon led to the Primes shifting their attention away from the welfare of the people. This led to dissent within the city of Kaon and among the general population that identified with Unicron's teachings. Wanting to keep Cybertron from dividing once more, Sentinel Prime set up the caste system. The caste system would take each individual and arbitrarily place them into a certain caste which they were expected to identify with more than their religion or chassis type. This new system only dragged the issues of division out instead of solving them. The caste system eventually led to further disunity, with many dedicated followers of Primus turning to Unicron if that was considered the primary religion of their caste. The lower castes (such as industrial workers and miners) leaned more towards Unicron, while the middle and higher castes (such as data monitors and government workers) leaned more towards Primus. The military forces were more or less evened out. While Sentinel Prime dealt with these issues back on Cybertron proper, an aging Alpha Trion could see where this new caste system would lead: civil war. In order to keep his creations from falling into the wrong hands, Alpha Trion placed his most dangerous artifacts into the care of the titan called Metroplex. Metroplex was shot out into space, landing on a primitive mud ball called Earth where he would hybernate for billions of years. Among these artifacts were the coveted Matrix of Leadership and Allspark. When the Council discovered Alpha Trion's plan, he was tried in court for treason. The Matrix of Leadership was the only way to appoint new Primes and the Allspark was the only alternative to creating new Transformers to the Well of Sparks. Alpha Trion was imprisoned deep inside Cybertron's bowels, never to be seen again.

"Wisdom has to be earned, Arcee. Sometimes at a cost."

Many observers considered the imprisonment of Alpha Trion as the straw that broke the camels back. The flaws and crimes of the ancient primes would be brought to light and the disloyal Cybertronians would attempt to ceded from the Iaconian union. From within the gladiator pits of Kaon arose a champion like no other: A man of charisma, power and ambition. He claimed he wanted to overthrow the republic and become the next emperor of Cybertron. His name was Megatron, descendant of Megatronus and rightful heir to all of Kaon. He was the Champion of Darkness. Many of the poor and hardworking members of Cybertronian society flocked to the banner of the Second Emperor. They saw him as an icon of what they could all become. The Primes desperately wanted to set Megatron in his place, but he had grown so popular that to assassinate him would merely be to martyr the gladiator and guarantee further violence and bloodshed. So they set about creating a smear campaign against Megatron. Sentinel Prime brought forth evidence that Megatron was a lying, manipulative cheat. A Decepticon. But his claims only fueled the fire further: Megatron took what was meant to be a black spot on his record and it turned it into a name for his revolutionary forces: the Decepticons. Megatron and his Decepticons were peaceful, at first. But only because of the persistent and earnest teachings of Megatron's closest friend, Orion Pax.

Orion Pax was a data monitor who worked in the Hall of Records alongside the aging Zeta Prime. He was a supporter of overthrowing the caste system and replacing the Council of Primes with elected officials, much like the Senate. He tried to reason with Megatron to chose democracy over a dictatorship. Orion brought Megatron before the Senate and pleaded with them to consider all that he had to say. The senate could see that Orion Pax was intelligent, passionate and level-headed. They could tell that the glorified librarian knew what he was talking about. So, in a colossal act of failure and stupidity, the senate wanted to name Orion Pax a Prime. They wanted to dismantle the current system and install a parliamentary democracy. This was clearly something they had been considering for many years and only now had the courage to speak up about it. Orion Pax refused, recommending Megatron as the new Prime instead. Orion claimed that Megatron possessed all the qualities of a good figure head and leader. But the Senate refused, shaming Megatron for the more radical side of his Decepticon movement that he had yet to condemn. Enraged and full of envy, Megatron stormed out of the Senate. He launched a number of terrorist attacks on government facilities the following day, and declared war on the Senate. The Great War had begun.

Megatron and his loyalist forces storm Crystal City, home of the Council of Primes. Twelve of the Primes are executed with only Sentinel being kept prisoner for Megatron's future entertainment. Orion Pax takes up the mantle of Optimus Prime and leads an assault on Crystal City to free the prisoners kept there. The battle is hard fought and long, but Optimus forces Megatron to retreat. When the Autobot army enters Crystal City they find the severed heads of the twelve primes on pikes surrounding the beaten and tortured body of Sentinel Prime. Sentinel would have died if not for the expert medical skills of Officer Ratchet. Meanwhile, on the other side of Auto territory, Fort Scyk is assaulted by the combiner Bruticus Maximus. Bruticus is stopped in his tracks by Ultra Magnus and Grimlock's clever tactical maneuvering and brute force counterattacks. The cities of Tarn and Vos are conquered by Shockwave using the Constructicons and their combined form of Devastator. The Autobot team known as the Wreckers, led by Wheeljack and Bulkhead, set up in the small neutral village of Tagan Heights. They use Tagan as a staging ground for the Autobot airforce's raids on the industrial city of Kalis. Crippled by weeks of bombing, Kalis fell under the boot of the Autobot forces. Optimus Prime led his troops to their first major offensive of the war; but Kalis was only the beginning. City after city, town after town, Cybertronian after Cybertronian fell as the war raged on. It was obvious after Kalis that the Decepticons possessed the greater number of trained soldiers, while the Autobots were mostly comprised of scholars and diplomats. Warpath and Ironhide, two of the highest ranking officers to join the side of the Autobots, suggested that Optimus use the Well of Sparks to create more soldiers for their cause. The plan was desperate but in the face of Decepticon invasion it would have to do.

The Well of Sparks was located in Decepticon-held territory, near the twin cities of Altihex and Protihex. Just off the border of Iacon itself, the twin cities were only recently captured by the forces of Skyquake and Dreadwing. The city was crawling with Decepticon Seekers; making it a no-fly zone for the Autobot's much smaller but more elite airforce. Optimus sent in a small team to locate enemy positions and report back the condition of the Well. The team consisted of Prowl the Cyber-Ninja, Bumblebee the Scout, Arcee the Cyber-Ninja in training, and Cliffjumper the Scout. The four Autobots sneaked into Altihex an Protihex in the dead of night. The mission was successful, but cost the Autobots dearly. Prowl was able to ascertain the whereabouts of Seeker patrols and Arcee located the Well of Sparks which seemed to be in continued use by the Decepticons. Cliffjumper and Bumblebee, however, had been captured by Shockwave and his Insecticons. Optimus Prime sent in Grimlock's team to retrieve the scouts, but they never reported back. Optimus pushed forward the timetable for the liberation of the Well in the hopes that he would arrive in time to save his soldiers. The Autobots attacked the city, and a battle was waged that lasted over six months. During that time Bumblebee and Cliffjumper were tortured for information, and Grimlock's team had been experimented on by Shockwave. Optimus and Ultra Magnus arrived with a company of soldiers at Shockwave's compound and forced their way inside. The battle had been easy; too easy. It had all been a trap set up by Megatron himself in an effort to eliminate the new Prime. It was then that Optimus learned that Cliffjumper was dead and Bumblebee's voice box had been ripped out by Megatron's own hands. The two champions of Primus and Unicron clashed for the first time as the Autobots fought off the Insecticon ambush with all of their might. The duel was cut short by the arrival of Ironhide's reinforcements, forcing Megatron and his lackeys to retreat. The Well of Sparks had been won, but at a bitter cost.

With the Well of Sparks now in their hands, the Autobots set about with the next portion of their plan. Perceptor was given the monumental task of replicating the Well of Sparks' design. While the good doctor and his team worked on that front, Ultra Magnus and Warpath worked together to create and train new protoforms that emerged from the Well. They molded each and every new member of the next generation into hardened fighters; but Optimus wanted them to be more than just soldiers for soldiers sake. Prime taught these new recruits why they fought. For freedom, liberty, and eventually peace. A new army was raised up and ready to fight within a year's time. Ironhide leads a company of these new troops into Praxus, his own hometown, and liberates it from Decepticon occupation. Many of Praxus' citizens take up arms and join the Autobot cause, including Smokescreen and Sideswipe. Prowl, Arcee and Jazz begin forming a new Cyber-Ninja Corps based upon the Corps that had been destroyed during the Decepticon attack on Crystal City.

Five years of brutal fighting goes by before Perceptor is able to reverse engineer the Well of Sparks. Optimus tasks the science team with retrofitting Omega Supreme into a spaceship, based upon designs from the golden age. This process takes another five years. During this time, Grimlock and his team escape from Shockwave's clutches and return to Iacon, changed into the infamous Dinobots. Veteran of the Old Guard Kup leads a team consisting of Hound, Hot Rod, Drift (A follower of the ancient and defunct Cyber-Samuri code) and Crosshairs into Decepticon territory in a desperate attempt at assassinating Megatron. Megatron manages to single-handedly defeat each and every one of his would-be killers with nothing but his bare hands. Megatron allows them to live, ordering the Autobots to spread the tale of what transpired there. And spread the tale they did. Fear and superstition spread throughout the ranks of the Autobots; many of the new recruits began to make up wild stories about Megatron being the immortal reincarnation of Unicron. Despite Optimus Prime's attempts to quell these rumors, stories continued to spread until even the most trusted among Optimus' councilors seemed to tremble at the thought of challenging the Second Emperor. Perceptors crew created a new fleet of transport ships within a decade. By this time the Decepticon forces had a strangle hold on Iacon and its outlying cities, having recaptured almost all the territory the Autobots had won after the Twin Cities victory. With Megatron threatening to retake the Well of Sparks, Optimus made a decision that would change the course of the war: they would destroy the Well of Sparks and retreat back to Iacon, where they would prepare to leave Cybertron. The Autobots would use the vastness of space to hide their forces from the Decepticons while they gathered more soldiers using the Well of Sparks designs. It was a desperate plan, but it was all the Autobots had left. They could not defeat the Decepticons; moral was low, Energon supplies were nearly empty, and too many good 'Bots had died already.

"Sometimes even the wisest of men and machines can be in error."

Iacon fell within a matter of days. The Autobots escaped in the thousands to the waiting fleet of transports. What little Energon was left was used as fuel for the ships to escape into Cybertron's only working Space Bridge. Optimus Prime took a group of his best Autobots with him and boarded the Ark, making a beeline for Earth. The fleet of ships entered the Space Bridge with only minor resistance from the Decepticons; Megatron hadn't suspected the Autobots would flee into the stars. He thought he had won. It wasn't until Megatron discovered that the Well of Sparks had been sabotaged beyond repair that he realized what Optimus Prime had been planning all these decades. Megatron converted his mighest weapon, Trypticon, into a ship of his own: The Nemesis. A mighty flagship to lead his fleet in search of the Autobot resistance. With a conquered but depleted Cybertron at his back, Megatron set out to recapture the plans for the Well of Sparks from Optimus' clutches. Even if he had to pry it from his friend's cold, sparkless hands. The Decepticon fleet was prepared after half a decade thanks to Shockwave's superior intellect and the utterly unshakable resolve of Decepticon workers.

Meanwhile Optimus Prime and his crew traveled from Space Bridge to Space Bridge in search of what Alpha Trion had described as the planet Earth. Optimus planned to use the relics located their to turn the tide of the war; he would not let Megatron's victory last long. The Ark sailed across the stars for nearly five years on their quest to locate the small planet. The Autobots encountered many a foreign force on their search. The first of such encounters was with the Green Lantern Corps, who had mistook the Autobots for some great evil foe calling themselves the Necrons. The misunderstanding brewed into a short conflict of arms, but Optimus was able to explain who he was and why he was in Green Lantern space. The issue cleaned up, the Guardians apologized and allowed Optimus to continue on his path. The next encounter occurred with alien life occurred at a place called Xandar where Prowl was imprisoned by a Nova Corps for accidentally destroying the property of a local merchant. Again the issue was solved by Optimus' wisdom, and the Autobots were allowed to go on their way. It wasn't until the Ark was attacked by the Reach that Jetfire's seekers were needed to protect the Ark from spacebound threats. Jetfire's boys managed to beat back the enemy as the Ark made a hasty retreat. Before long the Autobots found themselves stuck in the middle of a war between the Krees and the Skrulls. While they tried to stay neutral in the conflict and leave Kree/Skrull space, a Skrull warlord and his pirates attacked the Autobot ship. A number of lives were lost in the ensuing conflict but again the Autobots skirted away.

It wasn't until their final extraterrestrial encounter that the Autobots learned that far more evil men existed than Megatron. The Ark needed refueling and repair, so they made a pit-stop at a planet called Apokolips. There they were immediately beset upon by a horde of parademons and Optimus Prime was forced to fight an avatar of hatred calling himself Darkseid. Optimus was badly wounded, but he lived to fight another day as the Ark received what fuel it could before taking off with Apokolips at its back. Ratchet patched up their leader and before long Earth was within their sights. They attempted to land but not before being stopped by an organization calling itself SWORD. An affiliate of SHIELD, SWORD's goal was to protect Earth from alien life. With Optimus out of commission due to his recent fight with Darkseid, it was up to Ironhide to confront SWORD. And Ironhide was no orator. He attempted to explain, to no avail, why he needed to land on earth. Special Agent Abigail Brand, leader of SWORD, threatened to shoot the Ark down if the Cybertronians didn't leave. Earth didn't need more aliens attacking them. But Ironhide refused and attempted to enter earth's atmosphere anyway; and SWORD responded by shooting the Ark out of the sky.

Now the Autobots find themselves on Earth, crash landing in the Rocky Mountains. SHIELD and SWORD would no doubt be searching for them. The Decepticons weren't far behind the Ark, either. It was time for the Autobots to hide; at least until Optimus Prime was able to function properly again and lead them onto the proper path.

There are five main body types that a Transformer can inhabit, with many sub-genres and customization options available. Body type changes are a lucrative business in the black market and are extremely expensive.

Seeker: The only body type capable of flight. Seekers are generally taller than other models due to more parts being needed when they transform into aircraft. Seekers can take the form of a jet, helicopter or other types of aerial vehicles. Seekers are generally lighter armored than other body types and are faster on the battlefield; the only model that outclasses them in this area are the Scout body types. Examples include Jetfire, Starscream and Skyquake.

Scout: The smallest and most lithe of the body types, Scouts come in many different shapes and sizes depending on the specific need presented. All scouts are fast, agile and possess a significantly upgraded communications and observations package from birth. No other body type rivals the scouts in stealth, tracking or infiltration. The light armor of the scouts makes them more equipped for hit and run tactics than straight up firefights. Examples include Arcee, Knock Out, Barricade and Bumblebee.

Trooper: The most well-rounded of the body types, the trooper model offers proficiency in all categories but mastery over none. Durable, quick and intelligent, Troopers are the perfect body type for soldiers or workers. They lack any sort of specialization from birth; this means that a protoform born a trooper has more options when they enter their caste. Examples include Ratchet, Ironhide and Soundwave.

Behemoth: The largest and most physically gifted of the body types, the Behemoth is an excellent addition to any army. Behemoths carry the most firepower, possess the heaviest armor, and are the strongest of any body type. Most Behemoths are less intelligent than the other models, however. Behemoths are usually lower caste citizens due to their 'work horse' nature and lack of cleverness or natural intelligence. 'Brute' is a common derogatory term for Behemoths due to their naturally over-emotional responses to situations, which almost always end in violence. Examples include Bulkhead, Breakdown and Brawl.

Leader: The Leader body type is the most intelligent chassis around. Leaders are naturally gifted in the areas of intellect and charisma, making them perfect for positions of power. Leader body types are almost always looked at more favorably than other body types when evaluating persons for a promotion to a higher rank. Leaders make up the majority of scholars, archivists, military commanders and CEOs. Examples include Optimus Prime, Megatron and Ultra Magnus.

Omega Supreme:

Bumblebee: The team's primary scout. Bumblebee lost his ability to speak when Shockwave had his voice box removed during his torture in the Twin Cities of Altihex and Protihex. In an effort to allow Bumblebee to speak, Ratchet installed a device capable of giving off a set of sounds found in Cybertronian Morse Code. He uses a series of clicks, beeps and whirs instead of words to communicate to his fellow Autobots. Most humans, even if they don't understand CMC, can guess what Bumblebee has to say based upon the inflections in his voice that Bumblebee purposefully exaggerates. The Autobot's best scout prefers to use his duel plasma cannons for medium and long range combat and his custom built 'Stinger' swords when things need to get personal. Bumblebee's alternate form is a 2005 Chevy Camaro.

Prowl:

Arcee:

Bulkhead:

Ratchet:

Ironhide:

Jetfire:

Smokescreen:

Jack Darby:

Sam Witwicky:

William Lennox:

Miko Nakadai:

Raf Esquivel:

Sari Sumdac:

Isaac Sumdac:

Agent Fowler: