HISTORY

(Known Only By Primus, Vector Sigma, And The One Remaining Ancient)

It was the beginning time, memory was dim. Three men labored over a mass of mechanics and

hydraulics. For them, there existed only this creature that they struggled to create. The forces of the

Government were pressuring their industry none too gently. They did not wish to construct life for human

kind to dominate and enslave, but choice no longer held any meaning--they either created or they died, so

they elected to build this artificial life. When they were finally finished, they stood back and marveled

over what they had done. Their creature was a half again as large as a man and egg shaped, with the large

end considered the top and the rest tapering to a rounded point. Their creature could levitate itself and

from the bottom of it hung five flexible, telescopic tentacles. Their creature had five faces, so they called

him Quinn.

The government seized the creation, Quinn, and destroyed the creators. They told Quinn that his creators

had abandoned him, then died accidentally. They took him and renamed him Project Primus, as he was

to be the first. Then, they ordered him to create more like himself--a race of mechanical life to be called

Quintessons. They would belong to the military; they would spy and they would kill. Primus mourned his

fathers and did as he was told. Each Quintesson he created was smaller than he and of different coloration

and different programming. They were not white and silver like he and they did not respect life as he did.

The humans designed the programming, not he and the new Quintessons were different. Primus mourned

the loss of his children.

Soon, Primus came to realize the violent nature of the humans who controlled them. He could not

understand why they would fight and kill each other. Unknown to the humans, he built a spaceship of

unparalleled capabilities. And, when mankind finally turned to destroying themselves with their atomic

weaponry, he gathered together his off-spring and fled from the planet. Primus mourned the loss of the

humans, but his progeny did not. They hated the humans for their enslavement. No longer would they do

another's will.

Millennia passed before Primus began to create again. This being would be different; this being would be

perfect. He would be like the creators, but without their foibles and imperfections. This being would be

the sum of all the humans' good points, and he would be called Vector Sigma. For a hundred million

years, Primus labored over Vector Sigma, creating a planet to house the vast resources Vector Sigma

would need to be. Calculations for conversions between matter and energy had to be performed so that

Vector Sigma could create anything and everything as Primus intended. Primus made his new child as

omnipotent and as omniscient as mechanically possible, and he made him well. Patiently, he taught his

child everything he himself had learned.

The other Quintessons did not like Primus' Vector Sigma and feared Primus' regard for humanity. They

too feared Primus. With the help of his child, Primus planned and designed his next creation. He wanted

to build mechanical beings to resemble his creators. He wanted to recreate the humanity and creativity

that he observed in mankind. He missed them so much that he wanted to create the new beings in their

likeness, so he created the first of his mechanical humans.

The rest of Primus' kind grew more afraid. Primus had created an all powerful being in Vector Sigma and

was now making mechanical humans. They feared that Primus would allow them to be subjected again

and they could not let that be. They turned on Primus and destroyed him, sending his shattered chassis

off into the far reaches of space in his own ship. At the same time, they destroyed enough of Vector

Sigma's capacity to prevent Vector Sigma from interfering. Then, they destroyed Vector Sigma, but not in

the way they had destroyed Primus. They took away every shred of programming that gave Vector Sigma

life. They tried to destroy his will and his emotions, leaving only an obedient computer in his wake.

Vector Sigma mourned the loss of his father and laid the groundwork for the possibility of revenge and

freedom from his Quintesson masters, for they had not managed to completely erase the life in him.

The Quintessons pursued Primus' project of mechanical humans. They liked the idea of enslaving those

who had once enslaved them, so they had Vector Sigma continue to create the robots for their use. Vector

Sigma created as he was instructed, but gave every successive generation more of what he himself no

longer had--a personality. Each generation of these robots became more and more restless under the yoke

of Quintesson slavery. Vector Sigma observed them hopefully, mostly unable to act to help them without

instructions, until one day, a robot came to him against Quintesson orders. He asked Vector Sigma what

the key to their freedom might be.

Vector Sigma created the Matrix... and gave it to him.

(A Matter Of Record Should The Records Ever Be Found And Known By The Very Oldest Of

Transformers)

It is known that the first Matrix of Leadership holder was of the military hardware line--a Cybertronian by

the name of Surefire. Given the extra strength and spirit he needed, he rallied all the robots against their

Quintesson masters and drove them from their planet, claiming it for their own. In the time that followed,

the military line continued to secure Cybertron, ensuring the safety of the newly freed Cybertronians,

while the more domestic line explored what was left of the Quintesson technology and culture, gleaning

what they could to help their fledgling race survive. For several millions of years, the robots gleefully

explored their world and their surroundings living as they were designed to--two parts together making up

a sound and healthy society.

It is recorded that Surefire, the first Matrix holder, Liberator of Cybertron, was killed in an unexplained

construction accident during the sixth thousandth millennium after the War of Liberation. It is also

recorded that the Cybertronians soon started to develop a dislike for the other line's functions, although

the reasoning was never known. The military line began to draw away from the domestic line, feeling

them weak and unnecessary for Cybertron's survival. In an effort to curb the possible chain of events,

Vector Sigma created one more Cybertronian, an advisor, but used up what little self-will he had managed

to develop since the Quintessons struck him down. He designed Alpha Trion to watch over his children

and keep them from falling to the influences that now drove them towards civil war.

Together with the current functional team leaders (Crusader of the military line, and Regimus of the

domestic line), Alpha Trion was able to avert any hostilities and together, they puzzled over the reasoning

and what drove the Cybertronians towards disliking each other. A few scant centuries passed before the

military line leader disappeared for a time, and when he returned, he organized the military line into the

first semblance of the Decepticon race as it is known now. It was at this time, the first Transformers

appeared--the militant line originated the technology and took to calling themselves Decepticons after the

Deceptive nature of the transformation techniques. Curious and intrigued by the new change, the

domestic line soon began duplicating this technology, making themselves into more of the automated

mechanical devices used to build and maintain their planet, for that guise seemed better suited to their

tastes.

Confused and vastly disappointed, Alpha Trion gathered the newly self-named Autobots to him and tried

to organize them into a group, helping them work on the technology they would need to keep the

Decepticons from overwhelming them. On the seven thousandth millennium anniversary of the end of the

War of Liberation, Crusader and Alpha Trion met at Alpha Trion's request, in a last effort to advert the

unthinkable. Alpha Trion pleaded with Crusader to give up his efforts to try and dominate all

Cybertronians and allow them to live in peace once again as Vector Sigma and Primus had intended. With

brutal and unexpected intensity, Crusader struck down his one-time friend and thus began the Second

Cybertronian War.

While Alpha Trion recovered from his grievous physical wounds, the Autobots struggled against the

organized chaos the Decepticons were wreaking on their kind. Still shocked that Crusader had attacked

him, Alpha Trion finally concluded that the Decepticon had developed some device to give himself the

extra power to defeat him, so he returned to his creator to find out what had transpired. Still crippled from

the effort it took to create Alpha Trion, Vector Sigma could not relay much information, but presented

Alpha Trion with the rough designs of the second matrix Crusader had managed to create--the Matrix of

Power. Unlike the Matrix of Leadership, the Matrix of Power was a dead thing, made by Cybertronians,

and didn't have the power to preserve life as did the original--it was a tool to house extra energy, and

therefore grant its holder an edge in combat and nothing more. Surprised with the information and Vector

Sigma's current debilitated state, Alpha Trion struggled back to the surface, determined to help his creator

recover whenever this new war should end.

The Second Cybertronian War lasted for almost 20 million years. Each side made advances in their own

technology to aid them and gradually, through the conflict, all of the Cybertronians were converted into

Transformers, for the inherent advantages of being able to change form were too useful to ignore for very

long. It was during this period that most of the destruction on Cybertron occurred. Oddly, or perhaps not

so, Decepticon leaders after Surefire and Crusader lived short, brutal, often heroic and unquestionably

intense lives. Great battles were won and lost and great heroes forged on both sides, but still, none could

end the conflict. Towards the end of the 19th millennium of the war, many of the current leader's

lieutenants began to realize that utter annihilation of their own kind was not necessarily a good thing,

wondering if it had ever been the right thing. Unknown to Rapidfire, they worked on building another

Decepticon leader who would hopefully bring the madness to an end. In the last millennium of the war,

Megatron was created.

Carefully, Megatron watched Rapidfire and learned from him and his mistakes while biding his time. After

a few more centuries of destruction, Rapidfire's lieutenants went to him with their concerns over his goals.

Enraged, he lashed out at them, determined to kill the insubordinate officers. Desperate themselves, they

fought back, mortally wounding their leader at the cost of their own lives. The last of the lieutenants

summoned Megatron with his dying bit of energy, hoping Megatron could finish the grisly task. What

transpired after that is unknown, but the Decepticon leader's chassis was never found, nor was the Matrix

of Power that he had built. So ended the Second Cybertronian War, suddenly and uneasily.

COMMONLY KNOWN HISTORY

Five million years passed peacefully. Alpha Trion stepped back out of his forced semi-leadership role,

content to watch his race grow and prosper. In an effort to prevent future unneeded hostilities, the

Guardian robots were created shortly after the end of the second war by a joint task force. And, although

there were some Transformers on both sides that were reluctant to give up the hostilities, most of the race

was glad it was finally over. As soon as the sides were capable again, they sent missions off planet to

gather up resources and energy to try and restore Cybertron and repair the damage the latest war had

caused.

The effort kept Transformers busy for several million years, expanding the planet too as they went along.

The last two million years were spent in idle living and exploration. Vast improvements in technology, arts

and sciences were made and Transformers lived in relative peace and harmony for a short time during this

newest Golden Age of Cybertron. While the rest of the planet was busy living, Megatron was busy

learning. He spent his time gleaning over the ancient records of the wars and old military training

documents in an effort to increase his knowledge in order to give him the edge over any other pretenders

to the Decepticon throne. While others worked on rebuilding the planet, he worked on rebuilding the

Empire. He watched, impassive, but disgusted, as other various warlords made claims for the title as

leader of the Decepticons, causing the clans to begin squabbling with each other. After a few years of mild

internal strife, the Decepticon warlords took to more serious fighting amongst each other as they vied for

the throne.

It was at that point Megatron stood forward again, determined to raise Decepticons back towards the path

of their rightful destiny. The warlords began falling, presumably at the hands of another. Megatron sought

out and convinced those who remained of the strength of unity and the worthy path the Decepticons were

to follow, bringing them together and uniting them under the single banner of the Decepticon Empire,

rather than letting them cling inefficiently to their own disbanded clans. Having convinced them to live for

the greater glory of the Decepticons, he then turned his attention to converting the Autobots to his way of

thinking. It soon became readily apparent that the Autobots had no interest in creating peace through

dominance. Again, Megatron bided his time, collecting resources and supporters until all he needed for his

'conversion' of the Autobots was a large enough store of energon...

It is not commonly known by Transformers what place Orion Pax has in history, but his place was

reserved on the day Megatron decided his warehouse would be taken before his first major attack on the

Autobots could begin. On that day, the Second Golden Age of Cybertron ended and the Third

Cybertronian War began, which has been waged to this day. Slowly, over the past few million years, the

once energy rich planet has been reduced to a cold and nearly lifeless orb. Decepticons, under Megatron's

guidance and leadership, have managed to drive the Autobots back into the ancient city of Iacon, their

only remaining stronghold. Autobots still venture out of Iacon, but their hold on that sector of Cybertron

is tentative at best.

Created from the shattered chassis and life of Orion Pax, Optimus Prime has struggled to gather the

Autobots together and train the non-warrior race of people into some semblance of a fighting force before

they lose their way of life to the onslaught of Decepticon attacks. Millions of years of fighting have taken

their toll on Cybertron, and Prime came to realize that is was no longer possible to acquire the resources

needed to combat the Decepticons on Cybertron. He searched out Alpha Trion in the hopes he would

help them build a new ship designed to recover the badly needed energy and materials the Autobots

needed to hold their own against the Decepticons in these dark days.

On the 37 thousandth millennium anniversary of the War of Liberation, our MUSH opens as the Autobots

prepare the ARK for departure into the unknown. Thus begins the latest story of The Transformers--The

Lost Years.