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"This discovery is tremendous", thought Perceptor. "Records of an alternate-Cybertron, in a universe not unlike our own." Caught up in his reading of the familiar Cybertonian text, he didn't stop to wonder how the information passed from one universe to another. He was concerned mainly with the body of the text, which told of a Cybertron whose history had taken an interesting turn, indeed. He shared his thoughts with Wheeljack, who was busy trying to find the origins of this strange cylinder. "It looks to be of Quintession design", said Wheeljack, "I wonder how they got ahold of it?"
"That part of the equation is of secondary concern to me", said Perceptor, "as I am currently enthralled with what is written here. Put down that 'scope, and read this. I've marked the spot where the first divergence takes place." Motioning Wheeljack over to the terminal, they both read the text as it scrolls down the monitor... |
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With the addition of nucleon to the war, Transformers long thought lost to the cause would be able to fight again. And they did. To disasterous results. Many didn't survive the Nucleon Madness. It affected all transformers differently...at first. Step one was the instant regeneration of lost/damaged components, and the increase in power. Then, the loss of transformational abilities. Further down the line, the nucleon-infused transformer became delusional, seeing enemies where there were none. The madness, as it was called, claimed nearly every transformer eventually. Friend turned against friend, decimating ranks. Anyone with a gun, and nucleon flowing in their veins, fell prey to another. Limbs blasted off, holes blown into chest components, it didn't matter: the nucleon would not let you die.
Mangled corpses of transformers crawled across the landscape, attacking anything and anyone. The undead littered the streets, all limbs blown off, unable to move, but still alive...in a sense. Caught in their own never-ending delusions. Of those that had partaken of the nucleon, there were fewer..and fewer. Finally, as the last one fell, the planet was released from the madness. Those few who were left set about the task of rebuilding, and putting out of their misery those who still functioned. Great Pits were constructed to melt down those who sufferred from the Madness...the total destruction of the body down to its base metals was found to be the only thing that finally released the transformers' spark from the unspeakable horrors of the devil-spawned Nucleon. |
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"Nucleon...? Wasn't that the stuff that..." "Yes, I do believe so," said Perceptor, interrupting Wheeljack's thought. "But I don't see how, as the only known sample is in a small beaker in my lab...Let's keep reading." |
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Most records of the past were gone, lost to the madness that consumed the planet for so long. The few Cybertonians that were left set about the task of restoring their bretheren, as well as themselves. Not in the old way; for that was no longer possible. Downsizing, using 'protoform' and 'pod' technology, thus began the Era of the Maximals.
Not all were happy as such. As the rank and file swelled, the sparks recalled and restored to new bodies, Cybertonians once again split themselves along faction lines. A seperate group, calling themselves the Predacons, maintained an uneasy alliance with the Maximals, while they developed their technology. In time, Transwarp drive was established. The Predacons used this to travel back in time to various points in Transformer history, making small changes and alterations as needed to force history to take a path more advantageous to themselves. Or so they thought. Without realizing it, every time they used the transwarp drive, they created another universe, one where their changes took place. Thinking they changed their own universe, they traveled forward in time to their newly created one, saw their handiwork, and started again. |
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"Unbelievable! Multiple universes! Time travel! What wonderous technology they describe." "Yea," said Wheeljack, "But it seems trouble's brewing in this little story..." |
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Eventually, one of the transwarp techs realized the error in the calculations, and tried to 'reboot' the universe, traveling back to before the drive was invented, thinking that by this method, they could somehow stop the universe from splintering any further. This, unfortunately, failed, resulting only in the single universe he was in being 'reset'. His existence was phased out by the alteration, thrown to the omega point, the nexus where the multiple universes connect. Finding himself there, still in some form of existence, he set about the task of 'tapping' into the multiple universes, and sending the information he had 'back' to the various universal focal points, where history diverged, thinking that maybe, if they all worked together, they could 'reset' the multiverse, and restore all to one. Unfortunately, this too failed. All was thrown into chaos. Several similar timelines developed, but none of them anything like the 'original' universe. In one, Nucleon never gains a foothold. In another, Unicron wins. In another, a Swarm consumes almost everything. In yet another...ah, but the list grows long, too-much even for this weary recorder who has seen it all. Eventually, the Dark Essense from one universe found the connection to all the others, and began the conquest of the Multiverse. It is this you must protect yourself against. The Dark Essense has already conquered multiple universes, taking the evil in one and merging it with its own. Imagine many, many Unicrons coming together, and you've got it about right...
I send this in the hopes that your universe will be warned in time, so that you may begin the proper research, and protect yourselves from encroachment by others. For if you fail...all is lost. Several times now, one universe has been penetrated by another, to disasterous results. Don't let yours fall prey as well. Included in this data packet are instructions for developing a 'transwarp shield' around your planet. If you can build it in time, it will protect you from the encroaching fleet. If you cannot...then all we can offer is our apologies in this matter. This was not the way it was supposed to be. Perhaps, much like the Dark Essense, a band of heroes from the different universes could come together to battle back the evil. If the shield fails, then truly that will be our last hope... |
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Silence. "I'll go get Prime." Wheeljack walks out of the lab to look for their leader, leaving Perceptor alone, alone in body...and in spirit, as he ponders the evil that will soon befall them all. "So many innocent Transformers' lives, destroyed in an instant", thought Perceptor. "I must stop them." Clearing a space off of his desk, he begins to work. We can only hope that he will find a way to save his universe, and his Cybertron...for unbeknownest to him, it is the only pure one left.
(TO BE CONTINUED?) |