Work Text
The timeline for the war in Dreamwave, but I've always tried to figure out what came BEFORE because the hints scattered throughout, both in-continuity and meta-wise, have been interesting. I finally came up with a version I liked:
Prior to the formation of Cybertron/right after it:
-Primus and Unicron cease fighting each other directly and shape their now/new physical shapes into what they'll be henceforth.-Primus creates the First Thirteen.-The First Age, the Dynasty of Primes. The First Thirteen settle, begin to understand themselves and the developing surface of Cybertron that is their creator and deity. At the end of this the first generation/s of cybertronians come into being, from the Well of All Sparks. The First Thirteen also seed their own “spark-lines” to ensure that there might always be someone to carry on their functions, merely by their presence (Grimlock is one of these).-The Age of Wrath. Cracks start to appear in the “family” of the First, and then Unicron arrives. Liege Maximo leaves, and Megatronus Prime betrays his creator and his siblings. (Quintus Prime leaves temporarily, exploring the universe and seeding several planets with techno-organic/mechanical species via his Emberstone. One of these creations is at the subtle behest of/manipulation by Unicron; the Quintessons.) The end is Unicron and the former Prime, now the Fallen, pushed into their inter-dimensional prisons between realities.-The Matrix Age, the beginning of Cybertronian society. The survivors of the battle (Solus Prime, Nexus, “Alchemist” Prime, Vector Prime, Alpha Trion) shatter the Star Saber, and Nexus Prime splits into pieces to take five of them to other locations.The last piece becomes the Matrix, a repository of Primus' power and light, and another (indirect) source of sparks by acting as a conduit from the Well of All Sparks for the spark energy. This because the Well is now sealed by the Seal of Primus, keeping Primus' presence subdued to ensure Cybertron remain undiscovered if Unicron breaks out of its prison, which also makes direct access to the Well for sparks impossible. Alchemist Prime and Alpha Trion work closely with the surviving and new generations of cybertronians to start to build up an actual society and civilisation, with Vector Prime as the first Matrix-bearer. At the end of this, Alchemist leaves to find out what Liege Maximo is doing, and Vector Prime leaves as well for “business”, handing over the Matrix to Solus Prime.- The Second Age (named as such because Solus Prime is the second to carry the Matrix), the Age of Construction and Cybertron's civilisation is stabilising, inventions are being made, new heights and plateaus of science are found and the cybertronians settle in the knowledge of themselves. And, slowly, they reach for the stars, exploring, researching, finding materials and resources. At the end of this age, the Quintessons are first encountered, and the first wary (and peaceful) encounters soon devolve, which leads to- The War of Five Faces of Doom/the (first) Quintesson War, the Age of Disquiet. A bit into it Solus Prime, realising she cannot properly lead Cybertron's population in a war and that her fellow Primes who COULD HAVE (being actively adapted to/intended for combat, not strategy/support/etc.), are all dead or otherwise gone, hands the Matrix over in a way that will henceforth be the established form for succession when a Prime dies or hands the Matrix over for other reasons.The first Prime who is not of the First Thirteen takes the Matrix (Alpha Prime), with Alpha Trion and Solus Prime as advisers, and slowly the tides of war starts to turn. At the end of this, the war ends with the Quintessons beaten back. To make sure they cannot be surprised again the ideas to create a safety-net, vanguard and “warning system” gets seeded, and when other alien species are met as interstellar exploration starts up again, the idea to include them as well in this system.-The Imperial Age. This had several stages and the most notably, if at the same time mostly unnoticed, is the complete withdrawal (more like disappearance) of Solus Prime and Alpha Trion stepping back, but remaining in an advising role. The empire grows by beneficial trade, treaties and sometimes outright conquest, especially and more often towards the end. Deathsaurus and Dai Atlas grow to fame and importance somewhere during the early middle of the age, enough to have statues erected of them (and either then or later a golden disc of at least some of the history put in their hands.) Guardian becomes Guardian Prime at some point towards the end of this Age. The end itself is marked by the Quintessons striking back, having harboured a desire from the first time they saw the cybertronians to get them under their own control.- The second Quintesson War, the Age of Subjugation. The cybertronian empire crumbles, the Quintessons not just beating them back and destroying their empire, but driving them to Cybertron itself... and beneath, or under Quintesson control. Alpha Trion briefly loses control over Vector Sigma, and the Quintessons have enough time to infect it with certain invasive lines of code, the beginnings of a full shell program, before they're beaten back.(These lines of code, spread from Vector Sigma to the protoform Primary Programming, adjusts some small amount of non-essential (non-spark-contained) data regarding altmodes and a few other things, are the reasons for and origin of such things like cockpits or the cybertronian tendency to take to humans (children) and other aliens. This was preparations for their intended status as Quintesson slaves and consumer goods, and the full shell program would have brought further “adjustments”.)The war ends at long last with the Quintessons beaten back, Guardian Prime dead and the cybertronian society left in pieces, with only a fraction of the population surviving and all femmes either dead or captured and taken to Quintessa by the Quintessons. A few prominent individuals steps forward (unfortunately, at least one is a Quintesson agent, which accounts for some of the development of the society post-war), forming (what will become known as) the Council of Ancients to guide the rebuilding alongside Alpha Trion and the new Prime.-The Golden Age, the rebuilding and rise of an era of peace and prosperity for the cybertronian species, but contained to Cybertron, with no great space expeditions or trade with alien species. Most, if not all prior history is forgotten (due to the small amount of cybertronians who survived the war) or suppressed and then portioned out, edited or not, as the Council see fit. All to make sure the cybertronian civilisation stays docile, peaceful and without any greater strife or upheaval, which, despite that this is partly out of a wish to stay unnoticed from other species (and the Quintessons) and partly due to manipulation by the Quintesson agents in the Council to make sure the cybertronians wouldn't gain enough of a military force or militaristic society and temperament to be an effective opposition the next time they struck, made for a surprisingly equal (if, as some thought it “meaningless”) society and life. The first few Primes after Guardian are none of them prime candidates, and don't get the upgrade until, nearing the early middle of this age, when Sentinel Prime is chosen (Alternately, Sentinel Prime is chosen shortly after the end of the war, newly sparked). The end is marked by the Fall of Kaon when Megatron and his Decepticons take the city-state and start to spread their campaign, circa 8.7 million years prior to the Earth year of CE 1984.-The Great War, the first Cybertronian Civil War.*Who survives and when regarding the First have no basis in anything, merely how I liked it since there's no reason to follow Aligned's version in another continuity, and if I can make "the girl" not die? I'm going to take it.