Cybertronian colonies
From Transformers Wiki
Just as humans have felt the need to set up shop on distant continents and faraway islands, the Transformers are a naturally expansionistic race. Their long history is frequently punctuated with interplanetary colonization efforts, aimed at creating a network of Transformer colonies scattered throughout the heavens. These planets are usually cyberformed to better accommodate Transformer life, but Cybertronians are well known for their adaptability, and have been known to adjust to planets utterly unlike their original birthworld of Cybertron.
In many universes, these efforts have been forgotten by the modern day, buried by the harsh realities of interplanetary war or simply the march of time. In a classic example of allopatric speciation, the Transformers stranded on these distant worlds have subsequently adapted to their new homeworlds by developing cultures and physiologies entirely separate from their modern Cybertronian cousins.
Conceptual history
The first evidence of Transformers living on planets other than Cybertron first surfaced in the episode "Cosmic Rust", which depicted a prior age of interplanetary colonization among the Transformers. Episode writer Paul Davids claimed to have named the planet "Antilla" after the Antilles, an island archipelago "discovered" during the early days of European colonization. His intent was to highlight a "lost age" of Transformer civilization, comparing the advanced technology of Antilla to the various myths of Atlantis and its advanced technology, although this didn't particularly factor into the episode itself. Meanwhile, the third-season episode "Fight or Flee" introduced Paradron, a distant planet home to descendants of many war refugees.
The continuing Transformers anime of the 80s dabbled in colonies further: Transformers: The Headmasters introduced most of its new characters as war refugees from the planet Master. Unable to be of use in the war due to their small size, said Cybertronians fled Cybertron only to crash-land on the harsh planet Master. To survive, they developed transtectors and in the modern-day joined the war with their super-science.
It was not until 2005 that Transformers: Cybertron, the third installment of the Unicron Trilogy, pushed the idea of "lost colonies" to the forefront of the fiction, establishing four planets—Earth, Velocitron the Speed Planet, Gigantion the Giant Planet, and the Jungle Planet—as central settings for the toyline and tie-in cartoon series. This series saw the introduction of space bridges as the central mechanism by which these colonies were founded, and established the idea that Transformers stranded on different worlds had "evolved" into different varieties over the eons.
The development of the Aligned continuity family would go on to work in a similar origin story for its take on the colonies, incorporating the space bridges as the primary means by which ancient Transformers enacted their diaspora. Velocitron and Gigantion both received name-drops in Exodus, with the former world and its inhabitants playing a major role in the book's sequel, Exiles. The third novel, Retribution, would introduce a new colony world, the aquatic Aquatron before The Covenant of Primus expounded on the early colonization efforts and introduced the new colonies of Archon and Neutronia.
In 2014, Hasbro introduced its first fan-built character, the Autobot Windblade, who made her debut in the IDW comic series. Since previous authors had already made clear that Cybertronians in this continuity were an exclusively "male" race (barring the special circumstances involving Arcee), author Mairghread Scott introduced the colony world of Caminus as an alternative source of female Transformers, with the in-fiction explanation being that they had simply evolved differently in isolation from Cybertron. This would later be subtly retconned, introducing the idea that female Transformers were present on all the colonies because they had once existed on Cybertron (see Female Transformer for more on this). The IDW comics tied Transformer colonization efforts to the Titans and introduced new planets, most prominently Caminus and Devisiun, alongside Velocitron, while also reworking Jungle Planet into Eukaris.
Fiction
Generation 1 continuity family
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel Generation 2 comic
Following the loss of the Creation Matrix, a group of Decepticons rediscovered the "budding" method of reproduction. The Power and the Glory The new generation soon lost interest in the Great War and decided to skip town. Rebranding themselves as the Cybertronians, they went on to found the Cybertronian Empire, ruthlessly cyberforming any planet they came across and assimilating it into the Hub. War Without End! A Rage in Heaven!
Sometime after 1991, a group of Cybertronians were cleaning up Nexus Seven before a group of Autobots violently murdered them. The same group later did some sniffing and found seventeen other cyberformed worlds. War Without End!
Ask Vector Prime
In Primax 490.0 Gamma, following Unicron's consumption of Cybertron, the Decepticons occupied themselves conquering other planets such as Earth and Nebulos.
Unicron, meanwhile, had discovered the Hub and proceeded to savagely attack it. The Cybertronians, now a force for good on account of Primus's essence being suffused throughout the species, allied with the remaining Autobots and Decepticons, to defend their empire, succeeding thanks to the sacrifice of Liege Maximo. In the aftermath, the reformed Cybertronian Empire became a permanent force for good and a staunch ally of the Confederation of Terran Worlds. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/24
Regeneration One
Before the onset of the Great War, isolationist policies dominated Cybertron. Taking issue with this, Jhiaxus exploited his role in the creation of the Underbase to download from it all the knowledge he would need to create a galaxy spanning empire and finally bring order to the universe. Less Than Zero
In late 2013, Jhiaxus dramatically returned to Cybertron with the Hub and offered to integrate Cybertron into it. Realizing that the sheer amount of planets that made up the structure meant Jhiaxus had committed untold genocides, Rodimus Prime adamantly refused, The War to End All Wars, Part 2 sparking a brief war that ended in the Hub's collapse. The War to End All Wars, Part 3 The War to End All Wars, Part 4
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
Several Autobots fled Cybertron and the Great War in Vanguard-class vessels, settling on other worlds to find peace. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2 One such group, the Thirteenth Legion of Autobots, landed on the planet Antilla. Though they initially founded a thriving colony, their world was struck by the malignant virus known as Cosmic Rust, killing all life within the colony. Cosmic Rust
According to Sandstorm, the planet Paradron was colonized by a group of pacifistic Autobots after the "Fourth Great War". The planet they chose to inhabit was hidden within a space vortex and possessed an energon core, granting its inhabitants almost unlimited energy and a safe refuge from the Decepticons and other threats. The inhabitants of the world lived peacefully for many years until the arrival of the Decepticons in 2006 brought the war to their world. Unwilling to let the Decepticons seize the planet's energon supply, Rodimus Prime made the decision to destroy the planet. The survivors, led by Sandstorm, were subsequently relocated to Cybertron. Fight or Flee
Japanese cartoon continuity
The Headmasters cartoon
The planet Master was colonized by a group of Cyberdroids who fled the increasingly violent Great War. Though they initially found the world a harsh, unforgiving environment, they managed to develop Transtector technology to better cope with their new world, eventually turning it into a utopian paradise. The Mystery of Planet Master The Four-Million-Year-Old Veil of Mystery
After Master had found itself embroiled in the Great War once again, the Decepticons invaded the planet for its supply of G-Metal. The Master Sword Is in Danger!!
Legends comic
Hot Rod led the Micromasters to found the colony Micro. G1 Mini-Con Chapter
Victory cartoon
By the year 2025, Micro was a major strategic world, playing host to Autobot-Decepticon battles in the Victory War. Planet Micro - The Mysterious Warrior Unite! Liokaiser
Ask Vector Prime
Vehicon was a planet home to some technological civilization, designated the Tripurans, that had disappeared by the time that the inhabitants of Cybertron discovered the planet. Reverse Convoy subsequently led a colonization team which explored the planet, which proved to be a paradise. They dubbed the planet "Vehicon" for the numerous automated factories that had been left behind by the Tripurans; the Cybertronians turned the infrastructure for their own use. Most astonishing about Vehicon was that its sole moon had apparently been collapsed into a singularity by the Tripurans, generating immense gravitational tides. Reverse Convoy's forces were able to utilize the tides to generate vast quantities of energon, turning Vehicon into one of Cybertron's most valuable energy producers. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/14
Wings Universe
In the 30th century, it was not uncommon for colonies to comprise members of a single faction. The Wrecker ship Rodimus Major was on its way to check up on one such Predacon colony near the Dark Nebula when it disappeared into a spatial anomaly. Apelinq's personal logs, 2015/01/17
Ask Vector Prime
Using a fleet of Zod drones, the Decepticons of Primax 185.0 Beta conquered and colonized a sizeable portion of the Milky Way. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/04
According to Vector Prime, the Protectobots lived on the colony world Archon until it failed and they wound up in stasis lock. Omega Supreme discovered them and brought them to Earth, where they were revived and joined the Autobots. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/21
2005 IDW continuity
The Transformer race has gone through several waves of expansionism, some more imperialistic than others, and many at the expense of indigenous organic species.
In their travels across the galaxy, the Knights of Cybertron had contracted atrophosia. Seeking treatment, they made their way to Mederi, the medical moon presenting itself as a "perfect Cybertron". Believing they had found a perfect world, and in such a state of bliss that their ailment was forgotten, the Knights settled on the world they dubbed "Cyberutopia", inscribing a map to the planet within the crystalline core of the Creation Matrix, creating a legend of a perfect colony. You Are Here
The first known attempt at establishing an offworld presence occurred twelve million years ago, following the unification of the Thirteen Primes. Given the violent period of war that had preceded their reign, "Onyx Prime" proposed turning the innate fury of all Cybertronians outward in a galactic expansion, the Pax Cybertronia. With Nemesis as their flagship and the Omega Sentinels as vanguards, the Primes touched down on Antilla, intending to conquer it for its resources. The Antillans fought back but failed to match the invaders' power with a desperate scientist unleashing a machine that sterilized the planet and warped it into Unicron. The First Who Was Named Our Finest
Subsequent Titan expeditions, using hot spots within their bodies, were able to establish Cybertronian footholds on other worlds. A 'Bot and Her City As with Antilla, Cybertronian colonists would go on to quash civilizations of technologically undeveloped inhabitants through aggressive cyberforming. At least five such worlds were colonized by the Transformers this way: Caminus, Devisiun, Arduria, Velocitron, and Eukaris; over the eons, however, and certainly abetted by the subtle manipulations of "Onyx Prime", this gave way to a legend of thirteen such colonies, each affiliated with one of the Primes. These seven other planets had each felt the touch of the Thirteen in some way, Historia and millions of years later the younger, present-day Shockwave would seed all thirteen planets with his Regenesis ores. Our Darkest Ceremony
On those colonies where Transformer-based life existed, their inhabitants maintained a concept of gender, whereas female Transformers would eventually go extinct on Cybertron. All That Remains
The thirteen colonies are:
- LV-117: The colony of Vector Prime. Inhabited by an organic race of shapeshifters, the temporally-displaced planet was seeded with Ore-1, "Time."
- Gorlam Prime: The colony of Quintus Prime. Formerly inhabited by humanoid organics, the machinations of Jhiaxus and his experiments with the Dead Universe led to a period of artificially-accelerated progress that led the inhabitants to rapidly evolve into a Transformer-like species. Produced Ore-2, "Death."
- Prion: The colony of Micronus Prime, and formerly home to a civilization of Mini-Cons. Produced Ore-3, "Size."
- Caminus: The colony of Solus Prime, home of Windblade, the religious Way of Flame, and the Cityspeakers. Produced Ore-4, "Gravity".
- Devisiun: The colony of Nexus Prime, populated by Transformers who are born in pairs. Produced Ore-5, "Combination".
- Arduria: The colony of Alchemist Prime, home to the Ardurian rocs, a species considered to be "cousins" of the Cybertronian race. Produced Ore-6, "Cold".
- Antilla: The colony of Alpha Trion, and the site of "first contact" between Cybertronians and the rest of the galaxy, becoming the setting of a devastating war between the Transformers and the native Antillans. The planet was destroyed in the conflict and refashioned into Unicron. Produced Ore-7, "Change".
- Tsiehshi: The colony of Megatronus, a barren, uninhabited world where the tyrant once took refuge during the First Cybertronian Civil War. Produced Ore-8, "Destruction."
- Velocitron: The colony of Amalgamous Prime, a desert world of intense temperatures. The Titan Navitas, who settled the world, was converted into a mobile city and racetrack. Produced Ore-9, "Space".
- Carcer: The colony and living prison of Liege Maximo. A nomadic starship, it was overseen by a military dictatorship led by Elita One. Produced Ore-10, "Deception".
- Eukaris: The colony of "Onyx Prime," inhabited by beast mode Transformers and guarded by his Titan, Chela. Produced Ore-11, "Evolution".
- Elonia: The colony and final resting place of Prima and his Titan Emissary; in the present day, it was inhabited by the Elonians, and the capital of the Solstar Order. Produced Ore-12, "Protection" with the ore becoming essential to the order of the Space Knights.
- Earth: The colony of Optimus Prime (possibly The Arisen). Associated with Metrotitan, the planet has been a hotbed of Transformer activity for many years, with the native humans occasionally coming into conflict with the Cybertronian species. Produced Ore-13, "Power."
In the Thirteen's absence, Nova Prime, a former follower of Prima, rose to power and made plans to relaunch his former master's colonization efforts and conspired to enact what he called "the expansion", a galaxy spanning empire of Cybertronians, built through the power of combiners. All Good Things His plans hit an initial snag when Vector Sigma stopped igniting hot spots but he managed to use the Matrix of Leadership as a new source of sparks. The Divided Self His plans were further delayed when he was pulled into the Dead Universe with all expansion plans being abandoned by those on Cybertron. Dark Dawn
In the Functionist era that followed Nova's rule, Cybertron established mining colonies on alien worlds such as Messatine and Croteus 12. Megatron Origin #1 Births, Deaths, and Interventions
During the height of the Great War, the Decepticons reached their zenith and enacted an imperialistic government through the formation of the Constellate—a collection of cyberformed worlds cleansed of their organic inhabitants and restructured to suit the needs of their Decepticon inhabitants. The Constellate was eventually abandoned as the war continued, with the Decepticons moving away from colonial subjugation of other lifeforms in favour of the infiltration protocol. Rules of Disengagement
Meanwhile, the neutral Dai Atlas led his pacifistic followers and associates in the Circle of Light offworld. Utilizing the power of Metrotitan, Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations the Titan whom Omega Supreme had entrusted to Dai Atlas, Primus: All Good Things the Circle founded the sanctuary planet Theophany. Drift #1
Following the end of the war, the Autobot Thunderclash made contact with Caminus, one of the lost Titan colonies. He recruited the services of Windblade, one of the planet's many Cityspeakers, to tend to the sick Metroplex, one of Caminus's siblings. A 'Bot and Her City In the wake of the Dark Cybertron crisis, Windblade returned to Cybertron along with Metroplex. Metroplex began trying to search for some of the other colony Titans. A Long Way Down Windblade, merged with Metroplex's mind, caught glimpses of these other Transformer worlds, whose inhabitants had evolved into radically different forms during their long isolation from the rest of the universe. Windblade managed to strike a deal with Starscream—in exchange for keeping Chromia's sabotage attempts a secret, she would repair Metroplex's space bridge, allowing Cybertron to once again reach out to its scattered colonies and giving Starscream the chance to rule over many worlds. Windblade vol. 1 #4
Around this time, the Black Block Consortia discovered Prion's colony. Their hatred of mechanical races drove them to destroy the Transformer civilization had developed. The sole survivor, a young Transformer named Nickel, joined the Decepticons after the Decepticon Justice Division arrived to investigate the remains. The Permanent Revolution White Heat
The official "first contact" ceremony between Cybertron and Caminus went less smoothly than expected, thanks to Starscream's political maneuvers involving a staged Combiner invasion of the planet. The Sum and Its Parts The political tensions soon boiled over, and the nascent "Combiner War" spilled over onto multiple colonies before things could be dealt with. In the aftermath, Cybertron and Caminus ratified the agreement that led to a democratic Council of Worlds, a binding agreement that would allow Cybertron and its colonies to participate in a democratic parliament. All That Remains Subsequently, Starscream and Windblade used Metroplex's spacebridge to meet with representatives from other colonies—an adventure that led them to Velocitron, Race Against the Light Devisiun, Eukaris, Windblade vol. 2 #6 and Carcer. Representatives from each colony travelled to Cybertron to participate in this new government, which would give each world an equal voice. The Will of the Few
The opening of the brawl between the combiners took place on an unknown planet within a trinary star system that bore a Cybertronian space bridge, distinctive of a colony world, but was seemingly inhabited by beings of Garnak's race. You, Me, and the Universe All That Remains
Thereafter, colonist presence on Cybertron became more common. 07:00:00
Following the invasion of Cybertron by the Iron Ring, First Strike #6 Unicron awoke and began devouring all of the Regenesis planets to assimilate the powers of their Ores. Once Caminus had been consumed, Bumblebee realized that despite there having been thirteen Primes, they had only discovered twelve colonies. Last Stand It was soon revealed, however, that Unicron itself had been forged from Antilla, and thus was the missing thirteenth colony. Our Finest
When Unicron had been felled, only Earth remained, becoming a new home for Cybertronians and Elonians. Ceremony
Transformers vs. G.I. Joe
Following Megatron's defeat, both humans and Cybertronians colonized the various planets and moons of the Sol system. The War Never Ends
Of Masters and Mayhem
In the years prior to Cybertron's destruction at the hands of Thunder Mayhem, Paradron was a rumored lost colony. Lifeline's profile in Club magazine #69
Paradron was rediscovered at some point, becoming the last known world to be inhabited by the Cybertronian species following Thunder Mayhem's ravaging of Cybertron. Impactor brought Punch there for medical treatment. Insight The duo later departed the planet to seek other allies to fight Thunder Mayhem. Life Finds a Way
Prime Wars Trilogy cartoons
According to Metroplex, the Titans carried Cybertronian life to planets suitable for colonization. Once the colony became self-sustaining, the Titans would leave to find another planet to repeat the process on. Our Heroes Respond One of these colonies, Caminus had diplomatic ties with Cybertron, with certain Camiens having a say in the affairs of Cybertron's governing body. The Fall
2019 IDW continuity
The Cybertronian colonies were founded during the Age of Expansion. By Codexa's account, the colonies owed themselves to the efforts of Cybertron's various Titans who fought, sometimes sacrificial, wars of genocide against rival alien powers and species for their planets. The Change In Your Nature Part Five Colonists travelled to their new worlds in Ark-class vessels, their voyages escorted by Titans. Escape Part One Parties that existed "behind the barrier of quintessence" sought to silence Cybertron's expansion. Abducting the Cybertronian explorer Exarchon, the aliens warped him into a warlord and sent him against his species. War's End Part Three The subsequent War of the Threefold Spark that Exarchon unleashed on Cybertron brought an end to the prosperous age of colonization. The Change In Your Nature Part Five
Under the terms of the post-war Nominus Edict, new colonies were only to be founded if the Senate had come to a unanimous agreement on the subject. Orion Pax: Free Fall Senator Megatron heavily criticized this aspect of the Edict, feeling it had been passed only so as to avoid the risk of antagonizing alien races. The World In Your Eyes Part Five Before he was due to replace Codexa as the chief archivist, Orion Pax desired to leave Cybertron for "a kilocycle or three" and visit the colonies. Orion Pax: Free Fall This walkabout ultimately convinced Orion to go into politics instead of following in his mentor's footsteps. End of Time
Rare colonies established despite the Edict included Mayalx, a dreary asteroid that hosted an energon production and transmission station which the Constructicons had found themselves banished to, Constructicons Rising, Part 1 and Probat, a protectorate, still inhabited by its native species, that hosted an energon production facility. Wannabee, Part 1
Having a low opinion of the Reversionist faction, Brainstorm felt that the lot of them ought to be shipped off to the most remote colony. The World In Your Eyes Part Four In teaching Rubble about the world, Bumblebee informed him that, while Cybertron was largely a peaceful world, violence between Transformers existed on colony planets. The World In Your Eyes Part Two Among such violent acts was heads being bashed in from multiple traumatic impacts, something Ratchet noted when he examined Rubble's corpse, the newborn having died from such injuries. The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part One
While this was happening, Sentinel Prime was on a tour of the colonies with his inner retinue, along with some alien ambassadors, but, upon hearing of the chaos on Cybertron, cut his tour short. Nautica: Home
As part of their plans for galactic expansion, the Decepticons infiltrated the colony world of Velocitron, manipulating events to make the Decepticon Knock Out its new ruler. Tread & Circuits Part 4
Transformers/Ghostbusters
After the destruction of Cybertron, Ectronymous Diamatron picked up a Cybertronian signal from the planet Earth. Among his theories as to the signal's origin, he suspected that Earth could have been a lost colony. Ghosts of Cybertron Part 1
Beast Era
Beast Wars cartoon
Colony Omicron was a Maximal colony active some three centuries after the Great War. Protoform X was incarcerated at the colony but he escaped and destroyed it, along with every Transformer. The only survivor was the security chief, Depth Charge. Haunted by the massacre and survivor's guilt, Depth Charge spent four stellar cycles hunting down X. Deep Metal
Beast Wars Neo cartoon
By the era of the Great Convoys, the earlier colonization efforts had borne fruit, several Maximals and Predacons living on distant worlds. Bump the Physicist
Beast Wars: Uprising
The first chapter of the Book of Logos spoke of seven colonies; Chela, Navitas, Prion, Carcer, Vigilem, Tempo, and Caminus. Book of Logos
During the early stages of the Great War, refugees from Cybertron colonized new worlds to escape the conflict. A Brush With Infamy–Prologue During the conflict's space-based phase, the Autobots forged the Autobot Commonwealth while the Decepticons controlled the Decepticon Star Empire. Broken Windshields This all came to and end in 2031 when the Human Confederacy, tired of the Cybertronian civil war ravaging unaffiliated planets, forcibly ended the war and confined the Cybertronian species to Cybertron and nine colony worlds, a region of space known as the Allowed Zone. In 2033, Galvatron tried to breach this ceasefire with an invasion fleet. The humans vaped the fleet and in retaliation, halved the number of allowed colony worlds. After a ten-day piss off evacuation period, the five disbarred Cybertronian colonies were sterilized by the CTCF. Micro-Aggressions
By the late 24th century, the only Cybertronian colony left was the penal planet Elba. Intersectionality After the Trypticon's city mode was shot down over Metascan Omega, some of the crew remained in what they dubbed "Dinosaur City" which soon grew into a Cybertronian-run multi-species trading post. Intersectionality The Inexorable March
Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity
Energon cartoon
Omnitron was discovered by a group of Transformers who were fed up with the war. Under Rodimus's leadership, they turned it into a thriving colony. Over time, the inhabitants evolved into the Omnicons. Survival Instincts
Cybertron cartoon
In ancient times, Primus gifted the Cyber Planet Keys to his children. After the first defeat of Unicron, the Cybertronians planned to found colonies to spread Primus's essence throughout the cosmos. Fallen The Transformers founded least three major colonies, using a combination of space bridges and massive colonization ships—the Ogygia colonized Velocitron, the Hyperborea landed on Jungle Planet, and the Lemuria formed the center of the gigantic construction site of Gigantion. Balance
It was intended that a space bridge network would connect these colonies to each other and the homeworld, but this project failed and the colonies lost contact with each other. The Transformers on these worlds developed in isolation until 2030, when the Unicron Singularity crisis necessitated the recovery of the Cyber Keys. Fallen
Once the crisis had passed, the colonies reopened diplomatic ties with Cybertron, boldly deciding to continue their ancestors' dreams of expansion and initiate a new space bridge project to found new colonies throughout the galaxy. Beginning
Cybertron comic
Jackhammer mistakenly believed Ramjet and Nemesis Prime to be "stinking refugees from the Junk Planet". Balancing Act
Timelines
The four Planet Key-carrying ships were accompanied by many smaller ships to establish relay points on the planned space bridge network. One of these minor colonies was Combatron, which was established as a garrison to prepare for the return of Unicron. Unfortunately, Combatron's leader King Atlas mysteriously disappeared, and his soldiers descended into a civil war which wiped out almost all life on the planet. Force of Habit
Live-action film series
IDW Revenge of the Fallen comics
During the Great War, groups of civilian Autobots fled their war torn homeworld to establish colonies where they could live in peace under the guard of Autobot warriors. One of these worlds, guarded by Sideswipe, was razed by the Decepticon Demolishor killing everyone but Sideswipe. Tales of the Fallen #2
Rise of the Beasts film
Scourge hailed from a colony world that Unicron consumed. In exchange for survival, Scourge became a herald to the Chaos Bringer.
The Maximals came from a colony that had been colonized by beast mode Cybertronians in the distant past. One day, the colony came under attack from Unicron and his Terrorcons, seeking the Transwarp Key. Though the Maximals managed to send the Key away to Earth, Unicron consumed the planet. Rise of the Beasts
Animated continuity
Cybertronians first left their homeworld six billion years ago, during Cybertron's Golden Age. They succeeded in colonizing their solar system, but isolationism prevented any further expansion. Following the Third Cybertronian War, the Age of Expansion proper began 750 million years ago, overseen by the nascent Autobot faction and laying the groundwork for the future Autobot Commonwealth—an economic alliance of affiliated planets that encouraged free trade within its borders.
During the Great War, numerous colonies within the Commonwealth were occupied by Decepticons; during the final days of the war, the Autobots launched a planet-hopping campaign that liberated numerous colonies, ending with Omnitron during the Battle for Omnitron. The Autobots were, by and large, successful, although several colonies within the Commonwealth were destroyed over the course of the war.
At the end of the Great War, the Decepticons accepted exile in exchange for amnesty, and founded a small Decepticon Empire of their own on the western rim of the galaxy. The AllSpark Almanac II
"Aligned" continuity
During Cybertron's Golden Age, Cybertronians utilized space bridges to travel from world to world—a technology that had been captured from the Quintessons at the end of the Age of Wrath. After eight thousand years of exploration within their arm of the galaxy, Cybertronians began developing the technology to create permanent colonies among the stars, specifically identifying worlds rich in specific minerals as prime targets for colonization. The development of a conversion beam gave Transformers the ability to make over rocky worlds into tiny copies of Cybertron, connected to the homeworld by space bridge. The Covenant of Primus The Titans played a role in founding the colonies, charting suitable planets. The Empty City
The colonization process proved a drain on energon supplies, and Sentinel Prime's government decided that each world would be seeded with a miniature Well of All Sparks, allowing the colony worlds to become completely self-sufficient. The technology to create new Wells was first tested on Archon, where it proved a rousing success. Over several thousand years, Transformers colonized two hundred systems in all, including Gigantion, Neutronia, the Hub, and Aquatron. Some worlds, like the settlement of racers on resource-poor Velocitron, were intended to be short-term projects designed to cater to a narrow demographic, while the "world" of Junkion was designed as a dumping point for refuse from the colonies, but wound up attracting a variety of scavengers and low-lives.
Ultimately, the age of the colonies came to a close after the Rust Plague spread across the colonies, killing every Cybertronian it infected. To save Cybertron, Sentinel Prime gave the orders to destroy the space bridge network, cutting off Cybertron from its protectorates and the colonies from each other.
Those colonies that survived the epidemic adapted to life without Cybertron in various ways. At least one world—Aquatron—was annexed by Quintessons, with its population of water-going Transformers enslaved by the alien invaders. On other worlds, such as Velocitron, the isolated Transformers struggled to survive on barren worlds, practically devoid of any natural resources. The citizens of Neutronia, who had fled the destruction of their planet, discovered the Transformation Cog of Amalgamous Prime, and mutated into the Mutacons, a faction of space-faring nomads. The Covenant of Primus
Following the evacuation of Cybertron aboard the Ark, Optimus Prime's Autobots and Megatron's Decepticons visited across several colonies as they searched for the AllSpark. They were, in turn, pursued by the Star Seekers—a faction of Cybertronian expatriates seeking revenge for the destruction of their original world during the Cosmic Rust outbreak. While the Junkions and Mutacons proved helpful allies, the presence of two warring factions on Velocitron collapsed the fragile peace and sparked a civil war between Ransack's group of malcontents and Override's loyalists. The Covenant of Primus Exiles Aquatron was the site of a Quintesson ambush that nearly saw both Optimus Prime and Megatron executed for their crimes against the Quintesson Imperium—a conflict that ended with the Curator killed, and the citizens of Aquatron freed from their cruel overlords. The Covenant of Primus Retribution
Cyberverse cartoon
Cybertron's colonies were founded during the Age of Expansion. The Citizen During this era, the Titan Croaton colonized a planet near the Sharkticon homeworld. While his world initially thrived, it came under attack from alien invaders who nearly killed him and abducted his citizens. Ghost Town
In the era prior to the Great War, two colonies were known to maintain contact with Cybertron; Caminus and Velocitron. Cube Terminal Velocity Maccadam's
The latter world was colonized as a hub for racing enthusiasts, becoming a popular tourist destination. When the Plague of Rust struck the speed planet, Blurr deactivated his homeworld's space bridge to prevent the disease from spreading to Cybertron and the other colonies. Terminal Velocity
The Dinobots hailed from a colony that intercepted the message that Grimlock had sent out before the extinction of the dinosaurs, remodelling themselves after the hopeful message. This colony was later invaded and destroyed by the Mercenaries, survived only by the Dinobots. The Immobilizers
As the Ark travelled back to Cybertron, it chanced across Croaton's planet, the Titan making contact with the cityspeaker Windblade and had her bring him the AllSpark so he could heal himself. Once he was restored, he left his planet to try and find his colonists. Ghost Town
Games
Transformers: Devastation
In the Golden Age, the Mission of Cybertronian Expansion was undertaken by Nova Prime and his crew aboard the Proudstar. Though the crew enjoyed many successes at first and founded new outposts of Cybertronian civilization, such as Lithone, they soon made planetfall on a strange world which caused the crew's personalities to take a darker turn, colonizing populated worlds as well as uninhabited ones. When they attempted to colonize Earth, Kranix crashed the craft, halting the project.
Unicron meanwhile used the Proudstar's earlier success as a handy roadmap to Primus's location, devouring all he came across in the process. Devastation
