Gold City

Somewhere out on that horizon, out beyond the neon lights. I know there must be somethin' better, but there's nowhere else in sight.

Once an Autobot stronghold, Gold City is now the capital of Goldbug's personal fiefdom, a teeming hive of slums, shantytowns, and decaying industrial infrastructure. With a 'bot as cruel and treacherous as Goldbug in command, it should come as no surprise that the inhabitants who live under his thumb have taken on his worst characteristics, and those who dwell within its walls are infamous for their paranoid, backstabbing natures. Under Goldbug's rule, the city has become a hub for bodyscrappers and other soldiers of fortune looking to make a living on post-war Cybertron. It's not that it's a particularly nice place to live... it's just that every other city on the planet is far, far, worse.

“	Gold City's a city built by traitors and backstabbers. Paranoia's the name of the game.	”
—Blurr, Shattered Glass #1

Fiction

IDW Shattered Glass continuity

City streets don't have much pity. When you're down that's where you'll stay.

After Optimus Prime foiled Goldbug and Prowl's ill-fated coup, Goldbug and a breakaway faction of Autobots—including Blaster, Slicer, and Jetfire—abandoned the city of Pax and conquered the city that would become Gold City. Shattered Glass #4 Under Goldbug's despotic rule, the city became a haven for bodyscrapper and gave rise to a cutthroat culture in which individual bounty hunters competed with one another for contracts. Blurr, one of the best bodyscrappers in the business, spent most of his time operating out of Gold City. Shattered Glass #1

Unbeknownst to the Autobots, Soundwave and his followers set up a pirate radio station in the abandoned tunnels beneath the city, which he used to keep track on the Decepticon remnants who'd survived the war and gone into hiding. While searching for potential allies, Megatron and Starscream visited Gold City to meet with Soundwave and discuss their next moves, only for Blaster to catch the pair off-guard and attack. While Megatron escaped, Jetfire captured Starscream and brought him before Goldbug for an interrogation. Shattered Glass #3 To rescue his lieutenant, Megatron gathered every Decepticon he could find and led a full-scale assault on Gold City; although Starscream did not survive, the ferocious attack overwhelmed the Autobots and spooked Goldbug into cutting his losses and abandoning the city to the triumphant Decepticons. Shattered Glass #5

Notes

• The first issue of Shattered Glass heavily implies that the city of "Pax" is actually a conquered and renamed Iacon. With that in mind, it's likely that Gold City was another pre-existing Cybertronian polity, but it's not yet clear which.