Age of Rust

Soaring succumbs to the Rust Plague.

The Age of Rust (also known as the Rust Age) was one of the designated periods of Cybertronian history recorded in the Covenant of Primus. It was marked by social and societal atrophy, as a demoralized Cybertron sought to recover from the failure of the Golden Age. It was followed by the Great War.

Fiction

The Covenant of Primus

The Golden Age of Cybertron came to an abrupt conclusion when the colonies became infected with a Rust Plague. Possibly a deliberate attack by unknown parties, the plague was incredibly virulent and apparently incurable. Sentinel Zeta Prime and the council of thirteen on Cybertron made the heavy decision to destroy the Space bridge network for maximum quarantine, cutting off the colonies from Cybertron and abandoning them to their fate to prevent the plague from spreading to the homeworld.

By rust they fell and to rust they came. The global optimism brought about by the space exploration and colony programs was irrevocably lost. The people of Cybertron felt they no longer had anything to strive for, and merely went through the motions of existence. This malaise only intensified when nameless bots began emerging from the Well of All Sparks en masse, just as they had during the Age of Wrath. The general consensus was that these new bots saw existence as too pointless to even bother choosing a name, or have things to look forward to. They merely went about their appointed role in life, no more or less.

Sentinel Zeta Prime managed to hold on to power during the Age of Rust, but accomplished little else. The rest of his council was too gun-shy and lacked the drive to begin new social programs or expeditions to reignite the people's spirit. The one exception was councilor Soundwave, who abandoned the council in disgust for their failures.

As one of the last Primes left on Cybertron, Alpha Trion could see that something needed to happen, to change, so that the populace could have hope again. Seeking an audience with the sentiment supercomputer Vector Sigma, Alpha Trion asked for the Matrix of Leadership, believing it could usher in a new age. Vector Sigma denied his request but provided the Badge of Vector Prime as a small token to be given to Sentinel. While the Badge did nothing to stir Sentinel to new action, it did interact with the Covenant of Primus and the Quill, the artifacts of Alpha Trion. Alpha Trion came to realize that change would take place, but not as he would expect.

Within Kaon, one growing "industry" was emerging: ruthless, merciless gladiatorial combat. The bloodsport seemed to momentarily bring Cybertronians back to life, whether they fought in the gladiator pit themselves or watched from afar. It was in these games that a miner designated D-16 claimed the title of Megatronus, before the exuberant crowds shortened his name to Megatron.

Megatron was a visionary as well as a warrior, and began addressing his audience of fans about the possibility of social change, even revolution. Indeed, Megatron ultimately brought about the end of the Age of Rust, but not how he expected. Megatron and his allies received an audience before Sentinel and the council to address their concerns, but the council sidestepped Megatron and presented the title of Prime to one of his less extreme advisors, the archivist Orion Pax. As Pax rose to become Optimus Prime, Megatron rejected his former friend and began open warfare in the streets of Cybertron. These two leaders and their factions, the Autobots and Decepticons, began the Great War that shook the rust from Cybertron's society, for good or ill. Covenant of Primus

Prime cartoon

Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained?

The Rust Age was an era in Transformer prehistory on their homeworld of Cybertron, in which the Predacons ruled the planet. It ended with the Great Cataclysm, resulting in the Predacons' extinction. Evolution