Cyberforming

Even though Cybertronian life-forms are quite capable of surviving on purely organic worlds, they sometimes resort to eco-structuring to feel more at home. Eco-structuring is the process of converting a planet into an environment hospitable to mechanical lifeforms, particularly those from Cybertron. It can be performed rapidly through devices capable of converting organic matter to technological matter, such as the Key to Vector Sigma. It can also be performed manually in a much more gradual process, such as that performed by the Cybertronian Empire in the construction of the Hub.

It is also known as exo-structuring, cyberforming or mechaforming.

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel Generation 2 comics

The Cybertronian Empire, believing organic life to be little more than bacteria and viewing mechanical life as the pinnacle, spent untold millennia eco-structuring worlds. They believed this to be construction rather than genocide. The indigenous lifeforms were clinically exterminated, and a metal casing for the planet was manually built. This apparently could be done quite quickly.

When they first reported their findings to Optimus Prime, Grimlock and his Firestormer team had encountered seventeen "little Cybertrons". War Without End!

Beast Machines

In the time of Megatron's Vehicon-powered rule over Cybertron, the Oracle revealed that even Cybertron itself was not originally technological, but had been an organic world cyberformed. Survivor

This would have been done by the Quintessons if one follows the G1 cartoon continuity primarily, or by Primus if one follows the Botcon/OFTCC convention fiction or comics.

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Megatron released a metallic virus that converted everything it touched — land, machines, people — into metal in an effort to remake Earth more like Cybertron. Prime Directive #3

Cybertron cartoon

The Cyber Planet Keys possess the power to remake planets.

Titan Magazines

The following events occur in a splinter timeline where Megatron won the battle of Mission City.

The AllSpark was established as being capable of cyberforming a planet. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 1

IDW Generation 1 continuity

The plans of the Cybertronian scientist Jhiaxus under the guidance of Nova Prime culminated in the planet of Gorlam Prime being converted to mechanical life, its surface being restructured to resemble Cybertron. Spotlight: Hardhead

The Decepticons cyberformed planets during the days of the Decepticon Empire, among them B'Lahr 39 where Fulcrum served as project manager during the conversion. The process was interrupted by an Autobot attack and may not have been completed. Who's Afraid of the DJD? The "phase sixer" Black Shadow was handpicked by Megatron to sterilize planets ahead of the cyberforming process. Rules of Disengagement

Aligned continuity family

Prime cartoon

Megatron planned on cyberforming the Earth using the Omega Lock into another metallic planet so that he could rule both Cybertron and Earth. However, his plan was mostly foiled by Optimus Prime, who destroyed the Lock to protect Earth. Darkest Hour