Aligned timeline
As is to be expected when multiple authors and writers are working on a continuity, the Aligned timeline bears more than a few discrepancies and continuity hiccups. Nevertheless, we here at the TFwiki have tried to rectify this as best we can.
In the beginning
Primus and Unicron battle for eons. To try and turn the tide, Primus creates the Thirteen Primes. One Shall Rise, Part 1 Over the course of the fight, Solus Prime, creates many weapons and icons of power for them to use. At the urging of Megatronus Prime, she creates a great weapon to fight Unicron, although Solus herself worries that this power could corrupt them. The Thirteen vote seven to six to keep the Requiem Blaster and not destroy it. Exiles Ultimatley, the Primes defeat Unicron, and the Chaos Bringer's inert form drifts off into space. One Shall Rise, Part 1 His fossilized blood, spilled in this conflict, becomes known as Dark Energon. Following the defeat of Unicron, Primus becomes one with the Core of Cybertron, and he gives life to future Transformers through the Well of All Sparks. One Shall Rise, Part 1.
Near the beginning of time
Solus Prime is murdered by Megatronus, causing the first schism in the Primes. (Whether this is before or after the battle with Unicron is unknown.) After Megatronus/The Fallen is defeated, the Liege Maximo makes his own play for power. He is defeated and flees to another galaxy. After this great battle Nexus Prime fragments himself into five robots, each one carrying and guarding a fragment of the Cyber Caliber. His components were dubbed Clocker, Mainspring, Chaindrive, Cannonspring, and Pinion. The fight has lasting repercusions For the Thirteen—Megatronus and the Liege have left the Primes for good, the once idealistic Vector Prime despairs and leaves this dimension. The other ten go their seperate ways. Alpha Trion and Alchemist Prime remain on Cybertron and start Transformer civilization. Exodus. When it has a good start, Alchemist leaves to hunt down the Liege Maximus. Gradually, the Thirteen Primes are forgotten and pass into the realm of legend. Early generations of newborn Transformers must brave the Underworld to reach the surface, which, over the years, becomes a deeply ingrained custom. Exodus
Age of Wrath
The Quintessons invade Cybertron and interfere with the development of the planet's occupants. The aliens modify the bodies of their new servants to serve their own ends, such as installing cockpits on the bodies of the Seekers. This period becomes known as the Age of Wrath. The Age of Wrath comes to an end when the Quintessons are overthrown by Sentinel Zeta Prime, part of the Elite Guard. Under Sentinel's rule, Cybertron entered its Golden Age. Exodus
Golden Age
The Golden Age brings sweeping changes to Cybertronian social structure and hierarchy. As only two Primes now remain on Cybertron, Sentinel Prime takes control of government and ushers in a new era for Cybertronian civilization, by instating the High Council. Under his rule, the space bridge project allows trailblazing Cybertronians to colonize faraway worlds, including Gigantion, Velocitron, Junkion, and the Hub. The construction of the spaceport on the Hydrax Plateau begins, and the Moonbases are also constructed. Trypticon Station is put into orbit as well, and a crew of Seekers tasked with defending the Dark Energon stored within. Exodus
The first Cybertronian data cylinders are created, which store the accumulated knowledge of Cybertronian society. T.M.I. However, the Golden Age draws to a close as the space bridges begin to fail and other cracks begin to show in Cybertronian civilization. Before long, the space bridge project is abandoned. The Transformers now stranded across the galaxy begin to develop along their own lines, gradually evolving into entirely new breeds of Cybertronian that are well-adapted for life on their new homeworlds. Exiles
In the waning years of the Golden Age, the caste system is implemented, where civilian guilds oversee and assign newly created Transformers to jobs, and it eventually becomes a major social institution under the urging of Sentinel. Alpha Trion, however, disagrees with many of these changes, and retreats further and further into the Hall of Records, eventually becoming a recluse. This controversial reorganization does not go unnoticed, though, and many newly born Transformers become dissatisified with their lot in life, some seeking change. Exodus
The city-state of Kaon, populated mostly by low-caste miners and workers, soon turns to gladitorial combat as a way to escape from the boredom. Several such underground rings emerge in Kaon and Slaughter City, low caste areas where workers seek a distraction from the drudgery of their lives. The High Council, aware of why the games began, does nothing to stop them. One particularily powerful warrior, an energon miner formerly known as D-16, takes on the name Megatronus, but later shortens it to Megatron. Megatron seeks to topple the stifling caste system, and makes his points known. Exodus
At the same time, a young data clerk named Orion Pax, monitoring transmissions from across Cybertron, befriends Megatron, and the two of them, begin a secret correspondence, encouraged by Alpha Trion. They have intense but friendly debates over the nature of free will and the dangerousness of their ideals, and soon Orion began training with Jazz, learning to fire an ion-cannon and to fashion his arms into an axe and a sword. Exodus
Before long, Orion visits Megatron in person in Kaon. Terrorists, calling themselves "Decepticons", begin bombings in Megatron's name, attacking such popular spots as Six Lasers Over Cybertron. Megatron himself makes his first public announcement on the Grid, stating he is not responsible for the attacks and will bring the perpetrators to justice. Orion follows him up with a speech of his own, and points out that the members of Cybertronian should be free; autonomous robots, or "Autobots". In reality, however, Megatron had heard rumors about the bombings and terrorist attacks but did nothing to prevent them. The High Council makes Orion a Prime, and bestows upon him the new name of "Optimus", but Megatron is incensed by the fact that his speech went unnoticed, and kills Halogen, a High Council member in the Chamber Hall itself. At Optimus's urging, the two sides retreat for now, but the High Council is now split. The Great War has begun. Exodus.
The Great War
The war takes Cybertron by storm, and before long the battlelines are drawn. The Autobots maintain control of the most important locations on Cybertron, including Iacon and Kalis Exodus. However, as the war continues, the Autobots are gradually outnumbered and outgunned, and in an act of desperation they are forced to launch the Allspark into space, denying the Decepticons of a method to generate more Transformers. Seeking a new way to win the war, Megatron storms Trypticon Station and wrests control of it from Starscream, empowering himself and many other Decepticons with Dark Energon, the very lifeblood of Unicron. As part of their next strike, the Decepticon-allied Seekers travelled deep underneath Cybertron in search of the long-abandoned Geosynchronous Energon Bridge, which will produce new Dark Energon for the Decepticon's use.
Next, Megatron led a group of Decepticons into Iacon, to find the means of travelling to the very core of Cybertron to spread the Dark Energon. Though Sentinel Prime attempted to stand in his way, he was soon defeated by the vengeful Decepticon- but unbeknownst to Megatron, Omega Supreme had been reactivated due to these events, and was intent on stopping the Decepticons. The Decepticon forces manage to cripple his alternate mode, but another battle soon ensued as the Autobots and Decepticons clashed, killing or wounding Omega in the process. Because of this, Megatron manages to reach Cybertron's core and corrupt it with Dark Energon- a critical blow against the Autobots Exodus War For Cybertron.
The Autobots, however, are not yet defeated, and muster a counter-attack. The young Cybertronian messenger Bumblebee relays information to Optimus about what has happened to Sentinel- that he has been imprisoned in the Decepticon bastion of Kaon. A small group of Autobots, Optimus among them, soon launch an incursion into Kaon to recover their leader. When Optimus tries to rescue Zeta, the Prime tells him that he will soon perish, and does so. Optimus returns the body to the Autobot High Council, who tell Optimus that he must accept that he is a Prime and take up his role as leader. From then on, he becomes known as Optimus Prime, the last of the Primes. Optimus' first task as Prime is to cure the currently infected core. Heading to the entrance, where Omega Supreme is being held by the Decepticons, the three Autobots manage to free Omega, then call in Ratchet to repair him enough to open the Omega Gate. The core, however, tells him that Cybertron is greatly corrupted; it will take millions of years of shutdown in order to undo the grevious damage done by Megatron's Dark Energon. However, Optimus is given the Matrix of Leadership by the Core, a fragment of Prima's powerful sword.
