Transformers: The Covenant of Primus

Transformers: The Covenant of Primus
Publisher	Becker & Mayer
First published	December 10, 2013
Written by	Justina Robson
Illustrated by	Ken Christiansen Casey Coller Livio Ramondelli Emiliano Santalucia
Continuity	Aligned continuity family
ISBN	ISBN 1477805990 ISBN 978-1477805992
Page count	176
Price	$99 USD

Transformers: The Covenant of Primus is a hardcover book presenting the Covenant of Primus as written by Alpha Trion, with 60 new lavish illustrations. The book itself is contained inside an Autobrand-shaped casing, that plays the transformation noise when opened. The book was exclusive to the Amazon publishing group 47North.

Content

Foreword

Alpha Trion admits he does not know the origin of Primus or what happened before his own creation. There are pages for this "before time" (a great many, he later states) in the Covenant but he cannot read their symbols. Then he states that THIS volume will be an editing/arrangement of Covenant intended for a human audience, to help them learn about their galactic neighbors. To forward this purpose he has "translated" terms, concepts and customs at times into forms easier for humans to relate to.

Chapter 1: The Thirteen Primes

Alpha Trion recalls the moment of his creation and then that of Solus Prime and the others following him, each appearing from nothing "ex nihlo" in repeating explosions of lighting and tremor. Immediately after their creation they feel Primus fade away into hypersleep. He leaves them with a last vision of how he and Unicron became a divided duality from a single original being and fell into eternal conflict and battle too evenly matched to ever end.

Primus sought to change that eternal stalemate by removing himself from the equation and substituting beings of much greater variety and unique varied potential to change the future: a group of Thirteen each with creative new approaches to the problem of Unicron. These Thirteen were formed to incorporate facets of both Primus and Unicron's natures, increasing the options for new direction far beyond the equally matched duality of the original combatants.

Alpha Trion then gives a brief several paragraph portrait of each Prime in the order of their creation: Prima, Vector Prime, Alpha Trion, Solus Prime (including a brief digression on the nature of Gender in Transformers), Micronus Prime, Alchemist Prime, Nexus Prime, Onyx Prime, Amalgamous Prime, Quintus Prime, Liege Maximo, Megatronus, and the Thirteenth Prime (referred to by the book simply as "Thirteen" for in-story reasons).

Chapter 2: The Expulsion of Unicron

The newborn Primes quickly settle down to learn their own abilities, to train and to strategize for the coming conflict with Unicron. They split into three natural teams: Warriors (Prima, Vector, Megatronus, Onyx and Amalgamous), Strategists (Trion, Quintus, Maximo, and Micronus), and "Free Agents" capable of direct battle or more subtle/varied attacks (Alchemist, Solus, Nexus, and Thirteen). Many strategies were discussed and abandoned.

Personality conflicts simmered between some of the Thirteen (between the very Primus-like Prima and strongly Unicron-influenced Megatronus particularly) but their unified purpose bound them together. It was in this period that Megatronus requested the construction of the Requiem Blaster from Solus, and though she was hesitant to make such a thing she decided that she trusted him and would do as he asked. The faith she put in him and the fine speech she made proclaiming it touched the often shunned Megatronus deeply and bound him to her in absolute loyalty and unswerving love, softening his hard edges, though inflating his great pride.

Training continued and friendships formed. Eventually they settled on a plan to battle and distract Unicron as a cover to opening a path for Thirteen to be inserted in close proximity to Unicron's core. Once there his uniquely Primus-like spark would react with Unicron's and both would be knocked into involuntary shutdown. The Primes would then retrieve and (hopefully) revive him.

When the time of battle came it proved far more hellish and terrible than they had imagined in all their training. Unicron assaulted them with defenses far beyond their expectations and, worse, the mere aura of his presence crushed all their hopes and dreams nearly drowning their sparks in despair and darkness. Only the comforting words "All are One" sent by Thirteen to reassure each and rekindle their hope let them continue fighting, eventually succeeding in their goal. Unicron was vanquished, knocked into unconsciousness, hopefully forever. This was not without cost.There were many grave injuries. But worse each of them had been tainted with a touch of darkness by their closeness to Unicron.

Chapter 3: The War of the Primes

The touch of Unicron was a contamination that festered silently as they tried to ignore it and pretend it would fade and it would likely play a part in the tragedies that were to come. Though it was the fertile ground they gave it, Alpha Trion now realizes, that let it grow.

In the long ages following Unicron's defeat the Primes each turned towards their own interests. Vector Sigma and the device that would much later become the Matrix of Leadership were among the projects of this era. Prima, Vector Prime, and Alpha Trion concerned themselves mostly with government and the planning of rules and order for a new community and civilization. The independently-natured Megatronus, Maximo, and Amalgamous focused on Energon stores, mining, and refining, but were resentful of what they saw as the first group's bossy, controlling interference. Micronus, Onyx, Solus and Nexus lacked interest in the politics of either group and concerned themselves largely with their own creative tasks. While Thirteen, Alchemist and Quintus traveled freely between cliques. The Liege Maximo was the true emissary, always traveling and communicating between all groups and individuals with his natural beguiling charm. 

During this period the feelings between Megatronus and Solus deepened into true and mutual love. This surprised the more distant and insular Primes like Prima, Vector and Trion, but the later Primes (especially Thirteen, Onyx and Micronus) smiled on the idea and enjoyed seeing their friend Solus happy. Megatronus was jealous of her by nature, but she was in large the hub that connected all the Primes into friendship and family.

Discord among the Primes began to build more strongly when Maximo discovered and revealed a chart where Prima had plotted which Primes were the most like Unicron and functioned as "Agents of Chaos." This enraged Megatronus (who had always been secretly ashamed of and at inner war with his own nature). 

The cracks in their bonds began final disintegration when it was revealed that Liege Maximo, with the covert help of Quintus and Megatronus, had been experimenting with creating new robot beasts and requested an extremely powerful armor suit from Solus to deal with them. Though the creatures were yet nonliving and he presented them as small toys really, Solus and the other Primes felt something was off about these secret creations and his feeling that he needed such a powerful suit to deal with them. Maximo promised to reveal all in time and attempted to persuade Solus with the gift of a small robot pet that she soon grew to love. Prima on the other hand was sure their experiments were wrong. He ordered the secret "Farm" where they experimented shut down or he would shut it down. In following him to its location Alpha Trion accidentally learned that larger beasts were being pitted against one another in combat and that perhaps worse things still were occurring in secret underground caves. Maximo tried again to get his "needed" armor from Solus with words and charm and a promise that he would use it to shut things down safely but she did not believe him.

The conflict over Maximo's rights to experiment with nonliving robots in secret versus Prima's decree that it must stop came to a head when Thirteen demanded a full vote to decide the issue. The contentious match was evenly split with the deciding vote falling to Solus. Despite her dislike for Prima's actions and attitude ("Time rust you." she said to him as she voted) in the end her decision went against Maximo.

Maximo then convinced Megatronus to go and make a last attempt to get the armor from her. Shortly after this arguing and a blow was heard from the Forge and when the other Primes raced to investigate they found Solus Prime dead, killed by a blast from the Requiem Blaster. The Primes were shattered by this first loss among their number; Onyx driven nearly mad with grief, Micronus inconsolable, Nexus at a loss, the others angry and demanding Megatronus be found and made to pay. Thriteen did his best to calm them and prevent a lynch mob mentality.

Surprising them all Solus's dead body began to glow blue and melt away into the surface of Cybertron. On and on the reaction went as she melted down opening a channel to the deep core of Primus himself at the center of the world: The Well of All Sparks.

Upon their finding him waiting Megatronus willingly revealed what had happened. He had found a device (apparently left out for him to find on purpose by Maximo) through which the Liege had monitored Solus through the "pet" he had given her. Megatronus heard her say that she thought Maximo was playing him for a fool. Hurt deeply by this "betrayal" of her faith in him he went to try and retrieve the armor. She refused to give it and suggested that he should perhaps return the Requiem Blaster as well. He reacted badly, imagining she never loved him and they all hated him for what he was, and the two begin to fight. Her pet attacked him and he blasted it, causing her (not knowing its nature as Maximo's spy) to swing the Forge at him in anger and he to fire the Requiem Blaster in blind unthinking response. Her last dying words to him were a profession of her love.

Upon confrontation at the "Farm" Maximo attempted to blame it all on Megatronus as the "true mastermind." Saying Megatronus's violent need to test himself battling the war beasts they were building in secret was behind it all, while Megatronus became enraged realizing that Maximo had indeed been manipulating and using them all this whole time and is setting him up to take the fall (and Quintus meanwhile just kinda squirms and whines and refuses to take personal responsibility for anything he did). All out battle breaks out among them and all the Primes fall into the caverns below, where they are set upon by three incredibly massive war beasts.

When Alpha Trion awoke a time later it was all over. He and Thirteen were largely unscathed. The beasts were destroyed. The Liege Maximo was torn to pieces, his head mostly destroyed by the Requiem Blaster that Trion could not remember being fired. Onyx, having suffered the brunt of the beasts attacks, was fatally wounded and would soon die. 

A tomb was built for Solus and her forge placed with in it. Another tomb built for Maximo. Megatronus, in grief and shame and realization of his foolishness, renamed himself "the Fallen" and decided that he would leave forever, to honor Solus he would take a ship and travel far into distant space and help those beings he found there as best he could with his power.

Those that remained hatched a new plan. They would retire from active life on their world and leave it to descendants. Onyx Prime would travel to the bottom of the Well of All Sparks where the presence of Primus would sustain him forever despite his grave wounds. There he would use his Triptych Mask to recombine the designs of the Thirteen in a manner similar to what Primus had done with himself and Unicron when first making the Thirteen. Thus their descendants would have again orders more variation and uniqueness with which to shape the future.  Thirteen decided to go into the Well himself so that he could be remade as one of these new robots and so know better how to help them. Quintus would go into space to experiment and seed life there and make them future allies. Prima and Alpha Trion would guide and protect the new life. At the last Micronus chose to go with Onyx into the well to keep his closest remaining friend company in his eternal retreat.

Thus the Age of Primes came to an end.

Chapter 4: The Age of Evolution

After Thirteen, Onyx and Micronus vanished into the Well a vast upheaval shook the world. A beam erupted from the Well of All Sparks and shot out across the stars. Alchemist Prime recognized it as the gaze of the Triptych Mask scanning all the way to the edge of the Universe and then transmitting back pattern information on all the varied lifeforms found amongst the stars to inform and shape the creation of Cybertron’s new life.

When the beam cut off there came forth from the Well a great deluge of robotic life of every conceivable size and shape. Crawling, flying, walking, rolling, fluttering, slithering lifeforms swarmed forward, some as small as a rivet and others as big as an arm or leg. For three days these small creatures surged forth in uncountable numbers and variety, and then larger creatures began to follow them. Among these were biped humanoid forms. First among them the watching Primes recognized the vastly transformed, reduced, simplified form that had once stood among their number. Alpha Trion attuned himself to track this new robot, who would be known as Orion Pax. Despite Prima’s misgivings Alpha Trion stood by the decision to keep their inherited T-Cog and its abilities secret from the newborn lifeforms for the time being.

On the last day of this first burst of creation came a new breed of robot, towering gigantic and monstrous beasts: the Predacons, as they were dubbed by Prima, emerged from the Well. The first and most powerful among them was the Predaking and his followers Lazerback and Twinstrike.

From then on the Well would send forth new life to replace the dead or occasionally to introduce new lifeforms until Cybertron was a lush rich living world covered completely in varied, complex and thriving ecosystems. The Covenant grew great with the chronicle of this new Age of Evolution.

During this time Prima faced the dominant Predaking in battle and won from him a promise to no longer prey on the humanoid Cybertronians in his domain.

Eventually though all things end. For Cybertron this ending would be known as “The Cataclysm.” The temporary pass of a swollen red star tugged free an armada of asteroids from the Debris Belt beyond the 5th planet of Cybertron’s system and sent them hurling towards the unprotected world. Though the Primes deflected many they could not stop them all. Meteorfalls smashed into Cybertron and plunged it into the equivalent of a nuclear winter. Though this was not as fatal a blow as it would have been to organic life forms there was a second related thread that was even more deadly. The pull of the second star caused vast solar flares to burst forth from their planet’s star and scourge Cybertron in apocalyptic fire and radiation that no life form could survive.

The Primes did the only thing they could and gathered all the Cybertronians they could into the deep underground caves there they might be shielded. They taught them how to activate a protective Stasis Lock that would let them survive there until the surface became habitable once more. Many life forms were extinguished forever during the Cataclysm. Left alone on the surface the barbaric Predacons at first fled from the flares under the Predaking’s command but soon realized there was no escape from these flames of extinction. Only in their last moments did Predaking recall some instinctual knowledge of stasis lock and attempt to protect himself and his race beneath the planet’s surface. Whether any Predacons survived in the end was unknown to even Alpha Trion.

When the dying star in time passed them by the small and medium Transformers that survived, though greatly reduced in numbers, emerged at last and began to once more shape their world and civilization.

Chapter 5: The Age of Origins

As the Great Cataclysm faded into the past the Transformers once again took up the work of taming and terraforming their world. Across the planet discoveries were made, robots banded together in groups and a general sense of purpose and meaning born of their brush with planetary mortality infused all life. The most influential group in these early days were the Patterners.

Formed of a group of friends who passed the dark times below the surface discussing the cause of the Cataclysm and how another might be prevented, the Patterners considered both supernatural, religious and scientific meanings and causes. Under the guidance of a lifelong student of the stars named Azimuth they came to study the true impartial movements of the cosmos in logic and mathematics and pattern. Upon emerging from the dark they began the work of inscribing those patterns upon the surface of the world so they could never be overlooked or forgotten by those on Cybertron or others among the stars. This movement spread across the world in the time to come and all of Cybertron’s surface was soon carved and shaped with the geometric patterns that traced out the movements of the stars, galaxies and time itself. Perceptor and Reflector numbered among the prominent members of the Patterners.

The remaining original Primes spent the time of the Patterner rise gathering their scattered artifacts and ensuring what little memory of them survived the Cataclysm passed into the realm of blurry myth and legend. Many warlords and tribes of barbarian ravagers rose in this era as the Patterner states struggled for survival. Eventually as hundreds of stellar cycles passed Iacon emerged as a refuge of learning and study. Alpha Trion took up residence there and inaugurated the Hall of Records. The Well slowly birthed more bipedal Transformers and less of the animalistic sorts, but in the barbaric wildernesses Insecticons and other bestial bots still roamed. A band of warriors known as the Wreckers formed with the goal of protecting the weak and vulnerable from marauding and pillaging groups like the Vandals, Breakers and Ravagers. Through these wilds, from a primitive distant village, a young Ratchet set out on a pilgrimage to the beacon of learning that was Iacon. There he apprenticed himself to the Chief of Surgery Remedy.

Over the long march of ages the Patterner movement eventually splintered into all sorts of forms, from mystic cults to social clubs, all with disparate purposes and goals. One splinter faction was a cult that dubbed itself Random and sought to foment chaos and erase all order in the world. They survived only a short time, but their mad leader Galvatron embodied everything Azimuth despised. Over time the Patterner movement faded to other ideas and newer creeds. Trade Kings and Queens rose and fell, as did many states and powers legal and illegal, and small conflicts and wars bloomed and ended.

In near space however the Quintessons (whom Alpha Trion would recognize as the work of Quintus Prime and his Emberstone) watched and planned. Junior Medic Ratchet and his colleague Dr. Cogwheel found the first evidence of their movement: a probe implanted in a worker named Coldwelder. Soon the Quintessons descended on Cybertron in glory proclaiming their goal to “uplift” Cybertron into a great transcendent galactic community. To prove their word and good intent they “gifted” Cybertronians with the wondrous power of transformation (for they knew of the T-Cog that the Transfomers did not, and how to activate it). Despite the caution of Alpha Trion to the ears that would listen, this seemingly magical gift of transformation won the day, and all Cybertron soon bowed to the power of their new “Benevolent saviors” from the stars.

External link

• Transformers: The Covenant of Primus at Amazon.com