Enigma of Combination
The Enigma of Combination is one of the artifacts of the Thirteen. Possessed by Nexus Prime, it can bestow the power of combination upon Cybertronians. Apparently, it can also link the minds and ideas of other life-forms that are not Cybertronian in origin Onyx_Interface_Part_Three:_ONoffON.
Fiction
The Covenant of Primus
IDW Generation 1 continuity
 Plot details for Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON follow. |
In the ancient past of Cybertron, the Enigma was held by Nexus Prime, who used it to create the Ancient Headmasters, combining humanoid Transformers with beast-form Cybertronians from the ranks of his ally Onyx Prime. Sickened by these "abominations", the barbarian Galvatron waged a bloody crusade to slay all the Headmasters, then killed Nexus himself and took the Enigma to prevent its powers from being used to perpetuate what he saw as further perversions of Cybertronian purity. Later partnering with Nova Prime, who hoped to use the Enigma's power for his own ends, Galvatron lied and claimed that Nexus had fled the planet, taking the Enigma with him. However, their mutual ally Alpha Trion could detect the falsehood in Galvatron's words—none had ever known whether or not the Enigma was anything more than a concept, but Galvatron clearly knew it to be a physical object. Realizing that he had accidentally tipped his hand, Galvatron shot the Enigma into space to put it beyond his allies' reach. Eventually, seven million years ago, it crash-landed on Earth. The Crucible
The Enigma landed in what would become Mesapotamia. In 4000 BC, its light drew the attention of wandering tribes of humans, who huddled around it for warmth, little suspecting that through its powers, their thoughts and ideas would be "combined", leading to the founding on that site of Earth's first city, Uruk, and the birth of human civilization. Uruk's ruler, the ancient warrior Gilgamesh, built huge walls made of black rock around the city to protect it, from which his ancestors would later take their family name. The "Blackrock" lineage passed the Enigma from generation to generation, building for themselves an immense fortune as the Enigma's powers led humankind to incredible technological developments such as the atomic bomb and the invention of the internet. The arrival of Transformers on Earth in the 21st Century led the current scion of the Blackrock line, Garrison, to deduce the Engima's Cybertronian origins. ONoffON
Optimus Prime learned of the Enigmas existence from Alpha Trion, but their conversation was spied upon by Prowl, who had his own plans for it. The Crucible Around the same time, rogue Skywatch agent Spike Witwicky became aware of Blackrock's possession of the Enigma's, and though unaware of what it actually was, planned to steal it from the Wanmu, China facility of Blackrock's company, Onyx. Signals, Calls and Marches Both Prowl and Galvatron—now leader of the Decepticons—realized that Spike likely had some information about the Enigma's whereabouts, and both attempted to hunt him down. Vs. Galvatron managed to convince Prowl's ally Arcee to join forces with him to destroy the Enigma once and for all, but Prowl, allied with Spike, beat them to the punch, attacking the Onyx facility to recover the ancient talisman. ONoffON
Notes
- When listing a handful of the artifacts of the Primes, the novel Exiles mentions the Infinite Combinatoric. Given the abilities its name implies, this might have been an early name for the Enigma. It wouldn't be the only point of confusing discontinuity between artifacts in Exiles.
