It sounded completely insane at first, but the more he thought about it, the more it actually made sense.
Coming directly from Alpha Trion, one of the original Thirteen Primes, Skygnaw had no choice but to believe it. The old man had absolutely no reason to lie to him; they were meeting for the very first time, and there was nothing to gain from a deception.
The raw energy released by the AllSpark could instantly turn ordinary human machines into living Cybertronians, and a fragment of its core could elevate an elite warrior into a high commander. Calling the AllSpark a massive, collective heart of their entire species was factually accurate.
Even in the later historical arcs, Cybertron itself was capable of shifting its continental plates, exposing massive mechanical layers beneath its surface. Skygnaw used to think that was simply the result of generations of heavy engineering, but now he saw the truth; the planet was born that way.
The AllSpark was kept at the deepest, most inaccessible core of the planet, inside the Well of All Sparks. This perfectly mirrored how a Cybertronian housed their own spark: even when shifting into a vehicle form, the lifeforce always remained protected at the absolute center of the chassis.
As for the creator Alpha Trion spoke of, it wasn't a difficult concept to grasp. To Skygnaw, a creator was simply an advanced biological entity originating from a higher civilization or an alternate dimension.
A parallel universe was an independent reality. If a primary universe experienced a catastrophic event or utilized advanced technology, it could theoretically tear open a gateway to these alternate realms.
Skygnaw certainly understood the concept of interdimensional travel better than anyone.
Of course, separating a main universe from a parallel one often came down to perspective. Inhabitants of one realm always viewed their own world as the anchor, assuming all other realities were mere branches of their own timeline.
But none of that truly mattered, because every universe operated independently without interfering with the others. The only link a parallel world shared with its origin was the exact moment it branched off, and even the fundamental laws of physics could vary wildly between them.
In this universe, gravity made an apple fall to the earth. In an alternate realm, the very concept of gravity might not even exist, or it might operate under a completely different name.
Regardless, a higher civilization was far too distant for Skygnaw to worry about, and he had no desire to uncover the true identity of the being who had built Cybertron. A wanderer might worry about his next meal, but he wouldn't lose sleep wondering what would happen if the planet exploded.
Cybertron hadn't even managed to claw its way back to its peak as a Tier Three civilization, and the path to Tier Four was completely invisible. Thinking too deeply about a godlike entity who could forge an entire planet was just a recipe for a headache.
Alpha Trion had no idea that his brief explanation had triggered such a massive chain of thought in the commander's mind, and he calmly continued speaking.
"When our creator fell into an unexpected stasis for reasons lost to history, the thirteen of us were brought into existence."
"We awoke inside the Well of All Sparks, with the artifact resting directly before us. The knowledge of its functions was etched into our minds from the moment we opened our eyes."
"He left us with a single, core directive: we were to replenish the AllSpark with cosmic energy, ensuring its lifeforce would never fade."
"But that command felt more like a primitive instinct than a conscious order, and it was never repeated. No matter how hard we tried, we could never establish contact with him again."
"Later, to increase the efficiency of gathering energy for our world, the thirteen of us agreed to use the AllSpark to forge assistants."
"As the ages passed, Cybertronian civilization slowly grew around us."
"Each of the original Primes utilized their own unique blueprints to create dedicated lineages, and those lineages were fiercely loyal to their creators."
"We called our era the Dynasty of Primes, choosing the title based on the true name of our world."
"Primus?" Skygnaw asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.
He hadn't expected the ancient dynasty to carry such a legacy. The empire had taken its name directly from the true identity of the planet.
"Yes. The moment we were brought into existence, his name was revealed to us. We revere him as the Creator God, Primus."
Skygnaw nodded slowly in understanding. A Transformer large enough to serve as an entire planet certainly deserved the title of a god.
The revelation also cleared up a lingering mystery. If Cybertron was a colossal living organism, the vision that had flooded his mind during his previous upgrade made perfect sense. A mechanical world facing total starvation due to the loss of its core would naturally broadcast a distress signal, rendering the call in a form its descendants could comprehend.
His own spark had been pulled directly from that massive core, even if it was just a tiny, microscopic fragment of the whole.
But because Cybertron was so thoroughly scarred by centuries of war, its current appearance was a far cry from the pristine world in his dream, which was why he hadn't recognized it immediately upon his descent. The cosmos was vast; full metallic spheres, diamond planets, and gas giants were scattered across the stars. He couldn't blindly assume the mechanical world in his dream was Cybertron without hard evidence.
Skygnaw deduced that he likely wasn't the only warrior to receive the planet's cry for help. Every high commander and faction leader whose spark was born from the AllSpark had probably received the same message in their own way.
Naturally, the original Thirteen Primes would have felt the impact most severely.
Ultimately, Skygnaw viewed the phenomenon as a final, lingering survival instinct of a dying world. A planet without the AllSpark was no different from a Cybertronian running on an empty chest casing. How long could a magnificent being survive once its core was torn away?
In the standard timeline, Cybertron could shift its armored plates, but it had never managed to transform into a warrior form, nor had it ever launched a counterattack against the factions tearing it apart. Looking at those facts, it was obvious Primus had been brain-dead for a very long time.
A population of oblivious factions had spent centuries killing each other on his back, tearing the entire planet to pieces. The body had been damaged to a point that was actively life-threatening.
Skygnaw didn't believe for a second that Primus would have shown mercy to his creations if he were conscious. To him, the Thirteen Primes were simply tools built by a dying god to ensure his own survival and eventual recovery.
According to Alpha Trion, the creator's mind was already fading when they were forged, leaving him with nothing but mechanical instincts. It was safe to assume his life had been drawing to a close, or he had sustained critical damage from a powerful adversary, forcing him into a deep stasis to mend his armor.
He had built a workforce of tools to keep his systems online, but history had failed to follow his design. A brilliant strategic move had collapsed because the hearts of his creations were fickle, leading the empire down a completely different path. The tools had ultimately buried their own creator.
Furthermore, Primus must have faced strict limits on how many Prime-tier warriors he could forge from the AllSpark. Otherwise, whether to increase the efficiency of gathering fuel or to protect his body from external threats, he would have built as many high-tier units as possible.
The Thirteen Primes hadn't been wrong to create their own sub-factions either; there was undeniable strength in numbers, and their original intent was noble.
With those pieces falling into place, a new question surfaced in Skygnaw's mind. "Eldest, you mentioned you are the last survivor of your line. What happened to the others?"
"The original Primes shared a deep bond that allowed us to sense each other's lifeforce. Not long ago, the final signature vanished from my awareness," Alpha Trion said, shaking his head without offering details on the desert war.
"When our dynasty reached the absolute peak of its glory, a betrayal fractured our ranks. The strongest warrior among us turned on his brothers."
"Six of our line went into the void to hunt him down. During those dark cycles when no one remained to feed the AllSpark, Micronus Prime and Amalgamous Prime chose to sacrifice themselves, stepping directly into the Well to keep our world from fading."
Skygnaw felt a rare wave of profound respect for the sacrifice. While he knew he would never throw his own life away to save others, he could still admire the sheer conviction it required.
Since the original Primes were forged directly from the AllSpark, returning their energy to the source would naturally stabilize the planet's core for a time.
He held historical data on Micronus and Amalgamous. Micronus was the ancestor of all Mini-Cons, wielding the Chimera Stone to amplify the power of his brothers, which explained why he had accompanied Amalgamous into the depth of the Well.
Amalgamous Prime was the very first shifter, the original master of fluid transformation who held the legendary T-cog.
Only after Amalgamous returned his essence to the Well did common Cybertronians inherit the physical components required to change their forms. Before his sacrifice, the ordinary lineages built by the Primes were entirely locked into their original configurations, unable to alter their shapes.
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