Work Text:
"The planet Cybertron is home to various mechanical species. The only sentient one, often dubbed Transformers by the galactic community, is most known for its capacity to transform at will between two forms. One of those forms is most often bipedal, the other is more varied: vehicles, weapons, machinery (see Annex II for examples). At the time of writing, Cybertronians have generally kept to themselves, with only sporadic encounters with Galactic Council forces. Limited trade has occasionally occurred between Cybertron and nearby planets (see detailed table in Annex IV)). Those exchanges consisted mostly of materials and energy resources.
Other, non-sentient, Cybertronian species include various mechanical animals native to the planet. Little research has been done on the subject."
- excerpt of an internal memo of the Galactic Council, regarding the planet Cybertron (non-member)
"Cybertron is home to a wide variety of species. Chief is among those is of course the Transformers (see chapter 2), but the reader would be remiss to neglect the cyberecological importance of its mechanimal species.
Take for examples:
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A few formerly wild species, like turbofoxes, nowadays kept primarily for the entertainment of the upper class.
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Various wild species, like droid-ducks or ground crawlers. Most wild species gather seasonally at Energon wells (see chapter 5 for Cybertronian geology), and their observation has often facilitated the exploitation of said Energon wells.
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Semi-wild species, like turborats, energy leeches, glitch mice, scraplets, or astro ticks, who have been shown to survive both in the wild and in cities. Those species are widely considered to be pests or vermin by Cybertronians.
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Cybertron was also home to species now extinct, such as insecticons and predacons. The sentience levels of such species has never been estimated."
- excerpt of Introduction to the Cybertronian race, history book published on Nebulos prior to the Cybertronian Great War
"It's such a shame that our foreign policy is so adverse to long-term commercial relations with other planets. I'm just back from [REDACTED], a rocky planet three solar systems away that is currently in the midst of an energy crisis. Their entire energy production infrastructure relies on [REDACTED], but that element is exceedingly rare on [REDACTED]. That situation brings extreme political instability, and you know as well as I do how adverse that is to field research. The Cybertronian underground, however, contains [REDACTED] in vast quantity, and we still haven't found any use for it."
- excerpt of a letter from Crosscut, Cybertronian ambassador, to Nautica, head of Cybertronian Xenorelations, as provided by the Galactic Council
"Following my last letter, I am contacting you again on the subject of the sounds heard on sub-levels 49 to 55. As you know, those are the deepest mine shafts ever dug on this continent, which is something that we miners are proud of. However, structural stability of those tunnels has always been a concern for us, and the engineer you sent last month has merely dismissed those concerns without looking for the source of the noise.
I am sure that you have already heard about the rumor that some kind of beast would be living down there. For my part, I fully believe that the culprit is the support beams, as well as the ever-shifting internal plates of the mine. But it would reassure the miners and fasten the work there if you could send someone to confirm the origin of those sounds and the safety of the mine shafts."
- complaint from Terminus, union representative, to the Tarn Mining Company
Note: the Tarn Mining Company, a Cybertronian mining company specialized in Energon crystals, was dismantled by the Senate during the period of social unrest that directly preceded the Great War
"Predacons: became extinct during Great Cataclysm
(Great Cataclysm: extinction event, end of Age of Evolution, asteroids)
Nano-gnats: used to be found in the Kaon region. Cause of extinction: pollution?
Insecticons: hunted to extinction during Golden Age"
- notes from an unidentified student of Iacon Academy, dated to pre-Great War
"If an Autobot hides underground any deeper than sub-level 50, pursuit should be halted. Standard course of action is to collapse all possible points of exit, and to consider that Autobot defeated."
- army-wide notice to Decepticon forces
"Following the departure of most, if not all, Cybertronians from their home planet, the Galactic Council has opted for caution. After a waiting period of ten years (Nebulon calendar), voluntary scientific exploration teams will be dispatched to a few areas of interest on the planet's surface. Their mission will be to assess whether Cybertron is truly unfit for life (including organic life), what the radioactivity situation is after so much fighting, and what materials could be collected or mined.
Given the galactic community's strong interest in Cybertron as a source of much-needed raw materials, a strong vetting procedure will be put in place."
- excerpt of an internal memo of the Galactic Council, regarding the Cybertronian exodus during the Cybertronian Great War
"Cybertron is for all intents and purposes an abandoned planet, and has been for years (Nebulon calendar). However, it is possible that a few Autobot or Decepticon fighters could still be living on it. Encounters with those should be avoided as much as possible, as any remaining Cybertronian is likely to be extremely violent.
Environmental conditions are currently being assessed, but first observations have already showed that all local wildlife is dead. Given the complete disappearance of natural food or fuel sources, we do not expect any non-sentient life forms to still be alive on Cybertron."
- note to prospective exploration teams of Cybertron, handed out during their vetting by the Galactic Council
"I know your planet is in dire need of [REDACTED], but I strongly advise against taking it from Cybertron without prior risk assessment. The only identified deposits were [REDACTED] in the [REDACTED] region, but we never had the funds necessary to fully explore the [REDACTED]. Who knows what's under there."
- excerpt of a communication between Cybertronian geologist Geomotus and [REDACTED] of [REDACTED], as provided by the Galactic Council
BLAM!
BLAM!
"They're coming, they're coming oh god they're-"
BLA-CRASH
"Fire!!"
Tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-tk-tk-kkkk
"It's not working!"
Tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-
"Keep shooting, there has to be a weak po-! Gh. Ghhlrgh."
"No no no no no no-"
Tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-Slash
"Aaahh!!!!!! Ah- Ah- Arrgh-! Ghhgh."
…
Sluuuuuurp
- automatic recording of Agorrian mining team Beta-three by their equipment, recovered by mining team Beta-one
"Team Beta-three is dead. There are no survivors. We have found tracks from some kind of beast next to their corpses, coming from the old mine shaft they were opening. All members of that team have been partially eaten, and they were all drained of their blood.
I am putting an end to all mining operations on this hellish planet, and we are not coming back."
- memo by the supervisor of Zertonian mining team Beta-one, for the attention of the Galactic Council
"All those idiots in Iacon, even the miners in the upper levels, they all actually thought the insecticons were extinct. Pff. Stupid mechs. But you and I know better, don't we? They were just like us, waiting in hiding."
- excerpt of a private exchange between Megatron, Lord of the Decepticons, and Decepticon Commander Soundwave
Note: both Megatron and Soundwave were former miners