In response to a question from Griff in another thread, I've attempted to nut out a reason why the Voyager Golden Disk and the Vok Golden Disk were so gosh darn similar, even though their origins are far from similar.
If you don't know what the Golden Disks are, go away and watch some Beast Wars.
So, without further ado, here are my musings about the Disks and their role in the history of Transformers.
(I'll attempt to be as clear as possible, perhaps to the point of nausea, but only because when an entity like the Vok (who operate outside of a linear undestanding of time) is involved, things get tricky very easily)
Ok, here we go.
Just as there were 2 Golden Disks launched from Earth, 1 each aboard Voyager 1 and 2 respectively, there were 2 (possibly more) Vok Golden Disks on Earth during the time of the Beast Wars.
The first Vok Disk was discovered by Inferno and delivered promptly to BW Megatron. Other Vok constructs were discovered and interacted with, but certainly not all of them. The War escalated to its incredible end, and Earth was left in peace as the triumphant Maximals returned to their epoch in time.
But they left behind many mysteries - mysteries originally created by the Vok.
In what would become known thousands of years later as South America, another Vok Golden Disk waited to be discovered.
It was found by the Mayans, who built temples to appease the gods who had sent them such a beautiful object. From there, its path is a bloody one through history. The Disk was stolen by the Spanish Conquistedores and returned to their home as a magnificent spoil of their exploits. The Disk found its new home in Europe, but perhaps during the Napoleonic wars, changed hands again, this time into those of the French. And there it stayed until the mid twentieth century, when the outbreak of World War 2 saw France invaded by the Germans.
For the first time the Disk was analysed. The Nazis could do little but conclude that the Disk was of a great age and beyond the craftsmanship of humans which left only one answer - its origins we're not of this Earth.
The end of World War 2 saw the Disk fall into its final masters' hands.
The Yanks.
American Scientsists poured great resources into discovering what secrets this alien artifact held, albeit in secret. With the Cold War heating up, any advantage that could be found would be more than helpful.
But it was far from the only alien relic that now called Earth home. 1984 saw part of the mystery solved. Cybertronians - Autobots and Decepticons, awoke from a four million year slumber and brought their war to Earth. Could the Disk be theirs? No, but their advanced technology, in partnership with the allied Human Scientsists, delved deeper into the disks secrets.
Almost a decade earlier, an attempt was made to make contact with the disks creators. Unique energy signatures were faintly emanating from the disk, so as humans began to explore the cosmos, they. Sent out a beacon aboard each craft.
Two in particular carried the most promise. Launched in 1977, the Voyager probes attempted to talk back in the foreign language of the energy signature. A ringing telephone in space, hoping someone would. Pick up on the other end.
But no one ever did. Those who created the disk were long since gone, but in a sense still to depart - such was their existence.
One, however, came as close to answering the call as any. But he already knew of Earth. A planet he'd repeatedly failed to exploit - but he was never one to give up, even against the fierce criticism and faction splintering he now faced. But recent events had prompted a change of tact.
Unearthed from the solidified lava flows of an extinct volcano, two charred and bizarre forms were excavated. Clearly Cybertronian, yet foreign at the same time, the forms baffled scientists of every persuasion. The conclusion came that they hailed from Cybertrons future, yet died moong in Earths past. Estimates put it between 70,000 and 180,000 years BC.
They were not there by accident.
War is a machine of rumor. Positioning yourself on whispers, walking the fine line between fact, fiction and death. Talk of a partnership between Autobot and Human had thrown up a myriad of claims, most of which were fanciful, but one, a stable technology to traverse time, which until this time had been ignored, suddenly had to be reevaluated as possible fact.
The size of the forms too gave credence to the story, as a technology to downsize the inefficient bodies was in its infancy, yet here were two such forms - damaged - but clearly the end result of the research.
One final act set off a course of events that would not see their conclusion for high on 400 years.
The Predacons, now a faction unto themselves, announced their splintering from the Decepticons by destroying the Earth. Billions of lives lost in an instant, and with them, the Golden Disk that had remained an enigma until the day it was torn apart along with the planet.
The Autobotes, who now fought in a war whose face changed every day, not helped by the arrival of the Cybertroninan Empire, swore to win the war for the human race who now no longer existed thanks to the Autobots' failures. They would protect any small pocket of human survivors, and protect any Earth relic they could, some of which were still searching out the Universe.
Before the Voyager probes could be salvaged for their own protection and prosperity, G1 Megatron insured that his own future, and past, would also be protected.
Upon the Voyager Disk, he encrypted a message, a beacon of his own for future generations to find.
Megatron was killed in battle with the Liege Maximo, but his message, now safe thanks to the Autobots guilt, would tantalize generations of Cybertronians who heard rumor of his actions.
How said rumors began is unknown, but perhaps he started them himself to breed curiosity in the foolhardy and the manipulatable.
G1 Megatron was right, up to a point. The Disk tantalized for over 300 years, until one discovered its true message - but sadly for G1 Megatron, this young Predacon had higher ambitions than he ever did.
So, did that all make sense? I'll try and make it a bit more concise.
There are 4 Golden Disks.
1: Voyager One Disk - Launched in 1977. Previous NASA probes had all attempted to imitate the unique energy signature of the Alien Golden Disk that was in the Americans possession, to try and communicate with the disks creators, but the imitation went one step further when it came to the Voyager program. The Probes were each given a Golden Disk of their own, with identical specifications to the alien disk, in a hope that the energy signature emanating from it, as well as the similar sized, but this time inscribed with a human message of its surface instead of the aliens images, would attract the attention of the aliens disks creators.
At some point G1 Megatron encrypted a message on it. Not long after that it was found by the Autobots and brought back to Cybertron to be kept in a Museum, unaware of what information it actually held, yet rumors abound that it was an object of great power.
The Autobots of course looked into such rumors, but found nothing. It wasn't until a young Predacon discovered the hidden message that it's true value came to light. It was stolen by the young Predacon and taken to prehistory Earth, as the message commanded. The Disk was eventually destroyed by Dinobot in a heroic stand.
2: Voyager Two Disk - Also launched in 1977, it would eventually be lost to time and space, never to be seen again.
3: Vok Disk One - Discovered by Inerno during the early stages of the Beast Wars. Used by BW Megtron to control the Metal Hunter Base, but ultimately destroyed when the craft exploded.
4: Vok Disk Two - Housed in some kind of Vok experiment in what would become South America. Discovered by the Mayans, it changed hands many times until coming into the possession of the Americans after WW2. It was analysed in great detail by both Human and Autobot scientists, but ultimately they never discovered its full powers. The Disk was destroyed when the Predacons blew up the Earth to announce their separation from the Decepticons.
Now, does that make sense? I'm happy to clarify anything if anyone has any questions.
