Vector Sigma / Transmetal Driver

[Verno]

Ok. So here's an idea I'm going to try and flesh out.

Vector Sigma - Multiversal Super Computer with the ability to imbibe life or a spark into a Transformer.

Key to Vector Sigma - The activation key for Vector Sigma. Also has the ability to use a strange energy to transform matter into lifeless metal. (One would then postulate that Vector Sigma would then bring that lifeless metal to life, if that was the idea behind the duo of pieces)

Transmetal Driver - Datasphere for collection of information. True purpose unknown but also a holder of strange power, shows signs of a conciousness of its own. Reinstilled life into Blackarachnia after her spark was extinguished by Tarantulas's shell program counter-measures.

What if the Transmetal Driver, which I like to think Megatron stole from the Metal Hunter base when he was in command of it in Season 2 (which gives him plenty of time to test and alter it before its appearance in Feral Scream Parts 1 in season 3) was a Vok version of Vector Sigma.

We know the Vok seeded worlds with both energon and life, what if this little device, and others like it, is how they did it?

Instead of turning matter into metal, it takes it one step further and turns metal into Transmetal, the Vok's prefered medium of construction.

Thoughts?

(I don't profess to be a G1 expert, my research into Vector Sigma and its key is whatever I can read online.)

[Hursticon]

One could postulate that the Transmetal Driver could be a derivative of Vector Sigma.

Being that the Vok appear to of achieved ascendance and hence must've existed as a physical race for quite some time before hand, it is entirely possible that the Vok could've had some form of contact with Cybertron during it's 1st Golden Age, or at least it's early years, and having being presented with the unfathomably complex and inspiring Vector Sigma and it's Key.

The Vok and the Cybertronians might've had some truly great relations just for the following to occur, but I imagine that they would've been so taken back by what was before them that it inspired and drove them as a race to achieve a level of intelligence, be it individually or collectively, that would endow them with the ability to construct such an object themselves which creates life... i.e. they believed that whoever created this 'computer' was clearly a God just by demonstration, let alone definition and subsequently set out to achieve an equal standing if not greater.

Now, one might assume that for whatever reason the original Vok race lost contact with the Cybertronians, considering anything could happen when you're dealing with universal time scales, leading them to approach their goals independently and eventually their ascendance of evolution.
All along continuing that immense, multi-generational journey towards the creation of the Transmetal Driver and the ability to seed planets with Energon, as it would seem that they were experimenting with the creation of life but attempting to adapt or manipulate said life with the purpose of achieving a sentient life form that resembled that of an ancient species they'd encountered so many, many eons ago.

This IMO gives reasoning behind why when the Predacons and Maximals are found to be on the planet, the Vok had no records of them. Imagine their surprise to find that these Aliens were the descendants of that ancient race they'd encountered so long ago, but more alarmingly - What that ancient race had eventually evolved towards, what that eventually lead to and how much of a contamination this potentially presented to the 'Experiment'?...
They would have to either eliminate the infection in order to try and preserve what had been started or, regrettably, end the experiment and start over.

My mind runs wild with what could possibly occur if the Transmetal Driver were to be introduced to Vector Sigma and it's Key? - Could this be the reason, cause and effect that lead to the Transtech era?

[Verno]

My mind runs wild with what could possibly occur if the Transmetal Driver were to be introduced to Vector Sigma and it's Key? - Could this be the reason, cause and effect that lead to the Transtech era?

Exactly my thinking.

I subscribe to the idea that the Vok is the evolved form of Simon Furman's Swarm, thus they have had contact with Transformers in the past.

And as the Swarm was born from the buddying reproduction of early Transformers, and full of Transformers DNA if you will, they are brothers, in a sense, to all Transformers.

I see the Vok taking Primus' place as God of the Transformers, and their technological advancements replace the old technology of Cybertron, reformatting the entire planet and all those on it into new TransTech forms.

[Hursticon]

Exactly my thinking.

I subscribe to the idea that the Vok is the evolved form of Simon Furman's Swarm, thus they have had contact with Transformers in the past.

Hmm, I can't say that I'm familiar with The Swarm apart from hearing/reading it's name being mentioned... I'll have to head over to the wiki.

And as the Swarm was born from the buddying reproduction of early Transformers, and full of Transformers DNA if you will, they are brothers, in a sense, to all Transformers.

Ah, so you're suggesting that as the swarm was born of the reproduction/re-releasing of early Cybertronians (Pre or Post the development of the ability to Transformation?), subsequently they would share common DNA (Or the Cybertronian equivalent) therefore making them part of the same genetic tree?... I can see that.

Like many of the various Homo species throughout our own evolution, The Swarm mutated and adapted along a different path eventually taking the new moniker of Vok - I dig, I dig...

I see the Vok taking Primus' place as God of the Transformers

Or Gods? (I don't like the idea of any one being holding all the power ), but what would cause the Cybertronians to abandon their extraordinarily long held devotion to Primus?...

Does Primus actually exist? - Did he create Vector Sigma or is Vector Sigma and it's key 2 facets of Primus?

Perhaps Primus is an instilled idea within the psyche of each Cybertronian at creation, by Vector Sigma, in order to keep some semblance of balance and control amongst the populace that, like all religions, splinters into separate interpretations that eventually leads to the opposing factions and the discovery of an equally omnipotent being named Unicron?

Surely it would have to be a phenomenal realisation of some sort that would cause an entire race to abandon a belief/devotion to a 'God-like' entity and how would that entity react?
(Ooh... Maximals & and Predacons re-enact the Pax-Cybertronia and unite to destroy both Primus and Unicron both in reality and across the Multi-verse?)

We also need to consider the events of the end of Beast Wars and whether or not BWII & Neo happen before, during or after?

[Verno]

Ok, take a deep breath, and get ready to submerge yourself into the Vernon Transformers Universe.

The creation of the Swarm, although appearing to be an accidental by-product of the Buddying, was full of intent and of the will of Primus. He created the species not bound to physical form and free to leave Cybertron and explore and grow.

For what purpose?

To evolve to a state of intelligence that it will ascend to the same realm of exitance as Primus (and Unicron when he's powerful enough)

And why?

To replace both Primus and Unicron as the Transformers' gods.

When the Vok entered Tarantulas's body after emerging from Tigerhawk's body, his extraction machine turned on him and killed Taranrtulas. The Vok at that time were in touch with Tarantulas's body and spark, and thus as Tarantulas's spark re-entered the Matrix, the Vok were carried along with it, and met their creator, Primus.

Unicron has been rebuilt and is now strong (after eating the debris from the exploded Hub [after the Liege Maximo's failed ascention]) and is on his way to Cybertron. With his new strength, he has re-emerged on the corporeal plane and is again taunting his brother, Primus.

So the Vok are now witnessing the battle of minds of Primus and Unicron, and ultimately must choose to take up the mantle of Primus' heir, after Unicron kills Primus, and must then battle Unicron or let all life be extinguished for good.

Ultimately he takes up arms, defeats Unicron and his essence takes Primus' place and a new energy brings Cybertron back to life, TransTech energy.

Thats a rough plan of part of the story I'm hoping to write one of these days. There are a lot more parts to it.

[GoktimusPrime]

Ah, so you're suggesting that as the swarm was born of the reproduction/re-releasing of early Cybertronians (Pre or Post the development of the ability to Transformation?), subsequently they would share common DNA (Or the Cybertronian equivalent) therefore making them part of the same genetic tree?... I can see that.

The Swarm was an unintended by-product of Transformer mitotic reproduction when it was abused by the Cybertronian Empire (under the leadership of the Decepticon Liege Maximo). So you are indeed correct - the Swarm (and therefore the Vok) share a common "genetic" ancestry with the Transformers. The Swarm hungered for the light of Primus from which it was divorced... and it satiated this hunger by devouring life - and was specifically drawn to Cybertronian life (since all TF Sparks are derived from Primus' own life essence) - in an attempt to complete itself. In the end of G2, Optimus Prime allowed the Swarm to devour him, and in doing so, devouring the Matrix inside him. The Matrix of course is forged from Primus' life essence, and when the Swarm devoured the Matrix, it was finally 'completed' and evolved to become a new life form (which would later become the Vok).

Or Gods? (I don't like the idea of any one being holding all the power ), but what would cause the Cybertronians to abandon their extraordinarily long held devotion to Primus?...

Probably the same way most knowledge is lost... original keepers of the knowledge die and information is either poorly recorded or the records are lost. The most comprehensive record of Cybertronian knowledge would have been the Underbase - which was housed in the Temple of Knowledge and closely guarded by the Disciples of Boltax who always met visitors with their friendly greeting of, "Pain and suffering will be yours if you stay." Charming.

Thanks to the actions of Optimus Prime and Megatron (accompanied by the Triggerbots and Triggercons respectively), the Temple (which turned out to be Boltax himself) was destroyed and the Underbase cube was lost to the far reaches of space (sound familiar?). Millions of years later the Underbase approached Earth and was absorbed by Starscream -- who became uber powerful, but also went nutso and eventually was destroyed... kinda (the Underbase had also rendered Starscream immortal, so he became undead... as ya do).
"Cerebral circuuiiits!"
But some vestiges of Primus' existence still prevailed even after knowledge was lost. The Autobot insignia is based on Primus' image - and is thus possibly a religious icon. Some also had knowledge of the Last Autobot, whose legend even prevailed in Decepticon culture (the core principles of the Decepticon martial art Metallikato is based on this).

Does Primus actually exist? -

Of course He exists! To question His existence is heresy!!

Did he create Vector Sigma or is Vector Sigma and it's key 2 facets of Primus?

The Transformers: Ultimate Guide book describes Vector Sigma as the internal computer of Primus which he used to collect and analyse data from across the universe (multiverse?). During the Beast Wars Vector Sigma declared itself the "God of Transformers" and was able to telepathically commune with Big Convoy from anywhere in the galaxy. And when Unicron attacked Cybertron, he explicitly attacked Vector Sigma, possessing it and through Vector Sigma, began transforming Cybertron itself into his new body (though Unicron was ultimately defeated by the combined efforts of Big Convoy & his Maximals, Lio Convoy and Magmatron (thus once again fulfilling the will of Primus - i.e. Transformers uniting against Unicron).

Perhaps Primus is an instilled idea within the psyche of each Cybertronian at creation, by Vector Sigma, in order to keep some semblance of balance and control amongst the populace that, like all religions, splinters into separate interpretations that eventually leads to the opposing factions and the discovery of an equally omnipotent being named Unicron?

Erm... there's no evidence to support this. All knowledge of Primus was completely lost until it was rediscovered by Bumblebee, Jazz, Grimlock, Red Hot, Seawatch, Fixit and Stakeout by accident (or fate?). Before then the Transformers had absolutely no knowledge of this -- they were too embroiled with their own civil war. And even when this knowledge came to light, it was extremely difficult for the Autobots and Decepticons to put their differences aside and work toward the common purpose of fighting Unicron.

Initially Prime didn't even try forging an alliance. Instead he just sent Autobot Crusaders out on the Matrix Quest to find his old body and retrieve the Matrix. The Decepticons worked separately to also find it because Thunderwing wanted its power for himself. It was only after the Matrix was lost that Optimus Prime, in an act of desperation, surrendered himself and the Autobots to Scorponok and his Decepticons in an act of good faith to foster an alliance. And even then, the Decepticons weren't that interested -- well, Scorponok was, but he knew most of the other 'Cons weren't, and his leadership was already hanging by a thread and he didn't want to make a massively unpopular decision like siding with the Autobots that might cause the Decepticons to overthrow him. The alliance was only really formed because of Galvatron (and he only did it because he wanted payback against Unicron) -- it was Galvatron who abducted Emirate Xaaron and elicited him to pray to Primus to bring all the Transformers back to Cybertron. And there assembled they were meant to fight against Unicron... but when Unicron appeared, they all just freaked out and started fleeing, and it was Galvatron again who united them by making the first strike against Unicron.

So... ironically, if it weren't for Galvatron, Cybertron, Primus and all the Transformers would've been totally screwed!

We also need to consider the events of the end of Beast Wars and whether or not BWII & Neo happen before, during or after?

Beast Wars Second and Beast Wars Neo both occur long after G1/G2 -- approx. 300 years after the end of the Great Autobot-Decepticon War (signing of the Pax Cybertronia blah blah blah). Shortly after the events of Beast Wars Neo would have been Beast Machines. The fact that Unicron destroyed the entire Maximal armada and ruling government would help to explain how Megatron and his Vehicons were able to so easily conquer the planet in its weakened post-Unicron state.

[Hursticon]

Well, I'm liking that skeleton dude as it has some strong foundations for building upon.
I'm currently reading up on the swarm and budding now, as well as Transformers reproduction in general and it would seem (Like most of the franchise ) the explanation is damn splintered.

I like the idea of the Vok piggy backing Tarantulas' Spark back to the Matrix and I've got a theory on how to mate most of the commonly held explanations of reproduction together...
Give me a little while and I'll try and show you what I mean as I think it would tie in well with your proposal of the Vok meeting Primus on the corporeal plane.

[Verno]

Give me a little while and I'll try and show you what I mean as I think it would tie in well with your proposal of the Vok meeting Primus on the corporeal plane.

I'd be keen to hear it mate!

Thanks for the info Gok. Could you give me a rundown on who we would assume to be leading the Autobots and Decepticons after the events in The Alignment? I'm assuming Ultra Magnus (as Prime is in stasis) and Soundwave. Everyone else seems to be dead.

[GoktimusPrime]

I haven't read the Alignment, but here's what I know about what was happening at the end of the Autobot-Decepticon War:
+ Hot Rod, having recently renamed himself "Rodimus", was Autobot leader - and led the Autobots to their final victory, signing of the Pax Cybertronia, enactment of what would become the Maximal Upgrade (improved Micromasters?)
+ The Wreckers were somehow instrumental in the Autobot's final victory - exactly how I don't know. And Springer was their leader and Rodimus' confidant.
+ Daniel and Wheelie die in battle, making Arcee a sad panda (but making Transformer fans most happy! )

No idea who was leading the Decepticons... uhmm, let's say Calcar?

[Verno]

You've not read it? I'm flabber-gasted! Its not canon, I know, but I was sure you'd be all over it.

In what medium is all this stuff with Rodimus and the Wreckers and such communicated? Comics?