Canon

[Verno]

Whats an 'Underbase'?

[Sky Shadow]

Whats an 'Underbase'?

It's very much like the live-action movies' Allspark - a bigass cubelike thing that's flying through space and full of knowledge and power. Except it was from the G1 comics twenty years before the films.



Interestingly, Underbase energy affected Transformers in similar way to Beast Wars energon. That is, Transformers with organic shells or organic components were protected, while 'normal' geewun Transformers tended to be killed by it. A lot. (It killed Jetfire, Bluestreak, Brawn, Gears, Goldbug, Mirage, Hoist, Hound, Jazz, Blaster, Nautilator, Seawing, Snaptrap, Skalor, Overbite, Tentakil, Chase, Goldbug, Freeway, Searchlight, Rollbar, Wideload, Slag, Swoop, Snarl, Sludge, Divebomb, Razorclaw, Tantrum, Rampage, Headstrong, Grimlock, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Octane, Silverbolt, Skydive, Slingshot, Air Raid, Fireflight, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Prowl, Strafe, Scattershot, Lightspeed, Nosecone, Afterburner, Hun-Grrr, Rippersnapper, Blot, Cutthroat, Sinnertwin, Omega Supreme, Ratbat, Thundercracker and Skywarp, but left the 'organic' Transformers alive.)

[Verno]

Wow, nice death toll then. Did it prompt Pretender shells or something? Or were they already in existance?

[Sky Shadow]

Wow, nice death toll then. Did it prompt Pretender shells or something? Or were they already in existance?

The Pretenders were some of the survivors. The next issue featured the Pretender Beasts for the first time in the US comics.

[Demonac]

The Underbase was a way to eliminate all these characters who no longer had toys on shelves.
The other Underbase survivors were those that were binary bonded to Nebulons (Target & Head masters).

[Verno]

I see, I see, all very interesting.

So we know the Maximals tried to replicate or recreate Starscream's immortal spark with Protoform X, how do you think they might have tried that? We can't recreate the Underbase again to throw at another 'bot.

I'm thinking it may have something to do with prolonged raw energon exposure, or something.

How does that relate to Starscream?

...

Yeah I don't know. Maybe his is just a fluke of nature.

How they reproduced that immortal spark though? Perhaps through Budding?

Budding came from before the time of Sparks, but we must assume that the spark is either split or divided or something.

Perhaps the Maximals got their hands on Starscream's spark and tried to 'Bud' it or split it, and the shard that broke off was Rampage's spark, which grew with the power it was fed.

Rampage's spark was shown to be durable enough to survive being split, perhaps its originator, Starscream's, was the same.