Vernoverse

[Verno]

Terminator: was a Predacon, a flier, and a silent, cold-blooded killer - cunning and with skills unsurpassed by any, except perhaps Starscream himself. Many saw similarities between the two, but Terminator had no appetite for leadership, just killing on the wing. He piloted a Predacon fighter with incredible touch, and struck fear into the sparks of the Maximals he faced.

Terminator was part of the assault on the Xelor in the penultimate stages of the Great War, but his demise was in shameful circumstances.

He enjoyed tailing his missiles into their targets, and was following two he’d fired at the Xelor, when a Maximal ship intersected them, denying him the kill. To make matters worse, the Maximal pilot had leapt from the ship and into his path, crashing into the cockpit with sword blazing, slashing it open and wounding Terminator, before casting him out into space, and commandeering his ship. He drifted helplessly in space for many cycles, before being drawn back in by Cybertron’s gravity.

The shock and damage of the event scarred Terminator deeply, leaving him a shadow of his former self. The silent, cold-blooded killer was gone, replaced by a bumbling fool, whose skills were nothing on what they once were. To try and prove himself, he volunteered his talents to a young Predacon called Megalith, who was in the market for a pilot for a little job that promised great reward and the return of his reverence. He would receive nothing but more pain.

[Hursticon]

[Verno]

Glad you approve mate. Ravage will be along shortly.

[Verno]

Ravage: was a Decepticon. He had always known one thing with certainly - Megatron would be victorious in the Great War. But the attack on the Hub had changed all that. The deaths of Megatron and Soundwave had shaken his beliefs to the core. The only thing he had left was his faction, the Decepticons, but that was soon to be taken away from him too. With the leadership of the Decepticons returning to Shockwave, who declared the withdrawal of their remaining forces from the war, and subsequent ceasing of the faction, Ravage found himself with nothing.

Ravage now had only one goal - survival, through whatever means. An unlikely opportunity presented itself. The Autobot/Maximal leadership secretly approached Ravage, to turn his skills against the Predacons - to turn spy. He agreed, after some persuasion and promise of freedom after the War, and began to collect what information he could.

He entered the Predacon ranks, as many ex-Decepticons had (in order to continue fighting) and was greeted warmly, as befitted his reputation. The Predacon leadership was secure under Razorclaw, who took a liking to Ravage as an old comrade, but the Generals who served under Razorclaw all vied for his favour and respect, none more so than Magmatron and the Tripredacus Brotherhood.

Seethe, of the Brotherhood, contacted Ravage for a secret meeting. It seemed the Brothers were more than just talk. They were planning to off Magmatron to cement their place under Razorclaw, and they were hoping that Ravage could assist them, with the promise of power and place in return. Ravage agreed, and was told they’d be in contact closer to the time.

Ravage reported back to the Autobots about the power struggle between the Generals, but left out the part about the upcoming assassination. Ravage was playing both sides until he knew which outcome would serve his interests the most. The Autobots wanted to exploit the mistrust between the Predacon Generals, and asked Ravage to make an attempt on Razorclaw’s spark if he could, as Ravage now had Razorclaw’s trust. Ravage agreed, and would attempt it when the opportunity arose.

The final battle for Cybertron began, and the Tripredacus Brotherhood told Ravage it was now time, and as Razorclaw was surrounded by lieutenants and an impossible target, he began to stalk Magmatron.

Little did Ravage know that the Tripredacus Brotherhood’s target was higher than second in command - they had other plans in motion to kill Razorclaw, and take command of the entire Predacon Army.

The battle raged, with Ravage in hiding, stalking Magmatron’s movements. He was a leader of great courage, always side by side with his troops on the frontline, not scheming far from the action like the Brotherhood. It reminded him of Megatron, and his respect for Magmatron grew and he began to rethink what he had been asked to do.

But before he could decide either way, Magmatron was cut down by enemy fire. Ravage retreated. He came out of stealth-mode, and his communicators came back online and buzzed with talk, but it was not of Magmatron’s death, but of Razorclaw’s. The Brotherhood had assumed command of the Predacons and had ordered a temporary withdrawal and rearming to regroup forces. Ravage returned to their ranks, and waited.

In the dark sky above, the Xelor completed a successful TransWarp test. The Brotherhood ordered an immediate ceasefire. It signalled the end of the War.

In the trials after the War, the Maximals believed that Ravage was responcible for the death of Razorclaw. Because of his assistance in ending the War, he was granted amnesty and freed.

He returned to the, now, Tripredacus Council, who believed him to have killed Magmatron, and he was rewarded with a new Protomatter body, and he stayed with the Council, to serve them in secret objectives.

Though he was now in a new Predacon body, and had seemingly served the Autobots, Maximals and Predacons, Ravage believed he was still, at his core, a Decepticon.

[Verno]

Colony Omicron: began its life as a secret Autobot-run Energon mine, excavating the raw form of Energon crystals found to occur naturally on the floor of the planet’s oceans. The Autobots developed specially armoured underwater forms for their workers, not just because of the extreme environment in which they had to work (some distance underwater), but because the raw Energon emitted a deadly radiation, overexposure to which proved deadly to a Transformer, causing a Spark to be extinguished. The work was hard, but it was in the interests of powering an Autobot victory.

After the War, the mine continued as a Maximal commercial operation, as power was required in the effort of rebuilding the ravaged Cybertron. Because of the oceanic nature of the planet (being so different to Cybertron), the idea was put forward to build a Maximal off-world colony on the surface. The proposal met much concern from those higher up, citing security concerns for the remote outpost. It was decided that Imperial Peace Marshals would be posted to the Colony, to police and protect its inhabitants, and this quelled the concerns and the Colony was constructed.

The Colony flourished. Miners came to the surface to enjoy their time off, and spent much of their earnings, bringing good fortune to the merchant colonists, and the Colony in general, as it expanded with the influx of money.

But the Colony had a terrible secret. During the dark stages towards the end of the Great War, a team of Autobot and Maximal scientists made the planet their home, in order to research an incredible phenomenon.

The Energon miners, due to their prolonged exposure to the radiation, and even with the best efforts to negate it, succumbed to disturbing side effects from their work. The progression into madness as their processors were corrupted was common place. The thickened exo-structure thought to protect them wasn’t working. But this is not what brought the scientists. Some miners’ Sparks began to show a tolerance to the radiation - the Spark would develop something of a skin, a hard layer that protected the Spark from being extinguished by the exposure, and in some more extreme cases, the Spark began to feed on the radiation, empowering the miner and increasing their strength and abilities to repair themselves.

The scientists postulated that, under the right conditions, a Spark might be able to tolerate all forms of damage, in essence recreating the immortal Spark of the Decepticon Starscream. In such a time, the possibility of immortal soldiers was one that even the ethic-driven Autobots and Maximals could not go past, in the hope they may turn the tide and end the multi-millennia-long War.

Events would unfold at a rapid rate towards the end of the conflict. The Maximals weren’t stupid enough to believe the Predacons would remain peaceful forever, so the research continued, in direct, albeit highly secret, violation of the Pax Cybertronia, with the intent that if the Predacons ever did start the War again, the Maximals would have a weapon to fight it with and quash it quickly.

So beneath the thriving colony of Omicron, under the eye of the Imperial Peace Marshals, within earshot of the drilling rigs, and with the possibility of being the catalyst of throwing their faction back into War, a secret Maximal research facility quietly continued its study and experiments into the realms of the immortal.

But they were not quiet for long.

[Verno]

Depth Charge: was an Autobot. After the Great War, Depth Charge, like most of his Autobot brethren, underwent the Great Upgrade, into a new Proto-matter body, and was rebranded under the new faction name of Maximal, after the Autobot name was retired.

His dedication to procedure and sense of justice were lovingly mocked by those serving under his command, but he was still greatly respected, as he’d proven himself on countless occasions during the course of the War. He inspired those around him to do better and was a soldier of unwavering loyalty, with a drive towards Peace.

After the signing of the Pax Cybertronia, Depth Charge took up a place with the newly created Imperial Peace Marshals, created to act as a police force and with the unenviable, some said impossible, job of calming tensions between Maximal and Predacon on the street. His admirable service was rewarded with the posting to the idyllic Maximal Colony of Omicron, to head the Marshal presence. However, there was more to his selection than first thought.

The Colony was also home to a research facility, whose activities were outside those agreed upon in the Pax Cybertronia. The story was that the Peace Marshals were to protect the populace from any miners getting too rowdy in their time off from the arduous work beneath the water. But in reality, they were making sure no information slipped out of the Colony about the other activities, which could plunge Cybertron back into War. The research itself wasn’t seen as dangerous, but the guarding against leaks and spies was paramount - and there was only one Maximal with the right background and demeanour for the job.

[Hursticon]

Oh man! - Brilliant, excellent work man as this is the sort of narrative expansion that the Beast Wars continuity really should have explored!

I love how you've given a reason behind the Maximals even wanting to pursue the creation of an Immortal Spark such as Starscream's, there really has been no reason given for this and what you've done is not only given it a reason, but also a killer premise, setting and backdrop.

Man, it would really be awesome if you were able to get these excellent spotlights seen by the mob at IDW or someone; to have them furthered as an ongoing pre-Beast Wars/post-Generation 1/2 comic line - There is SO much great potential here for some engaging Sci-fi story telling that has not been explored before - beyond the usual G1 Reboot every 18 months!

[Verno]

Cheers Hursty, I'm glad you're enjoying it, hopefully a few other board members are too, though they're not as vocal. (I bet Gok is hating the fact he's enjoying it, because it's not canon, and he's not allowed to enjoy things that aren't canon )

I'd love for IDW to cast an eye over it sometime. Or Furman. Or anyone involved in the comics in some way. I'm writing it for my own enjoyment (and because we don't get anything new BW-wise for a decade at a time), but if someone saw commercial value in it, I'd be beyond thrilled! And with your current appreciation, I could guarantee them at least 1 buyer!

You're right about the scope of it all. The 300-odd years between the end of G1 and the start of Beast Wars are a pretty bloody busy 300 years (which is why I hate the time-scale of G1 [4 millions years, pfft, as if...])

I'm just jotting down some ideas on the Great Upgrade right now, then I'll make a start on Rampage. Stay tuned.