The Relics of the Thirteen
The weapons and talismans of the original Primes, kept by their acolytes and bestowed to a chosen few when they are needed most…
The Apex Armor
Forged by Solus Prime for Liege Maximo, the Apex Armor endowed the Prime of Lies with great strength and mighty weapons for those rare occasions when his words failed him. Similar suits were made for elite soldiers of the Thirteen’s legions during the war against Unicron, but these have been lost to history. The Apex Armor has been revised and upgraded many times as it has changed hands throughout the ages; since the events of Twilight of the Golden Age, it has been in the care of the craftswomen of the Astral Caminus, who have rebuilt the suit into its current form.
The Apex Armor stores itself in a disk-shaped form about six feet in diameter, made from blue-grey metal with gold trimming. There is a spot of cyan light in the disk’s center, and pressing this spot will activate the armor. Using self-replicating nanomachines and mass-shifting technology, the disk will expand to enclose the user in an enormous and bulky suit of powered armor. The wearer is unable to transform or make use of their own weapons while wearing the suit; however, the Apex Armor grants them immense strength and protection from all but the most devastating weaponry. Jump jets built into the armor’s legs and back can be used to fly over short distances, and the wearer can also manipulate its nanotech to form a large, four-barreled fusion cannon over its right arm.
If the Apex Armor is ever damaged, it can only be repaired using the Forge of Solus Prime or the Cyber Caliber sword.
The Requiem Blaster
The weapon of the twelfth Prime, the Dark Warrior Megatronus. The Requiem Blaster drew its energy from powerful cosmic phenomena, such as the thermal energy of a supernova, or the gravitational field of a black hole. It was one of the most powerful weapons in the cosmos, and only Megatronus could properly wield it, his body and mind carefully designed to merge with it. At Megatronus’s own request, the Requiem Blaster was destroyed five thousand years ago after the final deaths of Unicron and his Heralds. However, with a new threat on the rise, the spirit of the Dark Warrior has given our heroes his permission to rebuild the weapon should they come to need it in the battles ahead. This can be accomplished with the Forge of Solus Prime, at the Astral Caminus on the artificial planet Astrum.
(Credit to artist Ken Christiansen)
The Requiem Blaster shot a crimson beam of energy that could obliterate most forms of matter along its path, and even objects close by the beam would be badly burned or melted as it passed them. The weapon simultaneously fed on its wielder’s rage and amplified it in a volatile feedback loop- invariably, its power would become so great that it would begin to damage the wielder’s body with prolonged use, and the wielder could scarcely tell what was happening to them as they fell further into a berserk state.
When wielded by one worthy of Primehood, the Requiem Blaster’s destructive output was increased dramatically, but the risk to the wielder and those around them was consequently more severe, as the weapon’s energies became unfettered.
The Matrix of Leadership
First entrusted to Optimus Prime upon his creation, the Matrix of Leadership has since been passed down through a long lineage of successive Primes, accumulating their wisdom and experiences to provide a deep repository of knowledge for future leaders of Cybertron to call upon. The talisman’s crystal core also houses a fragment of the Allspark, and when the Matrix is opened, a Prime can harness its divine power. It will sometimes act of its own accord, however, possessing some semblance of consciousness and intentions that do not always align with those of its hosts.
The Matrix of Leadership will only avail its wisdom and other powers to someone it deems worthy of them. Usually, this person is a Prime, but not always. In the hands of the unworthy, the gold and luster fade from the Matrix’s shell, its crystals become dark and grey, and the talisman feels cold and heavy.
A person worthy of the Matrix can enter a meditative state and commune with the talisman, enabling them to interact with facsimiles of previous Matrix-bearers. These illusions, while not the genuine articles, possess all the thoughts and memories of their true selves recorded within the Matrix, making them almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
The Matrix can only be opened in the most dire of circumstances. It will not allow itself to be forced open before its time, not by anyone- even a Prime. When the Matrix does choose to lend its full power to its host, it is also capable of transforming into the Matrix Saber- a large and ornate sword with abilities similar to those of the Star Saber, but far more powerful.
The rest of the Primal Relics will be added to this post as they become relevant. A link to this post will also be added to the original post of this topic