Cybertronian Planets of the TOTGA-verse
Cybertron and the First Seven Colonies
Cybertron
Cybertron is the original homeworld of cybertronian kind, formed around the Allspark- the life-force of Primus. As in most official Transformers universes, it is mostly mechanical, but its equator boasts jungles and grasslands with flora that is equal parts cybernetic and organic in nature (such hybridization is colloquially called “techno-organic”). The rest of Cybertron is mostly vast, layered cityscapes, extending as high skyward as they do into the planet.
Despite its relative youth to other planets, like Earth, Cybertron bears a rich history, evident in the massive towers almost as old as the planet itself, and the varying styles of architecture visible in cities like Iacon, where countless generations of transformers have come and gone over millions of years. Cybertron has been the birthplace of some of the galaxy’s greatest heroes and villains, and the site of battles that have decided the fate of the entire cosmos and beyond.
Cybertron’s capitol city-state is Iacon. It is the oldest on the planet, founded by the Thirteen before the First Golden Age. Immense gold towers rise out of a lake of energon at the bottom of a sinkhole in the northern hemisphere, supporting a multi-layered web of roadways and boulevards on which reside smaller buildings and monuments to heroes of cybertronian lore. Iacon plays host to many significant sites, such as the Primal Basilica, a cathedral dedicated to the lineage of the Primes; and the Grand Museum, which was once the headquarters of the Knights of Cybertron in ages past. Adjacent to Iacon is the Burthov spaceport, a massive complex that receives hundreds of ships from all over the galaxy; past governments have recognized the facility as its own city-state.
Further north lies the Well of All Sparks, a massive pit- visible from orbit- that bores all the way down to Cybertron’s core. In the Well, the Allspark creates new transformers and imbues them with sparks of their own, who then climb up to the surface to begin their lives. Near the Well is the Hydrax Plateau, which is adorned with massive statues of the Thirteen and hides the Tomb of the Primes, a necropolis where all those who bear the Matrix of Leadership are laid to rest. The land around the Well and the Hydrax Plateau is virtually untouched, though if one travels east, they’ll find the city of Tyger Pax on the plateau’s other side, built atop a lake of energon.
In the south pole is Kaon, infamous for giving rise to Megatron and the Decepticons during the great war, but now a respectable city in its own right. In its center is the entrance to Vector Sigma, an ancient supercomputer which holds the sum-total of all cybertronian knowledge. Just above the equator is the Sea of Rust, a city-state that was bombed to ruin during the great war and rendered uninhabitable by chemical weapons. In ages past it was a beautiful city with a storied history, and many secrets remain buried beneath the rubble.
Cybertron has two moons, Hecate and Artemis. Hecate was colonized early in the First Golden Age, while Artemis was mined for energon and precious metals and later razed in the War of the Primes- it has little to recommend it. Many humans often wonder why Cybertron’s moons are named after ancient Greek godesses; many cybertronians often wonder why ancient Greek godesses are named after Cybertron’s moons.
Hecate
Cybertron’s two moons, Hecate and Artemis, were both the first stellar bodies considered for cyberforming by the Knights of Cybertron. Both were rich in energon, the rare mineral that literally fueled all of cybertronian civilization- a requirement for the process- however Artemis possessed too high a variety of the substance. Wary of how so many different variations of energon would react with the cybermatter, the Knights decided to reallocate their efforts and colonize only Hecate instead.
Each colony reacted differently to cyberforming, and Hecate was no exception. The Knights discovered that not a single Well had been created on the moon; instead, the surface of the satellite was positively riddled with Hot Spots- energon-rich areas in which disembodied sparks formed and pockets of sentio metallico (the metal of which cybertronians bodies are comprised) could be found. This would certainly make procreation on the new colony difficult, however not impossible; using an at-the-time experimental procedure nicknamed "cold construction’, the people of Hecate sculpted lifeless bodies from the moon’s sentio metallico deposits, and harvested sparks from the Hot Spots to place them inside these shells and grant them proper lives. The Hecatians largely pioneered the technology and technique of cold construction, and it soon became a viable alternative means of reproduction for the whole race. The people of Hecate fought with Quintus Prime at the end of the Golden Age, and near-unanimously supported the Autobots during the Great War. Like the rest of the Imperium of Cybertron, it was left in ruin by its end, however the colony was swiftly rebuilt, and remains active and prosperous to this day.
Noteworthy locations on Hecate include Hot Spot-84, one of the largest and most bountiful of its’ kind to be found on any Cybertronian world. Southeast of Hot Spot-84 lies the city of Polyhex, which boasts a massive vault of sparks harvested from all across the moon. Just north of Hecate’s equator is Pescus Hex, the largest provider of cold constructed shells and a center for the technique, even. Hecatians treat cold construction as an almost sacred form of art, and are able to put the intimate knowledge of Cybertronian anatomy and physiology that it requires to medical use, in a pinch.
Gigantion
Gigantion was the second of the original seven colonies to be founded. Micronus Prime involved himself heavily in the proceedings, so perhaps it wasn’t entirely a coincidence that nearly half of the Cybertronian population spawned from the colony’s Wells were soon found to be Minicons and Micromasters. The other half, however, were gargantuan mechanoids that stood as tall as skyscrapers, dubbed “Titans” for their immense size. Day-in and day-out, the Titans of Gigantion have since labored with their tiny counterparts to build a complex, layered megacity around their world. Their work has been impeded twice, by the War of the Primes and the Great War, however it has never gone truly without pause. The people of Gigantion are yet building still…
Wrapping around the planet is a ring formed from jettisoned debris from constant construction- discarded tools, girders, beams, and the ruins of entire buildings, even. All ten layers of the Gigantion megacity are populated and can be traversed at leisure. On level nine can be found the Metroplex Shipyards, named in memory of a heroic Titan who fought for the Autobots, and a massive elevator, hundreds of miles wide, in the north pole runs through the entire planet. At Gigantion’s heart lies the remnants of the organic world originally colonized by the Knights- Level Zero. It receives very little sunlight, and is inhabited only by miners and caretakers of its’ Hot Spots and Wells. Retired spacecraft of every make and model litter the surface, and many of them are recycled into material to expand the city further. Notable derelicts include the Ark, the Steelhaven, and the CFC Salvation.
With their size, the Titans are the strongest of all the Cybertronian breeds, and are also virtually immune to all but the most powerful weapons. The wee folk of Gigantion are, in kind, also stronger and more resilient than others of their kin hailing from other worlds. Gigantions value hard, honest labor and unity. They have a great respect for old customs and traditions, however they also maintain a firm and optimistic gaze towards the future, believing in the necessity of progress and innovation. They typically possess mining and construction-oriented alt-modes.
Chaar
The third of the first seven colonies was the volcanic world of Chaar, rich in energon and other natural resources valuable to cybertronian kind- some of them quite rare on most other planets. Thus did it become an industrial center and a prime exporter of raw materials for the old Imperium of Cybertron. Though largely unaffected by the War of the Primes, Chaar was seized by the Decepticon Empire at the start of the Great War. The Decepticons aggressively strip-mined the planet to fuel their war machine, and in doing so eventually killed the world- its Wells and Hot Spots gradually withered and died by the War’s end. Chaar was not rebuilt following the Great War, and remains a hellish, barren husk in the age of the New Imperium.
The capitol city of Chaar was Trypticon, which boasted vast energon refineries and sat above a vein of rare Red Energon, which was known to enhance a transformer’s abilities to the extreme. The city was rumored to be the center of a mysterious weapons development project of the Decepticons late in the war, however these plans, whatever they might have been, never came into fruition.
Paradon
Paradon, the fourth of the original colonies, functioned as the premiere medical center of the old Imperium of Cybertron. Many lifesaving techniques, technologies, treatments, and cures were developed on the world, and the doctors and surgeons Paradon produced were praised as the best of any species in all the galaxy. Paradon’s pacifist culture led to the colony and its people remaining largely neutral during both wars in cybertronain history, however during the Great War, the many battles between the Autobots and Decepticons left Paradon desolate. In the present day, however, the planet is slowly being rebuilt and recolonized as part of the New Imperium of Cybertron.
Antilla
Antilla, the fifth colony, would be a largely inhospitable desert world for most organic creatures. However, as with Chaar and Artemis, beneath the sands lay a wealth of energon and other resources valuable to the cybertronian people, whose robotic nature thrived where creatures of flesh and blood could not. Mining proved more difficult than originally expected, however, and so the planet’s Wells quickly began to produce Transformers that were more fuel-efficient, and with durable bodies to help them withstand the deserts’ intense heat and biting sandstorms. The Antillians managed to carve out a stable existence upon their world, but about halfway through the Great War, the Decepticons unleashed a terrible biological weapon upon the colony: a laboratory-bred strain of the dreaded Cosmic Rust. Within weeks, both Antilla’s cities and its’ people wasted away. The few that survived, bearing a rare immunity to the plague, either joined the Autobots or remained neutral. Antilla remains a quarantined world to this day.
Caelum
Religion is a keystone of Cybertronian culture, and that fact was no more apparent than on the sixth colony, Caelum. A world of lush jungles and high, beautiful cliffs and mountain ranges, Caelan Transformers were devout followers of Primus and the Thirteen, and were well-versed in Cybertronian lore and mythology. Even after the Golden Age came to an end, many of its’ people retained a fluency in the old spoken language of their race, and in the ancient writing form of cyberglyphics. Caelum was sadly left desolate after the Great War, however it is currently undergoing recolonization efforts.
Conventus
Originally a hub of purely cybertronian commerce and interstellar travel, the tropical archipelagos of Conventus came to act as a congregation point for nearly all civilized races of the galaxy. Conventus became a symbol of unity for many, and a frequent host of diplomatic endeavors, as well as trade. Naturally, it was one of the xenophobic Decepticon Empire’s first targets. The colony was besieged from orbit, until it was abandoned and left in ruin. It remained desolate for twenty million years after the Great War, but now, as the New Imperium of Cybetron ventures out to re-establish contact with alien races, it is being resettled.
Junkion, Clemency, and Velocitron
Clemency
After the War of the Primes, the surviving Thirteen tasked the Knights of Cybertron with hiding any artifacts that would betray knowledge of their true fate to the people. One such artifact was the stasis pod in which Liege Maximo was imprisoned. This pod was placed within a hidden chamber of a colony ship, which was then sent to found a new Cybertronian world. The planet chosen was cold and icy, however met the criteria for a suitable colony all the same. The world was thus cyberformed, and named Clemency.
The true purpose behind Clemency’s founding would never be discovered during the Epoch of Stagnation, and for much of the era of the Cybertronian Commonwealth, too. Clemency’s cities were razed during the Great War, and the abandoned world served as a popular hideout for outlaws for roughly twenty million years after. Like many of the other “lost colonies”, however, Clemency is now being resettled by the New Imperium of Cybertron.
Clemencian Transformers were especially adapted to frigid climates, and possessed alt-modes suited for the planet’s harsh, unending winter. Clemency’s capitol city was Ky-Alexia, built near the colony ship that founded the world. Many of the criminals that used to call Clemency home have since flocked to Junkion or human space in recent centuries.
Junkion
At one time, Junkion was an uninhabited, unclaimed, and undesired planet. It was too far from its star for most of its’ orbital cycle to be considered for colonization by organic species, and it harbored little in the way of natural resources that may have made it valuable otherwise. A swath of civilizations took to using Junkion as a sort of galactic dumping ground, and over time, the true surface of the world became buried beneath mountains of trash, fields of detritus, pools of toxic chemicals, and the hulls of broken starships.
After the War of the Primes, however, a cybertronian colony ship, dispatched by the Knights of Cybertron to hide the Key to Vector Sigma, veered off its’ course and crash-landed on the Planet of Junk. The impact triggered the vessel’s cyberforming mechanisms by accident, reacting with what little Energon was present on the world to imbue it with the energies of the Allspark, and thus was the ninth cybertronian colony founded by pure mishap.
The transformers that now called Junkion home quickly established an unusual society, dialect, and set of customs largely based off of human pop culture. This, combined with Junkion’s distance from the other cybertronian worlds (and indeed most other civilized races), led to its people becoming largely independent. Though officially a part of the Imperium of Cybertron, and later the Cybertronian Commonwealth, and now the New Imperium of Cybertron, Junkion still possesses a degree of autonomy that the other colonies do not have, and its inhabitants tend to keep out of intergalactic affairs (even those of the other cybertronian worlds). Junkions are also noteworthy for possessing an unusual anomaly in their constitutions that allows them to survive injuries that would otherwise prove fatal to most other cybertronians.
Junkion is ringed by a debris field of derelict starships, space stations, and other miscellaneous jetsam. This ring is especially perilous to travel through, for it is home to sparse tribes of viscous, savage cannibals that often abduct unlucky spacefarers. Noteable locations on Junkion include the Big Apple, the planet’s de facto capitol, which was constructed around the wreck of an Autobot orbital station that now serves as the residence of the Junkion leader. Just beyond the city limits, one can find the Montgomery Scott Shipyards.
The Howling Wastes is the name given to a vast, arid plain littered with ancient shipwrecks. Smugglers like to hide themselves and their contraband within the wrecks, and the Driller Worms that tunnel beneath the wastes make it a dangerous place to travel. East of the wastes are the shores of the Acid Sea, a vast ocean of acids and toxic chemicals, home to a particularly ravenous breed of Sharkticon, and the Pillar of Rust- the name since given to the colony ship that founded Junkion- rests in the eye of a permanent rust storm.
Velocitron
Velocitron is the product of an ambitious project of the newly-formed Cybertronian Commonwealth. Seeking to reclaim the Golden Age glory of their species, fragments of the Allspark were harvested from Cybertron’s core and placed aboard a fleet of starships bound for a desert world in a nearby solar system. When the fleet arrived, however, a closer inspection of the planet revealed that it was much closer to its star than originally thought- so close was it, in fact, that the surface was uninhabitable during the daylight hours. Thus was the fleet rebuilt into a collection of mobile cities, utilizing the Allspark fragments as an infinite energy source in addition to their life-giving properties. These cities constantly crawl through the desert sands of Velocitron to escape the hellish inferno brought by daybreak and remain in the safety of the cool night.
Speed soon became a valued attribute in Velocitronian culture. Its Wells quickly began to produce remarkably fast and agile Transformers with speedy, terrain-based vehicle modes, and racing became the planet’s most popular passtime, eventually becoming an important piece of Velocitron’s societal structure, even. Disputes between individuals and cities are now settled on the race track, and the Speedia 5000, held in the capitol city of Navitas, even determines the planet’s leader.