The Age of Order, also known as the Functionist Era, was a time of great strife on Cybertron as the planet was under the increasingly oppressive rule of its ruling bodies, with the caste system of Functionism becoming a major social institution following the Republic of Cybertron's isolationism from the wider galactic community.
Approx. 16 million stellar cycles ago:
Following the infamous Combatron Wars and Border Wars, Cybertronian society fell into a melancholic malaise. In the aftermath of such destructive conflicts, extreme measures were taken to ensure such horrors never again threatened Cybertron with Nominus Prime passing the Nominus Edict, a piece of legislation that would end the Cybertronian expansion and undergo isolationism from the rest of the galaxy in order to ensure security and stability on Cybertron for eons to come.
With the Neo-Colonial Period at an end, the caste system of Functionism is reconstituted as the dominant social system on Cybertron in the face of dwindling energon reserves. The caste system was implemented by Nominus Prime during the post-Second Cybertronian Civil War reconstruction period to maintain a stable society. Cybertronians still believe there is a sense in the idea that everyone is best at one thing and meant for that one thing alone. They never stopped dividing people into roles primarily based on what alt-mode or body-type a Cybertronian had. But more than before, Cybertron becomes incredibly oppressive with the increase of Functionist sentiment, as bots are expected to stick to a single job determined by their alt-mode. Many Cybertronian subspecies within the low castes, most notably outliers, beastformers, monoformers, and even cold-constructed Cybertronians face prejudice and discrimination from a large majority of the upper and middle castes. As for Minicons, they're commonly viewed with suspicion by their Guzzler cousins as both the Senate and the Functionist High Council employ some Minicons to serve as their secret police.
After the passing of the Nominus Edict, the Senate and the Functionist High Council grow increasingly corrupt, deciding that it was now time for a power play as the title of Prime was now subordinate to them. Using their far more organized regimen, the two ruling bodies managed to sneak legislations and other laws that gave them increasing power, leading to a cold war between the Senate and the Functionists with both sides slowly but surely gaining more power to see which one would become the dominant power on all of Cybertron. Notable Senators in office at this time included First Senator Proteus, along with Halogen, Decimus, Ixion, Torenia Pax, Dai Atlas, Shockwave, Ratbat, Trannis, Crosscut, Sherma, Momus, Contrail, Sigil, Drivetrain, Levitacus, Avalon, Gravitas, Crisscross, Heretech, Golbax, Raja, Tantalus, Kudon, Vraz, Eronus, Neo, Templar, Emeritus, Afflous, and Thalos. Notable Functionist High Councilors in office at this time included Head Councilor Steelheart, along with Nightwielder, Obliteration, Refractionary, Fortuity, Firefight, Repulsor, Deathpoint, Conflux, Limelight, Faultline, and Regalia.
The Senate quickly cracked down on Cybertronian society, implementing numerous authoritarian policies, and beginning excess mining, turning once grand city-states like Kaon, Tarn, Helex, Kolkular, Blaster City, and Slaughter City into industrial wastelands. Secretly with the aid of the Cult of the Black Epoch, corrupt Senators are able to eliminate many transgressors to their rule and also increase their political power. As for the Functionist High Council, they begin to militarize in order to cement their authority. All members of the Council, including Steelheart, were high-level Outliers with extraordinary powers. The Functionists erase all information about them, including their identities as outliers, so that it won't be used against them. The Functionist High Council recruits many powerful outliers into their private militia forces, the Functionaries and the elite Council Guardians.
Approx. 15 million stellar cycles ago:
Wallowing in a self-imposed cultural stagnation and decline, Nominus Prime and the Senate turn a blind eye to the degeneration of Cybertronian culture as the people--increasingly oppressed by the caste system and strict energon rationing--turn to hedonism, decadence, and criminality to their dissatisfied lives some sort of meaning. Many low-caste and middle-caste citizens start careers at the illegal gladiatorial pits in the Badlands, with the Elite Guard trying to shut down the games but to no avail. The Senate, aware of why the games began, does nothing to stop them.
Many Cybertronian civilians leave Cybertron to the colonies in order to find a new life outside of the caste system, but this choice will soon vanish when the Senate implements strict immigration regulations.
The Iaconian Nobility increases in power and influence as Nominus and his Emirates decrease in their own. Increasingly, the Nobility begins to cultivate influence in both government and the criminal underworld to maintain their interests over those of the general populace. Even Nominus Prime, now beginning to regret the decisions he made that inadvertently brought stagnation to Cybertron, falls under the corrupting influence of the current Eminence Majestas.
Elements of Dragotron's banned Golden Age beastformer research make their way onto Cybertron's criminal underworld known as the Shadownet (thanks to the machinations of the Iaconian Nobility), allowing primitive variations on his studies to spread through the criminal underworld. Many criminal gangs like the Predacons, the Terrorcons, and the Horrorcons are able to reformat themselves into beastformers with this illegal research.
As a result of their increasingly stagnant and moribund society, neighboring alien races begin calling the Cybertronians "Autobots": an insult, meaning "automaton."
Approx. 14 million stellar cycles ago:
Several political/activist/terrorist organizations begin to emerge to oppose the dual rule of the Senate and the Functionist High Council. The most infamous among them is the Militant Monoform Movement (or Triple M, for short), the Malware Brigade, the Neo-Combatrons, the Primals, and the Cyberutopians. Many of these groups attempt to rebel against the ruling bodies, but they're immediately quelled by the Senate's and the High Council's enforcers.
The Malignus Uprising: A large number of low-caste Cybertronians, mostly consisting of Cyberdroids and members of the disposable caste, come together to form an anti-Functionist militia known as the Malignus. They attempt to crush the rule of the Functionist High Council by attacking the High Council Pavilions at the city-state of Decagon. However, they ultimately fail as the High Council retaliates by deploying the Functionaries, wiping out most of the Malignus. Afterward, the Functionists erase any and all information about this rebellion in order to galvanize their authoritarian rule.
The survivors of the Malignus Uprising flee from Cybertron by hijacking a fleet of Titans, including Fortress Maximus and Skorponok, to avoid execution by the Functionists. The Malignus remnant settles on a distant planet that they name Rebirth. However, their new home is cursed with murderously hazardous atmospheric conditions. In order to survive Rebirth's deadly weather, many within the Malignus remnant upgrade themselves to become Headmasters by creating larger, stronger, non-sentient Transformer bodies called "Transtectors."
Approx. 13 million stellar cycles ago:
In order to prevent another rebellion like the Malignus Uprising, political factions within the Senate constitute the Institute: a secretive underground organization charged with quelling dissent through mnemosurgery and shadowplay against those opposed to the increasingly oppressive caste system. The Functionist High Council punish transgressors with empurata, an old style of torture from the Age of Evolution that involved removing the heads and hands of criminals and installing new faceless/cycloptic, claw-like replacements so everyone knows to shun them. A notable victim of empurata during this time was Whirl, an aerial-based member of the Cybertronian Defense Forces who wished to leave the military and follow her true passion as a watchmaker. Though initially successful due to a moderate Functionary permitting the change, the High Council orchestrates her downfall via a local criminal syndicate and eventually subjects her to empurata. Afterward, Whirl is left destitute and is convinced to join the Elite Guard as one of the Senate's elite enforcers.
A worrying change is identified in newly-born Cybertronians that are emerging from the Well of All Sparks: increasing numbers are forged lacking complete identities and concepts of their own individuality. While Nominus Prime, a few concerned Senators like Shockwave, Torenia, and Dai Atlas, and the intellectual elites voice their worries over this change and begin attempts to discover the cause, the corrupt Senators and Functionists are pleasantly surprised and the Guilds, who have the biggest investment in the continuation of the caste system, see only an opportunity to maintain their personal fiefdoms and influence.
Approx. 12.5 million stellar cycles ago:
Two brothers in Tarn designated D-16 and G-14 are constructed cold to serve as mining transport units at the Nova Point Mine. During their early days at Nova Point, the brothers come under the tutelage of an elderly mine worker named Terminus, a veteran of many past conflicts, most notably the Quintesson Wars and the Second Cybertronian Civil War. Sickened by the caste-based brutality of modern-day Cybertron, D-16 writes a treatise titled After the Proudstar: The Primes and the Progress of Illusion arguing in favor of non-violent dissent and the peaceful exchange of ideas. His ideas prove popular among Cybertron's menial classes, attracting a growing movement that threatens the sovereignty of the Senate and the Functionist High Council. Many of those who read Megatronus's work would start their own rebellions against the Senate and the Functionists, beginning the Ascenticon Movement.
Inspired by the ancient Cybertronian myths and legends, particularly those about the Thirteen Primes, D-16 takes the name "Megatronus", hoping that Cybertron's "fallen" society would one day be restored. Many of Megatronus's fellow miners at Nova Point, including his younger brother G-14, become intrigued with his beliefs and start taking their own names as an act of rebellion against the caste system, with G-14 calling himself "Gelgastorm".
Concurrently, a young Beastformer femme inspired by Megatronus's writings from Blaster City named Nightshade rebels against the caste system after her conjunx endura Damus is subjected to empurata by the Functionists when he refused to join the military. Drawing a number of Ascenticons and other like-minded bots to her side, she forms the Anti-Vocationist League (AVL), an underground terrorist movement to help the oppressed population of Cybertron, fighting the Senate and the Functionists, and their brutal enforcers through guerilla warfare tactics.
In response to this new anti-Functionist movement, the Senate and the High Council send numerous agents into Ascenticon groups to sow distrust, such as the lecherous Senator Ratbat of Polyhex sends her servant Soundwave and his Minicon companions to infiltrate the AVL and offer Nightshade funding and weapons technology, seeking to foster political instability for her own profit. However, Soundwave, an avid reader of After the Proudstar, became enamored with Megatronus's genuine desire for all Cybertronians to be equal, disobeying Ratbat's order without her knowledge and becoming Nightshade's loyal second-in-command.
Sometime later, at Tarn, a pack of large subterranean mechanimals called Drillers attack Nova Point as they were drawn by the energon deposits in the mines, causing the facility to collapse. Many miners are killed during the Driller attack including Terminus. Grief-stricken by the death of their father figure, Megatronus and Gelgastorm call for the Senate to improve working conditions at the mines, but their concerns are sadly ignored.
Following the Driller incident at Nova Point, Cybertron's economy begins to collapse as the value of the Cybertronians' currency, the Shanix, was plummeting and exports in Cybertonium and processed energon fell due to the increasing stagnation of Cybertronian society. In order to cut costs, the Senate commissions the automation of many energon mines and refineries, leaving thousands of workers unemployed. Among those mines that were automated was Nova Point, with Megatronus, Gelgastorm, and their fellow miners out of their jobs. In response to the mines's shutdown and automation, Megatronus and Gelgastorm decide to take matters into their own hands as they and the other Nova Point workers gather other jobless miners to form an Ascenticon campaign of non-aggression at Tarn, calling for the abolishment of the caste system and other economic reforms. As the Ascenticon Movement grows in number, Senator Ixion of Tarn decides to intervene. With the support of First Senator Proteus and the Guildmasters, he sends a detachment of the Elite Guard to arrest Megatronus and put down his Ascenticons. When the Ascenticons conduct a peaceful protest at Tarn's governmental building, Elite Guard troops arrive and slaughter dozens of protestors, with Megatronus being imprisoned in the process. Gelgastorm, along with a small number of Ascenticons, are able to escape the carnage, hiding out in Cybertron's criminal underground.
After a short kangaroo trial overseen by Senator Ixion, Megatronus is then incarcerated within the Rig. Despite his imprisonment, Megatronus continued to preach his anti-Functionist rhetoric to his outside world. During his time in the Rig, he wrote After the Proudstar's spiritual successor, a series of essays called Toward Peace. In it, he explained that Cybertron was being deceived by the Senate and the Functionist Council and blamed them for the downturn of the economy in the fact that it was a plot to consolidate the planet's wealth and keep the population dependent on the government. Towards Peace will become the manifesto of the Ascenticons, who would eventually become the Decepticons in the near future.
As for Gelgastorm, the young Tarnian becomes well-known within the criminal underground as he rises to become a crime boss, using his resources in the Shadownet to continue the spread of the Ascenticon Movement as he and his followers smuggle his brother's new works across Cybertron. Soon, Gelgastorm's Ascenticons stage a full-scale prison riot to free Megatronus from the Rig. Reunited, Megatronus and Gelgastorm quickly rose to become the official leaders of the Ascenticons, making their base of operations at the gladiatorial arena of Tarn, where Megatronus would work there as a renowned gladiator.
During Megatronus' escape, numerous other criminals flee from the Rig during the breakout, including the infamous Combatronian warlord Overlord. After escaping the eyes of law enforcement, Overlord reverts into a crime lord in the Cybertronian criminal underground, leading several of his former subordinates from the Combatron Wars to sow chaos on Cybertron.
At some point during his career as a gladiator at Tarn, Megatronus meets a former priestess of the Cult of Black Epoch named Elmeth when he finds her injured outside of the slums near the arena. He nursed her back to health and she stayed by his side, enchanted by his dream of bringing the swash-buckling days of the Golden Age back to Cybertron and eliminating the caste system. The two would gain feelings for each other as time passed, though they wouldn't officially become conjunx endura.
Senator Shockwave comes across the underworld beastformer tech during his work with Alpha Trion. Trion cautions him on the dangers of playing god with Maximal and Predacon CNA, and Shockwave agrees to limit his research to purely theoretical avenues and attempts to revert Cybertronian CNA altered by the tech to normal. In secret, though, he begins to carry out his own experiments within his lab at Protihex to satisfy his scientific curiosity, though he comes to realize that the tech is incomplete and potentially unstable without intact Maximal/Predacon CNA samples.
In hopes of precipitating real change on Cybertron, a few conservative Senators, including Shockwave, Torenia, Halogen, Gravitas, Dai Atlas, Crosscut, Levitacus, and Avalon, secretly come together to form an underground movement known as the Sons and Daughters of Cybertron to inspire sections of the oppressed populace to imagine their lives can be better while also fighting the corrupt forces of the Senate and the Functionist High Council as well as the growing criminal organizations plaguing the planet's city-states. Elite Guard Commander-in-Chief Sentinel Zeta and his second-in-command Magnum join the Sons and Daughters of Cybertron as advisors, secretly providing Elite Guardsmen who are sympathetic to their cause to bolster their forces. Among these scores of recruits are the "Protectobots"--consisting of Hot Spot, Streetwise, Blades, Groove, First Aid, and Rook--a group of first responders from the colony world of Archon who took their name from the ancient mythical protectors of Cybertron.
Approx. 12 million stellar cycles ago:
Orion Pax is brought online after his spark is discovered by Senator Torenia in a remote hot spot on the outskirts of Iacon, becoming a young member of House Pax, the Iaconian Nobility house that Brigadier General Ginrai Pax of the Primal Vanguard also originates from. With many options available to him thanks to his truck alternate mode, Orion starts work at the Iacon Hall of Records as Alpha Trion's assistant archivist, initially content with his life as an upper middle-caste citizen. He would form strong friendships with Dion, a rising star of the Rodion Transtech Department, and Ariel, an Elite Guard Lieutenant from the colony world of Carcer who serves as head of the Hall of Records' security detail.
Megatronus begins to make a name for himself on the Communication Grid as a political firebrand, calling for the abolition of the caste system. Already commanding a loyal following among the gladiators of Tarn, his speeches draw the attention of other, more intellectual, individuals from across the planet. Among them is Orion Pax, who began to identify with Megatronus and his Ascenticon Movement to abolish the caste system and create a new society based on freedom and self-determination. He is encouraged in his investigations by Alpha Trion, for reasons he can't begin to comprehend.
Trannis, former leader of the Destrons and now a Senator of his home-city Thetacon, storms out of the Grand Imperium after his fellow Senators ignore his impassioned plea to meet with Megatronus and reform the caste system, disappearing from public life and join the Ascenticons in Tarn, using his political power to provide them the resources to allow them to continue the spread of their anti-Functionist propaganda. Other Ascenticon sympathizers within the Senate like Heretech, Contrail, Drivetrain, Sherma, and Momus follow in Trannis's footsteps, however, many of them are forced into hiding in the meantime after Sherma and Momus are mysteriously assassinated, no though murdered by corrupt enforcers under the Senate's payroll.
Megatronus and Gelgastorm make contact with the Anti-Vocationist League, meeting with their leaders Nightshade and Soundwave. While the Ascenticon Brothers believe that the AVL will one day become their allies, they initially keep themselves separate from the League's terrorist activities in order to maintain their campaign of non-aggression.
Foreseeing an inevitable energon shortage, Shockwave works alongside Alpha Trion to develop methods and new technologies for lessening the Cybertronians' dependence on energon as a primary fuel source. By studying rare technorganic gardens hidden in Cybertron's most remote areas, the two researchers develop Pretender technology, which involves Cybertronians fitted with special external armor shells that'll allow to them adapt to changing planetary conditions. A young flyer in the astro caste and a fellow member of the Epistemean Collective named Thunderwing volunteers to be the first test subject of Pretender technology.
Orion Pax travels to Tarn to meet Megatronus. The young archivist is awed by the mighty gladiator--his magnetic personality, the passion of his beliefs, his sheer determination to better himself and the whole of Cybertron--and agrees to help him further his goals so long as he does so peacefully. Megatronus agrees and the two become secret co-conspirators, forming a firm brotherhood.
The Kalis Incident: The Anti-Vocationist League attack the Functionist High Council's mobile headquarters, the Cog, in the hopes of wiping out the entire Council in one fell swoop. While they succeed in killing High Councilor Firefight and grounding the Cog near Kalis, they are forced to retreat by the overwhelming numbers of Functionaries and Council Guardians after two of their members, Forge and Blackbeetle, are killed in the attack. Blackbeetle's conjunx endura Shadowkat, heartbroken by the loss of her lover, leaves the AVL and joins the Sons and Daughters of Cybertron.
Ascenticon terrorist groups begin bombings in Megatronus's name, attacking such popular spots as the ammunition factories at Blaster City, the northwest terminus of the Sonic Canyons, the Six Lasers Over Cybertron amusement park north of Iacon, Darkmount at Polyhex, and Fort Scyk near Stanix, killing thousands. Megatronus, with Orion Pax's support, makes his first public announcement on the Grid, denouncing the terrorist atrocities to placate the population and position himself as a voice of reason and hope in opposition to the stagnant corruption of the Senate and the Functionists.
While the aging Nominus Prime doesn't agree with the violent actions of anti-Functionist terrorist organizations like the AVL and the radical Ascenticon cells, he finally realizes that his decisions of establishing the caste system, giving up most of his power, and isolating the Republic of Cybertron from the rest of the galaxy has made society too static and stratified for its own good. Recognizing the depth of the crisis that their world faces, Nominus makes plans to make contact with Megatronus's and Gelgastorm's Ascenticons in the hopes of plans of rid the caste system and the Functionist ideology. However, several Senators led by First Senator Proteus learn of Nominus' plans and seek to prevent it from happening. They make a grab for more power by ordering an attack on Nominus Prime, using it as an excuse to obtain the Creation Matrix of Leadership and enforce more control over an increasingly unruly Cybertronian populace. During the Primal Procession at Altihex, when Nominus was making an address to the public about the terrorist attacks and his plans of abolishing the caste system, he is attacked by a suicide bomber and rendered comatose. The suicide bomber's origins are unknown, but it's later revealed that they're an assassin under the payroll of the Senate. After the Altihex bombing, the public is told that Nominus is merely in hiding while the Senate investigates the comatose Prime, hoping to use a suitable figurehead to tap into the power of the Creation Matrix. Sentinel Zeta becomes Cybertron's acting Supreme Commander until Nominus Prime recovers or a suitable replacement is found.
During this time, Megatronus is discussing his ideas with Impactor, an old friend who worked alongside him and his brother at Nova Point, at Maccadam's Old Oil House. The two get caught in a bar brawl with a rowdy pair of Elite Guardsmen, leading to both of them getting arrested. Hoping to use the event to silence Megatronus, the Senate sends Whirl to visit Megatronus's cell to permanently silence him. Thankfully, Orion Pax's best friend Dion arranges for Megatronus's release before Whirl can finish him off, saving his life. While Megatronus was now free once more, he realized that peaceful dissent would not be enough to unseat the Senate--and that violence makes a more powerful statement.
As the Ascenticons start to become slowly but surely radicalized, Megatronus decides to rename the organization "Decepticons," after one of his most popular rallying cries from his poems, "You are being deceived."
Eventually, the Decepticons formally ally with the AVL, coalescing into one large anti-Functionist cause. Megatronus' inner circle constitutes the forerunner of the Decepticon High Council, originally consisting of Gelgastorm, Elmeth, Nightshade, Soundwave, and Trannis.
In the hopes of ridding the Decepticons of one of their greatest allies, the Senate sends a gang of thugs to quietly eliminate Orion Pax in the Iacon Hall of Records at night. Despite being physically weaker, Orion is able to take down his attackers with a mix of righteous fury and tactical skills. Distributed by the violence inherit in modern Cybertron and moved by Megatronus' beliefs, Orion decides to confront the Senate at the Grand Imperium, deciding to reclaim the slur "Autobots" for "Autonomous Robotic Organisms," free-thinking robots who are all equal no matter their origin. Orion's diatribe inspires Shockwave, who has been searching for promising young Cybertronians, to befriend the assistant archivist in the hopes of nudging him into bearing the Creation Matrix. Shockwave arranges for his release and repair, adding a new Matrix chamber to his chest in the repair process.
With the support of Shockwave, Orion officially starts the Autobot Movement as a team of freedom fighters working under the Sons and Daughters of Cybertron to overthrow the planet's corrupt government. Orion Pax's early recruits included his friends Ariel and Dion, who had long grown sick of the status quo. There would also be a few newcomers, young and old idealists eager to fight, such as renowned war veterans Ratchet, Ironhide, Chromia, Goldbug, and even Orion's older relative Ginrai, a young Cyber-Ninja trained by Master Yoketron himself named Jazz and his brothers Ricochet and Stepper, former AVL member Shadowkat, a Seeker femme from Vos named Skyfire, and a quartet of Outliers made up of Skids, Damus, Windcharger, and Trailbreaker. Even some on the side of the law joined Orion Pax, such as Prowl, Chromedome, Roller, the Protectobots, and even Sentinel Zeta and Magnum. Around this time, Orion discovers that Sentinel also had his body modified by Shockwave to incorporate a Matrix cavity. The Autobots undergo guerilla warfare tactics, attacking important Senate and Functionist facilities and quietly assassinating corrupt politicians.
Approx. 11 million stellar cycles ago:
The Senate sees no use in keeping Nominus Prime around and kill him in his stasis, releasing a cover story that he passed away from a rust infection. With the Creation Matrix finally in their hands, the Senate install Sector-General Logos Maximus of the Primal Vanguard as the next Prime. A veteran of the Combatron Wars and a nigh-amoral commanding officer who cares about defeating the enemy, Logos Prime was a loyal patriot who believed that the government could do no wrong and that the caste system was responsible for maintaining Cybertron's stability, which made her the perfect puppet ruler.
With Logos Prime's support, the Senate initiate the Clampdown, limiting the rights and social mobilities of all Cybertronians. Ostensibly, this is to root out terrorists and tighten security, in reality, it is an opportunity for Senators to track down and silence those who contest their rule. The injustice proves to be useful for the growing Autobot and Decepticon Movements, who are both labeled by the government as terrorists.
In order to eliminate the threat that the more important Decepticons pose to their social order, Logos Prime and First Senator Proteus enact the Decepticon Registration Act, promising to recognize the movement as an official political entity if 10,000 of them register as such. In reality, the DRA's true purpose was to monitor and restrict the Decepticons' activities, giving the Senate any knowledge that they would use against their enemies. However, the Decepticon Registration Act would almost instantly backfire after its passing as a silent majority of the Cybertronian populace, even those within the upper and middle castes, resented this kind of censorship and joined the Decepticons.
After the failure of the Decepticon Registration Act, the Senate then plan to discredit the Decepticons by staging a bombing at the Primal Basilica during Nominus Prime's funeral that will be pinned on the growing movement. The scheme is foiled by the Autobots. They succeed, but as a repercussion, their ally Senator Shockwave is captured by enforcers sent by Proteus, who then take him to the Institute where he's subjected to both empurata and shadowplay. The procedure made Shockwave into an emotionless shell of his former self.
Afterward, Shockwave is freed by a group of Decepticons led by Megatronus and Gelgastorm themselves during a raid on the Institute. Somewhat grateful to his rescuers, Shockwave defects to the Decepticons, taking all of Alpha Trion's energon, technorganic, and other cybertronic research for himself, along with his own paused beastformer research. He also convinces Thunderwing and a few other members of the Epistemean Collective such as Strafejetter, Knock-Out, Scalpel, Doc, Oil Slick, Spacewarp, Rossum, and Deluge to join him. Together, they form the Decepticon Science and Engineering Guild, who begin to their expertise to militarize Megatronus, Gelgastorm, and their gladiators. Among their greatest feats was the modification of the Decepticons' bodies, which granted them the universal ability of flight, giving them dominance in the air.
For their contributions to the greater cause, Shockwave and Strafejetter are appointed by Megatron and Gelgastorm as high-ranking members of the Decepticon High Council.
Shockwave also begins studying Jhiaxus' old notes on combiner technology in the hopes of creating a functioning combiner for the Decepticons without the use of the Enigma of Combination: as descendants of Nexus Prime, combiners have existed since the earliest days of Cybertronian civilization as a latency among a thirteenth of the population, but it has been very rare for those with the prerequisite genetic markers to locate those others who share compatible combining keys and fulfill their latent potential, a difficulty made all the more so by the strictures of the caste system.
Soon, Cybertronian society is growing increasingly secular, and as a result, the role of the Functionist High Council in society has greatly diminished.
The Alyon Skirmish: When the Senate catches wind of a new sword-shaped hot spot in the Alyon region that seemingly proves the existence of the supernatural Covenant, they send a detachment of the Elite Guard to secure the site, cover its existence from prying Functionist eyes, and use the newborn sparks within for experimentation. Orion Pax and his Autobots clash with the Senate for control of the hot spot, and with the help of Ginrai and his troops from the Primal Vanguard, they are successful in defending the location.
The Cybertronian Guildmasters place a bounty on the head of Megatronus with the support of Logos Prime and several unscrupulous members of the Senate. The attempt fails thanks to the unintentional intervention of the Autobots, but it serves to convince Megatronus once and for all that he will never achieve his goals through peaceful negotiations with the planetary government.
Around this time, the Cult of the Black Epoch plans to create greater instability within Cybertron's already weakened political/social infrastructure, secretly allying themselves with Logos Prime, promising the Senate a superweapon that can wipe out all of the Autobots, the Decepticons, and the Functionists in one fell swoop. Using their dark arts, Ember and her followers rebuilt the Kadesh, a trans-organic predator that existed on prehistoric Cybertron billions of years ago before the birth of the Thirteen Primes. However, the Kadesh lacked a properly working heart and brain. In order to control it, they kidnap Elmeth and forcibly integrate her into the creature's nervous system, allowing her to unwillingly and unconsciously guide the predator's actions. Soon, the Black Epoch unleash the Kadesh upon the city-state of Tarn, causing untold death and destruction. The Functionist High Council is blamed for being the perpetrators of the attack, forever known as the Great Fire of Tarn, as the Kadesh is seen by eyewitnesses being deployed from a Functionist airship (which was actually a commandeered Cybertronian Defense Force airship and then redesigned by Black Epoch cultists to look like it was from the Functionists). After the local militias are easily decimated, the Autobots and the Decepticons form a temporary alliance to stop the undead predator. During the battle, Orion Pax is forced to fire a killing shot at Elmeth in order to finally stop the Kadesh's rampage. In the arms of her lover, Elmeth sadly tells Megatronus that they won't see the new Cybertron together and that she loves him as she takes her last breath. Grief-stricken, Megatronus blames Orion for Elmeth's death and cuts off all ties with him and the Autobots.
After the Great Fire of Tarn, many Tarnian Decepticons blame both the Senate and the Functionists for what has happened. Led by Megatronus, they soon form a riot. An Elite Guard/Functionary joint taskforce tries to defuse the situation, but to no avail--and in the chaos, Megatronus brutally slaughters Functionist High Councilor Obliteration and several Elite Guardsmen. Megatronus, Gelgastorm, Nightshade, Soundwave, and their fellow Decepticons escape in a shuttle to join the illegal gladiatorial games beneath the city-state of Kaon. During his time at the Kaon gladiatorial arena, the crowds shorten Megatronus' name in their chants to "Megatron". Eventually, Megatron takes over the games, turning them into the new headquarters of his anti-functionist platform. Thousands of new Decepticons go to Kaon to join the cause, including a group of nine Constructicons from Crystal City--consisting of Scrapper, Mixmaster, Hook, Long Haul, Scavenger, Frontloader, Bonecrusher, Skipjack, and Road Hauler--who help rebuild the motley collection of gladiators into full-on warriors ready for an incoming war against the government.
Thanks to their partnership with Senator Contrail of Vos, the Decepticons are able to recruit a small number of Seekers to their cause, including Vice Commander Starscream, brother of Air Commander Deadscream, and his trine-mates, Thundercracker and Skywarp.
Overlord became an avid spectator of Megatron's anti-Functionist speeches and gladiatorial battles. He would eventually travel to Kaon, drawn there by the chaos and militarism thriving under the Decepticon regime. Offering his services to Megatron, Overlord quickly became well-known in the Decepticon ranks for his tactical skills and brutality in the battlefield, which allowed him a place in the Decepticon High Council.
During this period, the Autobots continued their secret war against the Functionist High Council, attacking key locations and assassinating several Councilors, including Fortuity and Repulsor. However, during one mission, Damus was captured by the Functionaries and was forced to undergo interrogation. He is eventually be rescued by the Decepticons and is converted to their cause, believing that the Autobots abandoned him. Now a devout follower of Megatron, he would soon become a member of the Decepticon High Council.
As Orion and Ginrai discuss an assault on a Functionist munitions plant with Sentinel Zeta, they receive communications from High Council member Conflux. Conflux explains that he willingly defects to the Autobots after learning that Head Councilor Steelheart is preparing for an all-out war against the Senate and the Council's other enemies, manufacturing bioweapons created from variants of the Rust Plague like those used in the Combatron Wars to wipe out Cybertron's "undesirables." If the Functionist High Council are all killed, then Cybertron is one step closer to getting rid of its oppressors and the caste system, with Logos Prime and the Senate as their next targets. Sentinel, ever the opportunist, agrees and sends Orion and Ginrai to lead an all-out assault on a military fortress at the Stanix Ridge where all Functionist groups were gathered to launch their weapon. The Autobots fight for their lives against the militant forces of the Council, losing many friends such as Roller and Shadowkat. But their efforts came to fruition as Head Councilor Steelheart and many of her fellow Councilors are slaughtered by Orion's forces and their weapons destroyed before their deployment, finally ending the authoritarian rule of the Functionist High Council.
Concurrently, Megatron and Gelgastorm unite all Decepticon cells under their banner and capture Senator Decimus of Kaon, planning to make an example out of him live on the Communication Grid. However, before they can kill Decimus, Megatron, Gelgastorm, and the Decepticons are almost immediately captured by Logos Prime's Elite Guardsmen, and imprisoned within the city-sized prison outside of Kaon; Senator Ratbat calls for an emergency session to discuss what should be done about them. However, this was all part of the Decepticon Brothers' master plan: with all of the Senate's most influential members, including First Senator Proteus, gathered in one place, Starscream claimed to be snitching on Megatron and Gelgastorm and was allowed access to the council chamber, where he, Nightshade, Soundwave, Shockwave, Trannis, and Overlord outright murdered the entire Senate, including Proteus, Decimus, Ixion, Raja, Tantalus, Eronus, Neo, Templar, Emeritus, Afflous, and Thalos. The only Senators to survive were Shockwave, who had already defected to the Decepticons; the Autobot-sympathetic Senators like Torenia and Dai Atlas, who couldn't attend the emergency session, and Ratbat, who was forced to join the Decepticons when Soundwave destroyed her body and placed her spark to a Minicon-sized body to serve as his minion.
With the Senate massacred, the Decepticons enact their daring escape and storm Kaon, taking the city as theirs in what would be known as the Sacking of Kaon. Logos Primes, donned in Powermaster Armor, leads a strikeforce of Elite Guardsmen to attempt to prevent them from securing the crucial city-state but is felled in personal combat with Megatron. Megatron considers taking the Creation Matrix from her corpse, but he decides to just leave it, believing that he doesn't need an old trinket from a bygone age to be a great leader. With Kaon now a Decepticon stronghold and Logos Prime dead, the Elite Guard is forced to withdraw to Iacon.
Megatron has Logos Prime's Powermaster Armor fashioned by the Constructicons into a throne he raises in the Kaonian capitol building which would later be reconstructed into his own palace, Castle Decepticon.
Starscream is appointed to the Decepticon High Council for his services at the Sacking of Kaon.
News of the Sacking of Kaon reaches the Autobots, and they begin work on reforming the government when Sentinel Zeta subsequently takes the Creation Matrix and becomes Sentinel Prime. As his first act as the new Prime, Sentinel finally abolishes the caste system of Functionism, creating an egalitarian society to restore a semblance of order on Cybertron. Sentinel Prime and Orion Pax help to reshape the Autobots and the planet's disorganized security forces into a counter-terrorism militia known as the Autobot Defense Forces. While the tyrannical reign of both the Senate and the Functionist High Council is finally at an end after thousands of ano-cycles, Cybertron enters an era of uneasy peace as the planet is divided in two between Autobots and Decepticons.
Author's Notes: Here's Chapter 12 of Legendarium. This tells the story of the rise and fall of Functionism, the early formation of the Autobots and the Decepticons, and the beginning of the Fall of Cybertron...