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Re: The G1/BW Gap
Colony Omicron: began its life as a secret Autobot-run Energon mine during the War, 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.
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.
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