Personal Canon Thread

[Sabrblade]

I have an addendum to what I wrote before regarding the first four Marvel UK-original comic stories, particularly what I wrote about "Man of Iron".

I did some further research and discovered a few incongruities with what we're told about when "Man of Iron" is set, which not only cause some problems with where I chose to place that story in the Marvel UK continuity, but which also simply make no sense.

Part 1 of the story opens with a narration box that sets the story "at the end of a long hot summer". Then, Part 2 opens with another narration box that tells us it is now "An Autumn night, clear, cold, and sparkling with stars." Part 1 also takes place during the day and ends with night falling, while Part 2 appears to begin during the same night that ended Part 1. This would suggest Part 1 occurs on the last day of Summer while Part 2 begins on the first day of Autumn. Like I said in my previous post, this would place the story in September, but specifically about a week before the end of the month, around the 22nd or 23rd. This poses a conflict with something else we are told in Part 2: When Jazz, uh... "kidnaps" young Sammy Harker (the Autobots' main human ally in this story), he reminds Sammy that the boy is currently "on holiday", meaning he's on a break from school. This appears to be true as the bulk of the story is set across three consecutive days, and during all three of them, Sammy never attends school.

The thing is, Sammy can't be on break from school if the story is set in the latter half of September, because (according to Wikipedia, at least), the academic years for primary schools in England begin during the first week of September, and the first school break doesn't occur until the end of October/beginning of November, around Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night. Of course, any UK members on here are free to correct me if any of this information is incorrect. Here is what Wikipedia said on the matter:

In England and Wales, the academic year usually runs from the first week of September of one year through to the third week of July of the following year, with the time split up into three terms. Each of these is usually divided into halves with a week-long "half-term" break between. Primary (4-11) and secondary (11–16) schools usually follow a 39-week academic year, while further (16+) and higher (18+) educational establishments often have 33 or even 36-week terms, generally with no half-term break. Oxford and Cambridge universities have shorter terms still, usually eight weeks each term.

For English state schools, the year commences the first week of September with a half-term break (one week) at the end of October, and the first term ending the third week of December

England and Wales​

Summer holidays in State schools are usually between five and seven weeks long, starting in mid-late July and ending in early September. Schools have Christmas and Easter holidays, each usually lasting about two weeks. The school year is split up into three sections: Autumn term (between Summer and Christmas); Spring term (between Christmas and Easter); and Summer term (between Easter and the Summer holiday). Roughly half-way through each term, pupils will get one week off school, known as half-term. In the Autumn term, half-term often falls the week of Halloween and close to Bonfire Night.

So, between the three bits of info we're given on when the story is set (end of summer, Autumn, and a school break), something is off. It seems the only way to find a fix for this is to assume that one of these points is less factual than the other two: If we take just the first two points into account, the story would be set in the back half of September. But, as I said before, Sammy is clearly not in school during this story, so the third point seemingly can't be ignored.

Going by just the first and third point, that would place the story earlier, before the first week of September during the final week of summer break (as opposed to the end of the Summer season). This could work, in theory. But, throughout the story, pretty much every human character is shown wearing jackets, coats, sweaters, long pants, long-sleeve shirts, and layers upon layers of clothing, all suggesting that the weather really is chilly and cool, like the caption for Part 2 said about the Autumn night being cold. And when the montage at the very end of the story flashes forward to the next summer, people are seen wearing short sleeves and T-shirts, reflecting the warmer weather accordingly.

So, that leaves the third option of ignoring the ironclad letter of the first point in favor of the latter two, with it being Autumn and during a school holiday. We'd just have to assume that "at the end of a long hot summer" is less literal and actually just means that Summer has already come and gone. If the above information from Wikipedia is correct (again, any UKers on here may chime in), then the Autumn session's half-term break set around Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night would be the perfect time of year for this story to be set. Specifically, it could be set during the little gap of time between Halloween (October 31) and Guy Fawkes Night (November 5), since neither event is so much as hinted as having happened or about to happen in this story. The three days could go anywhere from the 1st to the 4th of November (either November 1-3 or November 2-4).

But then, you're probably wondering, what does any of this have to do with my previous placement of the story during the same stopgap within "The Last Stand" that I placed "The Enemy Within!", "Raiders of the Last Ark", and the flashback portion of "Decepticon Dam-Busters!"? Well, the more I thought about it, the more I not only really didn't like having to place "Man of Iron" in two radically different placements between the US and UK continuities, but I also struggled to believe that (out of all four of those stories) "Man of Iron" could also be set during that same stopgap as the others. It's just such a busier, longer-set story than the events of the other three, each of which only span a day at the most and keep the action close to home for the characters. Whereas "Man of Iron" takes the cast halfway around the world on a longer three-day adventure, with a more explosive and destructive battle between the 'Bots and 'Cons that yields heavy damage to both sides, consequently feeling like so many more resources are expunged during the story.

The Autobots' energy situation on Earth in the four-issue limited series is dire. They are desperate for more energy, and their reserves are practically running on empty. The other three UK stories taking place during that time is already straining believability enough, while "Man of Iron" just feels impossibly too big a story to have also occurred during that time. So then, where am I going to put it? Right after US issue #12 "Prime Time!", which would put it before "Shooting Star!" in the US continuity and before "Christmas Breaker!", "Crisis of Command!", "The Icarus Theory", "Dinobot Hunt!" and then "Shooting Star!" in the UK continuity.

But what about all I said before about why it couldn't go right before "Christmas Breaker!"? Well, I found something else, too. While it's still true that "Christmas Breaker!" opens with a newspaper dated December 24, 1985 that has an article written about the events of "Prime Time!" (suggesting that those two issues are meant to be close to each other), I found there to be another gap of time that happens later but which, in-universe, doesn't feel like a time gap at all. The majority of "The Icarus Theory" takes place on January 25, a whole month after "Christmas Breaker!". On that same day, Optimus checks in on Ratchet repairing Bumblebee from the injuries he sustained during the preceding story "Crisis of Command!" Both Optimus and Bumblebee act as if the events of that story just happened very recently, as if it was just the other day that Bumblebee got injured.

If that's the case, then that means there's about a whole month-long gap of time between "Christmas Breaker!" and "Crisis of Command!", despite the former containing some story bits that foreshadow the events of the latter, which, when read back-to-back, make "Crisis of Command!" feel like it comes shortly after "Christmas Breaker!", not a whole month after. And yet, the dates in both "Christmas Breaker!" and "The Icarus Theory" say otherwise. So, if there can be that long of a gap between "Christmas Breaker!" and "Crisis of Command!", then perhaps there could be a similar gap between "Prime Time!" and "Christmas Breaker!" after all, in which "Man of Iron" could slot in and be set at the beginning of November.

As for the newspaper article, perhaps the news coverage of the events of "Prime Time!" was an ongoing thing, with multiple stories being written about it for several weeks after it happened. The specific article in the Christmas story was also said to be an interview with Ferdy and Gabe, two of G.B. Blackrock's employees that were among the workers held captive by Shockwave. Maybe the interview simply took that long to get underway, delaying the article's completion and publication. Maybe the two were first taken in by the Army or Triple-I and questioned by them before being released to the public and interviewed by the press. Either way, the events covered by the newspaper article don't necessarily have to be as recent as I'd previously believed.

What's more, the sudden outrage that the Autobots feel with Optimus at the start of "Crisis of Command!" would now have more context in light of Optimus's callous decision to order Jazz to destroy the buried Autobot vessel at the end of "Man of Iron", when the Autobots could have salvaged any resources from that ship for them to use in their war with the Decepticons, instead of Optimus simply having the ship destroyed. Prowl and Bluestreak grumbling to themselves in "Christmas Breaker!" about how Optimus has been acting "strange" lately would also have more context from that decision in "Man of Iron", since that decision always felt strangely out of character for Optimus.

And at the very end of "Prime Time!", Optimus says to Buster Witwitcky, "You have taught me something of value today, Buster Witwicky...and that is that one human life knowingly endangered by our struggle is one life too many. By the Primal Program itself, I pray we Autobots have the wisdom to learn that lesson well!" Placing the events of "Man of Iron" right after he says this now gives more context to Optimus's decision to destroy the ship in that story, as he seems to be taking that lesson to heart to its fullest extreme in destroying the vessel to keep the humans of Stansham safe from the Autobot/Decepticon war (and we know that this Optimus sometimes takes his moral code a little too far, like how he chose to kill himself over a video game after some NPCs got killed off when playing said game in US issue #24 "Afterdeath!").


Concluded in the top half of the next post below...

 

[Sabrblade]

There's also this other really odd bit near the end of "Man of Iron". Right before Optimus tells Jazz that they must destroy the ship, he says to Jazz, "We have won this skirmish, but who knows how fast the Decepticon threat is growing? We cannot leave the Earth now, Jazz. The Decepticons would soon overrun the planet. Only we few stand in their way. We cannot leave." It seems odd that either Optimus or Jazz would entertain the notion of leaving the Earth during the time of the four-issue limited series, as not only are their resources so limited that even leaving the planet is pretty much an impossibility for the Autobots at that point, but they know good and well that the Decepticon threat is something that must be stopped and only by them. So it reads as if Optimus is just stating the obvious to Jazz when at no point prior did Jazz or anyone else ever bring up the idea of the Autobots leaving the Earth.

BUT, were this story to take place right after "Prime Time!" instead, it would then come at a point after Megatron has been defeated, Shockwave has been defeated, and the now-leaderless Decepticons are pretty much on the losing side of the war. By now, it would make more sense for some of the Autobots to be discussing the possibility of leaving the Earth, considering the Decepticons as good as done for. In this context, Optimus's line now reads more as him reminding Jazz that, while the Autobots pretty much have this war won by now, their mission isn't fully over until the Decepticons threat is completely neutralized for good, that it's still too early to start celebrating and calling it quits just yet.

So in the end, I'm more comfortable with placing "Man of Iron" right after "Prime Time!" in both the US and UK continuities. While this would instead set "Man of Iron" during the Autumn of 1985 instead of 1984, the story was originally published in January 1985, so it's at least still within the same year it was originally published. Consequently, we now have the following reading order for all of these issues (US issues in normal text, UK issues in Italics):

"The Transformers"
"Power Play!"
"Prisoner of War!"
"The Last Stand" Pages 1-8
"The Enemy Within!"
"Raiders of the Last Ark"
"Decepticon Dam-Busters!" flashback story
"The Last Stand" Pages 9-22
"The New Order"
"The Worse of Two Evils!"
"Warrior School!"
"Repeat Performance!"
"Decepticon Dam-Busters!" present-day wraparound story
"The Wrath of Guardian!"
"The Wrath of Grimlock!"
"DIS-Integrated Circuits!"
"The Next Best Thing to Being There!"
"Brainstorm!"
"Prime Time!"
"Man of Iron"
"Christmas Breaker!"
"Crisis of Command!"
"The Icarus Theory"
"Dinobot Hunt!"
"Shooting Star!"
"Rock and Roll-Out!"

---

Who's up for another round of "Where can this fit in the Marvel G1 comics?"?

This time, I'm taking a look at the four Marvel UK Nebulos stories that all take place somewhere during the four-issue Marvel US Headmasters mini-series. These are three "Headmasters Saga" prose stories from the 1987 annual: "Doomsday for Nebulos", "Stylor's Story", and "The Final Conflict". As well as the standalone comic story "Worlds Apart!" Of note is that all four of these UK stories were published before the first issue of US mini-series had been first published in full in the UK, so these four stories always felt a little awkward with the US mini-series. Nonetheless, each of them (like the first four Marvel UK stories that I've already gone over) was still intended to take place at some point during the events of the US issues.

---

"Doomsday for Nebulos" is basically an extended adaptation of the first meeting of Lord Zarak and his followers with Scorponok and his Decepticons, which was seen in the second issue of the US Headmasters mini, "Broken Glass!". With "Doomsday" adding so much more detail to this meeting than how it went down in "Broken Glass!", one can have their cake and eat it too by simply considering the shorter single-page version of these events seen in "Broken Glass!" as an abridged, summarized version of the meeting, with "Doomsday for Nebulos" being the full, true version of the meeting, as nothing of value is lost by writing off the "Broken Glass!" version of the meeting as the less literal of two. So, the way to fit "Doomsday for Nebulos" would be the read all of "Broken Glass!" up to the page with this meeting (Page 11), then stop reading "Broken Glass!" and read "Doomsday for Nebulos", and then resume reading the rest of "Broken Glass!". Conveniently, Page 11 is exactly where the UK printing of "Broken Glass!" ends, having been split in half over two issues (just like the other three Headmasters chapters).

---

Next comes "Stylor's Story", which is another expanded retelling of events from the Headmasters mini. "Stylor's Story" recounts the final events of "Broken Glass!" from the point-of-view of Stylor, the Nebulan who would become binary-bonded to the Autobot Chromedome. Basically, the whole second half of "Broken Glass!" from the first page after the aforementioned Zarak/Scorponok meeting, all the way to the very end of the issue, is recounted by Stylor in this story. And any minor oddities that may exist between the two can be chalked up to Stylor embellishing some of the details in his version of the events, as he's telling the story in the style of a charismatic salesman. So, the way to fit "Stylor's Story" would be to simply read it immediately after the end of "Broken Glass!".

---

Then we get to "The Final Conflict", which is the first of these UK Nebulos stories to be a mostly original story instead of adapting events from the Headmasters mini. Notably, three of the Decepticon Targetmasters appear in this story, when Misfire, Slugslinger, and Triggerhappy didn't first become Targetmasters until near the very end of the fourth US Headmasters issue "Brothers in Armor!!". And when they do, the Autobot Headmasters are all captives of Zarak and the Decepticons. They aren't freed and don't escape until the next scene after, which is then followed by the Autobots deciding to leave Nebulos and head for Earth on the issue's second-to-last page. The final page then sees their departure from the planet, as well as Zarak's Decepticons giving chase aboard Scorponok's ship.

There is so very little time for "The Final Conflict" to slot into "Brothers in Armor!!". The only place it could possibly fit in is between those final two pages. The penultimate page sees Galen give the order for the Autobots to prepare for immediate departure from the planet, and "The Final Conflict" begins with preparations already being underway. A few more matters are taken care of before they leave, and then Scorponok comes in with his duel challenge to Fortress Maximus that turns out to be a distraction while the Decepticon Targetmasters steal a fuel converter that Brainstorm and Arcana had made, one that would enable the Decepticons to leave Nebulos and head to Earth themselves.

Two more things to note:

• First, unlike the previous two stories, "The Final Conflict" is not a single body of prose, but rather has a main story and separate Epilogue that seems to be set some days later. So there's an extra gap of time in this story between its main part and its Epilogue. Though, I'd still place this epilogue, too, before the final page of "Brothers in Armor!!", as it seems to take place immediately before the Autobots finally take off from Nebulos.
• And secondly, in all three of these UK stories, Galen is inexplicably referred to as "Kord" instead. The letters page for Issue #158 simply wrote this off as a total error, so we just have to imagine that he's still named "Galen" in these three stories.

---

Finally, we get to "Worlds Apart!", the most awkward-fitting one of all. This one basically can only fit in the exact same place as "The Final Conflict" due to the Targetmasters' appearances alongside the Headmasters in this story. The Autobot Targetmasters were first created in "Brothers in Armor!!" when the Autobot Headmasters were still in Decepticon custody, and like I said before, the Autobot Headmasters don't escape their captivity until right before the end of the issue, which leads immediately to their preparing for departure. "Worlds Apart!" can't go anywhere other than the same stopgap used by "The Final Conflict". The question then becomes how "Worlds Apart!" and "The Final Conflict" can fit with each other.

"The Final Conflict" begins with the Autobots having already begun their plans for departure, and ends with them all ready to go. But "Worlds Apart!" is a standalone story with no signs of either faction planning to leave Nebulos. Yet, because of the Autobot Headmasters not being captured and the Decepticon Targetmasters existing, "Worlds Apart!" has nowhere else to go. It needs to fit in or around "The Final Conflict" some way somehow. This is where I return attention to the Epilogue of "The Final Conflict" being set some time after its main story, which creates another gap of time (a gap within a gap) in which "Worlds Apart!" could actually slot right into.

It's still not a perfect fit, though, as "Worlds Apart!" has the Decepticons in ownership of a "notorious Fortress of Despair", something that feels quite at odds with their having used Zarak's various facilities as their bases of operation while on Nebulos. Coupled with Zarak's resources and influence, the Decepticons would have had no need for an additional fortress of their own. My rationale for this is that the Fortress of Despair could have been built by the other Decepticons in Scorponok's crew besides the Headmasters and Targetmasters, like the Terrorcons and the Duocons, who weren't seen at any of Zarak's bases. These other guys could have built the fortress and been stationed at it while still under Scorponok's command from afar.

And it's not entirely impossible for this to have happened off-panel between issues, since it is stated by Zarak in "Brothers in Armor!!" that the Autobots first came to Nebulos "some months ago". When reading all four US Headmasters issue back-to-back, it does not feel like "months" have passed. So this implies that more unseen adventures may very well have happened between issues. Specifically, the fortress could have been constructed off-panel during the time of issue 3, before the Decepticons had actually formalized their alliance with Zarak. They'd still be using Zarak's industrial complex as a temporary base, but would have had the fortress built to serve as their own additional base before deciding to fully team up with Zarak. And those not binary-bonded to Nebulans could have continued to operate from the fortress (and were simply elsewhere, out in the field, away from the fortress during the events of "Worlds Apart!").

---

So then, this is the final resulting chronology of the Marvel Headmasters saga on Nebulos:

"Ring of Hate!"
"Broken Glass!" pages 1-11
"Doomsday for Nebulos"
"Broken Glass!" pages 12-22
"Stylor's Story"
"Love and Steel!"
"Brothers in Armor!!" pages 1-21
"The Final Conflict" pre-Epilogue
"Worlds Apart!"
"The Final Conflict" Epilogue
"Brothers in Armor!!" page 22

 

[lastmaximal]

Who's up for another round of "Where can this fit in the Marvel G1 comics?"?

Please don't take this as an indication that this is unwelcome here, but... Have you considered a blog

 

[Gizmoboy]

Please don't take this as an indication that this is unwelcome here, but... Have you considered a blog

I know what you are saying about that. His stories are very robust and deserve to be expanded on. I've really enjoyed reading them.

I've honestly thought about a blog myself with my Gizmo-verse. I know most people would be "Whatever dude" with my silly storyline, but some people might enjoy it and I know I would enjoy trying to get it all out of my head and into writing.

 

[lastmaximal]

I don't dispute any of that. And I do respect the amount of thougt that goes into considering so many narrative elements and factors; this amounts to literary analysis and that's fun in itself. I'm just a bit weary of the walls of "was this too long for the TFWiki notes section" material. But i suppose, as much as anything, that's probably an indicator that I'm just not the audience for this sort of thing. Or this much of it. But I'm far from the only rabbit in need of a rabbit hole, and this might just fit the bill for others. So I'll stop talking about it.

I'd love to read that storyline, Gizmoboy.

 

[Glitch]

New little movie head canon. The opening to rise of the beasts happened centuries in the future after Unicron emerged from the Earth and destroyed Cybertron, most of the Trsnsformers fled to the far reaches of the universe with Hatchlings (from Revenge of the Fallen/Dark of the Moon) forming various colonies such as Animatron.
The Terrorcons are Optimus Prime, Hound and a female Decepticon twisted and repurposed as servants to Unicron.
Also the Rise of the Beasts core toyline Optimus Primal, Rhinox, Cheetor and Airazor are Legacy forms, upgrades of their BW standard forms enhanced by alternate universe technology.

The story behind 'Creatures collide' set is Goldbug wakes up on a slab in Slaughter City on Cybertron, he's hunted by the former Mayhem trooper Ransak, and his Predacon clones: Skywasp, a more competent version of Waspinator who has Skywarps power rectifier chip and Scorponok, a cold logical and more ruthless version of Scorponok. Goldbug is joined by Nightprowler, an Autobot spy, and doesn't know if he's the original bumblebee or a clone with his memories.

Legacy 'Guardian Robot' is Omega Master, a Decepticon aligned guardian robot reprogrammed and named by Starscream in a bid to usurp Megatron.

 

[lastmaximal]

That Creatures Collide setup sounds really cool!

 

[Sabrblade]

So, uh... This is one more addendum to a previous post of mine. This time, it's regarding "The Enemy Within!", "Raiders of the Last Ark", and the flashback part of "Decepticon Dam-Busters!" I believe I have found an even better placement for these three during the events of "The Last Stand", one that is much cleaner than the one I previously tried to put them in.

Originally, I placed these three into a stopgap between two pages of "The Last Stand", stopping the story at the end of Page 8 and resuming it afterward with the top of Page 9. I had stated the following pointing out a bit of awkwardness with that placement, while also trying to make it work:

Admittedly, it's not a perfect fit, since the scene literally jumps from Megatron walking outside to suddenly being inside yelling at Starscream mid-conversation. But because "The Enemy Within!" was never written to be a perfect fit with the US stories, this is as good as it's gonna fit. Besides, the original scene similarly jumped from Megatron being outside to inside anyway. And "The Enemy Within!" shows there to be no military outside Decepticon fortress surrounding it anymore, so it has to come after this scene from "The Last Stand" regardless, since the military is sent into retreat in this scene.

But, the more I thought about it, the more that awkwardness continued to bother me, enough to make me want to see if I could find a much cleaner placement. Then it hit me: Why not just make the beginning of "The Enemy Within!" be the first Decepticon scene of these events? As in, why not just put the stopgap for the three UK stories right before the first Decepticon scene of "The Last Stand"? Well, I tried that and... It works! Very well!

The first Decepticon scene of "The Last Stand" is when Megatron first steps outside of the Decepticon base to let the U.S. Army unleash all their firepower on him, only for their armaments to do him no harm. He then walks back to the base and we cut to him being inside looking over other Decepticons undergoing repairs from their most recent encounter with the Autobots. Before, I placed the stopgap in the middle of this scene, cutting it off when Megatron walks back to the base and right before it cuts to him being back inside. BUT, if the entire stopgap were to come before this whole scene even begins, placing all three of the UK stories ahead of it, then the scene wouldn't be arbitrarily split apart, Megatron wouldn't abruptly go from confident and pleased on one page to an inexplicably infuriated mood on the immediate next page, and the general flow of the original scene as it leads into the eventual end of the issue would be kept fully intact.

So basically, the stopgap would now come on Page 7 of "The Last Stand", between its 6th and 7th panels. Panels 1-6 show Buster arriving at the hospital in Ratchet, Sparkplug being admitted to the hospital, and Buster running off to make a phone call. Panels 7-8 then change the scene to the U.S. Army surrounding and observing the Decepticon base, right before Megatron steps outside on the next page and proceeds to carry out the rest of the scene as described above. Granted, it's now in the middle of a page instead of at the end of one, which in theory seems messier than placing the stopgap at the end of a page, but it actually does work better here. With the stopgap moved up to the middle of Page 7, the events within the period of "The Last Stand" would now play out like this:

As the Autobots continue repair work on the Ark, the recently rescued Sparkplug reveals that he gave the Decepticons the fuel conversion formula. An argument ensues and Sparkplug has a heart attack during the chaos. While Ratchet takes Buster and Sparkplug to the hospital, the Decepticons at their own base have their own an argument. Starscream wants to attack the Ark, but Megatron prefers caution after their recent encounter with Spider-Man. Meanwhile, further repair work at the Ark leads to an accident that turns Brawn into a berserker. While he rampages in the town of St. Petersburg, Starscream carries out his own secret plans in attacking a U.S. Air Force base. The Autobots stop Brawn while the Decepticons recall Starscream, who demands a trial by combat. Megatron contacts the Ark and Brawn is chosen to be Starscream's opponent, so that Brawn may redeem himself. A bit of trickery by Mirage allows Brawn to fake his death, which allows Starscream back into the Decepticons.

But, reinvigorated, Megatron decides that now is finally the time to attack the Ark. He leads a raid on the Ark, but Optimus revives the ship's dormant computer Auntie, who captures everyone but Ravage and Windcharger. The two unlikely allies rescue everyone from Auntie and shut her down, but the exhausted Decepticons retreat from the Ark. That night, the Autobots monitor the Decepticon base and learn about their new plan to attack Sherman Dam and harvest hydroelectric power from it. A battle results in the dam getting destroyed and the Autobots try to save a town from the ensuing flood. They succeed, but just barely, and are blamed for the damage by the townsfolk. The next day, the U.S. Army surrounds the Decepticon base and discover that their weapons have no effect on Megatron. The Decepticon leader then surveys the damage his troops took from their most recent battle with the Autobots, and makes preparations for the final battle soon to come. The rest of "The Last Stand" then proceeds accordingly.

The only issues that remain are the same as before: Ratchet being at the hospital the whole time in "The Last Stand" while being present for both "The Enemy Within!" and the flashback of "Decepticon Dam-Busters!", and one that I'd overlooked before, which is Buster's phone call. For Ratchet, we can simply presume he returned to the Ark after dropping off Buster and Sparkplug, and then later went back to the hospital to await any word of Sparkplug's condition. For Buster's phone call, he makes the call after admitting his father to the hospital, and near the end of "The Last Stand" we find out that his call was for Jesse and "O" to come visit his dad at the hospital. This implies that it was originally meant to be all the same day in the story. But with the stopgap cramming in three additional stories (the third of which being set in the evening during sundown), that then forced the latter half of "The Last Stand" to being on the next day, so we just have to assume that Jesse and "O" simply couldn't make it to the hospital until the next day for whatever reasons.

Although, in that text I quoted above, I also said that the lack of military surrounding the Decepticon base in "The Enemy Within!" means it has to come after Megatron walks away from them in "The Last Stand". Yet, now I'm putting the stopgap before that part instead of after. And, earlier in the story, the first scene with "O" has him watching a news report that says "The Army still has their bizarre base surrounded, but everything is quiet now! The robots are inside!" So with my placing the stopgap both after that statement is given, and before the Army fires on Megatron in vain, that puts the stopgap during a time when the Decepticon base is continuously surrounded by the Army, yet there's no sign of them outside the base in "The Enemy Within!"

How to fix this? Well, before Starscream and Ravage leave the base, the former says that the other Decepticons have all gone on a survey mission, so maybe the Army left the base to follow the 'Cons in pursuit during that time, since we're talking about Megatron, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Soundwave, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Rumble, and Frenzy, and that's a lot of robots for the Army to just ignore and allow them to go and come back. Or maybe since it was said to be quiet, the Army kept their distance and used the downtime to rest and recuperate from the previous battle in "Prisoner of War!", which let the Decepticons all slip away and return as they needed during that time. After all, they also come and go from their base during "Raiders of the Last Ark" and "Decepticon Dam-Busters!" as well. The Army really must have taken a break during that quiet time for all three of these UK stories to slot in.

And so, the reading order for the first four UK stories now looks like this (and I think this is finally it):

"The Transformers"
"Power Play!"
"Prisoner of War!"
"The Last Stand" Page 1 to Page 7 Panels 1-6
"The Enemy Within!"
"Raiders of the Last Ark"
"Decepticon Dam-Busters!" (flashback) Page 4 Panels 4-5 to Page 19 Panels 1-4
"The Last Stand" Page 7 Panels 7-8 to Page 22
"The New Order"
"The Worse of Two Evils!"
"Warrior School!"
"Repeat Performance!"
"Decepticon Dam-Busters!" (present-day events) Page 1 to Page 4 Panels 1-3, Page 19 Panels 5-6 to Page 22
"The Wrath of Guardian!"
"The Wrath of Grimlock!"
"DIS-Integrated Circuits!"
"The Next Best Thing to Being There!"
"Brainstorm!"
"Prime Time!"
"Man of Iron"
"Christmas Breaker!"
"Crisis of Command!"
"The Icarus Theory"
"Dinobot Hunt!"
"Shooting Star!"
"Rock and Roll-Out!"

 

[Glitch]

I'm due to receive the latest Legacy four pack set.
My back story is they all appear on a patchwork Cybertron in Nexus Zero. This Cybertron is like Battleworld from Marvel Secret wars and has all of the Legacy characters on it, their reason for being there is unknown, they wake there in new bodies, similar to Riverworld.
Tarn is his Cyberverse self long after being killed by Soundwave, he's been a digital ghost journeying through the multiverse, witnessed the beginning and ends of many Transformers societies. He now ends up in a new stronger body, he hates it and his stance on the the decepticons has changed when he realises he is but the product of a flawed and twisted mind. His sword was forged from the carcass of Megatron X and is imbued by his essence that was corrupted by the dark matrix he had. Tarn often converses with him.
Squeezeplay is G1 Squeezeplay based on his Marvel G1 a to z otherwise he was a flat character in the comics, he's binary bonded to a titan master that was a blank slate until it was given a copy of the mind of Cancer from Masterforce, after Legends World. Cancer helps Squeezeplay manage his worst instincts and both found a balance and inner peace together.
Tarantulas is Shattered Glass Tarantulas from a universe where the Cybertronian Empire expanded across the galaxy and exalted entire races by sharing technology. They were decimated by the Autobots wreckers. Tarantulas encountered SG Unicron and took his offer to become his emissary, for a while, he willingly joined SG Beast Megatrons crew but was eventually killed by the nefarious Vok. He rises on patchwork Cybertron unsure of what to make of it all.
Prime Cliffjumper was reborn but he's addicted to dark energon, he's got an edge, he fully embraces his dark side and actively hunts Decepticons believing he should exterminate every last one of them. Patchwork Cybertron is orbitted by a few moons including that which was Unicron's head which may contain the energon Cliffjumper now craves.

 

[Glitch]

So Star Raiders!
The aftermath of the Legacy wars left the G1 universe in chaos. Amidst the wreckage and destruction, Lockdown receives a mysterious request from an unknown benefactor to locate a valuable object. As he navigates through the debris of battle, he stumbles upon Thundertron, lost and catatonic before a swirling spatial anomaly. Without hesitation, Lockdown takes him in and begins to unravel his mystery.

But his search is far from over as he discovers Tidal Wave adrift, damaged and offline after a brutal attack by unknown forces. On board the ship the only survivor is Cannonball the Eighth, a curious being with no memories and only an ember for a spark. Lockdown's scans reveal that he does not belong in this universe and has been tortured, yet spared for unknown reasons. And to make matters more confusing, the damage done to Tidal Wave was clearly inflicted by Autobots - a group known for their honorable code of conduct. Lockdown suspects there may be a darker force at work.

Determined to find answers and help his new companions, Lockdown enlists the help of Nightstrike, a former Decepticon mnemosurgeon who specializes in restoring memories, and Calcitron, a newly created robot with advanced healing abilities. Together, they set out on a perilous quest.

But their journey leads them straight into the clutches of Ferak, a powerful Decepticon engineer currently in stasis and awaiting trial. Despite his knowledge of the spatial anomaly and the mysterious Autobots they are following, Ferak remains tight-lipped. And as if things couldn't get any more complicated, Road Pig - a notorious soldier high on nuke - also awaits execution in stasis.

As Lockdown and his team race against time to uncover the truth behind the spatial anomaly and their enemies' true intentions, they must also contend with taming Filch - a feral Cybertronian from Eukaris who has been taken under their wing. With danger lurking at every turn, the stakes couldn't be higher in this high-stakes mission to save their universe.

 

[lastmaximal]

Loving these!

 

[Sabrblade]

So... y'all are gonna hate me for this...

One more addendum. One more daggum addendum to my attempts to find a good placement for "The Enemy Within!", "Raiders of the Last Ark", and the flashback part of "Decepticon Dam-Busters!"

I know what I said before. Both times. But things just kept bothering me about both. I tried to fix what bothered me about the first attempt with the second attempt, but then the second attempt began to bother me more.

In the first attempt, I created a stopgap to slot all three of these stories into the middle of "The Last Stand", placing this stopgap between Pages 8 and 9 of the latter. The problem I had with this was how jarring it was to go from Megatron walking back to his base feeling confident and pleased with himself on Page 8 of "The Last Stand", to him being inside his base furiously yelling at Starscream mid-conversation on Page 1 of "The Enemy Within!" Plus, he was choosing to be cautious and wait before attacking the Ark in this first scene of "Enemy", which clashed with his confidence and readiness in "The Last Stand".

I attempted to fix this in my second attempt by simply moving the stopgap forward, placing it earlier during the middle of Page 7 of "The Last Stand", to make the first scene of "The Enemy Within!" be the first time we see Megatron or any of the Decepticons during the events of "The Last Stand". While this fixed the problems I had with the first attempt, it created a new problem that I had originally accounted for and avoided in the first attempt: The US Army was continually surrounding and monitoring the Decepticon base from the beginning of "The Last Stand" up until Megatron sent them packing on Page 8.

In my first attempt, I used this retreat to explain the distinct lack of any military presence around the Decepticon base in "The Enemy Within!" But, with my second attempt moving the stopgap forward to before the Army retreated, that left the Army's absence in "The Enemy Within!" inexplicable, since the stopgap was now set during their continual monitoring of the Cons' base. I tried to write this off as the Decepticons simply getting passed the Army whenever they left the base during "Enemy", "Raiders", and "Dam-Busters", or that the Army had simply taken a break during this time. But now, both of those feel like a cop-out to me, cheapening the original intent of the scene in "The Last Stand".

Plus, placing the stopgap between panels in the middle of a page is definitely a messier solution than placing it between two separate pages, no matter what I said to justify it before.

So, what now is my solution to all of this? Well, I'm going back to where I placed the stopgap in my first attempt, BUT with one difference: Since the first scene of "The Enemy Within!" was the problem for that instance, just split it off from the rest of the story and move it to an earlier spot of its own, before the beginning of "The Last Stand". In other words, after reading "Prisoner of War!", don't start reading "The Last Stand" yet. Rather, start reading "The Enemy Within!" instead. After the first two pages, stop and then read the first eight pages of "The Last Stand". Then stop and read the rest of "Enemy", followed by "Raiders" and the flashback in "Dam-Busters", and then go back and resume reading the rest of "The Last Stand" starting on Page 9. Boom!

This not only places the first scene of "Enemy" as the opening part of this elongated saga (as it was intended to be the beginning scene of a story, not a mid-story scene like I had placed it before in my previous two attempts) but also places it concurrent to the opening scene at the Ark in "The Last Stand", making it (the first scene of "Enemy") feel like it happens a short time after "Prisoner of War" instead of well after it, which now makes Megatron and Starscream's argument make more sense coming right after their encounter with Spider-Man. At this point, the Autobots just succeeded in breaking into the Decepticon base and rescuing Sparkplug, which would make Starscream want to go after them in retaliation, while Megatron's more cautious nature would now come long before his air of confidence seen on Page 8 of "The Last Stand".

Speaking of which, that scene of Megatron stepping outside his base and sending the Army into retreat would now be reimagined as him sending them away so that he could lead the other Decepticons out on their survey mission as mentioned in "The Enemy Within!" The shot of Megatron walking back to the base would now be of him walking back to give the other Cons the All-Clear to come outside and go on their survey mission, as we never actually saw them depart from the base in "The Enemy Within!", only ever returning to it later.

So now, after the Autobots rescue Sparkplug with help from Spider-Man, Starscream would want to retaliate, but Megatron would reject his demand and order caution instead. Meanwhile, at the Ark, Sparkplug reveals he gave the Cons the fuel conversion formula and has a heart attack in the ensuing argument. As the citizens of Portland react to the news of the Transformers, the Army continues to watch the Decepticon base. Ratchet takes Sparkplug and Buster to the hospital (and presumably drops them off, eventually making his way back to the Ark). Buster then makes a phone call. At the Decepticon base, a refueled Megatron emerges and sends the Army away, before taking most of the other Decepticons with him on a survey mission.

Back at the Ark, an accident turns Brawn into a berserker, while Starscream chases after the spying Ravage. He then attacks an Air Force base while Brawn runs amok in the town of St. Petersburg. The Autobots pacify Brawn while the Decepticons return from their survey mission and retrieve Starscream. Brawn and Starscream are then pitted against each other in a trial by combat, with ends with Brawn's death being faked, allowing Starscream back in with the Decepticons. With renewed morale, Megatron decides it is now time to attack the Ark. But during this attack, Optimus revives the Ark's computer Auntie, who captures all of the Autobots and Decepticons except for Ravage and Windcharger. The two unlikely allies defeat Auntie, and Windcharger sends Megatron flying out of the Ark, leaving the rest of the Decepticons to retreat but vowing to return.

Later that evening, the Autobots monitor the Decepticon base and hear about their plan to attack Sherman Dam. The ensuing battle damages the dam, forcing the Autobots to save a nearby town from flooding. They barely succeed, however, and are blamed for the damage. What is now the next day (when, presumably, Ratchet returns to the hospital to await word about Sparkplug and Buster), back at the Decepticon base, Megatron surveys the damage his troops took in their most recent encounter with the Autobots, and makes preparations for his final attack on the Ark. Jesse and "O" finally arrive at the hospital (presumably having been unable to come visit the previous day for whatever reasons), greeted by Buster. The Decepticons launch their final brutal assault on the Ark, which is averted by Sparkplug's corrosive fuel finally kicking in (after not yet affecting them for three additional adventures). The day is saved until Shockwave shows up. Phew!

As for "Man of Iron", it's fine! It's staying put where I had last placed it.

And now, the reading order (for the final time, this. Is. IT!):

"The Transformers"
"Power Play!"
"Prisoner of War!"
"The Enemy Within!" Pages 1-2
"The Last Stand" Pages 1-8
"The Enemy Within!" Pages 3-44
"Raiders of the Last Ark"
"Decepticon Dam-Busters!" (flashback) Page 4 Panels 4-5 to Page 19 Panels 1-4
"The Last Stand" Pages 8-22
"The New Order"
"The Worse of Two Evils!"
"Warrior School!"
"Repeat Performance!"
"Decepticon Dam-Busters!" (present-day events) Page 1 to Page 4 Panels 1-3, Page 19 Panels 5-6 to Page 22
"The Wrath of Guardian!"
"The Wrath of Grimlock!"
"DIS-Integrated Circuits!"
"The Next Best Thing to Being There!"
"Brainstorm!"
"Prime Time!"
"Man of Iron"
"Christmas Breaker!"
"Crisis of Command!"
"The Icarus Theory"
"Dinobot Hunt!"
"Shooting Star!"
"Rock and Roll-Out!"


FIN

 

[Glitch]

Inspired by the Legacy Evolutions exclusives from Amazon and Walmart, I developed a time travel narrative where Generation 2 Transformers originate from a Cybertron that achieved peace between Autobots and Decepticons after their initial conflict millions of years prior. However, this peace made Cybertron vulnerable to:

• Invasions by the Quintessons, which led to widespread radicalization.
• Destruction by Unicron.
• Jhiaxus’s rise to power, where he established the Cybertronian Empire, constructed the Hub, and bred a militant race dedicated to conquering and culling “lesser races.” This formidable fleet eventually thwarted Unicron, subjugated the Quintessons, and incorporated Sharkticons and Allicons as expendable troops.

Jhiaxus, believing himself to be the reincarnation of the ancient Liege Maximo, remains oblivious to the fact that the texts he venerates were intended as satire, mocking heretical Primus worshipers.

Recently, news breaks that the Cybertronian Empire has eradicated organic life in the Pegasus Dwarf galaxy. While the majority on the Hub rejoice, a small group of Autobots resist:

• Jazz and Laser Cycle share the same spark. Jazz, who once cherished Earth’s culture before its obliteration by the Empire, blended Metallikato with Earth’s martial arts, creating a unique combat style utilized by Laser Cycle.
• Grimlock (nicknamed Clobber) is a former gladiator who expanded his mind through self-enhancements modeled after Quintesson biomechanics.
• Mirage, a once-wealthy Cybertronian whose life was shattered when Unicron destroyed Cybertron, is indifferent to organics but opposes their genocide. His peaceful protests had always fallen on deaf audio receptors.
• Sideswipe, a former convict humbled after being defeated by Megatron in the gladiatorial pits, aligns himself with Grimlock.

Imprisoned and awaiting recycling, they escape and discover a time portal, seizing the opportunity to journey into the past and create a more balanced Cybertronian society to prevent their dystopian future.

Pursuing them are a group of Decepticons seeking alternative, peaceful solutions to end their war and the brutal campaigns:

• Toxitron, designed by Alpha Trion, is a highly efficient former member of the Primum Custos. He possesses the Matrix of Primacron, containing a last-resort superweapon.
• Cloud Cover, a dedicated tracker, resents organics but opposes their extermination, remaining loyal to Toxitron and longing for the Cybertron he remembers.
• Dead End, an optimistic young Cybertronian learning the ways of Decepticonism under Toxitron’s mentorship.

Together, they venture millions of years into the pre-Cybertronian War era, each group striving to shape the future according to their vision.

Edit: I used AI re refine this.

 

[Platypus Prime]

This works way better than it should. Safari Ltd. armored T-Rex and Triceratops, used exactly as they came, no mods of any kind. If no 3rd party steps up with a shell set, I am using these with my own little head-canon alteration:

Name: Spike and Trike

Species: Tribrid Dinosaur Biosynths

Function: Shock Troops (intended, occasionally)/Team mascots (reality, usually).

“Behold the power of the primordial terror-HEY! HEY! BAD! DROP IT! DROP IT…Ah, crud. Um…don’t worry, we can get it back, it just…um…This’ll take a while…”

The Dinoforce’s attempt to integrate their shell abilities with the lackluster Beast Modes available to Micromasters of their time was a shocking success, giving the entire team a boost in strength, intelligence, and firepower in all modes, making them capable of taking on Transformers several times their size either individually or combined. But, unwilling to give up the numeric advantage the old Pretender technology once afforded them, the Dinoforce pooled what was left of their biosynthetic shells to see what they could make from the scraps.

The results were surprising, to say the least. What emerged from the chambers were two dinosaur-like beasts, Spike (mostly a Tyrannosaurus, with a Stegosaurus’s tail and a Pteranodon’s sharper senses) and Trike (mostly a Triceratops, with an Ankylosaurus tail club and trace genes from a Brontosaurus). While no longer serving as shells, the resulting beasts were still linked in some way to the half of the team that had contributed their components, and the two were readily integrated into the Dinoforce as shock troops and heavy support roles that the old shells once served.

At least, that was the intent. The personalities of the two creatures is more similar to large friendly dogs, and rather scatterbrained ones at that. More likely to seek out belly rubs and treats than combat, they have to be actively ridden to a destination to keep them from wandering off to look at something shiny, though if pushed in the right direction, their sheer mass and indestructible hides are usually more than enough to flatten most (largely unnoticed) opponents.

Strangely, while not physically transforming, their personalities undergo a major shift when Dinoking combines. Then, the two begin to act more like highly trained, worryingly intelligent, and extremely aggressive attack animals, even capable of following complex (if rather goal-oriented) orders. More than one of Dinoking’s opponents has found themselves gored, mauled, and crushed by two monsters with no energy signatures that no one saw coming, as they focused on the more obvious threat from the combiner. This unpredictability can make the two a danger well out of proportion to their actual abilities to friend and foe alike, and Deathsaurus, an ardent supporter of enhancing combat abilities with semi-sentient symbiotics, refuses to allow his own beast-companions to go anywhere near them.

 

[LordGigaIce]

Some ideas I've had for a neo-G1 continuity/show/whatever.

Start with a huge battle on Cybertron. Sentinel Prime and Megatron are fighting on an elevated platform akin to Optimus and Megs fighting on the damn.

I'd crib dialogue from their fight in Megatron: Origins because it's that damn good IMO.
Eventually Megs and Sentinel each fall through the structure they were fighting on and Megs kills Sentinel. He goes to rip the Matrix from his chest but ala TFO it disintegrates if claimed by the unworthy.
Megs is enraged. He wanted the Matrix and the power it represents but it's been lost just when he could claim it.

Megs emerges from the wreckage dragging Sentinel's corpse and tosses it into the battlefield. He proclaims he's slain "the last Prime" and willfully destroyed the Matrix to free Cybertron from superstition. The Autobots, shocked and demoralized, retreat and the Decepticons make a push to conquer the planet.

Orion Pax is a dockworker who was drawn to the Decepticon cause for social egalitarianism, against the wishes of his friends Ariel and Dion who think Megatron's been getting too violent to effect any positive change.
Orion doesn't heed their warnings though, and joins the Decepticons. Hell, maybe even have Orion be an old friend of Megatron. One's a miner, one's a dock worker... not inconceivable that they'd meet in organized labour circles early on.

Orion, though, has grown fully disillusioned with Megatron by now. Megs is openly slaughtering entire cities that don't just surrender to the Decepticons, he's torturing POWs, executing the innocent for mere suspicion of being Autobot sympathizers... he's had enough. He tosses his Decepticon badge off and tries to make contact with Ariel and Dion, his two old friends who he knows are safe behind Autobot lines.

Megatron gets wind that his friend had abandoned the cause and tries to chase him down, and he ends up mortally wounding Ariel and Orion, and killing Dion. I'd play it like Megs would try and talk Orion back/Dion and Ariel to his side, but when it doesn't look like they'll listen he loses it and in a fit of rage does the deed(s). Once Megatron realizes he's killed one of his friends and grievously wounded two others he steels himself. If they won't join him they'll perish like the rest of Cybertron who refuses to join him. He goes to kill them but Alpha Trion appears and forces Megs into a retreat. He then saves Ariel and Orion.

Orion is rebuilt into Optronix (thanks @Undead Scottsman!) and Ariel info Elita. Alpha Trion explains that he helps the Autobots when he can but he can only do so much. Still, he tries because he feels responsible.

Optronix asks why. Alpha Trion replies that his real name is Alpha Prime, one of the Thirteen, second oldest only to Prima. He's the only survivor and changed his name so his siblings' legacy could be remembered fully and that Cybetronian society could develop on its own without them looking to him.
He's watched Prima's Matrix get passed from Prime to Prime, but he put too much faith in it. He knew anyone who was accepted by the Matrix would have to be worthy and thought that was enough. Only too recently has he come to understand that to be worthy isn't enough, one has to prove themselves to be continuously worthy. Too many Primes... Guardian... Nova... Nominus... Sentinel... they may have been worthy once but they let that power lead to complacency and arrogance and now this war is the price.

Optronix says it doesn't matter, Megatron destroyed the Matrix, but Alpha Trion doesn't believe that. It can't be destroyed, it's an aspect of Primus himself.
If this war is to end a worthy Prime- one who will be an example of how Cybertron can better itself- will need to arise to oppose Megatron's seemingly unstoppable march. They need to find it first. Alpha Trion sends Optronix and Ariel to Vector Sigma, the supercomputer at Cyberyron's core. If the Matrix is anywhere it's there. He gives them the key to Vector Sigma.

Along the way they run into an Autobot strike team of Ironhide, Prowl, Jazz, Bumblebee, and Ratchet as the medic. Ironhide's ready to take them prisoner as he recognizes Optronix as Orion Pax, Megs' former friend and Decepticon, but Elita produces her Autobot badge and Optronix produces the Key to Vector Sigma.
Optronix says Megatron is on the wrong path but if they can find the Matrix and someone truly worthy to wield it then maybe, just maybe, this war can end.

The Autobot team takes Optronix and Elita in and they begin their quest deep into the core of Cybertron. Along the way they find organic rock and dirt packed in alongside metal and circuitry, suggesting an organic component to Cybertron but we don't linger on it.

Megatron, meanwhile, has found out about this quest. When Alpha Trion stopped him from offing Orion and Ariel he sent Laserbeak to keep tabs on them.
He's leading a team of Decepticons to intercept them. If the core is where the Matrix is then maybe he can still somehow get his hands on it.

As they get to the core they find the key doesn't seem to work, but before they can figure out what to do Megatron shows up with his backup. Optronix tries to reason with his friend, that his path has led to the destruction of Cybertron and that there's no just peace that can grow from his actions. Megatron seems to struggle with this but doubles down.
He angrily beats Optronix and goes to execute Elita, blaming her for "turning" his friend Orion against him but a brutally beaten Optronix takes the blast and seems to die.

Megatron is livid but before he can do anything else the key to Vector Sigma activates and the core glows. Everyone sees the Matrix emerge from the core and Megatron reaches out to take it. He thinks it'll be his but it zooms past him embedding itself in Optronix' prone body. The Matrix revitalizes and reformats him as Optimus Prime.
Optimus leads the Autobots to force Megatron into a retreat and he emerges on the surface. For the Autobots this is a miracle. They thought Megatron destroyed the Matrix. Optimus is able to display, via his ability to command Titans, that he's the real deal. The appearance of a new Prime tallies the Autobots who force the Decepticons into a stalemate.
Because this "Optimus Prime" seemed to appear out of nowhere for the vast majority of 'bots and 'cons alike a rumour begins to circulate that he's not just Sentinel's successor, but the fabled "Arisen," the last of the Thirteen.
This would be played with, with Optimus deeply uncomfortable with the idea but some hints that it might be true (thanks @Shadewing!)

That's the setup

I'd establish that after continuous fighting in this stalemate status quo Cybertron and its colonies begin to run low on energy. Yeah, the colonies are a thing and fully involved in the War. Caminus, for example, is Autobot aligned and the "headquarters" of the dominant Cybertronian religion, with the Mistress of the Flame being basically the Cybertronian Pope.
Chaar, meanwhile, is a mining colony that's firmly Decepticon aligned.

Anyway with energy running low and the war dragging into a stalemate Optimus decides to lead an expedition to find more energy. Megatron finds out (Laserbeak is earning is paycheque) and the Nemesis intercepts the Ark. A battle ensures and the Ark is nearly destroyed, but a blind hyperspace jump at the last second saves them.

The Ark jumps into Earth orbit just behind the moon, crashing on the dark side.
Once the Autobots take stock they study Earth and see that while it has energy it has a sentient native species that's fairly advanced. Optimus won't allow it to be harvested but it will make a perfect refuge while they repair the Ark and hopefully get home.

Earthbound Autobots-
Optimus Prime
Bumblebee
Ironhide
Jazz
Prowl
Arcee

Meanwhile, with Optimus and his inner circle gone, the Autobots are pushed back again. Caminus is the lone holdout on the Autobot side, with the Mistress of the Flame's Torchbearer paladins led by Windblade and Star Sabre able to hold the Decepticons back, but just barely. They know, via the sacred Matrix Flame, that wherever Optimus Prime is, he's not dead.

Megatron, meanwhile is relishing in his victory on Cybertron and most of the colony worlds, but it's a hollow victory. Shockwave tells him that energy is mostly depleted and that even with every world under Decepticon command, they won't last. Additionally whispers from Caminus inform Megs that Optimus is alive... somewhere.
Elita is also still on Cybertron, leading an Autobot resistance cell.

Megatron decides that he needs to find Optimus, as well as a new source of energy. He assigns Starscream to lead a team to find them while he shores up Decepticon control on Cybertron and the colonies and continues the war against Autobot-controlled Caminus.

Season one would be about Optimus Prime and his team of Autobots hiding on Earth, trying to secretly gather as much energy as possible to repair the Ark. Eventually they'd find themselves in something of a superhero role fighting human villains for a spell ala Animated, until this catches Starscream's attention.
Late season one would be Optimus Prime and his team on Earth fighting Starscream's team. Who are...

Starscream
Thundercracker
Skywarp
Lugnut
Blitzwing
The Reflectors
Barricade

Starscream will also be planning a coup, thinking that if HE can kill the Prime and harvest Earth's energy he can rally enough 'cons to his side to overthrow Megatron. Lugnut, put on Starscream's team because he's fanatically loyal to Megatron and Megs knows he needs reliable eyes on 'Screamer, will object when Starscream's ambitions become apparent, leading to Starscream killing him and framing the Autobots.

Season one will end with Starscream's forces defeated in their attempt to take Earth, but with Megatron finally clued into where they are.

Season two sees Megatron arrive to personally take command of the Decepticons, in a more traditional Transformers status quo.

I'd also do something where Optimus occasionally has Matrix visions. Sentinel's consciousness would be akin to Avatar Roku from Avatar TLA, someone who both gives some advice and who warns Optimus not to make the mistakes he did that allowed for this war to happen.
Optimus, like Aang, can also confer with his other predecessors from time to time. All but one... the spirit of Nova Prime in the Matrix doesn't speak. He's just a blank void...

While focused on the Earth crews we'd jump around. Some other ideas...

Lockdown, the unaligned Cybertronian bounty hunter who works for the Quintessons, looking for Optimus Prime because the Quints want the Matrix.

The Star Raiders. Thundertron's group of pirates who decide to attack Cybertronian space to plunder what they can, leading to a battle between them and the Autobot paladins defending Caminus.

Eukaris, a beastformer Cybertronian colony divided between Autobot-aligned Maximals led by Apelinq and Decepticon-aligned Predacons led by Gigatron.

Antilla, a mystery. One of the first Autobot colonies that went mysteriously dark. Think the Roanoke.
Will later be reveled to be Unicron's fault somehow.

 

[lastmaximal]

Haven't seen the new Earthspark stuff yet, but I quite dig the design on Aftermath. Reminds me of Birdie from Street Fighter Alpha, so I'm envisioning using him as that type of character (no idea how close or distant this is from the show).