This is something a little different than my usual postings (this and the next one). As you know--I write Transformers fan-fics and post at AO3--as I've been wrapping up large arcs in my current ongoing series, I've been hard at work developing plot for the next big arcs of each series. I probably do more research and development than any sane fan-fiction writer actually does.......... XD

This one relates to my Galvatron/Rodimus Prime series. As I slowly work on bringing in the various generations of toys and animated series characters and concepts to the original G1 universe, expanding it beyond a truncated "season 4"--some ideas are redeveloped and some characters are repurposed. I mean, Hasbro reuses a LOT of names across the generations, so I can't have a dozen Optimus Primes running about one universe. XD It's nothing new--because IDW did this very same thing in their large universe that they had going before Hasbro's mandated reboot (for WFC: Siege) for them.

So, a big chunk of the next arc plotline for this series has what would be termed "the colonies"--which were mentioned in Gen1 in two specific episodes at least ("Cosmic Rust" and "Fight or Flee"). IDW expanded this, as did Hasbro themselves for War For Cybertron (toyline series)--as always, it takes a lot to make your thing fresh and original and not directly copy what has been done before. The other portion of this arc will be the reason for suddenly looking for these "Lost Autobot Colonies"--because, why now? When they've been absent from history for millions of years, what would be the reason for searching for them now? My answer to that has been a redevelopment of a concept (from the Transformers anime series "Galaxy Force", or known in the U.S. as "Cybertron")--the Planet Keys, which I've changed into the Core Keys. Unlike that anime's impetus, where the Planet Keys can cause a planet's (and the universe's) destruction, the Core Keys are a bit different as they are directly related to the revitalization of Cybertron--they are the Heart of Primus, which Vector Sigma sent out into the universe with the founders of the colonies.

To that end, I had to design what they Core Keys look like--and how they would fit into a "lock" What I came up with is this pattern. The colony names are the official Hasbro ones from the Earthrise toyline (if you worked on that map that came with the toys)--and each key represents an aspect or an ability of Primus/Vector Sigma. The nature of the Core Keys and the secret of "the lock" are still mostly secret, because I don't want to spoil my fan-fics too far ahead of time. But as I wrap up "Golden Rebirth"--I've introduced the concept of the Core Keys, so that means I needed to have the knowledge of their shape and design for the story.

Transformers belongs to Hasbro, this design for my fan-works belongs to me.