BattleTech+Transformers, Worldbuilding/Storybuilding, hopefully Collaborative
OK, so the lack of response to Battletech+Pern is worrisome, since it got more votes, but I’m gonna try anyways. Hopefully the fact that I’ve got more material will make the difference.
So, before I get into story details, for purposes of the story, I needed TFs to be able to wreck ‘Mechs. My justification is that they’re the product of vastly more advanced technology that sometimes crosses the line into Clarke-tech. More specifically, while TFs are stronger and more durable than a Mech of comparable size and weight, the difference isn’t that great and most Mechs are bigger than most TFs, and also there are a lot more Mechs thatn TFs. However, TFs are vastly faster and more agile (not having to worry about carrying a squishy organic inside helps), their more efficient energy systems mean they don’t overheat, storage dimensions not only allow for size-changing but also means they can store more ammo and don’t have to worry about said ammo exploding, etc. In addition, TF weapons tend to pack more punch, and also frequently have all sorts of exotic effects (glass gas, null rays, etc. etc.), many TFs have what amounts to superpowers (invisibility, duplication, Combining, etc), loads of them can fly, and of course they can Transform, which enhances their existing their mobility advantage, allows for surprise attacks, and also means they can store more weaponry in their frame since they can transform one weapon into another. In addition to the TFs themselves, they have better HPG and KF-drives (of course, they don’t call their drives that, but for our purposes we’re saying Transformers that’s what they use), and they also have SpaceBridges (this is Battletech, gotta use CamelCase! Which means we’re calling them AutoBots and DeceptiCons).
OK, story stuff. I usually like to imagine the Great War as a stalemate, but here I’m going to say that, mostly because Sentinel Prime was not good at war, by the time Optimus became Prime, the Cons had an overwhelming advantage, and Optimus was eventually forced to go into hiding, allowing the Cons to think the Bots were defeated. This is not the case, and he’s been honing them into a lean, mean Con-fighting machine, but they don't have the numbers to win in a straight-up fight and so are biding their time waiting for the right moment. Meanwhile, the Cons have been rampaging through the galaxy, conquering everything in sight. This has actually been fairly bad for them, as the brutal way they go about things means that their conquests tend to be either too wrecked to be much use (dead worlds don’t produce a lot of Energon) or are hotbeds of insurgency. Or were hotbeds of insurgency and then were wrecked. However,, between their poisonous ideology and the training and tactics Megatron used to achieve those initial overwhelming victories against Sentinel, the Cons have developed a toxic culture where even those who aren’t sadists or bloodthirsty maniacs or sadistic bloodthirsty maniacs are peer-pressured into acting as if they crave constant ultraviolence. And since no one’s been able to give them a good straight-up fight in ages, they inevitably end up fighting each other. Meanwhile, although Megatron is a powerful and skilled warrior, a brilliant tactician, and a charismatic master of demagoguery, he is absolute SCRAP as a leader, who gets his way through bullying and intimidation, so that the higher-ups are constantly intriguing against backstabbing each other. All of this has led to a massive drop in morale and a near-total collapse of discipline.
Which is why the Inner Sphere is a godsend. Megatron can’t take any aliens seriously as threats for ideological reasons, especially ones that are both squishy AND stubby, but Mechs mean that they can give his warriors a good enough fight to maybe whip them back into shape and give him a plausible way of getting rid of some of the particularly troublesome ones. And it’s big and populated enough that the Cons will be able to slaughter to their heart’s content and still have a sizable population of slave labor afterwards. So, for decades, the Cons have been infiltrating the IS, gathering intelligence; mostly about what targets should NOT be wrecked because again, Megatron doesn’t really take humans seriously as a potential threat.
And when the day comes (roundabouts 3065-6, late stage FedCom Civil War), the Cons strike like lightning, attacking every sector at once, crushing all opposition with superior technology and the element of surprise. This no doubt sounds familiar, but unlike the Clans before them, the Cons have no concern about honor or preserving civilian lives. The opposite, in fact. As they assault world after world, they unleash carnage on a scale not seen since the First Succession War, proudly broadcasting their atrocities for all to see. In addition, while the Clans were restricted to a relatively small wedge of an invasion corridor, the Cons can SpaceBridge themselves anywhere in the Inner Sphere, not to mention the long-hidden spies revealing themselves and wreaking havoc. Megatron is well aware that the Inner Sphere is too big for his forces to maintain a blitzkrieg for very long, even with their numbers enhanced by mass-produced VehiCons and Drones, but he figures on terrifying the locals into submission before things reach that point.
And his plan is working. Until the AutoBots intervene, showing up on world after world to reinforce the beleaguered defenders and turn back DeceptiCon attacks, giving the people of the Inner Sphere some breathing room and showing that the invaders are not invincible. And then Optimus Prime contacts the leaders of every major faction, and offers an alliance…OK, so I am not quite sure where things go from there, but what I envision is not just the ‘Cons being driven from the Inner Sphere and a return to status quo antebellum. I imagine the AutoBots joining the Second Star League and proving to be the secret sauce that makes it work the way it was promised. I’m figuring on Optimus being declared First Lord on a permanent basis and leading the new SLDF on a crusade to liberate all the worlds Megatron has conquered, including Cybertron, ultimately raising the banner of the Star League above Darkmount itself. I admit to not being clear on how to get there, though.
I do have various fragments of ideas for things, but as I am not really familiar with the characters of BT, I don’t quite know how to make them all gel together, and I worry some of my ideas won’t work. Anyways, in no particular order, some of these (I reserve the right to post more).
-The Cons will be converting captured Mech factories into making Drones, the Bots will be sharing tech that enables the creations of…I’m tentatively calling them CyberMechs or AutoMechs, and there will be enough BattleMechs being given Sparks to create at least one team each of BattleCons and MechBots. No idea on details.
-During the period when the ‘Con blitzkrieg seemed unstoppable, Sun-Tzu Liao got…some kind of offer from Swindle, which being something of a weasel and also rather desperate, he agrees to. Not sure of the specifics, but the fact that he technically betrayed humanity is eventually used as a lever to get him to agree to the Prime Lord thing.
-After reluctantly agreeing to call a truce with her brother, and to ally with the AutoBots, Mad Kat, like everyone else allied to the Bots, is given intel on the ‘Con leadership and because she’s Mad Kat, decides to approach Starscream, offering to help him take out Megatron so he can rule the DeceptiCons and she can rule the Inner Sphere. Predictably, this eventually blows up in her face.
-I was initial thinking that Optimus sends a high-ranking ‘Bot to every major faction leader (not sure who gets sent to whom) inviting them to a meeting somewhere to discuss forming an alliance against the Cons, etc. Not sure who gets sent where, or where the meeting should take place. I considered the idea of having the meeting held via telepresence somehow, but I want to have the Steiner-Davions in the same room, and also Vlad Ward and Phelan Kell and etc., cuz I think it would be interesting.
-Thought; both sets of Wolves join the anti-Decepticon coalition, and the feuding between them causes friction. Eventually, Grimlock bullies them into agreeing to settle it via a Trial between Phelan and Vlad. The winning side earns the right to be Clan Wolf, the losers ultimately end up becoming Clan DinoBot. No idea who should win or if this is any way plausible.
-Speaking of Clanners, some of the Homeworld Clans are reluctant to join the fight, even though protecting the Inner Sphere from outside threats is theoretically why the Clans exist. So, Ultra Magnus (I’m thinking something akin to the Transformers Prime version as voiced by Michael Ironside, although I’m imagining him having something like the Magnus Hammer from Transformers Animated) challenges their Khans and saKhans to a Batchall, offering his body for their Scientists to dissect as a prize if they win. If he wins…I’m not sure if they have to just help fight the Con, fully join the Second Star League, or accept Autobot command. Regardless he wins quite handily. Not sure who he has to fight, either.
-At some point, HeadMaster (and TargetMaster, and PowerMaster) tech is invented. If anyone has ideas for who should volunteer for which and be binary-bonded with whom, I’m all ears, though I do have a generic idea. To wit, at this point the ComStar schism has happened but the Wobbies haven’t lost their shit and started doing all the atrocities. I’m imagining that, given their technophilia, a lot of them agree to be binary bonded, and enough AutoBot ideology bleeds through from their partners that it causes a schism within the WoB, with a bunch of them seeing Optimus as a messianic figure and turning on the others, so the whole organization is quietly purged of its most batshit and/or evil elements and ends up on the side of the angels, albeit coming there from a weird angle. Also, means another faction stumping for the Prime Lord plan.
-Note that some of the bigger Bots and Cons will be becoming DropShips. Or at least, they will look like DropShips; they are actually Jump-capable, and possibly also some of the ones that become ASFs. Metroplex and Trypticon will become WarShips; I envision the Ark and Nemesis as also being WarShips. Possibly also the Axalon and DarkSyde.
-I think this is pretty much it that I can remember. Thanks to the guys at Spacebattles who helped me work a lot of this stuff out before they got bored with the idea. Any questions or suggestions anyone and everyone has are welcome, though I can’t promise to use ‘em.
