My Transformers Fancon: The Current State of the Great War
It has been four million years since the death of Sentinel Prime. Roughly 50% of Cybertron has been abandoned, in some cases because the Great War has left them uninhabitable, but mostly because most of the planet's population is dead or fled offworld. Roughly 45% is technically under Decepticon control, but that control is often fairly nominal; there are many city-states where the purple banner flies over the City Center, but any 'Con who leaves said City Center is never seen again. Roughly 5% of the planet is held by the Autobots (the distinction between them and the Primal Vanguard having ceased to exist entirely), including the city of Iacon, still officially their capital and the most heavily fortified piece of real estate in the known universe; the 'Bots also hold both Moons. Things on Cybertron are fairly static; even the rather significant number of Autobot partisans lurking in officially 'Con-held territory do little more than stockpile weapons and gather intel for the far-off day when it will become possible to retake the rest of the planet. The fact of the matter is, being too poor in Energon to do more than keep the comparative handful still living there alive (and even that requires imports), Cybertron and it's moons have very little value asides from symbolism and new Sparks. The importance of the latter for the continued survival of the Cybertronian species ensures that neither side is willing to rock the boat where their homeworld is concerned. Instead, from their respective HQs orbiting the planet Opulus and on the planet Chaar, the Autobots and Decepticons carry out their war across the cosmos, fighting over colonies and seeking to (again, respectively) protect their alien allies and retain their alien conquests. In many parts of the universe, the battle lines are as static as they are on Cybertron, remaining unchanged for millennia or longer. In others, they are in constant flux, every inch of ground changing hands daily. However, a general picture can be discerned; the Autobots have the advantage in numbers and resources, but are spread thin and pinned down protecting the alien allies that provide the latter. The Decepticons, meanwhile are considerably more mobile, able to strike at will. Technically speaking, the Autobots are winning, as a war of attrition favors them; however, the suffering this imposes on civilians mean they are as eager to break the deadlock as the 'Cons.
Four million years of warfare have wrought tremendous changes to Transformer society. In fact, to even speak of Transformer society as a singular entity is fallacious. Not only have the Autobots and Decepticons evolved to the point where they more closely resemble separate nations rather than political factions, many colonies and combat units have developed unique cultures of their own, often influenced by the local aliens. Speaking of the former, while Optimus Prime has taken great pains to ensure that his Autobots retain the ideals under which the movement has born, Megatron has almost done the opposite, one by one discarding the noble goals with which he started; today the 'Cons follow a militaristic, Social Darwinistic creed that is almost identical to that of the ancient Empire of Destruction, with the addition of Cybertronian supremacism and a poisonous culture of intrigue.
