Brink

Prologue

We live in a universe that is infinitely expanding. From the farthest reaches of space, life of all shapes and forms have been able to gain a foothold in the ever-growing realm of disorganization. Be it through complete luck or stubbornness to survive, life has found a way on many different planets.

The planet Earth is one such place. Millions upon millions of years of hardship from both the universe and otherworldly beings have put this planet to the test, and yet it remains as one of the beacons of hope for any life forms in the galaxy. For with everything that Earth has been through, it is a wonder how it can possibly still survive.

In previous years, the Earth and its kind were visited by another group of sentient beings. Ones that far surpassed any of its life forms in both technology and intelligence. A life form that never grew old or died. These beings referred to themselves as 'gems'.

Earth was originally intended to be their colony in their ever-expanding empire. A new place where they could continue to grow their kind and make it a place where they could thrive. Yet through those years of trying to make it what they wanted, not everyone was alright with the things being done to so many worlds.

A great civil war broke out between two factions of the gems. One side holding loyalty to the ways that they always knew, and the other pledging themselves to a new leader that wanted them to be free and choose what it was they did with their lives. For you see, the battle was for far more than just the one planet. It was also for a new balance of power.

While that conflicted lasted a long time, it was eventually ended with the loyalists leaving the planet and rendering the surface toxic to their kind. With the end of the war, organic life reclaimed its place as the dominant of the Earth, leaving behind only a few of those rebel gems.

While that war had an end, we must not forget that there are far more creatures in the universe then any would dare think of, and not all conflicts come to an end so quickly.

Far off in a vastly different stretch of the cosmos there was another war being waged. Another civil war, but this one seemed to be without end. For millions of years, the planet of Cybertron has been home to a long, brutal war between its inhabitants. The creatures of this world were vastly different than that of gems or humans. These beings were large, sentient, autonomous robots.

On one side of this never-ending war was the Autobots, the victors of a previous war that led to them ruling over Cybertron for a time. Ones that sought to keep all together and to allow for a peaceful existence with each other. On the other end, there were the Decepticons. A ruthless faction that sought nothing but power and complete domination over all of the planet's inhabitants.

The war has torn the planet apart, leaving almost nothing left to fight for. That is until a great event that had changed the course of the future for not only the Autobots and Decepticons, but for the entirety of Cybertron as a whole. So great is this danger, that it has not only brought the war to a standstill but also forced the inhabitants of the planet to unite, lest they both be destroyed.

While these three species have never met all at once, this threat is something that affects every being that exists. Something so much larger than any of them combined. Something that is nearly as old as time itself.

The universe is a strange and open place, filled with many things that most of us could never imagine. There are things out there that many wished they never found out about. What is this looming threat that brought a war to a halt? What could be so massive that it threatens the very balance of all life? What is this menace that could go unnoticed for so long, but now appear to be the demise of anything in its path?

Only one thing is certain: No one is safe while it still lurks out there.

In the far-off edges of gem controlled space, there was a small colony on small, remote planet. Like many of the other worlds that gem kind controlled, this planet was used to create more of their kind, but it was also a launching point for many operations to further advance their presence.

On the surface, the planet is alive with activity. Gems going about their duties as they usually do. Be it helping with the manufacturing of more gems, or simply being in their place of duty as guards. Whatever it may be, each gem had a purpose, and they were fulfilling it. Everything was as it should be.

Until an early warning alarm sounded in the orbital control station.

Inside of the station, three gems were suddenly jolted into surprise, causing them to look out the window of their post to see what was causing the alarm to sound. What they saw was something that none of their eyes had ever beheld.

At first glance, it looked almost like a giant planet that was heading directly towards them but, upon looking more carefully at it, one could see that there were several distinct differences to it. The first one being the giant ring that was formed around, looking like a massive string of smaller planets and other masses. Yet the most prominent feature to anyone looking at it was the giant hole in the center of it. Almost making it look like some sort of eye or mouth. Around this opening were two very large pincer-like appendages. It was simply alien in all ways.

"What in the name of the Diamonds is that?" one of the quartz asked.

"Who cares? It's about to be in a million pieces." a Peridot said, hitting a button on the control panel in front of her.

With the press of that button, several towers on the planet began to spring to life, revealing themselves as laser defense towers. They all turned toward the incoming mass, firing shortly after they were all locked in.

Sure that the planetary defense systems would destroy whatever it was that was approaching them, the gems simply looked onward confidently. There had never been anything out there had matched their technology, and this thing would surely be no different. Or, so they thought.

The lasers made contact with the incoming object, but they appeared to do nothing at all to it. Floored by the fact that the first blast had done nothing, the gems ordered for the defense to keep firing, thinking that it would stop it from coming.

Yet no matter how much firepower they put to it, the incoming planet never slowed down. As it got closer, more of its details could be seen, now revealing that, whatever this thing was, was made of metal.

Knowing that they were out of options, the ones in the orbital station knew that they had to warn everyone on the planet of what was coming. Pressing another button on the console, they sounded an alarm on the surface, letting all gems know to evacuate at once.

When the strange metallic being got close enough, the opening that was so prominent on it began to glow, so how opening up even further. The giant pincers around the opening began to bear down into the planet's surface, seemingly starting to pull it into the opening.

"Get to the ships! It's our only chance!" One gem shouted, running for the nearest escape vessel. Not everyone was so lucky though. While many were making it to ships, even more were being forcibly pulled into the strange beings giant, gaping maw.

As it continued to seemingly devour the planet, many ships were unable to take off and fell victim to the same fate as those who didn't make it in time. In addition, those ships that did manage to take off were not safe once they were off the surface. Many more were pulled back by what felt like a gravitational pull, meeting the same fate as those still on the planet.

Inside the enormous mechanical beast, the devoured planet and everything on it were being pulverized, ground up and liquidated to seemingly feed this behemoth. To make everything it consumed into energy for itself.

And just like that, the planet was gone. Where once was a bustling and thriving community of gem kind, was now nothing but a large empty void left behind by something that no gem had any explanation for.

Far away from where the planet once was, there was one ship that managed to escape from the creatures pull. Looking back, the survivors knew they were lucky to have gotten away. But, more importantly, they needed to get back to the homeworld. The Diamonds needed to be informed of this.