Underbase
From Transformers Wiki
Within each Transformer is a database, storage of that Transformer's accumulated knowledge. The Underbase is a "collection of knowledge that underlies all databases," or rather the combined knowledge of the Transformer race. It is curated by Boltax within his Temple of Knowledge, and it is considered off-limits to either Autobot or Decepticon.
Though acquiring portions of the Underbase can be enlightening, the combined power of its knowledge could detonate a star on impact, and its mere proximity can leave a planet scorched of life. Its energies are especially damaging to Transformer microchips, though enhancement by anything organic can somewhat protect the Transformer.
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Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
Millions of years ago, back on Cybertron, the Underbase was being sought by Optimus Prime and the Triggerbots just as the Great War was starting. The Underbase supposedly held all of Cybertron's knowledge, and it was heavily guarded (including molten mercury mine fields, cable jungles, and collapsing floors). Unknown to Optimus Prime, Megatron and the Triggercons were following him, intent on dispatching Optimus Prime and taking the powers of the Underbase for themselves. When the Autobots arrived at Boltax's Temple of Knowledge, the Disciples of Boltax said to Prime, "You must turn back immediately, Optimus Prime, and take your warriors with you. Pain and suffering will be yours if you stay."
Prime told his men to set camp while he went to seek the knowledge of the Underbase. Not that long after, Megatron came to the gates of Boltax as well. When Boltax's disciples gave Megatron the same message about pain and suffering, Megatron instead gave those same gifts to them, as he and his troops destroyed them with firepower.
Meanwhile, Prime met up with Boltax, who welcomed him and, though he could not give Prime exactly what he sought, allowed him to bathe in the knowledge of the Underbase in a chamber just beyond where they were standing. Optimus entered, but Megatron and his troops were not far behind, and Boltax was quickly dispatched as well.
Megatron entered the chamber. Realizing the truth, Prime told Megatron that the entire mountain was Boltax, who had converted himself into a giant containment vessel to store the vast energies of the Underbase, while the robot he and Megatron had talked to was merely a puppet. He then added that he'd discovered that the knowledge contained in the Underbase was too much for any one Transformer to know, and that any attempt to input the Underbase would only lead to "madness.... and death."
Not believing him, Megatron ordered his Decepticons to fire at Prime. As Megatron started boasting about his victory, he didn't see Optimus get up and press a switch, which closed the flame vents, causing the energy inside to build up. Everyone got out just in time to see the Underbase being shot out into space. Prime lamented, "Cybertron's greatest treasure—gone all because I let pride and glory—not reason—dictate my actions. All because of me. I will live with this shame for the rest of my existence." Interestingly, this incident, in that he removed the Underbase from Decepticon hands, would be one of the cornerstones of Optimus's sterling reputation. The Flames of Boltax!
On present-day Earth, Ratbat, Soundwave, and Starscream got hold of a record of the preceding events that was stored on the Autobot cassettes Raindance and Grand Slam. Club Con! Ratbat wanted to take the Underbase for himself, but so did Starscream, who abandoned their prisoner Buster Witwicky outside the Decepticons' base of operations in the Arctic with equipment to attract the attention of both the Autobots and Decepticons. While Starscream convinced the Decepticons to fight each other, he escaped in Scorponok's ship to search for the Underbase. Cold War! The Aerialbots found Buster, and the rest of the Autobots followed, but not long afterward, the Decepticons were upon them!
Meanwhile, Starscream found the Underbase and started to absorb its powers but was shot out of the way by Ratbat's Decepticon ship, piloted by an Autobot/Decepticon alliance. But Starscream wasn't dead! Now, powered by a portion of the Underbase, he lifted Scorponok's ship and threw it at Ratbat's. Starscream announced, "I go now to destroy the cities of New York, Tokyo, and Buenos Aires!" Optimus Prime, having predicted the potential loss of transportation, had the Ark waiting close by.
The Autobots and Decepticons separated into three groups to send to Starscream's three target cities, but Optimus Prime and Buster stayed behind. In New York, Starscream destroyed the Aerialbots, Jetfire, Bluestreak, Brawn, Gears, Goldbug, Mirage, Hoist, Hound, Jazz, the Seacons, and Blaster. Ratbat escaped and headed to the Ark, thinking Prime was going to use the Underbase for himself. In Tokyo, Starscream killed the Throttlebots, Thundercracker, Skywarp, the Dinobots, the Predacons, and Grimlock. Scorponok also left for the Ark, likewise thinking Prime would use the Underbase for himself. In Buenos Aires, Starscream off-lined Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Octane, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, the Technobots, the Terrorcons, Omega Supreme, and Soundwave. Before getting a chance to destroy Fortress Maximus, he heard a radio transmission and also headed for the Ark.
Back on the Ark, Hi-Q (Prime's Powermaster component) and Buster launched a rocket which deflected the Underbase and altered its course, sending it directly towards Earth. At that point, Ratbat had taken Buster and Hi-Q hostage on the Ark, but Scorponok arrived, blasted everyone and went after the Underbase himself. Prime (with Hi-Q linked to him) stopped Scorponok just as the Underbase passed by.
Starscream arrived from the planet's surface and intercepted the Underbase's path, absorbing the entire thing. He began to grow and mutate until he finally exploded. Dark Star The Underbase survived the ordeal and remained somewhere out there. Dread Tidings #299
Starscream's remains were recovered by Dreadwind and Darkwing so that he could be rebuilt at the behest of Megatron, using Pretender technology. The Resurrection Gambit! The revived Starscream did not appear to show any residual effects from his exposure to the Underbase, and was soon back to his usual cowardly, conniving self. Skin Deep
Earthforce
Optimus discovered the Underbase had been linked to the centre of Cybertron, and thus to Primus himself. With Unicron approaching and no other options available, he sent six Autobots to find the former Underbase site, hoping they could tap into the energy it had drawn on and use it as an anti-Unicron weapon. The Magnificent Six!
Regeneration One
More than two decades passed after Starscream's experience with the Underbase. Having been brought into Zero Space by Primus, Hot Rod witnessed a meeting on pre-war Cybertron between Boltax, Rokan, Decanus, Tallus, and Jhiaxus. This group was dubbed by Boltax as the five greatest minds of their world, and they were meeting to upload their combined knowledge into the Underbase. However, during the uplink, Jhiaxus, who was dissatisfied with Cybertron's policy of isolationism, "slew" the others' mental projections, leaving them incapacitated. Jhiaxus downloaded the information he needed to create his own cosmic empire, and then erased all memory of him from his fellows' minds, and all Cybertronian records, before departing. Hot Rod would eventually return to the Cybertron of the present, transformed into Rodimus Prime. Less Than Zero
Rodimus would order an investigation into Jhiaxus and the other visions he had in Zero Space, only for Jhiaxus to show up and announce that he had come in peace. Aboard the Ark in orbit of Cybertron, Starscream recognized Jhiaxus' presence. The War to End All Wars, Part 1 Shockwave, who had been merged with the Ark's computers, questioned Starscream as to how he could know this stranger's name. Starscream's body began to exhibit the familiar yellow tech-patterns of the Underbase, and speaking in another voice, identified Jhiaxus as "one of the five". The War to End All Wars, Part 2
As Rodimus led an invasion of Jhiaxus' Hub Network, the Underbase-possessed Starscream took the Ark to another part of the Hub. Shockwave inquired as to the identity of the entity controlling Starscream, which merely identified itself as "the four", seeking "the fifth". Declaring that it would have a use for him, the entity separated Shockwave from the Ark and made him whole once more. The War to End All Wars, Part 3
The Underbase eventually caught up with Jhiaxus, who recognized the force possessing Starscream as his former cohorts from the "Brain Trust". The energies of the Underbase moved quickly to consume Jhiaxus, in order to reunite him with the others and make itself whole once again. Jhiaxus' lieutenant, Rook, ignored his leader's pleas and abandoned him to his fate. Once it completed its task, the Underbase departed, leaving behind Starscream's body, unconscious but healed, for Shockwave to recover. The War to End All Wars, Part 4
Shattered Glass
The Underbase resided at the Temple of Knowledge under the care of Boltax until it somehow "vanished". Boltax died shorty after, and gigacycles later, Ricochet captured the Temple and used Boltax's equipment to try to lure Megatron into a fatal trap. Do Over
The mysterious trio of the neutral Cybertronian Jetstorm, the non-Cybertronian Autobot Side Burn, and the Decepticon Demolishor were somehow connected to the Underbase. Working together while all three were on Earth, the latter two hid their true allegiances from their unsuspecting superiors in the Autobot-Decepticon war. Jetstorm and Demolishor were conducting Project Transhuman on the Decepticon-allied human Sephie Beller while Side Burn was manipulating Rodimus to ally with and betray Alpha Trion. However, Demolishor was particularly concerned about the suspicion he received from the Decepticons' extradimensional member and the Omega Terminus's spawn. While the trio were teleconferencing one day, Star Saber burst in on Side Burn, having been suspicious of him for some time. Star Saber tried to kill him, but Side Burn healed himself instantly with his non-Cybertronian physiology. Side Burn killed Star Saber and proclaimed, "All hail the Underbase, for we will be whole once again." Transhuman
Animated cartoon
During the course of the Great War, the Underbase was lost. The AllSpark Almanac II
2005 IDW continuity
The Underbase may once have been on Cybertron. Some skeptics believed it was just an old myth invented by the Knights of Cybertron, like the Primal Prophecies or the wisdom of the Matrix. Chaos Theory Part 2 Tailgate apparently did believe in it, as he exclaimed "By the shadow of the Underbase!" when it seemed like he'd accidentally murdered Whirl. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It
Beast Wars: Uprising
The Underbase had been hidden on Artemis for untold millennia until the end of the Great War, when Thunderwing discovered the ancient artifact. Absorbing its power, he fused his sparks with the rest of his Mayhem Attack Squad and led a no-holds-barred assault on Cybertron. A united front of Autobots and Decepticons tried to stop him, eventually forcing Thunderwing into the very core of Cybertron, where the Underbase's power could be safely contained. Not All Megatrons
Though Thunderwing died, the Underbase persisted. Its return to Cybertron allowed mechanimals to begin reappearing across Cybertron as the ravaged planet began evolving a new biosphere in an attempt to heal itself. Derailment
Of Masters and Mayhem
The Underbase was created by High Circuitmaster Boltax with the intention of preserving all the knowledge of Cybertron against the threat of war. Boltax even went so far as to upload his own consciousness within the Underbase. When the predicated war broke out, Megatron coveted the Underbase for himself, and seemingly ripped Boltax to pieces in front of Optimus Prime, before Prime managed to launch the Underbase into deep space.
During the war, Impactor and the Wreckers came to believe that Boltax survived within the Underbase and launched Operation: Cybaxx to find him. They manipulated Starscream's lust for power to get his aid in approaching the Underbase. Starscream claimed the power for himself and faced off against Bluestreak's team of Autobots, killing three of the six before the Underbase's energies overwhelmed him and he melted from the inside out. The Wreckers eventually managed to extract Boltax from the remains and uploaded him to a new body. Taking on the codename "Cybaxx", Boltax joined the Technobots as an enhancement for Computron's arm module, allowing Computron to access the full knowledge of Cybaxx and the Underbase to feed his data processing abilities.
Even this was not enough against Thunder Mayhem. Lively Pursuit
Notes
- The Underbase was concocted as a story-based means
to get rid of older products—er, to remove older characters. - In the US Marvel story that introduced it, the Underbase was referred to with a definitive article, as "the Underbase." In original stories later written for the UK comic, however, for some reason, it was always just "Underbase," no "the," as if it were a proper noun.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Underbase (アンダーベース Andābēsu)
