At the end of time and space, there exists the planetDonnokt, an oasis in agalaxy ruined bywar. Though the universe it inhabits is old, Donnokt is young, its people only just beginning to understand the wonders of steam-powered technology. A state of affairs that leaves the young globe particularly vulnerable if any hostile visitors should set their sights on it...
After the Great War used up all the resources that theAutobots andDecepticons needed, a trio of Autobots consisting ofRodimus,Strongarm, andGripper, who believed themselves to be the last three Cybertronians left in the universe,Last Bot Standing #3 were ambushed by a pair of Decepticon ships. The fighting took them down to the surface of prehistoric Donnokt.Last Bot Standing #1 When onlyTalon andFangry remained, it was found that the planet heldenergon-sympathetic materials and would yield a large, if volatile, bounty ofenergon crystals in millions of years. After the two Decepticons had been executed,Last Bot Standing #4 the Autobots decided to leave the energon alone and instead subsist off their own reserves. Eventually however, they discovered that Donnokt was home to an evolving race. Fearing that other surviving Cybertronians might come to Donnokt, the three Autobots hatched a plan. When the organics had developed into a tribal society, one capable of communicating with Cybertronians, Rodimus made contact with a trustworthy individual and gifted them threeenergon keys that could awaken their Cybertronian guardians should other visitors from the stars threaten their existence.Last Bot Standing #3 Rodimus later recorded a video for the organics and their descendants, warning that the energon was intertwined with the planet's underground and that reckless overharvesting could destabilize Donnokt.Last Bot Standing #4
Over time, however, Strongarm grew increasingly restless, and began petitioning Rodimus to take their only starship and search for other Cybertronian survivors.Last Bot Standing #2 Thousands of years later, Gripper had an accident while recklessly driving in the mountains, and without the resources or skills required to repair their comrade, Strongarm and Rodimus couldn't save him. After this event, Strongarm snapped and stole their ship, hoping to find other Cybertronians out among the cosmos. While trying to clip the ship's wings, Rodimus accidentally destroyed the ship and killed Strongarm with it.Last Bot Standing #3
Thinking himself the very last of his species, Rodimus located the Wallkis family, the descendants of the tribe he'd contacted thousands of years ago, and made them an offer: if they kept him safe, he would protect their world from any outsiders who would do them harm.Last Bot Standing #2 The Wallkises accepted the deal, and Rodimus went into a fuel-conserving low-power mode after assuming hisalternate mode, becoming nothing more than a family heirloom to be passed down from parent to child until he and the energon keys eventually found their way into the possession ofShib, the eldest of Wallkis clan.Last Bot Standing #3
As Donnokt began to engineer steam powered technologies, it was visited bySteeljaw's pack of Cybertronian survivors, a group who had taken to farming organic life intobiofuel as a replacement for energon.Last Bot Standing #2 The first to touch down was the forward scoutNitro who deliriously stumbled his way to the settlement ofFembrance. The presence of another Cybertronian roused Rodimus from his slumber. After killing Nitro, Rodimus left the town to investigate where Nitro had come from.Last Bot Standing #1
Though Rodimus found Nitro's space pod, the citizens of Fembrance arrived to take him prisoner, Rodimus agreeing to play along. Elsewhere in the desert, the rest of Steeljaw's pack made planetfall and began unloading their equipment. After a headcount, Steeljaw sentOverride andRiotgear to find Nitro. Though they tracked him to Fembrance,Last Bot Standing #2 their depowered sensors failed to detect his remains.Last Bot Standing #3 Finding instead the bound Rodimus, the two freed him and brought him to Steeljaw. Having stowed away in Rodimus' cloak, Shib was found by Steeljaw's pack and claimed as their first meal on Donnokt.Last Bot Standing #2
Oncethe Veteran had been reactivated, Steeljaw left a portion of his men behind to continue setting up their infrastructure while retrofitting Rodimus with a new intake system to accept biofuel as he led most of his force to harvest Fembrance. At the Veteran's urging, Shib was allowed to say a last goodbye to Rodimus, allowing the girl to insert one of the energon keys and restore the Autobot to fighting shape. Properly fuelled, Rodimus was able to destroy the refinery and best the members of the pack. In Fembrance, the rest of the group rounded up the town's organic matter before Steeljaw andSharpclaw found a Cybertronian data pad that held Rodimus' secret, furiously confronting Rodimus about it when he and Shib arrived.Last Bot Standing #3
After one of the energon keys had been shattered, the last was spirited away by Shib. LeavingUnstoppimus to deal with Rodimus, Steeljaw and Sharpclaw followed the girl who led them to the mouth of the energon mine. When Rodimus caught up to the pair, he and Shib revealed that he'd destroyed their biofuel rendering plant, leaving them with no power supply to fuel their conversion back to energon. Deciding to die on his own terms, Steeljaw prepared to ignite the energon and destroy Donnokt, only for Sharpclaw to throw herself in front of the blast and save the planet. After Rodimus had killed Steeljaw, he turned the remains of the visitors' ship into a one-way escape pod. exiling himself and the survivors of Steeljaw's crew to orbit, the craft looking like a new star in Donnokt's sky.Last Bot Standing #4