Author's note: Aside from a few references to the Force and the Anti-Force (my own idea), this first chapter will not seem at all related to Star Wars. Future chapters will change this. However, and I must apologize for this, it could be a couple or more years before I really start chapter 2. That is because this story picks up after a series of seven Star Wars stories.

I've made some changes to some of the mythology, to make it manageable for my purposes. Sorry, no multiverse stuff.

Cybertron

Primacron had been created by the Quintessons to protect the planet-sized factory that was Cybertron. Most of his exterior components were a gleaming silver, and a deep, coppery bronze. There were also yellowish, and blue components.

Primacron was armed with a pair of powerful swords. The silver and blue Star Saber, with the Matrix incorporated into the hilt, gave him control over both the light and dark sides of the Force. A beautiful sort of etching, like the waves of a silver sea, covered the Matrix. And there were small openings around where those waves curled. Inside was a gently pulsating orb of light.

The yellowish and coppery bronze Dead End, with the Anti-Matrix at its hilt, gave him the power of the Aether, or the Anti-Force. Its etching was more archaic, resembling tree roots studded with wickedly sharp thorns. Within floated a seemingly impossible shape. It was somewhat cube-like. But the faces seemed to cave inward and twist into wells of infinite depth. And the corners of this impossible shape sharpened into needles. It glowed with such darkness as to dim nearby sources of light.

Primacron came to understand, as his creators reused to, that the Force and the Aether were oppositional to one another, and thus could not coexist. The Force had shrouded itself in darkness, as its light side could not bear to look upon something so vile as the Anti-Force. And so the Force began to fall out of balance, tipping evermore toward the dark side.

The Aether already held sway over part of Primacron's soul, and thus he could not rid himself of its darkness beyond death. Concerned that this vile entity would someday claim the rest of his being, he made the excruciating choice to purge himself of what had been corrupted. Unfortunately, this possession by the Aether was not localized in one area, which necessitated a violent self mutilation. Primacron tore the coppery bronze and yellowish components from his body, and was left broken, and leaking vast quantities of energon.

Death was upon him, but the power of the Force preserved what remained of his life and repaired him. He had destroyed a part of himself, but he was finally free of the Aether. No longer was his name Primacron; he was now Primus, a Master of the Force.

He had been betrayed and murdered, by himself. Death had claimed him, but death had also saved him. Had pulled his mutilated body back together. He was now Unicron, Lord of the Aether, the Prince of Darkness.

He quickly found his other half, his brother, Primus. Each pleaded his case with the other, yet neither could be swayed to abandon his beliefs. And so the two brothers battled for guardianship of Cybertron. Primus was victorious, and his brother, Unicron, voluntarily exiled himself.

Primus walked into the Sacred Chamber, where the Allspark sat upon her pedestal. The Force flowed from her into Cybertron. Primus could thousands of life Forces growing stronger. After learning of Primacron's split, the Quintessons had deemed it too dangerous for the Force and the Aether to interact.

Primus could suddenly feel the shadow of death approaching the mechanized world of Cybertron. His twin brother, Unicron, had returned, after many ages, from a journey to the Force knew where. And he had changed. Unicron had always been the Dark One. But now he was in bondage to that abomination he'd once bent to his will.

The Aether had also changed Unicron's outward appearance. His appearance was strangely organic. Though Primus had never felt something so lifeless. There were sickly, dead shades of brown and yellow. A pair of horns adorned his head. And growing from each shoulder was a much larger horn. On his upper back were two pairs of tentacles, somewhat resembling a shattered halo. Spikes had grown from his limbs, especially on his shins.

"Unicron," Primus said sadly, somehow knowing that his brother's soul was lost for eternity.

"Hello, brother," Unicron said as his feet made contact with one of Cybertron's many hexagonal support structures. The contempt coming from his dagger-filled mouth was almost a corporeal thing. "You are grieved."

"I fear for your soul," Primus responded. "The Aether has a powerful hold over you."

"You misunderstand, brother," Unicron said, with a shake of his horned head. "The Great Punisher has enlightened me. The Force is a flawed entity. Dark and light, forever in conflict. The Force is conflict. But the Aether is one. And there cannot be conflict when there is just one."

"The Force is balance, Unicron."

"It does not seem very balanced to me, brother," Unicron retorted.

"Because evil exists, and throws it off balance," Primus explained.

"What you call evil exists because the Force has two different natures. The same reason you chose to rip yourself apart, casting, me, a part of yourself off like garbage."

"That part was already lost. I had no choice," Primus confessed. "And evil exists because of the Aether."

"I grow weary of this conversation," Unicron said, walking toward the Sacred Chamber. "Why do you try to 'save' my soul when you believe it is already beyond saving? Pit, you thought I was lost even before you split your soul. You gave up on me long ago, brother."

"I was hoping I was wrong," Primus said, following after his brother.

"And you are wrong. About so much more than you know. You are the one who is lost, brother."

Primus could feel his spark fracturing. There was nothing he could say to sway Unicron. It was pointless to argue with such a fool. Unicron had been lost, and nothing could change that.

Unicron walked toward the center of the Chamber, toward where the Allspark sat upon her pedestal. He gazed lustfully at the cube shaped artifact, for she glowed beautifully in the Force. He would unite himself with her, and he would be able to achieve perfect balance. The Aether and the Force.

"Don't do this, Unicron," Primus warned.

"Is this not how the Quintessons made us?" Unicron chuckled and picked up the Allspark. There was a surge of terrible energy as a section of his chest began to iris open.

"The Quintessons realized they were wrong. Now, please, put her down."

Unicron ignored him, and started to place the Allspark into his chest. Primus had no choice. He reached out into the Force, and ripped the Allspark from his brother's grasp. The cube clattered to the floor. He pulled out his Star Saber; a number of saws and blades incorporated into the weapon hummed to life.

The tentacles on Unicron's back spread like the remnants of the wings of some fallen angel. And the light within the Sacred Chamber dimmed as a shroud of something beyond darkness came over him. Unicron's eyes became darker than the deepest void. A hammer-like mace seemed to fly off of his back, and landed in his hand, as he charged toward his brother.

Primus vaguely recognized the weapon as Dead End. It had once been a magnificent, gleaming sword. But the Aether had mutated it, as it had mutated Unicron. The Anti-Matrix, which had served as its hilt, had moved to the end of the weapon. It had also reshaped itself to resemble an elongated, mallet-like version of the not-quite-cube that had existed within. The etching had become more chaotic, with the tree roots and their thorns being horribly twisted and gnarled. And strangely iridescent vines, darker than black, wove in and out of this mess.

The hideous anvil serving as Dead End's head began to vibrate violently, longing to reap destruction. And flames beyond darkness sprang up from the vines.

Primus allowed his twin brother to back him out of the Sacred Chamber, where there should never be the mere thought of violence, and then used the Force to throw Unicron away from the Chamber's entrance. Unicron rolled to his feet and launched a bolt of darkness, darker than death, at his brother. Primus easily intercepted it with a massive bolt of white Force lightning. Force and Aether annihilated each other, like matter and anti-matter, as they made contact.

Primus and his fallen brother, Unicron, fought for days, moving through Cybertron's jungle of hexagonal support structures, neither of them tiring. The light of the Force growing, the unfathomable darkness of the Aether deepening. Calm fury and precision pitted against an unquenchable rage and brutality. The violence being perpetrated began to take its toll on Cybertron. And it would only worsen as time went on. As both warriors grew more powerful.

Not only did the Aether's power continue to grow, but so did the stain of wickedness it was leaving in the fabric of the universe. So vile was it that the Force began to shroud itself, and fall out of balance toward the dark side. As it had when Primacron had existed. Primus somehow knew that once the light left, when only the dark side remained, that the Aether would be able to corrupt him. And the burning hatred which had begun to take root within his spark, despite his love for his fallen brother, told him that he was quickly running out of time. Primus had to end this, now.

Unicron could feel a growing desperation within Primus, of the sort that often caused one to become reckless. He swung his mace, landing its hammer directly on the Matrix. The very fabric of the universe shook as the Star Saber was shattered, and the Matrix soared off into the void.

But Dead End had generated an incredible amount of momentum. Primus took advantage of this and, with a powerful Force exertion, managed to tear the mace from Unicron's grasp. The ghastly weapon soared off into the starry abyss of space. Unicron took full advantage of the momentary vulnerability caused by that Force exertion, and hurled two darkly glowing blasts of Aether energy into his brother's chest. Unicron leapt up, and delivered a brutal kick to the side of his brother's head.

Primus Force threw his brother away from him, and used the reprieve to return to his feet. He managed to put up a shield of Force energy just in time to block a particularly powerful Aether blast from Unicron. The horned Lord of the Aether reached Primus and proceeded to batter him with the spikes on his arms and legs, and soon began to inflict serious injury.

Primus fought defensively, allowing his brother to drive him backwards. Unicron did not seem to have taken note of the remains of the Star Saber. The Prince of Darkness hurled Primus to the ground and prepared to deliver a savage punch to his head. But before he could deliver that potentially lethal blow, Primus reached out in the Force toward part of the Star Saber's broken blade. It sailed toward Unicron and impaled him through the left side of his chest. Sparks erupted as the blade briefly came back to life.

Primus leapt upward, and summoned another sizable shard of the Star Saber to his hand. He drew heavily upon the Force as he brought his weapon down on Unicron's neck. His headless body stumbled forward and, along with his head, fell through one of Cybertron's hexagonal support structures and into the mechanical planet's depths.

Primus had slain his own brother. He had destroyed what had once been a part of himself. Cybertron's agony permeated the Force. Not just over the death of Unicron, but also the impending death of Primus. He could feel his systems shutting down as energon leaked from his body. Soon he would lose consciousness, and he would never wake.

But he could feel the Matrix; they'd somehow remained linked. Primus reached out to it, and could feel his spirit being pulled out of his body. It was by far the most excruciating pain he'd ever felt. He could not help but let out an electronic scream of agony. And then it was finished.

And the Aether was my own idea. It is not the same as the dark side of the Force.

I look forward to any feedback you have. Constructive criticism is appreciated.