Project Iacon

Project Iaconis a plan initiated byMegatron,using the amnesiac archivistOrion Paxto decode encryptedAutobotarchives for locations of relevant technology.

Fiction

Primecartoon

The Iacon relics were launched to Earth byAlpha Trionwith the intent of giving Optimus Prime an advantage when he arrived on that planet.Alpha/Omega

Project Iacon proved to be the main reason for Megatron's befuddling decision of keeping Orion Pax aboard theNemesis.As Megatron explained to Orion, in the waning days of the war forCybertron,the Decepticons stormed theIaconHall of Records,but were unable to crack the encryption thus far. Orion was provided access to the heavily-altered records of the war and a comfortable room under constant surveillance. There, he managed to provide Megatron with coordinates of many items hidden on Earth.Orion Pax, Part 1However, after decoding only a few files, Orion's curiosity began to best him, especially due to the heavy level of encryption on the Decepticon side of things and the discontinuities he had heard. Suspicious, he returned to the page on Optimus Prime, the reputed warlord of the Autobots. A hunch took him, and he ran a decryption on the image of the leader to find something shocking—the resulting visage was his own. This did not go unnoticed by Megatron, however, and he swore that the project would continue, even if he had to use painful coercion to keep their archivist in line.Orion Pax, Part 2When Orion learned that Megatron knew what he knew, he attempted to delete his work, only to find that the Decepticons had monitored him and had a complete log. Though he was left with twoVehiconguards to force him to continue work, Orion ended up overpowering them and abandoning his work, leaving Project Iacon completely unfinished.Orion Pax, Part 3

However, the Decepticons still had the three coordinates that Orion had decrypted. The first of these coordinates led them to a container holding thespark extractor.However, the Autobots had followed the Decepticons to the excavation site andBumblebeemanaged to swipe the spark extractor from Megatron's servo as he was on theGroundBridge.The second coordinates had a much more successful result, namely because Bumblebee was currently missing hisT-cog.Operation Bumblebee, Part 1The recovered item turned out to be a very effective shield generator, which was destroyed in the following battle with the Autobots. The final coordinates led not to a confiscated Decepticon weapon, but one of the artifacts from the Iacon Vaults, namely theForge of Solus Prime,though it turned out to be useless to Megatron without the power of a Prime behind it.Operation Bumblebee, Part 2

Soundwavecontinued to try and decrypt the data.CrossfireHe met with very little success. When the Decepticon warship's mind was awakened byDark Energon,it immediately began decrypting the data itself. The Autobots' human allies ventured aboard the ship to try and download the Iacon database onto atransfer driveand found the ship had already decrypted several sets of coordinates. By the time the kids took the ship's intelligence offline, it had decoded four sets of coordinates.Flying Mind

Dispatching multiple teams at the same time, the Autobots and Decepticons each raced to the four relic sites. Bumblebee and Arcee went to New York with Jack and Miko where they encountered Knock Out and an Insecticon, but eventually claimed thephase shifter.Tunnel VisionOptimus and Dreadwing each went to Antarctica but unfortunately, the attention of four Decepticon detachments being dispatched caused a curious Starscream to investigate, who ended up in possession of theApex Armor.TriangulationRatchet teamed up with Wheeljack to race Soundwave to the third relic, disabling hisMini-ConLaserbeak in the process. Inspired by Wheeljack, Ratchet, with Raf's help, developed a virus designed to go from Laserbeak to theNemesis'smain frame and transfer the Iacon database to the Autobots. While Ratchet and Raf uploaded the virus, Wheeljack fought/distracted Soundwave, but was ultimately beaten when Soundwave used the relic, theResonance Blasteron him. After collecting Laserbeak (unaware of the virus), Soundwave returned to theNemesiswith the Resonance Blaster. Megatron was pleased with Soundwave's success while disappointed that Dreadwing and Knockout failed to retrieve their relics. Megatron then put Soundwave back to work on Project Iacon, which played right into the Autobots' hands, downloaded a copy of the database to their mainframe.TriageWhile dealing with the Insecticon Hardshell, Bulkhead discovered the fourth and final relic, a cache of Tox-En. Realizing it was too dangerous for either side to possess, Bulkhead threw it into a volcano where it was destroyed.Toxicity

Soundwave eventually learned how to decrypt the data and decoded a new set of coordinates. At the same time, the Decepticons built a device that could mimic the Project Iacon beacons to lead the Autobots on wild goose chases. Thanks toSmokescreenandJack Darbyhowever, the Autobots were able to claim the latest relic: TheStar Saber.Held within the blade was a recording from Alpha Trion,Legacywho explained to Optimus that the myriad of Cybertronian artifacts littering the surface of Earth, was his doing, having foreseen the conflict on Earth and hoping to provide the Autobots with an edge. He then revealed to his apprentice the existence of theOmega Keyswith Optimus and Soundawve both decoding the first key's location inEgyptwith the Autobots claiming the key.Alpha/OmegaThe next two keys were claimed by the Decepticons and the rogue Starscream respectively. The final entry was decoded simultaneously by Optimus and Soundwave and revealed that Smokescreen himself held the final Key with the Decepticon TIC managing to capture the Autobot.Hard KnocksBrought aboard theNemesis,Knock Out managed to extract the final Key from Smokescreen via the phase shifter.Inside Job