Transformers Prime: Evolution

4. Question of Evolution

Project Evolution had always been a whisper in the corridors of Russian intelligence, a legend passed down in shadows and secrecy. No one outside the inner circle knew the full extent of its origins, but the truth lay buried in the ice where it had all begun—beneath the frozen remains of the Predator, an alien relic whose very existence had been the catalyst for technological leaps no human could have ever imagined.

It all began with the discovery of the Predator, a discovery that would forever change the course of history. Unbeknownst to the world, it was not mere human ingenuity that had led to the creation of some of the most advanced technologies in human history. The seeds of these innovations had been planted by reverse-engineering the alien mechanisms found within the wreckage of that long-forgotten warship.

At first, the researchers who stumbled upon the ship could only speculate. The symbols etched into its hull were foreign, yet imbued with a cold precision. As they delved deeper, they found traces of technology far beyond human understanding. Engines that defied gravity, weapons that harnessed energies not yet conceivable by human standards. The Russian scientists began their careful excavation, piecing together fragments of the Predator's technological legacy.

In the 1920s, under the guise of national progress, the Soviet Union founded Project Evolution—a covert operation designed to harness this alien technology and use it to accelerate their own developments. They believed the key to global dominance lay in their hands. As the decades passed, names like Vladimir K. Zworykin, Boris Cheranovsky, Valentin Glushko, and Mikhail Koshkin were lauded for their groundbreaking work, but their achievements were all tied to the hidden truth of alien inspiration.

The first tangible breakthrough came in the form of the Iconoscope, an early television camera tube developed by Vladimir K. Zworykin. Drawing on the optics systems from within the Predator, Zworykin's team learned to manipulate light and energy in ways they couldn't fully explain. His "invention" paved the way for visual communication on an unprecedented scale. The glowing screen would soon connect millions of humans across the globe, unaware that their televisions bore a lineage that stretched back to a war between alien races.

By the 1940s, the influence of Project Evolution had shifted toward aviation. Boris Cheranovsky studied the ship's aerodynamic design and its ability to remain stable in hostile conditions. His insights led to the creation of the Flying Wing, a radical departure from traditional aircraft designs. The ship's hull, with its sleek curvature and uncanny balance, provided the foundation for creating aircraft that could outmaneuver anything in the skies.

The advent of World War II accelerated the project's urgency. The Soviet Union, under immense pressure, utilized technologies derived from the Predator to create remote-controlled vehicles such as the Teletank. These machines were primitive by Cybertronian standards but revolutionary for human warfare.

Simultaneously, Mikhail Koshkin's famed T-34 tank and the Ilyushin Il-2—a powerful ground-attack aircraft—owed much to the study of alien materials found within the Predator's broken armor. Each armored plate, every weapon mounting, had been reverse-engineered from a warship designed for combat on a scale beyond anything humanity could fathom.

The Cold War fueled further advancements. In the 1950s, Valentin Glushko, an aerospace engineer, applied the ship's propulsion systems to create the first electric rocket motors. The technology that powered the Predator's flight through the cosmos became the blueprint for Soviet space exploration, setting the stage for the coming space race.