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Here some quick backstory for these two sets, from the IDW1 comics.
>Megatron
Megatron was a lower class miner during the period where Cybertron's government was extremely fascist and corrupt. He initially sought peaceful reform through his writings, but the government's violent response to that convinced him that might makes right.
>Ratbat
Ratbat, through his heartless buracracy, was the one that unwittingly set the events in motion that led to Megatron's first taste of murder. He also funded Megatron's growing uprising, unaware of how powerful Megatron would grow to be. For his trouble, Ratbat was later reduced to his humanoid form to one of a bat.
>Shockwave
The mysterious and charming senator friend of Orion Pax seemed to have his fingers in many pies, crusading, sometimes in shady ways, to move Cybertronian society towards something better. In response, the government captured him and mind raped his emotions away, hoping to quell his passion for upheaval. Instead, they ended up removing everything that was holding Shockwave back. Oh, and they also removed his face. Out of spite.
Of particular note, before the reveal that the nameless senator was actually Shockwave, the comic had been implying that this was Ultra Magnus as a red herring - including the color scheme.
>Orion Pax
Well, right off the bat, pre-war IDW1 Orion was a cop, not a data clerk. He was one of the only good cops on the force, and walked in on the government's attempt to have Megatron (then still peaceful and falsely arrested) beaten to death in a jail cell. Outraged, Orion stormed into the senate building and confronted them on their corruption. The only reason he wasn't killed for his outburst was through the helping hand of pre-mind rape Shockwave.
