#dredgenaut

DREDGENAUT

(Repurposed from: Sparkless Seeker)

Faction: Decepticon

Primary function: Force of nature

Bio: Biosfera is a planet of many dangers – its fierce megafauna, its Maximal/Predacon civil war, its hazardous locations like Spiders’ Crypt and the Howling Canyons – but none are more hostile than the Ancestor Mire. An unnavigable marshland, the Ancestor Mire is overrun with moss and vegetation. Any Transformer submerged into its tainted waters will fall under the thrall of the Verdance: the primeval source of all of Biosfera’s flora.

When the revenant seeker dragged itself out of the Mire to menace the Autobots, they named it “Dredgenaut” out of convenience; while its former identity is lost to time, it remembers enough to perform a sluggish gait and convert to its alternate mode. Its smile is not one of menace, merely the result of a long-forgotten social impulse given no reason to reset to a default expression. Dredgenaut’s erratic body language, unsettling appearance, and languid movement are so far removed from the baseline for mechanical sapience that a standard Cybertronian’s sensor array will refuse to accept it as a living being, eliciting a primal dread in even the most stoic of Transformers. Dredgenaut is durable, inexorable, and singularly dedicated to its mission of spreading its foul moss to ensnare all Cybertronian technology, whether living or inanimate, into the primitive hive mind of the Verdance.

Quote: “My imminent death wouldn’t be so bad if that blasted thing would stop smiling!” – Huffer

Weapons/abilities: As an undead Cybertronian, Dredgenaut’s pain receptors are offline, leaving it resistant to most forms of conventional weaponry. It is animated by the vegetation and marsh water that penetrates all of its internal systems; when injured, the moss heals its wounds, even to the point of allowing it to re-form when dismembered. Dredgenaut spreads its spores through touch, causing water damage to electrical machinery, and prolonged physical contact with a living Transformer can result in them becoming a thrall to the Verdance.

Dredgenaut is armed with two standard issue laser blasters from its past life.

Weaknesses: Being a corpse animated by alien flora, Dredgenaut possesses a very limited intelligence, having no will of its own outside of primitive impulses. In particular, it is slow to adapt to stimuli the Verdance has not previously encountered. Curiously, Dredgenaut and other thralls are rendered immobile when confined to an Electromagnetic Interference cage.

Dredgenaut’s blasters can become waterlogged, and thus unable to discharge.

Alternate mode: Overgrown tetrajet

FUSION

(Repurposed from: Deseeus Army Drone; see also Fusion)

Faction: Quintesson

Primary function: Envoy

Bio: Harmonex was once known as Cybertron’s cultural capital. A small polity, Harmonex was rich with artists, musicians, and scholars, but its favourite son was Fusion. Fusion was a philosopher, and renowned for his level head and selfless nature; his boundless intelligence saw him frequently compared to the mythical Solomus the Wise. It was no surprise that he was chosen to become the Harmonexan ambassador to Iacon, a role in which he counselled the government to take steps towards a fairer, more equitable Cybertron.

Fusion and many of his fellow citizens were killed in the Harmonex Shatter Bombing at the dawn of the War.

It is years later. The Quintessons have crept out of the cracks in Cybertron’s society, and they have brought with them an army: not just the omnivorous Sharkticons, or the ferocious Allicons, but a whole Legion of Lost Sparks, with Fusion spearheading the charge. The dark science utilised to bring him back has twisted his personality, turning him into a cold, sadistic field commander. Bluestreak, one of Harmonex’s few survivors, sees his revival as the ultimate act of perversion. Fusion thinks of the invasion as an extension to his mission; every Cybertronian will be equal in the servitude of the Quintessons… even if he has to enlist their reanimated corpses.

Quote: “It is my duty to fight for a future where all are one.”

Weapons/abilities: When he was alive, Fusion was a great orator and an expert mediator in civil disputes. In death, these skills have changed him into a grandstanding manipulator, able to unerringly pick the right choice of words to demoralise his opponents. Fusion possesses a keen intellect and understanding of the Cybertronian condition, and these qualities have translated into a mastery of strategy and an aptitude for predicting his enemies’ actions.

Armed with a Doomblast Forge Launcher, Fusion is a gifted marksman owing to recreational visits to shooting galleries. His vehicle mode is layered in blaster-proof trithyllium plating, which also provides a level of protection in robot mode.

Weaknesses: Fusion’s vehicle mode is not particularly fast and, while sturdy, features a weak point in the trithyllium plating around the base of the turret. Bluestreak maintains that Fusion’s earlier personality lies dormant in his databanks; if true, and it can be reactivated, Fusion would be psychologically crippled by the realisation of his actions under Quintesson control.

Alternate mode: Armoured truck

POWERSLIDE

(Repurposed from: Deep Cover)

Faction: Autobot

Primary function: Recovery mechanic

Bio: Powerslide has never known security for long. Growing up, fending for herself on the mean streets of Iacon, she quickly learned that she can trust no-one but herself… and her two fists. Dissatisfied with her poverty, she led a life of delinquency – vandalism, petty theft, fighting in public – until she found her calling in the competitive world of underground street racing. Her high speed and precise manoeuvrability made her an instant success, and soon she began betting what little money she had on her own victories, gradually amassing what was, to her, a small fortune. The proceeds went towards buying vehicle upgrades, which she taught herself to install on her own alternate mode while squatting in a disused mechanic’s workshop.

For the first time, Powerslide could see a way out of her disadvantaged life – which was when everything fell apart. The gladiator Megatron began espousing his political agenda during the Games. Powerslide’s fellow racers were drawn in by the promises of a working-class uprising, but she was too distrusting to see it as anything other than a fascist grab for power. Being proven right by the outbreak of the war was no consolation for seeing her former friends wearing the Decepticon badge. Pragmatism may have led her to the Autobots, but it’s her stubborn refusal to let anyone take anything away from her ever again that keeps her fighting.

Quote: “Until now, I’ve never had a problem I couldn’t run from.”

Weapons/abilities: Powerslide possesses a vehicular mode with incredibly high speed and acceleration, as well as the quick reflexes needed to negotiate an ever-changing battlefield. These abilities, in conjunction with her expertise with cars and her basic first aid training, allow her to serve as a recovery mechanic for the Autobots, rapidly making her way to the injured party and patching them up enough to ensure a safe and speedy evacuation.

From her time on the streets, Powerslide is an adept hand-to-hand brawler. Additionally, she is armed with a shoulder-mounted Peak Point Blaster, which fires concentrated laser beams at both long range and close quarters.

Weaknesses: An anti-authoritarian at heart, Powerslide’s wisecracks and tendency to lash out often get her in trouble with her superior officers. Beneath the bluster, however, is a hurt and insecure young woman. If confronted by one of her Decepticon former friends, she will abandon her orders to try and violently settle her old grudges. This leaves her open to manipulation by the enemy.

In vehicular mode, Powerslide suffers from a low ground clearance when on particularly uneven terrain.

Alternate mode: Custom sports coupe

RUSTICON

(Repurposed from: Sparkless Bot)

Faction: Decepticon

Primary function: Chemical warfare

Bio: Antilla. Velocitron. Junkion. The legends of these time-lost Cybertronian colony planets tell of civilisations that rose to utopian heights… and fell to the scourge of Cosmic Rust. Since before even the Dark Ages, this relentless virus has ravaged Transformer settlements, eating away at its hosts’ very sentio metallico, until only dust remains. Cosmic Rust reduces thriving communities to empty husks, abandoned but for a grim spectre who stands in the centre of the devastation… and thinks it beautiful.

Or at least, that’s how Rusticon tells it. Between his sinister, grandiose battlefield posturing and his corroded bodywork, he seems every bit the mythical bogeyman. In reality, the elaborate fiction that he has crafted for himself is merely an intimidation tactic to disguise the fact that his personal strain of Cosmic Rust – developed in his lab when he was just a scientist of minor repute – is not nearly as fast-acting as the legendary plague. Nonetheless, Rusticon’s boasting has successfully garnered him a reputation as a foreboding figure in the warzone. The Autobots classify him as a Supreme Level Threat; a combatant that must be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately for Rusticon, this has also caused him to become something of a social pariah, as even his fellow Decepticons give him a wide berth.

Quote: “Time rusts us all in the end.”

Weapons/abilities: Rusticon is coated with a special alloy of his own creation that allows Cosmic Rust to harmlessly propagate on his body. The virus bends to his will, and he can pass it on through physical contact. Though not as rapid as its mythological namesake, this Cosmic Rust is capable of decaying an infected host in a manner resembling corrosion, starting with their outer shell before finding its way to the vital organs.

Owing to the general reluctance to engage with him in close quarters combat, Rusticon is also armed with a pair of HF Punisher Cannons, which fire laser blasts at a distance of up to 600 metres.

Weaknesses: Due to his social isolation, Rusticon becomes distracted when his proclamatory flow is interrupted. In particular, he can become erratic when confronted on contradictions in his extensive build-up of personal lore.

Rusticon’s slow-acting strain of Cosmic Rust can be remedied by a cocktail of specific acids if applied in time. Rusticon always carries a vial of this cure in case his alloy coating is penetrated, as not even he is immune to the virus’ effects. Only organic matter is insusceptible to Cosmic Rust; perhaps this gives the mysterious Maximals and Predacons an advantage…