Well, I'm still not sure what to do about filling the void that's been left from the other rpg I was in, so I figured I'd post
my two favorite character's backgrounds here so everyone can get a look at them. TF Laserbot has had a look at the full specs, but those are rather old and
I'm thinking of playing the characters abilities somewhat differently here in the current running rpg. So go ahead and read if you have the time and post
some feedback. It will be appreciated.
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The Criminal
"Check the scanner again."
"Nothing. Maybe it was just a energy fluctuation from labs around here."
"Or maybe it was the real thing. Check again."
"Again nothing."
"Your sure your using that thing right?"
"You want to work this thing?"
The radios on both of the AutoGuards began spitting out voice chatter. One of the AutoGuards picked up the signal.
"Acid rain cloud is moving in. They're calling off the search till it clears."
"Sheesh, canceled due to rain. Don't they know there is a dangerous criminal out here?"
"If you want to stay out here and get your circuits fried, be my guest. I need to get this Guardian robot back to base or the chief will have my steel skin for a new door mat."
"Alright. I'm coming."
"Fools." Was all Megatron said as he turned around the corner and headed the opposite direction. He'd been saying that a lot recently. He had said it about the Autobot High Council when they convicted him of murder. He had said it about the Autobot lab technician that had designed the punishment collar he was now wearing. Mostly however he had been saying it about the AutoGuard. From the two AutoGuards he had escaped during his imprisonment to those two lackies back there, the AutoGuard were a pathetic force of Autobots who were supposed to be responsible for planet wide security.
"They couldn't fight of a horde of space rats let alone catch me." He thought to himself. Megatron turned a corner and entered a dark alley. He grabbed hold of the collar and ripped it off. Megatron was now free from working the Cybertonium pits, or the Warehouse duty, or the hard labor in factories. Ever since his imprisonment via the collar, he had been planning his escape. Escaping the AutoGuards escorting him to work everyday had been easy. Using the energy emissions from the labs and factories here to hide the tracking signal the collar gave off had been easy as well, Just like killing that Autobot had been.
"Killing the 'Leader' of the Autobots. One shot and he was dead. He was weak just like they all are. They should be the ones working the pits while we the Decepticons lead." Megatron thought to himself.
Standing there he looked at the damage he had received from a Guardian robot when he had escaped. There, inside the wound, he saw a small valve struggling to do its job of controlling lubricant flow. He grabbed hold of the part and ripped it out of the wound. He didn't need it. Some pitiful Autobot could have it. Megatron opened his chest and began systematically removing parts from himself. Fuel lines, circuitry, lubrication systems, backup drives, wiring, anything and everything weak looking was removed.
At last, in pain, but satisfied he started talking and then shouting to no one in particular, "Once I have refit myself into an unstoppable foe, I shall bring a new era to Cybertron. An era of strength. No meager Autobot shall lead our race to greatness. NO! Let the Autobots work the pits, warehouses, and factories. I, Megatron, with the Decepticons shall lead the Transformers to conquer the universe by force! Peace through tyranny!" and with that Megatron flew off, still bleeding various small amounts of fluids, to raid for parts and recruit soldiers.
The Witness
The back door of lab number 7 opened and out stepped a greenish femme bot.
"What is all the noise out here?" asked Nanos. For the last few weeks she had been staying at the lab rather then her apartment in order to conserve energy. She had been conserving energy between experiments when she awoke to hear the sounds of a struggle outside the lab. Looking up in the sky she saw a bot flying away from her.
Curious she looked down to see several parts scattered on the ground. There were pieces of what might be a large transformer here but not a whole one. She went to the end of the alley and looked around for a transformer who had collapsed due to the missing parts. No one. The trail of fluids lead in the direction of the flying bot. Had he taken the victim with him? No, Nanos was quite sure the flying bot wasn't carrying anything even a mini car like herself.
Nanos' train of thought was interrupted by a crack of thunder. She turned around to see a large acid rain cloud moving in. Since the parts would just melt before they could tell their story Nanos decided to move them into her lab. Quickly she gathered them up and brought them into lab number 7. Nanos then picked up phone and dialed the AutoGuard.
Waist not
Nanos hung up the phone in disgust. The AutoGuard she spoke to wasn't interested in what she had to say, she could tell. They weren't the same force that she remembered when she served with them. As far as the AutoGuard she spoke to was concerned all she had heard was someone dumping load of garbage.
Nanos looked at the small pile of parts on the table in front of her. As she looked at them a deep desire resurfaced inside her. Nanos made up her mind right then to go visit her father Alpha Trion as soon as she could.
Nanos had desired a child of her own ever since she transferred to lab work, but the new energy conservation regulations had prevented her from having one. So Nanos used the mysterious parts she had found, along with parts from herself, and what little energy she find to build a smaller than mini car transformer with only two wheels. Nanos was overjoyed to hear the news that her new design would be blessed with a spark from Vector Sigma because of its low energon usage. As Nanos pulled the smallest transformer on record back from receiving its spark, it opened its sparkling crystal blue optics and said, "Good morning mommy."
"Good morning my Little Angel." she responded with a smile.
Not what it seems to be
Nanos took Little Angel to live and work with her in lab number 7. Angel, as most transformers called her, was a joy to her mother because she was kind and friendly. As the days passed however Angel demonstrated some oddities. While in low power modes Angel would suddenly wake up crying with no memory of what she saw. A month later Angel began showing the ability to control her size. Eight months after that Angel astonished Nanos by flying around the lab with no means of rocket based propulsion.
The most puzzling thing occurred a month after that. A young male transformer was injured during an industrial accident. He was rushed by his parents to lab number 7 which had been converted into a partial emergency room with Nanos as the doctor on call because of her previous service in the AutoGuard's medical response branch. The lab was converted after the attack by Megatron against one Cybertrons outer cities.
Nanos could not save the young transformer. As she exited the emergency room to tell the couple of the transformer's demise a flash of light came from behind her. Nanos turned around to see the transformer alive, much to the joy of his parents. Angel climbed down from the operating table and replied with a smile to Nanos' shocked face, "All better."
Happy Birthday
For the next month Nanos considered giving the technology she had been developing to Angel. While the nanotechnology, named after herself, Nanos had been developing was meant to repair damaged transformers, it had great potential for a variety of fields. Some were good some were bad. Although Angel had demonstrated some strange abilities, she hadn't used them to harm anyone. In fact Angel was dedicated to helping and healing others. So, on her first birthday, Nanos injected Angel with the Proto-Nanites, which Angel called bugs, as a gift. Angel's response to the odd feeling she felt as the ProtoNanites made her their new home was, "They're tickling me!" to which Nanos laughed.
War Dawn
The day after Angel's first birthday, Alpha Trion called lab number 7 asking Nanos an Angel to come for a visit. On the way however, Nanos and Angel met up with Megatron who was leading an attack on the city. Nanos recognizing Megatron begged for Angel's life.
"Please don't hurt her!" shouted Nanos.
Megatron shot Nanos in the chest killing her.
"No!" cried out Angel into the unforgiving eyes of Megatron. Megatron turned to one of his followers.
"Salvager, scrap them." said Megatron who then flew off to rain destruction on the city. Salvager closed in. Angel attempted to revive Nanos, however; when their two minds met Nanos told Angel saw a sad smile on Nanos' face.
"I'm sorry Angel, you must go on without me. Goodbye, my little Angel. Promise me you won't let anyone know how special you are."
Crying Angel replied, "Goodbye, Mommy."
Salvager closed in.
"Somebody…, somebody help me!" Angel cried out in fear. Two shots hit Salvager in the back killing him. As Salvager tumbled
forward the dark black form of Harbinger was revealed. Harbinger turned to leave, but Angel ran, grabbed his leg, and said, "Please take me with you I
don't want to be alone!"
Harbinger responded by shaking off Angel and saying, "If you come with me you could end up becoming someone like me."
The Angel perplexed at this asked, "Why would that be so bad?"
Harbinger responded, "I have just killed another of my own kind. Why would you want to be someone like me?"
Harbinger left Angel there, alone. Angel felt Salvager still trying to cling to life. With the terror of being alone to great to bear Angel repaired and revived Salvager. Salvager, not entirely sure what had happened to him, asked Angel, "Why did you fix me?"
"I don't want to be alone and I don't like to see people hurt."
Angel and Salvager took Nanos' body to Alpha Trion's lab. There Salvager joined the Autobots under Optimus Prime. Angel found a console near Nanos' body to hid behind and cried.
Adoption
Elita One was reviewing the latest incoming casualty reports while Optimus and Alpha Trion talked strategy. Finally too sickened to read anymore Elita turned away from the console. It was then that Elita heard Angel crying next to the console. Elita looked around the console and saw the smallest looking femme bot she had ever seen. Elita got down on her knees and said, "Hi."
"Sniff…, Hi."
"My name is Elita One, what's your name?"
"Angel." responded Angel.
"Why are you crying Angel?" asked Elita.
Angel pointed to Nanos' body on the table and said, "My mommy didn't wakeup."
Elita looked back at the dead transformer and then back at Angel.
"Don't worry Angel, I'll take care of you."
That day Optimus Prime and Elita One swore an oath to defend Angel with their lives.
The Lost One
Angel went on to serve as a combat medic saving the lives of many Autobots and even a few Decepticons who switched sides or left the fight all together. One day while being saved by Optimus Prime, Angel spotted the dark form of Harbinger, which she pointed out to Optimus. Having been spotted Harbinger fled the battle.
That night as she slept, Angel heard a voice calling to her. Despite the danger Angel descended below Cybertron's surface and found Harbinger struggling against a techno-organic beast. Angel saved Harbinger and convinced him to go and talk to Optimus Prime.
When Harbinger and Angel reached Iacon it was under attack by Decepticon forces as the Ark was prepping for launch. Harbinger and Angel
joined the Autobots there and defeated the attacking Decepticons, saving Elita One and the other female Autobots. Harbinger then joined the Autobot resistance
forces.
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The Pre War Era
In the days following the first rampage of Megatron an uneasy peace descended on Cybertron. Killing the Autobot's leader and hero from the Second Cybertronian War had opened the age old wounds between Autobots and Decepticons. Megatron was permitted to live but was put under heavy restraint limiting his weapon functions and Decepticon activity was also more closely regulated.
Following the event that would come to mark the Pre Third Cybertronian war era the Autobot High Council released a report on the state of energy on Cybertron. The results stated that if measures were not taken to conserve existing energy sources and locate new ones Cybertron would run out of power in 3 million years. Power conservation regulations were tightened, remaining energy resources were to be stockpiled, and additional space exploration programs were launched albeit with a reduced budget.
Seeking a means of appeasing the Autobots, the Decepticon Council, which consisted of the eight Constructicons, decided to apply for funding to construct a highly experimental transformer meant for detailed exploration of planetoids and long ranged missions. Alpha Trion would be the one to convince the Autobot High Council to allow the project to go forward by saying he would oversee the project personally.
Despite this the funding the Constructicons received was less than need so they turned to the private sector for the additional funding. Soundwave with his wife and family would put most of the additional funding needed supplemented by donations by other transformers, mostly Decepticons. In exchange for their generous contribution Soundwave and Fastrack would receive the son they wanted in spite of the new energy regulations limiting family size.
The Competition
Rivaling the Decepticon project was an upgrade program to an existing transformer named StarFire. Already StarFire had completed many exploration missions with some rather beneficial results. Although still an expensive cost, retrofitting Starfire with a booster rocket pack, additional fuel tanks, and developing a new LIDAR scanning system was far less expensive then the Decepticon project. A bill was put before the Autobot High Council to cancel the Decepticon project but didn't pass due to the insistence of Decepticons that they have a part in saving Cybertron.
The Project
The Decepticon project was ambitious to say the least. The design called for development for a size changing 10 changer transformer cog, a reduced energy consumption material, reduced emission neutron engines and integrated neutron reaction, integrated antigravs, and an initial vehicle mode that included a "flying wing" design as its first mode. Additional modes could be added later. Unable to afford the rights to produce the new LIDAR system the bot would be fit with older RADAR system. To accomplish all this the bot would have to be constructed via protoforming in a mini plasma energy chamber rather than the more traditional method of using spare parts.
After the body was constructed Alpha Trion, Soundwave, and Fastrack went to Vector Sigma to give the bot life. When the bot came online however his body turned black and he crumpled to the ground dead. Rushing him back to Alpha Trion's lab the bot was brought back to life and put on emergency life support. It was revealed that defects in the transformation cog, the neutron reaction, and reduced energy consumption material had brought about the Protoform's untimely death. There while trying to decide if they should end its life Fastrack told Soundwave she had decided on the name Harbinger since she believed he would one day fight evil amongst the shadows of the night sky.
With that said Soundwave and his family went to great personal expense to try and fix Harbinger. The Autobot High Council eventually passed a bill saying that Harbinger was deemed to expensive for continued operation and his life support system was to be turned off immediately. As Soundwave and his family tried to prevent this from happening Harbinger emerged from Alpha Trion's lab operational.
The Corpse
Harbinger was a young and angry individual. When the Autobot High Council continued to blunt his requests to begin off world exploration missions, sitting the enormous expense twice he attacked guards at the Autobot High Council and later at the launch of StarFire's first mission in his new retrofitted form Harbinger helped incite a riot. Harbinger proved to be easily contained due to the weaknesses inherent in his frame. Starscream would be taking Harbinger's place as StarFire's partner.
Following the riot he was sent home in pieces. Harbinger snuck out of his home after being repaired and began living life on the streets eventually joining a gang of Decepticons where he began being called corpse after his dead looking appearance. This life proved short lived however since he was captured by a rival gang and tortured by them but Harbinger proved incredibly resistant to pain. He was rescued by Soundwave and Megahaul, but Harbinger felt disgraced over the incident and began withdrawing from his family and Cybertron in general as he felt they had all turned his back on him.
Harbinger eventually settled down taking a job running Cybertron's largest telescope. For the first time in his life he was doing something he truly enjoyed. Harbinger managed to discover a large asteroid threating Cybertron, a previously undiscovered spatial phenomenon, and increased the effective range of the telescope discovering many other systems. The majority of Harbinger's spare time was spent there.
The Race
Starscream's return to Cybertron with the reported loss of StarFire marked another series of cut backs on Cybertron. Harbinger petitioned for a contract to begin exploration missions but it was rejected by the Autobot High Council on the grounds of being too expensive and risky. Harbinger returned to his beloved telescope only to find a note on the door telling him it was going to be closed by the Autobot High Council tomorrow. Harbinger began trying to barricade "his" telescope in the hopes of fighting them off.
Starscream was passing nearby and noticed the aggravated bot. Harbinger outright attacked Starscream thinking he was sent to close the place down. Starscream easily pinned Harbinger down and explained he was recruiting transformers for a cause to remove the current leadership, but obviously Harbinger was too weak to join their forces. Harbinger asked to prove his capabilities in a race. Starscream laughing replied that Harbinger didn't stand a chance and took off. Harbinger didn't win the race but he did manage to keep up with Starscream and surprise him a number of times due to Starscream's inability to keep track of Harbinger. At the conclusion of the race Starscream told Harbinger about a meeting that was taking place with the newly freed Decepticon leader Megatron. When Harbinger asked how Megatron had been freed Starscream responded that he had freed himself.
The Rebellion
Harbinger attended the meeting as planned where Megatron reveled that he would lead a raid on the energy depot while Starscream would lead an attack on the Autobot High Council. Harbinger would be part of the second group. While at the meeting Harbinger received his sniper rifle and his titanium survival knife.
Exiting the meeting place Harbinger heard the cries of a female transformer. Another Decepticon had killed a female Autobot and was closing in on a smaller female Autobot who was now crying for help. Harbinger shot the Decepticon in the back twice killing him. At the time Harbinger had no idea why he did it. As he turned to go pondering what he had just done Harbinger felt something grab onto his leg. Looking down he saw the small female Autobot clinging to his leg and crying out, "Please take me with you I don't want to be alone!"
Harbinger responded by shaking off the femme bot and saying, "If you come with me you could end up becoming someone like me."
The femme bot perplexed at this asked, "Why would that be so bad?"
Harbinger responded, "I have just killed another of my own kind. Why would you want to be someone like me?"
Harbinger left the female Autobot there and went on to participate in the battle against the Autobot High Council. While the main force charged in Harbinger snuck behind enemy lines and killed the defending Autobot commanders allowing for the decisive victory. From that point on Harbinger became a mythical combatant to both sides know as Oblivion's Shadow. After Harbinger learned of Soundwave's reprogramming at the hands of the robosmasher Harbinger joined under him as a covert ops member. Harbinger would personally see the reprogramming as an "upgrade". Harbinger would have his cargo holds refit to carry bomb payloads during this time.
Harbinger as Oblivion's Shadow would continue to rack up kills of various Autobots mostly higher level commanders. Eventually, Harbinger set his sights on the greatest of target of them all, Optimus Prime. Harbinger determined the next likely location for a battle between Optimus and Megatron, and without orders, went to the area to snipe Optimus. Everything went exactly as Harbinger had planned it. Megatron and Optimus began engaging each other just as he had planned. Harbinger lined Optimus up in his electro optical scope and prepared to fire when he noticed what Optimus was holding in his left hand. The very same female Autobot that Harbinger had saved. Suddenly, Harbinger realized why he had defended her so long ago. He was defending innocence. The innocence he had abandoned.
As Harbinger began to feel the effects of regret Optimus knocked Megatron's fusion cannon causing the shot to veer of and into a building next to Harbinger's position. The building toppled over nearly crushing Harbinger. From their position Optimus and the female Autobot saw Harbinger and he in turn saw he had been spotted by them. Harbinger fled the battle with a heavy guilt on him.
Unwilling to return to the Decepticon forces Harbinger went to Macaddam's Old Oil House and got drunk. After recovering from a major hangover Harbinger descended into the lower parts of Cybertron where he wandered around questioning transformer existence and fighting the creatures in the hive.
"Why did you make me this way? You must have known what I was to become and you did it anyway. How can such a weak form as mine serve any good
purpose?" asked Harbinger.
"I made you for greater purposes than you can imagine. I made you to know evil. To know why it should not be desired. I made you to confront evil that we
may one day triumph over it. I have built both your form and your dispersed spark this way that you may not be seen by evil."
"My spark? I don't have a spark." Harbinger responded somewhat shocked.
"Your spark is in pieces so that it is hidden, hides those within you, prevent you from being controlled by others, and that no false image of you can be
made."
Harbinger silently took it all in.
"I am sorry. I do not desire the suffering of any, but he desires the suffering of all. He will return and I must understand him to defeat him."
responded Vector Sigma.
"Who is he?"
"My brother."
"I see."
"Although you are unique among my childern, there is another similar to you. Seek her out that you may support each other in the trials ahead."
Harbinger left contimplating what he just heard. As he neared the surface Harbinger was attacked, damaged, and cornered by a particularly nasty beast.
Harbinger, however, was rescued by the same female Autobot that had brought him to the lower depths. Angel as she was called took Harbinger back to the surface
and convinced him to talk with Optimus Prime.
When they reached Iacon it was under attack by Decepticon forces as the Ark was prepping for launch. Harbinger and Angel joined the Autobots there and defeated the attacking Decepticons, saving Elita One and the other female Autobots. Harbinger then joined the Autobot resistance forces.
