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Player Information
*Name/Alias: Red
*Your Journal: redfirelight
*Age: Over 16.
*Contact Information: AIM @ thisismyomnitool
*Characters already in the game: Kagerou

Character Information
*Character Name: Perceptor
*Character Canon: Transformers: War for Cybertron / Fall of Cybertron
*Age: Adult. Middle-aged, probably.
*Race: Cybertronian: Autobot
*Timeline/Pull Point: The end of the first few Autobot chapters of Fall of Cybertron, as the Autobots launch their transport for Shockwave's lake.

*History:
+ Perceptor's rather wee wiki
+ War for Cybertron: Synopsis
+ Fall of Cybertron: Synopsis

So once upon a time. There was Cybertron. It's one of those Cybertrons in which there was a class system, apparently, and, of course, that went over about as well as a leaping Cybertronian slug. Which is to say, not well at all. A whole lot of unhappy Cybertronians got together under Megatron, and, surprise surprise, a war happened. One that got out of hand very, very quickly.

Megatron got wind of something known as Dark Energon, and how powerful it was -- so off he went to the research station manned by Starscream and his team, hijacked the stuff, and made himself into the super-powered war machine everyone was terrified of. More of the dark energon got produced, by various nefarious means, and Megatron eventually launched an assault on Iacon itself, defeating Zeta Prime, and even the giant Omega Supreme in search for the key to Cybertron's core. In the end, Megatron got what he wanted, and corrupted Cybertron itself into producing Dark Energon. Since pretty much only the Decepticon forces wanted anything to do with Dark Energon, they ended up in control of the planet for a good while.

Until Optimus decided he'd had enough of this nonsense. He'd heard what happened with Zeta Prime, and assumed command of the Autobot forces. Optimus launched several missions to not only clear Iacon of the Decepticon forces, but rescue Zeta Prime as well -- since the Autobots needed their leader back, and he certainly was no leader. Except... by the time they actually found said leader, he was in a compromising position with cabling and in the clutches of Soundwave. Needless to say, Zeta didn't make it. Optimus threw up his hands, told the High Council what was going on... and thus became Prime. Because there always has to be one of Those Moments in a Transformers series. Following that Moment, he and a team went down to see what could be done for the corrupted core of Cybertron. Alas, nothing could be done, save to shut down the entire planet in a sort of planetary hard reset for millions of years. The core did, however, hand Optimus the Matrix of Leadership, despite not having hands to do it with, and Prime decided it was time to get everyone out of the proverbial pool, ordering a mass evacuation of Cybertron.

Megatron threw a fit. He used his giant space station to shoot down every ship leaving the atmosphere, presumably while cackling and twirling his nonexistent robot mustache. The only way off the planet, therefore, was to destroy said space station. So off went a bunch of stupidly attractive Arielbots to do the job. They brought it down, but then it turned out the station could also transform, and turned out to be a giant robot space lizard known as Trypticon. It ended up doing battle with Prime and a handful of other Autobots, wrecking everything in its path before it died. The climactic battle ended with a rather enigmatic statement on Optimus' part about needing an Ark to escape...

... Enter Perceptor. Finally.

It's not terribly clear where he came from, but he worked in the Autobot command center in Iacon before the big evacuation took place. At some point, he was transferred to the site of the Ark, to work both on shutting down the city around it, and on prepping the big space ship for launch. He, and his team, holed up in what they referred to as a "nerve center", a location protected by the Autobot known as Grimlock and his team. Their primary task was that of shutting down the city, and in doing so, re-routing the power it would have used to the Ark, allowing for the Autobots' eventual evacuation. Everything was going according to plan...

Up until Grimlock and his team completely disappeared. Completely. No word, no sign. It left the nerve center wide open for Decepticon attack -- and they did. With heavy artillery. They dropped a warp cannon down and opened fire on the Ark itself, along with Perceptor's base of operations. He still kept up his work, though, despite the building shaking down around him and his team. Although, finally, he admitted something like defeat and changed tactics, opting to bring, at the very least, the city defenses back online, in order to protect the Ark, despite the lack of resources. They would need what remained of their energon supply to power the Ark, but, in the face of the attack, Perceptor made the call to divert the energy.

Fortunately, he didn't have to keep it up for long. Optimus burst in, ready to be of assistance, and Perceptor promptly sent him back out into the fray, telling him to bring one of the city's neutron cannons online. While Perceptor worked to assist him behind the scenes, Optimus slogged out to do just that. It seemed to go pretty well, the cannon was brought online, Perceptor bossed Optimus around, Decepticons got blown up, and the cannon ran out of energon at a crucial morment. It sent Perceptor scambling for a solution, trying to come up with another alternative...

... only to notice the piece of city Optimus was running around in was not, in fact, a big chunk of city, but another Autobot. Metroplex. Who proceeded to beat the living daylights out of the Decepticon forces, and save the day -- [SPOILERS]even smashing Megatron himself to a sparking pulp after Optimus was captured, although it did enable Starscream to take over the Decepticon forces, so maybe that wasn't such a good thing.

Which was good, because the energon supply was still a major problem. Luckily enough, Jazz called in, reporting the results of a recent recon mission with his partner, during which they had found an entire lake of energon -- also some weird Shockwave Shenanigans and the remains of one of Grimlock's team, but hey! Energon. Only problem then was transporting the stuff. Perceptor took part in a brief discussion on the matter, fussing over the inefficiency of the old energon transport ships the others intended to use, but Ironhide and Optimus overruled his offended Space British sensibilities, and the transport was brought into use anyway.



*Personality:
Perceptor is... something. He's not what one would typically describe as a "people-person". He's described as being aloof and blunt, likely more preoccupied with his work, whatever that may be, than in the social comings and goings of his fellow Cybertronians. To the point of which he doesn't so much as notice another Autobot literally blowing up due to faulty wiring in his own base of operations. Though this sort of focus is double-sided -- while it occasionally blinds him to important details, it also enables him to keep working in the face of extreme conditions, such as when the Decepticon army was nearly beating his door down in-game. He'll get the job done, regardless of what he sort of environment he has to work in.

He is also opinionated, not hesitating to tell anyone what he thinks of a situation, regardless of who he's talking to, or what it is. This is seen both in a debate with senior members of the Autobot forces -- Optimus Prime included -- as well as various audio logs scattered throughout the game. Perceptor has thoughts on things, and you're going to hear about them whether you like it or not. At times this seems to border on fussiness, especially when he gives his thoughts on the energon transports, but he doesn't particularly seem to care. Though he does show general deference to Optimus in typical conversation, so he is aware of some basic conversational conventions, and can utilize them effectively.

It's likely Perceptor just doesn't care how he comes across most of the time, so long as the work, job, or experiment is accomplished. He does appear to have some sense of humor, though it's rare to see. Likely one more thing he doesn't see as necessary to express most of the time, being more dedicated to work.

He is highly intelligent, of course. Various audio logs show him to have studied ruins in the Sea of Rust, and he was the one tasked with the enormous job of shutting down the entirety of Autobot City for the imminent evacuation. You don't assign a 'bot of even average intelligence to do something like that.

*Powers/Abilities:
Perceptor doesn't have any particular special abilities. Nothing outside that of the average transforming alien robot. He transforms into a hover-tank, which presumably possesses firepower to match. No specs are actually given, but it appears to be a heavy-duty weapon. According to his in-game class, he is what's known as a Titan -- the largest and heaviest class of Autobot in-game. It's safe to assume, therefore, that should he be so inclined, Perceptor is capable of dealing heavy damage, and taking solid hits. Which is a little odd, considering his primary function is of a scientific nature. But there you go.

Like all Cybertronians of his world, he's capable of attaching and using one heavy weapon, and one "normal" class weapon. These link into his hands, and transform in and out of the arm, when they're needed. Basically, he can keep what would amount to a cannon, and a shotgun, stored in one or both arms, swapping them out depending on what the situation called for -- but no more than two at once. He's also capable of physically linking into gun turrets on his Cybertron, transforming his lower body into the gun itself, and using it that way. This ability is one shared by all Cybertronians of his continuity.

Aside from that, he displays the trait most common with those sharing his name -- an aptitude for scientific study and other intellectual pursuits. He is extremely skilled with all the 'tools of the trade'. It's less of a power, and more of a learned skill. Judging from the apparent reputation he has in-game, he's highly skilled in all manner of physical sciences. Likely, he's less of a social scientist, as his audio logs and work on the Ark suggest a tendency to more concrete, measurable subjects.


*Inventory:
Just a single weapon -- a rifle, fairly common and not terribly special. It's known as a photon burst rifle. Currently attached to his arm, with limited ammunition. Currently holds a full magazine.

*Starting Polarity: No preference.

If AU, how does your character differ from canon?: N/A

Writing Samples
*First Person Sample:
[Oh, hello there. A robot with an accent. And... a face that may just be vaguely familiar to some. Even if the rest of his frame... isn't. It's sort of huge.]

Cybertron. Or so I'm told. One might almost mistake it for another world entirely, when it lacks the gratuitous explosions and warships. That said, I'm not entirely convinced. Is this truly Cybertron? And, if so, how is it the planet appears... so much more intact than it conceivably should?

[Is he talking to himself, or to the Link? Hard to say.]

Which brings me to yet another issue with the current predicament, I suppose. Optimus? Ratchet? You were here a moment ago, don't tell me you've been left out of this nonsense.

[Because that's just not fair.]

Once more. Optimus? Ratchet? ... Jetfire? This is Perceptor, and I would appreciate a status update, if you've time in your terribly crowded schedules.

[The last comes out more than a little irritated. None of this makes sense, and that is a problem.]


*Third Person Sample:
If he was correct, and, very likely, he was, then the operation would need only the most minute of adjustments to complete. It was a slow few hours -- mandatory downtime, as he understood it. Not that he required it. The project required his utmost attention and focus. There simply wasn't anyone else capable of continuing the work as he could. It was his project. He had designed the shutdown procedures, the safest ways to shunt energy from one portion of the city to another, with minimal waste. They needed every bit of energon they could manage to hold, after all.

So it made very little sense for someone such as himself to be regulated to mandatory rest periods. Not only was he absolutely vital to the project, but he was fully capable of assessing his own needs, thank you very much. Admittedly, yes, it galled him to no end to be ordered to 'take a break'. Though, likely it wouldn't put things too much off schedule. He could always work that much harder, once he was "allowed" back to his station.

But even on a break, he had to keep himself busy. An idle processor did no one any good. Hence his current objective. It was a delicate procedure. If he didn't focus, it would collapse down in on itself in a microsecond. He couldn't allow that to happen. No, all his focus had to be narrowed down to a fine point. Manipulated. Delicately moved.

His attention narrowed to a fine point. The immediate area in front of him was all that mattered. Megatron himself could have waltzed into the room and started bellowing -- and he wouldn't have noticed. His hand moved, slowly, cautiously, manipulating the pieces, altering the overall shape of the structure. Gradually, the shape began to form. It started to look more and more as it should, even as it teetered and wobbled before him. He didn't panic. He kept steady. Soon, it would--

"Perceptor?"

His hand jerked. It knocked straight into the wobbling tower of cubes he was busy constructing, sending them scattering across his work table as he stared down at them in dismay.

So much for that.


Final Notes: None!