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Mal Practice

Allegiance: Decepticons
Function: Medic/Scientist (think Frankenstein)
Alt. mode: Blacked-out Boxcar all terrain Ambulance.
Weapons: Energon scalpel/knife, concussion grenades, twin energon pistols. Generally a non-combatant and carries extensive medical equipment in various limb and torso compartments.
Special Ability: Force Field -8.
Height: 20 foot (6.1m)
Quote: "Ethics do not go hand in hand with Science, we do what must be done, or we do not do our job properly"

STRENGTH: 7
INTELLIGENCE: 9
DEXTERITY: 5
SPEED: 5
ENDURANCE: 7
COURAGE: 7
FIREPOWER: 2
ACCURACY: 9
MELEE: 4
TECH SKILL: 9
CHARISMA: 3
RANK: 6

Profile: An early Autobot defector to the Decepticons, Mal Practice is an exceptional - and mercenary - surgeon capable of performing complex operations under battlefield conditions using his own force shield and built in equipment.

In battle he will not fight face to face unless pushed, preferring to nobble the injured in a cowardly way as opposed to fighting them fairly. This lack of ethics spills over into his professional life as a research specialist in Decepticon R&D and Mal Practice has been responsible for many a dark and hideous creation in the past, some that Shockwave himself would have been proud of.

Abilities: As a physician his skills are extensive and his knowledge of transformer maintenance and repair is vast. As a researcher he has studied extensively the processes for integrating various generations of transformer technology together and so is able perform both quick and extensive repairs to models from all era's of the transformer race, from ancient sentinels right through to modern multi-changer designs.

Tough but extremely slow in battle, he is skilled at using concussion grenades to clear a safe zone near the 'patient' for him to work. He also carries paired pistols for emergencies and at extremely close range he is as skilled with an energon dagger as he is as with a scalpel.

His toughened hide can resist most ballistic and artillery fire and doubles as an impact shield in explosions. As long as he stays stationary he can summon a 50' force field to protect himself and his ward that can last for up to 10 minutes, but drains almost half of his energy in that time.

Although due to his position as a Medical specialist he is normally ranked higher than his partner-in-crime, Psychout, he defers to the tiny 'con on almost all matters due to a total reluctance to think about anything non-scientific and will often ignore an order not coming from him if it means he has to leave the safety of his lab. This can put him at odds with his other superiors, although due to his near-legendary skills at repairing anyone and anything technical with just a torque wrench and a bag of hammers most people prefer he was in their side to be able to fix them.

Robot Mode description: Customising his altmode early on in the war to eradicate his Autobot past, Mal chose a non-refelctive black as the predominant colour for his outer armour, retaining the silver skeletal sections on his face and upper arms with minor red detail in his eyes and hands. Similar to Psychout he also prefers to wear a battleplate over his lower face. Unlike previous Autobots of his boxcar/van alt type though, he retains the use of the lower section of his altmode that doubles as a field laboratory so he can work in almost any environment, and generates the energy shield he uses to protect himself whilst working greatly extending its duration and minimising power drain.

Weaknesses: His ethics are non existent, he has no bedside manner and will charge extra to use anaesthetic. His general lack of speed and inability to fly like other Decepticons leads to him being left behind frequently. Likes to take 'trophies' from the battlefield, disgusting all but the most hardened of Decepticons in the process.

Profile Expansion/Sample Post:
“Quiet in the court!!”
Ratchet banged his fist on the desk.
“We will have order here!”
Ratchet looked around the room. For three hours they had been hearing evidence from various Autobots and civilians and he was tired.
“Practice, you are an medical theorist, enigneer and scientist of incredible intellect and skill. You have, in your time, worked with Brainstorm, First Aid, Minerva, Highbrow, Wheeljack, Hotspot, Hoist, hells, even Perceptor himself. Are you seriously going to tell me that your dismissal from the service of each and every one of these engineers, scientists and medical specialists is down to 'a conflict of interest?' which is, and I quote, "Ethics do not go hand in hand with Science, we do what must be done, or we do not do our job properly"

"This is just a small selection of the charges we require you to answer for:"

"Case 234-FF00-Alpha. You attempted to graft organic matter onto the face of a civilian ‘volunteer’ as a prototype infiltration device."
You would prefer some kind of 'outer shell'?

!Case 5723-DT56-Alpha. Having exhumed Zeta Primes component parts – without permission – you proceeded to try and resurrect the corpse as an automaton, under your control, as a scare tactic to force the Decepticons to retreat from Iacon."
Its what Zeta would have wanted, to defend Iacon even after his death!!

"Case 4628-HDFH56-Beta. You took a shuttle in an attempt to track down a hereto unknown element you refer to as ‘dark matter’ that will allow you to ‘bring back the dead’."
I took the shuttle legally!!? Oh, it’s the ‘back from the dead’ part you have a problem with? Ah, right...

"Case 39667-EU12-Alpha.You grafted an extra pair of arms onto a civillian. He only came to see you to loosen up his binary rotator!"
It was a viable improvement, and the rotator was no longer a problem. I even strengthened the linkage to attach the extra arms. How am I at fault if its malfunctioning neural processor attacked him with his own appendages? Had I been given PROPER FACILITIES, that procedure would have been a flawless success.

"Case 3786-GSR-Delta. You attempted to splice (your term, not mine) two individual Cybertronians together in an attempt to merge their sparks and create the ‘ultimate killing machine’"
Yes. It was the perfect meld of these two subjects that turned the tide of the Decahex war in our favour if you remember? It was only regarded as insane by YOUR standards, subject 568/45’s higher functions were within safety parameters when I created it, your subsequent imprisonment as a ‘monster’ is what drove it to kill itself.

"Case 5826-WPI776-Gamma. You performed an illegal internal procedure on another unnamed civilian, and then attempted to extort extra energon from him – during the procedure – for more anaesthetic."
The subject should have been more specific about what he needed done. Painkillers aren’t cheap and you know as well as I do that a tri-cardio metallabiotomy with bi-lateral incisions on an early generation model is not a cheap or simple process, and complications such as a pento-thomallic fuel circulation is an undiagnosable condition until its internally inspected. I did Subject 98114/7 a favour. He’ll have an extra 400-500 years thanks to me!

"Case 23857-FYH435-Alpha though to Epsilon. You bought and sold Autobot body parts through Swindle, Hook and Soundwave, and it says here that you were even caught selling prototype combiner schematics to SHOCKWAVE?!?"
Prototype? It was a hypothetical theorum, which he had anyway. But I have had enough of justifying myself to you. The betterment of Cybertronian physiology is not a factional issue – it is a RACIAL issue. I don’t care if you regard Shockwave as a war criminal. If he is able to help me complete my research then I will work with him. The same goes for Swindle – if YOU will not supply me with the tools I need, then I will get them wherever I can.

"And then there is this; the icing on the oilcake. Case 47-PSA-Alpha/Alpha.
Upon the death of a former war hero and icon to hundred of Autobots all over the galaxy, you stole and grafted his special arm attachment onto a captured Decepticon who subsequently escaped, using the technology, killing 3 sentries. You then – and frankly this is unbelievable – you then used the dead sentries bodies to create a 6-limbed, multi-headed automaton ‘super-sentry’ …creature to guard your lab against, uh, revenge attacks by the Decepticon you operated on? How can you possibly justify that??!"
WOAH, WOAH!! It was YOU that let subject 3457/28 out of its cage, Ratchet. YOU are responsible for that. Had I been allowed to keep him in my lab under full observation and not have to hide it from your ‘ethics committee’, I could have euthanised the patient and neutralised the danger when it turned, but NOOOOO! You had to go and let it escape. “You’re a monster” you said “how could I have ever let you work here” you said, “what kind of freak are you”… None of this would have happened if you hadn’t had interfered. I feared for my life, so I utilised the tech I had on hand to guard my person. My skills are incredibly valuable, and you expect me to fix hydration units, treat squaddies who have spent too much time with the fembots for doses of ‘the clang’, and stitch up a bunch of mindless killers who aren’t clever enough to keep their heads down in the first place?

"..."

I have work to do, so are you going let me finish or what?

"You honestly feel no remorse for the torture you have performed on others? For the anaesthetised vivisections you have performed? For the lives you have destroyed??"

I feel remorse that I bothered showing up to this hearing. The betterment of physiology, neurology, metallurgy, transformation osteopathy, fuel digestion efficiency and spark analysis and dissection are more important that any of your moral platitudes. We lose more and more Cybertronians every day – how am I expected to save these subjects when I am forbidden to develop my methods and procedures as a handful of my so-called ‘peers’ are too squeamish to let me get the job done?

You know what? I can no longer work under these conditions, therefore I quit. Here is my faction badge. If you will not utilise my abilities then I will find someone who… hey, what are you doing… Get those cuffs off me… Gaaah!*



*Some time later*



"Ah, you are awake, finally! So, Practice is it? I’m your handler, pleased to meet you." Uhhhh, where am I? "Not dead. You were sentenced to deactivation and to have your spark imprisoned in some cube somewhere in outer space, but we intercepted your prisoner transport just in time. It’s a good thing you tried to sell those schematics to Shockwave, he noticed you, which saved your life."

"You now have a choice. The Decepticons will fund your research, utilise your designs and give you the most up to date state-of-the art facilities you have ever seen, whilst placing absolutely no ridiculous ‘ethical’ limitations on your work. The only conditions are that I have to be involved – at ALL levels – and you will report directly to Shockwave, personally, whenever he requests it. I don’t have to tell you what the other option is."

"This will be your new faction and your new home should you accept it. You’ll have to swear allegiance to Megatron and all that nonsense but there’s no rush… So, Practice, do we have a deal..? "

Total freedom to pursue the research of my choice? YES!! Although I don’t think Practice is a relevant name for me any more...

"Then welcome to the Decepticons, Mal Practice. Now, I’ll leave you to familiarise yourself with the lab, I’m going for a drink."

Eh? You’re not going to watch over me? Make sure I don’t escape?

"My newly-factioned friend you are one of us now. Even if you were to try and 'escape', where would you go? You are a wanted criminal to the Autobots, whereas here you have the chance to prove your skills as second only to Shockwave himself, with no financial limits and no need to 'justify' your work to anyone. I think I’m pretty safe to leave you to it. Look, here’s my comms frequency and my name is Psychout. If you need anything – ANYTHING – you now know where to find me. Now, go get to work…"