The Energon Pub

Name: Baneblade
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Strategic Advisor and Analyst/Artillery Support
Alt. Mode: M1A3 Super Heavy Prototype “Mammoth” pattern Abrams
Weapons: Twin Heavy Cannons useable in both alt., and robot modes. Small EMP charge.
Height: 36 ft/11 meters
Quote: “All are expendable to the Cause.”

STRENGTH: 8
INTELLIGENCE: 9
DEXTERITY: 4
SPEED: 2
ENDURANCE: 8
COURAGE: 6
FIREPOWER: 7
ACCURACY: 7
MELEE: 5
TECH SKILL: 7
CHARISMA: 2
RANK: 7*

Profile: Before the war Baneblade went by the name Glaxtron and he was a respected and famed professor of anthropology and political science at the esteemed University of Iacon. In these days Glaxtron was small, barely taller then a minibot, and was lithe and agile, transforming into a Cybertronian duo-wheeled vehicle, and was charismatic and well liked. Indeed, the small Glaxtron was an authority on civilization in general, as he loved to learn all he could about a civilization on any planet, wanting to know how they worked on every level. However, few could know the darker side of his spark. Glaxtron was an imperialist, believing it was Cybertrons role to spread out into the galaxy at large and into educate and eventually “convert” organic life in the ways of their mechanical betters. Knowing his views were unpopular he kept them quiet.

Then came Megatron.

Finally seeing a mech that appeared to agree with everything Glaxtron saw in the future of Cybertron and the galaxy the beloved professor joined the Decepticons without hesitation. However, in order to become what he viewed as the perfect Decepticon Glaxtron he under went extreme upgrade procedures, having all but his most vital components removed and upgraded. His skeleton was greatly expanded and reinforced, heavy armour and weapons were added to his new bulky and heavy frame. His once sleek vehicle mode was replaced with that of a massive, twin barreled tank. His body colour was changed from light greys and blues to a dark grey, a mouth plate was attached to cover his lower face, and a red visor covered his optics, to hide the expressions of his eyes. Even his voice had changed, becoming deeper and sounding like heavy armour passing through a grinder. Glaxtron approved of his new, massive and powerful form, and decided to rename himself to something more fitting, Baneblade.
Once in the ranks of the Decepticons Baneblade quickly found the knowledge he had gained in his past life was of great use and was used to help generate civil unrest in Autobot controlled areas of Cybertron. However, it was when the war expanded out from Cybertron that he truly fulfilled his role. He was tasked with studying worlds that were candidates for infiltration to pass on advice as to how to proceed with operations, and on occasion selecting teams for these missions.

The other area of expertise that Baneblade excels in is to determine “acceptable” losses. However, he believes that all are expendable to the Decepticon cause; just some are less expendable then others. He is often aloof, standing apart from other Decepticons, coldly evaluating them and how they would perform on a mission behind his visor, and he will often openly discuss just how expendable an individual is in their presence, and as can be expected he has not earned many friends, and others often avoid his company, finding him unnerving.

Many think he is emotionally detached, or insane, or both. However, one of the disturbing facts is that Baneblade is neither. He is in full control of his faculties and is very passionate about what he does.

Abilities: After his upgrade Baneblade became a large hulking form covered in thick armoued plates capable of resisting heavy fire and can withstand a fire fight for long periods of time without taking serious damage. Additionally he is capable of attacking from long range in both his alternate and robot forms, and provides deadly and accurate fire support. In his tank form he is capable of traversing difficult terrain that would hinder most other vehicle, though on occasion his slow speed can make moving over certain terrain difficult. He is also very physically powerful, even if his hand to hand skills are simply adequate. Many Autobots assume the large brute of a tank that has been firing on them the entire battle is another of Megatron’s mindless brutes, unaware of the keen mind that has been analyzing their every move, looking for a weakness to be exploited. When confronted in melee Baneblade will strike as hard as he can in his enemies weakest point trying to incapacitate him in a few short, devastating blows. In situations where he cannot hold his own in close combat he carries a short ranged EMP charge that he can use to disrupt the systems of his target, allowing him to relocate to a new location.

Weakness: Although the upgrade from Glaxtron to Baneblade was more or less a success his fuel capacity was not expanded to compensate for his large size. As a result the now large Baneblade has a fuel tank for a Cybertronian of much smaller size, this leads to him running out of fuel at a much greater rate. To compensate he moves at a slow pace, even in robot mode as exerting himself could lead to him running out of fuel in the middle of a battle. Additionally, his reputation amongst the other Decepticons means he can rarely call upon help that will be eager to assist him, rather responding because they have to rather then want to.

* promoted from 6 to 7 by Cry