Road Ranger
Function: Supply Transport
Primary Weapon: Targetmaster Shotgun
Transformation: Semi Truck
“Never forget.”
Road Ranger served with distinction during the Renegade War as a frontline infantrybot. It was just before the end of the war received a severe head wound, which permanently damaged circuitry between his sensor and data storage systems. As a result he began experiencing sensory and emotional flashbacks to the conflict. Sometimes he’d experience intense moments of virtual reality, as if he had suddenly been transported back through time and space to the carnage of the war’s worst moments. Other times, he would simply be overcome by old feelings of fear, remorse, grief, or rage. Feeling uncomfortable working closely with other bots, especially non-veterans, Road Ranger became a cargo hauler on Earth after the war. He soon found that something about being on the open road – perhaps the freedom – put his mind at ease and suppressed his troubling flashbacks.
On Earth, Road Ranger revived the ideal of the trucker as the “Knight of the Road”, applying his Guardian honor code to life in general. He always looked for people to help while burning the midnight oil and though he is general contemptuous of speed-limits he looks even less favorably upon selfish bullies, and so maintained a reasonable speed when sharing the road.
It was his old army friend Night Ranger that retrieved him from Earth when Primus called for aid. Though he was reluctant to return to the nightmares of war, Road Ranger felt that he had a responsibility to uphold, and joined the expedition to Cybertron. There, he was upgraded by Primus, along with most of the other Guardians, to include Cybertronian technological advances and special powers.
Now Road Ranger serves alongside Staks as the Guardians’ primary transport and supply specialists. Hauling cargo for a faction with no permanent territory or official resources on a war torn planet is about as challenging as it gets, but Road Ranger excels at the task, using tricks he learned during the Renegade War and on Earth afterward. He’s not afraid to take wild risks in order to get his cargo where it needs to be on time.
Strengths: In robot-mode, Road Ranger is a skilled combatant, both in hand to hand and ranged combat. His Targetmaster partner Night Ranger becomes the equivalent of a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun, which Road Ranger uses to end fights by intimidation as often as by violence. In vehicle-mode, Road Ranger features some of the same technology as the Stunticons, allowing him to plow through blockades, barricades, and enemies with little damage to himself. Though not at all fuel efficient, Road Ranger’s large fuel tanks allow him to transport cargo long distances in vehicle-mode. On level highways, he can attain a speed of 110mph, even when fully loaded with cargo. Primus modified Road Ranger’s hand-mounted energy blasters to emit waves of radiation which disrupt the link between targets’ sensor and data storage systems causing them to suffer confusing flashbacks.
Weaknesses: Road Ranger’s most obvious handicap is his damaged circuitry, which can potentially paralyze him at the worst possible moment. In robot-mode, Road Ranger is not particularly fast. In vehicle-mode, attempting to slow or stop on steep down-hill grades can damage his brakes, and sharp turns at high speeds can cause him to roll over or, worse, jack-knife. In this form he is also very large and loud, making it impossible for him to sneak anywhere. Since Road Ranger combines with his trailer when transforming to robot-mode, he cannot transform while loaded with cargo, so he must rely on Night Ranger for his defense while burdened. His tendency to dodge Autobot, Decepticon, Maximal, and Predacon tariffs whenever possible, has earned him a mark as a smuggler in all of their records.
And his partner:
Night Ranger
Function: Convoy Defense
Primary Weapon: Tungsten Chain
Transformation: Harley Davidson Motorcycle/Shotgun
“Vengeance is a dish best served charred.”
Held in a Renegade Stalag for nearly a decade during the Renegade War, Night Ranger watched helplessly as hundreds of fellow Gobotronians were tortured and executed all around him. Though a strike team (which included Road Ranger) rescued him from the camp before the end of the war, no amount of time in the repair bay could mend the damage to his spark. He vowed to have revenge on his captors. Following the war he tracked down every surviving member of the prison’s staff and terminated them with extreme prejudice. But as the last Renegade on his list died in his grasp, Night Ranger realized that he’d accomplished nothing except carrying the slaughter of war into peace-time.
Night Ranger was horrified by what he’d done, and when he put away his weaponry, he swore it would be forever. He traveled to one of Gobotron’s largest cities, and lost himself in its slums and ghettos, helping those whose lives had been ruined in the war in an attempt to redeem himself. He was working on a neglected power relay one day when a pack of Gobots led by the ex-Renegade Tux came screaming down the street shooting everything in sight. As they began shaking down the under-fueled empties something dark stirred within Night Ranger’s scarred spark…
When Night Ranger awakened in one of the ghetto’s back alleys, he dimly remembered a ferocious fight, which he later discovered ended with Tux and his thugs dismembered. Overtime, as more black outs occurred, Night Ranger realized that no matter how much he tried to leave behind his thirst for vengeance, an angry demon lurked within him, ready to burst out on the sight of evil. When Primus called for Guardians, Night Ranger saw an opportunity – either Primus could heal his spark and purge the evil within him, or he’d at least be able to direct his murderous tendencies toward enemies more deserving of his wrath. Sadly for Night Ranger, it turned out to be the latter.
Now Night Ranger wanders the highways and byways of Cybertron alongside his fellow troubled spirit Road Ranger. He spends most of his time serving as Road Ranger’s bodyguard on long hauls, but when off duty, Night Ranger stalks Cybertron’s streets searching for those who prey on the innocent.
Strengths: In robot-mode, Night Ranger’s Gobotron-standard hand-mounted energy blasters have been modified to emit large quantities of infrared energy. He can use this ability to launch ‘fireballs’ short distances, or to superheat his tungsten chain weapon. In vehicle-mode, Night Ranger is fast, maneuverable, and fuel efficient. In targetmaster-mode Night Ranger is the equivalent of a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun. In this form, he maximizes the energy channeled to his infrared emitters, allowing him to fire destructive blasts of heat energy, in either a coherent fireball form, or a shorter range spread pattern.
Weaknesses: Night Ranger’s diminutive size is his only weakness in robot-mode. In vehicle-mode his engine is extremely loud, making all attempts at stealth pointless, and his fuel tank is quite small, reducing the advantage created by his high fuel efficiency. In targetmaster-mode, he has a very low rate of fire, having to recharge after every two shots.