Windshear

Name: EN-686

Alias: Windshear

Age: Built after the war began, so in broad terms, he's very young, younger than Bumblebee. However, he's one of the older drones. Mentally, he is definitely an adult.

Gender: Male

Alignment: Decepticon

Class: Drone

PERSONALITY

In a word, brutish. Windshear is big, strong, and dull as a sack of hammers. He is a very straightforward and blunt mech, preferring to address all things directly. This philosophy extends from battle to social interactions. If he dislikes something about you, he will say it. If he finds a quality in you that is admirable, he will say it just as readily. He is very open about expressing himself and letting others know directly what he is thinking and feeling. He prefers to be around other honest Cybertronians, and is instantly leery of anyone who uses complicated and fanciful methods of speech. Of course, to someone with the mental capacity that Windshear has, “complicated and fanciful” covers a very… broad spectrum.

He knows that he’s stupid. He doesn’t mind it. He figures, well, it’s up to the smart ‘Cons to figure out what it is everyone else is supposed to do, and as long as he does it, then he’s golden, right? Windshear is actually quite trusting with his comrades, expecting them to be as straightforward with him as he is with them. He has been tricked many times in the past, and while he has learned from those experiences, he doesn’t know how to tell whether or not someone is being duplicitous with him, so he just doesn’t try.

It is not advisable to get on his bad side, though. A betrayed Windshear very quickly becomes an angry Windshear, and an angry Windshear starts punching folks. He sees violence as a legitimate means to end all arguments, and will let a situation escalate into violence with very little provocation. Sometimes he will let the situation escalate into violence with no provocation. An example:








In situations like these, Windshear will often feel bad and apologize to his comrade. He just can’t control himself sometimes.

Even though he’s at peace with his decided lack of mental power, he does get frustrated when he can’t understand something. When he gets frustrated, he gets violent. His superiors have long since learned not to assign him tasks that require any amount of delicacy, and instead do what they can to see that Windshear, when he is not fighting, is performing tasks that are labor-heavy and thinking-light. Needless to say, he is definitely a follower. He lacks initiative and is most content when someone stronger is telling him what to do.

Windshear is very brave in the face of danger that he can see and that he can physically fight. It isn’t that he thinks he won’t die--he’s just accepted that he will, someday, and if he’s going out, then he’s going out fighting. When faced with the unknown, though, he tends to balk. Windshear is surprisingly superstitious, constantly afraid of doing something that will result in “bad luck.” He is also afraid of spirits and other unexplained supernatural phenomena. Some of his comrades know this and poke fun at him for it. If they are truly friendly towards him, he won’t punch them for it--often. Being on Earth is only making his jumpiness regarding the supernatural worse, as it is very alien to him.

He is content with his place in the Decepticon ranks, as well. He knows that he’s being useful, and that he is serving a strong leader. He is always looking to challenge himself, make himself better and more mighty. Despite his aggressive tendencies, he is a very approachable mech, and doesn’t think that he’s too good to give anyone the time of day just because he is strong. He recognizes that there are different forms of strength, and every now and then his simple method of thinking will produce a bit of unexpected insight. These pearls of wisdom are few and far between. He is relatively easy to please and, once befriended, a loyal and stalwart companion.

Like many drones, he is fiercely protective of the miners. He doesn't judge them for their smaller size and relative weakness. They are his miners, and part of the reason that he is so strong is to keep them safe. Messing with miners is the quickest way to get yourself on Windshear’s shit list.



Skills: Mostly, just fighting. Windshear is a drone, one of many mass-produced to serve the Decepticon cause, so he hasn't had much in the way of education or specialized training. He's managed to survive a very long time for a drone, though, and he knows the ins and outs of combat through and through. 







Weaponry: In alt-mode, he possessed two plasma-based Blasters, one positioned on either wing, as well as a cache of six missiles that explode upon impact. These can swivel to aim at two targets, or to concentrate fire in a single area. These are average as far as their capacity to damage goes; they can burn through armor and sizzle circuitry, but it takes concentrated fire to punch holes in thicker alloys. The rate of fire on them is moderate. He is able to deploy both of these in bot form, to the same specs.

Windshear’s bare hands are arguably his deadliest weapons. They are tipped with thick talons that can rend metal. He’s also very physically mighty, sometimes able to incapacitate smaller foes with only a single blow. In addition, once he catches an opponent, he will attempt to pin them, and when Windshear pins you, you stay pinned. You do not want to be cornered by this guy. Unfortunately, this brute can also fly, which makes avoiding him even more aggravating.


In the air, he usually serves to cover his more nimble allies or to harass enemy fliers. He's not fast enough to keep up with most other aerial mechs, and a flying foe is not likely to find themselves engaging Windshear singularly and directly. Grounders seeing Windshear flying overhead, though, have a unique problem on their hands.

This problem is called the Stoop.

The Stoop is Windshear’s signature move (how he got his name, even), and is something of a legend among some of the drones. It’s a very dangerous move for a variety of reasons, but if successfully pulled off, it has the potential to be deadly. The basics of the Stoop are as follows: Windshear climbs to a ridiculous height and dives, picking up momentum until he breaks the sound barrier. Plummeting at transonic speeds, he aims directly for his target, pulling up at the last moment.

During this sharp bank, two things happen--the force of the shockwave slams into the ground, and Windshear deploys two missiles. The shockwave is damaging, but not deadly, usually stunning the target or worse: buckling their armor. The missiles do the most damage, usually finishing off a foe or heavily incapacitating them.

Windshear cannot perform the Stoop unless he is properly covered, so he will not attempt it while fighting alone unless he is desperate. Even if he is protected from the air, his target will see him coming, and will likely try to fire on him while he dives, which is a risk that Windshear accepts. He is tough, and can handle damage, but too much damage will foul his dive or even cause him to crash. In addition, if his target has adequate covering fire, Windshear will not attempt the Stoop.

There is also the risk that he will not bank on time, and instead just crash. This has happened three times, and each time Windshear was nearly killed. During the course of the war, he has one-shot killed four Autobots with the power of the Stoop alone. He really can’t do it more than once per battle, because performing the Stoop puts tremendous stress on his frame, and almost invariably injures him to some degree once it is done. A less-sturdy Seeker would be pulled apart by the sheer forces involved in the attack.

The name comes from the predatory dive that raptors (such as falcons) perform while snagging prey.




Strengths: Personality-wise, He is a very straightforward and honest mech. Windshear is easy to befriend as long as he is treated well, and will remain loyal to those who don’t betray his trust. He is dependable and hard-working, as well as brave in the face of physical threats. Every now and then he has an unexpectedly wise thought. He might not be complicated, but he is genuine.


Physically, He’s big, strong, and he knows how to fight in the air or on the ground. He is a very solid mech, able to take a decent amount of damage before going down. He’s also quite large and capable of hauling wounded comrades around, should he need to. On the ground, he’s a damn juggernaut, able to take down mechs much heavier than he is by sheer might alone. He adapts quickly in a fight, and is able to pick up new techniques easily. He also has a very high tolerance for pain. He can shrug off damage that would leave most Cybertronian's weak in the knees. At times, he almost seems to relish the sensation, and it only drives him to fight harder.





Weaknesses: Personality-wise, he’s stupid. It is not terribly difficult to trick Windshear, which works out well as long as he stays tricked. He has a tendency to lose his temper if he is wronged, betrayed, or fooled, or just sometimes because, and this can heavily cloud his judgment. His fear of the unknown is also exploitable. He is also definitely not a leader. He's submissive and attentive to his superiors as long as they don't give him a reason to be cross with them, so it isn't terribly hard to throw your weight around to get Windshear to do what you want. Aside from all of this, outside of a fight, he doesn't really know what to do with himself. He was made for war, so dealing with everyday life often leaves him feeling lost.


Physically, he is not as fast as the other Seekers, being heavier of frame. He also doesn’t pack quite the same punch as far as firepower goes. This leaves him at a disadvantage in aerial combat situations. He works best with comrades, and if he finds himself in a fight with multiple foes who are faster than he is, he might very well have a hard time of it. His firepower is nothing special to speak of, and his most effective battle maneuver--the Stoop--can only be used once per battle, and is also very dangerous to Windshear.

At the end of the day, though Windshear is an exceptional drone, he is still just a drone. A combatant who keeps their head and fights cleverly will be able to take him down. He's not on the same tier as most normal Cybertronians. 





Windshear was created sometime in the middle of the Cybertronian Civil War, making him a bit older than many drones, but typically younger than most Autobots. From the day he first on-lined to the present, he has been obsessed with becoming strong and with fighting in general. He fought many battles, honing his skills, and managed to scrape through many situations that would have ended the life of a lesser Cybertronian.

He lost many comrades on the way, which saddened him, but there was no choice for him put to press on. Because he is not inclined to do too much thinking or to wander off on adventures by himself, Windshear has, thus far, lived a very typical life as far as Decepticon Troopers go. He arrived on Earth only very recently, having spent many years serving under Shockwave (whom he disliked) on Cybertron, and is happy to trade that bleak and vaguely creepy place for Earth.

He thinks Earth is kind of weird, but doesn’t spend too much time puzzling over it. He’s used to being confused.
He has no family, no real home aside from the Nemesis, and his only concern with the future is continuing to serve Megatron and the Decepticon cause.



Extra:

-Windshear likes music, and the louder, the better. You don’t have to be smart to appreciate good music, after all!

-He tends to panic if he is expected to operate delicate machinery, because he knows he will break it.

-He doesn’t honestly know how to control his strength, and often inadvertently hurts people around him.

-DO NOT GIVE HIM HIGH GRADE ENERGON. You'd think this big guy'd be able to handle it, but he absolutely cannot. Consumption of high grade will eventually result in a drunken brawl, in which many things will be broken and many 'Cons will be hurt. And then he'll probably pass out. You have been warned.

-There are some minor limitations on Windshear's free will. He's compelled to obey his superiors in most situations, but he's also more inclined than some drones to disregard his superiors' orders. This is not because he is defiant. This is because he sometimes simply forgets said orders, especially in the heat of battle. He does feel a programmed-in sense of guilt when he does not perform as he is expected. In addition, he will always put himself between any miners and danger. The sight of a wounded miner has been known to throw Windshear into an awful rage.

-There is some speculation that he might be something of a masochist, but nobody really knows how to ask this in a way that Windshear will both understand and not get offended by. He quite obviously enjoys pain, and his comrades are content to leave it at that.













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