Whirl
Dec 17, 2017 7:45:18 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2017 7:45:18 GMT -5
Alias: Breech Loader
Name: Whirl (aka The Whirlybird, Nutjob)WHIRL
Age: Mid-30s, but has an emotional age of a ten year old girl
Gender: Mech
Species: Cybertronian
Faction: Autobot
Original Occupation: Intended for the Aerial Corps, but Whirl became a Watchmaker
Occupation/Specialization: Whirl is very good at killing things – however he has a suppressed desire to be relied on for things deeper than that.
Armor Type: Medium-Light
Appearance:
Whirl has a light blue paintjob all over. He is one of the tallest Autobots around, and his build is extremely lanky but his digigrade legs make him capable of raising and lowering his height significantly. When he respects or likes somebody, he crouches while speaking to them to be optic-to-optic. If he doesn’t respect you, he draws himself up to his full height to loom over you at up to 30 feet tall, almost as tall as Megatron. And those rotors on his back go up higher - much higher. Normally though, he walks in a slight crouch at about 25 feet.
Millions of years ago Whirl was forced to undergo Empurata – a savage procedure traditionally performed to shame criminals. The face and original hands are surgically amputated, leaving only a single cycloptic optic and claws usually formed from dead metal. The procedure was carried out by the Functionists years ago and while his appearance is slightly unnerving to humans, many Cybertronians no longer even think of Whirl as a person but as an object and a criminal; somebody incapable of having feelings since he has such difficulty expressing them. His single optic in the center of his faceless helm is yellow, not blue as most Autobots are.
His rotors sit on his shoulders and add another five feet to his height – while there are only two of them visible, this is because they are doubled up.
Altmode:
The Augusta Westland Wildcat, a four-rotor utility rotary built in the United Kingdom and utilised by the British Army and Royal Navy. The design is both fast and flexible.
History:
Surprisingly, not much is known about Whirl’s real history by the general populace. Most people know he was a Wrecker and he got kicked out for something terrible, but there’s few who know why. What happens in the Wreckers stays in the Wreckers… The exception is Optimus Prime, who knows everything.
Anyway, Whirl was forged in Polyhex, and his flight capabilities meant he had to become a member of the Aerial Corps. While he enjoyed flying, he found the peacetime orders monotonous and saw it as a job with no future or recognition. On the other hand he’d always been fascinated by the delicate internal workings of all forms of clockwork. Whirl opened a workshop that dealt not only with watches, but music boxes, wind-up toys, orreries, and even phonographs. By acquiring examples from off-planet sources he found it easy and fun to reverse-engineer them.
The Functionists were outraged – not just because Whirl had changed jobs, but because he was very good at it. To make an example of him, they arranged for the local mob to demand a cut of his takings and when Whirl predictably refused, the thugs smashed up his shop and tools. Now destitute, Whirl was left wandering the Dead End to enter petty fight matches for Shanix to buy Energon.
His combat prowess caught the optics of the Senate’s sinister agents, who press-ganged him into the Rodion police force. It was a distinctly lower calling than ‘Aerial Corps’ but was also considered a way to keep him in line and put his alt-mode to work in surveillance.
As a cop, Whirl adhered strictly to protocol, disgusted by the way that many of the cold-construct recruits took advantage of their authority and bullied the more ‘obsolete’ Cybertronians. As more and more despicable things were demanded of him, Whirl finally refused outright, threatening to find a way to return to watch-making. To stop this from happening, he was put through the barbaric Empurata process, tortuously removing his hands and face, and threatening him with the removal of his emotional chip. Whirl caved for the sole reason that he needed his emotions to feel angry and seek revenge on all who had wronged him.
Tasked to kill somebody who the Senate claimed was a dangerous criminal – actually a lead Decepticon sympathiser - Whirl was quite prepared to beat them to death when he was caught in the act by a respected member of society - Optimus Prime. Prime made such a fuss about it to the Senate that it simply couldn’t be ignored. To conceal their involvement in Whirl’s actions, the Senate had him fired, and then sent him to Garrus-1 for attempted murder, claiming that he was a corrupt cop and an exception. Whirl was given no protection in prison, and was regularly attacked by Decepticon sympathisers.
When the war set in motion, prisons ceased to be used as places of punishment and were instead used as POW camps. When the Autobots took Garrus-1, Optimus made Whirl a simple offer – join the Autobots and gain early release… or don’t. Since the alternative was to be an ex-cop in an all-Decepticon jail, Whirl agreed.
After some time spent killing Decepticons, Whirl was invited by the leader of the Wreckers to join the Wreckers, and heavily promoted Springer to be their leader after Impactor was removed from his position.
Several hundred years later, after the battle to free Garrus-9 left Springer comatose, Whirl (and another Wrecker known as Roadbuster) was given the depressing task of tending to his needs until he woke up while the Wreckers did their best to cover up Springer’s condition. After months of no improvement, Whirl was convinced that Springer would never wake up, and was certain he wouldn’t want to end his life like this – being fed his Energon through a tube, and expelling his waste into a pan. He believed that if the Decepticons ever discovered how Springer had deteriorated, it would give them a huge morale boost against the Wreckers. To prevent this from happening he prepared to smother Springer’s spark painlessly with Roadbuster’s Sparkeater weapon, but was caught in the act by Roadbuster and vetoed out of the Wreckers. Ironically soon after this, Springer began to recover from his coma.
Shortly after being kicked out of the Wreckers, Whirl had a complete nervous breakdown, broke into a hospital, and took everybody in the hospital as hostages solo, his primary demand being that he was re-accepted into the Wreckers. The negotiators called in one of the very few people in the Galaxy who Whirl was known to respect - Ultra Magnus. After a hostage situation that lasted almost a week, Whirl caved and let the hostages go without resistance. There were zero fatalities and it was discovered that Whirl had only hurt three security guards after they attempted to ambush him, since he had been relying primarily on people's instinctive fear of him to take over the hospital.
And now, Whirl’s finally won parole. Or been bailed. Money was probably involved somewhere… since an anonymous benefactor paid for his lawyer. He’s being released above Earth and part of his ‘community service’ is to behave like a decent Autobot again.
He's working on it...
Personality:
As a Forged mech, Whirl is extremely loyal to the Autobot cause that freedom is a right for all people, and when he was a cop he was one of the few mechs who was uncorrupted – until the Senate tortured him, anyway.
Whirl hates himself almost as much as he hates Functionists. Whenever he’s in pain, or suffers, or takes the fall for anything, he convinces himself that he deserves it because of the bad things he’s done in the past even though it may not make much sense to the sensible mech.
Whirl has never really been one for self-restraint or thinking ahead too much. Even before he lost everything, he was still doing what he thought seemed like a good idea at the time. He doesn’t disobey orders for the pleasure of annoying people, but because he thinks those orders may be unjust, corrupt, cowardly, or maybe just a waste of time. He doesn’t even bother to cleverly reinterpret them; he just does it.
Whirl’s main demonstration of self-restraint is hard to see – he believes that you should never draw your weapon unless you’re planning to use it. Using a gun to merely threaten somebody is, in his opinion, a grotesque misuse of your weaponry, mostly because Whirl is almost impossible to intimidate through normal channels. If you point a gun at him to try and threaten him from doing something, chances are that he’s going to take it off you and use it to pistol-whip you unconscious. And whenever he pulls out a weapon, you can be sure he is fully willing to use it and kill with it. Or you could try talking him down. It won’t always work but it’s more likely to work than threats, anyway.
Whirl isn’t so much a liar, as he enjoys making up ridiculous tales about himself that nobody can prove one way or another, and then seeing if somebody believes him. It’s ridiculous. You don’t have to believe him. You lose nothing by doubting him. So, just how crazy do you think he is?
Well, Whirl also has anger management issues and mood swings. Usually he bottles up his anger so that he can release it in random, savage bursts during battle, but when he feels emotionally threatened he can blow right up with little warning. Additionally if he thinks somebody’s hurting somebody (and they aren’t a ‘con) he’ll tear right into them and might even kill them on the spot.
On the whole, Whirl’s life motto is “Because it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Likes: Whirl pretends he hates everything but he likes…
• Sparklings
• Watches (secretly)
• Highly experimental weaponry
• Making jokes to see if people call him out
• Helping people offload their problems
Dislikes:
• Functionists
• Himself
• Bullies
• Doorknobs
• Wasting time
• “Person You’d Like To Punch” Night
Weapons:
Whirl is a subscriber to the “Guns And Ka-Blammo” club – a club run mostly by mad scientists who send out highly experimental weapons to any warriors crazy enough to test them in the field and report on their effects. These weapons come with limited ammunition until approved. Most of the weapons described in the magazine are very powerful but highly volatile. Others don’t work at all, or are terribly buggy (which is why they’re being tested). Some have been deemed war crimes by both sides. Whirl is NOT the only Alpha Tester, nor does the club only send them to one faction.
Whirl’s primary built-in Weapon is a heavy chest-mounted set of guns under his cock-pit which can easily serve as his alt-mode weaponry, but he’s far from a light-weight. The energy rounds of these guns can shear through heavy armour-plate and decimate a (human) tank with a round of sustained fire.
Being a former Aerial Corps mech, Whirl has also been mentored in many other forms of weaponry. Since he is a rotary, this was also when he studied sword-fighting. His time fighting in the streets of the Dead End has taught him hand-to-hand combat and how to fight dirty.
The most successful weapon Whirl has received from ‘Guns And Ka-Blammo’ is also one of the weakest, and that says more about the Guns and Ka-Blammo club than it does about the weapon. He calls it The Shoomer. It’s designed like a rocket launcher and can cause serious damage to a medium-strength mech. For example, a skinny guy like Starscream, or speedsters like Bumblebee or Knockout would be decimated if they took a direct hit. If they survived they’d be spending a good stretch of time in recovery. Somebody medium like Breakdown would have a good reason to retreat. However guys like Megatron or Bulkhead would be thrown back on a direct hit and certainly take some damage, but could keep fighting if they chose.
The Shoomer is usually slung across Whirl’s back in base mode and is tucked under his undercarriage in alt mode. It can fire in both modes but is easier to aim in base mode.
Strengths:
Whirl is a highly skilled aerial combatant. He loops and weaves, terrifying his opponents as he might fly straight at them, firing wildly. He is also an excellent pilot for larger ships. Despite the terror of potential passengers as he shows off his ability, they’re probably safer in his ship than with two feet on the ground. Whirl is also well-trained in FreeFall Fighting.
Whirl’s physical strength stems mostly from his sheer unstoppable fury in battle rather than his physical body, but he is extremely fast and agile in base mode. Unlike most Autobots, Whirl is not ashamed of fighting dirty against Decepticons before they get the chance, with the reasoning that nobody ever won a fight by fighting somebody their own strength.
Whirl often uses his claws as melee weapons. Since they are dead metal, they do not feel pain (but his wrists do), and can be used as clubs as well as sharp edges. Because they don’t feel pain they can place a great deal more pressure than hands of living metal would, and can even sever limbs up to medium-strong thickness at the joints if he squeezes hard enough – that would be somebody like Wheeljack. Keep in mind that joints are indeed the weakest part of any person’s limb.
Weaknesses:
Whirl’s chest-mounted guns are so powerful because they’re built into him and therefore draw on his own Energon supply to fire. Prolonged use of them in battle can wear him out.
The Shoomer is a two-handed, fairly slow weapon, and needs reloading after each individual shot. It’s not too hard to dodge, especially in Alt mode, so it’s most useful in ground combat, and on non-moving targets. Doesn’t mean Whirl won’t use it anyway, which can cause a lot of collateral damage – so there are many circumstances in which it’s not appropriate to use.
Whirl has had crippling pains in his neck and wrists ever since the Empurata. They get worse without regular treatment and even more so when he gets agitated. While he doesn’t really think about them during battle, they hurt all the time now. Whirl usually denies that they hurt, but has been caught sneaking Cybertronian painkillers from the Wrecker Med-Bay and using poor-quality replacements ordered over the Galactic web.
Despite Whirl’s speed, agility and strength in base mode, his armor is a lot less sturdy, and his joints are especially vulnerable to damage – his speed and agility exist to make up for this but become less useful in direct melee combat.
Doorknobs! No matter how adept Whirl has become with his claws thanks to necessity, that’s no replacement for actual thumbs. That lack of many aspects of manual dexterity means that Whirl can never go on missions alone in case an unlocked door stands in his way. This restricts his perceived ‘usefulness’ to battle, and while he’s very good at that, it’s terribly depressing for him sometimes. Many other tools such as wrench-related tasks, are also beyond Whirl’s capability.
Whirl is naturally slower in aerial mode than jets, though he is faster than most ground-pounders.
Special Skills:
People think Whirl is only good for violence, but he’s also a skilled negotiator and interrogator. If the Autobots ever needed information gleaned from anybody, Whirl can use both quick and ugly beatings - which often feel and look worse than they really are - or skilled interrogation - whichever he thinks will get more accurate information faster. Whatever others may believe, sometimes violence works. He is also highly knowledgeable about Cybertronian technology and physiology.
Having formerly been a cop, Whirl is trained in pins and locks that can hold most ground-based mechs down without hurting them. Of course this requires to get them into the pin, but once it is done so it is very difficult to shake it.
Whirl still knows how to make clocks and watches; he’s just fallen out of practice.
Extra Info:
Whirl’s sheer determination is another factor worth mentioning for battle – he may try to keep fighting even after he has sustained severe damage and been ordered to retreat, and could make his injuries all the worse for it.
Sample RP:
The blue rotary was currently focused intensely on his work in the shop, his clever digits hard at work with tiny tools, deep inside the complicated device that he was working on.
Whirl loved all clockwork. He loved the way they kept a kind of order that people couldn’t hope to achieve. People were crazy. Clocks were not. He loved the delicate parts, each one as fragile as finely blown glass. Nobody nagged clockwork about Plan B. If Plan A had a chance of failing, in Whirl’s opinion, why the hell was it Plan A? No, clockwork had one plan only. And it was his job to make sure it succeeded.
And it certainly never gave him all that “Whirl have you really thought this through?” crap.
He understood clockwork a lot better than he understood people.
The shop that was situated just outside the Dead End was a run-down old place. There were holes in the walls and cracks in the windows. But that wasn’t what drew the optic. What really mattered was the hundreds of clocks on the wall. Clocks all ticking and winding away. Digital clocks more accurate than an internal chronometer, showing the time to millionths of a second. Beautiful music boxes were displayed on shelves, not yet wound up but capable of beautiful tunes. Orreries ticked and whirred, showing the accurate astronomical positions of strange planets as they rotated around far away stars and their moons rotated around them.
He finished his work on the tiny wind-up toy in his nimble digits and wound it up carefully, watching with pride as it marched gracefully across the desk. Finally, he looked up at his customer who had been waiting for twenty minutes. It made him feel a touch smug – not making them wait, but that they would wait. Besides, the toy was a pre-order.
“I’m told you make the best clockwork in the quadrant,” the mech told him.
“Damn right,” Whirl replied, “Your internal chronometer could tell the time by my-“
A tiny clock on his desk interrupted them with a lovely tune suddenly.
“It’s early,” the customer observed.
“Rubbish. It’s right on time. You might want to lower your audio sensors though…” he advised.
Every clock in the room chimed the hour at once, some with short tunes, some with little figures bowing in time to each other, others in dances, ringing bells with hammers… all in perfect time. Whirl smiled contentedly. A clock that didn’t tell the right time wasn’t a clock. It was… a machine.
A couple of huge louts sent by the local mob had come to his store a few days ago demanding a cut of his profits. Whirl hated that. Not just the “Give me your money or I’ll punch you” part, but they obviously didn’t do a damn thing themselves except go around threatening people. Well, he didn’t scare so easy. They hadn’t realised that he was former Aerial Corps. He’d done more than kick them out – they’d crawled out, on account that Whirl had removed both of their legs. Each. They’d think twice before picking on somebody half their size again.
“Well anyway, my boss… isn’t Cybertronian,” the mech explained, “He’s organic. You okay with that?”
“Sure. He’s rich, right?” Whirl checked, picking up some more gears and looking at another clock. Honestly, he’d make clocks for free. He wasn’t fussy about his customers. Being paid was a bonus for doing what he loved.
“Very,” the mech agreed.
Whirl looked around his shop. He loved this old place, but it was too small. If he had more money he could get a bigger shop where he didn’t need to use clocks to hide the cracks in the walls, maybe hire an assistant, advertise his work…
Whirl of Polyhex, greatest Watchmaker in the Galactic Cluster. It had a nice ring to it…