Coldwind

[Coldwind]

<PLAYER INFO>
Name/Alias: Ian

<CHARACTER INFO>
Name: Coldwind
Age: Mid 30s
Gender: Femme
Species: Cybertronian
Faction: Decepticons
Original Occupation: Energon Seeker
Occupation/Specialization: Bodyguard, Lieutenant

Appearance:
IMAGE LINK

Build: Coldwind's frame is large and covered by heavy-duty armor plates. Her structure is more masculine than what one would expect from a Seeker Femme, and downright monstrous compared to her Autobot counterparts. Even some Decepticons aren't half the size she is. Bulky all over, the Vosnian appears as a towering bastion on the battlefield.

She is roughly the height of Shockwave, if not a bit taller and always stands proudly in a light power stance that highlights her imposing presence. An intimidating scowl usually covers her face, while her red optics scout the surroundings dutifully. She is always ready to strike, to hurl herself at the enemy in full force—set to kill.

While well-built and well-postured, Coldwind has a bestial streak. Most of her body is protected by sleek, curved plates ending in sharp angles. Though her hands are plainly humanoid, they are covered by a series of talon-like claws. Everything about her fires off red flags. She is a predatory animal in a Cybertronian’s coat. Clever, ruthless, savage.

Two pairs of wings sit flush against Coldwind’s back, sweeping downwards to further strengthen her powerful silhouette. All four wings are fully mobile and can be used for emotional expression. Additionally, the upper pair flaunts two Decepticon emblems.

In classic Seeker fashion, Coldwind’s torso prominently features the signature cockpit, surrounded by rounded meshes. In her robot mode, it can function as a small storage container, big enough to fit a human. t remains as the only intact piece of her vehicle anatomy while she is in robot mode.

Color Scheme: Her dominant color is a washed-out shade of navy blue, centered mostly around the inner layer of her armor. The outer layer consists mainly of bleached gray hues. Her optics glow red as does a set of decorative highlights running through the Seeker's body. Because of her occupation, Coldwind doesn’t particularly care about any paint job, and the colors she displays are just the natural tints of her body.

Altmode: The Chengdu J-20 Fighter Jet, which can reach speeds up to 2 100 km/h, is Coldwind's vehicle of choice. Unlike her manmade counterpart, Coldwind is covered in a coat of deep blue and white, parading a Decepticon symbol on each wing instead of one indicating its allegiance to China.
Link

History:
Coldwind was an Energon Seeker serving under Starscream during the Cybertronian Golden Age. She started out humbly, as an unassuming, run-of-the-mill soldier and remained in this position until the Great War.

When Starscream threw his lot in with the Decepticons, most Seekers, including Coldwind followed suit. However, there were those who disagreed with the decision even after the Siege of Vos. Patriots and dissidents alike, these rabble-rousers thought the occupation of their home to be lawless, and many conspired against the new order.

Born from this conflict, several members of Coldwind's squadron contrived of a plan to assassinate the upstart Starscream, who was all too willing to walk over dead bodies on his quest for power—including their own. Fearing for their lives, they made the mistake of filling her in on the situation. Because Coldwind didn't carry any sympathies towards the leadership of Vos, they reasoned that she'd be willing to take part.

While they were correct that Coldwind wasn't likely to make personal attachments to the Decepticons and Starscream, they miscalculated her reaction. Coldwind knew the plan would amount to nothing but a failed attempt. Furthermore, Starscream's death would hinder the Decepticon cause, leaving Coldwind with but one logical recourse. Therefore, she did not risk her position in the Decepticon armada, and instead disclosed the details of this conspiracy to Starscream the first chance she got.

Before the assassination could take place or garner support from others, the would-be culprits were apprehended, found guilty, and executed. This event earned Coldwind the leery attention of Starscream who took interest in her approach. Skeptical at first, he kept his new asset at arm's length—and close by. One does not put so much effort into protecting Starscream of all people without expecting something in return.

Starscream, aware of this reality, made sure to keep Coldwind complaisant by offering her the prestigious (and incredibly dangerous) position of being his bodyguard, serving as a quick deterrent for future would-be assassins. It would also allow him to keep close tabs at this seemingly altruistic individual.

But as time went by, Coldwind inched her way into Starscream's circle of confidants. Her motives remained a mystery to most Decepticons. She never disclosed personal details to the "lesser" masses. But if one were to guess, it stands to reason that she was on her own quest for power similarly to her superior. However, she appeared content in playing The Dragon to Starscream.

She was then stationed at Decagon under Starscream's command after the events of Tyger Pax. At this point, Starscream was already Megatron's second in command. To him, Coldwind outgrew her usefulness as a bodyguard. But ditching her would risk sparking ire. So, to avoid any unnecessary complications, Starscream placed her in the position of warden at the penitentiary.

Coldwind harbored resentment against Starscream for going back on his promises to her. However, she came to expect this from him after the many years she spent at his side and still accepted her new duties and carried them out religiously. In her new capacity, she became a ruthless overseer. Uncompromising to the prisoners and staff alike. It was in Decagon that Coldwind properly fashioned her famously ill-tempered demeanor.

When Bumblebee infiltrated the facility, Coldwind was not at her superior's side. During the breakout instigated by the Autobot Scout, she attempted to suppress the escapees, however unsuccessfully. In a scuffle with one of the inmates, she suffered critical damage to her comm. Helpless to stem the tide, Coldwind was forced to abandon her post.

After Coldwind evacuated Decagon, she was unable to contact the Decepticon forces, which already mobilized to stop the Autobot Exodus. Therefore, The Decepticon High command considered her killed in action by the Autobot insurgents. With no means to reach out to other Decepticons, Coldwind was left behind on a dying Cybertron while the Ark and Nemesis launched. She spent her lonesome by hunting the unfortunate Autobots left behind in all the chaos and kept doing so for many years to come.

Eventually, she happened upon an Autobot who held information regarding the Exodus, and under the premise of survival, the Autobot relayed what he knew to the Decepticon—who killed him regardless. After this encounter, Coldwind set her mind to finding a means to leave Cybertron and reunite with her Decepticon kin.

Given sufficient time, Coldwind learned how to reverse engineer a communicator from the plentiful scrap on Cybertron. Over an encoded frequency, she sent a signal to whatever Decepticon stronghold, ship or outpost would hear her. By sheer luck, Coldwind made contact with The Decepticons on Earth and supplied them with coordinates—all that remained was to open the space bridge.

Greeted to Earth by a bumbling Vehicon and later Starscream himself, Coldwind rejoined the Decepticons at Blackridge Hold, where she continued to loathe the Autobots for her stellar cycles of entropy. Now, she is ready more than ever to fight at her master’s side.

Personality:
Coldwind is a ruthless predator; a bigoted, arrogant savage. The condescending seeker is a perfect manifestation of just how broken the old system was. Fed propaganda since her early days, she developed a massive, bloated ego and never bothered to explore beyond her designated function. Coldwind spent so long deluding herself into believing that this was the only way to live, that it eventually became the truth. She is now incapable of change, forever regaled to finding focus and joy only in her work. There is no remorse, no compassion, no peace.

Even at her most stable, Coldwind was never an agreeable person. Callous, lacking in empathy, and with violent tendencies, many wrote her off as a psychopath. This only served to deepen the divide between her and what was considered a normal person. Stuck in a vicious downward spiral—which peaked during her maddening isolation on Cybertron—she continues to live only for the grandeur of her endless “hunt.”

And in the spirit of her hunger for violence, she is never sated. Coldwind constantly searches for more powerful Autobots to humiliate and pick apart piece by piece. She thrives in the glory of it; the brutality, the gore, the bloodshed. There are very few Decepticons who find this much joy in murder. But Coldwind does. After all, it is her job. It is simple. It makes sense. How could it be wrong? That is who she always was and will ever be.

This puts her into an odd juxtaposition with herself. On one end, she is a murderer without mercy, and on the other, she is a high-ranking officer in an organized army that has to maintain a facade of civility simply for the sake of her continued success and survival. While she puts on a staunch, sardonic persona in front of her superiors, those who truly know Coldwind will see her for the brutal warmonger she is.

But even they know that despite her tendencies, the femme is no mere animal. She is forged by a lifetime of battle and intrigue at Starscream’s side. Her perspective is not that of a rampaging simpleton, but a dedicated, deeply-disturbed, and intelligent killer. For all her woes and terrible traits, Coldwind wouldn’t make it as far as she did without having a keen tactical mind which makes her even more dangerous when contrasted with her cruelty.

Likes: Coldwind's professional life completely dominates her circle of interests. She is only happy when she does her job. Scrapping Autobots, flying at high speeds, it has its benefits, it has its uses, and it certainly can be quite fun. Besides that, there is nothing she enjoys more than completely humiliating her enemies. When she crushes somebody, she will make sure that they will never rise from the ashes of their shame and defeat.

Dislikes: Coldwind doesn't dislike anything. That's because she hates a lot of things. The list starts with Autobots and ends with that clicking noise her shoulders make whenever she is sleeping. Anything has the chance to grind her gears. But for the sake of being more specific, Autobots, Vehicons, incompetence, soft-hearted people and organics make the “Top Five” on The List of Things Coldwind Hates. And it is not a short one.

Strengths:
Physique: A decisively powerful femme, Coldwind possesses great physical prowess. She might not be the heaviest, the fastest, or the toughest, but that does not bother her. An incredible balance of speed and strength is all she needs to fight on the front lines. At her size, this becomes a dangerous combination.

Tactical: Coldwind might look and act the brute she seems at first glance, but underestimating her intelligence would be folly. Though her personality is difficult, Coldwind's pragmatism and dedication to completely humiliate her enemy become strengths. She will manipulate, she will lie, she will play dirty, she will strategize, and she will not suffer to fall into the archetype of a powerful dimwit.

Constitution: Coldwind is built to last. She can take some heavy blows and deal them as well. Her armor falls in the heavy category, adding further protection to her sturdy frame. It can even withstand a few shots from high-powered weaponry. Small bots might throw as many punches as they'd like without making a dent in it—not literally, of course.

Jaded: After centuries of war, and thanks to her psychotic nature, Coldwind is not easy to phase. She does not make a distinguishment between stressful situations and a morning cup of Energon. Making decisions considered difficult by other bots, be it from cowardice, moral obligations, or personal attachments, is not particularly hard in Coldwind's opinion. If there is dirty work to be done, she will do it with a smile on her face.

Weapons:
SMG: Coldwind doesn't mind making a mess of the place if it means killing an Autobot. Submachine guns might be incredibly loud, inaccurate, and ammo-guzzling, but they get the job done at the end of the day, making them Coldwind's preferred weapon of choice.

Her SMG firearm usually sits strapped to her left hip, transformed into a small compact block. It uses Energon ammunition. An amount of Energon equivalent to one standard cube is enough to feed the weapon for a minute of fire, with the need to reload after every 10 seconds. Considering the fact Coldwind cannot carry more than four or five of those with her at a time, the SMG becomes a weapon limited to a few minutes of fire.

With the weaknesses of recoil, high ammo consumption, and reload downtime, the weapon wholly makes up for its shortcomings in firepower and fire rate. The SMG fires five rounds each second, with the capacity to puncture even heavy armor before needing to reload. However, due to its inaccuracy, it is not likely to hit vital mechanisms until it chews through a few magazines when considering the chaos and distance of the average crossfire.

Helmet: To offer additional defense during combat, Coldwind dons a durable helmet with the ability to stop low-strength projectiles. Her mouth is covered by a plate, while her eyes remain hidden behind a V-shaped visor piece which also doubles as a camera that Coldwind uses to habitually analyze recordings of her battles in order to learn from her enemies.

Her helmet is a physical part of her body and can be transformed away or in at will, sliding from the back of her neck and over her head whenever she wills it. It also modifies her voice beyond recognition, making it sound muffled and deep. A deliberate augmentation made by Coldwind in order to intimidate her enemies.

Weaknesses:
Joints: Because Coldwind needs a lot of joint mobility to successfully hold her ground on the frontlines as both a melee and short-range combatant, her servo links are exposed to allow a bigger range of motion. As such, they are excellent spots for sharpshooters to pick off.

Weak Points: Covered in a medium amount of armor with above-average protective abilities, some of Coldwind's chassis remains exposed. Her abdomen is not well-protected, and neither are her forearms. When facing an opponent with heavy-duty weapons, those are the spots she has to watch out for the most, lest she risks her arm or inner workings such as the all-essential T-cog.

Functionary Kibble: As most Seekers', Coldwind's back is dominated by wings, in her case split into four sections. A quick way to strip the Decepticon of her flight would be to aim for the structures jutting out of her back. Her thrusters rest in a similar, exposed fashion, forming the back of her calves. While they are protected by plating from the front, the behind is completely exposed.

Energon Guzzler: Coldwind is enormous, there is no denying that. When you are taller than Starscream and strong enough to match the Autobots’ heavy hitters, a natural consequence is the need to consume copious amounts of Energon. Coldwind's minimum daily Energon intake amounts to three times as much as the average Vehicon.

Overheating: Another consequence of her massive frame. Coldwind is difficult to overpower. The easiest way to fight Coldwind is to aim for outlasting her. She is large, and she is fast. Therefore, Coldwind cannot last in a battle for extended periods. There are limits to Cybertronian biology even the strongest and smartest of them cannot surpass. Overheating is a completely natural side effect of Coldwind’s specs.

Savagery: Coldwind is utterly brutal. Sometimes, holding back those urges behind a mask is astonishingly difficult, especially when it comes to allies that she has to deal with on a day-to-day basis. It wouldn't be surprising if Coldwind lashed out against a fellow Decepticon or refused to cooperate with them in the heat of battle.

Emotionally Stunted: Coldwind will never understand emotions. At least not as everybody seems to think she should. She is not bothered by this reality, or if she is, she doesn't care to show it. Her lack of comprehension becomes a weakness in times of negotiation, or when communicating in combat. Many bots would risk their servos and lives so that their comrades could live to fight another day. Not Coldwind. The only person Coldwind cares about is herself.

Special Skills:
Mixed Martial Arts: Coldwind certainly does not waste her physical gifts. She is skilled in aspects of various Cybertronian combat styles, thus, she has a wholly unique method of armless combat, making her an unpredictable opponent. The origin of her unique form is the need to release her bottled-up anger on a regular basis and Coldwind’s obsession with analyzing and learning from her past battles/enemies.

Reverse Engineering: During the many solar cycles of her solitude, Coldwind had to learn, to adapt. As a result of her circumstances, she taught herself basic reverse-engineering of Cybertronian technology. She is even able to repair some complex devices such as communicators and relay towers.

Absolute Zero: Coldwind, as her name would suggest, is an outlier connected closely with ice. Her powers allow her to freeze objects she punches with sufficient impact strength. To accommodate this, she possesses a secondary system that filters out the nitrogen in a planet’s atmosphere. Then, her body compresses the nitrogen into frigid tanks located in Coldwind's forearms, forcing the element into its liquid state and mixing it with other chemicals.

When enough counterforce impacts her fists, it sets into motion a mechanism that opens up valves connected to the tanks, releasing the frigid concoction from her wrists directly at whatever she is striking. This process is completely involuntary and will happen no matter who or what Coldwind hits so long as sufficient force is delivered. The only way to curb this ability is to apply self-restraint and use less force when attacking. A method that is not among Coldwind’s habits.

This presents her with a unique opportunity to use the ability as an “armor breaker.” Upon contact with Coldwind’s frigid fists, light armor is prone to shatter, medium armor cracks and becomes brittle, while heavy armor will be able to withstand several of her freezing attacks before it gives in.

However, due to the nature of its engineering, Coldwind cannot freeze something unless she delivers a strong punch. This means that her ability cannot be used on the internal organs of a Cybertronian unless they are already exposed, leaving the ability somewhat limited to the impacted area.

Another limitation shows itself in the frequency of use. If Coldwind is faced with a long melee brawl, she has to pull her punches, otherwise, she is at risk of clogging the valves and freezing them. If that happens, depending on the surrounding climate, it might take a while before the machinery taws back to its working temperature.

Moreover, should somebody pierce her forearms at the right place, Coldwind would start spraying the liquid wildly, freezing herself and those around her. Another drawback of her ability is medical in nature. She cannot simply replace her arm after she loses it like the average Cybertronian would. Instead, her new appendage must be specifically tailored to account for her outlier design.

Extra Info: High-Yield, G- Spark