Jeff the Eradicon

[jefferson]

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-Player Info-
Name/Alias: Dura
IM/Email: [e-mail]
Age: 22
What is bulkhead's favorite color?: 55

-Character Info-
Name: Jeff or Jefferson (from Jefferson J DeBlanc) or, to some, Jeffrey. Original ID: JJD-369.
Age (or human equivalent): 24, early-war model.
Gender (or human equivalent): Masculine, male pronouns
Species: Eradicon
Faction: Decepticon
Occupation/Specialization: Eradicon' general repairbot, cannon fodder, aerial reinforcement.
Appearance/Altmode:

Jeff is black, purple, and pointy. His silver helm is narrow and generally featureless, the same angular, red optic band his many 'brothers' sport apparent on his otherwise faceless head. Arching from his back are the thin, triangular wings his kind is known for, being a flying model. From his shoulders tall, forward facing blade-shaped plates make him look intimidating, but seeing as every other Eradicon has the same thing, they are unremarkable. Jeff, in other words, doesn't stand out much compared to his brethren. The only thing that sets him apart from the others are a pair of scars, one right next to the other, forming a loose V, on the upper left of his chest plates. They were received in battle eons ago, and seeing as it was the only way to make himself unique at all, he hasn't buffed them out.

Modern day, he is slightly slimmer than newer models of Eradicon. His claws are also somewhat daintier.

History:

Jeff was built early in the war, and as such is a middle aged model. He was mostly used, at first, for repairs on the outsides of warships and space stations, but eventually moved on to being used as cannon fodder in battle. For much of his early life, this didn't bother him. He accepted his fate, what he was built for, and the limitations of his usefulness. He also accepted that compared to any one of his kin, he did not stand out and would never measure up to any of the bots that didn't look exactly like him.

This changed the day he barely extracted himself from an automatic trash compactor after a particularly rough battle. While he lay there, gathering enough strength to fly back to base before the others left him, he took stock of himself and found a pair of gouges in his chest armor. At the time, he thought nothing of it other than the fact that it was a fairly trivial wound and wouldn't be hard to treat. It wasn't until later, when a superior picked Jeff to stand before him, that his life changed.

"You. I remember you from our skirmish earlier," the bot had said. "You're the one who crashed into that scrapyard after taking out that orange Autobot menace. What is your designated ID?"

Jeff had looked at him with some surprise, but did not show it. "Eradicon JJD-369, sir."

"Hm. Well, don't get too excited. I'm not here to promote you or anything...If your kind can even be promoted." The mech sneered, his taciturn face turning ugly. "However, your accomplishment saved my life and I, the honorable mech I am, felt compelled to commend you for such a feat. Continue the good work."

Before JJD-369 could politely thank him, his superior turned to walk away, his parting words casually thrown over his shoulder like so much trash, "I wouldn't have bothered if I couldn't tell you apart from your clones. Thank whoever injured you for marking you."

The event was odd. Decepticons who did any 'commending' of any sort were increasingly rare as the war raged onward, the more sentimental of the bunch weeded out by Autobots and other Cons alike. Not that he'd call this guy sentimental, exactly. But JJD-369 was only partially surprised. His emotions were mostly overtaken by a revelation. He did stand out. Even just a little.

From then on, he worked as tirelessly and as drone-like as ever, but his mind spun as it incubated a new idea. Specifically, this new idea was an identity. He never bothered to like or dislike this or that because he just didn't have the time, nor did he feel like he had a right to determine what pleased him and what did not. But soon all he could do was mull over every little event, every little word, every little object and decide whether or not he liked it. Sometimes, he even disliked something because he felt like it, or liked something because he knew he shouldn't. He found himself making decisions in battle that would prove to save his life, and speaking out more with opinion rather than restricting himself to bland responses. He noticed other Eradicons do the same, occasionally, but such behavior was frowned upon by some of the bots they slaved under.

It wasn't until later in the war, as it came to an end and both Autobots and Decepticons were made scarce by the shut down of their home planet that more individualized behavior in drones such as him weren't minded so much. Perhaps it was because even a Decepticon had to have company. At least, that was his experience, his conclusions on the matter. Ever so slowly, he became more than just JJD-369. Others, who had similarly grown apart from the others, eventually came to call him JJ.

At some point after the war, Eradicons were not only built but recruited from the leftovers of outposts. JJD-369 was one of those, and he found himself on the Nemesis, which was headed for Earth. And Earth proved to be, even for a short time, a fun place to gather more of that independence he liked so much. A flood of media was accessible from their ship, and for those not restricted to mining Energon, this sea of entertainment was at their finger tips. As his fellow fliers took the names of World War II aces, He adopted one as well, one who had initials like his ID number - Jefferson J. DeBlanc. Or just Jefferson. Or, as his fellows like to joke, 'Jeffrey' as JJD-369 had a terrible habit of crashing or otherwise getting himself Grounded, hence spending more time walking like his groundbound cousins than flying. That earned him a common ole office place moniker, according to the others.

As the Decepticons continue to engage the Autobots here on Earth, Jeff continues on as normal. The Autobots and Megatron's return interrupted a good cycle of relaxation, sure, but it isn't Jeff's place to complain.

Personality:

Jeff is an Eradicon with an intense drive to bring himself to the level of a real Decepticon. While no longer as obsessed with making himself as unique as possible like he was in the early days, he still feels a fiery urge to never just blend in. If he even stands out only to his fellow Eradicons, that's good enough for him.

Jeff is kinda mouthy, even to 'real' Decepticons, if only the ones he perceives as having a similar rank to his own. He finds this important for two reasons, even though speaking out can be risky. One, it makes him unique, of course. And two, it works some psychological magic. Seeing as Eradicons are frequently left to die, he finds it important to let those who are first on the Medic's list for repairs to view him as one of them. They probably don't, but being personable to some degree might, just might, save his life one day. Decepticons aren't saps, but some of them do have mercy and/or recognize the importance of keeping useful underlings alive.

Jeff is a bit of a geek on some subjects, such as Pokemon ( a favorite fandom of his), but seeing all Media on Earth is human-made, he attempts to keep his interests under wraps when those who don't like mankind are around. He also doesn't like making himself look like a complete nerd when he's trying to impress superiors. Speaking of that, he does do some ass kissing occasionally, but only when he thinks he can get away with it.

Unfortunately, not all human media has made a good impression on him. There's plenty he finds revolting, boring, or sad, but most disruptive of all to his peace of mind are horror films. With his fear of the dark and loneliness already prominent in his psychological make-up, adding monsters to the mix only made his fear worse. Before, it was Cybertronian monsters, like mad scientists and torture devices and stuff he dreamed up, but with the introduction of ghosts, mothmen, demons, and the like it's not unusual to hear him scream when faced with somewhere dark to explore. More than once he's made a fool of himself shrieking in fright, diving behind someone else, and refusing to boot up his optics. He's even gone so far as to plead with someone to save him. Needless to say, he's the subject of nasty practical jokes sometimes.

Lastly, Jeff is secretly a bit of a softy. Namely, a romantic. While he doesn't really dream of love or whatnot for himself, he enjoys a good heart-wrenching story sometimes, especially the kind that induces crying. When he's up for entertainment, he'll pick a romantic comedy or a Disney film over another category, hands down. However, despite this, he doesn't really believe in love. That, or he just doesn't see the use of it. He's never had it, never expects to get it, but it is nice to escape into movies where it exists.

Also, he tends to call everyone 'sir.'

Likes: Pokemon, war films, Fall or Fall-like weather, Simcity-like games, and...romantic comedies, but secretly.

Dislikes: The dark, ghosts, supernatural creatures, horror movies, being alone, being stranded, climbing.

Strengths/Weapons: (This is where you tell us how you are going to injure/get a hit on/kill others)

• Speed/Flight - Like others of his kind, he's got flight on his side and speed to go with it. He is a bit faster than his more heavily armored fellows, something he takes pride in because it helps him stand out when grouped with noobs. While in alt mode, he's not so agile, but in primary mode, he's more flexible.
  
  
• Experience - Older than the newer models, he's had more time to learn how to not get killed.
  
  
• Arm Cannon - Same as everyone else's and about as powerful. The new guys are more up to date, but his firepower is still trusty.
  
  
• Close Combat Proficiency and Resourcefulness - After eons of finding himself downed or otherwise incapacitated, he's learned a lot about how Autobots fight up close (and has learned to dodge), and how to survive while injured. He is particularly knowledgeable on how to make SOS signals and emergency self repair.

Weaknesses: (This is where you tell us how OTHERS might injure/get a hit on/kill YOU. Personality flaws are good, but please include some structural flaws as well.)

• Light Build - Unlike newer models, his particular batch of Eradicons was built with lighter frames, which they made up for in speed. Unfortunately, this means that compared to his newer brethren, he can't take as heavy a hit. In battle, he depends on long range firepower, cover, and dodging.
  
  
• Singular Weapon - He's only got his standard arm cannon. He can also do close combat, but that's mainly dodging.
  
  
• Grounded - He has a bad habit of accidentally finding himself hurtling towards the ground. He always survives (Well, he has so far.) but the fact that he's prone makes him somewhat unreliable in the air.
  
  
• Fear - He can't remember where it began, but he's always been uneasy in the dark. He's fine with others, but he's scared on his own. He is, however, absolutely terrified of things IN the dark that he can't see, or unknowable enemies. Horror films have only made his fears worse, and he now flips out if left alone with ghosts or other supernatural monsters.

Special skills (that are not weapon related): General ship repairs, general programming, basic emergency medical repairs.

Extra Info: N/A

Single Account Option: I'll have no problem making a single account for this character.

Sample RP (only for first accepted characters):

((OOC: I usually write a character better if it interacts with someone else, so I got Jeff and Galeforce together here. They're both on Earth, somewhere in Africa, and fighting random Autobot NPCs while large mutated experiments of some kind that somehow are capable of eating Cybertronians hunt them from underground. They decide to take them back to the Nemesis for use by the Cons on the Autobots. The end cuts off kinda suddenly because I realized it was turning into a fic. >_> -- Also, I dunno where the plot came from. :/ ))

"Sir, we got Autobots trying to flank us!"

A light thump against his dermal plates caused Gale to turn and look out where Jeff the Eradicon was gesturing. He didn't see anything, and this remote region of the planet had barely any terrain that wasn't desert. There was maybe one rock an Autobot could maybe use as cover where Jeff indicated the scum was hiding, but the helo was skeptical. Behind his battle mask, he squinted down at the smaller mech.

"Are ya sure?"

The pale faced Decepticon pointed at the rock again and his optic band seemed to narrow. "Sir, I saw something move towards cover, and the only cover out here, besides this -" He opened his spindly arms towards the massive dune he and the chopper were using for cover. "- is currently occupied by enemy forces on the other side."

Galeforce nodded slowly, his own optics again eyeing the rock. Normally, he'd have hopped up and shot the thing already just in case, but it was such a small little pebble he doubted any of the 'Bots on record could fit behind it. Coming to the conclusion that the poor bot beside him had been in the mines too long, Gale eventually shook his helm.

"Son, I think yer seein' things."

The dark colored mech seemed to have a minor seizure as the beige chopper turned back to what he'd previously been doing - staring into the darkness of the nighttime desert at the Autobots' sand dune across the battlefield. He was waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Currently, all he heard was shooting, and he gunfire wasn't flying in his direction... A few moments later, Galeforce looked back down to his left only to find that Jeff was missing. He turned around to find the guy slowly sidling up to the rock.

"Boy, what'n the Pit are ya doin'?" the older mech called.

Jeff didn't answer. Instead, he poked the rock with his cannon and waited. Then did it again. He walked around it, checked under it, then carefully toed a weird vine poking out of the sand.

"There's nothing here..." Jeff stated, the windless ocean of sand, rock, and sparse grass as silent and still as a painting.

Not a moment later, the ground exploded and Jeff reeled backwards, his voice pitching up a few octaves in a scream. He fell backward, onto his back, a wave of crusty dirt burying him as a large, bulbous organic creature with multiple legs burst its way to the surface. Sticking up from its maw was a wavy appendage - the vine was actually a lure to ensnare prey. But the monster didn't see Jeff and instead rapidly crawled its way towards Galeforce.

"What the - By the Pit!" Galeforce exclaimed. He jumped back, his rotors slamming into the dune behind him. His right arm opened, the plates sliding back and collapsing together to form a large tri-barrled cannon. In an instant, the creature was practically on top of him (It was almost as big as he was, he noticed somewhere in his processor.) and then with a boom it was sliding wetly to the ground, its greenish liquids oozing into the sand. The sand boiled. Galeforce stood frozen for a moment before prodding the thing with the end of his cannon. It looked like a big fat green worm, with spider legs. "Damn. You are one ugly sumbitch."

There was a weak, frightful moan and Jeff reappeared, a thin layer of desert dust marring his normally shining black paintjob. He didn't look concernred about that, though, and more scared of the ground all of a sudden. He quickly stood, danced on the tips of his pedes, and pranced his way to the dune. He climbed on top of it, apparently finding the thing safer than the looser sand below.

"Sir. They have thingies on their head that - There was a vine - I almost died!"

"Yeah, I saw. You alright? You look alright. Let's go maim Autobots." The big mech stomped his way around the dune without waiting for his companion and marched towards the opposing dune with confidence. Jeff scrambled down and followed, making sure he was hidden behind the other.

"Ah ha! Just as I thought," Galeforce said, peering smugly where the Autobots should have been. There was nothing there; nothing but an arm, a leg, and someone's energon splattered over the sand. "Them things must be everywhere 'round here..." As if on cue, the sand shifted a hundred yards away and a vine-like thing popped up. It cruised along, the effect a lot like a shark fin in water.

"Oooooooh! I don't like that!" Jeff sing-songed, casting furtive looks about while he did a half-dance in place. The darkness of the desert was almost suffocating all of a sudden, and while his vision was not limited to as narrow a spectrum as organics' he still had his limits. Not that that would help any in spotting these bot-eating monsters underground, he realized with a brief squeal. He absolutely hated enemies he couldn't see. They were so scary...

"Jeff. Please extricate yourself from my aft. You're ruining the heroic billowing effect of my cape."

The Eradicon promptly scooted out of arms length of the older mech.

Galeforce continued. "Now. Lessee if we can find these things and capture one of 'em."

"Capture!?" Jeff squawked in surprise. "They took out a squad of Autobots!"

"Exactly."

Jeff was silent for a long moment, then found himself resisting facepalming in resigned exasperation. "Oh. Of course, sir."

It wasn't like he could refuse.

The pair moved cautiously into the dark, the crescent moon in full view but glowing only dully. The Eradicon trembled, the helo looked a little too happy to be hunting, and the sands shifted dangerously around them.

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[jefferson]

Thread History

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Episode 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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N/A

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Episode .5~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Starscream's Lab

Summary: Starscream brings a human, Soledad, back to the Nemesis where he puts her in a tank and begins plans to experiment her. Steve gets involved, hoping to endear the Vehicons to Starscream enough to ensure protection for those Vehicons capable of sentience. So, Steve goes to retrieve some Happy Meals to feed the human and Jeff is called in to assist Starscream. Upon Steve's return, Jeff feeds the human, gets himself a Tentacool pokemon toy, and proceeds to educate Starscream on Pokemon.
Chars: Steve, Starscream, Soledad
Timeline: Intro Thread, Mid-Late Episode 0.5

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Slasher Flick

Summary: Poor Jeff is sent out by the higher ups to Utah to scout out a missing defector - Serotype. However, Jeff soon finds himself in over his head. He was really only ever built to be cannon fodder, and Serotype makes quick work of his back up. With darkness falling, Jeff barely manages to escape with his life. He is doomed to have nightmares for weeks.
Chars: Serotype, NPC Karl the Rad, NPC Leonard the Rad
Timeline: Set somewhere after 'Starscream's Lab - Soledad the Experiment.'

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The Midnight Train

Summary: Poor Jeff has had nightmares for weeks, so as a gift he's given a night to himself to help him face his fears and think about things before he drives the other Vehicons nuts. Instead, he ends up crashed in the middle of nowhere with a ghost train riding his aft.
Chars: Gasket
Timeline: Set a couple weeks after "Slasher Flick.'

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Episode 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Damsel in Distress

Summary: When the Nemesis is taken by surprise by the Autobots, Jeff gets to his post only to find Soledad injured. He attempts to comfort her out of her fear of the attack, but soon comes face to face with Shadowrunner.
Chars: Shadow, Soledad
Timeline: Beginning of Episode 1.

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