Backblast

"Always be sure of your target."

Backblast is an armed scout car - meaning that while he looks and hits like a tank, he's much faster - and has much thinner armour. A hyperactive young Autobot, he has been described alternately as "Just what we need" and a "Cocky little twerp who needs to be brought down a peg or two" by Fanfare. As a scout car, Backblast is constantly moving from place to place at high speed. He cannot remain still unless he's required to by the task at hand. Backblast can get around very quickly; his six-wheel-drive amphibious chassis propels him at high speed towards his targets across almost any terrain - this is pivotal to his role as a scout for the Autobots. It also serves him well in escaping from fire when it's sent his way, and in  getting into position to open fire with his big gun.

Canonical/Pre-MUX/Theme History:
Back on Cybertron, Backblast was one of the few Suicide Jockeys, a small group of Autobots who signed up for the risky transport runs. Backblast is one of the few who wasn't a flier. As small, all-terrain scout, Backblast would scout the route for Encore, Fanfare and the others, or, if necessary escort them while they were running highly valuable or volatile cargo and, provide cover with the laser cannon he mounted at the time. When the other SJs were put into stasis, Backblast soon followed, finding life somewhat dull and uninteresting once his  favourite hauliers were on ice - and, there were folks who needed that energon far more than he did! Shortly after being defrosted, he saw and chose a Panhard chassis for his altmode, considering that it was quite close to the Cybertronian model he originally wore. He was then immediately deployed to a far outpost to scout and patrol, keeping an eye out for signs of trouble out on the fringe worlds. His patrols complete, Backblast is returning home to hopefully take more of an active role.

MUX History:
In 2017 Backblast was spotted on the campus of the University of Oregon. Later, he returned to Cybertron.

In May of that year Backblast took part in a successful strike against the Decepticon planetary engines under the ruins of Kalis.

2017

 * April 13 - "Isn't a Sagaie an African Spear?" - Buster and Chance investigate a strange vehicle reported on the UO campus.

May 03 - Suspicious Events
The Autobot spinny appears, followed by the dashing (he thinks) face of Backblast. From the looks of things he's in a sniper's hide somewhere on the rooftops of Iacon, or possibly inside one of the damaged building, it's hard to tell. And that's just the way he likes it.

"Just thought I ought to let you know, Autobot Browbeat was acting very strangely earlier. I interrupted an altercation between him and his 'friend' Bluster, and Dust Devil" He smirks. "Then Browbeat started acting very strangely. Much nicer than usual - you know, how an Autobot's supposed to act. I wouldn't normally think much of it, but there was a lot of short-range Con traffic in the air as I followed him to confirm my suspicions. Then one of the Insecticons appeared -presumably, he transformed- and pushed Bluster out of the way, saying that HE was the spy. I call bollocks on that, but we'd best run the usual OpSec reset and keep an eye on both of them, just to be sure."

He cuts the broadcast. But instead of the Autobot spinny, it displays four pieces of old Autobot hobo-sign, with the title 'SNIPER SIGNS - THESE MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE!'. Each symbol's meaning is explained: "Sniper nest - arrow indicates access route" "Kill Zone - arrow indicates location" "Potable energon - arrow indicates safe route" and "Enemy sniper kill zone - arrow indicates unsafe area"

Then the Autobot spinny appears.

May 3 - "The Return of Zetar"
Zetar returns, to Bishop's surprise and disbelief.

May 4 - "Backblast and Cuffs"
Cuffs visits Backblast in his sniper's nest.

Jul 11 - Wild Cybertron with Backblast

 * The autobot spinny appears, then fades away with a fancy effect to reveal the face of Backblast, somewhere in one of Cybertron's more wild areas, somewhere experiencing large growths of technoflora. It's hard to tell where. He appears to be deep under some cyberjungle canopy. Glowing plants surround him, and the air is rich with the hoots and chirps of various Cybertronian lifeforms in this raw, almost primordial area. Somehow, he manages to convey the appearance of exertion.


 * "Evening all." He says, cheerfully, tromping on through the undergrowth, the camera floating ahead of him. "My name's Backblast, and welcome to Wild Cybertron. I'm here well... I'm not going to tell you where I am exactly; I don't want this place spoiled by gawpers and tourists. This is young wilderness, it's fragile, dangerous. But... those of you who are experienced trackers will know how to find this place, without hurting it. For the rest of you... let this be an education, a reminder for if you're ever shot down and stuck out on your own here. And don't worry... I'll also be showing you some easier-to-access sights and places that are... almost as beautiful as this."


 * He takes his hand off his rifle to gesture out ahead of himself, stopping to admire the view. His camera drown pulls back away from him, showing he's stood atop a rocky outcropping overlooking a raw energon waterfall, It turns to show a wide expanse of Amazon-like cyberjungle. There's a slight break in the trees that suggests the course of a slowly widening river, leading to a distant energon lake.


 * The show goes on to explain several survival techniques in the wilderness of Cybertron, and how energon can be surprisingly easy to find now that life is returning to Cybertron. Backblast goes on to show some really nice vistas of Cybertron, including a few places where as well as energon, there's actual water starting to flow.


 * "Next week: Responsible Mudstomping: When is and isn't it acceptable to rip up the terrain? I'll be on Earth, showing some of the good - and bad- things that off-roaders like myself have done."


 * Backblast transforms into his ERC-90 altmode and rolls away. The view fades to black, with the words "Wild Cybertron" in white. The 'o' of Cybertron is the autobot logo.

Jul 24 - Wild Cybertron, Ep 2
The screen goes black, with the white Wild Cybertron logo. Some jaunty, 'adventurous' music plays, and the screen fades to reveal Backblast, stood somewhere on Salisbury Plain military range.

"Good evening everyone, I'm Backblast, and I'm here to talk about something dear to my heart." He sets his rifle butt down and leans the gun casually, taking a sip from a mug of energon tea. "And something that too few of my fellow Autobots think about!"

He glares sternly at the camera a moment. "And that's responsible green-laning. What not a lot of you realise is that these things…" He holds up his arm to show the wheel and tyre assembly. "...can be almost as big a threat to the environment as war and bombs. Whether you're an autobot or a human, or something else entirely, if, like me, you love off-roading, this one's for you." He goes on to demonstrate how on mud or soft ground, wheels can rip up the surface, and over time can radically reshape the landscape. He also goes on to show responsible green-laning projects, either in areas of no other value like abandoned quarries, or in areas where they use large earth-moving equipment to repair the damage done. He, of course, also goes mud-stomping in those areas.

He finishes the show by showing off his amphibious ability by swimming across a small lake, towing a raft with a party on it. "Next week: Cybertron's new fauna: What to avoid, what to nurture, and what can help you."

September 12 - Autobot Attack on Toraxxis
After drugging the Decepticons with an energon additive that made them attack each other, the Autobots move in to capture the Toraxxis mega-refinery.

Nov 05 - New Arrival (Decepticon Board)

 * This message begins with static, both audio and visual, before displaying the Autobot spinny. Backblast's face appears onscreen. From the background, he's at the Rollout Bar.


 * "I know breaking into yer comm-net isn't exactly good manners, but I think you'll forgive me when you figure out why." The battered Autobot sniper sips from a cube of bright green energon "We got problems. Bigger problems than our war. You know I rescued Viper? If you don't, go check outside the hospital yeah? Dude needs some fuckin' help ASAP. Dude got himself kidnapped by the Seacons and then delivered to Unicron cultists. Whatever happened to him caused... some kinda rift in space. This dude showed up out of it."


 * The screen blanks to show the following image:




 * "Now these dudes are Unicronites. Anything they want to happen is bad news, and he's big, burning fiery bad news. Uh. Just thought you should know. Maybe you might wanna call off plan shit on the little guy for a while, before someone shits on us eh?"


 * Autobot spinny, which disintegrates into static as the intrusion countermeasure systems finally locate, and shut down Backblast's broadcast intrusion.

Nov 05 - Big Problems (Autobot Board)
The Suicide Jockey crest appears onscreen, followed by Backblast's face. He's in the Rollout Bar, and his expression is extremely serious. It also has burns, scorchmarks, and holes.

"We got problems." He says, tersely. "Seacons and Unicronites damn-near sacrificed a Con named Viper to Unicron. He's pretty messed up, possibly dead. Didn't leave him there for them to make sure... delivered him back to his own and legged it for here. Either way, they raised this guy."

The screen blanks to show the following image:

Backblast's face re-appears. "Encore tells me he's - what did you say he was called?"

Encore's voice is heard, though the big bot isn't seen. "Th' Fallen. Megatronus, originally. Old, bad news. S'posed to be th' first true Decepticon. Legend has it he's so bad he was too much even for th' Decepticons, so they locked him up in subspace. Or killed him. Or maybe both, it's kindae hard tae filter the legends. "

Backblast nods. "So he's either never dead, or freshly back from the dead, and he's burning bad news. Some emissary of Unicron. This is bigger than our little war. So, I told the Cons."

Autobot spinny

Players

 * Backblast was created and is played by User:AB Encore.