Character name: Barricade Character journal:namesnotprowl Altered History: Barricade’s past has changed… or rather, it hasn’t. Barricade was never dropped through a portal into Axiom Nexus before the Fallen rose again (as it were), and was never ripped away from his own death in Chicago to live on a space station called Sacrosanct. His life continued as it was supposed to… for better or for worse. He still severed his connections with the Decepticons in 2007 and was in hiding until 2009. At that point – when he had been pulled to Axiom – he instead let his obsession with revenge for Frenzy get the better of him and went after Bumblebee and Sam on his own. He had the tar beaten out of him by Bumblebee, which thoroughly quelled any desire for a future attempt at vengeance and also sent him crawling back to rejoin the Decepticons. He spent much of the action of Revenge of the Fallen recovering from his injuries at Bumblebee’s hands. While he was sitting around he also took the initiative to hook himself into the Internet to try to keep up with N.E.S.T’s movements around the globe – he’d learned their usual containment language and it was helpful up until the Fallen revealed their presences. If nothing else, it kept him occupied and possibly even kept a few other Decepticons alive for a while. He recovered from these injuries in time to have his aft handed to him once again by Bumblebee (with a little help from Mirage and Que), and once again had to limp away to lick his wounds. As with the last time he connected to the Internet to keep tabs on Decepticon interests – or at least things that the Decepticons might find interesting or exploitable. Point in fact, he was the one that suggested Chicago as their base for the beginning of the invasion; with its number of waterways and few real exits the city could be quickly locked down and fortified against intruders. Unfortunately he would live to regret the decision; rather than dying – or being whisked away to another dimension – he played dead long enough for the soldiers that shot his legs off to grow bored and leave. He had to cauterize his own lines with one of his on-board rifles to keep from bleeding out. Even so, he would have perished if not for the intervention of Flatline and a small squad of Lensmeters. Barricade had the distinction of being the only officer to survive the Decepticon defeat at Chicago and has since taken over at leader of the Decepticons. He goes by the name of Lord High Protector and has nearly single-handedly managed to keep the remaining Decepticon forces alive. He directs them from an abandoned underground mine, instructing his troops in how to stay off of the Autobots’ radar… and how to fight back. They have been trying to pick off the remaining Autobots through hit-and-run tactics, using N.E.S.T’s own energon detectors as traps across the globe. What Barricade is really waiting for, though, is for another Autobot ship to arrive. Once one does, he’s going to get himself and his remaining forces off of Earth to find somewhere more hospitable to colonize.
Altered Personality: The differences between the Barricade that is and the Barricade that could have been are stark for anyone that knows him… or thinks they know him. Gone is the charming, flirty, irreverent mech; Barricade dispensed with that mask long ago. He no longer hands out pet nicknames or mercilessly teases people when he’s bored. Everyone that made that entertaining for him is long-dead, and even ignoring that he doesn’t have the time or patience for it any more. He has more important things to do, like being a leader. Instead he is what he always was deep down – calculating, ruthless, and uncaring. The only difference is that now he doesn’t care who sees that. He isn’t plagued by a hatred for Soundwave because Soundwave never tormented him… and in fact he’s more than willing to use his own data extraction cables on whoever happens to be convenient. The loss of all the people he cared for has left him incredibly bitter. There is no chance that he will see them again because as far as he’s concerned, the world doesn’t work like that. He doesn’t see his soldiers as people anymore, but simply as tools. They are something for him to use in whatever goal he happens to be trying to accomplish. He never met Autobots or Primes that he could respect, let alone trust, so anyone carrying the Autobot brand is an enemy and needs to be eradicated. Preferably by someone he can convince into doing it for him; while he may be more accomplished with his long-range weapons now, he has no desire to engage in combat. More notable is his lack of shame and guilt over what he does. Without the social influence of Axiom Nexus, Sacrosanct, or even the Haven, he doesn’t feel a need to keep up social appearances and doesn’t truly realize that he shouldn’t be pleased with coring out someone’s processor. It’s not as though anyone is going to tell him to stop after all. Not unless they want a shotgun slug in the face. Barricade is not going to know what to make of what he finds in the Haven at all. Who was this imposter on the network, pretending to be him and walking around and – worse – flirting with that Autobot scum that is everywhere? Who are these people claiming the names of mechs he’s known when they aren’t like them at all. Clearly they are all fakes; it’s the only explanation. Getting him on friendly terms will be a trial for anyone that tries, since attempts will be met with suspicion and probably violence. Without his guards he’s going to assume that the majority of people around are threats to him in some way or another, even if they aren’t liars. How well violence will work is up for debate, of course. While he is armed – and will find the other-him’s shotgun and its holster useful – he is still only one mech, stuck in a wheelchair.
Altered Appearance: Barricade is much the same as he normally is, with two major differences. The first is that his face is at appears in canon; he never met TransTech Shockwave so he never had his face altered. Point in fact, the glass of three of his optics are shattered, courtesy of snipers in Chicago. He can still see through them, he just never bothered to replace them. The second is significantly more obvious. His legs were blown off at the knee and remain that way, with Barricade able to get around solely through the use of a wheelchair similar to those used in wheelchair rugby. He has too much pride to allow himself to be carried.
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Character journal:
Altered History: Barricade’s past has changed… or rather, it hasn’t. Barricade was never dropped through a portal into Axiom Nexus before the Fallen rose again (as it were), and was never ripped away from his own death in Chicago to live on a space station called Sacrosanct. His life continued as it was supposed to… for better or for worse. He still severed his connections with the Decepticons in 2007 and was in hiding until 2009. At that point – when he had been pulled to Axiom – he instead let his obsession with revenge for Frenzy get the better of him and went after Bumblebee and Sam on his own. He had the tar beaten out of him by Bumblebee, which thoroughly quelled any desire for a future attempt at vengeance and also sent him crawling back to rejoin the Decepticons. He spent much of the action of Revenge of the Fallen recovering from his injuries at Bumblebee’s hands. While he was sitting around he also took the initiative to hook himself into the Internet to try to keep up with N.E.S.T’s movements around the globe – he’d learned their usual containment language and it was helpful up until the Fallen revealed their presences. If nothing else, it kept him occupied and possibly even kept a few other Decepticons alive for a while.
He recovered from these injuries in time to have his aft handed to him once again by Bumblebee (with a little help from Mirage and Que), and once again had to limp away to lick his wounds. As with the last time he connected to the Internet to keep tabs on Decepticon interests – or at least things that the Decepticons might find interesting or exploitable. Point in fact, he was the one that suggested Chicago as their base for the beginning of the invasion; with its number of waterways and few real exits the city could be quickly locked down and fortified against intruders. Unfortunately he would live to regret the decision; rather than dying – or being whisked away to another dimension – he played dead long enough for the soldiers that shot his legs off to grow bored and leave. He had to cauterize his own lines with one of his on-board rifles to keep from bleeding out. Even so, he would have perished if not for the intervention of Flatline and a small squad of Lensmeters.
Barricade had the distinction of being the only officer to survive the Decepticon defeat at Chicago and has since taken over at leader of the Decepticons. He goes by the name of Lord High Protector and has nearly single-handedly managed to keep the remaining Decepticon forces alive. He directs them from an abandoned underground mine, instructing his troops in how to stay off of the Autobots’ radar… and how to fight back. They have been trying to pick off the remaining Autobots through hit-and-run tactics, using N.E.S.T’s own energon detectors as traps across the globe. What Barricade is really waiting for, though, is for another Autobot ship to arrive. Once one does, he’s going to get himself and his remaining forces off of Earth to find somewhere more hospitable to colonize.
Altered Personality: The differences between the Barricade that is and the Barricade that could have been are stark for anyone that knows him… or thinks they know him. Gone is the charming, flirty, irreverent mech; Barricade dispensed with that mask long ago. He no longer hands out pet nicknames or mercilessly teases people when he’s bored. Everyone that made that entertaining for him is long-dead, and even ignoring that he doesn’t have the time or patience for it any more. He has more important things to do, like being a leader. Instead he is what he always was deep down – calculating, ruthless, and uncaring. The only difference is that now he doesn’t care who sees that. He isn’t plagued by a hatred for Soundwave because Soundwave never tormented him… and in fact he’s more than willing to use his own data extraction cables on whoever happens to be convenient.
The loss of all the people he cared for has left him incredibly bitter. There is no chance that he will see them again because as far as he’s concerned, the world doesn’t work like that. He doesn’t see his soldiers as people anymore, but simply as tools. They are something for him to use in whatever goal he happens to be trying to accomplish. He never met Autobots or Primes that he could respect, let alone trust, so anyone carrying the Autobot brand is an enemy and needs to be eradicated. Preferably by someone he can convince into doing it for him; while he may be more accomplished with his long-range weapons now, he has no desire to engage in combat. More notable is his lack of shame and guilt over what he does. Without the social influence of Axiom Nexus, Sacrosanct, or even the Haven, he doesn’t feel a need to keep up social appearances and doesn’t truly realize that he shouldn’t be pleased with coring out someone’s processor. It’s not as though anyone is going to tell him to stop after all. Not unless they want a shotgun slug in the face.
Barricade is not going to know what to make of what he finds in the Haven at all. Who was this imposter on the network, pretending to be him and walking around and – worse – flirting with that Autobot scum that is everywhere? Who are these people claiming the names of mechs he’s known when they aren’t like them at all. Clearly they are all fakes; it’s the only explanation. Getting him on friendly terms will be a trial for anyone that tries, since attempts will be met with suspicion and probably violence. Without his guards he’s going to assume that the majority of people around are threats to him in some way or another, even if they aren’t liars. How well violence will work is up for debate, of course. While he is armed – and will find the other-him’s shotgun and its holster useful – he is still only one mech, stuck in a wheelchair.
Altered Appearance: Barricade is much the same as he normally is, with two major differences. The first is that his face is at appears in canon; he never met TransTech Shockwave so he never had his face altered. Point in fact, the glass of three of his optics are shattered, courtesy of snipers in Chicago. He can still see through them, he just never bothered to replace them. The second is significantly more obvious. His legs were blown off at the knee and remain that way, with Barricade able to get around solely through the use of a wheelchair similar to those used in wheelchair rugby. He has too much pride to allow himself to be carried.