Phantom

Profile
"Emotion and rash behavior are the key to victory. Your enemy's victory."

Once unwaveringly loyal to the figurehead of the Decepticon Empire, Phantom now aligns his actions with the dream that is the foundation of that structure. Possessed of an incredibly checkered past, it is unusual that he still functions let alone serves the Empire. A tactician formerly assigned to Aerospace, he has suffered numerous injuries which prevent him from continued service on the frontlines. Once rebuilt to resemble the F-15 Terran fighter craft, Phantom returned to his Pyramid form following his redeployment to Cybertron. While he still retains the weapons of his warrior past, he sees little use for them in his new role as a civil servant within the Empire. Now tasked with little more than maintaining the relationship between the military and the civilian populace, he takes this role as seriously, if not more, than his days as a combatant. Unfortunately, his concern for those under his charge are a significant weakness as Phantom places their well being far ahead of his own.

History
Phantom was a seeker wounded in the 2005 assault upon Cybertron by the planet devourer, Unicron. Refit as a standard F-15 during repairs, he was redeployed to Earth to aid the Decepticon cause there. Indebted to an Autobot for saving his life, Phantom found his loyalties conflicted during the infamous energy leech incursion on the planet, Charr. The Autobot who held this debt was captured by Decepticon forces and implored that the seeker find a way to release him. Torn between honor and duty, Phantom chose some semblance of honor. Utilizing his holographic generators to produce a replica of the Sweep Lord, Scourge, he attempt to free the Autobot, Garrison.

Unfortunately, Phantom got a little overzealous during the rescue attempt and the holo-Scourge attempted to physical intimidate one of the guards. The whole charade revealed, the Garrison and Phantom fled to an Autobot shuttle that was due to return to Cybertron. Imprisoned in Iacon, the seeker found himself judged of having no extraordinary intelligence on the Decepticon war machine and thus useless to the Autobots. Taken in by the Junkion leader at the time, FX, Phantom was re-christened Ghast and taken into hiding. It wasn't long however before the weight of his crimes caught up with him. Refusing to live as an exile and coward, he contacted Scourge and turned himself in to face the consequences of his actions. Unconvinced by FX's protests that the action was suicide, Phantom refused to run anymore.

After some internal discussion, Galvatron (at the urging of Cyclonus) allowed Phantom to live. He was, in fact, cannoned for his crimes although repairs were only withheld briefly. Over the next few years, he engaged in no small amount of mayhem with cohorts such as the Predacon Rampage and the unlucky explorer, Skirmish. For a brief period, Phantom also served as the Commandant of the Decepticon penal facility on Pluto. A full scale riot on the dwarf planet brought that time to a violent climax. Phantom was briefly returned to the front lines before being abducted by individuals unknown during the Monacus Olympics. His assailants staged a murder scene and apparently destroyed his lasercore in what was believed to be some sort of psychological assault on the femme Arachnae.

It was discovered sometime later that Phantom was not, in fact, dead and had instead been interrogated for some unknown purpose. His battered frame was wedged into a cargo crate and cast adrift into instellar space. Only a freak accident of chance led to his being discovered by rogue traders and his scarcely functional remains sold back to the Empire. During the repair and refit (back to his original pyramid jet form) he was deemed too badly damaged to serve the Decepticon cause in combat. Instead, he was reassigned to a civil service role as the Governor of Polyhex. Driven to emulate one of the few Decepticons he looked up to, Airwolf, Phantom dove into his new duties with more zeal than his commanders had seen in some time. Shortly after his appointment to the position he assisted the DCI operative, Scandal, in foiling a plot against the Empire by a group of traitorous individuals led by one known as Artificer.

Since then Phantom has primarily kept to himself. Although he has plans for revitalizing Polyhex, the lack of labor and materials has made this goals somewhat difficult to achieve. For now he simply keeps his head down and makes sure that the city runs as smoothly as possible. His days of dreaming of honor and glory are long gone, replaced with the certainity that all life holds is bitterness and cruelty.

Players
This particular Phantom has had just the one player. In his time at TF:2005, he has also played Mixcal_Ocelotl, Wei_Daoling, Homunculus, Perceptor, Onslaught, Hun-Grr, Scourge, Rodimus_Prime, Flatline, Y2K, Akt-Now, and Dispatch.