“I will not fail my troops—at any cost.”
Function: Field Commander
Faction/Affiliation: Decepticon
Enfilade found her place in life in the ranks of the Decepticon military and has devoted herself to serving it ever since. As a field commander, she believes that her place is on the front lines, coordinating the actions of her troops, rather than safely behind the lines in headquarters, out of touch with the current military situation. She can survey aerial battles in her aircraft mode, which is equipped with rocket launchers on the wings and a Vulcan cannon slung under the belly. In robot mode, aside from rockets on her shoulders and lasers on her forearms, she also carries a grenade launcher. Her heavy armour and natural endurance suit her for long days of fighting, but she does not have the speed, agility or melee skill of a hand to hand fighter—she was built to oversee battles and guide her soldiers, not play the hero herself. In her spare time, Enfilade can be found at work on her life’s goal: a book of military philosophy and strategy. Enfilade is fiercely dedicated to her troops, a loyalty that can get her into trouble when her headstrong nature takes over and she places their welfare over orders from above. She’s been known to get rebukes from higher authorities for disobeying commands when her unit’s best interests are at stake.
What is your character's history?
Looking in Enfilade’s personnel file, the following outline can be found: created at a military factory with the express purpose of field command, top of her class at the War Academy, and a relatively distinguished career marred only by the occasional reprimand for insubordination after she failed to obey orders or acted on her own. About half of these have been pardoned once the circumstances were reviewed.
Buried deeper—found only in the files of one Decepticon former general—is the connection of Enfilade and a former transport corporal named Airlift—marked CLASSIFIED.
Airlift was a former neutral. Disaffected with a mundane life and a restrictive family, who wanted her to go into the family business of transport, Airlift joined the Decepticon army for a chance to advance. Operating as light transport and ground assault, Airlift found her meaning in life in the army, and considered the rest of 895 Transport/Assault Unit as her new family. Always willing to give everything she had to the cause, she performed well…until the day in the field when an Autobot attack killed her immediate superiors and left her in charge of 895. Radioing for advice, a colonel named Cordite, positioned behind the lines, ordered her to hold her position at any cost. Her response that the unit was getting slaughtered drew only a sterner repetition of the order. Airlift did her duty, held the position…and was the only one of 895 Unit left standing when reinforcements arrived.
Several months later, Cordite herself was out in the field with the new 895, including Airlift, when they came under heavy attack and Cordite was badly wounded. Airlift, second in command, saw the situation repeating itself. Presuming Cordite dead, she abandoned prior orders to hold the position and called a withdrawl. When air support arrived, 895 advanced again…only to find Cordite still functional. Once repaired, Cordite hauled Airlift in on court-martial, accusing her of cowardice, disobeying orders, and direct treason. Since Airlift’s action had saved her unit and its equipment, and since Cordite had been so badly damaged, the military tribunal acquitted Airlift…but the shadow hanging over her meant that her military career was essentially over.
Despondent, and with no civilian life to go back to, Airlift leapt at the chance offered to her by a former general who’d gone into semi-retirement to be overseer of a military factory. He’d been impressed with her record (and he didn’t think much of Cordite.) She was rebuilt as Enfilade, a field commander, sent to officer school at the Decepticon War Academy, and left her life as Airlift behind…hopefully forever. She wears a faceplate and blue visor to hide her features, and speaks little of her past…but thanks to Cordite, she still retains a suspicion of the high command.
What are your character's primary goals?
Enfilade’s main goals are to look after her troops and to win the war. She realizes that winning the war will inevitably entail loss of life and has no problem with that; her difficulty is when she believes that lives are being risked /needlessly./ She believes that she, on the front lines with her troops, is a better judge of when a risk is too great than someone in a headquarters far behind the lines. In her spare time, she is forever philosophizing and thinking, in an attempt to come up with the principles of warfare—a set of rules which, if followed, will win the war with minimal losses.
What does your character perceive to be his/her faction's primary goals?
Enfilade is a professional soldier—she essentially defines herself by her involvement with the military. The Decepticon army is her life and she would never betray it. That said, she has no /personal/ hatred for the Autobots…destroying them is purely /business/ and a matter of professional pride and obligation. She knows about the Decepticon dream of expansion, glory of the species, etc, but it has little personal implication for her…her concern is her troops, and she takes little interest in political maneuvers save how they will affect her warriors. She does, however, take pride in recognition for a job well done.
How does your character contribute to his/her faction?
Enfilade’s place is on the front lines of the battlefield. Rather than being the hero who rushes against the enemy, she’s the one who coordinates the movements of her troops—who directs the soldiers to the places where their efforts will have the most effect. She would never want a headquarters job, since she feels that those who stay well behind the lines may be out of touch with the current combat situation. Enfilade can be counted on to be looking out for the best interests of the troops, as well as devising tactics for future battles.
endurance – ruggedness: 8
strength: 7
melee skill - ability to fight with hands: 4
firepower: 6
ranged skill - sharpshooting ability: 6
agility - ability to dodge attacks: 3
intelligence: 8
technical skill: 2
courage: 7
charisma: 7
How do you intend to portray this character?
Enfilade is the sort who’s more comfortable with her peers and subordinates than with her superiors. She does have a tendency to ignore orders if she feels that they put the lives of her troops in danger /for no good reason/--or if she thinks she can come up with a plan that will lessen that danger. The aforementioned being said, Enfilade is fiercely loyal to a commander she /respects/ as someone who takes the well-being of the troops into consideration and who is willing to listen to her opinion. On a regular basis, Enfilade /does/ feel an honour obligation to obey orders, she simply feels a stronger one to protect the lives of her soldiers. She considers anyone under her command as her “child” of sorts and does her best to teach them and defend them.
CREATING ENFILADE: Enfilade was originally designed for The Lost Years MUSH, and the extra information in the bio comes from my application for the character. Usually I make up a character to play a certain role in a fanfic and build the bio around how the character behaves in the story. Filly was “done backwards,” in a sense.
ENFILADE’S THEME SONG: “Crush ‘Em” by Megadeth
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