Paladin

Aliases/Titles
The Knight of Transforming Armour

Age
610 Earth years

Gender
Bodily structure, colour scheme, vehicle type, vocal patterns and personality indicate a male 'gender'.

Species
Cybertronian Autobot

History
Paladin was 'born' with an inquisitive and intelligent consciousness, and with a love of history. He was however also a keen-minded soldier, and upon enlisting into the Autobot military - a force of similar beings scattered across the stars - by sentiments of duty, was quickly identified as an excellent tactician and cool-minded warrior. His strong sense of loyalty and duty, as well as his chivalry, won him many friends and allies in battles, even turned Decepticons - an opposing faction of similar beings - over to the Autobot's side.

When endless battles for forty Earth years grew monotnous, Paladin sought new ways to deal crippling blows to Decepticons across the galaxy. He sought deep into old Cybertronian archives to locate known Transformer homeworlds and places of interest. Eventually, he stumbled upon detailed records of the Cybertronian war that consumed the planet. Further reading introduced him to the existence of Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons, who had blasted off into space seeking a power known as The Allspark contained in a device aptly named The Cube. Discovering The Allspark's power, Paladin chose to follow in Megatron's footsteps to locate The Allspark, since, given he had yet to return, he had more than likely failed.

In secret, Paladin blasted off into space, tracing Megatron's progressed from many pieced-together records, and eventually entered the planetary neighbourhood of Earth, circa 1440. He spent another year in orbit around Sol, taking further measurements to locate Megatron and/or The Allspark. He then landed on Earth, in one of the hives of civilisation, in England, but because of their being a distinct lack of any large metallic objects, he was forced to hide very often. Now understanding that Megatron was on Earth and stuck where he was, he followed the lives of people on Earth. He further refined his own personality and its traits when he discovered the existence of English knights, and followed the exploits of numerous ones.

A decade or so later, having travelled the world further to observe its cultures, Paladin closed in on Megatron's position, near to Earth north pole. Cybertronian susceptibility to extreme temperatures saw him frozen in an ice shelf, north of Europe, for the next several centuries.

Eventually, by the passing of ice-breaking ships in the 1980s, Paladin's chunk of ice was dislodged and melted completely some three years later, at which time he moved back onto solid ground to once more observe human culture and re-commence his search for The Allspark. In the mid-2000's, while the Autobots and humans were repelling Decepticon attacks and efforts to retrieve The Allspark, revive Megatron, and turn Earth's machines into an army of more Decepticons, Paladin was fighting a more covert war against them.

Personality
As said previously, Paladin has a very firm sense of duty to to defend and prevent the destruction of good and/or innocent sentient beings. His feelings very much mirror those of Optimus Prime, or are perhaps stronger still. He feels that any being who can think for itself deserve to choose its own fate and make the most of its own abilities, not to be enslaved and oppressed, or ended. He will defend nearly any being with his own life, even though he may not know them.

In battle he upholds a strict moral code, and avoids underhanded techniques as much as possible, unless they are absolutely necessary. He will treat his enemy as an equal, and will never allow them to think of themselves as superior. He gains a certain morbid enjoyment from bringing down those that are arrogant in the extreme.

Vehicle form
Paladin's camouflage vehicle of choice is a metallic-blue Holden Coloradowith silver detailing and secondary colouring. In place of the Holden Lion symbol on the grill is the Autobots emblem. On the back of the tray is a fibreglass roof module which stands above the top of the cab roof, and has completely blacked-out windows. The roof module of the tray, rather than being empty, is, when attached, filled with mechanical parts for use in Paladin's transformations.With the roof module, Paladin weight 4.9 tonnes; without it he weighs 3.7

Centaur Form
In this half-way Transformation state, Paladin takes on a form emulating that of a centaur. The entire cab of the vehicle form goes into making his torso, head and limbs, as evidenced by the V8-engine piston-barrels he has for a 'six pack' and the car doors he bears as shoulder pads and pectoral plates. From behind the front wheels and in front of the rear wheel unfold and twist his four mechanical equine legs, the tires become the joints that connect the legs to the horse part of the body. He can rotate his legs and let the wheels descend to ride on them instead of walk with his legs. The tray of the vehicle form splits in two and slides out of the body to be put to other uses, documented in the Weapons - Tray-Shield section. The rest of the rear portion of the vehicle and the contents of the roof module interlock and then shift to become more rounded streamlined, eventually giving his body the impression of an actual centaur. In this form he is 19 feet and 5 inches tall.

Humanoid Form
Paladin's human form is significantly bulkier and more well-built than the torso of his centaur form, specifically because all the extra materials but towards the equine components are now put towards a full-figured humanoid. In this form, Paladin still retains the V8-six-pack, but the doors of the vehicle form are now both on his torso, two for pectorals, the other two split in half to cover his collarbone and his 'ribs'. In this form, his legs are reverse-jointed, retaining the equine influence of his centaur form. The way they are organised allows for massive jumps and powerful kicks, because of the way in which the legs can build up and maintain a springy tension. The heels of his feet are each a wheel, and so are his calves, the latter of which can slide down and move in-line with those of his heels to allow for rolling travel rather than the walking alternative. On his back he has something resembling a small backpack, which is a series of thrusters. In this form, Paladin 31 feet and 8 inches tall.

Details of Transformation Process
The first signs of Paladin's transformation from vehicle form are indicated by the cab or the vehicle parting from the roof module. From there, the cab rotates to face diagonally down, and then proceeds to visually split into numerous fragments at the same time as the rear of the vehicle. The underside of the rear splits into four quarters, which then descend and swing out as the wheels hold them in place. From there, the legs slide downwards and fold into shape. The glass of the windows descend into the doors, and the glass of the windscreen slides into the roof. From there, the roof lifts up and slides behind the cab, and the front set of doors slide together to meet. From there, the rest of the cab brings itself into a thinner shape that ascends through the interior of the cab until it is roughly lined up with where the doors meet. Then, the whole second lifts up slightly and slides backwards to come diagonally in line with the roof module. As this happens, the rest of the cab transforms - the engine rotates and slides down to become the 'six pack' of the torso, the two rear doors rotate, come out, and rotate once more, under which the arms come out of, having been formed of the rear seats of the interior. The bumper bar of the car frames the abdomen of the V8-six pack, and the majority of the other engine components move about to fill in next to and behind the six pack. From there, the roof panel splits into multiple segments which then slide down and cover the sides of the abdomen and back. From here, two things happen depending on if Paladin is transforming into his centaur or humanoid forms.

When transforming into a centaur, the driveshaft of the vehicle, detailed in the Driveshaft-Lance section, slides forward until almost completely detached from the vehicle. The tray splits in two, and then these two halves slide out from each other while the roof module and the chassis interlock. If these parts are then to be used as the Tray-Shield, they flip on the now-forming equine body and then reconnect, after the pieces have all slanted, which makes for a shield of multiple 'V' shapes which Paladin then picks off his back. Before then, the sides of the rear split and connect to the front of the Tray-Shield, giving it more solidity, and the rear plate attached to the back and gives Paladin a way to hold the shield. If he opts to not use the shield, all these components align themselves across the sides, top and underbelly of his equine body.

The process from Paladin transforming from his centaur to humanoid or from vehicle to humanoid it very much the same from this point. The torso that was nearly fully-transformed rolls completely to flatten against the roof module of the car with the back of the torso. From there, the roof module splits in half horizontally, the top staying with the torso, and the bottom with the legs. Because the roof module is also filled with a series of high-powered boosters, this part of it is integrated into the back, while the remnants interlock with the arms. The rest of the chassis then splits down the middle, and the tires slide towards the very back. The legs of the centaur (or they fold out briefly into that configuration) then come together and fold to become the feet, each knee being a 'toe', and what was the feet of each leg merge to become a rear toe of the larger foot. The mechanisms not used in the legs are slid up the body to bulk up the groin, abdomen, sides and chest of the upper body.

Driveshaft-Lance
Rather than being a single pole or tube of metal, the driveshaft of Paladin's vehicle form is actually four pieces of triangular metal - blades - each of which are three metres long, held slightly away from each other in a '+' pattern. They are all connected to device similar in shape to the chassis of a hand-held minigun, and the two are not that different. At the base of each blade is a section that folds out and fires solid-shelled bullets. The base of each of these blades is attached to a large rotating platform at the front of the minigun-frame. This spins at variable speeds, but fast enough that the blades take on a drill-like effect. At the same time, each bullet can be fired simultaneously while stationary or spinning, and by conduction of energy, a beam can be fired down the gap between all four of the blades. Each blade can also be detached to be used independently, and all four can line up to make one large sword-like weapon.

Tray-Shield
In the process of transforming, the tray of the vehicle's rear separates into halves, which then further separate into long vertical plates. These plates, along with the sides and rear of the tray, form the large shield that Paladin uses, which, because it is formed of multiple 'V' shapes, has a space at the top through which Paladin can safely fire from or lock his lance into. Other than this, the plates can assemble on Paladin's other arm to become a large claw-like weapon, or rotate at hi speeds like circular saw. Another use of the plates is to lock into position on Paladin's back and array themselves into a configuration through which energy can be forced to produce a protective energy shield around the Autobot.

Regenerative Bodily Components and Systems
Like all Transformers, Paladin's components are all able to regenerate themselves when damaged. This process only takes place on the molecular level, but large wounds can close up in a matter of days because of the effectively-guided healing process.

Musical Themes
Halo 3 - This Is The Hour

Transformers - No Sacrifice, No Victory

Transformers - Scorponok