Aphelion

Aphelion is the Commander of Team Kalis from a fictive multiverse in the Transformers Animated continuity.

Aphelion is a Decepticon flyer and the current Commander of Team Kalis, a special elite-task force under Megatron's command. It was once an almost-defunct team until Megatron assigned Aphelion to it, banking on the mech's staunch will and promise of atonement that it would stay afloat and stabilise itself as a proper task force. He was originally a famous resident of Cybertron's Crystal City, and a Head Scientist of research projects on Autobot transportation functions such as flight-alternative mode. But upon undergoing a sabbatical and cathartic journey far from the confines of Crystial City tore away the blinding lights from his optics to realise the truth of the cruel world he lived in.

Aphelion always carried himself with grace and dignity, a trait he upholds ever since he was an Autobot, and as such was constantly ridiculed by Decepticons. He was also less inclined to get his servos and plates dirty, and rather has his team do the job for him, not unless a situation calls for his presence in the battlefield. Nevertheless, he prefers to fight in the skies where he is confident of his aerial control. He always makes plans ahead and can be inclined to spontaneity if it benefits his team.

The flyer has a lack of weapons, preferring swift manoeuvres and battlefield tactics to deter his enemies. But occasionally he would bring out a sniping rifle as tall as his own height, with a 3-4 second reload speed and equipped with 5-ft. bullet rounds. His disguised earth alt-mode is the F/A-18 Hornet.

"You made me scrape my own paint on my base... You will perish, Autobot." - Aphelion on a particularly bad day.

History
Aphelion grew up during the finest time of fiscal growth and stabilisation in "Upper" Cybertron, mainly based in Crystal City among the finest and most wealthy of mechs. He was a spoiled child, with everything delivered to him at his beck and call, but was not one to renounce the value of education, since it was readily available to him. A slew of mentors and colleagues educated him with Cybertronian arts, astronomy, metallurgy, but found his calling in the astrosciences. And thus has been his life in the lap of luxury, and while growing up--became too proud of personal successes and the attention mechs and femmes showered him. Stellarcycles of this treatment made Aphelion incredibly egotistic and selfish. Backlash was imminent, coming from philanthropists and economists alike. But the knowledge and money in the right hands is powerful, specifically for Aphelion. He bought the best things to support his affluent lifestyle, paid off people to earn his special privileges, and meanwhile amassed a network of friends and colleagues. He was easily part of the most powerful families that controlled Cybertron and became the most rigid foundation of corruptions to have ever planted its seeds in Cybertron. All of this has been achieved before Aphelion took enough exams and made enough scientific papers to grant him access to Autobot laboratories, furthering his studies and experimentation in Autobot flight.

He was the object of ire and loathing, contrary to what Aphelion expected the moment he entered the Autobot science ministry. Money does not sway the mind, and that uncomfortable reality didn't sit with Aphelion. No one would dare stay long enough in the same room with him. Nobody sits with him at the mess hall. The annual scientific debates turned to personal parties against everything he stands for. Support from his own peers was futile at best, and he resorted to begging before his professors to test his work. It did not last long for Aphelion to feel loneliness and pain eating away at his sanity. And then no one made any effort down the line. It was as if he just vanished completely. What "friends" he earned was all in it for business, such as Perceptor, who did not care, as long as the relationship did not hinder any scientific developments at all. This forced him to adapt and renew himself--dedicating whatever influence he has in this field to the pursuit of his own craft. Stellarcycles upon stellar cycles of work forced a stranglehold over his ego, and everything his attitude had built up to this point crumbled and fell back to unrelenting depression and unchecked insanity. Aphelion longed for contact, no matter where it came from.

Thus came his series of soft and hard flings and one night stands. He took breaks every week to wind down and go back to his old lifestyle to let his ego breathe in the finer lifestyle of Cybertron. He missed the hard grade, the curvaceous femmes, the spotlight. He soaked in his own ego, from one party to another. He brought his ladies to his workplace, much to the frustration of other mechs, but for all the effort he tried to make, he felt renewed. Strengthened and intoxicated once again with whatever reputation he handled. Unabashed, he was challenged by one of his colleagues at work who could not handle his attitude, and threatened to have him kicked out of the ministry. It took a single lewd night outside and an extremely willing femme to shut the mech up for good.



But his interest for femmes made a complete shut down when he had his sights set on a fellow Autobot scientist. A little bit of cornering and seduction, and the mech fell to his knees. And once more, Aphelion was another mech with a new set of interests and intoxications. It gave more leeway to put a stranglehold on the depression that was eating painfully at his spark. At the very least, his victims were some of the ministry scientists themselves. But he made the mistake of earning the unwanted and unneeded interest of one Autobot officer designated Springer, who came to visit Perceptor, but found the infamous flyer in his stead. What started as a fling ended up becoming an almost long-term affair, and Aphelion became nervous for his own deep-seated issues and his curiosity for "commitment".

Cybertron's once strong community was crumbling under the weight of corruption, with the strong resistance rumbling underneath, angry to those who were wealthy and blindsided by greed. There were strong whispers of rebellion and 'Decepticon' heard from near and far, and what started as small guerrillas turned to full blown chaotic bombings and violent thefts and murders. Aphelion was one of the mechs predominantly targeted, much to his fear and frustration. And on the specific day of the annual science debate, Aphelion's estate was ransacked and burned down to the ground. That day was one of the most significant events that made the Decepticon presence known and feared. The Decepticon Leader, Megatron, vandalised and stamped the Decepticon mark on his burning home-- which bewildered and destroyed the last vestiges of Aphelion's sanity.

The image of Megatron haunted Aphelion and tore down all his walls. He admitted to lying and manipulating his Autobot lover, cursed and condemned the very institution that he served for nearly most of his life, and nearly threw his credits down the drain on one evening of utter despair when he was swiftly knocked out and kidnapped by Decepticon supporters. It had seemed even a mech such as he earned the interest of the Decepticon Leader himself.

Placed on a scaffolding and bound with chains, Decepticons deliberated his fate, and death was the only thing that sufficed. But Megatron was scathingly kind and merciless, to have given him a second chance with no way out except for death. Aphelion would have needlessly chosen death, but he was directed to all the mechs and femmes whose lives he destroyed with his own decisions and selfish acts. It was either a death set up that will leave his spark soaking in guilt forever more, or a second life and a chance at atonement. Megatron easily sets himself as a pillar and stronghold in Aphelion's life and simply gave him a shambled team to prove his worth. Megatron knew Aphelion had the makings of a leader with a graceful strength, and an untapped well of humility... He just needed to know which strings to pull.

Team Kalis
Previously based closer to Megatron, Aphelion was assigned as the "Commander" of their Three-Man-Team, consisting of Smooth Talk, and Grave.

The team was inconsistent and unorganized during the first half of the stellar cycle. With Aphelion still bearing the mark of the notorious Autobot socialite-scientist, the two Decepticons under his command were loathed to cooperate, most especially Smooth Talk, who did not take kindly to the knowledge of Aphelion's past. But after several stellar cycles in passing, and a lot of uneasy friendships and grueling misadventures, Team Kalis succeeded in their efforts to come together as a group and become one of Megatron's most feared special task force.

Smooth Talk eased up to Aphelion after several years, and Aphelion himself found the tank the most endearing part of his shaky and second chance at life. He fell in love before he even noticed it, but could not hold the chance to commit or destroy whatever relationship he had with Saint. But after several trysts and missions would find out that Saint shared the same feelings. And as of present, Saint remained to be Aphelion's conjunx endura.