ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
SUB-GROUP: HEADMASTER

HUMAN COMPONENT: SPIKE WITWICKY
FUNCTION: EARTH DEFENSE COMMANDER
FIRST APPEARANCE: HEADMASTERS # 1 (Fortress Maximus), TRANSFORMERS #
38 (Spike Witwicky)

“Prepare for war, but strive for peace.”

Profile: Valiant, courageous, powerful beyond measure, Fortress Maximus
is a warrior without compare, but one whose most fervent wish is never to have
to fight again. All his early life, Fortress Maximus trained as an architect,
becoming the creator of many of Cybertron’s proudest monuments. With his ability
to transform into vast construction bases, many of his creations were crafted
by his own hand. So Fortress Maximus learned to build, not destroy. When war
came, he did not hesitate to turn his gifts to the ways of combat, adapting
one construction base into a repair bay, the other into a battle station. But
as the war spread and he saw his constructions tumble and wall with countless
lives lost in the process, he began to see how pointless and counter-productive
battle was. He began to fight with only one aim in mind – to bring an end to
the senseless conflict. He would fight, but only out of necessity, only to save
other lives. Drawing inspiration from Optimus Prime, Fortress Maximus carried
on his noble work after Optimus disappeared, assuming Prime’s mantle of Autobot
leader. But as the war dragged on, so Fortress Maximus’s ideals dulled, his
purpose lost in one battle after another. Realizing he was losing his very self,
Fortress Maximus and a group of Autobots left Cybertron, bound for the planet
Nebulos, a world where they could live in peace. But the Decepticons followed,
bringing the war with them. To better combat the Decepticons and convince the
Nebulans of their honest intent, Fortress Maximus removed his head, letting
the Nebulan leader Galen replace it. Galen’s body was bio-engineered to combine
with an intermediary form and transform into a facsimile of Fortress Maximus’s
proud visage. Through his mind-link with Galen, Fortress Maximus rediscovered
his purpose. The battle would not be won by turning his back on it. So he returned
to the war, fighting once more, every battle a small step towards his ultimate
goal… the end of all hostilities.

When Galen was killed, the human Spike Witwicky took over as Fortress Maximus’s
binary-bonded partner. Spike, a college student, had no long term plans to continue
in this role, and eventually quit. But as he has continued to find out, the
binary bonding goes deep indeed and his own courage and commitment will be tested
to the full.

Abilities: In both robot and battle station mode, Fortress Maximus is
a walking armory. Retractable pulse cannons (emitting a strong ion beam capable
of disrupting and incapacitating internal circuits), twin automatic machine
gun batteries (wrist mounted in robot mode), twin laser-guided mortars (in lower
legs, robot mode), dual laser blasters (with a heat-seeking target lock system)
and a fusion-powered photon rifle make his firepower second to none. His battle
station is fully equipped with communication, detection and radar equipment,
while his repair bay has extensive re-fit facilities for almost any Transformer
and a wide range of spare parts. From either repair bay or battle station Fortress
Maximus can operate two remote controlled vehicles, Gasket and Grommet, using
them to supply instant battleground first aid/repairs or as offensive/defensive
combat units. When in robot mode, Gasket and Grommet combine to form the radio
controlled warrior/mechanic, Cog. Fortress Maximus’s head transforms into a
robot form called Cerebros, which is controlled entirely by his binary-bonded
partner. Despite his size, Fortress Maximus is both very strong and very fast.
Though seemingly awkward, his bulky configuration moves with well oiled ease.
His greatest asset, though, is his vast intellect and capacity for instant tactical
decisions. To him, crafting an attack is like blueprinting a structure and it’s
almost second nature.

Weaknesses: The many parts of Fortress Maximus, each requiring a portion
of his concentration, sometimes leave the whole vulnerable to attack. When guiding
Gasket and Grommet through a battlefield, he relies almost totally on automated
defense systems to safeguard him from attack. If incapacitated in robot mode,
Fortress Maximus has no choice but to utilize his second robot form, the much
smaller and infinitely more vulnerable Cog. Beyond these slight problems, Fortress
Maximus has no known weaknesses.