Transformers Universe Autobot

Sandstorm

Allegiance: Autobot

Function: Reconnaisance

"When the smoke clears, I've cleared out."

Profile: "Eat my dust" is Sandstorm's motto. He particularly enjoys quoting this as Decepticons are vainly pursuing him. Always willing to take the most death-defying risks, Sandstorm likes to get close enough to the enemy during his patrols so he can count the number of bolts in a Decepticon's armor plate. Only by being so daring, by getting his fuel pumping so strongly that he feels his internal circulatory hoses about to burst, does Sandstorm truly feel functional. He likes to live on the edge. Anything less than dangerous he finds boring, and when he's bored he's more likely to be in danger since his concentration lapses. Sandstorms fears only one thing: an end to the war. With no enemy to spy upon, he worries he will have no further useful purpose.

Abilities: In both helicopter and buggy modes, Sandstorm is adept at directing his rotor blades and exhaust at the ground to whip up blinding clouds of dust and sand. As a helicopter, he can go 200 mph and has a range of 8000 miles. In buggy mode, his 4-wheel drive allows him to traverse the roughest terrains. He can reach a speed of 100 mph and has a range of 500 miles. In robot mode, he uses a sandblaster gun, which shoots a high-speed stream of glassy silicate particles that rapidly erodes anything it hits. A non-stop barrage of the particles aimed at a foot-think concrete wall would create a five-foot-wide hole in less than two minutes.

Weaknesses: Although extremely maneuverable in helicopter mode, Sandstorm is also extremely fragile. Even a small explosion near his rotor assembly can cause him to crash. In buggy mode, he is often a victim of breakdowns in his wheel assembly due to dirt and sand getting into his axles, a result of his many off-road meanderings.

Sandstorm was an Autobot Triple Changer (Robot/helicopter/dune buggy).

Cartoon Bio (US):

Sandstorm first appeared in 2006 as the leader of a group of Autobots on the planet Paradron who had fled Cybertron long time ago to escape the fighting . However, the Decepticons Cyclonus and Scourge went through a portal which led them to Paradron and the currently pacifist Autobots. Sandstorm was the first to take arms against the Decepticons, while the other Autobots on the planet tried to convince themselves that the Decepticons where not so bad. When Galvatron arrived, he easily took control and made Sandstorm prisoner . He nonetheless managed to escape and journeyed to Cybertron where Rodimus agreed to help him. In the end, Rodimus decided that the only way to deny Galvatron Paradron's resources was by destroying the entire planet.

Later on, Sandstorm became friends with Octane, who had recently left the Decepticon army.

Article submitted by Cedrick Rozon

Comic Bio (UK):

Sandstorm and his fellow Autobot Triple Changers (Springer and Broadside) filled in Ultra Magnus's gap when Magnus left for Earth. They pretended to be Decepticons, savagely beating and humiliating Impactor (leader of the Wreckers), after which they revealed their true identity.

Sandstorm, with Broadside and Inferno, made up the Autobot Advance Surveillance Unit sent to Earth by Emirate Xaaron. There, they came across a firebug and nearly destroyed a human settlement during Christmas. The Autobot Powermasters (Joyride, Getaway and Slapdash) pursued and attacked them, thinking that they were malicious Decepticons. Sandstorm probably joined Optimus Prime's forces after this time.