.....wall of text incoming, pictures at bottom:
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Excerpt from transcript of prisoner interrogation.
Subject: Iron Grenadier General Voltar
Interrogator: "I would like to ask you now about the events that transpired just outside Paris."
Voltar: "No...please...no."
Interrogator: "I'm afraid that I must insist. As I have read in several reports on the battle that took place there, our forces were very successfully defending the city against Serpentor's forces, right up until...well, perhaps you should tell me."
Voltar: "I've already given my report to Destro! Everything is in there!"
Interrogator: "Herr Voltar, you are a highly decorated general, and, previously, well respected within the Iron Grenadiers. Because of these reasons, I have shown you the respect of simply asking you these questions. However, if you continue to avoid answering, I fear I must become...how should I say?...less civilized."
Voltar: "No! Please! Not the serum...I'll talk. It's just like I told Destro...my men had Serpentor's forces beat. His general, Napoleon, had all but ordered a full retreat. I was in my command post, going over our defenses, when one of my troopers entered and said there was something I needed to see. I followed him outside, and he handed me a pair of binoculars. In the distance, I saw this...pod...just hovering over the battlefield. That's when the gunfire erupted...within our own ranks! My soldiers were killing each other! Men who had been friends and loyal Iron Grenadiers for years, opening fire on one another! Before I could react, my head began to throb....and then...."
Interrogator: "Continue!"
Voltar: *sobbing* "I...I can't...."
Interrogator: "Then let me finish for you, Herr Voltar. And then you drew your sidearm, shot the trooper who had summoned you, and proceeded to order a full surrender of our forces in Paris, costing us the city and allowing Serpentor's forces to gain a tighter hold on Europe! Does that about sum it up, 'General'?"
Voltar: *sobbing*
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Personal Journal Excerpt:
Source: General Overlord
I know I risk drawing the Emperor's ire, but I do not care! I refuse to have that monster among my forces! I know they say Crystal Ball was instrumental in several of our European victories, including our capture of Paris, but I will not tolerate the presence of someone who can look into my mind and control my actions! The troops fear him as well. No one is certain of his origins or background. There is even a rumor going around that he was cloned from the genetic material of Grigori Rasputin, whose DNA was collected for the creation of the Emperor but never used. Whomever he is, he is dangerous. His 'Mastermind' chariot, that monstrosity that Mindbender created for him, amplifies his power enough to allow him to control up to two dozen minds at once, and his abilities may not yet have reached their ceiling. How are we to know that he won't one day use our own forces against us? Serpentor takes too much solace from the fact that his mind, and the minds of his Council of Ten, cannot be manipulated due to the cloning process which created them. All that means is that they may be the last ones left to face a brainwashed hoard!
.....and now the pictures:
Crystal Ball:
Parts:
Head: POTC Sao Feng (modified)
Everything else: VvV Mindbender
The Mastermind Chariot:
Parts:
-SW Senate Pod
-Cobra Pogo body
-Crusader engine cone
-Console from SW Bacta Tank playset
-ML Mojo BAF part
-VvV Brainwave Scanner
-radar dish from Neutralizer
-SW Yoda hover-chair
-DTC Salvo Range Finder
-ML War Machine flames
-Scrap styrene
For a character I never really put a lot of thought into, I sure threw a lot of effort into his vehicle. The figure itself, I wanted to keep minimalistic. I modeled his look after Rasputin from the Hellboy series. For the vehicle, I wanted something that looked like it came from an old sci-fi movie.