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Sandstorm is secretly the Covenant member Scorpius, a hard-shelled mystery of a robot, wrapped in a soft-shelled cover-identity and cemented by a tasty bean-paste of lies.
The Covenant's resident expert on court intrigue, Scorpius's billions of years of experience made him a natural to survey the deepening crisis on Cybertron due to Shokaract. He did so with gusto, immediately vanishing into a cover identity so thoroughly that even the Covenant couldn't contact him. His rise to power paralleled Shokaract's, and Sandstorm eventually ascended to become the leader of the (much diminished) Predacons, leading the anti-Shokaract rebels in the sub-levels under Iacon.
Fiction[]
Reaching the Omega Point[]
Present, and presumably ill-affected, by the coming of the Chronarchitect, Scorpius was among his fellow Covenanti during Leonicus' assessment of the god's warning. He was then instructed to examine the political situation on Cybertron, which was apparently his "forté".
Between this point, Scorpius takes on the identity of Sandstorm, and rises to leadership of the diminished Predacon ranks, taking arms against Shokaract. As Sandstorm, he presents The Veteran with the idea of merging with the spark of the grievously wounded herald-in-training, the Cub. Though The Veteran naturally has misgivings, he accepts, and the process is a success: Windrazor is born.
As Windrazor attempts to follow Cataclysm back in time, Sandstorm appoints himself with the task of recruiting the legends of J'nwan. His struggle through that area is arduous, the bizarre topography of J'nwan at times overwhelming his senses. All the other Transformers accompanying him lose their minds, their lives, or both. Even his faith is tested, but he does eventually find the J'nwan's occupants. The Authority is elected to speak to him, and despite Sandstorm's entreaties, they do not want to help. His task is hampered by the fact that when they commune with each other, Sandstorm cannot understand the complexity of their "language", if it could be called that. Defeated, Sandstorm is forced to leave. Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox
As the Covenant engage Shokaract on Earth during the Beast Wars, Leonicus bemoans Scorpius' absence, attributing to it their initial lack of success, and the destruction of several of their members. However, just after the return to the fray of heralds Cataclysm and Antagony, Sandstorm appears, assuring Windrazor and Optimus Primal that there is one more hand to be played. He stipulates that they do nothing: the instability of the Dark Essence of Unicron, the source of Shokaract's power will eventually cause it to snap back to its own time, resetting the timeline. Bizarrely, his plan is assisted by the actions of the treacherous dragon Megatron, who attacks the Dark Essence directly. Sandstorm also brings with him a veritable army of Beast Warriors from alternate timelines.
Suddenly, Sandstorm attacks one of his allies. Transforming into his scorpion form, he goes to Shokaract, who welcomes him as his herald. Initially, Primal and the others are shocked, but soon Leonicus recognizes him as Scorpius, and realizes what is about to happen. Sure enough, Scorpius betrays Shokaract, stripping away the dark cloak that kept the tyrant invincible, and finally throwing away the long pretense. However, Shokaract is by no means defeated and, transforming, destroys Scorpius. His death, however, could not have been less in vain. Not only did his efforts on J'nwan turn out to be successful, as Autobot and Decepticon legends Optimus Prime, Megatron, Soundwave, and Grimlock join the battle, but the destruction of the dark cloak allows his covenant brethren to become energy, and destroy Shokaract from within. Terminus
Toys[]
Beast Wars[]
- Sandstorm (BotCon 1999)
- Accessories: 2 missiles
- Sandstorm is a grey/brownish and orange redeco of Scorponok. A lever on the tail makes it stab outward. One claw features a spring-loaded "cyber-bee", while the other features two spring-loaded missiles. As with many early Beast Wars molds, Sandstorm has a regular robotic head as well as a mutant head that closes over his robot face.
- This mold was also used to make Double Punch.
Notes[]
- Early in production, Sandstorm was going to be named Quicksand. The change marked a strengthening of the bonds between 3H and Hasbro, as both Botcon '99 toys were given names Hasbro already held trademarks for.
- The text of Reaching the Omega Point describes Sandstorm with normal hands.