Baron Alfred Ernst von Budberg (OU)

Baron Alfred Ernst von Budberg is the de facto Prime Minister of Saskana following the planet's secession from the Dominion.

Description
Baron von Budberg is a bearded man who wears a fancy military uniform and a monocle. He speaks with a distinctly German accent.

History
In 150,084 CMT, Baron von Budberg was a member of the Dominion who held the position of Governor of Saskana. When Malygos went into hiding after his ascension was reversed, Budberg took advantage of the resulting power vacuum within the Dominion to organize a coup d'état within the Saskanan military that would secure him direct control of the planet. While Budberg was still in the planning stages of the coup, he conspired with Blackout over a secure line, who pledged to send ZFT forces to Saskana to help Budberg execute the coup in exchange for an "occasional favor" once Budberg had taken office. Budberg thanked Blackout and ended the call.

Later that week, Budberg successfully executed the coup with the assistance of various undercover ZFT ships and seized control of Saskana. He appointed himself as the de facto Prime Minister and withdrew Saskana from the Dominion, inviting other former Dominion territories that had seceded in the wake of Malygos's disappearance to join Saskana and form a new confederation of independent republics. Budberg's next action was to send several commandeered Dominion ships to attack a faction that had allied themselves with the Dominion: the HYDRA forces on Cybertron. The mission was a success and the HYDRA-allied Cybertronians were almost entirely eradicated.

Budberg welcomed the return of the assault team to Saskana on a landing pad, and noticed Mazkertis emerge from one of the ships. A pilot informed Budberg that Mazkertis had aided the Saskanans in their attack on HYDRA, piquing Budberg's curiosity. After Mazkertis introduced himself to Budberg as a great wizard who had chosen to help the 'superior' Saskanans due to their ties to magic, Budberg had Mazkertis accompany him aboard another Saskanan gunship that took off from the landing pad and embarked towards a cluster of spire-like structures on the horizon. However, before the gunship could reach its destination, Perseus and Strika appeared aboard Astrotrain on a collision course for Budberg's gunship, prompting Budberg's pilot to swerve the gunship out of the path of the oncoming vessel. At Mazkertis's behest, Budberg ordered his pilot to fly closer to Astrotrain, hoping that Mazkertis had a plan to deal with the enemy ship. To Budberg's surprise, Mazkertis leaped from the gunship and onto Astrotrain, trying to punch into the cockpit. Mazkertis then disabled Astrotrain with a magic blast, causing it to crash into the sea.

As Budberg watched Astrotrain begin to sink beneath the waves, he wondered aloud whether Perseus and Strika had been intending to kill him or Mazkertis. Budberg's thoughts were then interrupted by a message from Blackout, who told Budberg that he had some "bad news" to impart - Budberg replied that the situation could not be worse than it was already because he thought that Perseus and Strika were trying to assassinate him. When pressed on this by Blackout, Budberg elaborated that he thought that Mazkertis had arrived with the "Cybertronian strike force" (Perseus and Strika) and that Mazkertis had saved him from them. Because Blackout knew the truth of the situation, he called Budberg an idiot and explained how he had been deceived by Mazkertis. Budberg chose to believe Blackout and had his pilot fly the gunship closer to the combatants, where he extended a hand to Perseus and Strika, inviting them aboard the gunship. Perseus used his Red Lantern Ring to drop Strika inside Budberg's gunship, but forwent climbing aboard himself in favor of continuing to battle Mazkertis. Budberg's gunship then reached its destination and touched down on a platform connected to the spires, delivering Budberg and Strika to safety while the Battle of Saskana continued to rage between Mazkertis and the various factions that had gathered against him and each other.

At the conclusion of the Battle of Saskana, Budberg offered to provide Captain Eurobeat, the Full Frontal Fighting Force, Strika, and Niflheim with hotel rooms free of charge in return for their efforts against Mazkertis. All six accepted Budberg's offer and stayed in the Saskanan hotel overnight, but Niflheim left early the following morning (Day 1 of The Mazkertis Paradox arc) once Eurobeat had briefed him on the Mazkertis situation and the relationships between the various factions that had fought in the Battle of Saskana.