Disclaimer- These charactors are not mine save for Quasarah, Terricon and Probegrip.
ERASED
The overwelming urge to flee embraced Quasarah the moment she set foot in the decepticon fortress. Only the urgency of her mission and those relying on her kept her mind focused on what she had to accomplish.
No one was coming…Quasarah slinked unnoticed through the dark empty corridor, peeking cautiously around every corner and avoiding every intruder detection device planted on the walls. She was very good at this, though not to her own satisfaction. She had even been caught once.. the memory of her experience seared long, jagged cuts of fear through her system…
'Keep your mind on your mission' she thought angrily at herself…but it was too late…a mental picture of Megatron's raised fist and merciless eyes caused her to momentarily cringe as if the decepticon leader were there before her to give her another thrashing. She feared him more than anything else…possibly even death.
Before that particular encounter it had taken quite a bit of doing to even strike a hint of fear within Quasarah's entire system…Megatron changed her forever…
Coming out of her thoughts rather abruptly, Quasarah realized she had tripped one of the alarms; a small red-lighted button on the far wall now flashed excitedly…
"No.." She muttered, agast at her own inattentiveness. Immediately she heard distant footsteps and angry voices. She cursed herself bitterly then dodged into the room containing the object of her mission….the base-design microchip. Not caring about precision anymore Quasarah smashed the glass outer casing and palmed the chip. She examined the prize before placing it safely in her chip containment unit, the tiny opening on her left arm emitting a small hiss as it sealed itself once again. She then turned to make a hasty retreat…pausing suddenly, her equivalent of blood ran cold through her gears….Starscream blocked her only way out! He leveled his laser equipped arm at her and smirked regally. "Once not enough for you, autobot?" He asked sarcastically.
Quasarah went from statue to action before Starscream even had the chance to fire.In a blur of motion she launched a spare glass container towards him… the decepticon instinctively switched from offense to defense, raising his arms to shield his face… he had no way of seeing Quasarah's feet following the projectile as it shattered all over him… then with all her strength she planted both feet into his chest knocking him completely off the ground to land clear across the corridor in a heap against the far wall.
"Once suits me just fine.." She spat at the now barely conscious Starscream, smiling coyly at him as she ran past to dart around a corner. She could hear him hurling obscenities at her as she fled, his screechy voice fading with the distance she was putting between them. After a few moments she heard more footsteps! Much louder this time…much closer. She quickly found an open door and ran inside to flatten herself against the wall just inside the doorway.
(Clank, Clank, Clank) "She went this way!"(Clank, Clank, Clank, clank, clank, tap, tap…..)
Quasarah sighed audibly, her metallic dragon-like wings sagging with relief for a moment before she straightened herself up again to contemplate some means of escape. Then she remembered the last time she was here (when she wasn't daydreaming or tripping alarms) she had subconsciously mapped out an emergency escape route over in the West Wing, which was not to far from her current position.
Taking a deep breath of unsettled air, Quasarah flung herself out into the corridor, running as fast as her metal appendages would propel her. Turning a corner she wasn't surprised at all to hear laser blasts bouncing off the curved metallic wall as she passed… 'Optimus is going to kill me when he find out..' she thought to herself as she stole a fleeting glance behind her…'me, one of his best spies…spotted for a second time!'
"Stop her!" Starscream barked from quite a distance away. 'Good' she thought, 'at least I have a head start.' With a leap at full running speed, the corridor filled with the sound of her transformation. Her elegant wings forming the wings of her 'bat-plane' like form as she shot down the hall with a burst of speed.
Quasarah burst out of the corridor into a large domed room…she circled a moment before spotting the round sealed portal at the top of the dome high above. She then began a rapid ascent, spiraling gracefully as she cut the air.
Starscream, Soundwave and Shockwave cleared the corridor only seconds after their intruder, they quickly spotted her and began firing. Laser blasts exploding all around her, Quasarah transformed back to her original form just before she reached the top of the dome, her hand extending upward to grasp the metal handle attached to the portal she sought.
"There's no escape, autobot!!" Starscream cried maliciously then leapt into the air after her, transforming to jet form as he left the ground. Shockwave and Soundwave continued firing.
"Laserbeak. Rumble. Eject." Soundwave's charismatic commands were instantly obeyed, his chest cassette compartment opening to release his counterparts. Laserbeak and Rumble emerged into the air transforming as they went…they landed before the ominous Soundwave and awaited further instructions. The large decepticon pointed upward where Quasarah was currently struggling with the portal trying to twist the handle into submission, Starscream rapidly closing on her. "ATTACK." He ordered in dramatic monotone.
"Open, damn you.." Quasarah pleaded through clenched teeth…below her Starscream was coming at her fast, firing all the way.
"I'm going to enjoy watching you take your last breath, autobot!" He taunted…His threats did nothing to thwart her efforts to open the portal. She knew Starscream to be mostly all talk…though just as she felt the handle budge, a laser blast struck home…her back exploded with pain and she nearly fell from her position clinging to the bar. An audible cry of surprised pain erupted from her small form, her delicately featured face twisting in a mask of agony. Starscream rolled out just as he would have collided with the top of the dome, his laughter cutting Quasarah like a knife.
"You're coming down whether you want to or not!" Rumble transformed his arms into the cylindrical piledrivers that earned him his name and began pounding the ground violently.
Shockwave stopped firing and took off down the previously exited corridor to some unknown location. Laserbeak ascended straight up at the wounded autobot, upon reaching Quasarah, the bird-like decepticon swooped down on her repeatedly, clawing and biting, trying to make her fall to her death. Quasarah fought to hold onto the portal and twist the handle at the same time.. it was a losing battle with the blinding pain clouding her mind, the shaking, lurching dome and Laserbeak continuously taking small chunks of her exterior armor…she was about to lose consciousness when the portal lid suddenly fell open and she found herself dangling by the metal handle.
Starscream flew in a large semi-circle then started up at her again for another attack. "Your useless existence ends here and now!"
Quasarah summoned her last ounce of energy…with a painful cry of effort she swung her legs backwards and brought them forward at Laserbeak so swiftly she knocked the decepticon clear across the dome to collide with the wall not a short distance away. Using her forward momentum she swung herself, feet first up into the opened portal.
"NOOOOO!" Starscream bellowed furiously, his massive ego wounded at the meer thought of failure.
From the darkness within the portal, Quasarah timed Starscreams ascent….'Come on you bastard' she thought….
Starscream transformed out of jet form just as he was about to reach the portal, he would finish her off up there... Just a split second before he would have entered the portal, Quasarah reached down and grabbed the handle, yanking the thick metal lid closed in one swift motion.
The impact crunch was astonishing. Rumble stopped his thunderous hammering long enough to be bested by the sonic smash of Starscream colliding with the top of the dome. Quasarah cringed away from the sealed, and now probably dented lid as the bell toll like sound threatened to split her head wide open…she collapsed as a new flood of pain gripped her fiercely…she lay there in the blackness of the room (if it was a room..) slipping in and out of consciousness…
"AHHHHHH!!" (Crack!) Starscream hit the floor almost as hard as he had hit the dome…bits and pieces of him rained down over the area… His smashed body laying still after a few spasms…though he still fuctioned…barely. Soundwave collected Rumble and a wounded Laserbeak then rushed Starscream's side…he lay there, one dented arm draped over his flickering optics…he whispered something so low Soundwave almost did not catch it.."I will…have….my revenge…uuughh." Starscream then sank out of consciousness, looking completely and morbidly nonfunctional with the exception of his dimly lit optic sensors.
Soundwave looked up from the decepticon on the floor to the portal within which Quasarah disappeared. It was obvious to him that Starscream had not analized the situation that had just occurred, though in his mangled state Soundwave could not hold that against him. It was also obvious to him that the autobot female most undoubtedly and unknowingly saved Starscream's miserable life…her own existence now in mortal jeopardy, her fate sealed behind the portal lid…very soon to be her coffin, he imagined. Soundwave felt an uncharactoristic prick of regret for the female's wasted bravery…autobot or not she fought to the very end…just then Starscream groaned weakly from his place on the floor. Soundwave returned his quiet gaze to his broken comrade, knowing very well that Starscream would not have lasted half as long as the autobot under the same circumstances. Ordering a medical evacuation unit to the scene, Soundwave stood silently as Starscream was rushed off for repairs…then, once alone, returned his gaze to the portal high above…wondering if she was still alive up there…
"Where is she!" Boomed Megatron, as he entered the domed room. Shockwave had found him with the report of an intruder just moments before…upon finding out who the intruder was Megatron was furious…he followed Shockwave to the scene with the full intent of destroying the meddlesome autobot for good.
Soundwave meerly pointed to the portal, his gaze undisturbed by the room's new occupants…
Megatron glanced impatiently at Soundwave, then looked up to see where he was pointing, At the meer sight of the portal Megatron grimaced.
"She will not survive," Soundwave spoke in a key of minor, instilling a sense of mortality behind his words.
Megatron stood there with clenched fists…..Soundwave was probably right…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quasarah struggled and finally freed herself from the murky depths of unconsciousness. Her backup system kicked in about fifteen minutes ago.. she remained unaware as a supply of energon, reserved for emergencies, flowed through her body giving her at least half of her strength back.
She was suddenly aware of another presence in the blackness there with her…a strange fear crept up on her then…a mortal fear…
"Who's there?" Quasarah called into the darkness only to be startled by the haunting echo of her own voice.
She then became distinctly attuned to the electrical composition of the air around her…electrons dominated this atmosphere so potently the autobot could swear she almost see sparks here and there.
She received no answer… not even a shuffle.
Quasarah suddenly gasped in fright as the air around her began to stir, little pricks of static electricity dancing all around her, increasing in velocity by the second.
Then she saw something within the shroud of disturbed air… an aura or outline of some ominous figure about five feet in front of her.
"Welcome….Quasarah." A very deep metallic voice sliced the blackness.
The shape before her shifted slightly…closer…
The autobot inhaled sharply and began to back away until she inevitability bumped into the wall a few feet away. She flattened her back against the wall in the seeming attempt to materialize into it to escape…there she sat and stared gape-mouthed at the threatening shape, her metal wings vibrating frightfully.
She could not understand why she was so afraid…so utterly terrified…every circuit screamed at her to escape…
"Who…." She breathed, unable to even finish the question…
"I am Probegrip." The voice informed deeply, " Reaper of minds…Destroyer of innocence….you, Quasarah…" the creature paused dramatically as it reveled in her fear…tasted it… "..have something I require."
The glowing figure of Probegrip closed the distance between himself and the trembling autobot in two giant strides. He grasped her arms forcefully and lifted her, legs dangling, from the floor. Quasarah was oblivious to the cry that escaped her lips as he violently thrust her against the wall. Her head spinning with the combined pain of Probegrip's massive hold on her arms and the collision with the wall, Quasarah shook her head slightly, trying to clear it enough to fight.
She could see him clearly now that he was right in front of her face…he was at least twice her size, his features that of a giant mechanical vampire bat complete with the great fibrous wings currently folded on his broad, spiked back. He held her level with his slanted irregular eyes…
Quasarah trembled only to feel his monsterous grip tighten even more, the metal plating of her arms would soon cave…
"What do you want with me!" She cried out, unable to keep the pain from shaking her voice. The agony was almost unbearable…she would soon pass out.
"Your spark.." Simultaneous with his answer, Probegrip's eyes flared a bright pulse of red, as if for infasis…thus beginning the process of 'mind gouging' the small female.
His red pulsing eyes held her pain shot ones in a mind-linkage. She felt him like knives digging into her mind and destroying her thoughts…eating them one by one.
"Nooo, stop! I-" Quasarah's memory of her own identity was leaving her, torn away by Probegrip's unfaltering stare. The giant decepticon grew stronger with every ounce of energy he continuously drained from his pray…his aura of light growing by the microsecond.
He leaned closer to her and probed deeper still…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Starscream's incompetence has backfired most rewardingly, Megatron." Shockwave informed his leader. "She will not survive." He swept his hand in an arch to finalize the statement.
Megatron raised a hand to his chin…a 'thinking' vice he's always had. Looking up at the portal once again. "Quasarah……yes, I remember her quite well." A malicious smile crossed his lips." I assume her hunger for pain was…..unsatisfactory upon her last visit."
He and Shockwave shared a bout of maniacal laughter.. then suddenly a plan of such simplicity and brilliance formulated in Megatron's mind he froze in mid-laughter, his jaw slack though his eyes bright as ever.
Finding himself suddenly laughing alone, Shockwave 'ahemed' then fell silent. "Something the matter, my leader." He questioned.
"Probegrip must NOT have her!" Megatron growled in such a dangerous tone that Shockwave was quick to stand aside as Megatron raced to the corridor leading to the northern wing where he would ascend to the upper levels of the base.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yes….yes…" Probegrip soothed, "Do not resist my power…"
Quasarah could only stare into the merciless beating orbs…she had stopped trembling and now hung limp in the massive creature's arms. She no longer had the energy to even give the slightest hint of defiance.
Probegrip was slowly draining her life away….she knew this and almost nothing else…she had no recollection of Optimus Prime and the autobots, her mission, the chip she still carried, her enemies the decepticons (save for Probegrip), nothing…
Quasarah uttered a desperate moan, she could not feel her legs, her arms or her hold on reality…Soon she knew she would become one with the Matrix, a memory too deep for even Probegrip's mental claws to reach.
Suddenly there was another presence in the darkness…
"Probegrip! Let her go!" Megatron's authorative voice interrupted the bat-like decepticon's concentration . This was highly intolerable, even for his so called 'leader'.
"Stay out of my way, Megatron!" He growled, turning his attention back to Quasarah. It won't be but a few moments now…"I have unfinished business here…"
Probegrip was instantly rewarded with a quick flip of a switch outside the doorway where Megatron stood. Bright blinding light flickered on filling the entire enormous room in an instant.
The giant decepticon screeched in surprise, releasing the nearly comatose autobot where she slid to the floor in a heap. He had been in darkness so long, the light filled his head with excruciating pain. In an effort to keep his balance Probegrip extended his wings as he stumbled about, his clawed hands pressed to his eyes.
Megatron took advantage of the situation and attacked his blinded foe, flying head long into him…
Probegrip smashed into the wall twenty feet away, a furious Megatron grasping at his throat all the way.
Quasarah, now a listless, almost completely soulless lifeform lay watching the battle from the floor…knowing nothing of who she was, only that she existed…knowing nothing of the tall, gray figure now fighting viciously with her assailant , only that this…being has saved her from certain death….knowing nothing of emotions…only that everything inside her frail figure churned and lived just for him, her savior.
"You dare defy me again, Probegrip!"Megatron spat, digging his metal thumbs into the creatures treacherous optics. "That's what got you here in the first place!"
"I answer to no one, Megatron." Probegrip answered darkly then lifted his 'leader' bodily from the floor as Quasarah watched on. "Not even you!" then hurled him into the air with all of his strength. Megatron smashed forcefully into the wall then fell to the floor. Recovering quickly the decepticon leader leveled his fusion cannon at Probegrip and fired.
Though blinded, Probegrip skillfully leapt into the air clear of the blast, emitting a high pitched skriek to make sure his path was unobstructed. Picking up vibrations in the atmosphere in a form of sonar he did not have to see Megatron to know where his location was, following the airborn signals Probegrip dove straight for him, colliding into his foe with such momentum the metal floor buckled slightly beneath them.
Embraced in a battle of strengths, Probegrip unleashed another high pitch shriek, only this time directly in Megatron's face. Response was instantaneous…Megatron bellowed in pain as he felt his head would explode from the interior circuits out. In that one vulnerable moment, Probegrip tore into Megatron's left shoulder with his massive jaws. Then from beneath Probegrip's hulking figure Megatron's fusion cannon exploded with another blast of nuclear energy, shattering through Probegrip's left wing creating a gaping hole and sending chunks of charred metal high into the air.
Injured, the bat-like creature howled as pain shot through his circuitry though he managed to maintain eye contact with Megatron, his eyes beginning to pulse steadily. Megatron found himself pinned by Probegrip's massive weight unable to pull free.
"Give in to my power, Megatron." The creature insisted smoothly. "You have no choice in this matter."
Megatron tore his gaze away from him, "Like hell I don't!" He spat, focusing all his strength into angling his cannon with Probegrip's midsection.
Although he avoided the creature's stare Megatron could still feel the pulsing candescense of its eyes stealing his vital energy.
"Spare me your pitiful games." The decepticon leader growled as he struggled, he was almost in position to put his foe out of commission. "I've had enough of your egotistical ignorance…I am your superior, like it.." Megatron fired twice from beneath his enemy. "…or not!"
Probegrip shrieked as two rays of nuclear energy ripped through him… he shuddered violently as some electrical component combusted from within releasing an onslaught of spider-like lightening, electrocuting him.
Megatron knew victory was his…he fired a third and final time, Probegrip's optic lenses shattering outward with the blast, spraying Megatron with red shards just before the blast propelled the creature across the room.
The decepticon leader watched with not a little satisfaction as the almost non functional decepticon outcast smashed into the far wall then settled to the floor…a charred smoking mass of metal, his once mighty wings disgruntled and tattered…
A dim red glow beat once or twice from within the beast's lense-less optics….then it faded away forever. Probegrip shuddered…then lay still.
Quasarah closed her eyes, the tension of the fight releasing her. She let sleep wash over her like death…
Megatron, though victorious in the battle, was exhausted…Probegrip had given him a run for his energon. He sighed audibly.
Limping sorely over to Quasarah's still form, Megatron collected her into his arms, noticing with interest how she managed to maintain a pleasing appearance even so close to death.
Taking one last glance at the wreckage that was once a formidable foe, Megatron strode from the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Identify yourself." Megatron ordered the new female addition to the decepticon community.
" I am Terricon." She answered promptly, flitting her metallic wings together as if she were challenging the surrounding decepticon troops to object to her presence. "Warrior and protector of Megatron, leader of the decepticons."
Starscream harumphed as Megatron admired Shockwave's handiwork.
Megatron then rose from his place at the front of the orientation room and displayed the decepticon insignia for all to see. "And what are you prime directives?" he asked with a grin.
(Prime)…a distant glimmer of a memory surfaced.. then exited Terricon's memory chips…
"To destroy all autobots and pledge undying loyalty to my superior. Show no mercy and….all that jazz." Terricon smirked guiltily, having misplaced the last directive…though she still managed to maintain a respectable air about her.
After the laughter ceased, Megatron's included, he walked proudly over to look down upon his newest soldier…then turned to address the troops.
"Fellow decepticons!" He swept his arm widely, "We have a new member in our midst….Welcome, Terricon!"
Cheers erupted from every angle of the vast chamber as Megatron placed the insignia dutifully upon Terricon's breatplate. He smiled down at her upturned face and was rewarded with a smile in return, her glittery optics brimming with devotion. He rested a strong hand on her shoulder as something secret passed between them…the moment broken only by the insistent cheers of the decepticon troops below. Megatron then spun her on her heels to face the crowd, Megatron directly behind her. The feeling was exhilarating as she stood before her new comrades. She spread her wings ominously, taking in every ounce of 'one-ness' from the occasion.
The room exploded with renewed vigor at her display and finally broke out into the decepticon coronation song…
After a few hours of celebration, the meeting was dismissed and Megatron delivered an exhausted Terricon to her new quarters for the night. He watched her sleep in silence for a long period of time…then finally rose to leave…
"What a pity your new identity will help destroy all you once believed in…" He whispered down at her sleeping form, "You are one of us now, Quasarah Skyfire," He smiled evilly with the mention of Terricon's autobot identity, now gone forever.
" One of us."