Pain. At first there was nothing else. Only pain. Nothing else could be processed until the terrible pain diminished. Time passed slowly. Achingly slow. Every breem seemed an entire orn. There was no relief. No recharge, no way to shut down. All the way down to the smallest circuit, a burning pain so deep only the acid of the pit could be hotter. Was that a thought? The first thought to emerge through the pain was of that harrowing place. Hell, as the humans say.
Terrible whirring, wailing, electric screams refused to end. When the bot finally processed this it immediately tried to cut the sounds off, closing its mouthplate and venting sharply. It was no use, it's body twitched uncontrollably, the silver mouthplate opened wide to release another scream so high in pitch even even it couldn't process all the decibels. The pain would not end... And yet, it already knew how to end it. All it had to do was give in. It could feel a twisted, evil presence pulsing all around it, demanding access to the deepest part of its spark. No.. NO! Still it refused, it's processors still functioned enough to fight. A sparkbond could not be taken or stolen, only willingly given.
'Let me sooth your pain, little one' the voice was not relief, it was like a grinding, twisted blade rammed into its audio sensors, all around it, inside its processors. Its optics were shuttered. There was only darkness and pain, terrible, ripping, energon spilling, spark eating pain! Another scream sounded, almost as painful as the terrible voice. Was that it screaming?
Then it all stopped. The pain slipped away and it thanked Primus in a small whisper. A phantom hand stroked over the trembling spark, soothing its pain and pushing delicious warmth through it. A sigh escaped it and it's chassis twitched in the darkness and another warm spark came into contact with it's once more. Beautiful release. It wrapped around it, kind and protective... Gently demanding it open. Was I offline? I'd never had a bonded. A sparkmate. Perhaps one bonded with Primus upon fully offlining... An innocent thought... How could it deny such a powerful, overwhelming force? With a shuddering sigh it opened itself up to the incredible presence. If this encompassing peace was to be offline, was Primus... It wanted nothing more, except this.
A ridged spinal column arched up off the cold surface it was laying limply on as the bond took hold. Pleasure rushed through it, so at odds with the pain it had just suffered that it released another scream. It became more aware. It was an Autobot femme! Bonding with a living mech and not Primus! This was real! She was alive still! She immediately tried to yank back only to have searing pain tear through her, straight from her spark! A metallic whimper escaped her as she rattled against the floor.
'Too late to turn back, little femme.' That voice. That dangerous voice spoke straight from the spark in her chest and another pathetic cry unwillingly tore from her vocal processor. 'Shhhhhhh, no more pain for you. Trust youngling, I will not hurt you. If only you opened to me sooner.' The words brought more relief. More warmth. She knew somewhere in her processors that this was wrong, those words were sick and shameless lies but they warped her, soothed her and she could not resist. It was no mere mech she was now forever bonded to. This was no mech...
The dark and invasive energy that was Him wrapped around her very essence, dominating. A rush of power surged through her like renewed energon as her chassis lifted off the cold surface. Strength poured through her and her optics flicked on with a blinding violet light that lit the darkness. She pushed at the invisible force holding her suspended, twisting and turning in the air... As she was remade. In a matter of agonizing kliks she was stripped bare by an unseen force, down to nothing but her substructure of wires pumping energon around a glowing violet spark. There wasn't even time enough to scream before the pain faded and the new superstructure fazed into existence with nothing more than a thought, it seemed, of this great Being.
Then she was dropped down, her optics wide as she took in the sight. Once smooth and silver servos where now dark with hard pointed tips, like claws... The pain claws like those inflict was a dark place in her memory banks. Decepticon! Please... Not this! Anything but this!
"No! No! Noooo! I am an Autobot! Please! Not this!" She wailed, but there was only the same empty chamber, with no doors and no windows and no escape. Her prison.
"You will go to this planet Earth. You will seek out and you will join the Decepticons. You will allow Megatron to lead you. But he is not your master. You are Skylink. Who do you serve, Skylink?" The rumbling voice spoke slowly as though he were falling into a stasis lock.
"That is not my designation!" Her hissed, finding courage in her sudden anger. No sooner had the words left her vocals that a scream followed. She reached up to tear at the now dark chest plates only to be frozen in place as her spark was all but crushed. Never had she known such deep pain, not like before. He now had access to the deepest, most vulnerable part of her. "You! Y-you! I-I am Skylink. I s-serve you." Instantly the pain eased and she fell heavily down once more and lay, rattling in the aftermath of the agony. Immediately warmth spread through her, stroking against her spark, easing her pain. She knew now why he had bonded with her. She was now his puppet.
"Who is your Master, tiny spark?" The voice was lower now, tired but no less threatening. No less evil.
"Y-you. I am Skylink." Skylink whispered the name as she curled into a trembling ball, helplessly soothed and comforted by this overwhelming dark spark.
"Yesss." He was pleased with her, and she tried to fight the thrill that leapt in her spark at the feel of his pleasure radiating to her. "Recharge now." And she could only obey...
The small planet was helpless before me. My great horns hooked into the energy rich, helpless planet and drew it into my twitching centre. I dug into it. Pulling, digging, grinding, devouring... I released a groan of pleasure as my long dormant systems began to online, as the energy, the power flowed through me, bringing new life. There was no escape for even a single fleeing craft. I would devour them all...
Skylink yanked herself out of recharge, tense, as the visions faded, panic and fear churning through her systems. Weak, pathetic feelings... She was a strong Autobot femme. She did not know fear or weakness. At least not before Him... Will I be haunted by these sick visions now that I was... A klik passed before she processed the darkness around her. It was different.
Space. Empty space. Even a star was not close enough to be more than a speck to her optics. Even still... She was unsure of how long she'd been held captive and tortured in the depths of the Planet Eater. Did the Autobots even still exist... Yes, why else would he be sending her to Earth? She looked upon herself and choked on a cry. Her Autobot frame was gone. Where once was pale blue was now azure, the color of the precious Earth sky covered much of the smaller plates lining her substructure. The white was gone. Not a single speck of soft and light colour remained. Just the opposite. The white was now black, and bathed in violet light as she looked to it. What could be seen of her substructure was now deep grey instead of brilliant silver. Her blazing blue optics were forever gone... At least they aren't red. Her shoulders were tipped with spikes as well as her elbow and knee joints. She refused to turn to her diagnostics for the details and instead reached up, twitching as a claw dug effortlessly into her faceplate. Ignoring the sting she swept her servos up and over her head. It was relatively smooth, no horns. With a sigh she thanked Primus. Her servos brushed against sensitive metal at her back and she whipped her head around. Wings! Skylink groaned in disgust.
"You disgusting glitch of a rusted planet! How dare you make me into this!" Skylink screeched at the incomprehensibly huge mass in front of her.
"Perhaps I must show you your place once more, little thing... Insignificant femme." The voice was outside of her, coming from the massive robotic planet before her. The planet so incomprehensibly huge her optics could not process anything beyond it. But still, she felt relief. The voice was not all around her. It was not inside her. Praising Primus, she felt hope! She was free! A thrill shot through her and she immediately began to transform, suddenly grateful that this new body was an aircraft. The power of flight meant she could escape Him. Right. Now.
A deep laugh sounded. "Yes, my little thing. Go now and join the Decepticons on that wrecked organic planet. You will show them your power and become a voice in Megatron's ear. Through you, I shall guide him."
"I hate you with all of my spark!" Skylink yelled back at him and received another sickening laugh in response. Her sleek alt mode was a truly powerful creation. She could feel the energon rush, all the way down to twin afterburners to ignite with a blazing white flame. She had not known such power as an Autobot, but she would happily trade it all away and float in space for eternity to only have wheels once more...
As Skylink tore away from Him at a speed she could not even register without diagnostics he pressed against her spark again, to the point of searing pain. With a yelp the jet fighter spun out, spinning blind in the unending darkness until finally his hold on her spark gentled and she managed to straighten out.
'As you should, my Skylink.' His voice was deep in her audio sensors. A comlink. Skylink's energon heated with disgust and she pushed more power to her engines, knowing the com could only have so much distance to it. Her location popped up before her optics and she instantly changed course... The distance to Earth was beyond imagination and she felt a rush of relief. He would have to devour more planets than there were in existence to make it that far. With a low beep the course reset to a closer planet and she felt a hungry thrill from him. It was his destination also. 'Their space bridge.' He spoke again. He was several stellar cycles away from reaching that planet... She was to use their space bridge to jump to other systems. Does he know I sense his intent?...
'Foolish femme. There is nothing I do not know. If you warn them I will punish you. Surely you do not wish for my wrath once more, little speck.' Skylink nearly spun out once more when her frame shook violently, a small sound twisted up in her vocals before she trampled down her fear.
'I wish you would offline! Pit-spawn!' She screamed back through the horrible comlink and then froze, afterburners flickering as she waited for the terrible pain.
What she got was a booming laugh in response, 'Sparkling, I Am The Pit. And you, my sweet, little Autobot speck are truly a pit-spawn.'
When his torturous words finally resisted in Skylink's processor Horror and fear and panic tore through her so viciously that she transformed with a whir of noise and spun violently through the empty space, unable to control herself. His pleasure at her response to his appalling words touched her spark. How could I be so foolish? Her processor had refused to accept who she was truly sparkbound to. In her processor her denial had somehow shrunk this Death God down to an over large and powerful mech. Someone she could fight and defeat... But this was no normal mech. Chaos Bringer... Devourer of Planets... Primus' eternal rival. The Pit. The Corrupter. She was forever bound to... Fear overwhelmed her suddenly. Panic like burning energon surged through her as her systems began methodically shutting down as energon rushed upward in an attempt to preserve her processor. I can't go on. I refuse to go on. I'm a pit-spawn! A corrupted, lesser being! Controlled mindlessly by the Dark God! Red light began flashing before her optics as her systems went haywire. Total system failure imminent...
Suddenly Skylink's chassis arched out of the ball she'd curled into, still hurtling through empty space from the sheer force of the speed she'd been going in her alt mode. Then heat surged through her, straight from her spark, instantly calming the ravaged systems. The red flashing faded, and the words slipped away along with the fear. Enveloping warmth spread through her systems, along with a dark moan of pleasure that was not her own. There was no way to fight it. She could only surrender as she was lost in a spark large enough to swallow her entire form. 'Who is your Master?' The spike of fear at that voice was instantly squashed by heat and pleasure.
'Unicron.'