I went through three names before deciding on Mera. There is quite probably a lot of OOC in this story. I admit, I haven't seen all of Transformers: Cybertron. Just so it's out there, I did do the Mary-Sue Litmus that the great Merlin Missy created and I got a 10 for Mera which is the Highest score for the anti-thesis of Mary-Sue without going over, so I will becareful while writing to not exceed this. On that note, enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except Mera and all her stuff. (Yay me for finally having a laptop!)
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Megatron sighed as summoned his patience, which was limited as it was. Standing before were some of the most difficult, rebellious and annoying people he'd ever had the displeasure of meeting. And they weren't all the people he was trying to make an alliance with. One worked for him. A young woman, barely out of her twenty's, was trying to negotiate with them for him and was having as hard a time as he was. They didn't believe women had any brains and kept looking at Megatron like he was insane for employing a woman. Personally, Megatron had absolutely nothing against women as fighters or diplomats. They were good for more than looks, he knew they were more often than not better than the men at fighting or diffusing situations. He just wished that these arrogant humans understood that concept. And wishing was not something he did often.
"Aaaggghhh! Stupid idiots." Mera Raya snapped suddenly, switching from their Arabic to her English. Taking a deep breath, she spoke calmly and reassuringly. They still didn't trust her and wouldn't listen to her. "Well, that proves it. You don't need to be swine to be a sexist pig." Mera snarled. Megatron chuckled lightly. Mera glowered up at him. "What are you laughing at?" Mera demanded, Megatron stopped chuckling and spoke in a serious tone.
"Translate for me." he said sharply, Mera nodded. Turning to the gentlemen, though she hated to waste the term on them, she said that she would be translating for her boss. Then they listened. Megatron smiled grimly to himself, though his face was outwardly smooth. They were going to receive a large shock. "Ready?" he asked, the young woman nodded.
"Go ahead." Mera said, preparing to listen to his words and translate as best she could.
"You may not trust my employee, but trust me when I say this. You're best interests would be to allow me to build here." Megatron said and Mera translated, putting emphasis on certain words. The leader looked at his fellows and said something rather obscene from what Megatron could tell. Mera went red then her blue eyes lightened. Megatron sighed, knowing this would go south, quick fast and in a hurry. See, being a quick judge of character, Megatron had come to recognize the signs of anger in his lackeys. When Mera's eyes lightened, if you weren't a Transformer, then you had better get out of the way. A quick and fluid stream of words in Arabic came flowing from a mouth that could talk down an outraged Starscream, soothe Megatron's ruffled feathers and rile Thundercracker and Skywarp in one breath. That mouth could also out curse Sideways, Scourge and Megatron himself when they got into a friendly contest.
"--You egotistical bastards!" Mera panted. The men's eyes were wide and uncertain. No female had ever spoken to them like that and Megatron got the impression they didn't like it. As soon as he saw one reaching for his gun, the Transformer scooped his human agent up and flicked the man into a nearby building. Mera quickly talked the others down, though with slightly less swear words then her previous sentence. They agreed to let Megatron build and after picking up their fallen comrade, they beat feet for their base.
"I wish you wouldn't do that." Megatron said, setting the young woman down. Mera shrugged.
"It's fun." she said. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Megatron heard the familiar sound of Starscream's approach and Mera's equally familiar groan of disgust.
"Starscream! What have you found?" Megatron asked, Mera hopped up on the table, swinging her legs as she waited for Starscream to transform and give his report.
"Nothing. Not a single trace. How did the negotiations go or need I ask?" he asked, casting a disparaging eye at the human. Mera grinned cheekily and gave him the finger. Megatron, catching this action out of the corner of his eyes, reached out and automatically caught his lieutenant as he lunged for the young woman.
"Don't kill her. We need her. At least for now." Megatron muttered. These words always calmed Starscream down, but unfortunately, this time it didn't work.
"I will not be insulted again! Not from the likes of her!" Starscream raged, pulling his gun. Before Megatron could react, Mera was speaking.
"Take it easy, Star. I didn't mean anything by it, you know that. You're just so easy to aggravate, that's all. Relax, put your gun away, you still want to know about the Negotiations, right? I can't tell you what they said if I can't speak, now can I?" Mera said. Starscream breathed heavily for a moment, but her words had penetrated the anger induced fog and her words also cleared his mind.
"What did happen at the Negotiations anyway?" Starscream asked and again Megatron was forced to wonder how the hell she did that.
"Oh, she nearly got herself killed. Again." Megatron said as the three started walking. Since the sun was at its zenith, Mera pulled a baseball cap from her back pack festooned with the logo of her favorite baseball team, the Chicago Cubs. It was a family thing.
"Hey, that's what makes it fun." Mera retorted, pulling a pair of delicate but strong sunglasses out as well and slid them, cementing her tourist look. Megatron glanced down at the human and shook his head in disgust.
"I won't always be there to protect you." Megatron said, Mera stopped and looked up at him, holding up her hand to further shade her eyes.
"And that will be the day I quit this job. I gotta get back to the hotel and pack before I head to the airport." Mera said. Starscream laughed.
"All you have to pack is a duffel bag." he said, Mera snorted at him.
"Yeah, well I still have to set up shipping for my motorcycle, I'm not leaving my baby out here in the sand to get it's gears all fouled and if any sand if going to foul it up, it's gonna be American, not Egyptian." Mera retorted and took off for her motorcycle, a Harley, gleaming in the noon sun. She pulled off the beaten hat and sunglasses and pulled on a full face, tinted helmet. She slid up the visor to call 'Catch ya later, dudes!' and took off for Cairo after pulling it back down. Making sure they were alone, both Starscream and Megatron transformed and headed for the States.
"I still don't get you employed her. You speak the languages yourself." Starscream said as they flew.
"Humans trust humans, not gigantic robots who happened to be speaking their language." Megatron replied. Starscream had the distinct feeling there was more to it than that, but you don't second guess Megatron. At least in his hearing range.
"If you say so." Starscream said, Megatron grunted and flew faster, leaving his lieutenant in his trail. Megatron's message was clear: Leave me to my thoughts. "Whatever you say, bossman." Starscream muttered, stealing one of Ransack's nicknames for Megatron.
--------------------Megatron, somewhere over the Atlantic--------------------
Why her indeed, Starscream, Megatron thought absently, taking his time crossing the Atlantic. Call him a weakling and he would shoot you, but Megatron just enjoyed the sight of the sun on the water. There was something uplifting about the sight of the ocean. Despite the pollution of course. He heard the sound of a jetliner and dropped low so he wouldn't be seen. Not that he cared, but Mera might be on the plane and there was no sense in causing a panic and possibly killing one of his more useful lackeys. He scanned the plane and found Mera's specific heartbeat. Slow and methodical but hers. She must be asleep, Megatron thought.
"Having trouble with the time zone change probably." Megatron muttered. He watched it go and Transformed back to his robot form. "Starscream, meet me on Jungle Planet. We have plans to make." Megatron called through the comm. link.
"Yes, sir. What of Mera?" Starscream said, Megatron frowned momentarily, thinking.
"I'll leave her a message to wait for further word from us. Megatron out." Megatron said, cutting the link to Starscream before he could protest. Megatron turned his comm back on and searched for the frequency of the phone Starscream fiddled with to pick up and record messages from him or Megatron if Mera didn't pick up. She didn't, so Megatron left a message.
"This is Megatron. Starscream and I are going to the Jungle Planet to cement our status there. If you think you can cement the deal without getting killed, do so. But if you don't, take Thundercracker and Skywarp. If either complains, tell them you're acting under my orders. Good luck and don't get killed. Megatron out." he said and cut the link. He ran it over in his mind and quickly left for Jungle Planet himself. The 'Don't get killed' thing was a running joke between Mera and the Decepticons as a whole. In the first Negotiations Mera had acted as a translator and extended arm for them was with a Mafiya cell and she had almost been killed for accidentally insulting the leader. It had taken the entire Decepticon force, consisting of Megatron, Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp to convince them that killing her would be very unbeneficial for their health. Mera was well known around the underground network for her abilities to talk her way out or having her large, mechanical, purple bodyguard send the people that tried to kill her flying via the finger express.
"I'm too old for this." Megatron sighed. He met Starscream in space, missing his lieutenant's assessing look.
"Are you all right, Megatron?" Starscream asked. Megatron nodded and stepped onto the space bridge with Starscream right behind.
------------------Outside of O'Hare International Airport---------------
Mera checked her messages as she waited for the Taxi she had called. Her motorcycle hadn't arrived yet and wouldn't for a couple days. She would just have to dust off her black S10 pickup until it did. She raised an eyebrow seeing she had a message from Megatron. The cab pulled up at that moment. She helped the driver with loading her bags after pocketing her cell phone.
"Waveland and Shefield. The corner apartment building please." she said, the Taxi driver nodded and took off. Mera pulled out her cell phone and punched up the password to listen the classified mission. Sighing in relief, knowing that his trip would give her time to cement the deal, all she had to deal with was her boyfriend, which wouldn't be much of a problem. And of course, Thundercracker and Skywarp. Ah, well. That's why she got the big bucks for her job.
"Babe? I'm home." Mera said, after dropping her bag just inside the door. She walked in and her jaw dropped. It was all gone. Her TV, her DVD Player, CD Player, VCR and TiVo, everything. Thankfully, she had taken her precious Laptop with her. Locking the door behind her, she pelted for her bedroom. She checked her 'Public' jewelry box and found it empty. Climbing under the bed, she searched and quickly found the second jewelry that contained the real stuff and her more sentimental jewelry. It was there and intact. Mera swore silently under her breath. That bastard. That son of a bitch. He'd cleaned her out. She wriggled out from under the bed and checked the closet, her good clothes were gone and all his clothes were. Even his underwear, T-Shirts, jeans and shoes. Mera slammed a pillow against a wall and subsided quickly.
"I'm glad I invested in extra's and didn't let that prick have a key." Mera said and smirked slightly. She walked back out and picked up her bag. Setting it on the couch, she proceeded to head to the kitchen for something to eat. Pulling out a bag of Popcorn, she put it in and walked back to her bag, pulled out the aforementioned Laptop and sat at her Kitchen table, waiting for the Popcorn to finish, drawing up the final contract after months of negotiating with these 'blood bags' as Starscream had often put it. Hearing the ding, she put the Popcorn in a bowl and returned to the table, just in time to receive an Instant Message. From her mother. After switching back and forth between typing and IMing, Mera finally finished the contract and said goodbye to her mother online and turned her status offline. Searching the net, she quick-checked her E-Mail and got off the net. Deciding that she had better pick her extra electronics, she grabbed her wallet and left, making a mental note to stop off at the hardware store to grab a different lock set. She would not let this happen again.
--------------------Jungle Planet-----------------
Starscream wanted to scream in frustration after another fruitless meeting with the leader of the planet, Scourge.
"We should have just blasted him and taken the Cyber Planet Key." Starscream said in a low voice as he and Megatron exited the building.
"That's why I'm the leader and you're not. Go check and see how the search for Earth's Cyber Planet Key is going." Megatron ordered. Starscream smirked.
"You mean check on Mera." he said, Megatron rounded on the younger bot.
"I meant what I said. Check how the search is going and destroy as many Autobots as you can get away with. Now go!" Megatron snarled. Starscream transformed, grumbling and flew away, opening the Space Bridge as he went. Megatron watched his lieutenant go and silently walked to the quarters that Scourge had provided the pair. He entered his room and sat on the bed. Placing his head in his hand, Megatron's thoughts drifted to the human that continued their plans on Earth for them. Mera was most definitely not what you would call an average human. She had a quick mouth and even quicker mind. Her looks were nothing to sneeze at either, though Megatron noticed only when she used them to her advantage. Bright red hair that had been long when he had first employed her, was now a short cap of hair that was off her neck had been cut that way during the three weeks she had needed to remain in Egypt. Previously mention blue eyes that were a dark blue when she was in a good mood or putting someone in a good mood or light blue that meant she was angry and was getting angrier. Not all that tall, she barely peaked 6'0 even, but her voice was the most powerful thing about her and not just because she knew how to use it. It could either be loud enough to be heard across fairgrounds, which was more often than not, or it couldn't be heard even by Megatron. She was a walking complexity and Megatron enjoyed figuring out complexities. But there was one major difference. He was a transformer, she was not. She was human, he was not. So he would be her good friend, as much as Megatron, leader of the Decepticons could be. It was that simple.
-------------Starscream----------
Muttering to himself when he left Jungle Planet, Starscream was now speaking loud enough for anyone on the Space Bridge to hear, not that there was anyone. Why Megatron had even hired that wretched human was beyond comprehension. Just blow up a few vital bases and the leaders would give up. But no, Megatron wanted to do this the diplomatic way. Involving that aggravating human. Perhaps there was a way to rid himself of her permanently? Get Megatron mad enough to make a mistake and he would be easy to overthrow.
"Perhaps if something went wrong with the final negotiations..." Starscream considered, then remembered that Megatron had ordered Thundercracker and Skywarp to play bodyguard. A car accident? She always drove that silly motorcycle. It wouldn't be that hard to make it seem like a...What did humans call that? Oh, a landmine. Egypt was a dangerous country nowadays. Megatron could hardly blame his lieutenant if his silly human drove right onto a landmine. Suddenly being more cheerful than he had a right to be, Starscream put in an extra burst of speed
--------------------Mera, somewhere in the middle of the desert------------------
Mera drove down the road back to Cairo on a rented motorcycle. Thundercracker had given her a lift just outside of Cairo, where she had rented a motorcycle, after missing her motorcycle by three minutes, and decided to drive out to the meeting. No use in scaring the other party. The negotiations had finished without a hitch. All Thundercracker and Skywarp had had to do was stand there and look dangerous, which they did a fine job of, but Mera had informed them that less snarling would have been better. She easily turned the motorcycle, enjoying the handling of the Ninja. She heard the familiar whine of a jet engine and looked up to see Starscream. About to wave him down, she noticed something was wrong when he veered toward the stretch of road in front of her and fired off a missile. Mera instantly applied the brakes and turned sideways to try and stop, but the Ninja turned too far and she went down with it, skidding towards the fire. Mera brought her right leg up against the seat and with strength from years of riding horses, she kicked away from the motorcycle, tearing her leg to shreds, but getting free. Staggering to her feet, she tore off the helmet and dashed as fast as she could to the embankment, just the fire hit the gas tank. The explosion sent her flying into a sand bank. She rolled away onto her stomach and lay still, just incase any shrapnel came flying her way.
---------------------Starscream---------------------
Starscream silently cheered as he watched the motorcycle carrying the pain in his circuits go sideways into the flames and explode, taking his problems with it. He did a visual scan of the area, just in case. Mera was a clever human and she might have survived. He didn't even notice the large dark shape laying in the sand, chucking it up to wreckage. Humming happily to himself, he flew away. He could well imagine Megatron's face when he told him of his human's death. It would be priceless. Of course he would play the part of sympathetic lieutenant and offer to lead while Megatron dealt with this.
"Starscream, leader of the Decepticons. Hmm, I like the sound of that." he said and opened the sky bridge and vanished. Not noticing Thundercracker and Skywarp come flying by, to investigate the explosion.
-------------Thundercracker and Skywarp-------------
The Ninja hitting the fire sent up a cloud of smoke that could have been seen from Alexandria. The two Transformers had gone to investigate, because if the cause of that accident was Mera and she had died in it. Well, Megatron wouldn't be happy about it. Seeing the wreckage, both transformers groaned in unison. This meant bad news for the boss and pain for them.
"Hey, TC. Look at this!" Skywarp said, smacking his wingmate's shoulder.
"How many times have I told you not to call me..." Thundercracker trailed off when he saw tracks on the road going around the hole in the road. He used his farsight abilities and looked down the road. Limping along, dragging her left leg was Mera. "Come on!" Thundercracker said, transforming he shot off down the road with Skywarp right behind him.
-----------------------Starscream and Megatron----------------
"--All I saw when I got there was flame and debris. I'm sorry." Starscream lied. Megatron sighed deeply, then straightened. His optics had a determined gleam in them, which Starscream had most definitely not counted on.
"So be it. Call Thundercracker and see if the deal went through. If it did, good. If not, tell him to scrap the whole idea and meet us here with Skywarp. Now leave me be, I need to plan." Megatron said and walked back into his quarters and slammed the door shut in Starscream's face. Growling inaudibly, Starscream stomped away, missing the beep of Megatron's comm.
-----------------Megatron--------------
Sweeping his feelings aside, Megatron answered the beep on his comm with an impatient 'yes?'
"Boss, don't believe anything Starscream has probably just told you, he's lying," The usual malice for the older seeker or the usual humor in the younger bots voice was gone. Thundercracker was deadly serious and that made Megatron pay more attention than his claim that Starscream was lying. That bit was an everyday thing. "Mera is alive and she says that Starscream caused the explosion that wrecked her bike." Thundercracker said. Megatron went cold.
"Where is Mera?" he asked shortly.
"Cairo Medical. She said her left leg was trapped underneath the bike when it went sliding, she used her right leg to get it off and it shredded her leg in the process. Most of the wounds are superficial and she will be out in an hour or so." Thundercracker reported, failing to keep the disgust out of his voice. He did get along very well with Mera and considered one of his friends.
"When she leaves, take her immediately back to Chicago. If Starscream contacts you, don't tell him about what Mera said. Better yet, just don't answer him." Megatron ordered, he saw Thundercracker's nod of assent.
"How do we handle Starscream?" Skywarp asked off screen. Megatron grinned manically.
"You two let me handle, Starscream. Just keep her out of harms way. She is useful to us." Megatron said and cut the comm.
-----------------------Thundercracker and Skywarp----------------
Personally, Thundercracker couldn't blame his leader for being concerned about her. If she went to the Autobots, their plans would be nixed, but Thundercracker got the impression there was more on Megatron's part than simple friendly concern.
"That seem strange to you?" Skywarp asked, settling to watch the hospital exit comfortably.
"Which 'that'?" Thundercracker asked sarcastically. Skywarp laughed lightly.
"Megatron 'that'. Did you see the way he grinned when I asked how we were to handle Starscream? It seems our Fearless Lieutenant is in for a world of hurt." Skywarp said, gazing up at the afternoon sun. Thundercracker snorted.
"It's been a long time coming if you ask me. Starscream has always been too full of himself." Thundercracker said and smacked Skywarp's shoulder when Melanara limped out, using a temporary cane. She looked up from where they had gone after they set her down. Thundercracker motioned towards the desert. Nodding, Mera made her way through the crowded streets towards the exit where she met the Seekers.
"Did you contact Megatron?" Mera asked, Thundercracker hid a smile as Skywarp replied. Maybe it wasn't as one-sided as Thundercracker had first suspected.
"He's handling Starscream." Skywarp informed her. Mera bared her teeth in a sign of her pleasure in Starscream's perceived pain.
"Good." She said and climbed in the open cockpit Thundercracker offered after he and Skywarp had transformed...
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