Its strange how my stories come to me. One day a plot will just appear in my head, and I'll throw some characters into it to make it exciting. And on other days, it all starts with a name…just one single name for an OC and boom! A story plot follows just like a rainbow after a storm! This time around my story started with a very unusual name…Marauder.
The Unseen Saboteur
The day started like any other would on Cybertron. Bright morning sunbeams found their way into the deep, dark bunker that Marauder called his home. He raised a hand to his brow, in an attempt to block the unwanted light, but when he realized that his efforts weren't so effective, he got up and looked for another place to sit. He was a stalwart, middle-aged Decepticon, who's current function was being Megatron's best crack-shot sniper. His reputation was well-known, and he knew this. He could care less about the fame, for he loved his work more than anything else.
After being a Decepticon sniper for countless millenia, he felt his profession could do with a change to spice things up. So he decided that from now on, he would capture and force unwilling Autobots to do his dirty work, just so he could savor their anguish and suffering while they killed innocent lives. Of course denying his commands in any way would result in threatening the most important person in that particular Autobot's life, in most cases, their sparkmate. Marauder's apprentice, a vicious Decepticon femme named Vexan, would usually be the one to carry out this task.
He meticulously continued to polish the lens of the sniper rifle on his lap. He turned his head and unenthusiastically watched as his apprentice Vexan browsed through video feeds of recent Autobot activity on a nearby monitor.
"Have we found our next victm yet?" He asked in his deep, scratchy voice.
"No. I've been looking for someone close to the higher ranking officials, but it seems the louts just don't make time for femmes." She answered as she turned towards him to see his expression on the matter.
He smiled and nodded his head. "Understandable. We must be patient. If we are, perhaps Primus will be kind to us."
The base's sensors then start beeping wildly when they pick up an intruder outside the base. Vexan brings up the eyespy footage from outside to the main monitor and the two spy a lone Autobot femme, sifting through the nearby debris outside the bunker.
Marauder's faceplates curved into a wide grin. "Looks like our victim found us."
"I will capture her." Vexan announces as she turns and heads toward the door, prepping the stun blaster in her right hand, but is startled when she is held back by Marauder's hand on her shoulder.
"Stay here. Let me capture this one." He tells her as he smirks to himself, and continues toward the exit.
As she watches him leave, her optics thin with jealousy, for she's seen that look in his optics once before.
Lumina, the delicate Autobot femme continued to sift through the clutter outside Marauder's secret bunker, looking for parts to repair her war-injured friends with. She was no medic, but with this war between the Decepticons going on, she knew trying to help would definitely be more effective than just hiding all the time.
Marauder emerged from his bunker and made no attempt to hide his presence. He straight out strode up to the femme and startled her when his foot appeared next to some cannisters she was looking in.
"Are you lost, Autobot?" His false concern was clearly readable in his deceptive red optics.
She said nothing as she slowly backed away from him, fear clearly visible in her movements. He put his hands on his hips, tilted his head to the side and eyed her protoform.
"You know...it's dangerous to wander about out here all by yourself." He muttered as he skillfully backed her into a corner. "You might run into a Decepticon...like me."
Before she could scream, Marauder ran up to her and put his hand over her mouth.
"Yes..." He smiled. "You'll be perfect."
Once inside, Marauder revealed his unkept quarters to her. He then sat her down on a stool in the middle of the room. Vexan stood in the shadows of a dark corner with her arms crossed over her chest, her red optics staring daggers at the Autobot.
"Alright sweety, here's the deal." He began as he picked up his sniper rifle from his workbench.
"In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a sniper. But I do things a little different around here."
She sat in silence as he paced around her.
"I select the victim, you do the shooting, simple as that. But if you refuse, I tell Vexan here to hunt down your loved ones and have her blow their brains out instead! Heh heh heh…"
She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, realizing now the grave mistake she made by going out alone.
"Now…Vexan! Bring up the feeds! Let's find a target for our new little rookie!" he said as he grazed her cheek with the back of his hand.
Lumina quickly pulled her head away from him. Vexan rolled her eyes as she brought up a list of the current top ranking Autobot officials on the monitor.
"Okay now…let's see…" He says as he scrolls down through the many options with his finger.
"Ahhh…this looks like a good target for you. Admiral Downpour…yes, that will be your quarry. You take him out, and you're free to go. If not, Vexan is already using your internal I.D. number to find out who your closest relatives are."
Poor Lumina didn't know what to do! She was fearful for her loved ones, but even more fearful for her target. Admiral Downpour was not only a high ranking official, but he was also her father! Eager to keep this information a secret, she tries to think of a plan to try and trick him out of making her do it.
"Wait! I--I want to know if I'm allowed to change targets."
He slowly and suspiciously looked over his shoulder at her. "Why?"
"I want to switch to somebody higher up in the ranks than him. Someone who demands a lot of respect among the Autobots."
Marauder took advantage of the situation and decided to milk it for all its worth.
"Well in that case, how about…Optimus Prime!"
Lumina was devastated by her suggestion, but had to hide it so it would appear that she genuinely wished to bring down her beloved leader. She also was aware that if she brought down Optimus Prime, all hope to win the war against the Decepticons would be lost.
Vexan optics widened. She seethed with jealousy as her master was deeply impressed by his prisoner's new found treachery.
"Optimus Prime it is then!" Marauder declared proudly. "Come,Vexan... Let us all make haste to our secret bunker #2!"
Vexan reluctantly opened a round trap door in the floor and the three climbed down a ladder and loaded a small craft that fit snugly into the sewer system tunnels below the city. Within moments, they had arrived at the second bunker. They exited the craft and climbed up another tall ladder. When they entered the small, dark room, there was nothing in it but a monitor at a desk, two doors, a slit in the wall to see through, and a hole that only a rifle would be able to fit through.
"Alright my dear, according to the feeds, he should be in his quarters right now." He said as he walked over to the hole and set up the sniper rifle and aimed it dead center on the window of Optimus' personal quarters.
"Now when he walks by, shoot him."
Lumina was trembling as she gripped the rifle, but did her best to hide it. She looked through the scope then cringed when the most uncomfortable of feelings invaded her spark. Then the moment of truth had arrived. Optimus had walked right into the crosshairs of the rifle, but she knew she couldn't bring herself to do it and deliberately misses.
The unexpected laserfire gets all the Autobots on base on edge, causing them to up the base's security measures. This angers Marauder and he grabs her by the arms.
"You missed! How could you miss?!" He shouted.
He then shook her violently causing her to squeak in pain, a scene that Vexan relishes. Lumina tries to get free of his vice-like grip, but Marauder easily overpowers her.
"How dare you lie to me you filthy little Autobot! For that, someone you care deeply for, will pay." He threatened.
"Vexan! Who's the not-so-lucky target gonna be?"
Vexan reached for her portable data pad and smiled evily as she read aloud the name of the person that Lumina held most dear to her spark.
"Backdrop…her sparkmate."
"Ahh, so you're bonded!" Marauder said, sounding surprised. He then lowered his head closer to hers and thinned his optics at her. "…but not for much longer. Vexan! you know what to do."
The evil femme acknowledges her master's orders and smiles as she flings her sniper rifle over her shoulder, not once removing her optics from Lumina's as she does so. Once out the door, she cloaks herself to appear invisible and proceeds to Backdrop's current coordinates.
Marauder sets up the monitor for Lumina to watch Vexan carry out her task.
"Thanks to these video feeds, you'll be able to get a front row seat to watch your sparkmate die!"
As Marauder breezes over some Autobot footage, he makes a startling discovery. He notices strange body markings on Admiral Downpour, that look surprisingly similar to the markings that adorned Lumina's shoulderblade! He grinned with satisfaction.
"Ahhh…So that's why you wanted to change targets." He chuckled. "Admiral Downpour is your father!"
Lumina's head props up and she gasps.
Marauder radios his apprentice. "Vexan, change of plans. You are to switch targets back to Admiral Downpour immediately."
"NO! PLEASE! NOT MY FATHER!" She shouts and pleadingly grasps at his arm.
He grabs her wrists and forcefully yanks her up. "You've caused me enough trouble today little missy, so it's the brig for you now! As for your father, I'll just have Vexan bring back his head, so you can see his last expression for yourself!"
He takes her through the only other door of the bunker, which leads to a hallway with cells only lining the left side of the corridor. He threw her in the farthest one and locked it.
She stood in the middle of the cell and put the tips of her fingers on the sides of her head, concentrating with all her might to try and telepathically communicate with Backdrop. Since they were only recently bonded, the telepathic connection was not as strong as it should be, but she had to try.
Meanwhile, Vexan was busy setting up her sniper rifle. She waited for a minute then noticed her target as Backdrop entered his quarters. She carefully aligns his head in the rifle's crosshairs when she gets the transmission from her master. With a disappointing sigh, she uncloaks and reluctantly leaves, heading for the coordinates of Admiral Downpour.
Lumina continues to try and mentally contact Dropkick. Its faint at first, but Backdrop soon recognizes that the voice in his head is Lumina, and that she was trying to tell him something. He manages to make out the words "protect…my father...sniper…cloaked" and quickly runs to his Admiral's aid. He knew Downpour was scheduled to address his fellow soliders in a few minutes so there was no time to lose! The speech would take place outside, and that would definitely add to the advantage of the cloaked sniper!
As soon as Backdrop was outside the base, he immediately switched his scanners to infer-red, hoping to pick up a heat signature before Downpour emerged. When the Admiral made himself known, Backdrop's infer-red picked up a lone figure standing atop a nearby building aiming a weapon, not at Downpour, but at him!
Still fueled with jealousy, Vexan fired at him. He quickly moved and managed to fire a shot back at her, but he took her full blast right in his shoulder. His shot was more lucky as it went right through the barrel of the sniper gun, rendering it inoperable. And thus, foiling the assasination plot and saving the life of Lumina's father.
Unable to fire another shot, Vexan flees. Backdrop knows that the femme would inevitably lead him to Lumina, so he continues to follow her with his infer-red, but safely at a distance.
Vexan was furious. How did that Autobot know that she was there! She was cloaked! Then it dawned on her…their bond. Marauder must have underestimated the distance their bond would travel. Either way, her master definitely wasn't going be happy with her when she returned to base.
Marauder stood before the monitor and punched the desk furiously with his fist as he watched Vexan's failure as it happened. This did not please him one bit, so he radioed an assassin of his own…
Halfway to the base, Vexan stops for a minute to allow her intakes to cycle oxygen to her nearly over-heated systems. Backdrop, who was now less than 100 meters away, watched the femme as she uncloaked, exposing her vulnerability. He was about to leap out and interrogate the unarmed femme at the count of three, but when he got to two, she shrieked! Someone had beat him to it!
He poked his head out and saw Megatron's Second-in Command standing behind her, constricting her arms tightly behind her back. He spoke softly into the femme's audio receptor.
"Megatron does not tolerate Decepticons who don't follow orders." Vexan struggles to get free, but Starscream tightens his grip which causes her to whimper. "…you will pay for your insubordination."
He then wraps his arms around the terrified femme and flies her to Decepticon HQ, to face her inevitable fate. Unfortunately for Backdrop, he knew that the Decepticon base was miles away, and one could only get there by air. Since his alt mode was a land vehicle, there would be no way for him to follow them now.
He fell to his knees and bowed his head in defeat. Lumina was gone. And without questioning that sniper femme, there would be no way of finding her. Just then, he heard her voice through their bond again, only this time it was closer. His optics lit up. Then something strange happened. There was a separate thumping coming from his spark. He thought it was his, but then he realized what it really was.
It was hers.
For the first time in his life, he could feel her. He actually could feel her in his spark. He was extatic! Not only did he feel her essence, but he also felt her fear. Still in awe of the miraculous discovery, he eagerly followed her spark's distress until he came upon a disheveled-looking bunker. He could feel it, her essence was close. Still nursing his shot shoulder, he stormed into the bunker, but quietly. He didn't know if the femme sniper was working alone or had an accomplice.
When he felt her presence only a room away, he jogged a little faster. The minute he hit the cell's doorway and his optics fell upon his beautiful Lumina, he felt all his strength suddenly leave him. Backdrop looked down at the sharp object that now stuck out through the front of his abdomen.
Lumina screamed in horror when she saw this. Marauder, the culprit, was standing behind him holding the sabre that impaled him from behind. He had waited in the shadows for the right moment to get the drop on him. As Backdrop crashed to his knees, Lumina ran towards the energy bars of her cell and reached an arm through. Her hand transformed into an energon whip and she skillfully flung it around the neck of the unsuspecting Decepticon as he laughed at Backdrop's fate. The coils wrapped tightly around his neck and did not budge.
Now at the mercy of the femme, he releases the sabre and uses both of his hands to try and remove the whip from his throat. But the more he struggled, the tighter it became.
Backdrop, still in a daze from so much loss of energon, manages to hear Lumina calling to him.
"Backdrop! Get up! I don't think I can hold him for much longer!"
With what strength he had, he pulls the sabre out from his back, and gets to his feet. He stands above the kneeling and now severely weakened Decepticon and addresses him.
"I don't know who you are, but your days of tormenting Autobots are over."
He uses the sabre and slices off Marauder's head. Lumina's whip retracts, as his lifeless body falls unceremoniously to the floor.
With the threat now gone, Backdrop heads on over to the security keypad and releases her from her prison. As the energy bars fade away, he drops the sabre and the two jog towards each other. They embrace.
Lumina slowly pulled her face away and looked deep into his optics. "You came for me."
Backdrop smiled and put a hand to her cheek. "Of course. You know I would do anything for you."
Lumina's expression changes from joy to concern when she suddenly remembered his injuries.
"Oh! Your hurt! Here, let me fix you up."
"But…we don't have any tools."
"It's okay, I'm sure there's some things around here I can use."
And sure enough, she found enough materials around the bunker to patch him up successfully.
As she does so, Backdrop notices Marauder's belongings. He picks up a data pad and was shocked to find that he had just decapitated Megatron's best sniper! Since all who've ever seen his face never lived, there no records of his description. When Lumina was finished with him, he then got up and walked over to Marauder's lifeless body. He bent down and picked up Marauder's head, which made Lumina flinch in fear.
"I think Prime would be pretty interested in seeing this."
The two return to Autobot Headquarters with the head and data pad, and inform Optimus of their precarious predicament. He took Marauder's head from Backdrop and held it in his hand like a trophy.
"Well I've got to say, I never knew a mere grunt would be able to take down a top-notch Decepticon sniper! I'm impressed!"
Backdrop blushed. "Well, I had the proper motiviation."
He smiled as he put his arm around Lumina, causing her to smile and cuddle up closer to him.
"For your heroic deeds, you should be rewarded. Perhaps a boost in rank is in order."
Backdrop tried to fight back a smile. A promotion up the ranks! That could be anything! He could be bumped to Sargeant, Leiutenant, General or even Admiral! He stood completely still as he anticipated his Commander's next words.
"How would you like to be, my Second-in-Command?"
Backdrop's jaw dropped. That was an even higher rank than the ones he was thinking of!
"But…you already have a Second-in-Command!" He protested. "Isn't Prowl going to be upset when he finds out some lowly grunt just took his job?"
Prowl enters the room with a big smile on his face.
"He's not planning on replacing me, he means for me to train someone, a successor if you will."
"And you want it to be me?" Backdrop asked as he stared dumbfoundedly at his two superior officers, and then finally his mind came back to reality.
"Wow. I'd be honored."
And so it was. Word of Backdrop's heroic deeds quickly spread throughout the base, and his popularity grew, and over time, grew even more so than that of the infamous Decepticon sniper, Marauder.