A Grim Fate.

By Michelle Nieporte

Warning: This contains material that is meant for a mature audience. Reader discursion is advised.

Since the day she had come online Joy did her namesake well. She was always seen with a beaming sweet smile on her faceplate and she could lighten up any room with her presence. She was a pretty femme with a petite form. She was no more than 13 feet tall with simple bright pink armor. Her body curved gently giving her a very slight hourglass figure. For hundreds of stellar cycles all she knew was friendship, joy, and love. Now, she struggled to remember such days.

"Run," the femme thought, "Just keep running!" Her companion dragged her along behind him. She had met the blue and golden mech only two stellar cycles ago, and the two were inseparable. His name was Hammerbac. He was a new recruit to the Elite Guard and she was in training to be an Intel bot. When he was called away to an Autobot base off-world she followed him. It hadn't even been one stellar cycle before The Decepticons attacked. Now, Joy and Hammerbac were running for their lives through the dark rocky terrain. Behind them was the thunder of canon fire, the roar of jet engines, and the oil-curdling screech of metal on metal.

The rocky terrain provided enough cover for the two Autobots as they fled. But Hammerbac was desperate to get Joy to a safer place. He dragged the femme into a deep gorge providing enough cover for the two to stop and rest their tired servos. They nearly collapsed on one another. Their stabilizing servos ached and they had burned through almost all their energy.

Joy looked at her companion. The once powerful mech was now nothing but a beaten down heap. His armor, which once was so bold and bright, had been scorched by laser fire and dented from harsh physical combat. Her armor, though barely scratched, had too lost its gleam. The dust of the planet stuck to the bright pink armor turning it to a crimson red. The same color of some organics' blood. Hammerbac slipped his hand down and took hold of hers.
"I should not have brought you here." He said sadly. Joy looked into his faceplate but he refused to make contact with her optics. "I knew this base was a target. I should have done more to keep you sa-"the femme covered his mouth with her finger.
"It doesn't matter. I was told about the risks too and I didn't care. Even if I'd known this was going to happen I still would have come." She drew closer to him. "We're going to survive this. Then we'll go back to Cybertron and be bonded." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Maybe we'll create a sparkling or two, but I know it has to be alright because I l-"
"Autobots! Show yourselves!" a piercing voice shattered their mood. From above the gorge the two Autobots heard footsteps thundering above them.
"Don't worry, we're not gonna hurt ya!" A different voice jeered.
The blue and gold mech grabbed Joy and hissed in her audio receptor, "Run, just keep running."
"No!" she pleaded.
"Go!" he ordered, "I'll cover you!"
Just then a shot was fired hitting the stone wall above them. The [Autobots] turned to see two pairs of burning red optics glaring at them in the night.
"Joy, go now!" Hammerbac ordered.
The femme, not knowing what else to do, ran. She shut off her optics causing her to trip and stumble over every rock and ridge. She imagined Cybertron. She saw the tall gleaming towers of steel so magnificent and strong. She saw the thousands of different colored lights that danced around the mechanized planet. She imagined a happy home there with the one mech in the entire galaxy who could make her feel safe now. She saw them being together until their sparks went out.
She was violently crushed back to reality with a laser blast stuck her left stabilizing servo causing her to crash headfirst into a rock. Static was all she could see as she painfully rolled over on her back and sat up. When her vision finally cleared she was staring up into two seething red optics.
"Wow," the Decepticon said slyly, "look at you. No wonder he put up such a fight." He reached down and tried to cup her face in is clawed hand. She pulled back and tried to scoot away only to run into another set of stabilizing servos. She looked up into the optics of another Decepticon. This one's armor looked as though it had suffered heavy battle damage. Across his chest was the symbol of all things vial and evil in the galaxy: the light glowing stain of fresh Energon.
The 'con smiled wickedly at the femme. "Awwww, scared are we?" he leaned closer to her, "Good."
He produced from behind his back a crudely rounded object. From the bottom of it were many wires dripping with Energon. With a thud, the Decepticon dropped it in front of Joy. Nothing but a small squeak could escape her vocalizer even after she realized what it was. She felt her whole body quake as the last bit of blue light faded from the eyes of her former companion's head.
"Hammerbac? No!" she whispered shaking her head, "No, no, NO!" she finally screamed shooting up off the ground despite her injury. She was quickly seized by the strong grasp of the first Decepticon.
"Did that hurt your feelings?" he laughed. "Don't worry we'll make it up to you." He hissed.
He threw her to the hard ground so that she landed on her back and placed his foot on her stomach to make sure she stayed there. The other Decepticon walked over once more holding the head of Hammerbac. He glared at it for a moment before once again turning his attention to the femme. He carelessly tossed it over his shoulder and leaned closer to Joy. He gently traced his clawed finger over her chest plate which quivered from both his touch and the weight of the other 'con's foot.
"You know there's nothing you can do to stop what's about to happen." He said with a grin. "Just imagine we're him. Whatever makes you feel better."
As they began to rip apart her armor reveling her spark chamber, Joy felt something she had never felt since coming online: Grim.