Ep 0.5 - Use as you will -Closed-

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After succesfull "investigation" about the ones she did suspect to have possibly stupid plans on Lord Megatron. Actually, the only one Arma suspected to have this kind of plans, was only Starscream. No one else wasn't enough stupid to ever try overthrow the supreme leader. And if Starscream even would try, there would be resistance, from her, and to not forget, about their leader himself, who wouldn't lose to someone like Screamer. Still, she had to "report" about all suspects she had, it was her duty, as loyal warrior.

Though, it wasn't clearly the only thing troubling her, she had noticed very clearly the changes in Megatron's behavior. Changes in his emotions, even in his spark itself, and she knew very well why this was happening. She just felt, like she should've tried to do something to relieve his burden. And in deep into her core, she knew she wanted to do so. But she just knew there wasn't anything she could do. The only thing she knew might fix the situation, was to get the Barricade back, which was easier said than done.

Her heavy steps reached the door, of the one of training rooms. She had found out Lord Megatron had closed himself into one of them. He propably was beating his hatred into training opponents, which wouldn't be any challenge at all.
She stopped, waiting for an second. "Lord Megatron, this is Arma. I'm opening the door." She waited an second again, and moved her hand to the panel, next to the door. Heavy door slid open, and as she stepped in, closed right behind her.

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Megatron didn't look up, didn't acknowledge the loyal femme until he was done pounding the mechanical core of the training drone into so much scrap. The machines weren't difficult to overcome by brute force, their purpose being to instill and enhance intelligent finesse into fighting through a combination of blaster shots and exceptional maneuverability. The warlord had not come here to sharpen his reflexes or agility, however. He'd come to tear struggling metal apart.

Once the drone was destroyed, likely beyond the point of repair or even salvage, Megatron stepped through its remains to regard Arma with bright optics. His field was monstrously flared, hot and heavy against the walls, thick with all the obvious signs to stay away. Engine hot and spark throbbing, still cracked apart with the agony of an eroding absence, Megatron's voice was a thunderous growl.

"Why are you here, Arma?"

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Arma did noticed very well the flaring in his master's field, felt the heat, and the weight. But still, her own field remained steady. Her lack of fear might've been even bad thing, sometimes. As she had stood there, watching him tearing up the training drone, not once had she felt like she wanted to leave the room. Now that he stood there, with the raging field of his, he would've scared away most of the habitants of the ship. But she just stayed right where she was.

As she heard question from her leader, keeping her optics in his own. He wasn't all right, she knew it too well, and it hurted her, somewhere in dephs of her armored core, where she had shutted her feelings. "I'll apologize for interruption, but i thought i should share my concern with you, my lord." She began. She was worried, from himself, and about Starscream also. But she knew she shouldn't show her worry, it would be weakness, and Lord Megatron didn't needed weak warrior. "It's about Starscream. I had some discussion with him, and even if i can't be completely sure, i believe he might be planning something to try overthrow you. It's not as he wouldn't always been like that, but this time, it felt like he was trying to get me, on his side. He's always up to something, but i believe he might try something, in near future even." Arma told everything she just knew, and believed. Though, she just wasn't certain at all, that Megatron would listen, or react at any way. His thoughts were propably blinded by hatried, and something more.

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"Of course he is."

Being told that Starscream was plotting against him was akin to being reminded that the Autobots were the enemy. Or that coolant was wet. Megatron would be greatly suspicious (and somewhat unnerved) if Starscream was ever doing anything but laying the groundwork to usurp him.

But Arma's statement of the obvious was only a prelude to her real concern, and her reason for seeking him out: that Starscream had tried to recruit her. One of his most loyal frontliners. Apparently the treacherous Seeker was getting ambitious.

Talons uncurling from fists, Megatron strode towards Arma with heavy footfalls. She almost equalled him in mass, but his field still swamped hers when he had come close enough to touch. The femme held his gaze, shoulders back and helm raised - a true warrior demonstrating no intention to leave. He tipped his helm fractionally, optics narrowed. "Why else, are you here?"

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Arma held her stance, not backing up a step. Her optics, like her field, remained unchanged, even during the time Megatron stepped quickly right before her, his monstrous field almost blazing, even through her own. His answer was expected, as she had thought, but something seemed to even caught his attention, as she was able to tell by small acts, which would've not been registered by her normally, but this was their supreme leader, who she had vowed to follow, and protect, no matter the situation. This vow, had been holy thing for her, through war, and through the time after it. There was only few who still honoured this promise, made so long time ago, even at a times like these.

Her emotionless look didn't change, as she remained silent for an second after his question, his optics narrowed, her own staring still deep in them, showing not any feeling, except a bit of concern, worry, somewhere deep, propably not even noticed by very emotionally burdened Megatron.
"I'm concerned, by one other thing too..." She paused again. "About you, my lord." She kept on. "You are not alright, everyone knows it, yet no one dares to say anything. Except Starscream. Who believes you are troubled by dark energon." Her head made little shooking move, tilting a bit at sideways. "But i know, that it's not dark energon that troubles you. It is not something so simple. You may deny this... but i have no reason to even try to lie to you. If i would try, it would be the same as breaking the promise i gave long time ago, as i stepped into your ranks." Her words were like pointing finger, towards her decepticon sigil. She waited for an second, of his reaction for her words.

"It is about Barricade, isn't it?" She asked. Just never thought she might've said even too much.

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Arma was a solid warrior through and through. Brave and one of the toughtest frontliners that Megatron had on the Nemesis. She wore her loyalty to him as a second armor, utterly impenetrable.

But what she'd just said had taken bearings beyond the telling.

No one knew that his involvement with Barricade had gone beyond the casual but Fairwinds and Soundwave. Confronted with it now by a mecha he infrequently saw let alone interacted with, who had no business knowing let alone vocalising it, Megatron's first instinct was to rip out her spark chamber and shove it down her throat.

But her loyalty, and her utter sincerity in wishing to serve her commander in every capacity, stilled his violent impulses. She was concerned, but not pitying; aware, but not judging. It did little to temper his jagged field, but it saved her life.

It was difficult to tell if she'd guessed at the presence of an sparkbond, one that had been too-new when Barricade had been tortured to near-death. Fresh errors were popping up daily, and Megatron abstractly knew that his behaviour was 'off'. Functioning normally was impossible, though, and for weeks now he'd been searching for any means to ease the corrosive, agonizing wound of absence.

To Arma now, Megatron cycled a careful ventilation - for her sake more than his. "You assume too much, Arma, and you'd do well to tred carefully from this point ."

<<OOC: This isn't a dismissal - keep talking. >>

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She didn't guess. She just saw more than many ones even thought she saw. She observed her lord daily, when on board. Observed his surroundings, surveying possible threats, and every possible changes in him himself. Idea about sparkbond hadn't crossed her mind at the beginning, but as she had observed him more, she was left with no other conclusion. When on board, she had no real job to do, and she was also very untalkative one, so she was pretty much able to watch for him. No wonder Megatron was... shocked, if it could be said like that. She was all prepared for incoming strikes, if her master decided to shut her up, with his fists. But there didn't come any. Arma was still able to feel the weight of his field upon her, and felt it raging around. This however, told her, that she had been right. He felt like cooling down, in the state he was before her question, and stated, that she assumed too much, and that she should tred very carefully in future.

She vented the air few times, before her response. "My lord, i don't assume anything. I see more than you think i do, because it's my duty, as your warrior, to make sure nothing happens to you. I'll notice things like these even if i didn't want to." Arma paused. She wouldn't hold her words, she would say things like they were. "I can't understand the pain you're going through, neither i can ease it, even if i wanted to." She waited again. Her field remained steady, as she spoke. She really had herself never been sparkbonded with another one. Not that she would've ever needed one, but she had heard what kind of things it might've caused. And Lord Megatron, suffered just these indications. And his whole appareance, he wasn't his cool self, hadn't been in long time. She just... felt so bad to see him in this unstable state. She knew she couldn't do anything to replace Barricade, even for second, to ease his pain. But she knew, that for her master's sake, she would do anything possible, to get Barricade back from the autobot hands.

"I can see there's great hatred inside you, towards the autobots. I cannot remove it, nor i cannot do anything to the pain inside you... But i could at leasttry help you ease it, at least for an little." Arma finished her sentence, her optics still deep inside his own, waiting for his reaction. She had no other intentions, but to help him. Most of the crew felt like fearing him, and not in good way, not in honouring way. They actually feared what he might do, what he might cause in this state of his. Arma hoped, that if his hatred could be eased a bit, Megatron could at least come to his senses, somehow.

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The offer to ease his symptoms, the insinuation that he needed them eased, lashed Megatron's hand out into a crushing grip around the femme's throat. Clearly she was not aware of what he'd been doing to the Eradicons in the night. She couldn't have to be, essentially, offering herself up to his mercies like this.

It was a curiosity, however - intriguing enough that he didn't gut her there and then for what she'd demonstrated knowing already. For her presumption in coming to him and recounting it to his faceplates. There had been a surge of anger at her audacity for suggesting that he wasn't coping with the insanity-inducing damage of the abused allignment bond, but there had also been a dark curl of intrigue. It was the same dark lust-like feeling that he taken him inside the Eradicon's spark chambers, and the textures and sounds of their shattering bodies.

Megatron forced her to kneel, felt her go willingly with the force of his arm. He did not break his stare, though his optics had intensified and taken on a Dark Energon edging of purple. If she'd chosen to die today by his hand just to ease a psychological symptom, then so be it. "Do you have any concept of what you're offering? What is it that you think I need"

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Arma was bit surprised, as her throat was gripped by the strong hold of her master. Yet only her arms made small spasm, due to reflex, but soon they fell limp on her sides. Had she said too much already. Had he decided that she had to be silenced for good. She didn't struggle, neither she did oppose him as he forced her to kneel before him, as she just followed the movements of his arm, holdin her throat, not breaking the stare either, staring through her crimson red optics, to now purple edging ones of his, helding her field still emotionless, even though she felt sharp talonlike claws, strongly around her throat, she remained calm. She was prepared for what he would do.

Hearing Megatron's question, Arma did knew what to answer him. "My lord, what you need, is something, or better said, someone, who can stand your hatried. You'll get no satisfaction, of striking down this kind of scrapmetal, which only purpose is to act as target practice." Her voice had some side noise, due to his grip pressuring her voice box. She knew exactly, what she was offering for him. "I have very clear concept of what i'm offering. Myself. I'll offer myself, for you to direct all your hatried. Like i said, you'll need someone who cold take out your hatried, unlike these pieces of scrap, i can take much more than that. If it still isn't enough... then i just wasn't strong enough to be a warrior worthy enough to serve you, my lord." Her tone remained stable through and through. She kept the contact between the optics, not showing any signs of retreating any more. "Think of me as an autobot... and use me as you would use one..." The only way she knew to help her master at all, was to make him unload his mental burden over her. If she would lose her spark in the matter, then it would truly mean, that she was too weak. She just waited, her field remained unchanged. She was ready, for anything, not fearing anything that was about to come.

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It was a satisfying exertion to jerk her bodily back to her pedes and then slam his fist into her faceplates hard enough to send her reeling, and Megatron was quick to follow. Arma's backplates struck the bulkhead, though showed no signs of dropping from the impact. Indeed, she neither ducked nor flinched when the warlord slammed his fist into her again - to her abdomen this time, hard enough to warp the metal behind.

He did not strike her as he would an Autobot, nor as if she were one who had betrayed him. This was something entirely new - accepting an invitation to inflict untold damage onto an incredibly loyal subject. Even the drones had not been this willing in his claws. They had been pliant, blank whatever he did.

Megatron grasped her helm by the jaw, thumb gouging across her lip plates and drawing a thin line of energon. "Is this what you think I want?" It hissed out of him unbidden, but needing an answer.

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As his strong grasp dragged her back on her feet, she stood on her own legs, somehow prepared for what was about to come. She let no sound, as the first strike came, yet her receptors gave the pain signal, forcing her legs to give in. She really felt it, it was way different than being hit by some autobot small fry, or by Prime. The second strike came, forcing her to even hold in her gasp, biting her teeth. The strike was way much more powerful, yet she didn't felt hostility through it, even if she knew it had already caused some damage behind her armor. She didn't believe this was how he would've hitten bot. She could've of course turn off her pain receptors, yet she wanted... actually wanted to feel the strikes, feel the hatried of her master to fade, even if it was just a bit, it was enough for her. She would let him hit her as many times as he needed to, if it just helped him. She wasn't able to fill the gap left by Barridade, but if this was what helped him, then she was very willing to sacrifice her torso, even her spark, if needed, to ease lord Megatron's pain.

As he grabbed her jaw, she again kept her optics tightly in his own, as his talon like thumb caused thin leak of energon on her face. It would be easy to fix, yet she would only close it, letting the scar to be seen, to memorial for herself. His question, however, demanded answer. "No, i don't believe this is what you want... but what i believe you need..." She might've been even wrong, but it was just her belief. "Give me all the hatried you have, give me the scars i haven't been able to find through my existence of battles, my lord." Thin line of energon formed an small bead, hanging on her jaw, dropping down in seconds.

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Following some wild, unprocessed impulse, Megatron swept the thin line of energon seeping from her mouth in a graze of teeth and glossa, tasted the signature of her life energy in the fuel before releasing her jaw. Then he cracked his knuckles down and across her right optic to force her helm down. She remained staring at his pedes, waiting for the next strike.

It didn't come. Instead, Megatron took a step back with a rumble of disgust, hands clenching into fists only to come loose again at his sides. It was wrong. It wasn't enough. It was stupid and hollow and pointless, but she was asking for it and he needed to do something. She wanted his claws in her, wanted the marks to wear not for vanity but as the mark of a trusted, loyal and ever-brave Decepticon. It was far from the first time a subordinate had wanted his mark on them, something specially delivered from his hand to acknowledge them as separate from his armies on the scattered and long-cold battle fields.

It had never been like this, though.

Shunting a hard, hot ventilation, Megatron considered her with narrow optics where she still stood waiting. With her gaze resolutely lowered until he saw fit to move her, he shuttered his own optics and allowed the mass of pain, weight and emptiness in his spark swell to the fore. Barricade was there, instantly, torn and defiled but not conscious this time. Left for dead somewhere. Not the focus now, though, as a dark mass with blue optics shifted into the front and centre of his mind. It smiled, dusted its hands, and the Autobot insignia flashed obscenely.

There was the anger. With a bellow, and not truly seeing now, Megatron hunched and dived into Arma's form, claws digging and twisting upon contact to tear from her what had been torn from him. A solid backhand sent her sideways, and he followed to fall upon her with all the blind ferocity he had thrown upon the Prime before Chernobyl.


((OOC:Gonna let you puppet a little bit as haven't seen you to discuss damage for Arma. Go nuts. She's getting what she wanted. =3))

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She just waited, to her master to strike again. Waited for him to leave new scars on her already battlescarred armor. She had dozens and dozens of those. Many ones which should've been fatal, yet she had always survived. But the scars she lacked, were truly, the ones that would prove immenseness of her loyalty, towards their leader.

Then, it just begun, the first real strike came, almost knocking her off balance, making her slide some at sideways, but she still held, not even her reflexes reacting to defend herself, this was what she had wanted, what she had already waited for. She wouldn't fight back, whatever was coming, she would take it. The full mass of decepticon warlord dived into her, forcing her backplates once again against bulkhead behind her. His fist slammed into her faceplates, with real force this time, the one filled with real hatred. The crystal in her optic had already suffered from the former strike, and now it gave in completely, shattering, blacking out, sending list of error codes into the one still functioning. She just overrided them, completely, as warlord grasped her shoulder, claws digging into her heavy class armor, before he hammered his fist into her midsection, piercing the plating right below her spark chamber, spilling energon immediatedly. She vented air, pain starting to overcome her receptors, which were about to be automatically turned off, due to safety settings, but she held, overrided them, even when seeing energon spilling through her teeth, as she vented out.

She felt floor disappearing under her pedes, as the grasp tightened, before she was thrown across the room, smashing into the wall, before falling back to the floor, leaving a pond of energon under her, before forcing herself back up again, facing her lord, seeing the hatried burning in his optics, his field burning, almost forcing even her, to step back, but she just waited. She wasn't allowed to interrupt this at any way, she had to get up, because her lord might even think she had already given in, and might've stopped. But this wasn't enough.
He charged her again, using his whole weight, to ram her against the wall, forcing her teeth to part, as she was forced to vent out, spilling her her fuel for life all over his armoring, that was like instinct, as she tried to reach her left arm to wipe em off, only to be grabbed my him, other hand holding her against the wall, another one grabbing her left arm, and jerked it once, extremely heavily, sending jolting pain through her system, causing even her to nearby scream, but she suppressed it, biting her teet together, still letting some sound. The wall behind her was saturated by red, and blue, as the hydraulic lines, and hoses conveying the energon in her arm, were cutted in instant, as her arm was torn apart, neural lines sending cyclic waves of pain to her processor, and error messages were flooding into her optic.

The arm fell on ground, as she felt his grip to relax, before he started to hammer both of his fists all over her body, one after another, time after time. Sparks flew, and her armor groaned like dying animal, as strike after another was striken into her. Her chestplates were designed to take this, but even them started to have dents, and another one even cracked a bit, before he grabbed her throat, his talonlike claws digging into softer matter, spilling again new energon on surface, as his grip just felt like tightening, making it harder to vent. His other hand gripped other one of her chestplates, before tearing it away, leaving only weaker plates to protect her sparkchamber.

He loosed his grip, letting her quickly vent in, and to take quick look into him. Her remaining optic had blurry vision, the crystal was shattering, not taking any more strikes, withour going down. Her pain receptors were overloaded, as she had taken enough damage, for many to be dead at this point, and she wasn't far from that point either. She wobbled, leaked energon, and hydraulic fluids everywhere, unable to move her limbs, but she just stood there, being watched by him, like measured to be ready.

She watched, as he revealed his blade, as he propably saw her to be ready, as she was. She knew lord Megatron would strike through her spark, and it would be the end. It meant nothing to her. She had at least served her lord, till the very end. As he rised his arm, she saw the blade to shine in the light, before it was thrusted into her body, and through her backplates, into the wall behind her.

It had missed. It had missed her spark just by inch, as she had wobbled just enough, not meaning it however. It was only his blade any more, that held her standing, as she barely was able to lift her look into his face, her only optic having only a slight crimson glow any more.

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The lust, the pounding roar that wasn't sound or feeling but something raw and all-consuming finally abated, and Megatron could see again. Could see Arma hanging from the monstrous blade, her energon and parts across the floor, the fading light in her optic. The purple brand on her armour, alligning her to the Decepticons and, more crucially where this particular femme was concerned, to him.

He would not thank her for this: for his clearer processor and the lessened ache in his spark. It was not his way to give it, and she could not accept it. The warlord put a steadying hand to her other shoulder and pulled the blade free as quickly and smoothly as possible. She buckled, and he seized her armour to hold her considerable mass upright against him.

"You are a loyal Decepticon, Arma - far moreso than most. You honor your sigal, your faction. And me." He cocked his head, optics narrowed and critical as he watched her faceplates. He would not accept some hollow display of strength after all that, and there was no dishonour in needing assistance following those wounds. "Can you get to the repair bay under your own power?"

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Her vision was blurring, her system already being at the verge of the emergency shutdown. She just had to override the every single error message and suggestion of operations. She wouldn't give in, even if it was her master's blade, pierced her torso. As long as her spark just existed, she had no meaning of falling, she wasn't allowed to show weakness in front of her supreme leader. But the beating, had stopped, Lord Megatron just standing there, suddenly grasping her shoulder, before removing the blade. She let no sound, she felt nothing. Her pain receptors were too damaged to feel anything. She neither had any power left in her legs, and would've fallen down, if her lord would've not held her.

Her audio sensors barely functioned any more, but she still heared the praise from her master. It wasn't like that, at least how she thought it. She just fulfilled her wov, as a warrior. She had woved to serve only Lord Megatron, unless he appointed himself his follower, which would not happen in centuries. She had just done, what she had believed was needed in this situation. She needed no thanks, no praises, all she needed was that, that his state had at least eased a bit, and she had had the honour to be part of the help.

After his last words, she barely made it to lift her head, her tightly gritted teeth parting, broken ventilation escaping through her. "My lord..." She vented slowly again. "If you'll... let go of me... now..." Shell collected her strenght again. "I'll fall... and will not... rise again." She believed it may have been the weakness, but she wasn't allowed to lie him either. The truth, was her only way.