Whiplash

By Raksha

ALLEGIANCE: Decepticon
FUNCTION: Independent Operative

MOTTO: "Underestimate me at your peril."

APPEARANCE: In robot mode, Whiplash is a Decepticon of medium height and slender but decidedly female build. Her colors are black-on-black, liquid darkness, of such high gloss that any nearby illumination reflects on her plating in half a hundred highlights. The only splashes of color are her intense, deep-purple eyes, and a Decepticon symbol of the same shade that adorns her chest. A writhing mass of glistening-black tentacles covers her back, coiling forward over her shoulders and around her waist, and snaking restlessly about her legs.

In MedusaSaur mode, she is a glossy-black, vaguely reptilian creature with a writhing carapace of tentacles over her back. The glistening black tendrils are never still, snaking out to the sides and behind her in undulating coils. Her four sturdy legs end in great, hooked, black claws, and her powerful jaws are set with rows of serrated teeth -- brilliant white against the deep black of her face. The only other color is from her eyes, two almond-shaped shards of burning violet. The MedusaSaur form was based on records of a predatory creature encountered on one of the old Decepticon colony worlds, in the days of expansion and exploration before the current war.

MedusaSaur mode picture by Heather Moulton
What would you hear if you encountered a MedusaSaur in the shadows?

HISTORY: Whiplash was one of the very very few female Decepticons who was recruited into the gladiatorial State Games, at a time in Cybertron's history when the notion of female warriors was regarded with slightly condescending amusement. She has had to battle not only her larger, heavier male opponents in the arena, but also their derision outside the ring -- though she learned quickly to use their disdain against them. Many an opponent has learned to respect Whiplash too late; Decepticon gladiatorial combat was usually to the death.
       Early in her career, the current civil war was still restricted to scattered pockets of infighting and regional trouble-spots. It seemed almost insignificant background noise as Whiplash and the others on her team traveled around the planet, from combat ring to combat ring, racking up points and moving up in the divisions. The team consisted of a handful of individuals under a savvy but somewhat jaded manager, who coerced and coaxed them all out of the small-time battle rings into the official government-sponsored divisions. Included in the team as a relative latecomer was a young Decepticon named Megatron, who quickly rose to prominence in their group. Whiplash had a choice of two reactions to him: envy or admiration. Envy was an emotion beneath her dignity. She chose admiration - perhaps more than admiration - they became, for a time, lovers. One particular Game day would stand out in her mind - one of the major events on the battle circuit, worth lots of points, and attended by the Decepticon leader himself, Straxus, and a number of his high-ranking officers. Unexpectedly in the middle of events, the Autobots launched a sweeping assault on the arena, hoping to take out the Decepticon leader and his most capable underlings. Megatron, moving instinctively from the fighting ring to the battlefront, took command of the gladiators and the surrounding troops while Straxus and his generals milled about in confusion, and managed to rout the Autobots - but not before a number of Decepticons, including a few of their gladiatorial team-mates, had been killed. Megatron shortly thereafter left the State Game circuit to return to his home-city Perihellia, and asked Whiplash to come along. Realizing even then that their paths to destiny lay in different directions, she refused, not without some regret, and resumed her course toward the uppermost gladiatorial ranks.
       She never quite attained the coveted "Division One" standing, although she was heavily favored to do so towards the end - but the reality of the war intruded yet again. With more and more resources needed to supply the armies, and the chance of anything like a civilian existence becoming more and more remote, the State Games were shut down completely and the whole effort of the High Command was thrown into the war. Whiplash's dream, which had been within her reach, was shattered before her eyes. She plunged into a time of bitterness and despair, living a solitary survivalist's existence as she traveled between the war-torn cities, never getting involved in the conflicts, never making contact with others, simply taking what she needed and moving on. It was word of Megatron's disappearance into deep space in pursuit of the Autobot leader, that shook her out of her isolationism; she finally came to realize that her considerable skills could be used to help her fellow Decepticons, that she had, in fact, made matters worse by shutting herself off from everyone. She realized she had the opportunity to assist the cause, and the responsibility to do so. Her memories of the gladiatorial days and the camaraderie of her team-mates, which had all been taken from her so suddenly, would not allow her to fully join up with the Decepticon army to become part of a team again - but she did the next best thing. She traveled to Polyhex and took up residence close to Darkmount, the central Decepticon base that had been left under Shockwave's command. From this vantage point, she was able to keep watch on events, and come in to help when needed. Her fervent hope is for a quick Decepticon victory - which will restore order to Cybertron, and maybe, just maybe, bring back the State Games so she can continue with her career.

PROFILE: Whiplash's surface personality comes across as cool and calculating, rather indifferent and even a bit disdainful toward those around her, and very focused on her own goals. Underneath that, she's as loyal and dedicated as they come; she's just wary of showing it. But when it really counts, she would never abandon a fellow Decepticon in trouble, nor shun any risk to herself for the advancement of the Decepticon cause. She is fearless and adventurous, though her independent nature makes her shun the official Decepticon hierarchy. She is dedicated to the cause, but wishes to show it in her own way. Her life revolves around the fringes of Decepticon territory, an unseen figure in the darkness unless she chooses to reveal herself. She tends to show up unexpectedly when extra firepower is most needed or a particularly dangerous mission needs doing, and then disappears again - she will not stay long enough to form attachments. Since she remains aware of what goes on around Polyhex, she is also often in position to help out an individual warrior against an Autobot attack - in which case she'll leap out of the shadows to assist, and then vanish again when the danger is past. While she's present, she does tend to be helpful towards others, if slightly reserved; she has an intuitive sense of what others are like, what makes them tick, and how best to deal with them, and she generally takes them as they come. The exception is if ever a male should underestimate her because she's a female. This is the one attitude she will take personally, and may be a bit overly sensitive to it, in some cases perceiving insults where none were intended. If she senses a chauvinistic attitude, she will be quick to retaliate in such a way that makes her battle skill clear.

ABILITIES: Against the enemy, Whiplash is basically a close-range, one-on-one melee fighter. Her gladiatorial training has only enhanced and augmented her natural warrior's instincts. She is lethally adept at using her speed and agility to overcome larger, more powerful opponents, and her skill with her preferred weapon, her battle blade, has few equals. She can shoot bolts of electricity from the tips of her tentacles in both modes. She also uses the tentacles to grasp an opponent and send powerful charges of electricity directly into them, overloading and permanently burning out their circuitry, or at the very least stunning them. In her MedusaSaur mode, she is equipped with claws and teeth as well as the thrashing, electrified tentacles, and can rip the internals out of most similar-sized opponents with one slash.

WEAKNESSES: Whiplash has a very hard time allowing herself to fully trust and like her fellow warriors, for fear of becoming too reliant on them, coming to be too comfortable in a warrior's lifestyle, and then perhaps losing it in one fell swoop as she did with her gladiatorial career. She hates to accept help from anyone else, because she fears looking like she can't handle any given situation on her own; she has no qualms about assisting someone else, but she hates to be on the receiving end. She disdains weakness in herself (or what she perceives as weakness), and so often refuses help (or friendship) even when it's decidedly to her disadvantage. Her desire to prove her skills to the world, will sometimes prompt her to take on opponents who are too strong for her, though she has no problems pulling out of a fight if that becomes obvious. Even in withdrawing, however, she will do her best to leave her enemy with the knowledge that she is no easy target.

Strength 6, Intelligence 7, Speed 9, Endurance 5
Rank N/A, Courage 8, Firepower 5, Skill 10

Whiplash can be encountered on The Lost Years Mush, at bb13.betterbox.net 5000
Telnet to Lost Years