Quickstrike's History
Quickstrike was one of two Fuzors to fight in the Beast Wars, with Quickstrike choosing the Predacon side.
Quickstrike was originally one of the Maximal protoforms stored aboard the Axalon, prior to it crashlanding on prehistoric Earth. When the Planet Buster exploded, his stasis pod was knocked out of orbit and crashed in Delta Quadrant, an unstable region. His malfunctioning DNA scanner gave Quickstrike a dual scorpion/snake beast mode, however when he was awakened, he had no knowledge of his identity as a Maximal. His first action was to engage his fellow Fuzor Silverbolt in a sparring match. His aggressive nature made him an easy convert to the Predacon cause for Megatron, and he was soon happily attacking the Maximals. He took part in the defeat of the Maximals, but only until Optimus Primal was resurrected as a Transmetal. During the fight against the Maximal leader, he was slagged by one of Inferno's errant missiles.
A short time later, Quickstrike was sent with Tarantulas and Blackarachnia on a mission to build a refueling station at a cave full of energon. Both spiders found Quickstrike to be ludicrously easy to manipulate, as all he was really interested in was a good fight, and possibly relations with Blackarachnia. Quickstrike was overjoyed when Rattrap and Silverbolt turned up and threw himself into the battle with his usual gusto. When the cave they'd been sent to build at was apparently destroyed, he only retreated after a lengthy parting shot. Taking part in an ambush, Quickstrike got the drop on Rattrap, but Rattrap was able to out-draw him and blasted him off a cliff. Quickstrike survived, and when Dinobot attempted to change sides, was only too happy to face the much-larger Maximal in one-on-one combat. Though he was defeated, Dinobot refused to terminate him, claiming he'd make a good soldier with some training.
Quickstrike and Waspinator attempted unsuccessfully to defend a jamming tower against Dinobot and Rattrap. Once they reported back to Megatron, they and the other Predacons proceeded to an alien site which had been discovered in the meantime, and set up a refractive web. They were unprepared when an alien construct appeared and blasted them all. Quickstrike, due to some Transmetal-like quality of his form, recovered quickly from the blast, and ventured into the construct with Megatron and Tarantulas. Megatron soon used him as a guinea pig to see if the construct's defences would respond to them — luckily for Quickstrike, they didn't. After Megatron had taken control of the ship, Quickstrike and the other Predacons defended it against a Maximal attack.
While Blackarachnia and Silverbolt were traipsing around the jungle together, Megatron, Quickstrike and Inferno spied on them using a bugging device planted earlier. Perhaps uncharacteristically, while the other Predacons were torching a valley full of anthropoids, Quickstrike hung back with Megatron. Once Dinobot had exhausted most of his power defeating the others, Quickstrike leaped into battle, believing Dinobot to be less of a warrior without his weapons. Dinobot responded by physically beating the Predacon and slamming him head-first into the ground.
Quickstrike took part in a desperate attack on the Axalon when it seemed as though the Maximals would be receiving help from Cybertron. As it turned out they did, and the Predacons were repelled by Ravage's transwarp cruiser. Once Megatron had convinced Ravage to switch sides, the Predacons mounted another attack on the Axalon. Quickstrike rode triumphantly atop Rampage's tank mode only to be blasted off by Cheetor and subsequently run over by his comrade. Quickstrike worked to reassemble himself as Megatron called on the Predacons to get themselves ready for battle. Apparently he wasn't finished in time to take part in the subsequent destruction of the Axalon.
After Rampage disappeared while on a mission, Megatron sent Quickstrike to look for him. Quickstrike soon found the crab at the mercy of Depth Charge, and was only too happy to lend a hand by shooting the Maximal newcomer. Sadly he didn't have long to celebrate his victory before a cluster of missiles fired by Primal blew him away. When the Maximals attempted to salvage Sentinel from the wreck of the Axalon, Quickstrike helped Waspinator by taking on Rattrap and Silverbolt, while his fellow Predacon headed for home with the computer module. He headed over to finish off the unconscious Silverbolt only to be flattened when Rampage fell on him.
While the bulk of the Maximal forces were distracted by Megatron's Cyber raptors out in the field, Quickstrike accompanied the Predacon leader in an assault against the Maximals' home base. He was given lead position as they entered the base, arising jealousy from Inferno. The reason as to why Quickstrike was allowed to go first became clear moments later as Quickstrike was taken out by a sequence of booby traps.
Attempting to find out what had happened to the Transmetal driver, the Predacons interrogated Depth Charge, only to be attacked by a strange feral cat creature. After promising to make the creature into a ghost, Quickstrike chased it behind a rock. His snake head came back minus the rest of him. During the construction of the disruptor cannon, Quickstrike was the only one foolish brave enough to be welding inside the weapon barrel when Inferno plugged it in, and was knocked off his perch by the energy surge. Once they got the cannon working, Quickstrike's prognosis of "lookin' good!" proved premature, as it exploded in their faces. Quickstrike and the other Predacons attempted to disrupt the power in the Maximal base during an attempt by the Maximals to remove Blackarachnia's Predacon shell program. He was swiftly dispatched by Cheetor.
Using one of Tarantulas's devices, Optimus Primal was able to be controlled using an exo-suit manipulated by Quickstrike. The Fuzor was able to rapidly disable the other Maximals, allowing the Predacons to take control of the Maximal base. Using the Teletraan I control codes stored in Primal, Quickstrike and Megatron gained entry to the Ark, within which lay the body of the original Megatron. Megatron took his predecessor's spark into himself and, while he was weakened from the struggle of doing so, Quickstrike revealed it was a double-cross. On Tarantulas's orders, Quickstrike used Primal to seize the Predacon leader and throw him into the lava outside the Ark. Unfortunately for both the arachnids, Megatron lived, upgraded into a new form. Quickstrike was defeated by Blackarachnia, losing his link with Primal.
Furious, Megatron held a trial for Quickstrike, however it was interrupted by an unexpected incursion — the Vok emissary Tigerhawk destroyed the Darksyde. Quickstrike was literally blown away along with his Predacon comrades, leaving Megatron the only one standing to face Tigerhawk. In the aftermath, Inferno, Quickstrike and Waspinator were sent by Megatron to find a new base. They decided on attacking an anthropoid colony, though Waspinator refused and was slagged by the other two. Quickstrike and Inferno charged, only to meet with heavy resistance from the natives. They finally got the early humans on the run, and were overjoyed to see the Nemesis appear overhead until the main fusion cannon fired on the site, killing them both. Among the parts of him salvaged by the early humans were his cobra tail, used as a trumpet, his claws used as a spit, and his faceplate, used as a mask.
