"More Than Meets The Eye: Part II"

[NaitoKage]

"Leave us."

Umbra raised an optic ridge as he observed the situation, however didn't move finding the attempt at intimidation lacking.

"Your commander and I have much to discuss, yessssss..."

Umbra's optic then twitched. The reason Nemesis was framed was found. He found it far too illogical for Nemesis to join up with the Maximals, specially after she'd already taken the lives of two of their comrades.

"Now that I have your attention, know that this little demonstration is but a fraction of what I'm capable of. "

"What?!"

Umbra observed as the lifeform before them changed shape and even destroy the energy restrains with ease. It seemed as if this figure had the combine capabilities of himself and Nemesis, rather annoying to say the least.

"You don't say? Can you do card tricks as well? Or pull a sharkticon out of a hat?"

It seemed Megatron was also rather displeased by this. Without being ordered by Megatron to leave, Umbra simply remained listening, uncrossing his arms as his tentacles shifted slightly moving his sheathed swords into position, concealed by other tentacles.

"But I have not come here merely to show you my little tricks..," "But rather offer you a proposition.."

"I trust this proposition of yours will somehow explain and justify why you've been playing games with me and my forces this whole time instead of going through the proper channels, Darkwind. He is another one of your many identities is he not? Providing me with your true identity might be a good way to convince me listening to your offers is a better idea than simply vaporizing you here and now, yyyyeeeesssss."

"Having Primal locked up is all fine and dandy... But my proposal is that you expand on your strategy.""Why focus on killing only a single Maximal when it’s within your grasp to destroy them all?"

"It is already within my grasp to destroy them all, they won't dare risk a hasty rescue attempt too soon with the lives of both their leader and who they THINK is his mentor on the line, and once Primal is dead they'll be lost without him. Believe me, I know, I've fought them long enough to know he is the glue that holds them together, he seemingly died once already and his army would have fallen had he not returned at the last possible moment. Killing Primal and his merry band of misfits is a foregone conclusion, but first I must extract whatever intel I can from him before marching on his base to finish the rest of them. His base may hide certain items I'd rather not be damaged in the ensuing attack, or at the very least information that will make taking down the Axalon, an unfortunately well defended vessel, a tad bit easier, such as the defense codes for their security system, Sentinel. I suggest you explain how my strategy can be expanded upon stranger, my patience with your cloak and dagger games grows thinner by the click."

Umbra's optics lit up as he spoke up You may have a few trump cards, but we have no reason to trust you.It would be wise to explain what you get out of this farce..

_________________________________________________________________

As Landslide worked on the Electro laser cannon, he started to perform the finishing touches on the weapon, using a screwdriver to adjust the lasers out of focus. He powered up the weapon as the lasers came on, then turned it off. Well that works.. now to test and program the timing.. he said to himself, though that would be more trial and error.

He raised his right arm as his forearm opened extending his grenade launcher. He pulled the protective plate back as it clicked, then pulled forward sliding it off. His grenade launcher extended out more as he lifted and pulled it out, which revealed to be a grenade launcher built for a more average sized transformer then himself on a type of mounting system, as his hands were too big to operate most weapons. He turned a few screws and pulled his grenade launcher out of the harness, then started to attach the Electro laser cannon to the harness, then attached a few cables from inside his arm to the gun and placed the weapon inside of his arm, reattaching the plate.

Landslide lumbered out of the hanger as he turned on his comlink Alright lad, I got the Electro laser cannon together, but I need ta calibrate her. Just give me a bit.

Landslide could be seen on the Axalon's security cameras as he stepped out, his right arm opening as the new weapon extended giving a low electronic whine as it powered up. His internal system displayed a control screen as he started inputting the software for the gun's timing.

After which, he simply pointed his arm towards one of the outside boulders and fired, which showed two beams but nothing really happening. Hm.. Too slow.. need to speed her up a bit.. he muttered to himself,altering the timing numbers and tried again, with nothing happening.

Altering the numbers one more time, he leveled his arm pointing it towards a small boulder, then fired with a flash of lightning coming out of the weapon striking against the boulder with a small burn mark. He smirked and turned up the voltage, then fired it off again as a larger bolt of lightning flashed through the air into the boulder causing part of it to explode. Well now! That's more like it! the large beetle gave a hearty laugh at the new "toy"

[admiralgrim]

Night Terror took in the view of the Darksyde as he was brought in. It looked in bad shape. Broken hull plating, half buried in in the ground, some areas even enveloped by lava. It still looked threatening, however. He could tell the base was well defended, even for a crashed vessel. He adopted a toothy grin as he entered the base.

The control room was almost deserted, with the exception of on rather odd looking bot who identified himself as Quickstrike.

"What a charming place. I love the atmosphere. This going to be fun."

Night Terror nodded as an introduction to Quickstrike. He was about to make a more formal introduction when several more bots entered the room. They were dragging Nexus behind them. He looked injured. As Quickstrike address their leader, Night Terror observed.

Megatron. Interesting. He certainly looks different from his intelligence file. But that is to be expected. So this is Predacon leader who stole a ship along with the golden disc. A general turned criminal. Well at least he is better than a Maximal. Well I will give him some credit, he has managed to keep the Maximals at bay and stay in hiding.

Terrorsaur began to vaunt his success, before noticing how angry Megatron was. Night Terror suppressed a laugh, but not a small grin. He hid his amusement when his captor turned back to him. As Terrorsaur pushed him along towards the brig he kept quite, until he was sure Megatron and the others were out of earshot.

"That seemed a tad severe, don't you think? After all you led the team that brought in two prisoners, and destroyed my ship. And with no casualties, I might add. I would have at least congratulated my lieutenant for such an accomplishment. Ah well, not my place. Night terror said with a look of on confusion. He looked back at the wasp with faked look of concern.

Let the grunts think you care about them. Makes them easier to control. Plus they are less likely to shout you in the back.

"I hope you are not too injured, Waspinator was it? I have to say, to take the hits you did and to still be able to move is impressive."

[DarkSpark]

OOC: Sorry for the delay regarding the spiders OOP, time slipped away from me today...Or rather yesterday since its past midnight now where I am XD

AdmiralGrim wrote: "That seemed a tad severe, don't you think? After all you led the team that brought in two prisoners, and destroyed my ship. And with no casualties, I might add. I would have at least congratulated my lieutenant for such an accomplishment. Ah well, not my place. Night terror said with a look of on confusion. He looked back at the wasp with faked look of concern.

Let the grunts think you care about them. Makes them easier to control. Plus they are less likely to shout you in the back.

"I hope you are not too injured, Waspinator was it? I have to say, to take the hits you did and to still be able to move is impressive."

Terrorsaur simply continued to push his captive ahead of him, embarrassed that he was even speaking about what had just transpired, poking him in the back with his sword, eyes shimmering with destructive energies as he replied "Definitely not your place, so shut up and keep walking or else you'll have a stab in the back and two new holes in the back of your head, got it?"

Despite his harsh words, Terrorsaur agreed that Megatron had been more than ungrateful towards his success, overcoming the enemies superior arsenal and still coming back with prisoners in tow and no casualties. He should be promoted for such valor! Megatron must be jealous of his greatness, of his success! That was it, it had to be it.

Blackrose wrote: After Arachnitron returned to the room, Inferno lowered his head in shame. The she-spider was right, of course. If Inferno had been more careful about securing the prisoners before, he would have been entrusted with guarding Optimus.

He sighed. He really couldn't stand spiders and now, his jealousy of Umbra intensified. He had been allowed to follow Megatron to his quarters to deal with what must be highly sensitive information and Inferno's abilities were doubted. He must make amends! He raised his head proudly and stood guard outside the door paying close attention to the hallway ensuring that no one disturbs the spiders in their interrogation.

Approaching Inferno alongside his captives, Terrorsaur said "Let us pass Ant, Megatron wants us to put these two in shackles and locked up in the new brig. Royalty's orders and all that jazz."

There was a time Terrorsaur might have feared Inferno, but since the transwarp wave, he was now clearly superior to the outmoded insect, even Waspinator was better than him now.

OOP wrote:
What...? Authentic confusion suddenly overwhelmed the Maximal's face in response to the spider's inquiry. Is this a trick question? But then he thought about disguising what he did or didn't actually know. "You... lost them?" Optimus struggled to ask and actually managed some laughing at them to return the taunting and embarrassment that he and Megatron must have been feeling about losing the disks so easily. If they truly lost both disks, then who had them? If they thought he knew, then it must have been someone among his crew who managed to infiltrate their base and acquire them and then handed them over to him. But this was all news to Primal. At the moment, under the pain and discomfort he was in, he couldn't think of who. ...And he had a feeling his answer wasn't going to satisfy the TransMetal tarantula.

"Don't play coy with me Primal, you might have been dead at the time, but you expect me to believe your thief didn't hand over the disks to you as soon as you made your "miraculous" return from the grave?" Tarantulas spat back angrily, frustrated by his defiance.

So naturally, he tightened the bonds once again to teach Primal the error of his ways, and to start cooperating or else, watching on as Blackarachnia had her fun with Primal as well.

Blackrose wrote: "Blackarachnia was right," Arachnitron whispered to Tarantulas as Blackarachnia took over acosting Optimus. "There are no longer any copies of the golden disks on the ship's computers. I did find some hisotrical notes, but it is just lore and superstition, nothing helpful."

Arachnitron turned to Blackarachnia egging her on.

"Come on, Blackarachnia. You don't really believe him! He's lying! He knows exactly who it was who stole the golden disks!" She turned her attention to Optimus. "The Maximals don't do anythiing without your permission. So stop playing around. Tell Tarantulas where they are!"

"Thank you dear" Tarantulas whispered back, pleased that his spy had brought him some useful intel, even if it was merely confirmation that Megatron had no other copies of the disks, meaning he needed to either probe Blackarachnia's mind for the codes, a strenuous task, or recover the actual disks themselves before Megatron.

However, as his fellow spiders teased and tortured Primal, mocking him and urging him to speak the truth, Tarantulas began to wonder...Did he seriously not know where the disks were either?

"Hehehehehehahaha..." Tarantulas began to chuckle softly, his spark filling with evil mirth as he threw back his head and cackled wildly "HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"You really didn't know either did you Primal? The disks were under your nose the whole time and you never suspected one of your own had them in their possession, did you? Oh my, THAT is simply priceless! Can you guess which of your own betrayed you Primal? The answer may surprise you, or maybe not depending on how much faith you really put that pitiful crew of yours...One shudders to think what the thief is planning to do with such dangerous artifacts under your own roof, isn't it? Hehehaha" Tarantulas jeered, somewhat annoyed that he'd inadvertently tipped his hand to Primal, but the ape's own ignorance still pleased him, maximals were far more susceptible to the sting of betrayal than predacons, and there was other information they could still squeeze out of him even if his suspicions regarding the disks proved true.

In the mean time, Primal's suffering and the seed of doubt he'd planted in him was enough to placate the transmetal spider.

[Phoenix]

"Could "Darkwind" also be a disguise? If he were able to disguise himself as you perhaps he disguised himself from you as well."

Hmm.. The former Predacon did pose an interesting question.. Leaving Nemesis pondering it for a moment or two.

"Possible.. But that would require a great deal of planning on Darkwind's end." She called him Darkwind still even though a seed of doubt had been planted, since she simply had no other name to give him at this time. There was just no telling who he was without further evidence.

"I don't think he has tried to kill her yet. He knocked her out," Dinobot said recalling Nemesis' story. "He could have killed her then. Why not just do so with her unconscious and unable to fight back and get it over with?" ? "What would be the point of doing all of this if all he wanted was her dead? There must be something else he wants from her first....."

Nemesis' gaze lowered to the floor, briefly settling on that hated ankle bracelet the rodent had attached to her to keep track of her movements. She had been asking herself the same questions Dinobot was now verbalizing, still.. hearing someone say them out loud felt strange. Deep down she felt that she already knew what Darkwind wanted, but that knowledge hardly decreased her desire to reduce him to a pile of molten rubble.

"And lest we forget that we're outnumbered now, too. Dey just gained two more Preds,"

Nemesis shook her head at that statement.

"Judging by the ongoing battle between the newcomers and the existing Predacons, I doubt that they are here to simply join forces with Megatron. There's more to it than that."

"If Darkwind really disguised himself as Nemesis to a tee," he still sounded skeptical about that, "it's a whole heck of a lot easier ta trick our scanners and sensors dat yer a friendly signature and not a foe. So why go to all dat trouble just ta frame her and get Megatron to kick her out of his horrible and ugly band of misfits? And if he somehow tampered with Sentinel, den dis guy knows his electronics and knows how our ship's computer systems work. Maybe..." Rattrap found it more difficult to say it than to admit it to himself, so he struggled to let it escape his mouth in his voice. "Maybe you're right, Dinobot. Somebody had to've helped 'im. Somebody with the knowledge of Sentinel's programming. And Nemesis ain't got dat knowledge,"

The winged female shot Rattrap a glare. The rodent truly was going out of his way to be obnoxious, making it take every bit of self control she possessed not to simply slay him right where he sat.

Moments later he had pushed her far enough to give her reason to vent her annoyance by spinning the rodent's chair out of control. It certainly wasn't the approach she would normally take, but being inside the Maximal base, surrounded by them and their defenses, it was about as far as she could go without them retaliating. And it was rather amusing to watch the talkative rodent aim his weapon at one of his comrades when he finally stopped spinning. Of course he corrected that action as soon as his head started clearing, aiming it at her instead, but she didn't seem overly concerned about it. Annoying or not, he was still a Maximal, bound by their silly codes of honor and what not. Technically she had not attacked him, so there was little he could do. The rat seemed to realize it too so he soon returned his attention to the video footage streaming across his screen.

"Rattrap, with your permission, may I take Nemesis to the Holonet?"

Raising an optic ridge at that one, Nemesis cast a quick glance over at the other female. Why was she being so protective of her? Nemesis had done nothing but inflict pain and torment onto this.. Whitegrazer, so her forgiving nature seemed strange and foreign to the winged Predacon. "Can't this wait?," she asked, almost a bit irritated, wishing to unveil the sneaky bastard Darkwind more than anyone else present. Why would she leave right now?

Then..

"Guys? You, uh... you wanna take a look at dis...? 'Cause if I just tell ya about it, you ain't gonna believe me." "I think we just found out how Sonar got dat hallucinogen, and how he escaped. But... It couldn't be. Darkwind musta tampered with this feed, too!"

Nemesis shrugged. "Perhaps.. Or maybe you don't know your beloved leader as well as you think," she told Rattrap with a grimace. Of course she didn't for a moment believe Optimus would release Sonar upon his Maximals, but it was fun to tease the rat for the reaction regardless.

"Wait a minute. How did he get to the brig without being seen here?"

All of a sudden more interested, Nemesis leaned forward to get a good look of the real culprit.

"I don't know about honor, but it would be a pleasure."

The only thing more scary than a Predacon in the process of trying to kill you, is a Predacon acting friendly towards you..

That was the thought that kept entering Aurora's head as Sonar kept up his politeness, leaving her more than a little uneasy. Fortunately both Rhinox and Ironclaw were there to keep this Predacon in check so that calmed her down a bit. Although Rhinox seemed a bit distracted. He was talking to someone, judging by his responses it was Rattrap. While the gentle giant was busy talking, the little ermine swiftly gathered the sample she needed from his outstretched arm. Three samples in place, two affected by the virus and one thus far that hadn't been exposed, Aurora started preparing the equipment needed to analyze each sample.


Nexus eyed Megatron, a flicker of humor notable in his verdant irises, obviously finding some entertainment in the tyrant's rage and realization that he had been played.

"You don't say? Can you do card tricks as well? Or pull a sharkticon out of a hat?"

His voice was threatening, venomous almost, only increasing the pretender's already heightened level of amusement. The enraged tyrant had raised his weapon, his facial features locked in a grim and vicious look, but his would-be target hardly seemed phased by it.

"Oh Megatron, you wound me..," the stranger responded in his most mocking voice, barely even acknowledging the tyrant's weapon, "When I’ve gone through such efforts to get a little time alone with you..”

Indeed. Megatron's fury had risen to levels so high that Nexus could visualize the smoke pouring out of his audioreceptors. If anything he was almost at the same level he'd been at when he had attacked Nexus Prime earlier, only a thin layer of genuine curiosity holding him back from attempting the same again. And Nexus would be happy to oblige.. in due time.

"I trust this proposition of yours will somehow explain and justify why you've been playing games with me and my forces this whole time instead of going through the proper channels, Darkwind. He is another one of your many identities is he not? Providing me with your true identity might be a good way to convince me listening to your offers is a better idea than simply vaporizing you here and now, yyyyeeeesssss."

As if on cue, his form shifted again, taking on the appearance of the smooth-talking black panther in his robot form.

"Now you're starting to catch on, Commander," Darkwind responded, appearing a lot more confident than he had looked the last time the tyrant had laid eyes on him. "However you do have a point.. Why bother with fun and games when we have business at hand, hmm?"

Mere seconds after taking on the appearance of Darkwind, the figure started changing again, his size increasing, large clawed wings resembling an other-worldly creature growing out of his backside, the contours of scales visible on his arms, legs and chest, and his helmet taking on the general shape of a dragon's face. He almost had to concentrate a bit more to take on this form than the others, as if he had not been using it for a long time.

Once his transformation was completed, he made for quite an intimidating presence with a number of weapons, among them both long range fusion cannons and a large broadsword strapped onto his back, clearly visible even if he did not have any of them drawn at the moment. His smile faded a bit as he let his vibrant optics settle on Megatron and nodded.

"You should feel honored, Megatron, for not many have seen me in my true form," the shapeshifter told him. "You may call me Zodiac."

"It is already within my grasp to destroy them all, they won't dare risk a hasty rescue attempt too soon with the lives of both their leader and who they THINK is his mentor on the line, and once Primal is dead they'll be lost without him. Believe me, I know, I've fought them long enough to know he is the glue that holds them together, he seemingly died once already and his army would have fallen had he not returned at the last possible moment. Killing Primal and his merry band of misfits is a foregone conclusion, but first I must extract whatever intel I can from him before marching on his base to finish the rest of them. His base may hide certain items I'd rather not be damaged in the ensuing attack, or at the very least information that will make taking down the Axalon, an unfortunately well defended vessel, a tad bit easier, such as the defense codes for their security system, Sentinel. I suggest you explain how my strategy can be expanded upon stranger, my patience with your cloak and dagger games grows thinner by the click."

A nearly unreadable smile grew on Zodiac's face and he let his actions answer the tyrant's hesitation as he reached out and flicked a couple of switches on a nearby computer console. The monitor suddenly coming online, Zodiac merely followed up with a number of commands on the console. Suddenly an image of the medical bay of the Axalon came into view on the monitor, the camera immediately zooming in on Rhinox, Aurora and Ironclaw, along with Sonar, working on something. A nanoclick later the camera feed was replaced by the specs of a system wide security check establishing that all available weapons under Sentinel's control were fully functional. Zodiac looked almost cocky as he glanced back at Megatron.

"Already taken care of. Sentinel is under my control, as the Maximals have yet to realize.. "


Just then a subfunction of his program notified him that someone was currently scanning through Sentinel's data, attempting to uncover the changes made. Well.. That hardly mattered, his program was well hidden, and he had not actively changed any of the files they were currently searching through. He wanted to wait with revealing his big secret to the Maximals, wait for that moment when he could be there to witness their reactions himself. Oh it would be glorious indeed. However for the time being he had other issues to attend to..

His smile dropped, leaving his face unreadable and his demeanor almost eerily calm, his determination set in stone.

"I can only assume that the reason Optimus Primal is still alive is because you wish to make him suffer, to break down his spirit before you break him. We both know he is too stubborn to give up any information.."

He paused, only long enough for him to flick a switch again and make the monitor fade back to black.

"If you really wish to defeat Optimus, you need to think like him. He isn’t afraid of any tortures or horrific death you might invent in his honor. His true fears lie with the Maximals he cherishes above anything. If you let him depart this world with the knowledge that his friends all suffered horrible deaths, that is the only way you will truly defeat him."

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"Oh, I believe he enjoys it, don't you Optimus?"

No, thought Primal as his laughter died down into small gasps of breathing.

"Too bad you have to sleep alone.

I don't, really, but you wouldn't understand.

If your friend hadn't caused trouble, you two might have a better chance at a fight, but Maximals work better in groups, don't they? But you are alone. Like a lost puppy. Vulnerable."

Vulnerable without my weapons? Perhaps. In other ways, no. Alone? Never. And some Maximals work just fine in solitary conditions. Delusional, the lot of them. Did they know nothing about Maximals by now? As thoughtful as he was at the time, he simply glared at the spiders or often kept his orange optics off of them to save his vision from viewing their merciless smiles and continuous taunting.

I understand. I worry about him too. But you are wrong. You are not as helpless as the Predacons make you out to be. You may be a captive, but you have power. More than you realize.

Optimus wasn't so sure about that but he always carried enough optimism for his entire crew, so he wasn't about to give up.

Optimus...you are worried about Nexus. Worried of what they might do to him, but you can't despair yourself over the unknown fate of your mentor. And since you two are separated, don't trust their words about Nexus. No matter what they say or show you.

It was an odd sensation, as if he could feel Whitegrazer's arms wrapped around him instead of the bonds. But then Primal felt a distraction from her which deterred him back to reality.

"Aww, don't worry, we are here to keep you company. If you behave, I may be able to ask Tarantulas to go easy on you. "

I don't want your horrible company, I want solitude to rest, he thought to himself in exhaustion. His tongue felt around his crooked teeth - and the spot that was now missing a tooth - that had been bent inward from Megatron's punch, and he still felt the pain from his split lower lip, the tiny stream of fluid trickling down the side of his face while his body laid horizontally on the cold floor.

"You don't know?

I didn't necessarily say that...

And they didn't tell you, did they? Awww poor baby. I guess even Maximals are attracted to the allure of treachery! Can you guess who did it? Was it one? Or maybe a group of dissatisfied Maximals want to commit a mutiny?"

Where were they going with this exactly? There was nothing they could possibly say that would make him think ill of his Maximals. Primal merely raised a pitiful brow at Blackarachnia, squirming a little in the bonds, trying to stretch his arms from being cramped in the same position.

I'm taking the pain with you, Optimus. You have an advantage. Our meditation sessions. Remember one of our first sessions together? We were outside and sitting down...well, I was laying down on the green meadow? We heard the singing of the birds and howl of the gentle wind? Remember the green meadow when the pain becomes too great. Ignore what the Predacons are asking of you. Be as calm as the wind yet as alert as an animal on the prowl, gathering the information by what the Predacons ask of you. Ignore their taunts yet be mindful of their questions. What they ask of you may be more beneficial to you than they realize.

His body suddenly relaxed, remembering that peaceful, beautiful morning with her, heeding her advice and nodding to himself in agreement. He would do what he could, and even though he had only had the basics of training in interrogations and hostage situations, enough for what could be needed with an exploration crew, he referred back to what he knew.

"Maybe... they don't care if you are here. Maybe they don't care if you live or die. They could be celebrating right this very moment." "Come on! Surrender to us and we can make them pay! Every. Last. One of them."

Suddenly, Primal burst out in laughter. Well, as much as he could under his restraints. There was coughing in between inhales and gasping for more breath as the bonds squeezed his chest, but it was laughter nonetheless. Was she serious? Finally, he calmed down and said, "I've already... surrendered... That's why I'm... here." And it didn't matter what happened to him because he had already saved Banshee and Cheetor. These Predacons didn't understand that, did they? On the other hand, what if he pretended to join the Predacons? It would buy him time and give his Maximals an advantage. ...Unless the Predacons tried reprogramming him like they did Rhinox so long ago, which didn't turn out so well for them, but they might have learned their lesson and perfected the procedure. In which case, that could lead to some real trouble. But he was pretty certain that Megatron just wanted to do away with him at this point, once and for all.

"What are you doing?! Get off me!"

Then he heard a familiar voice; Arachnitron. Curious, he watched her short exchange with Inferno until the ant dragged her back out into the corridor to speak with her. She returned without him. Well, that was easy. But she was wielding her weapon and came up beside the other two arachnids. So, the gorilla was surrounded by the three stooges, er, spiders. Yes, spiders. And, unfortunately, Arachnitron's optics weren't the color he was hoping for. Maybe Tarantulas had finally gotten rid of the Maximal programming within her? He didn't know. It had been some time since he last encountered her.

"Come on, Blackarachnia. You don't really believe him! He's lying! He knows exactly who it was who stole the golden disks!" "The Maximals don't do anythiing without your permission. So stop playing around. Tell Tarantulas where they are!"

Optimus wore a smile at first as he looked up at them, his sharp, crooked teeth uncomfortable against his mouth as it also stretched the cut on his lip. Then the expression faded, and he said to Arachnitron, "My name is... Optimus Primal. I am the... Commander of the exploration... ship, the Axalon." It was what he had been taught, to give his enemy nothing but words for himself to focus on no matter what they did or asked him, and hopefully frustrate them.

"Don't play coy with me Primal, you might have been dead at the time, but you expect me to believe your thief didn't hand over the disks to you as soon as you made your "miraculous" return from the grave?"

The leader's gaze immediately shifted to Tarantulas. Interesting. So it was one of his Maximals who took them, and it was some time ago that it happened. Whoever it was surely had their reasons for keeping quiet about it and keeping them safe from both factions. And they had enough knowledge about the Darksyde to slip in, steal them, and leave without being seriously injured or terminated. Either he had a traitor among his team or another spy besides Rattrap. This didn't bother him so much since there was nothing he could really do about it at this point, but he reached out to Whitegrazer as if to direct her to ask those she was with. Where are the golden disks?

"My name... is Optimus Primal. I am... the Commander of the... exploration ship... the Axalon," he repeated again. But then he felt the immense pressure around his upper body. Growling and gasping in anguish, he swore he could hear parts of his armor bending.

"Hehehehehehahaha..." "HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

That insane laughter was going to haunt Optimus for a long time. As the bonds continued to contract, Primal was caught on the borderline of consciousness and unconsciousness. His vision was fading in and out for moments at a time while he tried to remain alert and awake, but under the bonds' constrictions and his sleep deprivation, there wasn't much strength left to fight against the pain and torment.

"You really didn't know either did you Primal?

Maybe... Maybe not...

The disks were under your nose the whole time and you never suspected one of your own had them in their possession, did you? Oh my, THAT is simply priceless!

Whoever it is... has... their reasons... As long as you... and Megatron don't have them... they're safe, he thought with confidence.

Can you guess which of your own betrayed you Primal? The answer may surprise you, or maybe not depending on how much faith you really put that pitiful crew of yours...

Offended by Tarantulas's last comment, a low growl escaped his broken teeth. His crew was not pitiful. Such jealous Predacons who were forced to live in these diabolical, dictating, unethical, and disgusting conditions.

One shudders to think what the thief is planning to do with such dangerous artifacts under your own roof, isn't it? Hehehaha"

Not really, no. Who ever it was, he had faith in them coming forward eventually and sharing the data that was on them. Obviously they were pretty valuable to the Predacons, especially Tarantulas and Megatron, so Primal wasn't going to tip them off in any way in order for them to have an advantage over his Maximals.

-----

"Rattrap, with your permission, may I take Nemesis to the Holonet?" "With a visual representation of data we have collected or will collect, it may be easier for us to see the truth we seek. Nemesis and I can oversee such a program while Dinobot and you can keep a com-link open to relay any new information you two may see. We can't let Darkwind confuse us or second guess each other. That is what he wants." "Would that be all right, Rattrap?"

"Can't this wait?,"

"No," Rattrap denied Whitegrazer but understood what she was trying to do, as he glanced from her to Nemesis and back to the mare. Admittedly, he was part of the conflicting arguments and the smart remarks that weren't helping any of them, so he thought it best to keep everyone there and keep working on their problem, and at the same time, adjust his attitude... just a tad. The situation had suddenly been blown sky high with this new footage so now he needed all of their opinions and suggestions. "Besides, you gotta stay in touch with the boss monkey, and you ain't exactly in the prime position for any sparring, especially against a Pred like her." He motioned his thumb to Nemesis.

"I see," "All the more reason to lure the Predacons out a few at a time to reduce their numbers instead of taking on the whole group head on."

Rattrap nodded in agreement with Dinobot. "We could use some flanking and aerial maneuvers with that," he added. "Take out some of their ship's defenses and maybe sneak two Maximals inside for espionage and rescue."

"Judging by the ongoing battle between the newcomers and the existing Predacons, I doubt that they are here to simply join forces with Megatron. There's more to it than that."

"There always is with Preds, isn't there?" he asked Nemesis rhetorically. Ugh, Predacons. And here he thought they were mindless drones who simply fought over territory. "No matter what, Megadump is gonna use 'em to his advantage some how, so we might as well accept de fact dat it's only a matter of time."

"Well, he got in the base somehow, Vermin! Either someone does know him and helped him or he has an intimate knowledge of Sentinel and disarmed the alarms!"

The Spy smiled at himself at the dinosaur's little outburst. Still, he was right, and Rattrap had to accept it in order to be efficient with their planning and solving this mystery of Darkwind. It was often difficult for Rattrap to keep an open mind. "I can think of someone who coulda helped him..." he said, teasingly implying Dinobot as the suspect.

"Hmmm..." "Could "Darkwind" also be a disguise? If he were able to disguise himself as you perhaps he disguised himself from you as well."

"Possible.. But that would require a great deal of planning on Darkwind's end."

"Well, what do you think he's been doin' the past how many years?" Rattrap tossed out there. "And how many disguises can dis guy possibly have? Unless he really is a shape shifter..."

"Perhaps.. Or maybe you don't know your beloved leader as well as you think,"

"Hey! I know Optimus like every scent my rat nose has ever picked up! Every. Scent." he scoffed at Nemesis who had deliberately egged him on. And it was true; he had endless logs of digital data on every scent he ever smelled.

"I don't think he has tried to kill her yet. He knocked her out," "He could have killed her then. Why not just do so with her unconscious and unable to fight back and get it over with?" "What would be the point of doing all of this if all he wanted was her dead? There must be something else he wants from her first....."

What would anyone possibly want from the likes of her except for maybe revenge? Rattrap hadn't a clue but Dinobot had brought up some valid points to make them think about it.

"Oh....ho ho. Would you like an applause for that clever little quip, furball??!"

Why, yes. Yes, I did! he patted himself on the back despite Dinobot's obvious sarcasm and sarcastic clapping.

"Oh no, Rattrap......" "Don't shoot! Unless....." "Maybe it is Rattrap who is the culprit. After all he knows the most about Sentinel."

"Oh, right," he rolled his optics. "'Cause I got the motivation to pull off somethin' dis elaborate. Come on, Chopper Face, you know I'm too lazy for all this work and effort," he grinned.

"I think we can all agree....he is very good. Perhaps he was walking around disguised at Optimus for a long time. Perhaps he is still disguised as Optimus now. Or.....he is disguised as......one of us."

That made Rattrap stop what he was doing with the video feed as a shiver went down his back, and paranoia suddenly overwhelmed him again. He couldn't help it! He was a rat! His gaze darted around the room at everyone behind him, looking for anything suspicious that any of them were doing or saying.

"Whitegrazer was right," "We can't keep accusing each other of being Darkwind. We should assume that whomever he is disguised as now, isn't here in the Maximal base. Hopefully he is disguised as one of the Predacons...."

This lowered Rattrap's paranoia level slightly. Ever so slightly. Okay, focus. Just focus, Rattrap, he told himself. We're all who we're supposed ta be. Wait... Didn't Sonar use his sense of smell to tell that it wasn't Optimus? That was it! He could use that! Rattrap took deep breaths, inhaling all of their scents around him and his internal computer's database listed all of their registered names that he had appropriately given them - but not necessarily appropriate - and their calibrated signature scents. He suddenly felt relieved that they were all recognized as they should be. ...Even Nemesis. Darn. "Yer all clean," he said, whether they understood what he meant or not.

"Beginning a scan of Sentinel's systems now. Perhaps there is some evidence of Sentinel being tampered with or of a malfunction with the alarms."

The Spy hoped so, just to shed some light on this whole slagging scenario because there were way too many variables involved right now. With Dinobot getting to work, it led Rattrap to do the same, so he went back to the footage and spotted someone; the only person who was roaming around in the main corridor around the time the fake Optimus released Sonar. He paused it and said to everyone in a thoughtful tone, "Nexus Prime... Out for a little stroll, eh? What else have you been up to besides almost gettin' us slagged when those new Preds showed up?" But could he really suspect him? If he was really Nexus, then there was no way he could be pulling any of this off. Not a chance. Or not by himself. But why would he? And Optimus knew him better than any of them there, so if anything had been off about him, he surely would have noticed. Not to mention he had brought the Akira with him and only Nexus would have been piloting that vessel. Still, Rattrap tilted his had at the screen in thought.

Alright lad, I got the Electro laser cannon together, but I need ta calibrate her. Just give me a bit.

"Go for it, big guy. But be careful. I don't need a fried bug. I know how you guys are attracted ta bright light," he teased Landslide. On a separate monitor that was showing all of the live camera feeds, they could see the beetle exiting the base and flashes and bolts of electricity and lightning were lighting up that screen like a strobe light. "Looks like it works, 'Slider! Nice job. Now, I'll send out Nemesis as your live test subject," Rattrap smirked jokingly before looking back at the screen with the Admiral on it.

(( OOC: Not sure what else to add with Rhinox at the moment. And, no, I'm not referring to you two. I'm also not looking for perfection because I'm certainly not perfect and miss things or forget things, but typically people write certain things that they want noticed. No one writes babbling on about nothing that no one can use. Thoughts and emotions, descriptions. Canon or original, they're your characters, so bring them to life to the best of your ability with your own spin on them. ))

[DarkSpark]

OOC: Sorry if I'm posting too soon, figured I'd get this out of the way before my house gets too busy for me to post (dog sitting again lol). It'll at least give Arachnitron & BA something to do at least, and I'll put off posting for Terrorsaur until Blackrose can post for Inferno lol.

OOP wrote:
I don't want your horrible company, I want solitude to rest, he thought to himself in exhaustion. His tongue felt around his crooked teeth - and the spot that was now missing a tooth - that had been bent inward from Megatron's punch, and he still felt the pain from his split lower lip, the tiny stream of fluid trickling down the side of his face while his body laid horizontally on the cold floor.

Tarantulas derived great pleasure from Primal's discomfort, from his agonized gasps as the power bonds did their gruesome work, to the sight of him lying on the floor in humiliation with a missing tooth and split lip. Seeing Primal this way almost made up for all the times the heroic ape had single-handedly ruined the plans of the predacons...Almost.

OOP wrote: Suddenly, Primal burst out in laughter. Well, as much as he could under his restraints. There was coughing in between inhales and gasping for more breath as the bonds squeezed his chest, but it was laughter nonetheless. Was she serious? Finally, he calmed down and said, "I've already... surrendered... That's why I'm... here." And it didn't matter what happened to him because he had already saved Banshee and Cheetor. These Predacons didn't understand that, did they? On the other hand, what if he pretended to join the Predacons? It would buy him time and give his Maximals an advantage. ...Unless the Predacons tried reprogramming him like they did Rhinox so long ago, which didn't turn out so well for them, but they might have learned their lesson and perfected the procedure. In which case, that could lead to some real trouble. But he was pretty certain that Megatron just wanted to do away with him at this point, once and for all.

"And yet you're still holding out on us...Telling the truth could go a long way ending your suffering Primal. If you really don't know who your betrayer is, how about you give us the access codes to Sentinel instead? Believe it or not, the easier you make it for us to overcome the Axalon, the less likely there will be serious causalities for your crew. We could be persuaded to take them as prisoners of war or reprogram them as predacons rather than slay them all, despite what some of you cruder maximals may say, it honestly is better to be "Pred than dead." So how does that sound Primal? Deal?" Tarantulas offered, doing his best to sound as reasonable as possible and give Primal some sliver of hope that he could be on the level without going to ludicrous lengths to pretend he "wasn't so bad" after all, one could be evil while still being reasonable as well.

OOP wrote: Optimus wore a smile at first as he looked up at them, his sharp, crooked teeth uncomfortable against his mouth as it also stretched the cut on his lip. Then the expression faded, and he said to Arachnitron, "My name is... Optimus Primal. I am the... Commander of the exploration... ship, the Axalon." It was what he had been taught, to give his enemy nothing but words for himself to focus on no matter what they did or asked him, and hopefully frustrate them.

Tarantulas squinted his unieye as Primal forced a short lived smile on his face and began to repeat his name, rank, and function, an annoying but not unheard of tactic he'd encountered before back on Cybertron. Some maximals were trained to repeat themselves like this over and over to frustrate their captors and give themselves something to focus on in the vain hope of ignoring the pain of torture...An annoying tactic, but he'd broken enough maximals in his time to know it wasn't a unbeatable defense by any means, any maximal could break if pushed hard enough, both literally and figuratively.

In response to Primal's new tactic, Tarantulas once again increased the tightness of the bonds, the sound of metal creaking and bending filling the air as he said "What are the access codes to Sentinel?"

OOP wrote: The leader's gaze immediately shifted to Tarantulas. Interesting. So it was one of his Maximals who took them, and it was some time ago that it happened. Whoever it was surely had their reasons for keeping quiet about it and keeping them safe from both factions. And they had enough knowledge about the Darksyde to slip in, steal them, and leave without being seriously injured or terminated. Either he had a traitor among his team or another spy besides Rattrap. This didn't bother him so much since there was nothing he could really do about it at this point, but he reached out to Whitegrazer as if to direct her to ask those she was with. Where are the golden disks?

"My name... is Optimus Primal. I am... the Commander of the... exploration ship... the Axalon," he repeated again. But then he felt the immense pressure around his upper body. Growling and gasping in anguish, he swore he could hear parts of his armor bending.

"What are the access codes to Sentinel?" Tarantulas repeated, more firmly this time, tightening the bonds once again, annoyed by his persistence but not giving up just yet, laughing as Primal voiced his agony despite himself.

He couldn't decide which sounded sweeter, Primal's gasps of pain or his armor bending inward from the bonds as they dug into him, tighter than the coils of any snake, or tanglers for that matter.

OOP wrote:
Offended by Tarantulas's last comment, a low growl escaped his broken teeth. His crew was not pitiful. Such jealous Predacons who were forced to live in these diabolical, dictating, unethical, and disgusting conditions.

Tarantulas smiled with his eyes as Primal growled at him, unable to fight back despite clearly wanting to, the once proud maximal hero now helpless and at his mercy, of which he had very little. It was pathetic really, watching him struggle to remain conscious, trying to look strong and defiant when he was clearly beaten.

"Ladies, help him gather his thoughts, won't you?" Tarantulas said in a tone that promised further pain and humiliation for poor Primal rather than aid as he opened the cage to let the spider femmes in to "assist" the fallen hero, the bonds so tight and his injuries so extensive it was unlikely he'd be able make a break for it again, and if he tried, Tarantulas had his weapons ready and his finger on the remote ready to dial the bonds up to lethal levels should he try.

Phoenix wrote: His voice was threatening, venomous almost, only increasing the pretender's already heightened level of amusement. The enraged tyrant had raised his weapon, his facial features locked in a grim and vicious look, but his would-be target hardly seemed phased by it.

"Oh Megatron, you wound me..," the stranger responded in his most mocking voice, barely even acknowledging the tyrant's weapon, "When I’ve gone through such efforts to get a little time alone with you..”

Indeed. Megatron's fury had risen to levels so high that Nexus could visualize the smoke pouring out of his audioreceptors. If anything he was almost at the same level he'd been at when he had attacked Nexus Prime earlier, only a thin layer of genuine curiosity holding him back from attempting the same again. And Nexus would be happy to oblige.. in due time.

Megatron mind was awash with images of all the ways he could kill Nexus Prime's imposter, from vaporizing him with his tailcannon, to ordering Umbra to knock him out with his cybervenom so they could then drag him down to the nearest lava pit and smelt him, but for now, he kept these delightful fantasies to himself and did not act on them, curious about what this trickster wanted, though holding back his fury was getting harder by the click as he could tell the fraud was deriving far too much enjoyment from his fury, instead of fearing it like he should. Being spat upon by Primal had been disgusting, Nexus's "escape attempt" & jeers had been outrageous, but THIS, was infuriating...He could feel the Beast stirring within him again, but he forced it back down, he needed his wits about him to deal with this unwelcome element, yesss indeed.

Phoenix wrote: As if on cue, his form shifted again, taking on the appearance of the smooth-talking black panther in his robot form.

"Now you're starting to catch on, Commander," Darkwind responded, appearing a lot more confident than he had looked the last time the tyrant had laid eyes on him. "However you do have a point.. Why bother with fun and games when we have business at hand, hmm?"

Mere seconds after taking on the appearance of Darkwind, the figure started changing again, his size increasing, large clawed wings resembling an other-worldly creature growing out of his backside, the contours of scales visible on his arms, legs and chest, and his helmet taking on the general shape of a dragon's face. He almost had to concentrate a bit more to take on this form than the others, as if he had not been using it for a long time.

Once his transformation was completed, he made for quite an intimidating presence with a number of weapons, among them both long range fusion cannons and a large broadsword strapped onto his back, clearly visible even if he did not have any of them drawn at the moment. His smile faded a bit as he let his vibrant optics settle on Megatron and nodded.

"You should feel honored, Megatron, for not many have seen me in my true form," the shapeshifter told him. "You may call me Zodiac."

Megatron had guessed right about Nexus and Darkwind being one and the same, the new recruit's absence now making perfect sense, and the transmetal tyrant may have finally shot this pretender dead where he stood if he hadn't begun to reveal his true form shortly thereafter. The shapeshifter's true form, assuming it wasn't yet another of his many disguises, appeared to be transmetal, and heavily armed to boot, more so than his Nexus or Darkwind disguises had been, and his beast mode, judging by the wings, scales, and helmet, was something akin to a dragon, reminding him of certain ancient Decepticons who had adopted similar forms to capitalize off the fears of the fleshlings during the Great War, such as Hungrr, leader of the Terrorcons, or Deathsaurus, a general who'd risen to prominence after Galvatron's reign before the Pax Cybertronia had been signed. However, since his beast mode appeared genuine, it was a mystery to Megatron as to how he had acquired it. Was there a population of alien dragons somewhere out in space? Or had the shapeshifter played musical chairs with beast DNA until he created a custom form that was to his liking? It was also still possible this form of his was simply a result of his shapeshifting abilities and there was no such beast in nature. In the end it didn't matter, the freak was dangerous and Megatron would have to hold nothing back to destroy him if it became necessary, and honestly, at this point he almost relished the idea of killing this troublemaker and being done with it, he had enough schemers under his roof already.

The name Zodiac however stuck with him, but he was careful not to show any shock towards it, hiding it behind his trademark poker face. If the stranger spoke the truth, then he was one and the same with the near mythological predacon soldier of fortune by the same name who was so rarely seen many doubted his existence at all. It wasn't as bad as having a Tripredacus Agent in his midst perhaps, but depending on how many of the rumors and ghost stories surrounding Zodiac were true, having him here and now complicated matters, it was the Starscream incident all over again. There was also the matter of why he was here, what did he have to gain from getting involved in his war with Primal? Was he hired by someone or was he acting on his own? The more he learned about the stranger, the more questions he had alas.

"Honor, is not a word I like the taste of, nnnnooooo" Megatron replied curtly to Zodiac, refusing to be intimidated or awed by this unwelcome wildcard that had found its way into his deck so to speak.

Phoenix wrote: A nearly unreadable smile grew on Zodiac's face and he let his actions answer the tyrant's hesitation as he reached out and flicked a couple of switches on a nearby computer console. The monitor suddenly coming online, Zodiac merely followed up with a number of commands on the console. Suddenly an image of the medical bay of the Axalon came into view on the monitor, the camera immediately zooming in on Rhinox, Aurora and Ironclaw, along with Sonar, working on something. A nanoclick later the camera feed was replaced by the specs of a system wide security check establishing that all available weapons under Sentinel's control were fully functional. Zodiac looked almost cocky as he glanced back at Megatron.

"Already taken care of. Sentinel is under my control, as the Maximals have yet to realize.. "

Megatron had to admit, he was impressed by what Zodiac had apparently accomplished here, infiltrating Sentinel's systems like this so completely was unheard of...But it also meant he had to suffer Zodiac's smug face, which he BADLY wanted to shoot a hole through, and also again made him more suspicious of this stranger baring so many gifts...What the Pit did he want in return for all of this?

"Impressive, I assume during your time as Nexus you must have hacked their systems or left a trojan horse virus behind to give you remote access later, smooth. Now tell me, what exactly do you have to gain from all of this? You sadly do not strike me as a true believer of the Predacon cause, and if you had come here to pledge allegiance to me you would not have had to frame Nemesis to cover your tracks, with whom I suspect you share a common origin and feared she may have exposed you one way or the other had she remained in my good graces" Megatron said, memorizing as much of the data he saw flashing on the screen as possible, such security details were a rare treat indeed and he didn't want to lose them should things go south with Zodiac later, someone he trusted as much as a scraplet in a factory.

Phoenix wrote:
Just then a subfunction of his program notified him that someone was currently scanning through Sentinel's data, attempting to uncover the changes made. Well.. That hardly mattered, his program was well hidden, and he had not actively changed any of the files they were currently searching through. He wanted to wait with revealing his big secret to the Maximals, wait for that moment when he could be there to witness their reactions himself. Oh it would be glorious indeed. However for the time being he had other issues to attend to..

His smile dropped, leaving his face unreadable and his demeanor almost eerily calm, his determination set in stone.

"I can only assume that the reason Optimus Primal is still alive is because you wish to make him suffer, to break down his spirit before you break him. We both know he is too stubborn to give up any information.."

He paused, only long enough for him to flick a switch again and make the monitor fade back to black.

"If you really wish to defeat Optimus, you need to think like him. He isn’t afraid of any tortures or horrific death you might invent in his honor. His true fears lie with the Maximals he cherishes above anything. If you let him depart this world with the knowledge that his friends all suffered horrible deaths, that is the only way you will truly defeat him."

"If you knew Primal as well as I, you would wish to savor his suffering as much as I do" Megatron coldly replied, seeing the idealistic fool as being the one big bump on the road to his rise to power, one he intended to flatten out sooner rather than later, but only after there was nothing left of value to squeeze out of him.

He had not failed to notice the disappearance of Zodiac's smug expression however, implying perhaps that he wasn't as flawless in his machinations as he pretended, but let it go for now, content that he'd memorized as much as he could of Sentinel's security details from the screen before Zodiac had switched it off.

For now however, his interest was peaked enough to inquire "What did you have in mind?"

[una]

((OOC: Aw, I didn't know that, DarkSpark. I hope your family member has a fast recovery. ))

"Come on, Blackarachnia. You don't really believe him! He's lying! He knows exactly who it was who stole the golden disks!" She turned her attention to Optimus. "The Maximals don't do anythiing without your permission. So stop playing around. Tell Tarantulas where they are!"

"You really didn't know either did you Primal? The disks were under your nose the whole time and you never suspected one of your own had them in their possession, did you? Oh my, THAT is simply priceless! Can you guess which of your own betrayed you Primal? The answer may surprise you, or maybe not depending on how much faith you really put that pitiful crew of yours...One shudders to think what the thief is planning to do with such dangerous artifacts under your own roof, isn't it? Hehehaha"

She would have to be dumb not to take a glance behind her to see Arachnitron together, whispering to each other, but she wasn't worried about her current edge in this war. Right now, when the little spider was egging her on in her questioning of Optimus, she decided now was time for her to have some little fun with the Maximal leader. She may have been a Maximal protoform, but she was Predacon when she left the pod. Created by Tarantulas. She may not be as morbid or ghoulish as he was, but she enjoyed some suffering especially to those who deserved it. Like the Maximal Ape. How many times was she shot by his weapons or when she had lead a mission, just for him to crash her party and make her look like a fool towards Megatron, which earned her his wrath?

Suddenly, Primal burst out in laughter. Well, as much as he could under his restraints. There was coughing in between inhales and gasping for more breath as the bonds squeezed his chest, but it was laughter nonetheless. Was she serious? Finally, he calmed down and said, "I've already... surrendered... That's why I'm... here."

Blackarachnia smirked, shaking her head, "No... no... no....." She laughed, giggling like a girl yet her face twisted with a sneer, " I know you hero types. I know you. This... won't break you." She sniffed in contempt. Optimus came back to life from a transwarp explosion! Like it was a miracle! PFFT! There are no such thing as miracles, only desperation. "Come on, I think you are just stalling. Now, that's not a real surrender, is it?"

She noticed the smile Optimus gave Arachnitron and watched with laughter when it quickly dissipated, "Oh, yes, she's one of us now. Don't expect her to care about you. You burned that bridge when you allowed her to hung out with the bad guys. Go on, Arachnitron, what do you want to say to him? The ape won't being going anywhere anytime soon."

"Ladies, help him gather his thoughts, won't you?" Tarantulas said in a tone that promised further pain and humiliation for poor Primal rather than aid as he opened the cage to let the spider femmes in to "assist" the fallen hero, the bonds so tight and his injuries so extensive it was unlikely he'd be able make a break for it again, and if he tried, Tarantulas had his weapons ready and his finger on the remote ready to dial the bonds up to lethal levels should he try.

Blackarachnia clicked her pinchers together but she remained standing, her foot smashed against the ape's face, rubbing it in. Let's see if he could laugh now!

***********************************************************************

"No," Rattrap denied Whitegrazer but understood what she was trying to do, as he glanced from her to Nemesis and back to the mare. Admittedly, he was part of the conflicting arguments and the smart remarks that weren't helping any of them, so he thought it best to keep everyone there and keep working on their problem, and at the same time, adjust his attitude... just a tad. The situation had suddenly been blown sky high with this new footage so now he needed all of their opinions and suggestions. "Besides, you gotta stay in touch with the boss monkey, and you ain't exactly in the prime position for any sparring, especially against a Pred like her." He motioned his thumb to Nemesis.

She tilted her head at Rattrap. Sparring? Was he joking? That wasn't what she was going there for. Oh, he must be joking because she wouldn't be that irresponsible especially with Optimus being tortured. She shook a little. Torture. She hated torture. To add to such pain, such humiliation and disregard for a being's boundaries or rights. Horrible. At least, the Predacons were keeping their distance from him. They are attacking from behind the barrier...but they might get bored. She felt him through her connection, feeling his uncertainty. She hoped to dissuade such feelings. As long as he believed he was in control, he would be.

Nemesis wanted to stay so she just nodded in acknowledgement towards Rattrap's answer. Hopefully, they would behave.

"Whitegrazer was right," "We can't keep accusing each other of being Darkwind. We should assume that whomever he is disguised as now, isn't here in the Maximal base. Hopefully he is disguised as one of the Predacons...."

Whitegrazer smiled at Dinobot. Normally, they didn't always agree, but she was glad to see that Dinobot was choosing to not let this Darkwind throw him into paranoia. She noticed Rattrap seemed to agree and tried to... sniff them all. She just stood in place as Rattrap sniffed around them.

"Yer all clean,"

She smiled, "I'm glad I'm me and not an impostor."

Where are the golden disks?

Why would the Predacons ask these questions towards Optimus? She thought the Predacons had them. Unless someone else had them, she sensed Optimus' reaching out to her, wanting her to ask the question. It probably sounded like it came out of nowhere, but if it may help ease Optimus' mind, she wanted to ask, "Rattrap, Optimus is being interrogated with an unusual question and I must ask," she paused, grimacing as she felt the pressure exerted towards Optimus. She regained her breathing but Optimus was having a hard time, "Did anyone went into the Predacon base and acquired the golden disks?" It sounded odd, but maybe this Darkwind could have stolen them as well and tried to cause even more trouble?

She could feel Optimus' consciousness going in and out as she too was showing sides of drifting off, but hers she could shake. Optimus? Harder time, but he couldn't fall sleep. But he could meditate yet with everything that is happening, it may be difficult, but she will try.

"Nexus Prime... Out for a little stroll, eh? What else have you been up to besides almost gettin' us slagged when those new Preds showed up?"

She bowed her head. Disappointed as she leaned over to see what Rattrap was pointing out. That was close to when he came to join Rattrap, Aurora, and herself on their mission to investigate the ship close to the Axalon, "I don't know. Only Optimus knows Nexus more than any of us. Yet... he never told us about the pod that we found that came from his ship and when he talked to those Predacons," She closed her optics, remembering some of Nexus' words she could hear and the expression on the other Predacon's face. "If the pod was launched as he was entering the atmosphere, it may have been possible that his systems were too damaged to register it and the words he spoke weren't suspicious. There are possibly reasonable explanations to those incidents. From a perspective, Nexus Prime would be the most obvious suspect and he is Optimus' friend and a respected Admiral and Prime. It could all just be a coincidence. And since he is being tortured like Optimus..." She remembered those feelings of horror from Optimus and the idea of such a Prime being a met a gruesome de- No, she mustn't let her feelings overwhelm her to point of despair. Of course, Darkwind had shape-shifting abilities as well as regeneration like Nemesis. Since Nexus wasn't with Optimus no more...

No. There is only one way to know for certain who is Darkwind or whoever this bot was.

Go for it, big guy. But be careful. I don't need a fried bug. I know how you guys are attracted ta bright light,""Looks like it works, 'Slider! Nice job. Now, I'll send out Nemesis as your live test subject,"

Whitegrazer really thought Rattrap was really pushing his jokes. She watched Nemesis to see her reaction. Hopefully, she didn't take it too personally but Rattrap's jokes could get outta hand. She better try and divert attention to the topic at hand, "I do know this: we know of Nemesis' regenerative abilities. I have felt them firsthand. If this Darkwind has the abilities, If I concentrate, I may be able to find him. If such individual is close-" suddenly, she felt like someone had smashed her face in. Her vision blurring and her hand held her face, "Darkwind...if we find him, can be identified. I do agree with Dinobot that he might be in the Predacon since we haven't had such strange events like what happened with the virus."

Blackarachnia...

She had hoped the Predacons would stay outside of his boundaries, but she should had known better. She sat down and went into her meditation position,The green meadow... I am sitting with you. We are meditating. We are calm. Peaceful. Nothing will break you. You have a very strong will as do I. Together, we can beat them. She embraced him with warmth and tried to help him maintain focus yet also be more relaxed.

"We could use some flanking and aerial maneuvers with that," he added. "Take out some of their ship's defenses and maybe sneak two Maximals inside for espionage and rescue."

She kept her position as she thought about Dinobot and Rattrap's strategy to get Optimus and Nexus back, "We must be cautious. Out of spite, they might try to eliminate Optimus and Nexus if we do a full scale attack. We lure out all we can like Dinobot said. We don't show our hand early. Let them come to us. Those who are sent to rescue them must be aware of the bonds they entrapped them with and also, of the barriers and... motion sensors."

((OOC: @OOP: The green meadow.... Whitegrazer has a catchphrase now! ))

[Mystrea]

Ironclaw was now aware of who the prisoner was. He had been in there this whole time and he some how escaped and then released the contagion and now they were stuck in need of his help. Good decision Optimus... The badger took note of the look that Aurora gave Rhinox. She seemed reluctant, almost scared. He stood close to her, realising that the rhino was infected too. Ironclaw wouldn't have a problem with putting him down if things went south. He couldn't risk their last science personnel getting infected. That was his job, to protect her. Aurora perked up his attention when she spoke, fumbling with her equipment.
"We've all had those experiences Aurora... Get on with it" Ironclaw said, trying to be firm but not harsh. He want to baby her at all, she knew what to do, she could handle herself. However Sonar spoke up which soured the mood even more and he directed towards Aurora. The soldier/guardian flexed his hands and crossed his arms, unamused by the Predacons comment.

[Blackrosefencer]

OOC: I have Infern and Arachnitron done for now. Dinobot's will have to wait for another time. I need to reread some things.

BIC:

Terrorsaur and Waspinator walked up to Inferno as he continued to stand guard outside the room where they were holding Optimus Primal.

"Let us pass Ant, Megatron wants us to put these two in shackles and locked up in the new brig. Royalty's orders and all that jazz."

Inferno looked at the other flyers and shook his head.

"The spiders are interrogating...." Inferno stopped himself. He was about to mention who they were interrogating, but then took a look at the other prisoners. It would not be wise to let the other prisoners hear such sensitive information.

"They are interrogating other prisoners. The Royalty commands that they should not be disturbed for any reason. It is strictly classified. The other prisoners must not be present. They should go to the old brig for now."

Inferno was sure that sending Terrorsaur and the others away was what the Royalty would want. After all, this interrogation is very important to the Queen. Inferno was sure he was dooing the right thing.

(OOC: Sorry...that's kind of a cop out.....maybe next post, if Terrorsaur really wants the power bonds, I can have one of the spiders bring them out to him. Maybe Inferno could send Arachnitron out with them and say something about how she helped make them. That would be interesting to see Optimus' reaction to that....but I thought it should wait since there is so much else he would probably want to respond to...)

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Thank you dear"

Arachnitron grinned. She was pleased to see Tarantulas happy with her work and she didn't miss the glance from Blackarachnia.

Arachnitron wanted so much to mention that she had made a discover regarding Starshadow's mech fluid and that she had kept the sample so they could study it more, but she knew now wasn't the time for that. Tarantulas was very focused on getting this very important information from Optimus.

Blackarachnia continued to berate the Maximal...and Optimus refused to answer. At least at first. But then he looked up at Arachnitron with a strange, eerie smile. She thought for a moment that perhaps Optimus thought she was there to rescue him. Her optics were, of course, green whether the hybrid or the Maximal were in control....at least according to Tarantulas. She had never seen her reflection before Tarantulas showed her. So it was no surprise that Optimus would mistake her green optics for salvation, but of course, it must have ocurred to him that the inhibitor chip was still present and the Hybrid was in control of the body....his smile slid away as he responded to her question.

"My name is... Optimus Primal. I am the... Commander of the exploration... ship, the Axalon."

She looked at him dumbfounded. That wasn't exactly the response she was expecting.

"Don't play coy with me Primal, you might have been dead at the time, but you expect me to believe your thief didn't hand over the disks to you as soon as you made your "miraculous" return from the grave?"

Optimus turned his gaze to Tarantulas. Again he said:

"My name... is Optimus Primal. I am... the Commander of the... exploration ship... the Axalon,"

Arachnitron rolled her optics. "Tell us something we don't know," she mumbled sarcastically. "Like where the golden disks are..."
Suddenly, Tarantulas erupted in maniacal laughter.

"Hehehehehehahaha..." Tarantulas began to chuckle softly, his spark filling with evil mirth as he threw back his head and cackled wildly "HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"You really didn't know either did you Primal? The disks were under your nose the whole time and you never suspected one of your own had them in their possession, did you? Oh my, THAT is simply priceless! Can you guess which of your own betrayed you Primal? The answer may surprise you, or maybe not depending on how much faith you really put that pitiful crew of yours...One shudders to think what the thief is planning to do with such dangerous artifacts under your own roof, isn't it? Hehehaha"

Arachnitron fell silent. Tarantulas believed that Optimus really didn't know where the golden disks were being hidden? She was a bit surprised, but if Tarantulas believed him than maybe Optimus was telling the truth. Tarantulas would know these things more than she would.

Tarantulas changed tactics.

"And yet you're still holding out on us...Telling the truth could go a long way ending your suffering Primal. If you really don't know who your betrayer is, how about you give us the access codes to Sentinel instead? Believe it or not, the easier you make it for us to overcome the Axalon, the less likely there will be serious causalities for your crew. We could be persuaded to take them as prisoners of war or reprogram them as predacons rather than slay them all, despite what some of you cruder maximals may say, it honestly is better to be "Pred than dead." So how does that sound Primal? Deal?"

Tarantulas asked a few more times before changing up his tactics yet again. He opened up the door to Optimus' cell.

"Ladies, help him gather his thoughts, won't you?"

Blackarachnia pinned Optimus to the floor of the cage.

She noticed the smile Optimus gave Arachnitron and watched with laughter when it quickly dissipated, "Oh, yes, she's one of us now. Don't expect her to care about you. You burned that bridge when you allowed her to hung out with the bad guys. Go on, Arachnitron, what do you want to say to him? The ape won't being going anywhere anytime soon."

Arachnitron hesitated. Blackarachnia invited her to say anything she wanted to Optimus and she found herself speechless. What she wouldn't have given for the chance to yell, shout and berate the Maximals for what had happened. But now that she had the opportunity she found that she didn't feel motivated to say anything. She already explained to Optimus what happened when Steelclaw and the other Predacons came for her, but he hadn't believed her. Sure, she had offered to leave with the Predacons and that could have been seen as the start of her betrayal, but no one thought for a moment that she was exchanging herself to spare Frilla. It crossed nobody's mind that she was trying to repay them for taking her in and helping her out. No one ever thought that she might have actually wanted to stay with the Maximals. She lived her entire life being taught to hate Maximals, but they had rescued her without a second thought from her burning escape pod. They had brought her to their home despite what she had told Optimus about her programming abnormalities. They protected her when Nemesis attacked her. She really thought that for a brief moment things would be different. But when it came down to it, they didn't actually really think she belonged. It was plain to see they didn't think of her as one of them...otherwise, her offering to go with Steelclaw would have been interpreted the way it was meant to be. They would have said, "Don't worry about what they do to us! We'll be okay! If you want to stay, stay! We'll fight them together" or something like that. But they didn't....they thought the worst of her actions, they didn't believe she was capable of such sacrifice, and that broke Arachnitron's spark. Oddly enough, it was the Predacons that let her decide one way or the other. The Maximals just didn't want her.

She come online a Predacon and she would die a Predacon. That was made clear to her that day.

Finally, Arachnitron spoke. Her tone lost all its mocking and sarcasm. She spoke evenly and very seriously to Blackarachnia. "There is nothing more to say, Blackarachnia. I think Optimus would agree. It's not worth wasting everyone's time." This time she turned to look at Optimus. Her voice remained cold, but devoid of anger. She had come to terms with what happened that day when the Predacons attacked the Maximal base. "Besides, Predacons are always wrong and Maximals are always right. That's the way it was on Cybertron and it's no different here. No matter what I say, even if it's right, you will refuse to believe it. You have this self-righteous, holier than thou attitude that prevents you from even contemplating that what I have to say could possibly be true. So why say anything at all? But I will say this much: I was always a Predacon in the Maximals optics even when I tried to be one of your crew. Before I had ever done anything that warranted mistrusting, I was mistrusted. Having a Predacon background is a stain you can't wash off when you're around a Maximal. No matter how hard you try to prove yourself. Your Predacon "allys" will see that soon enough and they'll turn around and come right back like I did. I'm not sorry that I've returned so don't get the wrong idea here. And I'm not upset about not being trusted either. No one has ever trusted me, so I was naive to think that someone finally had. I'm actually appreciative of the experience. It taught me the truth about the Maximals. Maximals are just as hateful, just as ruthless, just as deceptive, just as vile and manipulative as we Predacons are. The only difference is we'll do all of that to your face." She turned to look at Blackarachnia with a devious smirk; her somber mood and hurt expression dissapated with the flick of a switch. "Now that that's over and done with...." she began, her voice sounding glad to be back to torturing. "....let's get back to work, shall we?" she winked at the other she-spider.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC:

@OOP: The green meadow.... Whitegrazer has a catchphrase now!

It sounds more like the title to a novel or movie. ))

"Tell us something we don't know," "Like where the golden disks are..."

It seemed as though Arachnitron might have been new to being on the other side of this kind of treatment; being the torturer as opposed to the "torturee". Was she enjoying it from this perspective? Maybe it would satisfy her need for revenge if that was what she was seeking for all the experimentation that had been performed on her.

"And yet you're still holding out on us...Telling the truth could go a long way ending your suffering Primal.

I... don't... care, he thought, denying Tarantulas any knowledge just so he could suffer less. And he doubted he would anyway, so anything he gave them would be in vain.

If you really don't know who your betrayer is, how about you give us the access codes to Sentinel instead? Believe it or not, the easier you make it for us to overcome the Axalon, the less likely there will be serious causalities for your crew.

I highly... doubt that.

We could be persuaded to take them as prisoners of war or reprogram them as predacons rather than slay them all, despite what some of you cruder maximals may say, it honestly is better to be "Pred than dead." So how does that sound Primal? Deal?"

Never, Optimus glared at the spider's yellow uni-optic, seeing through his deceptive words.

"What are the access codes to Sentinel?"

"My name is... Optimus... Primal," he struggled to say with the dialed up strength of the bonds. His voice was softer now as he could feel his armor plating weakening under the pressure, nearly buckling. His consciousness continued to waver, his face hurt, his mouth hurt, his arms, chest and back hurt. He couldn't feel the tiny bots in the nanogel anymore. "...Commander... of... the... Axalon..."

"What are the access codes to Sentinel?"

The Maximal inhaled while he could when the bonds loosened for a moment before Tarantulas squeezed them again. He grimaced and laid his head on the floor while his optics and jaws clenched tightly against the agony despite his painful mouth. "My name... Optimus..." His voice began to trail off, trying to ignore the spider's bullying laughter and avoid looking at him. How could someone enjoy doing this to someone else? He was relishing in it! It was cold, disheartening and unbearable. One day, Tarantulas would get his.

"Ladies, help him gather his thoughts, won't you?"

Primal slowly looked in their direction after his gaze lingered on the tarantula's weapons and the remote, vaguely hearing the cell opening to let them in. His vision and hearing blurred in and out with his labored breathing. To say he was in discomfort was an understatement. Now what was he going to have to deal with?

The green meadow... I am sitting with you. We are meditating. We are calm. Peaceful. Nothing will break you. You have a very strong will as do I. Together, we can beat them.

He tried, he desperately tried some meditation with Whitegrazer as she reached out to him. Optimus felt her warmth, her soft words, he saw the meadow and the green blades of grass swaying in the breeze as they caught the sunlight when they bent over and swooshed back. But Primal's concentration wavered like a ripple in the water, and then suddenly crashed like a tsunami.

"No... no... no....." " I know you hero types. I know you. This... won't break you." "Come on, I think you are just stalling. Now, that's not a real surrender, is it?"

He almost felt paralyzed by this point, laying there helplessly in their eyes. He had Whitegrazer to guide him and hold him together but it would only last for so long. Like balancing on a tight rope, Optimus couldn't be certain when he might be knocked out, so he thought it best to secure all of his knowledge that was within him as well as he could just in case any of the spiders would get the bright idea of trying to plug in and infiltrate his core processor to forcibly extract any information.

"Oh, yes, she's one of us now. Don't expect her to care about you. You burned that bridge when you allowed her to hung out with the bad guys.

I... wasn't even... there... to help her, he thought bitterly. But would it have mattered anyway? He liked to think so, but it was obviously too late to render that mistake. He regretted what happened. He had lost Arachnitron.

Go on, Arachnitron, what do you want to say to him? The ape won't being going anywhere anytime soon."

Optimus managed to turn his head to Arachnitron giving her his attention. He had hoped she was going to tell him how she felt. He wanted her to talk and explain things from her perspective because he believed things had been lost in translation and misunderstood on both sides.

"There is nothing more to say, Blackarachnia. I think Optimus would agree. It's not worth wasting everyone's time."

Disappointment filled within him. Arachnitron had been hurt and betrayed so badly it made him realize how much he failed in helping her. He didn't want to blame himself for what happened because it was not his decision to let her go, seemingly giving up on her or mistrusting her, but as the commanding officer, everything was his responsibility and her misfortune was not an exemption.

"Besides, Predacons are always wrong and Maximals are always right. That's the way it was on Cybertron and it's no different here. No matter what I say, even if it's right, you will refuse to believe it.

Fortunately, she started to speak anyway, and they were hateful words but he was glad she was talking about it at all. Unfortunately, he never said those things because he didn't believe in them. He knew how bad some Maximals could be; he considered himself one of them with his involvement with Protoform X's creation. And he knew how good and honorable some Predacons could be. Dinobot was a prime example of that. So why would he have trusted him, Frilla and Onyx to join his team and not her? Because of her split personality programming? No. He had given her the most trust out of all of his Maximals, putting their lives in danger because of his decision, and it had gone as smoothly as it could considering all of the obstacles for long as it was went on. Optimus was not one to hold grudges. He wished he could go back in time and re-do that day over to stop what happened, and to sit down with her alone and talk it over and ask her for her forgiveness.

You have this self-righteous, holier than thou attitude that prevents you from even contemplating that what I have to say could possibly be true. So why say anything at all? But I will say this much: I was always a Predacon in the Maximals optics even when I tried to be one of your crew. Before I had ever done anything that warranted mistrusting, I was mistrusted. Having a Predacon background is a stain you can't wash off when you're around a Maximal. No matter how hard you try to prove yourself. Your Predacon "allys" will see that soon enough and they'll turn around and come right back like I did.

And I... won't stop... them, he thought, if it ever came to them leaving. And it might one day, but he was not a dictator like Megatron and he had faith in the former Predacons that had joined his team, the same faith he had in her. Did he still have it? Perhaps. All he ever wanted was for her to be happy and "fit in", if that was what she sought. He didn't think Tarantulas's methods were ethical but that was out of his control a long time ago. Clearly, his Maximals didn't have the means to help her, at least not without getting rid of another part of her, which was not fair to either programming, and that was a big part of getting no where in her situation. It was difficult to hear how she really felt about the whole experience, and he didn't think his Maximals could be blamed for their behavior considering all they had been through before she showed up, but he wished she had had more faith in him and more importantly in herself. All of this hatred and betrayal had worn out his patience and tolerance in this war. Coming back from the dead gave him a whole new perspective and he was not the same Maximal he used to be.

I'm not sorry that I've returned so don't get the wrong idea here. And I'm not upset about not being trusted either. No one has ever trusted me, so I was naive to think that someone finally had.

I did, Primal said to himself, and he wanted to say it out loud but he was so constricted that he could barely speak. Poor Arachnitron... Things had been blown completely out of proportion and misconstrued. There was so much more he wished he could have done for her to make up for what she had done for him.

I'm actually appreciative of the experience. It taught me the truth about the Maximals. Maximals are just as hateful, just as ruthless, just as deceptive, just as vile and manipulative as we Predacons are. The only difference is we'll do all of that to your face."

Maybe he just shouldn't have offered his trust and protection in the first place. Obviously it had caused nothing but grief and more hate. Well, he often learned from his mistakes. He closed his optics and turned his head to the side, hurt more by her words than by Tarantulas's bonds. At least now he knew. If he ever makes it out alive this time, he would just have to do better and never let it happen again. Not in his crew, not under his command. The longer this war carried on, the harder Optimus became; his once rounded edges of lenience and trust gradually being sharpened into corners of intolerance and cautioned judgement. Everyone lives and learns, and everyone is always disappointed in one way or another. He couldn't please them all.

"Now that that's over and done with...." "....let's get back to work, shall we?"

The Maximal Commander saw Blackarachnia lift one of her feet and then everything went black. His entire body suddenly went limp, and his orange optics dark, as her blow to his head finally rendered him unconscious. His once ferocious waters with Whitegrazer were significantly calm now, a sign to her that his emotional connection had been severed but that he was still alive since his spark continued to pulsate. He was completely vulnerable now, but finally had some peace and quiet.

(( OOC: OP's K.O. is only temporary. He'll wake up shortly. I'll wait a little longer for others to catch up with Rattrap before posting for him again. ))

[NaitoKage]

"I hope you are not too injured, Waspinator was it? I have to say, to take the hits you did and to still be able to move is impressive."

Waspinator raised an optic ridge Wazzpinator is fine. he found it strange that anyone would show concern for him, as even most the other predacons didn't care about Waspinator. This made him more paranoid then reassured.

"The spiders are interrogating...."

"They are interrogating other prisoners. The Royalty commands that they should not be disturbed for any reason. It is strictly classified. The other prisoners must not be present. They should go to the old brig for now."

Wazzpinator waved his finger Then Antbot can explain to Megatron why thezze prisonerzz aren't properly secured, leaving Antbot responzzible. he then said in a obnoxious tone.

_____________________________________

"Go for it, big guy. But be careful. I don't need a fried bug. I know how you guys are attracted ta bright light," "Looks like it works, 'Slider! Nice job. Now, I'll send out Nemesis as your live test subject,"

Landslide smirked Aye.. tempting as that might be lad, I think I'll pass on cookin' the bird. Anyone you want carryin' this thing specifically or should I hold on to it? he then said as the gun slid away into his arm, walking back towards the Axalon entering into the Cargobay once again. He picked up his grenade launcher from the table putting it into storage as he then walked back towards the Bridge.

[Blackrosefencer]

OOC: That better be your last edit, Una....cuz this post took FOREVER!!! I'm supposed to be playing Final Fantasy!!

J/k, J/k....you can edit as much as you want!

This was a ridicuously hard post to write! At the end anyway.....way to take me by surprise, Una. I mean, OOP and DS ran that stuff by me about telling about the Golden Disks, but I didn't think Dinobot would have to decide whether or not to confess! Hope I did good....

BIC:

Dinobot snarled his disapproval as Rattrap patted himself on the back and applauded himself for his tiresome one liners and wisecracks. Dinobot accused him of being the shapeshifter just for laughs. He didn't actually believe the roden capable of such a feat.

"Oh, right," Rattrap rolled his optics. "'Cause I got the motivation to pull off somethin' dis elaborate. Come on, Chopper Face, you know I'm too lazy for all this work and effort," he grinned.

"Yet not too lazy to make my day an endless walk through the Inferno." Dinobot mumbled.

Rattrap responded to Dinobot's accusations by making some accusations himself.

"I can think of someone who coulda helped him..." he said, teasingly implying Dinobot as the suspect.

"After suffering the likes of you for this many solar-cycles, I could hardly be reproached for my actions if I had....in fact, I might even be rewarded!" Dinobot teased back.

Dinobot was surprised when Whitegrazer spoke up and asked to take Nemesis elsewhere. While it would make things a little calmer without Rattrap jumping at Nemesis' every movement, it certainly was not appropriate timing. It was time to get serious about taking action and devising a plan....this was not the time to be sparring. Surprisingly enough, the two Predacons and Rattrap seemed to be on the same page, though Dinobot didn't speak up to say so. Both Nemesis and Rattrap spoke up against the idea.

Changing subjects, Rattrap again agreed with the idea Dinobot and Nemesis shared about luring out the Predacons and taking them out a few at a time.

"We could use some flanking and aerial maneuvers with that," he added. "Take out some of their ship's defenses and maybe sneak two Maximals inside for espionage and rescue."

Dinobot nodded, but held his tongue. If he had to say what was on his mind, he really just might gag, but the truth? What was really on his mind? It was that best suited for espionage and rescue was....none other than the beady-eyed rodent himself.

"We must be cautious. Out of spite, they might try to eliminate Optimus and Nexus if we do a full scale attack. We lure out all we can like Dinobot said. We don't show our hand early. Let them come to us. Those who are sent to rescue them must be aware of the bonds they entrapped them with and also, of the barriers and... motion sensors."

Whitegrazer brought up an excellent point. Their attacking the base may just put Optimus and Nexus in danger. It was best to use the strategy that they all agreed upon.....lure them out and eliminate their numbers before taking on the whole Predacon army. But what of the newcomers?

"Judging by the ongoing battle between the newcomers and the existing Predacons, I doubt that they are here to simply join forces with Megatron. There's more to it than that."

"There always is with Preds, isn't there?" he asked Nemesis rhetorically. Ugh, Predacons. And here he thought they were mindless drones who simply fought over territory. "No matter what, Megadump is gonna use 'em to his advantage some how, so we might as well accept de fact dat it's only a matter of time."

"I doubt that it's a coincidence that they landed here when they did..." Dinobot added thoughtfully.

Dinobot hated to admit that he agreed with the stinking furball, but Rattrap was right. Loyal to Megatron or not, the new Predacons were most certainly not allies to the maximals. They would need to be wary of them at all costs. Dinobot repressed a snarl. All this agreeing was making him sick! He needed to blast something and soon!

Together they continued to review the video of Optimus entering the brig to release Sonar. Dinobot listened to the ideas being tossed around on the Maximal bridge. Everyone seemed to agree that the footage of Optimus was false. It was either tampered with or this Darkwind was a skilled shapeshifter. Though he was Predacon at spark, he still shuddered to think of the implications of a shapeshifter so skilled that he could disguise everything right down to his energy signature. But it just did not seem possible, to Dinobot anyway, that there could be any other explanation. As Nemesis pointed out, there was an astronomical amount of details he would have needed to plan before coming here....how could he possibly have pulled those off without being able to change his shape?

"Possible.. But that would require a great deal of planning on Darkwind's end."

"Well, what do you think he's been doin' the past how many years?" Rattrap tossed out there. "And how many disguises can dis guy possibly have? Unless he really is a shape shifter..."

"We may have to accept that Darkwind is a shapeshifter," Dinobot spoke up. "Of all the other possibilities, it is.....believe it or not....the most plausible explanation."

"Perhaps.. Or maybe you don't know your beloved leader as well as you think,"

"Hey! I know Optimus like every scent my rat nose has ever picked up! Every. Scent."

Suddenly, Rattrap paused and took a few deep breaths sniffing the air. He appeared to be analyzing by smell each and every one of them in the room. He did recall Sonar saying something about recognizing the imposter based on his smell. Dinobot raised an optic ridge, intrigued, as he waited for the results.

"Yer all clean," he said.

"At last, you have found a skill to be proud of," Dinobot jeered.

Whitegrazer smiled, "I'm glad I'm me and not an impostor."

"I feel...." Dinobot began searching for the right word. ".....violated...."

Suddenly, the joking atmosphere turned somber. Rattrap turned back to the monitor screens and brought up a video of Nexus Prime walking around the base...alone.

"Nexus Prime... Out for a little stroll, eh? What else have you been up to besides almost gettin' us slagged when those new Preds showed up?"

"I don't know. Only Optimus knows Nexus more than any of us. Yet... he never told us about the pod that we found that came from his ship and when he talked to those Predacons," "If the pod was launched as he was entering the atmosphere, it may have been possible that his systems were too damaged to register it and the words he spoke weren't suspicious. There are possibly reasonable explanations to those incidents. From a perspective, Nexus Prime would be the most obvious suspect and he is Optimus' friend and a respected Admiral and Prime. It could all just be a coincidence. And since he is being tortured like Optimus..."

Dinobot watched the video on the screen over the others' shoulders. He hadn't been present during any of what Whitegrazer was saying so he felt a little out of the loop. He wasn't exactly sure what she was referring to....but one thought did occur to him...

"IF Darkwind is a shapeshifter....then perhaps this is NOT the real Nexus Prime. Megatron may not even be aware of Darkwind's abilities, but if he is allowing himself to be tortured to keep up appearances, then he is definitely good at what he does."

Just then, Landslide interrupted them by giving them a status report over the comms about the weapon he was working on.

Alright lad, I got the Electro laser cannon together, but I need ta calibrate her. Just give me a bit.

"Go for it, big guy. But be careful. I don't need a fried bug. I know how you guys are attracted ta bright light," he teased Landslide. On a separate monitor that was showing all of the live camera feeds, they could see the beetle exiting the base and flashes and bolts of electricity and lightning were lighting up that screen like a strobe light. "Looks like it works, 'Slider! Nice job. Now, I'll send out Nemesis as your live test subject," Rattrap smirked jokingly before looking back at the screen with the Admiral on it.

Dinobot sneered. "Oh? One would think our esteemed leader would want to volunteer for that duty himself...."

But before he could continue teasing the rodent, Whitegrazer spoke up and complicated things even more than they were before.

"Rattrap, Optimus is being interrogated with an unusual question and I must ask," she paused, grimacing as she felt the pressure exerted towards Optimus. She regained her breathing but Optimus was having a hard time, "Did anyone go into the Predacon base and acquire the golden disks?"

Dinobot wasn't sure if he was more surprised at the question or that she was able to communicate telepathically with Optimus. But now he was faced with a grave decision. He had already planned to show the one disk to Rhinox in order to study. No doubt Rhinox would have let Optimus know eventually....not too many secrets were kept from the Maximal leader. But no one else would have had to know...he could have continued to study with Rhinox and Optimus in secret of the others. Did they really have to find out like this?

Dinobot lowered his gaze as it occurred to him that Optimus was being tortured on his behalf. He shook his head sadly. "Optimus....I am sorry," he thought to himself, but his Predacon pride would not allow him to ever say that. He felt a twang of guilt. This torture, this imprisonment, this prisoner exchange....it was all because of the golden disks....it was all because of him. That was made clear to him now.

But what was the next course of action? If he admitted to the theft, what would happen to him? He had acquired the golden disks for his own curiosity....outside of direct orders from Optimus. That wouldn't look good for the most suspicious of the bunch....Rattrap for instance. He could be shunned from the Maximals....but would that be so bad? Did he even deserve to be a Maximal? Dinobot shook his head again. That did not matter.....if he did not admit to the theft, the torture of Optimus Primal would continue. Perhaps it would even continue to the death. He had too much respect for the Maximal commander to let him die that way and too much honor to allow the torture to continue....the torture that should be happening to him...not Optimus.

Dinobot sighed heavily, but finally looked Whitegrazer in the optics. "Tell Optimus," he began, but hesitated. He had hardly had a chance to study the disks for himself. Did he really want to do this? He would have no choice but to return the disks to Megatron to end the Maximal leader's torture! He did have one disk copied to his own files, but what of the other? Was one enough to study and reach his decision about whether or not the future was predetermined? It would have to be. He continued.... "Tell Optimus, it was me. I stole the golden disks from the Predacons."

[Phoenix]

"We've all had those experiences Aurora... Get on with it"

Aurora paused long enough to look over at the taller badger who had taken it upon himself to act as her guardian, her optics widening a bit in surprise as well as gratefulness. "I appreciate that, I really do," she replied, offering Ironclaw a thankful smile as she did. She then pulled out another needle for a sample from him as well, drawing it up quickly and surprisingly skillfully for someone who had only recently taken an interest in the medical field. Ironclaw's words had boosted her confidence and for that she was eternally grateful since she needed all she could get right now.

Lining the samples up side by side for easier comparison, Aurora helped herself to the lab's equipment as she began the tedious task of trying to locate the differences through magnification. She also used part of each sample to try to map out the chemical components that the virus consisted of, letting the computer analyze each sample for answers.

At first glance the samples looked almost identical, causing Aurora to shift uncomfortably in her chair as she let out a sigh. It wasn't until she increased the magnification to maximum that she noticed the small additional components in the affected samples. They were still at the moment, only moving occasionally, almost as if they were dying.. or.. sleeping?

Suddenly a few of the cells they had attached themselves to began to stretch, and they continued to do so until they started dividing. The little ermine fuzor blinked at the sight of it before turning her green optics on Sonar and Rhinox again. "It's definitely a virus," she began, involuntarily moving ever so slightly closer to Ironclaw, "And I think I figured out why you guys are not as badly affected now as you were originally. The virus seems to be resting at the moment, a phase to conserve the energy they require to divide and multiply. So you may not be feeling too bad off right now, but this is only temporary. Sooner or later that thing is going to wake up again, probably even stronger than before."

She took a longer pause before casting her gaze down at the floor, her voice quiet as she continued. "And I have no idea how badly you'll be affected when the time comes.. In theory you may be stuck in that stage until your bodies shut down or the virus mutates into something else.."

Tugging at her lower lip, she sat and thought for a moment, before she rolled her chair away to offer the spot to Sonar so he could take a look for himself.

"Unfortunately I don't know how to stop the virus, finding a cure will likely require a lot of testing."

If there is a cure..

No.. She couldn't let herself doubt it. Of course there was a way to stop this, there simply had to be!

For a moment her thoughts drifted to another situation that troubled her greatly, to Optimus and his friend being held captive by the Predacons. Who knew what kind of torture they were going through at this very moment..? What horrors they were facing at the hands of those..

Aurora froze, staring blankly out into the room at no one and nothing in particular. Then she abruptly jumped to her feet, struggling to find her words for a second or two before she finally did.

"I think I have an idea!," she told the others before storming out to join up with Rattrap and the rest.

"Well, what do you think he's been doin' the past how many years?" Rattrap tossed out there. "And how many disguises can dis guy possibly have? Unless he really is a shape shifter..."

Nemesis shrugged at that, not having the answers they were seeking. She honestly didn't know who this Darkwind really was or what the extent of his abilities were. And no matter how tempting it was to start throwing out accusations, they did require some sort of proof. Well, the Maximals did anyway. Things were quite different for a Predacon, where a mere inkling of a suspicion could warrant the death penalty. In that sense nothing had really changed from the days of Decepticon control. But being surrounded by Maximal fools, she had little choice other than to play by their rules.. For now.

"Yer all clean,"

"Present company excluded obviously," Nemesis responded, waving her hand in front of her face as if trying to avoid the stench seeping up from the garbage munching rodent.

"Nexus Prime... Out for a little stroll, eh? What else have you been up to besides almost gettin' us slagged when those new Preds showed up?"

Hmm.. It was a bit peculiar that Darkwind and this Nexus had arrived at the same time, albeit the old warrior's story had added up. If it was all an elaborate lie, she had to give him credit for his persistence. The Predacon traitor seemed to agree that something was off. All of a sudden the aging admiral's stories sounded all that much more interesting.

"IF Darkwind is a shapeshifter....then perhaps this is NOT the real Nexus Prime. Megatron may not even be aware of Darkwind's abilities, but if he is allowing himself to be tortured to keep up appearances, then he is definitely good at what he does."

Dinobot made a rather persuasive argument, one that Nemesis saw no point in arguing against. It was highly suspicious that the admiral would appear on the video footage right before Optimus released Sonar from his cell.

"Looks like it works, 'Slider! Nice job. Now, I'll send out Nemesis as your live test subject,"

The avian female shot the rodent an angry glare, her fists clenching in frustration. There was really nothing she wanted more than to beat the living daylights out of this loudmouth. "Keep pushing, scuzz ball, and you may very well be joining your kindred rodents underground."

"I do know this: we know of Nemesis' regenerative abilities. I have felt them firsthand. If this Darkwind has the abilities, If I concentrate, I may be able to find him. If such individual is close-" suddenly, she felt like someone had smashed her face in. Her vision blurring and her hand held her face, "Darkwind...if we find him, can be identified. I do agree with Dinobot that he might be in the Predacon since we haven't had such strange events like what happened with the virus."

The white mare's words broke Nemesis' concentration, pulling her attention away from the pesky rat. She remembered the odd way the other female had looked at her during their previous encounter, just before Nemesis had been about to end her life. Just before she had walked away, unable to bring herself to do it, for reasons she had yet to understand.

"Do they hurt?"

The words echoed through her mind, the same way they had done that fateful day. Nobody had ever been able to see past her outer shell and detect the nanites within before and just thinking about it left Nemesis feeling more than a little exposed. Even she had never seen them, she just felt them move and occasionally sensed a fleeting thought as the nanites all agreed on the best course of action. Their thoughts functioned as a single entity and were always very simplistic in nature. Damage, repairs, fuel.. Usually, but not always, in that order. And occasionally the word would consist of danger, critical, survival at which point Nemesis herself would usually black out and she could only assume that the nanites took over her systems at those times, doing whatever was necessary to ensure her survival as well as their own.

No, they didn't hurt, not anymore, but the fact that someone could see them clearly enough to even ask that question was disturbing. It was not an experience she wanted to go through again. However the idea of exposing Darkwind's true identity through such measures was an alluring prospect, one that seemed almost.. plausible.

She didn't say anything about it, though, believing the female Maximal was already well aware what her thoughts on the subject were. Although.. she did seem to be otherwise preoccupied at the moment. And what she was about to say jerked Nemesis' attention yet again.

"Rattrap, Optimus is being interrogated with an unusual question and I must ask," she paused, grimacing as she felt the pressure exerted towards Optimus. She regained her breathing but Optimus was having a hard time, "Did anyone go into the Predacon base and acquire the golden disks?"

The golden disks.. Perhaps she did have a way back into the Predacons after all.

"Tell Optimus, it was me. I stole the golden disks from the Predacons."

Well now.. Nemesis smiled ever so slightly for a brief moment, a plan starting to form in her head before Dinobot had even finished his confession.

Just then the tiniest of all the Maximals came barging into the room.

"I think I know how we can get Optimus back!," Aurora exclaimed, panting a bit from having run as fast as she could to get here sooner, "We can use a concentrated version of the fright virus to cause chaos at the Predacon base, allowing a few of us to slip in and get our guys back."

"Honor, is not a word I like the taste of, nnnnooooo"

Zodiac merely shrugged off Megatron's condescending tone, not really caring one way or another what the Predacon tyrant thought of him. As long as Megatron played along, his opinions were hardly important either way.

"Impressive, I assume during your time as Nexus you must have hacked their systems or left a trojan horse virus behind to give you remote access later, smooth. Now tell me, what exactly do you have to gain from all of this? You sadly do not strike me as a true believer of the Predacon cause, and if you had come here to pledge allegiance to me you would not have had to frame Nemesis to cover your tracks, with whom I suspect you share a common origin and feared she may have exposed you one way or the other had she remained in my good graces"

His next shrug was more visible, as he certainly hadn't come here for a pat on the shoulder for his good work. Zodiac was well aware of the impressive feats he had accomplished, and albeit part of him did relish the praise it was hardly a necessity. Not unexpectedly the tyrant did bring up the topic of his motives as well as those for setting up Nemesis. That setup had not really been a necessity either, it had been more of a personal vendetta for the and fiery colored dragon.

"Do not presume that Nemesis is innocent in all of this. Yes, I may have sped up her departure a bit and my reasons for doing so are of a personal nature. However you should be aware that she showed up at the Axalon just as Primal and myself were in the process of departing to come here."


Indeed. Nemesis had been a part of the same project that turning him into the marvel that he was today, but she had not had the stomach to stick with it. She had escaped, taking down several of the scientists in the process, leaving Zodiac to fend for himself. The project had been disbanded a short while after, the army he had been trained to lead was scattered. An army of soldiers capable of incredible feats reduced to a single entity. His success should have marked the birth of a new breed of Cybertronians, instead he found himself alone on this venture.

His face remained the perfect example of neutral, holding up an every bit as good of a poker face as Megatron himself.

"As for why I've come.. Know that we do have a common foe. I'm perfectly capable of crushing them by myself, but I'm running low of patience unfortunately, so I've decided to include my Predacon brethren in this glorious victory," he said with relentless conviction. "And in return for my assistance, perhaps you would be willing to clear up a slight misunderstanding once we return to Cybertron."

Dismissing any thoughts of elaborating on that final statement, the by now not unfamiliar smirk started perking up again once Megatron's interest appeared to have been caught.

"If you knew Primal as well as I, you would wish to savor his suffering as much as I do"

Zodiac cocked his head ever so slightly at that comment, as he felt he had a fairly good grasp on Optimus, having played him as a fool for this long without arousing much suspicion. Whereas he did not have Megatron's advantage of having raged a war against Optimus ever since their arrival on this planet, he did have the advantage of intimate knowledge of the Maximal captain turned commander, both through the time he had spent with him and through the numerous records the real Nexus had left behind about his adventures with the younger Maximal.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing too elaborate, just something that has much better chance at breaking our banana munching friend than anything your minions might administer.." the dragon replied, "I merely propose that we use Primal's love for his Maximals against him. You do, after all, have a huge advantage available to you.."

His smile grew a little wider as he opened the palms of his hands, holding them halfway up in the air. "Me. I can easily morph into one of his precious friends and you can take me to him under the pretense of having captured me during a failed rescue attempt."

[Night-Hunter]

Sonar ignored the badger's front on trying to intimidate him, he could easily take him.

"It's definitely a virus."

Sonar narrowed his optics in interest and waited for the youngling to explain her theory. His optics widened in shock and possibily fear when she said it would awaken with a vegeance.

"It's devastatingly brilliant," Sonar breathed as his spark raced with dread. "The work of an insanely mad genius."

"And I have no idea how badly you'll be affected when the time comes... In theory you may be stuck in that stage until your bodies shut down. Or the virus mutates into something else."

Sonar swallowed as he tried to hide his growing dread. Dying of a spark attack was a horrible way to die, it wasn't a clean death. The sound of a chair moving caught his attention, he took the opportunity to see for himself.

It was just the youngling had discribed and it truly terrified him. It was only a matter of time before this thing would come back badder then ever.

"Unfortunately, I don't know how to stop the virus,"

Sonar tightly gripped the edge of the counter hard enough to leave dents.

"I'm going to kill that slagger, if it's the last thing I do. He will pay for making a fool out of me." He growled his teeth bared and optics blazing.

"Finding a cure will likely require a lot of testing."

Sonar's ears twitched for a moment as he became lost in his thoughts for a brief moment. Then looked at the young and opened his mouth to speak.

"I think I have an idea."

He blinked in surprise when she suddenly took off. Then said his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, by all means enlighten us with your brilliant idea."

[DarkSpark]

Phoenix wrote: "Do not presume that Nemesis is innocent in all of this. Yes, I may have sped up her departure a bit and my reasons for doing so are of a personal nature. However you should be aware that she showed up at the Axalon just as Primal and myself were in the process of departing to come here."

"I cannot imagine why she would flee to them after you manipulated me into putting a hit on her" Megatron thought sarcastically, again, not truly sympathetic towards Nemesis' plight, merely annoyed that he'd cast out a useful underling for nothing, worst still, that she had been driven into maximal hands.

"Then I shall have you to blame if your personal grudge provides the maximals with details about my base I'd rather they not have, especially with victory so near at hand" Megatron replied coldly, knowing that the destruction of the maximals was at hand but growing more wary with each unwanted, seemingly impossible variable kept popping up to further complicate what had at one time been a sure thing.

Megatron wanted to know more about this blasted mystery bot and his connection to Nemesis, beyond how they had obviously underwent similar upgrades to acquire their respective abilities. However, his face was as much a mask as his own at the moment, and while Megatron desired to push him further, physically through the floor if necessary, he again, restrained himself for now.

Phoenix wrote:
"As for why I've come.. Know that we do have a common foe. I'm perfectly capable of crushing them by myself, but I'm running low of patience unfortunately, so I've decided to include my Predacon brethren in this glorious victory," he said with relentless conviction. "And in return for my assistance, perhaps you would be willing to clear up a slight misunderstanding once we return to Cybertron."

Dismissing any thoughts of elaborating on that final statement, the by now not unfamiliar smirk started perking up again once Megatron's interest appeared to have been caught.

"Hah! An army unto yourself are you? Well, I can at least relate to being short on patience, yesss, but still, how kind you are to allow the rest of us to partake in YOUR victory, after our own efforts have nearly brought the Beast Wars to a close" Megatron retorted, amused and angered all at once over Zodiac's attempt to take credit for HIS victory, in spite of the tactical advantage he was offering him.

He'd be damned if some newcomer honestly thought he could swoop in here and claim his greatest triumph for his own after HIS hard work and planning had finally bore fruit despite the limited resources and botpower he had at his disposal.

Megatron raised a brow at the last bit of Zodiac's speech, no stranger to being an outlaw on their own homeworld himself, replying "Assuming I leave this world with the power I require to liberate Cybertron from both the Maximal Elders and the Tripredacus Council, I'm sure something could be arranged for you. Though commitment to such a favor would also depend on whether or not you serve me well and forgo anymore unwelcome surprises, quid pro quo?"

Phoenix wrote: "Nothing too elaborate, just something that has much better chance at breaking our banana munching friend than anything your minions might administer.." the dragon replied, "I merely propose that we use Primal's love for his Maximals against him. You do, after all, have a huge advantage available to you.."

His smile grew a little wider as he opened the palms of his hands, holding them halfway up in the air. "Me. I can easily morph into one of his precious friends and you can take me to him under the pretense of having captured me during a failed rescue attempt."

Now for the first time since revealing his true nature, Megatron actually smiled at the insidious shapeshifter, a genuine, wicked smile of pure evil mirth.

"Zodiac, I just might learn to like you after all, yyyeessss...What a delightful thought, such delicious possibilities, a tad excessive maybe since you allegedly control Sentinel and all the information it contains therein, but crushing Primal's spirit for the sheer joy of it alone shouldn't be overlooked, nnnnooo. The question remains however, which maximal shall we use against Primal? It should be someone who would either be qualified to or simply stupid enough to attempt a rescue mission. One of the stealthier maximals such as Rattrap or Tigatron, or one of the younger, more foolhardy maximals such as Cheetor or Aurora would fit any of those categories. Though I suppose you could always don Nexus Prime's face again for convenience sake...By the way, whatever did become of the real Nexus Prime? Is Primal's mentor still out there or did he meet an untimely end by your hand?" Megatron inquired, his mood significantly improved at last.

Blackrose wrote: Inferno looked at the other flyers and shook his head.

"The spiders are interrogating...." Inferno stopped himself. He was about to mention who they were interrogating, but then took a look at the other prisoners. It would not be wise to let the other prisoners hear such sensitive information.

"They are interrogating other prisoners. The Royalty commands that they should not be disturbed for any reason. It is strictly classified. The other prisoners must not be present. They should go to the old brig for now."

Inferno was sure that sending Terrorsaur and the others away was what the Royalty would want. After all, this interrogation is very important to the Queen. Inferno was sure he was dooing the right thing.

Terrorsaur rolled his optics and spat back "Listen bug brain, Megatron said to put these newbs in power bonds and that this was the place to get them, so either stand aside and let us do our jobs or go get them for us. I, we, took down an enemy ship and captured their crew alive today, we don't have the patience for this slag"

Naitokage wrote:
Wazzpinator waved his finger Then Antbot can explain to Megatron why thezze prisonerzz aren't properly secured, leaving Antbot responzzible. he then said in a obnoxious tone.

"Eheheheh! Epic burn Wasp!" Terrorsaur cheered, high fiving his insectoid partner in crime for putting the pyromaniacal suckup in his place, knowing that defying Megatron's will or risking his wrath was something the foolish fire ant would NEVER do.

Una wrote:
Blackarachnia smirked, shaking her head, "No... no... no....." She laughed, giggling like a girl yet her face twisted with a sneer, " I know you hero types. I know you. This... won't break you." She sniffed in contempt. Optimus came back to life from a transwarp explosion! Like it was a miracle! PFFT! There are no such thing as miracles, only desperation. "Come on, I think you are just stalling. Now, that's not a real surrender, is it?"

She noticed the smile Optimus gave Arachnitron and watched with laughter when it quickly dissipated, "Oh, yes, she's one of us now. Don't expect her to care about you. You burned that bridge when you allowed her to hung out with the bad guys. Go on, Arachnitron, what do you want to say to him? The ape won't being going anywhere anytime soon."

Blackarachnia clicked her pinchers together but she remained standing, her foot smashed against the ape's face, rubbing it in. Let's see if he could laugh now!

"She's quite right Primal, even your unexpected resurrection was no miracle, I've had time to figure out how you did it and I can assure you, neither your scientists nor a blank protoform will be able to save you and your maximals this time, only your cooperation. I suggest you start giving us more than simply your name, rank, and occupation while you can still say something that can help your crew" Tarantulas reasoned, pretending to wince at the sight of Blackarachnia introducing her foot to the ape's face, a sight he'd love to record on camera and watch over and over again.

Blackrose wrote:
Finally, Arachnitron spoke. Her tone lost all its mocking and sarcasm. She spoke evenly and very seriously to Blackarachnia. "There is nothing more to say, Blackarachnia. I think Optimus would agree. It's not worth wasting everyone's time." This time she turned to look at Optimus. Her voice remained cold, but devoid of anger. She had come to terms with what happened that day when the Predacons attacked the Maximal base. "Besides, Predacons are always wrong and Maximals are always right. That's the way it was on Cybertron and it's no different here. No matter what I say, even if it's right, you will refuse to believe it. You have this self-righteous, holier than thou attitude that prevents you from even contemplating that what I have to say could possibly be true. So why say anything at all? But I will say this much: I was always a Predacon in the Maximals optics even when I tried to be one of your crew. Before I had ever done anything that warranted mistrusting, I was mistrusted. Having a Predacon background is a stain you can't wash off when you're around a Maximal. No matter how hard you try to prove yourself. Your Predacon "allys" will see that soon enough and they'll turn around and come right back like I did. I'm not sorry that I've returned so don't get the wrong idea here. And I'm not upset about not being trusted either. No one has ever trusted me, so I was naive to think that someone finally had. I'm actually appreciative of the experience. It taught me the truth about the Maximals. Maximals are just as hateful, just as ruthless, just as deceptive, just as vile and manipulative as we Predacons are. The only difference is we'll do all of that to your face." She turned to look at Blackarachnia with a devious smirk; her somber mood and hurt expression dissapated with the flick of a switch. "Now that that's over and done with...." she began, her voice sounding glad to be back to torturing. "....let's get back to work, shall we?" she winked at the other she-spider.

Tarantulas laughed louder than ever, loving how his underling was sticking it to Primal, driving it home to the fallen hero just how badly he had failed this confused creature and had practically pushed her into his clutches himself.

"Well spoken my dear, hehehahahahahahaha!" the mad spider cackled, relishing every moment of this interrogation session.

"Make things right Primal, tell us what we want to know" he added, even as the widows continued to "help" Primal make up his mind.

OOP wrote: The Maximal inhaled while he could when the bonds loosened for a moment before Tarantulas squeezed them again. He grimaced and laid his head on the floor while his optics and jaws clenched tightly against the agony despite his painful mouth. "My name... Optimus..." His voice began to trail off, trying to ignore the spider's bullying laughter and avoid looking at him. How could someone enjoy doing this to someone else? He was relishing in it! It was cold, disheartening and unbearable. One day, Tarantulas would get his.

"Hhhmmm? What was that? Sorry Primal, you'll have to speak up, I can't hear you over the sound of your superstructure cracking" Tarantulas said, using a tone that suggested a doctor's concern for his patient, instead of a sadist who derived pleasure from his victim's physical and mental suffering.

OOP wrote: The Maximal Commander saw Blackarachnia lift one of her feet and then everything went black. His entire body suddenly went limp, and his orange optics dark, as her blow to his head finally rendered him unconscious. His once ferocious waters with Whitegrazer were significantly calm now, a sign to her that his emotional connection had been severed but that he was still alive since his spark continued to pulsate. He was completely vulnerable now, but finally had some peace and quiet.

"Hhhmm? Oh for spark's sake, enough ladies, I think you were a bit too much for him, hehehehaha" Tarantulas ordered, treating his victim's slip into stasis lock as a minor inconvenience as he snapped his fingers and an arachnoid drone emerged, scuttling towards Primal's prone form, pincers clicking as its master said "Clear!" before it zapped Primal with quick but powerful jolt of electricity.

"Sleep well? Anything you want to get off your chest?" Tarantulas asked, feigning almost parental concern for Primal's well-being, even if on the inside he was still cackling like a mad bot.


OOC: Oh man, these long posts are gonna be the death of me XD. Hope this checks out with everyone, lemme know if anything's amiss "falls asleep"