Optimus?!
The voice of his teacher, his mentor, awoke him as if he was searching for him. It was dark but he wasn't in the CR chamber on board the
Axalon. Primal was laying on his back outside at Outpost 62 and there were fires around him. He was about to sit up when the force of another familiar and loud voice some how kept him down.
PRIMAL!
It was Zodiac, but he couldn't see him. He swore he felt his breath on his face and the vibration of his bellow bounce off. As he would have back then, young and inexperienced, Optimus started to panic. His breathing increased and he looked around. He tried to move but an invisible force restrained him.
What you've done is irreversible. The damage, the pain, the suffering, the seclusion. We were treated like laboratory animals!
He frantically looked around for the voice, and then heard a chuckle in the shadows from Protoform X and a hiss from Nemesis.
No, wait! I can fix this, he pleaded. Questions began clouding his thoughts. He wasn't even a part of what happened to Nemesis, just X and Zodiac. Why was he being blamed for her experimentation? Was he indirectly involved? Why was he even here? How did he get captured? Where were his Maximals? Where was Whitegrazer?! Suddenly, there were straps around his wrists and ankles, and the ground beneath him fell away like an earthquake. Optimus gasped in surprise, feeling weightless and vulnerable. It was like he was reliving his encounter with the Vok inside of that large alien dome but Zodiac was in control.
The shape shifter's voice gradually grew deeper and slower, quite similar to that of Unicron's which the Vok had used to communicate with him before they had activated their fake moon.
It is too late. You have already contaminated the projects. There is no way out of this. You and Nexus will be trialed and judged... by me. And I will exterminate you and your precious Maximals.
No! You can't do this! he struggled to free himself.
I can, and I will. Begin termination sequence.
Termination sequence? For what? What did he mean? Coming out of no where, Protoform X appeared in front of him draped in chains that rattled and clanged bumping into each other, lifting a long, sharp blade like a machete, and swinging downward into Primal's abdomen, slicing through his armored abs and straight into his spark. Optimus gave a long, exasperated exhale, the blade feeling so real as if it were penetrating his very life force in reality.
Optimus...
A whisper from Nexus calling his name again, but this time it was more of a warning. It sounded so real, so close, as if he was right next to him talking into his audio sensor. It prompted the Maximal explorer to wake up from his nightmare and immediately check his lower stomach with his hand for any evidence of a stabbing. No hole, no wound. Nothing. He was right where he remembered, being repaired in one of the chambers. It was a just a dream. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he leaned back in the chair. Silence, until...
See? a whisper said, as if it had shared the nightmare with Optimus.
See what? he asked, like it was normal now bickering with these other "personalities".
What's in store.
What are you talking about? It was just a dream. X could be extinguished by now.
Unlikely. And there is still the matter of the Vok and Zodiac and Megatron. Oh, Megatron. What has he been up to lately, I wonder?
Primal fell quiet because he didn't know but he wondered the same the thing.
Ooooh, you don't know either. Left in the dark, always a step behind his scheming. Am I right? I'm willing to bet that whatever it is it isn't good.
I'll deal with it... the leader said, unconvincingly.
Hah ha ha ha ha ha! another voice spontaneously chimed in with laughter.
Ha ha ha ha ha! Like you did with Ironclaw? And Zodiac? And how you let Megatron and the other Predacons beat you into nonrecognition? Yes, I'm sure your Maximals have all their confidence in you, the whisper sarcastically added.
We'll stop Zodiac! Optimus argued.
There is always a way.
Sure there is, Failure. Just don't forget that the aliens may have been quiet but they're still out there.
They were, some where. As much as it was a frightening thought of reality, there was nothing he could do about it so he simply kept them on the back burner. More recently he was focused on Zodiac and Megatron. Of course, it didn't even matter now because he was no longer in command.
I'm not a failure...
Nexus lied to you.
"I know!" Primal shouted out loud angrily, balling a fist and slamming it down on his own thigh.
But I can't blame him. He was protecting me.
Well, it doesn't seem to have worked out, the voice happily observed.
Now his mistake has caught up with you, and you can't deny your involvement anymore. For everything you've stood for, you're no better than Megatron.
You're wrong. I've done wrong, I've made mistakes, but I've learned and I'm trying to do right. "I'm trying to do right!" he yelled out loud at the whispers.
-----
"Yeah, I'm okay,"
Rattrap squinted an optic at Aurora, not convinced. It wasn't as devastating as Icebreaker's death had been to her and to most of them, but it was the principal of seeing someone's life snuffed out right in front of her. Of course it affected her, it just wasn't the same kind of circumstance. At any rate, she was still thinking on her feet, so that was a good sign.
"We could subject him to a virus, much the same way organic creatures get sick from their own varieties. Like he tried to do to us in order to incapacitate us,"
Rhinox grew more intrigued, listening closely to the young, opportunistic Fuzor. Although, for a brief moment, he noticed Whitegrazer shake her head, seemingly distracted with someone. Was it Optimus?
"But we cannot use the same virus he tried to wipe us out with. It would have been too risky for him to potentially subject himself to a substance he had no immunity against. Nemesis told us as much before she left for who knows where. However.." "His advanced technology might actually be his undoing as well. My theory is that if we manage to infect him with a similar technology from a different source, the results would be devastating to him. I should be able to synthesize the nanogel to do this."
"Of course," Rhinox said, nearly face-palming at the idea that should have been so obvious.
"Genius, Aurora. It shouldn't be enough to kill him just immobilize him and minimize him as a threat. I think it could work," he assured her, supporting her idea and gently placing his large hand on her shoulder for a moment.
"If you need some more of his nanomachines to help you create this virus, I would probably be a perfect candidate for that."
Both the rat's and rhino's optics, brightened by Aurora's clever idea, shifted from her to Whitegrazer in search of more information.
"Zodiac tried to absorb me by using his nanomachines. Rhinox interrupted the process, but many of his nanomachines still are inside of me. And that's not all. Because of what Zodiac tried to do, accidentally, a connection has been formed between us. That's why I know what Zodiac is doing now." "Zodiac has found some kind of device. I believe it is of an alien origin." "Those tremors we are feeling aren't natural. Zodiac is creating them with that device." "That's where Zodiac is. But still, since we are dealing with an alien machine, no doubt that is a dormant alien site. Maybe Blackarachnia could help us? Where is she now?"
"Wait. So now you got two guys talkin' inside yer head?" Rattrap curiously asked the mare.
"Is that all you took away from their explanations?" Rhinox said, shaking his head at his smaller friend. He assumed it could be dangerous for Whitegrazer to have a connection with Zodiac, reading each others' thoughts and seeing things Zodiac didn't want to share. Did she share it with Optimus as well? Was she even communicating with him anymore or was she blocking him to protect him from Zodiac?
"Aurora, how long will it take you to develop that vile with the nanobots?" since, as it would seem, they wouldn't have a lot of time to spare until Zodiac had control of whatever that device was.
"It must be of Vok technology whatever he has found. We can't possibly know what it or he is capable of with it in his hands," Rhinox said sincerely and with great concern. This was not good.
"Blackarachnia is about to embark with Landslide to do some much-needed scavenging," he answered the equine's question.
"Is there anything more specific you can tell us about the device, Whitegrazer? Is it a weapon? A ship? Or just another trap?" Surely it was dangerous for her to have this connection with the shape shifting renegade, but so long as it wasn't harming her, why not take advantage? Then again, watching her optics change color and suddenly becoming quiet, he grew worried about her well being. Was it because of Zodiac?
"Whitegrazer...?" he called to her calmly, trying to get her attention.