"More Than Meets The Eye: Part III"

[starshadow]

((OOC: Y'know DS, this kinda reminds me of Lion King. LOL!))

"Is there a reason? Is there ANY reason at all why I should spare you? Can you think of even ONE?"

Starshadow panther-snarled in pain as Megatron stepped on her hands. No...There wasn't any reason. She tasted the feeling of being treated without mercy back at Cybertron. This was nothing compared what she had faced before. It started on an interesting day..

FLASHBACK

Iacon City, Court of Justice...

Dim muted blue lights were lit up across the room. Nightstar was kneeling down infront of the Maximal elders, restrained with some special power bonds along with a few of her soldiers. Silence fell into the room as Magnaboss stepped forward.

"Nightstar of Hellfang, not only you've committed terrorism, took part in a massacre, stole Cybertron's precious resources and abducted our intelligence officers and innocent citizens, from my long list of reports, you've committed the greatest crime of all, planetary TREASON," Magnaboss crossed his arms with a dark look in his optics, "for a Predacon like you with that track record, you deserve to be put to death. This is the final chance for you to lighten your sentence...reveal the secrets of Hellfang and put an end to this once and for all."

Nightstar, who was snickering while he spoke, burst into laughter in madness. It was just too amusing to her. The femme lifted up her head, taking a deep breath for a second, speaking, "I see your best code breaker didn't manage to hack through my mind...Let's have a moment of silence for your failure...NOW GO SLAG YOURSELF!"

Magnaboss remained composed after her act of defiance and disrespect, "Nightstar, I hereby sentence you and your accomplices to prison for the rest of your life, with permanent isolation."

There was protest in the room, especially from one mech named Vanguard, "THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! THINK OF THE LIVES SHE HAS RUINED! SHE SHOULD BE PUT TO DEATH!"

"Send her out."

"BUT SIR-"

"NOW!"

Vanguard was seething in rage. The efforts of those who had lost their lives to her to put her in the hands of justice were in vain. The elite guards and him started escorting Nightstar and her lackeys out of the courtroom. Vanguard watched with his optics narrowed, "this isn't over..."

After 30 stellar cycles of Nightstar's stay in the prison ship she was in. Vanguard managed to transfer her to Colony Omicron where he became corrupt and started torturing her with his co workers for the fun of it, sometimes denying her energon. Worst of all, he placed her in the cell of Protoform X who tormented her about her failures while she watched Hellfang was almost destroyed by the Maximals. An awful experience indeed.

END FLASHBACK

While Megatron was distracted by Terrorsaur, Starshadow became a living pikachu and released a high voltage of electricity which arcs are dancing around her frame, shocking Megatron's feet. Hopefully he would get off her after that. Because it was in such a high voltage, the catbot started to cry in pain. But what choice did she had? The least she could do is to buy her some time.

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"Eh, no. Are you?"

Banshee shook her head.

"I'm a demolition expert so I prefer blowin' things up, particularly things dat belong ta Predascum, but I can disarm bombs, Of course, my record fer successful disarming ain't up ta par with the explosions I've made on purpose. Den again, you could consider an accidental explosion as a successful disarm"

Predascum...hopefully she isn't one to his optics, "I see..." she said while observing. The bat female took a few steps back after being warned by Rattrap.

If it's too risky, perhaps we should just chuck it into the lake? I doubt it has some sort of motion defense since it plowed into the atmosphere and earth.

"It would be nice if we had a giant slingshot to launch it into space," she giggled at that. That was pretty much a bad joke.

[DarkSpark]

OOC: @Starshadow, yeah, that had occurred to me too...Maybe Megatron can sing "Be Prepared!" later?

Starshadow wrote: Starshadow panther-snarled in pain as Megatron stepped on her hands. No...There wasn't any reason. She tasted the feeling of being treated without mercy back at Cybertron. This was nothing compared what she had faced before. It started on an interesting day..

Megatron snorted in disgust at her silence and said in a tone that conveyed nothing but the utmost loathing, "Pathetic, be gone from my sight" as he was about to fire, already imagining the sight of her insides being scattered to pieces before sinking into the lava below.

Starshadow wrote:
While Megatron was distracted by Terrorsaur, Starshadow became a living pikachu and released a high voltage of electricity which arcs are dancing around her frame, shocking Megatron's feet. Hopefully he would get off her after that. Because it was in such a high voltage, the catbot started to cry in pain. But what choice did she had? The least she could do is to buy her some time.

As Starshadow's electricity surged through Megatron's body, he let lose a yell that sounded more akin to his beast mode's roar as the pain fueled his rage and hatred towards this insignificant speck of a Cybertronian who'd dared to defy him, his instincts driving him to back away to escape the voltage, but not before he used his heel's roller wheels to crush Starshadow's hands underfoot, leaving her to fall into the lava below without a means to maintain her grip.

"TRAITORS! Nothing but traitors! ARE THERE NO TRUE PREDACONS BUT ME HERE?!" Megatron ranted furiously, his eyes blind with rage as he fired his tail cannon blindly, no longer caring who or what he hit, Tarantulas wisely ducking for cover.

Phoenix wrote: Nemesis sped towards the Darksyde as fast as she could, leaving the Axalon and all its occupants behind. She hadn't even bothered to look for Umbra or BlackArachnia, believing they were safe from any further harm where they were. Up ahead the familiar contours of the volcanic terrain started to come into view so Nemesis used the opportunity to open a link to the Predacon base. "Darksyde come in, this is Nemesis. I have the cure for the virus in my possession and I'm approaching."

She paused briefly while awaiting a response.

"This is Tarantulas! Get your skid plate in here with that cure before Megatron slags us a...ACK!" Tarantulas replied to the comm before being shot by Megatron, the blast strong enough to send him sprawling backwards.

Megatron then strode purposefully towards the counsel, eyes still full of rage and madness, breathing heavily as he tried to quell his anger long enough to respond to the last bot he would have expected to come crawling back to him, with gifts no less.

"Nemesis...What a pleasant surprise...Show me the cure..." Megatron said between ragged breaths, forcing himself to muster up his usual wit despite his worsening condition, working the counsel to dispatch a camera drone to meet Nemesis as she approached, the same model as he'd once used to communicate with Airazor the time she and Rattrap had distracted him so Tigatron could infiltrate his base, that oh so ill-fated ceasefire.

He kept his fingers on the autogun controls as well, ready to blast the traitor out of the sky should she prove to be lying, Nemesis certainly had cause to do so after she'd been drummed out of the Predacons and marked for death.

"She's coming to get you Megatron" taunted Cryotek, the gangster grinning from ear to ear as he watched his former apprentice suffer and squirm, behaving so much like the real Cryotek it was hard to believe it was not actually him.

"And you" Megatron replied, the viral illusion's mirth leaving his face as Megatron pointed out that his end was near as well regardless of whether Nemesis was Megatron's salvation or destruction.

"He got you there, hahahaha!" Decepticon Megatron sneered, slapping the smaller Cybertronian on the back as he laughed at his expense.

[una]

"Did you forget something?"

"Yesssss" she drew it out just to keep the big rhino in suspense. Then she grinned auditory sensor to auditory sensor. "My manners, of course." She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "Optimus was right. I should have asked. You guys could be very use- I mean helpful in getting me out of a certain predicament." Blackarchnia eyed the weapon at her. The fresh memory of Optimus shooting her up invaded her mind. She flinched when she didn't wish to. Ugh."Tarantulas invaded my core processor during the time when I... was trying to fix up the pod. I tried futilely to cut this unbearable link, but because of the interference of other spider, Arachnitron." Arachnitron came out of her mouth with contempt and vile. "I only successfully weakened it. By being this far away, Tarantulas can't actually harm me. Maybe annoy, but I can handle that."

"You could help me and successfully riding this psychic link once and for all." She really wished he put that gun away. "Don't worry, you Maximals get something out of the deal yourselves. Since you guys gave Megatron the golden and alien disk, you have left yourselves in a great disadvantage. I have backup files from the disk, and my knowledge of the aliens from certain sources would prove much value to you."


______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am well aware of the constant rises and falls in this war by now, Optimus told Whitegrazer rather coldly. But hope... Hope? I am finding that harder and harder to grasp as each day goes on, with each attack by the Predacons, with each advantage they gain, with every friend I lose. I have been carrying on this false sense of strength on the outside as a disguise for quite some time so as not to worry anyone only to fool myself of the inevitable. I'm not even sure how I made it out the of Darksyde alive... I must have you and the others to thank for that. The truth is... The truth is is that all of you are stronger than me. Much, much stronger. And that's the way it should be. Zodiac's impersonation of Nexus was so incredibly flawless and convincing... it makes me wonder... Primus, it makes me wonder about the real Nexus, the one who taught me everything, the one who foolishly thought I was so pure and innocent... The tingling he could feel from her wounds gradually faded, telling him that she had made it to a CR and was being healed. There was a brief memory of his with someone screaming. No, not just someone, but someone invincible, incapable of dying, an experiment. An experiment he had been more directly involved with before he was assigned his own vessel and crew... to dump it. Not it, him. What kind of a scientist was he? Never mind that, what kind of a captain was he by keeping a dark, immoral secret like that from his entire crew? The one thing that could very well kill them all, besides Megatron and the Vok. All of their lives who were in his hands.

If Whitegrazer's yellow optics weren't already closed, she would have closed them in sadness. Optimus... Without his leadership, this crew may not have been as united as it was. Optimus might have be forced into a role as a war general, but he did the best he could by fighting with all of his spark and will. Yes, there were some who disagreed, and yes, Optimus wasn't perfect. He made mistakes, but he took responsibility from them. He did what was right. Sometimes, doing what is right isn't always the best option in war. Deep down, some part of her understood that. In war, there are situations... times when you want to do the right thing but either by a cruel twist of fate or your hand is forced... that option isn't feasible anymore. Optimus was only striving to do the right thing. His only err was believing the best in people, just like her, believing in his friend. His belief... his faith was cracking. It was horrible. Horrible that Optimus didn't know what happened to his mentor. That idea he may have lost his friend for Primus knows how long. It was all coming down on Optimus like a flood. But what Optimus said about "pure" and "innocent"... it cut her down like a blade. For a moment, she saw something monstrous upon her vision, a shadow, chained, and screaming in pain. Was it a metaphor or was it something Optimus was hiding. Dark secrets. She dismissed it. No, no, this wasn't the time. Also, it would be shameful to dug that up.

There is such a great deal of weight on my shoulders... A great deal... Primal added to his connection with the mare before he started slipping into the unconsciousness of much desired sleep.

A tear drop left a stain on her cheek. Weakened. Broken. Too much. It was too much for him. Everything that has happened, and the added baggage of whatever he remained closed about, crushed down his walls. She was right to compared this wave of emotions, self-doubt, to a flood. Whitegrazer mentally reached out towards him. Wanting to hold him close. To lend on her shoulder, she would gladly give to him to lay out all his sorrows and questions. She knew this wasn't going to be something that would be an easy fix. There was not cure-for-all for what Optimus was going through.It was going to be a slow process. He needed time. Patience. Compassion.

Optimus was sleeping now, but she wanted to tell him something. He may be unconscious, yet she had heard something about those unconscious could still hear in a way. That their subconscious would pick it up. You are strong, Optimus. You will pull through. And if you fall, we will catch you. You don't have to hold this burden on your own. I will gladly carry it with you. Then she saw the green meadow once more. Yes, the sky still looked diluted with a gentle breeze. The only thing you must do, Optimus. Is you got to believe. Believe in yourself. as I and the others do. It was now her time to join Optimus in sleeping. Though, more like meditation. Just in case.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

You are strong, Optimus. You will pull through. And if you fall, we will catch you. You don't have to hold this burden on your own. I will gladly carry it with you. The only thing you must do, Optimus. Is you got to believe. Believe in yourself. as I and the others do.

Easier said than done. Optimus was reluctant to accept her words, however, the positive, warm and endless optimistic energy reverberating from Whitegrazer helped him greatly to ease him into his slumber, which at first began peacefully, forgetting all of his troubles and losses. She had been through so much in her life already that she would know what he was going through more than any of the others, so why wouldn't he listen? It was all too fresh. Too much pain, trauma, and discouragement. And every enemy he faced seemed to be more and more powerful. Since he didn't have it in him to take a life, the "villains" continued to multiply. Megatron was the first, then the Vok, and now Zodiac. Zodiac... There was something about that name, but it was so vague, he couldn't grasp it. Every time he got close, it fluttered away like a moth from the light into the darkness. None of it mattered now. It was time for much needed rest and down time for his entire body and mind. He was so grateful of Whitegrazer... so delicate and forgiving yet strong... all of his Maximals... he just... He was just having... rough... couldn't... Primal succumbed to his exhaustion and injuries as they were progressively being repaired inside of the silent, dim chamber, letting go of Whitegrazer so they both could find their peace. There was a moment he wanted to fight his fatigue to feel her energy more, to feel her comfort and love, but he decided that he had fought as much as he could for the past couple days. He could do it no longer.

-----

"Yesssss"

Rhinox's large index finger lightly tapped the trigger of his chain gun without causing it to fire, growing impatient with the spider's loitering and staring at her wide, mischievous grin across her feminine face and her mocking Megatron. Had she actually changed her mind about accepting their offer to help her?

"My manners, of course."

The engineer narrowed one of his red optics, studying and observing her. Was she here to cause trouble or to spy? He guessed, in hindsight, that was probably the same thing.

"Optimus was right.

He couldn't help but raise a curious golden brow. Wait, what? So she was there for their help. But was she really? He doubted it. This was simply uncharacteristic of her and too easy. Just moments ago she couldn't wait to return to the Darksyde and feed Megatron everything that had occurred at the Axalon and the broken, exhausted state that the Maximals were in, and now she decided to turn around and stay? Stay for what? To be freed from Tarantulas' control that he had over her ever since he tampered with her stasis pod, to have her Maximal programming back and remain with the Maximals? He wasn't aware of the psychic link Tarantulas had with her.

I should have asked. You guys could be very use- I mean helpful in getting me out of a certain predicament."

Ah, there it was, the word "useful" came to her before "helpful" did. "You could have saved yourself a lot of grief if you had," he commented calmly, aware of her uneasiness toward his gun which she had faced earlier in Primal's possession, relentlessly. He kept it targeting her but it wasn't even rotating yet.

"Tarantulas invaded my core processor during the time when I... was trying to fix up the pod. I tried futilely to cut this unbearable link, but because of the interference of other spider, Arachnitron." "I only successfully weakened it. By being this far away, Tarantulas can't actually harm me. Maybe annoy, but I can handle that."

Fix up the pod? For a moment, he wasn't sure what she was talking about although she seemed to think he should, but her hesitation in her explanation suggested a trace of remorse for her actions, so she was probably referring to... "The pod that Optimus ingeniously used to destroy the Vok's weapon and ultimately killed him because someone else was in control." He grew silent for a moment, his face transitioning to a glare at her. "Explain this 'link' you have with Tarantulas."

"You could help me and successfully riding this psychic link once and for all."

A psychic link? "Fascinating," he commented thoughtfully. Was it anything like what Optimus and Whitegrazer had? Maybe not. He was under the impression that their bond had more to do with their sparks' connection. Blackarachnia's situation sounded a little different, unique. And it had occurred when she invaded Tarantulas' mind in order to program the stasis pod in a selfish attempt to leave this planet, saving herself, and wander aimlessly in the vastness of space and time.

"Don't worry, you Maximals get something out of the deal yourselves. Since you guys gave Megatron the golden and alien disk, you have left yourselves in a great disadvantage. I have backup files from the disk, and my knowledge of the aliens from certain sources would prove much value to you."

Rhinox finally started to lower his weapon upon the realization of what she was admitting and offering. He wasn't even going to ask for anything in return, he had acquired a lot of skills in order to help people and that's what he would have done. And he loved challenges such as her predicament. He didn't need a deal in order to make it happen; that was more of Rattrap's way of doing things. But since she put it on the table, he certainly wasn't going to decline. If she was being honest, then this was huge for the Maximals. For the first time in a long time, he was speechless. At least, momentarily. Landslide's response snapped him out of it.

He woke up, it's taken care of fer now.. but I don't know how long.

"Alright. I'll be there shortly." A tranquilizer like that would have knocked out a Cybertronian of Rhinox's stature for hours, but Zodiac had already reached consciousness? He truly was a powerful, unpredictable and dangerous bot.

"You're going to have to come with me, Blackarachnia. I'm sure you can understand that until I have the time to address your situation, I can't leave you unattended. I won't put you in the brig, I won't even slap a traceable anklet to your leg or bonds to your wrists, but I can't just let you wander around our base until we know that your intentions here are sincere." And certainly not while Tarantulas may or may not have control over her. The chief medical officer motioned her to follow him. "Maybe you can offer your expertise and suggest some ideas with Zodiac's capture."

"Aurora, come with us," Big Green instructed, calling over to her from the bridge. "We need to help Landslide. Well, Banshee might need her arm looked at, which I'm sure you can handle, but it doesn't hurt to have to another one present anyway. Whitegrazer was taken to the CR successfully?" he inquired, recalling Nemesis having carrying her to it prior to her sudden abandonment of the Axalon, never even looking back or saying good riddance to them. He started making his way back to the hangar.

-----

If it's too risky, perhaps we should just chuck it into the lake? I doubt it has some sort of motion defense since it plowed into the atmosphere and earth.

"Assumin' it wasn't installed after we retrieved it," Rattrap took into consideration. After all, Zodiac would have had plenty of time to do that while he always refused a CR because he never needed repairs. "Besides, I wanna know more about what dese markings mean and run some other tests on it. Maybe we can peek into its data records if anythin' is retrievable."

"It would be nice if we had a giant slingshot to launch it into space,"

"Or inta the Darksyde," the rodent suggested with a smirk while he worked. "I got dis. S'all good." Carefully, he lifted the lid to the pod and peered inside, sighing in relief when nothing ignited.

"Anythin' else you wanna tell us about yerself, batsy?" he asked Banshee as he continued to work. "You an' Optimus obviously know each other."

(( Any specifics about this bomb, Phoenix? I've just been winging it so far. ))

[Phoenix]

From the distance the Darksyde didn't look too damaged despite the prolonged period of time the Predacons had been exposed to the virus, but as she got closer the sounds of shots being fired and screams of pain echoed through the corridors and hull of the ship. She braced herself upon hearing the noise, preparing herself for whatever slaughter awaited her inside. Nemesis was right upon the base now so she extended her wings and started the transformation process again. Sections of the wings split apart ever so slightly to form transmetal feathers, her landing gear retracted and sharp claws from her bird of prey mode became visible if ever so briefly as she used the wings like a parachute to slow her down. A few moments later her speed had decreased enough to finish the transformation to robot form and Nemesis landed with a thud at the base entrance.

The sensation of warm volcanic rock underneath her feet felt almost alluring in a way without taking away from the uncomfortable sensation. And the smell of sulfur tickled her nostrils, reminding her all too quickly why she generally disapproved of keeping their base at this location. Oh well.. It wasn't her call to make sadly. She may not agree with everything Megatron decided on but she still had no desire to be on the receiving end of his fusion cannon so there was no point in picking a fight.. at least not over something as trivial as this.

Just as she started to make her way inside, an incoming transmission caused her to stop in her tracks.

"This is Tarantulas! Get your skid plate in here with that cure before Megatron slags us a...ACK!"

She couldn't help the slight smirk at hearing the desperation in Tarantulas' voice. The last time she saw the spider he had attempted to confine her, to lock her up like a rabid animal after Megatron had finished his attack on her. A small part of her was dreading seeing them again after that, her memories of that event all too clear at the back of her mind. All because of Zodiac's antics.. Well, he was about to receive his own medicine for what he had done. The transmetal female inched her way inside, careful to not rush into what could be a trap. She briefly wondered who else were still around given the spider's choice of words. Well.. It hardly mattered. The major players were apparently still very much so alive if perhaps not for very long. And with them her chance to see the course of history be altered. That is provided her faith in Megatron and Tarantulas' abilities were not misplaced.

Just as she was about to answer, Megatron's strained voice cut in. He sounded different than the controlling tyrant she was used to, a barely controlled rage hidden underneath a mask of politeness. The madness had surely hit him harder than most, given that he'd been the primary target of Zodiac's underlings' attack.

"Nemesis...What a pleasant surprise...Show me the cure..."

Pleasant surprise.. indeed. His words didn't exactly reassure her any, but she didn't let that show on her face.

The approaching drone caught her attention. She tilted her head a bit, watching it as it approached, then slowly pulled out the cure and held it up in the drone's view. She held it there for but a few nanoclicks, just long enough for Megatron to be able to see it, then closed her hand securely around it again. In his current state of mind there was no telling what Megatron might attempt to do and since this was the only sample currently in their possession so she certainly wasn't taking any chances with it.

"As you command," she responded calmly as not to aggravate the unstable Predacon further, "But if I may request that you allow Tarantulas to live for a few moments more.. His expertise on this matter could be useful." While speaking she picked up her pace a bit, making her way inside. Finding them proved simple enough. All she had to do was follow the trail of increasing damage until she was there. And a mess it was with half the Predacons either laying in a pile on the floor or occupying a repair tank. Or as Starshadow's case may be; tumbling out of control towards the lava below. Oh well. Tarantulas was dressed up in some sort of suit but from the looks of it, it wasn't able to keep the contaminants out any longer. Whereas Megatron himself held his ground, despite a rather substantial amount of damage visible on his armor.

She nodded slightly in Megatron's direction, acknowledging him, before making her way over to the spider scientist. On the way she picked up a specimen dish, swiftly pouring a sample of the antidote into the dish before leaving it there for Tarantulas. The rest of the antidote was reserved for Megatron himself, given the fact he was their biggest threat right now. Hopefully he wouldn't give her too much trouble. The tyrant may be injured but he could still be quite dangerous.. Especially now that his mind was not entirely his own. She approached him with caution.

"Aurora, come with us,"

The little fuzor had been standing on her tiptoes, trying to reach up high enough to be able to watch Whitegrazer's repairs through the view window. Rhinox' call startled her a bit since she'd been so preoccupied with the white mare's progress. Still she recovered quickly enough to catch the rest.

"We need to help Landslide. Well, Banshee might need her arm looked at, which I'm sure you can handle, but it doesn't hurt to have to another one present anyway. Whitegrazer was taken to the CR successfully?"

Landslide needed help? Last she saw him he'd been carrying that shapeshifting freak down the stairs. Hopefully it wasn't anything too serious.

"Okay I'll head on over. Yeah, Whitegrazer's okay. She's getting repaired as we speak. Our other guest carried her all the way to the CR chamber.." She paused briefly, only just now realizing that Nemesis had slipped away afterwards." "The guest disappeared afterwards.. Not sure where to."


She cast one last glance at the now sleeping Whitegrazer, a trace of a smile on her face as she started backtracking to meet up with the others back in that dreaded hangar. Hopefully Rattrap had the bomb situation well under control by now. If not.. well.. that could make the situation a tad bit more precarious. And dangerous. Still Rhinox wouldn't have asked her to join them there if there had been any danger, now would he? No, they were safe.. Finally safe. She hoped.

Briefly, as she jogged down the hallway to the hangar, her mind wandered to Ironclaw.. And she wondered where he was and what, exactly, had transpired earlier when he seemingly panicked. Hopefully the badger would be willing to open up more when he returned to them.

[NaitoKage]

"Alright. I'll be there shortly."

"Assumin' it wasn't installed after we retrieved it," "Besides, I wanna know more about what dese markings mean and run some other tests on it. Maybe we can peek into its data records if anythin' is retrievable."

"It would be nice if we had a giant slingshot to launch it into space,"

"Or inta the Darksyde," "I got dis. S'all good."
"Anythin' else you wanna tell us about yerself, batsy?""You an' Optimus obviously know each other."

Landslide smirked listening to the two Aye, if you say so lad. We'll keep throwing it as a last resort.

Landslide then looked down towards Zodiac with a sigh as he kneeled down. The shapeshifter could tell he couldn't dissolve the shield's bonds, and apparently it was too difficult to force them open, so he shapeshifted to the smallest form he knew.. Aurora. Landslide pulled out another tranquilizer having the needle pop out, then injected Zodiac in the neck once again to increase the dosage. Considering how fast he woke up before, it probably would only buy them a little more time and was unlikely to take him down.

Hrm.. We're gonna need stronger tranquilizers.. Saberfang takes two doses now and this guy burns through em' pretty quick too. Learned something though'.. Landslide said picking up Zodiac, then walked over to his shield having the claws open again, he rested Zodiac against the upper part of the shield, then had the claws close down again, two thick rungs clamping down on Zodiac's now smaller upper body and arms to prevent him from escaping, however his body was so small now that the lower set couldn't even reach his legs which were dangling.

I'm guessin' Zodiac here can't take on a form of goo since he had to turn into Aurora to escape my shield. He also couldn't eat through my shield.. I suspected that though.. I don't think this guy is quiet as strong as the Swarm.

Landslide then stepped back kneeling down next to the pile of metal he had set up, he then started to weld the frame together, looking up now and again with his upper set of optics to observe Zodiac. If he could get the basic frame together, it would make it alot faster for Rhinox to work his magic If only we had enough Rheanimum gas.. Just gotta do with what we got.. worse comes to worse.. guess we lock im' in me.. He muttered, though even he didn't think that would work too well. He was built to hold cargo and carry allies, not act as a walking prison.

_________________________________________________

"TRAITORS! Nothing but traitors! ARE THERE NO TRUE PREDACONS BUT ME HERE?!"

Waspinator blinked, then suddenly got shot by Megatron, sending him flying back into a wall. Oof.. Why wazzpinator even.. bother? Waspinator then slid down the wall.


After coming near the Predacon base, Umbra slide out of the river, slithering his way towards the Darksyde. His body continuing his repairs as he made his way towards the ship, noticing some damage to the ship and terrain from Megatron's battle. Hopefully theres something left.. I don't think the Maximals are hiring.. he said to himself.

[una]

Whitegrazer felt all of Optimus' exhaustion as he continued to fight to stay awake, basking in her energies, for which she was worried at first. He needed to rest. She could feel his straining, that tiredness and weight on him. She felt him let go, giving into the exhaustion and finally resting, which made her happy as he did enough fighting for today. Resting the messy few days away. Putting that in the back of his head, concentrating on regaining peace and rejuvenation for no doubt the days that come would be a test for all of them. She sensed Aurora's presence. She was still here? She chuckled inwardly at the young one watching over her. Whitegrazer went back into her meditation. That was her peace and her rejuvenation.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You could have saved yourself a lot of grief if you had,"

"Oh, we Predacons never like to ask." Blackarachnia waved a bit at Rhinox. Normally, that would be an insult, but she had done a lot of things that humiliated her ever since she awakened from the stasis pod.

"The pod that Optimus ingeniously used to destroy the Vok's weapon and ultimately killed him because someone else was in control." He grew silent for a moment, his face transitioning to a glare at her. "Explain this 'link' you have with Tarantulas."

Blackarachnia glared back at Rhinox, "Hey! I didn't know about that. Why would I have been so focused on fixing the pod if I knew? That was Megatron's doing, not mine nor sadly, Tarantulas' either. " Oh yeah, she was angry at Megatron for that. Clever idea to send Inferno to watch them. Though, she wondered if Inferno was supposed to attack? Because it was the loyal, dumb ant's fault for setting Tarantulas on fire, which led her to dig inside that vile spider's processor. She shook her head. She needed to focus. She cleared her throat. "The link is more of a... think of it as spyware mixed in with a little virus. Tarantulas can read my thoughts, and if he chooses to, he could take control at will. To protect myself from him, digging into more personal or viable information, I had to encode special measures. Like I said, because of my attempt of severing the link with a energon cube, the link weakened by distance now."

"Fascinating,"

"Alright. I'll be there shortly."

Blackarachnia relaxed a bit when Rhinox put his weapon down. She kept an auditory sensor open, wondering what was going on.

"You're going to have to come with me, Blackarachnia. I'm sure you can understand that until I have the time to address your situation, I can't leave you unattended. I won't put you in the brig, I won't even slap a traceable anklet to your leg or bonds to your wrists, but I can't just let you wander around our base until we know that your intentions here are sincere." "Maybe you can offer your expertise and suggest some ideas with Zodiac's capture."

"Good," Blackarachnia didn't like the idea of being caged. She could handle being watched and followed. It's not like she didn't get that treatment from certain others from the Darksyde. She was used to it. Also, she enjoyed it. It meant she was dangerous. If Rhinox and the others just ignored her or anything, she would take offense and would gladly show them why "some" people wanted her dead. "I would gladly lend a hand with your newest prisoner. But I want to make things clear here: What's going on is a mutual gain on both ends. I want revenge on Megatron and Tarantulas. You Maximals need the information I have. I'm not one of you. I'm Predacon and I'm bad. If you try to reprogram me, you will regret it. And if you try to get the information I stored inside my head, let's just say Tarantulas isn't the only one who can dish out good traps."

Blackarachnia smirked. She won't say what drastic measures she took to safeguard her key to freedom, but she wondered if the Maximals wanted to see firsthand. Probably not, though, which would be smart.

[DarkSpark]

OOC: was waiting for Starshadow, moving along now, sorry for the wait.

Phoenix wrote: Pleasant surprise.. indeed. His words didn't exactly reassure her any, but she didn't let that show on her face.

The approaching drone caught her attention. She tilted her head a bit, watching it as it approached, then slowly pulled out the cure and held it up in the drone's view. She held it there for but a few nanoclicks, just long enough for Megatron to be able to see it, then closed her hand securely around it again. In his current state of mind there was no telling what Megatron might attempt to do and since this was the only sample currently in their possession so she certainly wasn't taking any chances with it.

"As you command," she responded calmly as not to aggravate the unstable Predacon further, "But if I may request that you allow Tarantulas to live for a few moments more.. His expertise on this matter could be useful." While speaking she picked up her pace a bit, making her way inside. Finding them proved simple enough. All she had to do was follow the trail of increasing damage until she was there. And a mess it was with half the Predacons either laying in a pile on the floor or occupying a repair tank. Or as Starshadow's case may be; tumbling out of control towards the lava below. Oh well. Tarantulas was dressed up in some sort of suit but from the looks of it, it wasn't able to keep the contaminants out any longer. Whereas Megatron himself held his ground, despite a rather substantial amount of damage visible on his armor.

She nodded slightly in Megatron's direction, acknowledging him, before making her way over to the spider scientist. On the way she picked up a specimen dish, swiftly pouring a sample of the antidote into the dish before leaving it there for Tarantulas. The rest of the antidote was reserved for Megatron himself, given the fact he was their biggest threat right now. Hopefully he wouldn't give her too much trouble. The tyrant may be injured but he could still be quite dangerous.. Especially now that his mind was not entirely his own. She approached him with caution.

Megatron eyed what Nemesis claimed was the cure to his ailment through the optics of the drone, his own optics narrowed in cold scrutiny as though expecting to spot a flaw in an otherwise perfect diamond.

"Computer, scan its contents" Megatron growled, sounding more beast than bot at this point as he struggled to control his urge to kill absolutely everything around him, wishing so badly that he could just let go and embrace the killer within, but knowing if he did he may lose his only shot at recovery and thus his plans for predacon supremacy lost forever...No quick satisfaction was worth sacrificing the future of Predacon kind and all his visions for the great and glorious future that lay ahead.

"Its the cure...She wouldn't have come back here to this plague ship of allies turned enemies unless she was sincere..." Tarantulas wheezed, nursing his wounds, annoyed over having to vouch for the blasted bird of all people.

"SILENCE!" Megatron hissed, almost foaming at the mouth as he turned his gun on Tarantulas again, the mere sound of the spider's voice like nails on a chalkboard to him, how sweet would it be to silence him forever, and bathe the deck with his treacherous brains...However, having heard Nemesis' request, Megatron begrudgingly, and just barely, resisted the urge to splatter his least favorite spider once and for all...It would have been so easy...And so...Pleasant!

Megatron watched Nemesis warily, like a wild animal deciding whether something was predator or prey, but all she did was provide Tarantulas with a sample of the cure for him to examine and then offered the rest to himself...As it should be, his spark was worth a thousand of theirs, these incompetent bunglers he was forced to put up with, he wished so badly he could kill them all rig...No, no, that would not do, morons or not they were predacons and his only source of troops on this planet, he couldn't afford to kill too many of them without giving the maximals an advantage...Though after all the indignity and betrayals that had befallen him recently, he had a list of perfectly expendable pawns in mind who's deaths he would not dwell upon in the slightest...Zodiac and his lackeys were at the top of that list.

"How did you acquire this?" Tarantulas managed to say as he painfully forced himself back to his work station, examining the sample and discovering it to be the missing pieces to the antidote he had been trying to reverse engineer all this time.

"Doesn't matter, is it what she says it is?" Megatron snapped, baring his teeth as though he were about to pounce on the spider and bite a chunk out of him.

"Y..Yes Megatron, it is the cure, combining it with my own data should allow me to synthesize enough of it to cure and immunize the entire crew" Tarantulas explained quickly, swallowing his pride for the time being so he could live to exact his revenge all of these slag sucking traitors to the Alliance later.

"Don't listen to him! Its a lie! The bird and spider are working together to poison you! Can't you see that?" lied Cryotek, the desperation evident in his voice.

"Enough, its too late for that, Little Tyrant won't fall for such shallow ploys now, he has bigger plans to see to now, don't you, Megatron?" said the phantom of his namesake, the decepticon war hero smirking knowingly at his successor, something that filled Megatron with pride despite knowing it was not really him.

"Indeed I do, farewell ancestor, you leave our future in the best of hands" Megatron replied as he drank the contents of the antidote in one gulp, not caring who heard his delusions any longer, soon he would be well again and order would be restored to his ship and crew, and those who had dared to inflict this madness upon him and sully his accomplishments would suffer greatly.

"NNNNNNOOOOOO!!!" the illusion of his mentor wailed in despair as he faded away like a bad memory, which was enough to bring a smile to the tyrant's face for the first time in a long while since he'd been infected.

"You've done well Nemesis, better than I would have expected given the circumstances, yyyyyesssss" Megatron said, knowing the transmetal would catch his meaning, the tyrant did not apologize, but did recognize that Zodiac had destabilized his operation and cost him valuable personnel, one of many things he would have to suffer for, "What can you tell me of Zodiac's current situation and those of the others I dispatched to deal with him? I don't suppose someone managed to kill him, none?"

"Tarantulas, see what you can do to hurry the cure along, I want things back to normal around here sooner rather than later, understood?" Megatron ordered without waiting for an answer as he expected his command to be carried out without question, listening to Nemesis' report and ignoring the suffering of Waspinator, as per usual when that useless bug was involved.

"As you wish, Mighty Megatron" Tarantulas said as he did what he was told, eager to hear himself what was going on in the outside world while he'd been stuck playing nurse to a house of lunatics, particularly in regards to the fates of his own spidery underlings.

[Phoenix]

(ooc: Stay strong, Starshadow, and take care of yourself!

I was waiting for OOP to post but since I have a long shift at work tomorrow, I suppose I can post for Nemesis now at least.)

"How did you acquire this?"

Tarantulas' skeptical nature reared its head as soon as the sample was in his possession. Of course his intellect and unwillingness to merely accept something without a thurough investigation is what made him the asset that he was. What he lacked in physical prowess against the likes of Megatron, he more than made up for with his mind. Of course she didn't trust him for even a microsecond.. unless,of course, the spider scientist's own life was at stake. And as things were right now, the spider had every reason to share the same goals as Megatron and herself. A goal that could alter the course of history if she played her cards right.

When she had shut her eyes after that devastating battle in space, she assumed it was for the last time. She certainly had not expected to open them again in this place, on Earth in a time before the tide shifted. It presented a chance to change everything, an opportunity to wipe out her tormentors before they were even formed. But to do that she needed both Megatron and Tarantulas alive for a while longer. After they had uncovered the cargo that had been buried so long ago, then the two of them were free to slag each other all they liked.

She hadn't responded to Tarantulas, instead she merely gave him a quick glance before returning her gaze to Megatron. She knew better than to turn her back on the commander, especially in his current state. Fortunately Megatron was more interested in the cure itself than hearing how it had come into her possession at the moment.

"Doesn't matter, is it what she says it is?"

"Y..Yes Megatron, it is the cure, combining it with my own data should allow me to synthesize enough of it to cure and immunize the entire crew"

She crossed her arms as soon as Megatron had taken the cure from her hand, allowing herself to ease up while waiting patiently as the leader gulped the liquid down. As he did, he appeared to be talking to someone he referred to as ancestors. Well, delusions and hallucinations were some of the side effects from the virus so she wasn't entirely surprised by this.

"Indeed I do, farewell ancestor, you leave our future in the best of hands"

For now.. If there was one thing she'd learned it was that the future was not set in stone as much as it was ever changing, ever unpredictable like a river. A river always flows in one direction albeit the water can make unexpected turns to get there. Still the very fact they were here, now, went to show that even the flow of time was not absolute. That much like certain fish can swim upriver, even climb the steepest of waterfalls, so could they. She pondered the possibility for a moment while Megatron finished his drink, finding herself wondering if there was any way to tap into the power of the phenomenon that had brought them here to begin with.. Whatever it was, if that sort of power could be harvested then whoever managed to do it would essentially be able to change history at their will. For changing the past would surely allow someone to control the future. What an intriguing thought. She'd have to investigate this matter further when this ordeal with the shapeshifter was over.

"You've done well Nemesis, better than I would have expected given the circumstances, yyyyyesssss"

She smiled ever so slightly at that, a bewildering gesture all things considering. It wasn't exactly a happy smile, but more so an acknowledging one. She did remember her last encounter with Megatron all too clearly, of course, and would much rather leave those memories buried. Of course the events of that fateful day had lead to Megatron finding out more about her than she perhaps had wanted to share so if they were ever to stand on opposing sides of a conflict again she would no longer have the element of surprise at her disposal.

"Consider it a peace offering for I should have been honest with you about my abilities from the start," she responded, keeping her tone sincere with a touch of humility. This wasn't the time to test limits.

"What can you tell me of Zodiac's current situation and those of the others I dispatched to deal with him? I don't suppose someone managed to kill him, none?"

She shook her head slowly. "He lives. For now. What becomes of him remains to be seen as the Maximals are rather upset with his antics." Somehow she doubted that the Maximals would kill him. It just wasn't their way to deal with someone, even one as diabolical as Zodiac. She could be wrong, of course, since during his short stay on this planet he'd caused a lot of trouble.

"Umbra and BlackArachnia live as well," she continued, casting another brief glance at Tarantulas as she mentioned the female spider's name. "They should be on their way back here. If you sent anyone else, I don't know anything about their whereabouts. Things were getting a little.. chaotic.. over there by the end." She paused for a moment.

"With any luck the Maximals blow themselves up while trying to disassemble the bomb," she then finished, not wanting it to sound like she was on any good terms with their foes.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"Oh, we Predacons never like to ask."

Yeah, we've noticed, thought Rhinox, but said out loud, "Sometimes it's the easiest solution."

"Hey! I didn't know about that. Why would I have been so focused on fixing the pod if I knew? That was Megatron's doing, not mine nor sadly, Tarantulas' either. "

The engineer wasn't going to play the blame game. What happened, happened. He was just thankful that he and Whitegrazer were able to bring Optimus back despite how risky it was. Perhaps it said something... redeeming about Blackarachnia's "bad girl" character since she was so quick to cast the consequences of that fateful night onto someone else, maybe she felt a slight hint of sympathy for what happened. Or, most likely, she was just angry that she lost her only way off of the planet at the time. Then again, maybe she was actually intimidated by Optimus now and didn't want to feel his wrath again. What he had done earlier to her with his weapon was something Megatron would have done, and Rhinox hadn't approved of it. However, inarguably, Blackarachnia was trespassing and he was not himself.

"The link is more of a... think of it as spyware mixed in with a little virus. Tarantulas can read my thoughts, and if he chooses to, he could take control at will. To protect myself from him, digging into more personal or viable information, I had to encode special measures. Like I said, because of my attempt of severing the link with a energon cube, the link weakened by distance now."

Rhinox grew thoughtful with her explanation as they walked to the hangar. Her unique situation may have been out of his league, but if he could make-shift a machine to bring someone back from the other side of the Matrix, then surely he could sever her "psychic" or "telekinetic" link for good so she could be "free" again. What troubled him more was whether she was really here for herself or for Tarantulas to spy since he could read her mind. He could only take her word that the link was "weakened by distance" and her record for honesty was less than satisfactory. Suddenly he wasn't so sure about including her with their attempt to securing Zodiac.

"Good," "I would gladly lend a hand with your newest prisoner. But I want to make things clear here: What's going on is a mutual gain on both ends. I want revenge on Megatron and Tarantulas. You Maximals need the information I have. I'm not one of you. I'm Predacon and I'm bad. If you try to reprogram me, you will regret it. And if you try to get the information I stored inside my head, let's just say Tarantulas isn't the only one who can dish out good traps."

"Relax. Unlike Tarantulas and Megatron, we don't invade anyone's personal database or reprogram them against their will. But you will have to hand over your weapons and disarm your leg guns," he paused, waiting for her to comply. "Play nice and we'll get along fine. As a forewarning, I will have to perform some scans to get a better idea of your internal structuring and if there are any physical extremities that Tarantulas may have implanted that enables him to be inside your head. Who knows, there could have been something there ever since he reprogrammed you when you were just a protoform in your stasis pod that belonged to us. Would you agree to said scans?" he asked the black widow. "You'll be conscious the entire time," Rhinox assured her so she'd know what was going on around her in case that worried her.

"Okay I'll head on over. Yeah, Whitegrazer's okay. She's getting repaired as we speak. Our other guest carried her all the way to the CR chamber.." "The guest disappeared afterwards.. Not sure where to."

"Nemesis left, I'm assuming to the Darksyde with the antidote," Rhinox informed Aurora. It almost brought a small smile to his face knowing that Nemesis had cooperated despite how fragile the Maximals were right now and she could have easily taken advantage of it, and could have harmed Aurora or even finished Whitegrazer. It was gratitude more than anything else. She really hadn't caused that much trouble since Optimus had allowed her to seek refuge with them, and hopefully that would leave a positive perspective on those who continued to fight against her presence, like Rattrap. He had a feeling they would see her again soon, after all, she still had ties with Zodiac though he didn't know specifics.

"Cheetor, progress report. Have you spotted Ironclaw yet?" the engineer called over his comm. link.

Hrm.. We're gonna need stronger tranquilizers.. Saberfang takes two doses now and this guy burns through em' pretty quick too. Learned something though'.. I'm guessin' Zodiac here can't take on a form of goo since he had to turn into Aurora to escape my shield. He also couldn't eat through my shield.. I suspected that though.. I don't think this guy is quiet as strong as the Swarm.

Standing up and examining the inside of the pod which contained the bomb that Zodiac had planted, Rattrap glanced back over his shoulder at Landslide and saw the limp "Aurora" laying there. It was a little... weird and awkward. He knew it wasn't her yet he looked exactly like the one who was like a niece to him. If only he had that kind of nanotech, he would be the ultimate spy and infiltrator. But he had heard some stories and rumors about the "experiments" on shapeshifters like Zodiac and he'd rather not be put through that kind of torture. Snooping, sniffing, sifting, you name it Rattrap was peddling and hacking through it. Sometimes he found himself in dark places where information slipped through loose lips. Names were never dropped or specifics on the so-called "experiments", but for those who listened and tweaked their audio sensors past the white noise came to the realization that such technology was being forged and did in fact exist. For quite some time. There was even the story of the creation of an indestructible spark that was responsible for the cannibalistic attack on Omicron. He never did find out what happened to it; the spark that is. After that disaster, security was tighter than ever and nothing seemed to leak out anymore. Back to the present, er, the past... whatever, it was concerning to hear Landslide say how the fake Nexus Prime was going through tranquilizers like minimized stun guns and tasers. Where the heck was Rhinox? Wasn't he supposed to be helping the beetle build a force field or something to contain that jerk that almost killed all of them?

If only we had enough Rheanimum gas.. Just gotta do with what we got.. worse comes to worse.. guess we lock im' in me..

"Are you crazy? We ain't doin' that. I'd rather sit beside him and electrocute 'im every time he twitched an' showed any kinda sign of alertness," Rattrap told Landslide. Pulling out some handy tools, he knelt back down on the floor by the pod and leaned in over the side of it to start working on the bomb. It didn't appear to have a timer, or anything remotely connected to it. The only thing it seemed to be rely on was the signal from the scanner. Maybe this "Blowdiac" guy wasn't so brilliant with explosives after all. Or he had been too proud and egotistical to think that his plan wouldn't have wavered. Carefully, Rattrap started disassembling the bomb piece by piece.

Not much longer afterward, the Maximal Spy caught Rhinox entering the hangar with Aurora, whom he was happiest to see at the moment since she often shared his wits and sarcasm, and Blackarachnia out of the corner of his optic. He couldn't help but stop what he was doing, glaring at the she-spider who obviously hadn't been detained in any way, shape or form, like she was just taking a casual stroll of a tour through their base. What de heck is this? he thought bitterly. "Uh, Rhinox, you forgot ta take out the rest of the trash," he commented, pointing the tool in his hand at Blackarachnia before he went back to work as if expecting the rhinoceros to toss her out.

"Optimus offered our help to her and she has accepted," Rhinox explained.

Rattrap shook his head without looking back at him and the wretched spider. Slagging Optimus... When was he gonna learn? You can't save everybody. Ya just can't. "Help 'er with what?" he asked, incapable of hiding his irritation and intolerance over the situation.

"Tarantulas's control," Rhinox answered, keeping it vague. "But she can also help us."

Now Rattrap busted out in laughter, almost dropping his tool into the pod. "Sorry, I thought you said dat she could help us." He pretended to wipe a giddy tear from his optic.

"She can," he said more seriously but refused to go into detail since he wasn't so sure she was being completely honest about the data she had on the disks, walking over toward Landslide and Zodiac. "But we'll get to that later. Right now, we need to figure out the best and most effective way to confine Zodiac."

"The only way she can help us is either shriveling up into a coma and inevitably dying, or walkin' her creepy, gross eight legs outta here before she starts squeezin' inta tiny, tight places dat she ain't supposed ta be in, spyin' and sabotagin' our ship just like she did earlier," the rodent ranted. "We can't trust her, Rhinox."

"That observation is probably mutual," Rhinox commented, referring to his last statement. After all, Blackarachnia was completely surrounded by Maximals now, and she didn't trust anyone. "Just concentrate on that explosive and get it out of here."

[DarkSpark]

OOC: Sorry to bring this up now weeks later, but regarding Dirge's attack on Ironclaw, how did that happen? Both Dirge and his boss were last seen locked up in the Predacon Brig, & I don't recall either of them escaping earlier. If I missed something during my absence I apologize, I did try to keep up with the updates while I was on hiatus so I could jump back in when the time came, just confused over when & how Dirge got loose (the big bug larva guy who's species I keep forgetting lol).

[NaitoKage]

( Dirge never followed the rest of the Predacons from what I can tell. Also considering Dirge's size and strength, it'd be difficult for the predacons to force him into a cell other then Megatron, well.. atleast without having a big battle. )

"Cheetor, progress report. Have you spotted Ironclaw yet?"

Cheetor rubbed the back of his head with a paw Not yet. he responded, as he came near a spot he noticed Ironclaw's tracks disappear, with some of the ground around wet, as if something had splashed into the water. He looked around noticing the tracks resumed leading out of the water, Cheetor raised an optic ridge. Found somethin' weird though, looks like something came out of the water or he went into it. I don't smell any sign of Umbra though.. Looks like Ironclaw got out though. I'll keep searching.

( Okay, this has been delayed awhile. Do you want Ironclaw to be found now Mystrea, or just continue to be delayed?)

"Are you crazy? We ain't doin' that. I'd rather sit beside him and electrocute 'im every time he twitched an' showed any kinda sign of alertness,"

Not that crazy yet. Landslide laughed.

"Uh, Rhinox, you forgot ta take out the rest of the trash,"

"Optimus offered our help to her and she has accepted,"

"Help 'er with what?"

"Tarantulas's control," "But she can also help us."

"Sorry, I thought you said dat she could help us."

"But we'll get to that later. Right now, we need to figure out the best and most effective way to confine Zodiac."

"The only way she can help us is either shriveling up into a coma and inevitably dying, or walkin' her creepy, gross eight legs outta here before she starts squeezin' inta tiny, tight places dat she ain't supposed ta be in, spyin' and sabotagin' our ship just like she did earlier," "We can't trust her, Rhinox."

"That observation is probably mutual," "Just concentrate on that explosive and get it out of here."

Landslide shrugged as he heard the conversation. If yer gonna use her, then use her. If anything, we might be able to use her fer our baby sitting problem.. Landslide jerked his thumb in the direction of Zodiac,looking towards him in his restrained state on the shield once again disguised as Aurora. Her cybervenom might be able to slow his nanomachines down..Just.. don't use yer fangs lass, he'll probably eat em'.

Landslide finshed work on the basic framework, then spoke up best I can figure, the fastest way to confine Zodiac is with yer force field idea. Problem is we can't make a floor outta the stuff, so we'll have to have an electrified subfloor incase he eats through it.. if we have more time, we can skip the subfloor and have the CR chamber try to replicate some rheanimum gas, then just coat the floor and frame with that. Stuff should already be on file, since I'm filled with it.

_______________________________

Umbra walked inside of the Darksyde, overhearing Nemesis and Megatron speak.

"He lives. For now. What becomes of him remains to be seen as the Maximals are rather upset with his antics."

"They should be on their way back here. If you sent anyone else, I don't know anything about their whereabouts. Things were getting a little.. chaotic.. over there by the end."

"Umbra and BlackArachnia live as well,""With any luck the Maximals blow themselves up while trying to disassemble the bomb,"

Umbra walked into the room, at this point his body was mostly repaired other then some visible holes and hanging skin from his beast mode. Blackarachnia is alive.. but not for much longer.. While leaving she decided to defect to the Maximals. Unfortunately as she did this infront of the maximals while we were leaving, this posed a risk towards the cure Nemesis was carrying had they turned on their defenses while revoking the spider of her life.

Umbra bowed slightly towards Megatron,his octopus eyes on his legs watching Megatron, as Umbra rarely had his guard down. I apologize my lord.

[DarkSpark]

OOC: I remember Dirge being led into a cell along with NightTerror, basically submitting to containment to be alongside his master (being the mindless, easily led brute that he is & all that). But again, its been a while, so I could be wrong, I just don't remember him being left to wander on his own.

[DarkSpark]

Phoenix wrote: "Consider it a peace offering for I should have been honest with you about my abilities from the start," she responded, keeping her tone sincere with a touch of humility. This wasn't the time to test limits.

"You should have, yyyyesssss" Megatron replied curtly but neutrally...Sure, he had been wrong about her being in league with the maximals, having been deceived by Zodiac, but Nemesis had still kept her true power a secret from him, abilities that he could have factored into a number of plans against the maximals, abilities that could have been a threat to him if he had remained ignorant of them.

The bird had proven her worth this day by saving them all, though Megatron wouldn't allow a little gratitude to cloud his judgement and forget that Nemesis had been keeping secrets...Still, at the very least he could trust her to choose Predacon kind over the maximals at this point, and thus she would not be on the chopping block with Zodiac and the others once this ordeal was finally over.

"However...You did come through for us in the end, and for that...All is forgiven, congratulations Nemesis, welcome back to the right side of the war" Megatron said, resisting the urge to gag at the word forgiveness, but results such as this did warrant some degree of praise, even if the avian still had a great deal of explaining to do.

Phoenix wrote: She shook her head slowly. "He lives. For now. What becomes of him remains to be seen as the Maximals are rather upset with his antics." Somehow she doubted that the Maximals would kill him. It just wasn't their way to deal with someone, even one as diabolical as Zodiac. She could be wrong, of course, since during his short stay on this planet he'd caused a lot of trouble.

Megatron rolled his optics at this news, replying "Typical, leave it to Primal to show mercy towards an omnicidal shapeshifter who impersonated his own undoubtedly dead mentor and brought a plague to our little corner of the universe...Sigh, if only the Maximal Elders themselves were so careless, predacon liberation could have been achieved cycles before now. We're in no shape to do anything about it now, but if Primal prolongs Zodiac's existence for too long we may have to put the schemer out of our misery ourselves."

Phoenix wrote: "Umbra and BlackArachnia live as well," she continued, casting another brief glance at Tarantulas as she mentioned the female spider's name. "They should be on their way back here. If you sent anyone else, I don't know anything about their whereabouts. Things were getting a little.. chaotic.. over there by the end." She paused for a moment.

"With any luck the Maximals blow themselves up while trying to disassemble the bomb," she then finished, not wanting it to sound like she was on any good terms with their foes.

"Unfortunately there seems to be a great deal of chaos going around, and not the fun kind" Megatron grumbled, pleased to hear more of his troops had lived through this mess and he could soon begin rebuilding & reorganizing his forces, once the cure had been administered to everyone.

"Oh, I hope they do Nemesis, I truly do...But alas, given the day we've had I wouldn't count on any convenient miracles to take place, nnnnoooo" Megatron said, allowing himself a legitimately good natured laugh at the maximal's expense, "But thank you for the notion, it was most welcome...Now then, on to more important business, yyyyyesss. What do you know about Zodiac? I want ALL the details about him, who he is, where and how he got his powers, and especially how to hurt him if, and most likely when, he escapes."

Naitokage wrote: Umbra walked into the room, at this point his body was mostly repaired other then some visible holes and hanging skin from his beast mode. Blackarachnia is alive.. but not for much longer.. While leaving she decided to defect to the Maximals. Unfortunately as she did this infront of the maximals while we were leaving, this posed a risk towards the cure Nemesis was carrying had they turned on their defenses while revoking the spider of her life.

Umbra bowed slightly towards Megatron,his octopus eyes on his legs watching Megatron, as Umbra rarely had his guard down. I apologize my lord.

Megatron had noticed Umbra walking in but had been too preoccupied with Nemesis' report to acknowledge him just yet...That is until he dropped a rather sizable bombshell of information that even the tyrant himself could have have predicted...Blackarachnia...Defecting to the maximals?!

"...I'm sorry Umbra, I don't believe I heard you right, I was busy speaking with Nemesis...What, did you say?" Megatron growled, the disbelief in his voice rivaled only by the growing rage within him, this time all his own rather than that of the virus as he loomed over Umbra like the shadow of death itself, the sound of metal grinding against metal filling the air as his tail cutlass clenched together tightly.

Tarantulas did a double take of his own as well at this revelation, but quickly returned to his work to avoid attention and hurry along the antidote production...Blackarachnia had defected?! True, she was a maximal protoform originally, but he had personally overseen her creation and programmed her to be a predacon through and through, there was simply NO WAY someone as devious and conniving as Blackarachnia would suddenly switch sides over to the maximals. She was not the sort to miraculously "see the error of her ways" and try to reconnect with her maximal peers, nor could she possibly achieve her own dreams of grandeur while serving alongside peace loving, democratic maximals...There was LITERALLY no advantage to her switching sides whatso...

"Oh that witch, that scheming, sinister little WITCH!" Tarantulas snarled inwardly, his arachnid face contorted with rage as he typed away at the computer furiously, his anger fueling his work as he nearly completed the cure, even as he reached out across the many miles between the predacon and maximal base to reach inside Blackarachnia's mind and say "YOU THINK YOU CAN ESCAPE ME?! THINK AGAIN!"

Tarantulas seized control of her eyes and ears then and there and could see and hear everything going on around his wayward creation, hissing to himself as he saw she was within the maximal base with both Rhinox and the Rat by her side, the vermin clearly almost as displeased by her presence here as he was, and the rhino already trying to talk her into disabling her weapons! THIS COULD NOT BE ALLOWED!

With that, Tarantulas worked to gain control of Blackarachnia's leg guns and forced her to draw her cybervenom launcher, he would force her to kill the maximals and escape so he could deal with her himself or force the maximals to kill her for him, either way, she would be punished for her defiance!

OOC: I left that last part open ended so Una could decide whether BA ends up opening fire or struggles against Rants to stop it or not.

[Mystrea]

(OOC: What actually happened was that NK posted that he was taking both Night-Terror and Dirge to the Darksyde. However I had failed to post a response in time so he carried on. From that point I put Dirge in isolation which I think was for the best since admiral grim seems to have disappeared. I didn't expect NT to show his hand so early on but oh well. NK, apologise for the delay but I'd been waiting on a pm which took an age. I've got something for you now.)

Deep below the water Dirge had been recovering from the damage to his eye in beast mode. However his amelioration was interrupted when he detected the signal of another Maximal and heard his calls seeking out his comrade. The hellgramite form sprang to life and swam towards the edge of the lake until he could see Cheetor's blurry image from beneath the water. Dirge started reviewing all of the audio samples he had recorded of Ironclaw's voice. He synthesised the samples and converted into the dialogue he wanted. "Cheetor..... I'm trapped... under the water... he-" the mimicked voice ended abruptly. Dirge all the little details to make it believable and then just waited patiently for the little cat to get that much closer.



Mean while Ironclaw had made it some distance away form the lake. His form had died off in the heat as his system made a full report of the structural damage he had received from the previous battle. It was minimal, his beast mode would be able to handle that in a short space of time. The badger was hunched over looking at the dirt. He thought about his foe and accessed further buried information. One of the notable peaces was a schematic which sat on his heads up display. Before he knew it he started to transform into something he could not quite recall. But it was taking a desirable shape.