(ooc warning: Looong post coming up. A few months ago the player of Valkyrie asked for my help in setting things up for her current character's departure and laying the ground work for the introduction of her new character in S3. We tried writing this post as an email project but its progression has been a very slow project. Now that it's mostly done I decided to post it now before the Maximals get back inside the base since most are outside right now. )
Valkyrie wandered almost aimlessly through the corridors of the Axalon. There were still some damages present after the recent Predacon attack, yet the female Maximal barely took notice of it. Instead her mind was focused on her own troubles involving recurring episodes of debilitating headaches and dizziness. Was this a result of a malfunction in her genetically modified spark? The possibility had dawned on the Maximal sub-commander quite a while ago, but she had chosen to ignore it. She had never been one to complain and seek attention, even when she needed it, always believing she would be able to handle the situation on her own.
Yet recently her ailment had gotten worse and more frequent. Rhinox was going to run a diagnostic on her to see if he could figure out what was wrong, but with the attack and other Maximals getting seriously injured or worse as well as the base requiring immediate repairs, the rhino had enough on his plate right now. For that reason Valkyrie had not waited around for him to return to his lab and had retreated to her room for a little while until the solitude had started to get on her nerves.
For reasons she herself did not entirely comprehend, she soon found herself standing in front of the massive doors to the brig again, like she had been earlier when the other Maximals had escorted her out. Yet now she found herself once again drawn here by an intense desire for answers she somehow felt that one of the occupants of the brig might be able to give her.
With a sigh she placed her hand on the door and pushed it open before moving to the cell she knew the former Decepticon was contained in. Her security clearance would grant her access easily, yet she found herself hesitating in front of the door.
Unaware of the extent of the commotion that had recently taken place at the Maximal base, Nemesis had settled back in the corner of the cell while waiting for
something to occur. After the initial Predacon strike, the situation appeared to have calmed considerably, and she had not heard the faint rumbling in the walls from the attacking ship for a while. Exactly how long it had been was impossible to tell, since the long period of being incarcerated in a dim cell with no view of the outside and the chilling temperatures there had left her a bit diminished at best.
Over the course of the last few hours, perhaps starting even before what she assumed had been a failed attempt at an attack on the base, she had noticed a very gradual increase in the temperature of the cell. Unbeknownst to her, it had been a localized increase due to a botanical experiment, so subtle that most remaining inhabitants of the Maximal base may not even have noticed. Certain parts of the base had been affected more than others, the brig itself included, so the temperatures had risen to nearly comfortable levels. The Predacon did not know what had happened, nor if it would even make a difference since she was still locked up with no apparent escape, but it felt a bit more soothing to know that her nanotechnology was capable of running at their normal levels at least.
It was then she suddenly became aware that the massive door keeping her locked in here was getting unlocked. Perhaps Optimus Primal had decided to pay her another visit, although the prospect of that seemed almost unlikely after what had taken place during their last conversation. Regardless, Nemesis pulled herself to her feet so she could greet the Maximal commander as he entered.
Yet to her surprise the Maximal that entered was not Primal, but rather a female of similar build as herself. In fact she too appeared to be of an avian nature, not unlike Nemesis’ own alternative mode.
Watching the other female enter, Nemesis fought hard with her inner demons not to make another futile attempt at the door before it closed. Her last attempt with Primal had proved such a move would be futile, and the Predacon did not wish to make a fool of herself again in front of this Maximal. Yet the presence of this other female offered a new possibility of escape, so she remained calm.. for now. At the very least she could hear her out before making her escape.
Crossing her arms and tilting her head as she sized up the other female, trying to determine what weapons she might have brought with her and what her intentions might be, Nemesis decided to break the silence.
“Why have you come, Maximal?”
Valkyrie remained silent by the door for a few moments, merely staring at the other female with such intensity the Decepticon-turned-Predacon felt as if she was being analyzed. Indeed, Valkyrie did take those brief seconds to examine the other female, never being one to merely walk into an unknown situation without having the knowledge needed to succeed. She was aware of Optimus Primal’s former visit to see the prisoner, yet the Maximal commander had not entered the information from the encounter into the computer logs so it appeared to have been more of a personal visit if anything. For that reason the Maximal computer still knew very little of the Predacon who had been given, or taken, the name of the flagship of the original Megatron’s fleet.
The Predacon was smaller than the name would imply, roughly the same height and build as Valkyrie herself. Yet the Maximal kept her guard up, being well aware that looks may be deceiving. Not detecting any immediate threat she stepped a little closer and began addressing the other female.
“Don’t worry. I have just come to talk.” She paused for a brief moment, watching for any movement she might have to counteract. There were none.
“Nemesis, I presume? I am Valkyrie. “ Her voice remained calm, soothing in a sense, and she attempted to carry herself with some confidence since being perceived as a weak target could lead the other female to attempt an attack.
Nemesis smiled ever-so-slightly at her. It was a peculiar smile, neither happy nor forced.
Valkyrie stared at the Predacon, trying to figure out what strengths and weaknesses this female's body held.
But more importantly, she needed to figure out what it was to have driven her this far to ignore a direct order from Optimus and see this Predacon with her own eyes.
Then a logical thought floated to the active part of her mind.
She didn't know much about the Predacons, accept for what she had been told by the Maximals who were actively involved with her transfer into the Maximal society.
It was crucial for her development as a Maximal with her abilities to see what others didn't want her to see.
She never knew the reasons why the Predacons hated the Maximals.
She never knew the stories behind these reasons from the Predacon side
This was one of the very few opportunities she had, and ever will have to gather such knowledge.
Nemesis was in her own right, a very cunning Predacon, she knew. So to leave herself open, wouldn't be very smart.
But showing a visible guard, would be interpreted as a form of fear. This could also set in motion a chain of subtle prods at each others defenses, till the Predacon female find a weakness she could exploit.
Valkyrie was more then intelligent enough to counter such prods with prods of her own at her mental defenses.
The first prod will be coming from her side however, to show the Predacon that she isn't one who couldn't handle herself at most levels.
Mental warfare was her domain.
Not even Optimus Primal or Rhinox could best her at the mental games they sometimes play to train for situations they'll be needing the strong minds they have.
Optimus Primal always had been warning her that there are a few within the Predacon ranks whose intelligence would possibly outmatch their own.
Megatron, leader of the Predacons, was one of them.
"Your capture, however unfortunate for you, gave me an opportunity to gather some much needed information about the Predacon society.
The reason behind your hatred towards us Maximals, and the reason for your splinter-group to use a transwarp able ship and go to this sector.
This isn't a simple quest for more energon, as some of you seem to believe. I think its something much larger.
I would like to know what.
And though you probably wont know the whole story, and wont know the answers to to all my questions, i would like to hear the answers you do know."
The Maximal female nodded at Nemesis to start.
Nemesis merely stared at the newcomer for a long, intense moment. From the moment the other female had opened the door, she had envisioned different scenarios in her mind about her reasons for coming there, yet a history lesson had not been one of them.
Albeit the other female appeared quite articulate in her own ways, it would appear that she had not found much information on Nemesis’ origin. A fact which suggested Optimus Primal had either not had the opportunity to put a detailed report on her into the Maximal database, or perhaps the Maximal commander actually intended to keep his word. As a Predacon, and before that a Decepticon, honesty was a concept Nemesis had little experience with. Sure enough her team did not always deceive, but a majority of them usually had a hidden agenda which frequently got in the way of honesty.
Nemesis had never been a Maximal protoform reprogrammed to function as a Predacon, nor had she come here to this planet as part of Megatron’s crew. She had merely sought the Predacons out after the unfortunate accident which had changed her form from that of a powerful Decepticon to a much smaller Predacon. Although certain of the Predacons had proven to be rather timid and even good-natured, a select few were indeed every bit as manipulative and deceitful as the Decepticons she once roamed with had been. Megatron himself was one of these respectable few.
Tilting her head as she wrapped her feathered wings around herself like a cape, the intense expression on Nemesis’ face lit up a bit. In fact for a brief moment one could almost make out a slight smile.
“My dear Maximal,” Nemesis said in as soft a voice as she could while moving in a bit closer,
“As members of opposing sides our hatred for one another has been passed down for generations, from the time of our ancient ancestors. It’s funded in a mutual belief that the philosophies of one side takes precedence over the other. Yet this belief has kept the feud going between the two factions for what can be perceived as an eternity, there is no reason that individuals in either faction cannot share similar values and views.”
She paused for a moment, watching the other female for a reaction.
“You’re absolutely right that it was never about the energon. We both know this planet has an excessive amount of the stuff, albeit unstable in its current state..”
She moved in very close, finishing off the sentence with a mere whisper.
“Yet not much effort has been made to stabilize it on either side, now has it? The technology to do so is within both of our grasps, yet we’re at a standstill in its development. Almost makes one wonder if there’s something the Predacon and Maximal councils alike did not share with us.”
The avian Predacon’s smile seemed to widen ever so slightly and her tone remained quite friendly. Or at the very least certainly not threatening.
“Of course they’re not about to share this information with the underdogs,” she continued,
“We’re nothing but expendable pawns to them. How much faith would you be willing to place in our socalled leaders in this regard? Would you truly trust Megatron and Optimus Primal to have our best interest at heart, or is there a possibility that they might be acting on the orders of their respective councils?”
Nemesis placed her hand on the other female’s shoulder, giving it a light, reassuring squeeze. The Predacon was unarmed, so an attempt at brute force without knowing what weapons the other female carried would be foolish. So for the time being she attempted a more subtle approach, seeing if a seed of doubt could be implanted in the other female.
“Now you tell me.. why are you really here?”
Valkyrie held back a faint frown as she listened to the Predacon speak. The other female was being coy with her, albeit she had not exactly expected a Predacon to give her a straight answer. Another Maximal may have given in to Nemesis’ attempt to place doubts in their heads, but Valkyrie was not one of them.
Realizing it was only a matter of time before the other Maximals discovered her agenda and they would be coming to investigate, Valkyrie decided to cut the small talk for a more speedy approach.
“Listen,” she started, her voice taking on a much more serious tone now,
“I don’t have much time before the others realize where I am, so I must be brief.”
Nemesis folded her arms across her chest, leaning up against a wall as she listened to the Maximal’s words. It had become quite apparent that this was not merely a social visit.
“I know Optimus spent some time with you here in this very place, yet your file has been classified. Aside from a few aspects of your reported actions, very little information about you has been made available. It’s evident you are not what you appear to be. As I find myself in similar circumstances, I felt that perhaps there’s a way we could help each other.”
Similar circumstances…
Nemesis considered the other female’s words carefully. Although she maintained a rather good poker face as she spoke, the former Decepticon was not oblivious to the pain behind the voice. Perhaps this Valkyrie suspected some things from Nemesis’ past, perhaps this Maximal had undergone something like it as well.
Unaware of the fact she was even doing it, Nemesis covered her wrist. She doubted there was anything this Maximal could do for her, even if they possibly did share similar experiences. Yet a sense of doubt had started lingering a bit, perhaps even a tiny amount of hope. Could she be talking about releasing her for some cooperation?
No.. A Maximal wouldn’t do that. Even if the female in front of her was for some reason different than others, Nemesis did not believe she would betray their trust like this. Or perhaps she felt as if she was the one who was being betrayed..
“I’m listening,” Nemesis responded, moments before her optics flashed red and she took a few, short paces closer to Valkyrie.
“But if you try to doublecross me,” she warned, her tone changing to a much more sinister one as she swiftly brought her arm up to grab the Maximal by the throat,
“..I will destroy you..” Her grip tightened as she squeezed harder, making sure she got her point across.
Valkyrie would normally have been expecting such a move, but as Nemesis made her approach, her debilitating migraine decided to do the same. An overwhelming sensation of pain, fear, panic, and loss of control washed over her, blocking out the logical thoughts that usually occupied her mind. As the other female grabbed her throat in a threatening manner, the Maximal nearly passed out from the pain. Her condition was rapidly deteriorating and she was running out of time and options in more ways than one.
“Not now..,” she mumbled incoherently, unable to maintain her focus on the other female. She felt as if her mutant spark was killing her body, destroying her from the inside out.. It all had to stop! Summoning what strength she had, Valkyrie brought both arms up to force Nemesis to release her grip on her throat. She then pushed her away as hard as she could, desperate to put a little distance between the two of them. Her headache was making it impossible to concentrate.. to even think straight. In an attempt to persuade Nemesis to keep her distance, the Maximal sub-commander raised her arms to aim her wrist-mounted vulcan cannons at the other female. She did not wish to use them, but would if she had to since these glitches of hers had become unbearable.
For a brief moment it seemed to have worked. Nemesis held her distance, allowing Valkyrie to draw a sigh of relief. Unfortunately the moment was short-lived, as the Predacon’s face soon lit up in an almost playful grin.
“So you want to play rough, hmm?”
With those words the avian Predacon lunged herself at the winged Maximal, slamming herself into the other female with enough force send them both crashing into the wall behind her. This time Nemesis was a tad faster, bringing her elbow up against the Maximal’s throat to keep her steady against the wall while she used her free arm to try to restrain the other females’.
“Now how about opening that door and we can both forget this encounter ever happened..”
But despite the sudden outburst before Valkyrie had a chance to clear her head, the Maximal sub-commander stood firm. Her training prevented her from accepting such a proposal, even if it might have seemed like the logical thing to do at the time. With some effort she managed to free one of her arms long enough to aim her wrist cannon straight at Nemesis’ midsection.
“I don’t think so!,” the Maximal exclaimed as she fired off a shot at so close range nobody would be able to outmaneuver it. In that instant their optics met; a noble Maximal officer and a Predacon convict, fighting for two opposing sides in a war neither one of them had been given a choice in entering. Valkyrie gasped and moved her hand up to her throat as Nemesis’ optics flickered while taking a few shaky steps back. The Maximal warrior watched as the unarmed foe she had just shot at close range dropped to one knee, part of her almost feeling bad for the actions brought about by the other female’s unprovoked attack. It was quite evident by the look on the Predacon’s face that she was experiencing a great deal of pain right now.
What to do now?
Valkyrie was at a loss of an answer. This situation was quickly escalating out of control and none of the answers she could come up with seemed reasonable enough to solve it.
Something had compelled her to come here. What was it? What good could possibly come out of this?
The questions throbbed in her head as the scenario repeated itself in her mind, while her analytical mind searched for alternate solutions that might have lead to a different outcome. Within moments one question stood out.
Why would this unarmed, seemingly intelligent, Predacon have attacked her? Surely she would have realized..
Her answer came when she looked down at the other female, now sitting crouched down on the floor with her hands covering the large, open wound in her abdomen. The wound was oozing a viscous substance, unlike any normal mech fluid the Maximal had seen. A shimmering glow appeared around the edges of the injury, growing in intensity the deeper into the opening she focused. As Valkyrie turned her attention to the other female’s face, she could almost detect a faint smile. It seemed to widen a bit as the other female forced herself to her feet, removing her hands to expose the full extent of the damage done to her.
“You should have just released us both,” Nemesis declared angrily as her optics flashed brightly.
Valkyrie did not have much time to react before Nemesis then threw herself over her, and her fighting ability was even further delayed by the returning headache. To her horror the wounded female latched onto her and as she did, the Maximal felt a tingling then painful sensation spreading throughout her body. Within moments her optics started flickering but not before she had caught a glimpse of the shimmering material spreading from the other female to herself and that she now, as well, was missing several pieces of armor. Valkyrie wanted to scream out in terror, but the only sound that left her lips was a muffled whimper.
What seemed like an eternity but could not have been more than a few moments later, it was over. The cell seemed almost eerily silent until..
“I’m sorry, Nemesis.”
The familiar voice seemingly echoed through the confined space, repeating its message over and over to the now single occupant kneeling on the floor next to the mangled remnants of the demised female. For several seconds the survivor did not budge, merely sitting there staring blankly in front of her without focusing on anything in particular as the voice chimed in again.
“The only thing you have to fear in this cell is yourself.”
Yourself..
The words seemed so genuine, yet almost ironically true. And the voice behind the words held such a concern it was almost touching. Almost.
Casting a glance at the lifeless shape in front of her, Nemesis then pushed herself up to a standing position. As she did, she angrily pounded her fist against the nearest wall.
“Get out of my head, Optimus!”
As the voice started to fade, the female Predacon whirled on the remnants of Valkyrie once more, watching her with a certain discontent as she lay there at her feet. Valkyrie.. Once one of the highest ranking Maximals now reduced to a barely recognizable hulk on the floor, twisted into a strange combination of peace and torment. Such a waste.. Her tarnished remains a reminder of how it’s possible to be one’s own worst enemy.
Nemesis certainly was not proud of what she’d done and would have preferred another, simpler, outcome. The female was well aware of the fact that the Maximals would be hunting her like an animal now that she had taken another of their comrades from them, even if she did not have complete control over either outcome. She had been branded a monster a very long time ago and perhaps that was indeed a fitting description of what she had become. Much of her lifetime had been spent in captivity by those wanting to harvest her potential, or running from the ones intent to extract vengeance. But doing so had been much easier when she was not trapped in a single location.
Yet she could not change the past so dwelling on the outcome would not do her any good. Surely the Maximals would be on their way soon.. she was not about to waste any more time here waiting for them to arrive.
A quick survey of the floor revealed a blade Valkyrie must have brought with her. Nemesis quickly snatched it up and examined it, determining it was still sharp enough to be useful. She held it up to her wrist, the one with the slave brand permanently imprinted into her armor, and turned away from the body behind her. Upon doing so she placed herself in clear view of the cell’s camera, still taping and transmitting the images of the scene that was unfolding to the other Maximals. Nemesis paid it no heed. She was as of yet unaware of the fact that most of the Maximals had gathered outside and as such nobody had been watching the monitors for a little while.
Hesitating for a couple of seconds, Nemesis looked down at the blade against her wrist. Her voice was much calmer as she spoke, even if nobody was there to hear her the sound of her voice bouncing off the walls held a certain comfort.
“I told you, Optimus.. We can’t fight our nature. We are what we are.”
With those words, she started cutting into her wrist. The pain was unbearable, causing Nemesis to grimace and writhe in agony, but she still cut deeper, forcing the blade through the armor. Just short of separating the hand from the wrist she stopped, eyeing the damage for a brief moment as the intense glow got brighter.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Maximals,” the avian Predacon groaned in pain as she turned around to face the still locked door.
“But I fear I’ve outstayed my welcome..”
Her shimmering, severely damaged arm hit the door with as much force as Nemesis could muster. The glow immediately spread to the affected part of the door, eating away at its surface and then the locking mechanism inside. Meanwhile Nemesis pressed herself up against the door for support, the look of pain still evident on her face for a few more seconds until the repairs started setting in at a rapid pace. Within moments she started regaining some functionality in her hand, then some more, whereas the once solid door degraded under the force.
Nemesis took a shaky step back, rubbing her newly reattached hand while the minor repairs continued. She then kicked the door forcefully, first once then a second time, before it flew open on the third attempt. Knowing the Maximals would surely arrive soon, she quickly converted to beast form and took flight since her avian mode was both faster and less likely to cause the Sentinel defense system to attack. She swiftly left the brig, trying to avoid any Maximals along the way to freedom.
Ah! Who cares 
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Someone should check the security cameras for the brig and find out Nemesis's location, etc. ))