The Intergalactic Highway

(( OOC: Oh, I didn't mean anything about changing how things go down between Megs and OP in the pod, Darkspark. Sorry for the misconception in my words. I just assumed sabotage by either Blackarachnia or Tarantulas was how Optimus lost control over the pod's commands when it was too late for him to turn back and then Megatron wiggled his way in and gloated about his imminent death. Either that or Megatron had gained control over the controls himself and effectively and successfully killed OP. Like you, I don't want too much changed in that scene either because Megatron's gloating was so evil, and he was so absorbed with himself for having finally gotten rid of the pesky Maximal leader who keeps getting in his way of universal domination. A little dialogue can be different and Phoenix and I can indulge a little more with the scene, but otherwise it should be pretty close to the show's season finale because it was a great cliffhanger. ))

((OOC: I was hoping to start posting these events a bit later, but i was getting bored with waiting.
So i'll start by posting smaller parts when there are quiet moments like these.))

Darkness.... What happened? All there was, was just darkness.
There was no pain, no joy, no sadness, no anger, no happiness, no conflict, no peace....
Just a never ending darkness.
An absolute void.
She has been drifting inside this void for a while now.
How long it’s been?
She had no idea....
Time didn't seem to be a factor in this void.
There was only herself that existed within this void.
She looked down, and saw her own body.
But if there was only darkness, how could she see her own body so clearly?
There must be a light somewhere....
That was the only logical conclusion.

And so she searched.
For how long she didn't know.
Time didn't exist within this void.
But after a while she found a tiny white specter.
She started to move towards it.
How?
She didn't know the answer.
There was nothing to walk on.
She moved her legs, but they didn't seem to touch anything.
She thought about using her wings, but after looking over her shoulders, she realized there was no air to use them.
There was only the void.
The absolute void.

No!
There was the speck!
She turned her head back towards the speck and saw the speck had grown into an average sized dot.

She didn't move on her own.
She was being pulled towards it.
She moved towards it for a while.
How much time passed since she discovered the speck, she didn't know.
It could've been a second.
It could've also been a century.
All she knew she was getting closer to, what she now thought as to be, a star.

The closer she came to the white ball of light, the more she started to feel as if she was getting home.
And she was hoping to talk to Optimus.....
Wait.... Optimus?
Like as if she was hit by a huge wave, her memories filled her empty mind.

Her name was Valkyrie.
And she.... Was off-line.
She remembered every part, every microsecond of her end by the hands of the Predacon inside brig, who she remembered by name: Nemesis.

But how was it even possible to think logically?
She wasn't one with the allspark. This she knew.
It was impossible for her spark to do so.
It was not even remotely compatible with the sparks of the other transformers. Maximal or Predacon alike.

"Your spark? You mean MY spark!" an eary voice filled her mind.

The voice was not only loud, but it made her shiver in fear, down to the core of her being.

Then the voice continued, but more calmly then a few moments ago.
"You never wondered what the large amount of data was that you or your Maximal scientists couldn't access.
You people knew that I was ancient.
Many eons old.
Every bit of data I accumulated during my existence, stored within the endless storage of my spark.
You were naive to think it was anything else."

She was right.
Everything she knew about her spark indicated that the spark itself carried a personality.
"I apologise...."
"It is too late for forgiveness.... All these eons, being tortured by scientists of different generations, with your Maximal scientists being the last."

Valkyrie didn't feel too comfortable about where this being was going.

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

Venatrix watched Umbra leave
Unlike the mercenary, she'd rather stare oblivion straight into its face before it'll sweeps her existence from this galaxy.
Oh, how glorifying it would be.

OOC: I wasn't sure how Una would want the next scene to play out, with Big T taking full control or just subtly influencing her, so I decided to go the subtle route for now so as not to steal any of BA's thunder during this scene. If Una wants me to change it though & give BA complete free will for this scene then I'll alter it accordingly


Tarantulas had been listening patiently and quietly to everything said and done by Maximal and Predacon alike since he'd slipped into the recesses of Blackarachnia's mind, allowing her freedom for now as so he could observe events as they unfolded...And honestly, as infuriating as it was to have lost his body, watching the maximals lay claim to his only means of escape was even more upsetting.

"Typical, leave it to a Maximal to arrive at exactly the right place at the wrong time" Tarantulas scowled inwardly, oddly finding himself at relative ease despite his ire over the situation.

It was strange, he was surrounded by Maximals on all sides, the closest things he had to allies were in no position to help him reclaim the pod, and yet he wasn't afraid for his life as desperately as he'd been before...Clearly a side effect of his out of body experience, he wasn't as tense as he'd normally be in this situation because it wasn't HIS body in danger of being damaged if anyone's trigger finger slipped. An amusing thought to say the least, then again, if Blackarachnia got herself slagged, he'd be slagged along with her, and as much as he loathed to admit it, Primal, that pompous musclebound ape, was correct in his logic that if the planet buster wasn't destroyed they'd all die. The moment to take the pod for himself had long since passed, but it could still be the key to his salvation if he spun his web of deception just right...

"Let the Flying Monkey play the hero, one last time, for ME, Hehehehe...BWAHAHAHAHA!" Tarantulas cackled madly as he poked and prodded Blackarachnia's mind, urging her to play along with the maximal's plan, playing off her instinct for self-preservation for now as he gathered his strength to attempt a full bodily takeover...He was new to this, better to play it safe for now rather than violently seize control of the she spider's body and risk giving his presence away to Primal and the others.

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote: OOC: Oh, I didn't mean anything about changing how things go down between Megs and OP in the pod, Darkspark. Sorry for the misconception in my words. I just assumed sabotage by either Blackarachnia or Tarantulas was how Optimus lost control over the pod's commands when it was too late for him to turn back and then Megatron wiggled his way in and gloated about his imminent death. Either that or Megatron had gained control over the controls himself and effectively and successfully killed OP. Like you, I don't want too much changed in that scene either because Megatron's gloating was so evil, and he was so absorbed with himself for having finally gotten rid of the pesky Maximal leader who keeps getting in his way of universal domination. A little dialogue can be different and Phoenix and I can indulge a little more with the scene, but otherwise it should be pretty close to the show's season finale because it was a great cliffhanger. ))

Aha! I get it now, Megs still drives the final nail in the coffin and has his big moment, but Tarantulas plays a more subtle role by messing with the pods commands, making it that much more easy for Megs to trap Optimus inside

You sure you weren't a Pred in a past life?

Arachnitron did have a point: their inaction caused her to take action herself. But it was her choice to attack the base along with Blackarachnia and Tarantulas, attacking those who tried to help her. Consequences will follow her decisions here, and that was on her head, not theirs.
She was a victim, but she wasn't innocent.

This was pointless now, though. She was glad Optimus got everyone back to the pod yet she was watching out for him. With Rhinox out, someone had to. The only thing she could do now was watch, listen, and tried to keep everyone steady, including Optimus. She reached towards Aurora and kept the young one close to her, giving a little warm smile.

Though, it seems she was the only one in the entire group, smiling.

The black widow just shook her head at all these yelling and nonsense. She just rolled her optics. So much drama in here. She would have laughed if it weren't for the fact a certain someone came at her.

"You want a reason to finish programming this stasis pod?""Because this is no longer your way off of this planet! Now it's in my possession! You've lost your chance to escape, but if you want to live longer in order to find some other means out of this war tomorrow, then your best bet is to co-operate. If it works, you'll still be saving your own life."

Blackarachnia was actually caught off guard by the sudden movement and let out a little grunt when Optimus lifted her up, showing how small she was compared to the hairy ape.

"Planetary destruction in 22.5 cycles,"

Blow up and kill everyone along with her or save her own skin by helping them out in the process saving their lives as well?

"Let the Flying Monkey play the hero, one last time, for ME, Hehehehe...BWAHAHAHAHA!

"Tarantulas?!"

She scorned the voice in her head; regretting her decision to enter inside Tarantulas' mind, she couldn't help but realize no matter what she was being forced to help these Maximals. She had no control over the situation. No power or bargain. And she hated that with a passion. With no control, she was just a servant, a slave to everyone in the room. Now, she may be a slave in her own body.

"I'd hate put a bug in the program, Boss Monkey, but dis stasis pod ain't equipped ta duke it out with the planet buster."

"Every one of these alien structures have been designed for a specific purpose, Rattrap. This one is busy, and I'm betting I can fly close enough to take it out."

"With what?!" the rodent asked. "One of yer famous 'We Can Do It' speeches?"

"With a transwarp explosion."

Blackarachina let a out laugh at how ridculous and suicidal the Maximal was, "You'll blow yourself to atoms!"

"Uh, Optimus, I think some of yer cheese has slid off your cracker."

Whitegrazer saw Rattrap's look of disbelief, but she understood what they had to do, "It's the only way to stop this weapon from destroying us. Our only hope of survival, and someone will have to fly it up there."

"I volunteer."

(ooc: Great post, Venatrix!! Very interesting! Also loved to see Tarantulas make himself at home inside BA's head. Fun stuff!

And yes, I would love for Megs to have his little moment with Primal.

Also I think BA might have missed Aurora's comment to her? Or if she just chose to ignore it, that's okay too.

And grrr@chrome! I spent at least an hour typing up a post last night, and then chrome decides to error on me and closes all the windows without warning. Entire post gone.. Double grr!!)

Megatron's fingers tapped impatiently against the hard surface of the console.

What was taking so long?! Had something else gone wrong?

It felt as if a lifetime had passed in those short few moments since the signal had been lost and Megatron was thus no longer able to observe the progression of his plan. He had allowed Tarantulas to take off with the transwarp cell after having made certain modifications of his own, yet for a short while it seemed to be a mistake to have put so much faith in the spider's abilities.

No.. Not a mistake. His plan was solid and would still prove to be their salvation.

Shortly before they lost the signal, Tarantulas appeared to have been back on his feet. Or at the very least the plan was still in motion.

Megatron gritted his teeth in anger and disgust as he briefly contemplated the fact that it was that lowlife arachnid Tarantulas who would determine the outcome of this latest turn of events. It was not as if the fuschia colored reptile was unaware of how the spider would go behind his back and undermine his authority. He did not trust Tarantulas but he had to give the spider credit for his ability to go to any means to achieve his goals. And as things were, that goal was one they both shared. Survival. It had become a lethal game of wits that Megatron fully intended to win.

The vicious scowl slowly gave way to a grin as Megatron continued dwelling on the probable outcome. Tarantulas' fate was already sealed. But for the Predacon Leader to truly savor his victory, he needed to be able to follow the progression of the plan.

"Steelclaw," he ordered, his voice again calm as if he never had the outburst from a few moments ago, "Reestablish the signal."

Megatron then paused for a moment while taking in the faces of his underlings, stopping as his gaze fell upon the former Decepticon at his side.

"And Nemesis? Go run a bath for me. I will wish to celebrate my victory momentarily. Yesssss.."


At that moment Nemesis truly felt that their arrogant, pompous leader had completely lost it. It took every bit of self-control she could muster not to slam her fist straight into the commander's face, yet such an action would surely not be wise at this time and place. Several of the soldiers present were loyal to a fault and Megatron himself had proven that he was capable of being rather unpredictable and cruel. Those were among the few characteristics he possessed that she actually respected.

"Yessir," she muttered as way of response and stood up to make her way out of the command center. As soon as she was out the door, however, she changed course towards the cargo bay, not having an inkling of desire to fulfill Megatron's command yet not being foolish enough to defy him so openly.

Upon reaching the cargo bay she looked down at her hand, only to discover she was still holding the bottle of oil Umbra had handed her a little while ago. Nemesis frowned upon seeing it, still rather upset by the poor treatment she was given by Megatron. She was most certainly not a slave he could just push around however he pleased!

With a growl she hurled the bottle against the wall, shattering it and spilling the thick liquid all over.

(ooc: Aurora's post to follow.. Also please correct me if I made a mistake in thinking Tarantulas had taken off with the transwarp cell in the first place. Many parts of the show is a bit of a blur to me.)

Aurora slowly backed away, closer to Whitegrazer, as Optimus appeared to take charge of the situation by lifting Blackarachnia off the ground while listing up some very persuasive arguments as to why she should help them. Thus far nothing seemed to get through to the black widow but unless she was completely dense or suicidal, the ermine fuzor had hopes she would comply in the end.

In the background she noticed the gazing stare of Dinobot, a seasoned soldier frequently at odds with her friend Rattrap. Much like many of them, Dinobot had never taken her presence seriously so the fact he was now staring at her made her feel more than a little uneasy. The raptor was hard to read..

Everyone kept talking, arguing about the best course of action. After her little outburst earlier, Arachnitron appeared more withdrawn now. Her desperate words echoed in Aurora's mind causing the fuzor to reflect on them more than she had initially.

"What? I trusted you all by telling you my secret and where did that get me? No one trusted me because of the Predacon inside of me. And no one welcomed me. As soon as the big monkey was out of the room, one of your crew practically HANDED me over to the Predacons who invaded the base. It was you all who told me I didn't belong here. You Maximals think you're so high and mighty. You know what the Predacons will do when they find out about the Maximal and me? Help the Predacon. You know what you Maximals did? Help the Maximal. You know what Tarantulas did? He helped me. So as far as I'm concerned you're all the same when it comes to your prejudiceness. All the same. No one. No one accepted the fact that there are THREE of us in here. Do you know what that is like?" "Do not fool yourself into think that I didn't have my own plans." "You couldn't possibly understand the pain the other personalities were causing me. This was my only choice. My only chance at being normal! Everyone was so quick to help the Maximal and give her what she wanted. No one asked the rest of us in here."

Her choice..


Aurora pondered the choice of words for a moment. Albeit she could not imagine what it was like having three distinct personalities sharing a single body, it would certainly seem that regardless of which of them was in charge, the other two were getting the short end of the stick. Turning towards the arachnid, she said;

"Yes.. Tarantulas helped the personality currently in charge. But what of the other voices that he silenced? Do they not possess the same right to be heard as you do?"


Aurora sighed, wondering if there was any way to transfer these other voices to empty shells thus preserving all of the components making up the mess that was Arachnitron's mind. It sounded risky and she wasn't sure all three personalities would even comply.

Deciding she was not going to get through to Arachnitron this way, the fuzor merely shook her head solemnly. She then turned back to witness the discussion currently going on between Rattrap and Optimus.

"Every one of these alien structures have been designed for a specific purpose, Rattrap. This one is busy, and I'm betting I can fly close enough to take it out."

"With what?!""One of yer famous 'We Can Do It' speeches?"

Unable to hold back a snicker, Aurora momentarily forgot the grave nature of the situation they were all in. A few nanoclicks later, Optimus reminded them all too clearly.

"With a transwarp explosion."

...

What?

It sounded awfully dangerous. But perhaps it could be done if they had time to remote control the pod to the right location so that..

Blackarachnia wrote:"You'll blow yourself to atoms!"

That spider sounded a little too happy about the prospect.

Whitegrazer wrote:"I volunteer."

"No!," Aurora blurted out spontaneously as she grabbed a hold of Whitegrazer's arm to prevent her from going anywhere. "The risk is too high that this will be a one way trip! We can probably remote access the pod and control it from here."

(( OOC: Fantastic posts, everyone! Loving it. You're doing a great job with Megs, Phoenix! And, Venatrix, that was very intriguing. Nice. Now, if everyone could just post a little more frequently than once a week or two weeks. ))

"Uh, Optimus, I think some of yer cheese has slid off your cracker."

The gorilla simply raised a brow at Rattrap's remark before looking back at Blackarachnia's snicker.

"You'll blow yourself to atoms!"

"If it saves this planet, it'll be worth it!" Primal argued with the black widow. "If not... I'm the worse off," he said, lowering his head for a moment. "Either way, it's the only chance any of us have right now!" the leader added with a couple pokes of his index finger to her shoulder while Tigatron and Cheetor kept their grasps on her, glaring into her black optics.

"It's the only way to stop this weapon from destroying us. Our only hope of survival, and someone will have to fly it up there."

Rattrap shook his head at Whitegrazer's words, trying to think of another way. If they lost Optimus, they would be at a great disadvantage with the Predacons.

"I volunteer."

"No!" Tigatron intervened. "Let me! I owe this world," he pleaded.

Primal's eyes closed for a second when he heard Whitegrazer say that. It didn't surprise him that she was the first to volunteer for the mission, especially with the visions she had had, but he couldn't do that. She wasn't equipped to escape fast enough from the explosion. Neither was Tigatron. He looked at them slowly and said, "I'm grateful," and he truly was for the crew he had, "and I know how dangerous this is, but only a flier has a chance to get clear of the blast." If anyone was to survive, it had to be a flier. But it didn't matter. Optimus had already made up his mind. It would be him and him only. He couldn't risk anyone else's life for this.

"No!," "The risk is too high that this will be a one way trip! We can probably remote access the pod and control it from here."

The Maximal Commander immediately turned his attention to Aurora's sudden outburst. He smiled lightly at her suggestion, understanding her idea and hopefulness to not lose anyone else right now, but unfortunately, they couldn't pull it off that way. "We can't send a signal powerful enough to reach the pod in that distance in order to remotely control it. Not with the shields up at full power," he calmly explained to her. "And without any navigational or autopilot systems, the stasis pod will need to be manually piloted and guided up to the weapon." As an experienced pilot and flier, Optimus was the best choice. He learned to remain calm in tight situations, partly thanks to Whitegrazer's meditation techniques, and if something went wrong, the bot would need to be a quick thinker. All of these things had been taken into account already, among the obvious ones such as being a flier to escape the blast. The only problem was that he was their commanding officer; their leader who had gotten them through so much in this war. He knew how much they depended on him, but he was certain that if anything happened to him, they would be all right. They've pulled through tough circumstances without him before. This is what had to be done, whether any of them liked it or not. To save this planet and his Maximals, as well as the Predacons, this was their only choice. Suicide wasn't in his job description but he felt that this was his responsilibity and he couldn't put it on any of the others.

"Now, start rigging an auto charge on that transwarp cell," Optimus ordered Rattrap. "I'll need about 30 nano-klicks to clear the ship."

"You got it!" the demolition expert acknowledged. Putting his weapon away, he walked over to Blackarachnia and the pod, pulling out one of his demo charges and setting it for 30 seconds.

"Wanna hand over dat transwarp cell for a second, Legs?" the rat asked her more politely than he cared to. "So I can rig this up before you install it on the pod?"

Fear for this mission hadn't hit Optimus yet. He was sure it would work, it was so simple. He looked at Whitegrazer with confidence as a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He could feel her positive energy and guidance. They had a bond that he hoped they would never lose. Despite that voice and image he had in his head from earlier from her, it didn't matter now. They still had each other in this moment. He had everyone there with him, except Rhinox and Ironclaw, and they're support made it easier for him to face what could be certain death. No, it won't come to that, he told himself. I'll come back to them. I just have to time it right.

"and I know how dangerous this is, but only a flier has a chance to get clear of the blast."

"That's why I'M the one to go!" Airazor protested, hoping that Optimus would change his mind. She had moved towards the back of the room after Tigatron relieved her from guarding Blackarachnia. "I'm the best flier here!" She gloated, hoping to sway him one last time. Without Optimus and Rhinox, who will give everyone orders? He needed to be at the base in case something else happens. What if the Aliens change their attack? Or if the predicons use this opportunity to finish the Maximals off? They wouldn't know what to do without Optimus' guidance. That was why she needed to go. Her importance in this war was miniscule compared to the Maximal leader. Besides, she would have no issues with steering the pod away from the explosion and landing safely.

---

"AHHHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!" The familiar maniacal laughter of an insane preying mantis could be heard through the hallways of the predicon base. He had no real concern with the events happening outside. It was totally out of his control. Perhaps Megatron would save this world... or Optimus. He didn't really care. If the world exploded around him and the rest of the predicons, at least his death would be glorious.

For now, he decided to just enjoy himself during the last moments of his life. He had been collecting particular insects and animals in his room as pets for the past few days and he had been looking forward to 'playing' with them. It just so happened that each of his specimens were the beast forms of many of the maximals and predicons. "Awww... poor Blackarachnia. SHE LOST ALL HER LEGS! AHHHAHA" He yelled after ripping off the legs from a black widow spider. "PERHAPS TARANTULAS WILL SAVE YOU!" He spoke to another spider in front of him, this one being a tarantula. It looked around in pure confusion before being squished by Manterror's claw. "NOPE. HE WAS DEFEATED BY THE MANTIS GOD AS WELL! HAHAHAHHAHAH!"

With his spiders defeated, Manterror looked over to a cage which held a small gray Rat and a Frilled Lizard. He unlocked the door and opened it up so he could take the two out. "Oh look, more friends. Welcome to hell Rattrap and Frilla! PREPARE TO BE DISMEMBE---" Just as he spoke, an explosion near the ship caused the room to shake and the cage to be knocked onto the floor. Manterror was knocked off his feet and from the corner of his eye, he witnessed the Rat and Lizard dart towards freedom. "NO! NONONO! GET BACK HERE!! DAMN YOU!!!" He jumped back to his feet and ran after them yelling at the top of his lungs: "GET BACK HERE FILTHY MAXIMALS! INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS! LET ME SLICE YOUR FACE OFF!!! BAHAHHAHA!!!"

(( OOC: Sorry, I'm not too good at inner dialog stuff so I was kinda just waiting until Optimus said that line. Airazor is pretty quiet during this conversation besides that! She kinda just stands around looks pretty for most of it. I know I could add stuff in, but this is one of the funniest conversations in the show, so I didn't want to steal anyones thunder!

Thanks for the comments on Manterror! You're right, its been awhile!))

OOC:

Unfortunately, this entire situation may very well harden him and take a toll on his faith in those he would try to help or welcome into his ranks and his ship.

Awwww..... That kind of made me sad. I mean, it's not like the Maximal programming had anything to do with what the Hybrid did.

"Yes.. Tarantulas helped the personality currently in charge. But what of the other voices that he silenced? Do they not possess the same right to be heard as you do?"

Yes, quite a conundrum, isn't it? So what is the right thing to do? Quite a moral debate. I love it!

BIC:

"ENOUGH! If there's one thing I've learned so far, it's not to trust those with their own agendas so easily,"

Arachnitron caught the glare Optimus sent her way. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared back at Optimus. She was angry, but she knew when she was defeated. She didn't respond. Though if she would have responded, she would have reminded him that the Maximals, too, had their own agendas. It wasn't as though she didn't overhear some of them discussing how to get rid of the other personalities and keep the Maximal alone. How could he stand there and preach about her having her own agenda when everyone else, including himself, had their own agendas too?

"But we don't have time for this. In fact, it would seem I've wasted enough of my time as it is,"

Optimus continued aiming his comments towards Arachnitron and Starshadow.

"Perhaps I have as well. This wasn't the safe haven the Maximal programming promised me. I guess Maximals lie and mislead just like Predacons," she answered him speaking to him just as coldly as he had spoken to her. Though her anger really wasn't directed at Optimus at all. It was Wintersong who had told her to go with the Predacons. Arachnitron did not have the mental stability at the moment to realize that Wintersong had felt betrayed at the time too and hadn't known that the intentions of the Predacon programming were not necessarily shared with the others.

During the attack on the Axalon, Arachnitron had left the Maximal base in a blinding rage. All three personalities fought hard over who would have possession of the body which caused her circuitry to malfunction. She didn't actually remember running away. Not a single one of the three personalities were in control at that point. She was, for lack of a better description, a blank core running blindly until she couldn't run anymore. She remembered what Wintersong said to her and then the next thing she remembered was waking up to the Predacon transport hovering over her. Glowstick and the Predacons took her in. She was, ironically, being rescued by the same bots who ruined her.

Her mind was clouded by confusion and rage. In her mind, no Maximal came to find her, in fact, they tried to give her away. She was weakened from the fury her body had been forced to endure; unable to move or defend herself. The Predacons took her in and Tarantulas rid her of the pain she was in. Yet, she was reminded of the pain the Predacon scientists put her through. It made so much sense to turn to the Maximals given the way her own kind had turned her into some kind of freak. But when she really needed them, they weren't there. They had abandoned her just like the Predacons had. They really were no better than the Preds.

Had the Maximal programming been present she may have been able to find some way to quell Arachnitron's rage. She may have pointed out that not only was it difficult to live with this problem, but it was probably just as difficult for her friends to watch her suffering. Of course, if the Maximal had been present, then so would the Predacon programming. She would have referred to the same bots as enemies and would have been within her telling her the complete opposite. She suddenly realized she was no less confused without her alters than she was with them. It was odd how their presence confused and tormented her and their absence did just the same.

Suddenly the ermine spoke to her again.

"Yes. Tarantulas helped the personality currently in charge. But what of the other voices that he silenced? Do they not possess the same right to be heard as you do?"

If she were standing her by herself, Arachnitron would have knelt down and sobbed, but with the Maximals present, there was no way she could allow that to happen. She tried to keep her features stone cold even though inside she was spiraling out of control. She felt so helpless and lost. She was angry and confused. She looked at the fuzor through optics that betrayed her current state of mind.

"Funny how all of a sudden you understand the true dilemma here even though it took silencing the Maximal I have inside of me to make you see it. I wonder if it were me and the Predacon who were silenced, if you would have come to the same realization or rejoiced in the specimen that would have been left behind," she spoke to the fuzor with no inflection in her voice at all, though it did catch in her throat once or twice as she tried to hide the emotion that was trying to find its way out. "I don't know what the right answer is, but if I brought them both back, the pain would be excruciating. How can someone who claims to have been my friend wish that upon me?"

She looked over at Blackarachnia. "And now someone else knows what that pain is like..." she thought to herself, but didn't dare speak those words out loud. She figured she was the only one who knew that Tarantulas was inside Blackarachnia's mind. She knew the unmistakable signs that Blackarachnia probably didn't even realize she was showcasing. There was no doubt about it. She was sharing her mind and Arachnitron knew the kind of agony that would cause. Any time Tarantulas needed or wanted to put the other widow in her place; all he had to do was speak inside of her mind and the pain would be debilitating. Arachnitron couldn't help but be a bit jealous. Not of the pain, but that Blackarachnia could still hear Tarantulas' voice. He made sense to Arachnitron. She needed him. She was so alone without his guidance. (OOC: Okay....that creeped even ME out a bit. )

She tuned back in to the conversation that was going on in front of her.

Pretending to dramatically bite his fingertips, Rattrap pointed out, "I'd hate put a bug in the program, Boss Monkey, but dis stasis pod ain't equipped ta duke it out with the planet buster."

Stepping away from the black widow and turning around to look at the Maximal Spy, Optimus explained, "Every one of these alien structures have been designed for a specific purpose, Rattrap. This one is busy, and I'm betting I can fly close enough to take it out."

"With what?!" the rodent asked. "One of yer famous 'We Can Do It' speeches?" he mocked.

"With a transwarp explosion."

"Uh, Optimus, I think some of yer cheese has slid off your cracker."

"You'll blow yourself to atoms!"

One by one each Maximal volunteered to go instead of the monkey. Arachnitron couldn't help but find it a bit amusing. She winked playfully at Blackarachnia. "I'm sure we can find a way to fit them all inside if they really want to go," she mocked sounding a lot like her Predacon programming. The mood swing was quite characteristic of the bipolar Hybrid.

She wondered how much time she had before the inhibitor chip would stop functioning and she'd be back to sharing her body again.

OOC: Hope that was okay!

@Darkspark: What do you think about the Inhibitor chip? Would it stand up to the transwarp explosion or would it knock it offline, do you think? Hope Arachnitron's devotion to Tarantulas wasn't too over the top.

Blackrosefencer wrote: @Darkspark: What do you think about the Inhibitor chip? Would it stand up to the transwarp explosion or would it knock it offline, do you think? Hope Arachnitron's devotion to Tarantulas wasn't too over the top.

Well, its your call . Since the inhibiter chip is basically a modified version of a pred programming chip, it SHOULD stand up to the transwarp wave the same way Inferno's & Blackarachnia's did, otherwise every reprogrammed maximal turned Predacon in Megatron's army would have suddenly "seen the light" after recovering from the impact XD. That's just my opinion on the matter though, if you want Arachnitron to go back to her multi-personality self you totally can, depends on whether or not you're tired of her team-up with Tarantulas yet (I'm trying to play Big T as someone who's still out for number one & prefers solitude, but recognizes the need for allies he can trust/manipulate to pull off larger schemes, things he played around with in the TV show). If Arachnitron goes bipolar again now she'll be in a tight spot, the Maxis will want the Maxi in her & the Preds will want the Pred in her and vice versa.

And no worries, you didn't go over the top, it just goes to show how desperate she is for someone who accepts her for who she is rather than trying to bring out one of her other personalities (and how its affecting her psyche, the need to be accepted by someone, anyone, even HIM ). It makes sense she'd feel devoted to/dependent on him, since he's such a chivalrous guy and all

P.S. I'll try to make one last big appearance for Tarantulas soon then Optimal Optimus, if only to make those modifications to the pod's controls that we were discussing . It depends on whether Una wants to post first and begin the final touches on the pod or if she doesn't mind Eight Legs taking control & adding his last personal touches before her next post.

OOC:

DarkSpark wrote: That's just my opinion on the matter though, if you want Arachnitron to go back to her multi-personality self you totally can, depends on whether or not you're tired of her team-up with Tarantulas yet (I'm trying to play Big T as someone who's still out for number one & prefers solitude, but recognizes the need for allies he can trust/manipulate to pull off larger schemes, things he played around with in the TV show).

No. I'm not getting tired of their little team up yet. I was just thinking ahead.

If Arachnitron goes bipolar again now she'll be in a tight spot, the Maxis will want the Maxi in her & the Preds will want the Pred in her and vice versa.

Well, she's bipolar already, but the other personalities aren't back....she's just really messed up. The Hybrid personality is really walking a thin line here as far as her sanity is concerned....she's had the other two personalities controlling her actions for a long time and then once they were gone, Tarantulas was controlling them. Now, he's gone and she all of a sudden has to think for herself. She'll start taking her cues from Blackarachnia in the next few posts as she starts to realize that Tarantulas is telling Blackarachnia what to do. So, for her, it's better than not having anyone guiding her at all. But right now she's still susceptible to the same constant state of confusion she was in when her alters were present. Instead of hearing them talk to her, she's kind of trying to imagine what they would say to her and is getting herself all flustered as she still doesn't know which one to listen to.

But, I was going to wait for a bit to bring them back. Now would be totally inconvenient for everyone given the whole scripted plot line going on. I was going to wait until season two to bring them back. I was just more or less trying to figure out when and wondering what exactly the transwarp wave would do to her and the chip inside her. But you're right it's probably vaguely similar to what programs a Maximal to be a Predacon or a Predacon to be a Maximal. I mean, if it knocked her temporary chip offline, it'd have to knock everyone's permanent programming chips offline too.

But I'm interested in continuing the little team up at least for a few episodes into season two since the trio has really only just started their mischief together.

Although, we did say the chip was just temporary. So we'll have to brainstorm what to do once that happens: whether we continue with the team up after that or end it when the chip wears off or whatever. That would be fun to have the Predacon programming interact with Tarantulas again for a bit. I wonder what she would do to him. But he can try to figure out a way to coax the Hybrid back out to put the chip back in. But like I said, that's all for season two...I was just curious about the transwarp wave.

And no worries, you didn't go over the top, it just goes to show how desperate she is for someone who accepts her for who she is rather than trying to bring out one of her other personalities (and how its affecting her psyche, the need to be accepted by someone, anyone, even HIM ). It makes sense she'd feel devoted to/dependent on him, since he's such a chivalrous guy and all

Oh good....that's what I was hoping to show!

Optimus Primal wrote: "We can't send a signal powerful enough to reach the pod in that distance in order to remotely control it. Not with the shields up at full power. And without any navigational or autopilot systems, the stasis pod will need to be manually piloted and guided up to the weapon."

Desperate to avoid any further deaths, Aurora opened her mouth to protest yet no words came out. At this point she saw few other options as Optimus had countered her suggestion with a very valid argument. Chances were that he was right about the signal strength but the small fuzor had serious doubts about his alternate plan. It seemed so risky, so futile, with a very high probability of failure..

Being at a loss of words was no common situation for Aurora, leaving her struggling to find a good persuasion technique against Primal's argument. Deciding to let her actions do the talking for her, the small fuzor made her way over to the commander. After looking up at him with big green optics, but without uttering a word, she wrapped her arms around as much of him as she could and held on with all her might.

She stood there for a long moment until Arachnitron's venomous words drove her to let go in order to face the female spider.

Arachnitron wrote:"Perhaps I have as well. This wasn't the safe haven the Maximal programming promised me. I guess Maximals lie and mislead just like Predacons,"

"Funny how all of a sudden you understand the true dilemma here even though it took silencing the Maximal I have inside of me to make you see it. I wonder if it were me and the Predacon who were silenced, if you would have come to the same realization or rejoiced in the specimen that would have been left behind,"

"I don't know what the right answer is, but if I brought them both back, the pain would be excruciating. How can someone who claims to have been my friend wish that upon me?"

It took every bit of self-control Aurora possessed to keep her voice down as the arachnid once again showed her vindictive nature by placing blame for her predicament on anyone she could. It was getting tiresome quite fast and only resulted in the already brewing dislike Aurora felt for the spiders to increase tenfold.

Yet she remained silent, merely narrowing her optics at the smaller of the she-spiders. Arachnitron was trying to make herself seem invulnerable to any comments they might dish out at her; an attempt she almost succeeded in. The hybrid was already in so much trouble and still she continued to defy them in the most self-righteous ways. Of course none of the Maximals would ever attempt to physically harm her unless absolutely necessary, a fact Aurora pondered if the arachnid was aware of, as she stood there with an almost unusual detachment.

Yet there was something about her that made the fuzor wonder if perhaps she was more stressed out by all of this than she was letting on. Arachnitron had seemed almost frantic earlier when she had told BlackArachnia not to relinquish control of the pod, a vastly different reaction than the much more cold and collected self she was attempting to appear as now. And still she almost seemed to hesitate at times, to choke on a word here and there, and her optics almost looked devastated behind the anger.

Aurora could not help but ease up a little bit as she did feel genuinely bad for the tormented state the spider was in. She contemplated her next course of action carefully before deciding that in some cases the strongest of walls needs to be broken down before they can be rebuilt.

"I'm sure we can find a way to fit them all inside if they really want to go,"

"Interesting choice of words.. coming from you."

Indeed. Arachnitron was acutely aware of what it was like having too many individuals occupying a limited space. The fuzor's voice and attitude mimicked that displayed by the small arachnid as she continued.

"You are truly selfish, aren’t you, believing that you are the only one who has ever experienced pain."

She paused for a moment, feeling a choke form in the back of her throat as the swarm of painful memories attempted to force their way through. So much death and suffering.. Aurora sighed deeply, longingly, her voice no longer capable of hiding the sadness and frustration she felt.

"Yes, your situation is unique but dwelling on self-pity and despair will not solve anything. Can you stop thinking about only yourself long enough to realize that if we don’t stop that weapon out there, we will all be destroyed? Which includes you as well."


Deciding that the verbal attack was leaving a foul taste in her mouth, Aurora sent Arachnitron a final glare before turning her focus on Optimus and Rattrap. The two Maximals were in the midst of debating the best approach to launch an attack against the alien weapon.

With the full gravity of the situation bearing down on the team, Orcariner remained speechless as the others debated over the best means of response to this alien threat. Other jabs were tossed around between Arachnitron and Aurora, but the orca allowed their words to fade into the background. What Optimus was proposing was a high risk operation that would probably lead to death or life-altering injuries. He wanted to protest, but the giant knew fully well what the alternative could result in. This was their only option for salvation. It would be foolhardy to attempt to sit tight and endure the brunt of the extraterrestrial attack. This was their world. If the Vok created it, then they surely have the means to destroy it. As much as Orcairner hated to admit it, Optimus was right. Someone would have to risk his or life to ensure the survival of the remainder of the crew.

Airazor wrote:"That's why I'M the one to go! I'm the best flier here!"

Now others were volunteering for the mission. Only one Maximal was able to make the trip, and Orcariner's body mass made him automatically ineligible. A sting of guilt struck his spark as he realized just how useless he was right now. He would only have the option of standing on the sidelines watching someone else take on a potentially lethal endeavor. The situation was out of his hands and Orcariner knew that logic dictated he should refrain from blaming himself for any further death. It was difficult to follow said logic. He was the team's sentry. He was supposed to be the one protecting others from harm, not the other way around.

"Optimus," he said, from the corner of the room, "Do we really have no other option?"

It was a dumb question. Orcariner knew what the answer would be, but desperation made him ask stupid questions such as this. Three Maximals he knew were dead because of this war. Two alone were killed in the past several days, including his best friend. Should anyone else die this week, Orcariner's morale would suffer yet another critical blow.

"Interesting choice of words.. coming from you."

Arachnitron grinned and winked at Aurora, but didn't respond.

Surprised at the young fuzor's persistence, Arachnitron frowned as the ermine continued to talk to her and perhaps even reason with her.

"You are truly selfish, aren’t you, believing that you are the only one who has ever experienced pain."

Arachnitron stared at the fuzor. She realized the pain the fuzor was referring to was probably mental and emotion pain, while, the pain Arachnitron had referred to was completely physical in nature. Not just pain from battle that heals within a CR chamber. Physical pain that nothing can heal. The only thing that reduced it was this choice to help Tarantulas in exchange for the inhibitor chip. A choice which others had made clear to her was wrong. Yet, it cured her. So how could it have been wrong?

Selfish? Perhaps. But the selfishness was fueled by her disorder. The Hybrid experienced constant psychological struggles brought on by the memories of the torturous experiments performed upon her. She lived on a constant mental and emotional roller coaster controlled, in part, by the voices of her alters....or at least she thought. The voices were gone and the pain they inflicted were gone, yet she still found herself deeply troubled. She still experienced extreme highs and lows. This particular high resulted in thoughtless decisions, destructive behavior, selfish reactions, confidence and optimistic thoughts regarding her disorder.

But that all disappeared so quickly. She now was feeling very low self-esteem and self-worth, her unrealistic hopes about the chip had failed to manifest, and she was sinking into deep depression and despair. She was desperate for Tarantulas' return in hopes of alleviating this despair. She had a small amount of hope that he might be able to make some adjustments to the chip, but without him, no one could act on that hope. She was in the midst of this new low and was feeling so helpless.

And it would just get worse. The more and more she thought that her psychological responses were a result of outside forces, the more and more she would experience these highs and lows. The chip may have cured her of the physical pain she was experiencing, but it wouldn't cure her of the mental illnesses that plagued her. She would have to deal with that herself once she realized that her negative choices were her choices and her selfishness was no way to deal with the pain she was experiencing. But she was so far away from that now.

"Yes, your situation is unique but dwelling on self-pity and despair will not solve anything. Can you stop thinking about only yourself long enough to realize that if we don’t stop that weapon out there, we will all be destroyed? Which includes you as well."

She sighed in exasperation. She lowered her voice, but responded calmly. "If you think I didn't realize that I would never make it into that pod, you are severely mistaken. I helped the spiders because of the deal I made with Tarantulas. In exchange for what he did to me to fix me, I agreed to help him get off of this planet. I knew the chances of going with him were slim."

Whether or not she believed that Tarantulas would betray her in order to keep her from going was unclear at the moment, but her actions were a bit suicidal. She wanted off of this planet. Even if she had succeeded in that, she was never going back to Cybertron. So she would have had Tarantulas drop her off someplace remote where she would just wither away and die.

She spoke up so that others in the room could hear the rest of her response. "Perhaps I ought to be destroyed. That is what the Predacon scientists would have done to me anyway. It is the only cure for what I have. It would make no difference to anyone here if I died anyway." She turned her gaze to Optimus. "Which is why I should go instead of you. I'm not a Maximal so I'm not offering to save anyone. And I'm not a Predacon so I won't betray you by taking the pod without blowing up the weapon. I'm dead whether this planet is saved or not. Either one of you shoots me or the Predacon programming will kill me when she returns. My future is grim no matter which way you look at it. So I should go instead and if I die then at least it will be less painful than anything the Predacon programming will do to me."

Arachnitron's voice was flat and even as she said this and her face was emotionless. She actually did fear the Predacon personality's return. She would torture her and draw out her death for solar days, maybe even mega cycles, but it would be long and agonizing. She would rather blow up.

OOC: October 7-13 was Mental Illness awareness week in the US. So in order to raise awareness for mental illness, I thought now was a good time to point out
that Arachnitron and her disorders have been based on research. Although it is oa bit belated, I felt a personal need to raise awareness of mental illnesses. Of course, keep in mind, that I have to take some liberties here and there given the fact Arachnitron is a robot....but, for all intents and purposes, Arachnitron's symptoms are those of real people in the world who share the different disorders Arachnitron has been portraying: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (A type of Anxiety Disorder), Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder) to name a few.