Ep. 1 - Caught in the Web - Closed

[Deleted]

TAG: Megatron

Waspinator's news was... well, let's just say it was very interesting to Blackarachnia. If Megatron was here, then that probably meant Cybertron was under his total control, and that he was now cleaning up any stray Autobots that had escaped the scrapheap. Of course, this also meant that her previous life, which she had enjoyed a great deal, was in danger of being compromised again. She needed to find enough information to make herself useful, and fast. Perhaps if she were to locate the main Autobot base, she could offer it up as a bargaining chip.

Unfortunately, as she attempted to leave the Mojave and begin her search, her altform glistening brilliantly in the desert sun, she was picked up by the chief sonovaglitch's vehicon patrollers. Resistance seemed futile; outnumbered in such a way and caught with her

As she was hauled, none too gently, through the corridors of the Nemesis a while later, she cursed her bad luck silently. She'd intended to make contact, of course, but this was not how she'd planned for the big reunion to go down. She'd wanted to do this on her terms, not like this; this way, things might go... badly, to say the least. Struggling slightly, she was met with sudden and decisive resistance, a sudden blow - not too heavy, but heavy enough - reminding her that right now, she was aboard a ship in which every member was loyal to their Lord, a lord she had wanted to escape the influence of - even if she'd tried to cover her tracks with a mission re-designation. Apparently, that hadn't been enough.

Scrap, this just hadn't been her day.
Cursing softly, she could only go along with it all as she was half-marched, half-dragged into the bridge of the enormous warship, her eyes darting around the pit in which the Vehicons seemed to gather, and across the control areas of the ship. Mostly, though, they focussed on the very end of the walkway, and the enormous figure stood there. Oh, slag. It was him, Megatron himself. For a single moment, Blackarachnia's thoughts jumped to sudden fear, before she mastered herself. She wasn't some snivelling little drone, to cower in front of anyone in such a way. She was sentient, she was intelligent, and Primus take it all, she wouldn't allow her fear of anything to rule her. With such thoughts came another, more cynical one, and Blackarachnia couldn't help but be amused by the thought, even in her dangerous position, that at least she was important enough to merit the mighty Megatron's personal attention. That at least added a rather bitter silver lining onto the whole debacle.

Finally released, though it was more like being thrown half-aftedly, Blackarachnia caught herself from hitting the ground, and looked up, her expression and mood a mixture of wariness, fear and sullen annoyance. However, she knew full well how much trouble she must be in for this meeting to even be taking place; she'd need to talk fast, and talk convincingly. Quickly, before he could destroy her with a well-placed shot or whatever else it was he had planned for her, she opened her mouth and spoke, the tone matching her facial expression. No matter how much charm she played, after all, Blackarachnia couldn't escape the knowledge that this was not a tenable position for her to be in.
"Lord Megatron, I... imagine you want an explanation."

[Deleted]

"You imagine correctly, Blackarachnia" the warlord rumbled without turning, assured of her attention as he continued to give her his back.

On the central screen of his personal display, Soundwave had forwarded a vid-feed from a group of Eradicons under pursuit from MECH. They would be 'bridged out in an instant if their capture or deactivation was imminent. This drawn-out chase and exchange of fire was a means of gaining information about their tactics, resources and intelligence.

An electrified grappling hook was fired from one of the helicopters and speared a Vehicon by the spoiler, wrenching it off-road in a cloud of dust and torn vegetation. Soundwave opened the readied groundbridge into the arc of the sliding mech's path, deactivating the portal after the rest of the patrol had followed. After repairs, the group would give a most thorough debriefing of MECH's latest contact. Evidence that they were seeking to capture a live Cybertronian was slowly mounting.

Satisfied that Soundwave and Breakdown had things well in hand, Megatron turned with one thunderous step towards the nuisance that had been dragged before him. The spymaster had discovered that Blackairachnia had doctored her mission to suit her own ends as soon as she'd shown up on scanners. What those were, and what she had been doing during her time whilst unsupervised on the planet, were presently key to her ongoing survival.

Megatron's all-encompassing field conveyed as much to the small femme. He approached her slowly, arms loose at his sides but claws curled swipe-ready. His optics narrowed on her.

"A Decepticon takes orders. They do not concoct them to escape their duties." An angular brow raised in challenge. "So, what does that make you? A deserter? A traitor? Or merely a coward?"

[Deleted]

Successfully resisting the urge to wince at the tone of the Decepticon supreme commander, Blackarachnia remained defiant... though in a way that wouldn't cause him to decapitate her, with any luck.
"None of the above. I'm a saboteur, not a soldier. What good would I have been on Cybertron once the Autobots had left?"
Her arguments, she knew, would come down to the wire. Even if he bought that her intentions were pure - so to speak - then she would still have to contend with the fact that her orders weren't from any official source. Still, there was always a chance...

"Given the circumstances, I thought it would be better to take the initiative, follow the enemy to their new hovel, and make sure they were... settling in nicely. Granted, I took liberties in doing so, but risks need to be taken in war, don't they?"
Surely he could understand that logic. Besides, she had no love for the Autobots. Who had stood by the old order as the Insecticons were hunted down like animals should they come too close to the surface? Who had preached lofty ideals of freedom and equality as her hive's subjugation had begun, and done nothing? Well, the answer was simple, and Blackarachnia had said it enough times. The Autobots were no friends of her kind, and the idea that she could betray anyone for them?

Unthinkable, and not a little insulting.
Not that she could say it out loud, of course. Here, Megatron was in command, and his word was law... which meant any insult could be avenged as he saw fit. It wouldn't be a good idea, then, to push him. Unfortunately, she had also heard terrifying things about Megatron's, ah, mood swings. For her sake, Blackarachnia fervently hoped that this wasn't one of those days where things had been going wrong a little too much for the commander's liking, or no amount of solid arguing would be enough.

[Deleted]

Megatron disliked leading questions. He had done so in the mines where the embedded answer was always a threat (You want to see the surface again, don't you?), when the Senate had sought to crush the uprising through even bolder oppression (Would it be preferable to re-purpose these workers to outer colonies if it is found that their operating conditions are 'intolerable'?), and in recent vorns from Starscream (Would it not be prudent, my Lord, to command your armies from the bridge and trust your Seeker Elite in the fight?).

From a subordinate, one who had been out of service for decavorns, it was utterly intolerable. With a snarl, Megatron picked her up. She fit well in his palm, though she had been quick enough to move her arms before he pinned them to her sides in his grip.

Bringing her to optic level, intending to make this very clear, Megatron drowned her in his powerful resonance and spoke into her faceplates. "You presume too much. You command no one, have excelled at nothing but hiding amongst the organics, and you will make yourself worth the repairs Knock Out will have to make if you continue down this avenue."

A fractional tightening of his grip underlined his words, claws not quite closed around her chassis as they would have been if she were Arcee's dimensions. Megatron dropped her without warning or grace, stepping forward until she was almost beneath his pedes to glower down at her with his face in shadows.

"Now then. What have you actually done since arriving on this planet?"

[Deleted]

His reaction was.... well.
It was utterly the opposite of what she'd wanted. Blackarachnia just managed to move her arms from her sides before he seized and lifted her, and for a horrible moment she thought it was all over, that Megatron had decided to cut his losses and simply terminate her. Indeed, when she heard his words, every servomotor in her body stiffened, as his anger was very, very plain. Primus, she'd pushed her luck too far. Then, miraculously, he let go; Blackarachnia caught herself before she totally hit the floor, but was left in a kneeling position. That would do; right now was not the time to show any displays of disrespect.
"My apologies, my lord. I meant absolutely no disrespect, believe me."

Quickly, she dug up every scrap of information she'd gathered since coming to Earth. She'd need it all to make sure she was still worthy of not being summarily executed, something she expected was still on the table - especially given the way Lord Megatron was looming over her right now. This was precisely why she left Cybertron!
"I've spent some time finding energon deposits and attempting to locate the Autobots' base of operations. While the precise location of their fortress has... eluded me for now, I have located several sites of interest to the cause. I have the information ready to give you as and when you want them."

Suspecting that wouldn't be enough - after all, if the Nemesis was here then they must have some considerable energon stores already, surely? - Blackarachnia also gambled with some other information she'd gathered on the side.
"The native sentient species of this planet have also been experiencing some difficulty storing any information about our forces. Convoys sent to retrieve battle data have been disappearing, field agents never report back again... anything that could be used against us, I did my utmost to make disappear."

OOC: Hope this is okay! If not I can edit it.

[Deleted]

The first of Blackarachnia's verbal defenses of her ongoing reason to live was wholly expected, and utterly worthless to the warlord.

Everyone, Bot or Con, scouted out energon when they made planetfall. If they were unable to hail anyone of their faction, energon readings could lead to mines and personnel in addition to valuable fuel. And every Decepticon worth his tred was looking for an Autobot base of operations, anywhere in the universe, at any given time, and was the staple response to the snarled 'where have you been/what have you been doing' from superiors who had been out of contact.

Blackarachnia's second offering held some merit, though. Megatron's ire abated, though still lingered close enough to the surface to render his very presence predatory.

"That, at least, is beneficial to the Decepticons," he murmured, optics narrowed and intent on the small form. Apparently she'd stumbled across MECH's activities before the militant organization had gone on the offensive, or another organization collating data on the Cybertronian species.

Megatron stepped around the kneeling femme towards Soundwave, summoning his undivided attention with a shortwave ping. The spymaster turned his screen towards Blackarachnia, long arms hanging static at his sides.

"You will submit all data on these convoys and human agents for analysis, as well as any information that may be of significance" Megatron said, only watching the soldier peripherally. She had taken the silent cue to rise, assured that her life was no longer in danger. "Then you will report to the quartermaster to be assigned quarters onboard the Nemesis."