The Eradicons placed the ebony egg-like frame of the stasis pod onto the ground.
"Are you absolutely certain we need to be here for this?" Knock Out asked. He, like the other Decepticon officers, were completely surrounded by a ring of hundreds of bruiser-class Insecticons, all of whom were watching the pod with with such intense interest that the air seemed charged with anticipation. The low noise of their droning communication, a constant buzzing rumble, was permeated by random higher-pitched ululations, the same war cries emitted before going into battle.
"You are in no immediate danger," Shockwave reassured. "Soundwave is emitting the Insecticon communication frequency I shared with him from my research. Though their excitement is running high, the transmissions we are sending to them will keep them from becoming too frenzied. At the very least they will ignore us. They are focused on the wave field they sense from the pod."
Soundwave, Starscream, Knock Out, Shockwave and Megatron stood together, outside of Darkmount, in the blasted desert landscape that had once been part of the city of Jasper. An elite guard of silver Eradicon seekers flanked them protectively amid the mass of their Insecticon legions, but even the Eradicons were uneasy; should something go terribly wrong, the sheer brute force of the swarm could tear them all to bits faster than they could shoot.
Megatron smiled darkly as he gestured towards the pod. "I believe our troops have waited long enough for their Master, Airachnid. Demonstrate your skills to us – wake him and bring him under you control."
Airachnid nodded to the immense silver mech behind her. "Yes, Lord Megatron," she answered immediately, turning and walking towards the pod. Away from their gaze she gritted her dental plates and narrowed her eyes. She hated them. She hated all of them, Megatron even more so for forcing her into this situation.
This Insecticon had been the only one she had ever failed to control. It was because of him that she deserted the Decepticon ranks millennia ago.
"It has been a long time since we have witnessed a full swarm," Megatron mused, pleased with himself, with his plans, and with this moment. "And when the creature inside that pod awakens and establishes himself, their numbers will only increase. We will no longer need to waste Eradicons against Autobot or human forces. We will have a renewable resource of cannon fodder to throw at any who oppose us."
A faint rustling and murmuring of approval came from the Eradicon Seekers. This idea they liked very much.
"And what if she cannot control the Insecticon?" Starscream asked Megatron, seeming as nervous as Knock Out to be surrounded by the full number of the swarm. "Or worse yet, what if she does control him, and they both turn on us?"
"Starscream," Megatron said wearily, "Did you actually believe I would allow her to be awakened and put in this position without planning for the potential for betrayal? The truth is, we don't need her to control the swarm at all. The Insecticon in that pod is unquestioningly loyal to Shockwave."
"Then why-?"
"Watch and learn," Megatron snapped, interrupting Starscream. "I am bringing her down to the lowest point in her worthless little life for a reason."
"You never fought in the pits, Air Commander; there is a change that occurs in those who have been forced to fight for their own survival. That is precisely what I intend to do to Airachnid. She has always been the Hunter, always been able to run when things became too uncomfortable for her. This is her arena now. We are her spectators. She will either control the Insecticon, or she will die trying."
Starscream looked on, taking in Megatron's words. If there is any one thing I could fault you for, Megatron, it is your reliance on primitive, barbarian tactics like this. No, this time I will stand back and watch you create your own destruction. If you fall, it will be I who catch you and save you from your mistakes. In that moment, you will know that we are even – that your continued existence is dependent on my support.
"So what exactly are we looking for here?" Knock Out asked, watching Airachnid stride towards the stasis pod, standing in front of it. The Insecticons were making more noise now, winding up, their limbs tensing and releasing.
"The hive-building native insects of this planet have a similar swarming ritual, though it serves a different purpose for them," Shockwave explained. "The moment the pod opens, the Master will be inundated with the collective consciousness of the individual Insecticons present. Any of the individuals here that possess the potential for full self-awareness will challenge him automatically. He will have to enforce his will over them to dominate the swarm – or he will be destroyed by them. It is during this time in the swarming process that his mind will be at its weakest point, allowing Airachnid the potential to dominate him as he dominates the others. She has only a few moments to seize this opportunity before it is lost."
"How will we know if she's succeeded?" Starscream asked, looking over at the scientist.
"She will still be alive," Shockwave answered.
The conversation abruptly ended as the Insecticons became more agitated. A rhythmic buzzing was pulsing through the swarm, along with the pounding of heavy pedes scraping and stomping against the dirt in unison. More war cries erupted in waves through their masses like a ritual chant, while some of the larger and more heavily scarred Insecticons growled and drooled.
"I really don't like the sound of this," Starscream muttered, wings lowering as he crouched defensively.
"Can't say I'm terribly comfortable with it either," Knock Out agreed, watching as the Insecticons began to press in closer to the pod.
Soundwave and Shockwave stood silent, observing the process, Soundwave still emitting the protective frequency they would need if something should go wrong.
Megatron, however, was drinking in the surroundings. It stirred in him the memories of his glory in the pits. How he had faced off against the grotesquely hybridized Insecticon combiner that Shockwave had created while the crowds chanted his name. He had been reborn on that day, the day his name had been shortened from Megatronus to Megatron due simply to the acoustics of the makeshift arena. The tension and the war cries, the preparation for flight-and-kill inundated his sensors, a heady brew he wanted to drown his spark in until he reeled like a drunkard. His eyes narrowed along with a sharp intake of air into his vents.
The pod snapped open.
The Hive Master rose from his crouching position, his matte black, golden and violet body uncurling in front of the much smaller femme in front of him. While not quite as tall as the other Insecticons, he was none the less an impressive sight. Long black dragonfly-like wings rose up over his shoulders with a majesty comparable to a predacon as he spread them. Brilliant optics lit up behind a red visor. Violet power conduits lacing over his mesh lit up. Powerful, spiked legs carried him to a full stand as he stretched, secondary legs ending in scythe-like talons spreading out at his sides.
The locust canted his head downwards at Airachnid. His silver face broke into a chilling smile.
"Rise with me."
His seductively smooth voice carried a harmonic undertone that pushed at Airachnid's will, demanding obedience. As she had once said, she and Insecticons were kin – of the same mind – and the struggle for control was beginning.
Transforming into a Cybertronian locust, the Master lept into the air, hurling himself like a rocket, and with a snap of his wings he was taking flight, his body shifting down into jet-like vehicle. On cue the other Insecticons transformed and sprung into flight, circling after him in a sky-blackening tornado of gigantic beetle bodies, circling up and after the new would-be overmind of the Hive.
It took Airachnid a split second to shake off that push against her will, that dominating, inviting, invading presence the Insecticon had pushed into her mind. Her legs felt weak. He was stronger than she remembered. Transforming into a helicopter Airachnid rose after the locust in hot pursuit. She stretched her mind out into the collective consciousness of the swarm – it was now or never. She had to gain control.
Megatron spread his arms up and out, laughing deep and long at the sight above him. Insecticons were still jumping up around the Decepticon officers. The flapping of their wings filled the air along with their cries.
"Magnificent!" Megatron roared. "Look up, my Decepticons! Look up into the raw power we command!"
Starscream stood up, red eyes watching the storm of bodies high above. His lips pulled back into a smile. "If there was ever a question of whether or not this world belonged to us, I think it has now been answered."
Airachnid could barely keep up with the locust now leading the swarm. He was fast – fast as any seeker, far outclassing the titan-frame beetles in pursuit. He moved with deceptive ease through the air, turn, banking, diving, climbing, leading the swarm on a difficult chase. All the while his wave frequency was permeating the air like a black alien fog, pounding relentlessly on the hive mind with the wordless demand for submission. Some of the slower Insecticons were already becoming dizzy, dropping out of the chase and beginning to land, accepting their new Master. Only the most strong willed Insecticons would continue the chase for long.
The locust-jet turned on Airachnid and looped over her, causing her to lose stability in the air; she struggled to stay aloft, swaying back and forth as her rotors beat the air to keep hovering. The jet turned back again and shifted, his wings fluttering as he hung in the air in front of her.
"You love me. You obey me. You worship me," Airachnid whispered, pressing her will and wave field out towards the locust, reaching out to grab hold of his mind, enter his spark and possess him.
His antenna twitched, listening to Airachnid, but the attempted bond was broken as the most powerful of the locust's rivals dove at him. A bigger brute than the rest, and most certainly on its way to self-will, the atlas beetle mech roared its pulsating cry as it tried to smash into the Master with its horn.
What happened next passed so quickly Airachnid had trouble keeping up with it. The locust transformed mid flight and thrust its powerful, sickle-taloned feet into the face and neck of the beetle. The impact was so powerful it wrenched the head of the beetle completely free of its body, crumpling its armor as if it had been as soft as a marshmallow. The head flew upwards and into the distance while the body spiraled into the ground and detonated, sending chunks of mesh and plating hurling in all directions.
Three more came at the locust and he dispatched them with distressing ease. Airachnid flew herself out of the way, trying to keep close, trying to reach out to the Hive Master and take hold of him. The rivals were being killed without mercy as the rest of the swarm circled and began to accept their the locust as the Self-Aware-That-Controls.
Airachnid tried once more, putting all her will, all her effort into controlling the locust; she was running out of time and soon the window for binding him would be closed. She hovered in front of him, dangerously closed to those crushing legs, reaching out to him. "Obey me. I am your Mistress. I am your Deity," she murmured, her voice resonating with Insecticon harmonics.
"No." His denial was like a concussion grenade across her thought processes, throwing her out of vehicle mode. She howled in surprise, denial, fear, as she begin to fall, unable to make her own body obey her mind –
Suddenly she was in his arms, all four of them, pressed against his torso, his wings keeping them aloft. She was caught in his stare, paralyzed, as his face moved closer to hers.
"Obey me. Love me. Worship me," he whispered, his lips brushing over hers. "You couldn't beat me before, Airachnid. What made you think that you would have any chance against me now? You belong to me. I am your Master."
She screamed inside her own head, optics wide, unable to move.
It's been slowly coming to a boil, but if you've been bearing with me, now you get some pay off. Things are gonna get interesting for Airachnid - maybe a little just desserts!