Tor

The Tor is Tarantulas' personal base within the Noisemaze. It both sustains and is shielded from the mind-bending effects of the pocket dimension and is built around a massive core of Obtenteum crystals that serve as its power source. The Tor contains a top-level communications suite, cells for holding prisoners or test subjects, and of course—laboratories in which Tarantulas develops his bleeding-edge tech. Should the Noisemaze become compromised, Tarantulas can even initiate a mass-shift of the entire base, shrinking it down for transport to ensure none of his vital experiments are lost.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

A tour of the Tor.

Tarantulas established the Tor within the Noisemaze and used its laboratory to bio-engineer Mayhem's new Chimeracon beast modes. Sins of the Wreckers #3 He had Mayhem kidnap Prowl and bring him to the Tor. Prowl found himself within an empty room and wandered outside the structure, only to immediately fall victim to the Noisemaze's mind-bending environment, falling unconscious. Sins of the Wreckers #1 Prowl awoke inside the Tor again, but this time restrained in a dark space and hanging from a web. Sins of the Wreckers #2 Tarantulas properly reintroduced himself to Prowl, then webbed his former associate to his back in spider mode and took him on a guided tour of the facility. Tarantulas showcased the labs where he created the Chimeracons, the generator that maintained the Noisemaze, and the Obtenteum source that powered the entire operation. After Prowl refused Tarantulas' offer of a new partnership, he was imprisoned again and later released to find that Tarantulas had snared a group of Wreckers led by Springer within the Tor as well. Sins of the Wreckers #3

Impactor led the rest of the Wreckers in a rescue attempt, breaching the Noisemaze and forcing Tarantulas and his ally Hubcap to retreat to the Tor's communications suite. Tarantulas ordered Mayhem to take on Impactor's group as they attempted to reach the Tor. Hubcap had second thoughts about aiding Tarantulas and set Springer's group free, who busted in to foil the spider's plans. Roadbuster attempted a sacrifice play, ramming Tarantulas out of the Tor's window, but Tarantulas dealt with him and returned inside. Impactor was likewise kicked straight through the Tor's exterior by the massive Chimeracon Tidal Wave, much to his pained surprise. Once inside, he found Hubcap attempting to lead Prowl out of the building, and executed the traitor for aiding Tarantulas, with Hubcap's body plunging down into the depths of the Tor. After Impactor and Prowl had linked back up with Springer's group, they headed for the Obtenteum power source, intending to blow it up and destroy the place. Sins of the Wreckers #4

Tarantulas confronted them and decided to cut his losses, activating a fail-safe that would shrink the entire Tor facility and allow him to escape with all its contents intact. After planting explosives on the Obtenteum with Springer, Impactor joined Arcee in fighting Tarantulas. Arcee decapitated the spider and Impactor used the severed head to deactivate the Tor's contraction via optical scanner. Prowl retreated outside and had the other Wreckers execute a plan that involved getting Tidal Wave to consume some raw Obtenteum, driving him into a berserk frenzy. The maddened Chimeracon goliath began attacking the Tor itself, forcing Mayhem commander Carnivac to forcibly transform him back to his beast mode. The gravimetric forces that were unleashed with such a transformation helped destabilize the already-fragile Noisemaze itself, and everyone changed their priorities to escaping the crumbling dimension. Inside the Tor, the still-kicking Tarantulas and Springer had a final confrontation before the entire structure came down around them. Whatever was left of the Tor was likely lost when the Noisemaze collapsed completely. Sins of the Wreckers #5

Notes

• A "tor" is a kind of rock formation that juts out of a smooth surrounding, which seems like an apt description of Tarantulas's Tor, a fixed point of stability jutting out of a landscape of incoherent chaos. Given the themes of Sins of the Wreckers, the name is probably also a double homage to the computer network of the same name, which was created to maintain anonymity and secrecy of users. This "anonymous" portion of the internet is called the "deep web"—web, like what spiders build.