The Black Widow's Cave.
"So, what you're telling me, Percy, is that something you have never seen is slightly less blue than something else you have never seen..." – Edmund the Black Adder, Duke of Edinburg, The Black Adder 1).
Warnings: Cadavers, giant insectoid cadavers.
Timing: Post season 2 finale, in my very own Beauty of the Beast Prime timeline.
Rating: T.
Pairings: Arcee and Shockwave mentioned.
Disclaimer: Transformers Prime © Hasbro. Story's plot and OC's © me. There may be some OC's that aren't mine – they belong to their respective creators.
oOo
Airachnid's cave. 20th July.
The cave looked so ordinary that it practically begged for being ignored. It seemed like the plainest boring cave on the entire planet. In fact no respecting explorer would even think of taking as much as a peek inside. Yet it was the destination of one truly unusual expedition.
Two swirling pools of luminous greens and blues opened in short but safe distances from each other. Each vortex of colourful light produced a small group and then vanished like a cloud of ethereal mist. Each group looked at the other one with poorly hidden hostility and completely unhidden distrust.
Ratchet was the first to make a move: he slowly approached Decepticon investigation party, Arcee followed him shortly. Neither of them liked the idea but it was not only their leaders' will but also their duty as per Tyrest Accord's medical regulation section, diseases and contamination sub-section, epidemic control and prevention paragraph, unexplained demise during stasis passage2). And the investigators had the right to take assistants with them.
Ratchet took Arcee, mostly because she seen the cave and could tell if anything has changed.
On Decepticon end it was Knockout's duty to investigate as the Nemesis' in house medic, and the red Aston Martin was deeply unhappy. Not only he had to deal with his grumpy Autobot counterpart but the mission threatened his pristine finish. He expressed his dislike of the idea but his whining only caused Megatron to glare and then roar that Knockout was to pick himself an assistant and "get his polished aft to that triple-cursed spider den". Which he did. But just to show his One True Lord and Master that no one messes with The Medic, he picked Soundwave as his sidekick. Soundwave was very busy coordinating Shockwave's orders with Starscream's deliveries, his usual spy work and million other projects, and the mech wasn't shy about expressing what he thought about Knockout's ideas. But Knockout explained that he wanted a telepath to explore another telepath's lair, and also someone with a surveillance drone would help to explore the cave faster. Megatron pondered for few seconds and granted Knockout's request. Soundwave was not pleased but he obliged as always.
"Let's get this done and be over with." Ratchet growled with all the enthusiasm of a convict facing his execution.
Soundwave nodded and before Knockout had even half a chance of expressing his point of view, his three companions were already vanishing in the deep shadows of the cave's entrance.
The tunnel leading to the main entrance was rather long and quite steep though manageable, it didn't stop Knockout from complaining about his finish, but no one (and no one's finish) got hurt during descending.
The cave itself was spacious with high ceiling and steep walls. It was dark inside and the air was musty. There were many empty pods, their platforms attached to the floor, walls and ceiling like iron flowers, each a trap for those who would step into one. Luckily most of them were high above Cybertronians' heads and the few on the floor were easily avoided thanks to Knockout providing the light with his headlight.
"There were many occupied pods deeper in." Arcee pointed with her activated blaster. "If Airachnid is still here she'll be there, ready for us."
Knockout stopped in mid-step and looked back at the two wheeler. "You mean she can still be here? With her snarling beasts?"
"What's the matter? Scared?" Ratchet frowned at the Decepticon medic and activated his blades.
"If I was scared I would become NAIL 3) and never join the war." Knockout tried to sound cocky as usual but he failed. "Good that I took this little baby with me." He pulled his energon staff and smiled weakly.
Soundwave didn't said anything, he wasn't scared of Airachnid or Insecticons, he fought them in pits of Kaon and knew their weak spots, he also unfolded his tentacles, amazingly useful appendages that aside from all other uses had blasters hidden in them 4).
Slowly they walked deeper into the cave, listening to any sounds indicating that it was inhabited but all was silent to the point that they could hear water drip far away in some corner or perhaps tunnel made by Airachnid.
They turned behind a corner, Knockout's headlights couldn't move up on their own so the Decepticon medic leaned slightly backwards. His effort resulted in small portion of a wall being illuminated, there were few empty pods and much more occupied, or at very least not emptied.
"This is here." Arcee confirmed what everyone suspected. "Last time it seemed like it was lighter in here though."
"How much more Insecticons do you think were here?" Ratchet was staring up the walls and ceiling, trying to see any signs of Insecticons.
"About as much as Airachnid freed that day." Came the reply.
Both Knockout and Soundwave's heads snapped in the femme's direction, both Decepticons freezing instantly.
"You want to tell me that she attacked with only half of the Insecticon hive?" Knockout's voice betrayed shock and tint of awe.
"It was either the half that woke up or the half that she summoned." Arcee narrowed her optics trying to recall the location of all unopened pods. "Some of the ones that didn't answer to her call could've been dead."
"It still leaves enough to form rather impressive swarm." Ratchet sighed silently. "I wonder why she couldn't wake every single one of them."
"Maybe she wanted to keep a back-up?" Arcee looked around in search of opened pods; she didn't want to get caught in any of them. It wasn't dangerous but it would not help her dignity either.
"I think I can see that some of them are still alive." Knockout strained his optics, he couldn't see in infrared and despite of headlights the cave was drowning in deep shadows. "Some of their optics are still glowing."
"First we must asset how many of them are still here, then how many of them are still alive." Ratchet produced a tablet and poked it few times. "Then we will decide what to do. Soundwave, can Laserbeak inspect the walls and ceiling?"
Soundwave stayed silent but looked down at his symbiote in silent command. Laserbeak detached herself gently and hovered between the four Cybertronians chirping silently, then she gracefully turned and disappeared in the darkness. She unlike most other Cybertronians could see in the dark, she had infrared scanners and echo-location devices installed. Lack of light meant nothing.
For couple of minutes her joyful chirps could be heard all over the cave, her glowing visor flashed every now and then when she took sharp turns. It seemed that the small drone had good fun flying around and Soundwave could feel that his symbiote took few rounds just because she could. It was her character trait as he himself preferred efficiency over fancy flying.
Finally Laserbeak approached her master and docked on his chest, the data stream flew and Soundwave displayed statistics provided by his little spy. Ratchet contemplated it for a short moment before he typed something in his tablet.
"We won't do much here like this." He finally spoke. "We need to return with more light and some long ladders."
"What are you thinking?" Arcee gave the Autobot medic serious look.
"I'm thinking that we can't reach the pods to scan them."
"Ha! Ha ha!" Knockout snorted without much humour.
"At least we have coordinates so the next time we won't have to go through the entrance." Arcee shrugged. "Shame that the ones I provided when I caught Airachnid went along with our previous base." She gave the two Decepticons long look.
"Don't look at me, it wasn't my idea." Knockout huffed and crossed his servos. "And you too." He glared as Soundwave. "I know you wanted to plunder their computer."
"What a surprise." Arcee murmured loudly enough to be well heard.
"We were enemies." Knockout shrugged.
"We still are. It's a cease fire not lasting peace." Arcee's opticbrows furrowed.
"I'm calling for Goundbridge before this will escalate." Ratchet tapped his with sour face.
Soundwave nodded once, he usually agreed with the Autobot medic's judgements, he often caught himself regretting that Ratchet was on the enemy side.
Two swirling pools of light appeared in opposite sides of the cave, their light casted some deep shadows and revealed some pods. Not a minute later the cave was drowned in pitch black darkness again.
oOo
The next day.
A Groundbridge wormhole spat two Autobots in what seemed like Decepticon rally, the cave was well lit and four Vehicons argued about correct ladder arrangement. Knockout was staring at the ceiling with his mouth agape while Soundwave was observing Laserbeak mapping the whole cave, his visor was displaying what looked like 3D grid tunnel – Laserbeak's readings.
"I see you came prepared." Ratchet followed Knockout's stare. "Looks like most of them are dead."
"Their optics are dark." Knockout cracked his neck. "I hope it was nothing contagious."
"We won't be opening the pods before performing full scans and pod diagnostics." Ratchet set his medical kit on the cave floor. "How did they get here and how did you put them there?"
"They're probably from the Harbinger or some other Decepticon ship. Maybe Skyquake brought them with him, I don't know." Knockout tapped his chin in thought. "And they put themselves there. They took their pods, attached them there and just went to sleep."
"And you know that how?" Ratchet gave Knockout suspicious look.
"You learn a lot living with bunch of these bugs on one ship." Knockout shrugged with disgust. "A lot more than you wish. They probably fought for the best places, which are the highest and most upside down. Sometimes I think they're closer to bats than bugs."
"Can we do it so I can get out of this hole?" Arcee growled in frustration and glared at the arguing Vehicons.
One of them noticed and was ready to say something but one of his companions wisely hit him in the helm which would end in full blown fist fight if not for Soundwave and his ability to end all arguments with one well-placed stare. The four troopers meekly set two very high ladders in the middle of the cave.
Ratchet and Knockout gave the ladders a look over to be sure that they are stable enough and then slowly climbed up while the spectators thanked Primus that they were not medics.
"Is it too late to mention that I suffer from fear of heights?" Knockout whined when he reached the top of the ladder and looked down.
"Shut up." Ratchet decided that he didn't want to look down.
The examination was easy; scanner indicated no pathogens, no rust or Scraplets. Insecticons didn't die because of cybonic plague or physical injuries. The pods reported all clear for opening. Both Knockout and Ratchet performed the same set of scans on random pods across the whole cave excluding the ones that contained living Insecticons. It took them the whole day but they were fairly sure that it was safe to open any pod, there was no plague involved.
"What's the next step?" Arcee asked when both doctors were safely back on the ground.
"We open one pod and perform an autopsy." Ratchet put his scanner away.
"You wanted to say Decepsy?" Knockout grinned.
"It's not funny." Ratchet growled at his fellow medic. "We still haven't excluded parasites or Airachnid's trap."
"Airachnid doesn't know Tyrest Accord procedures." Knockout pointed out. "She's not part of the Conclave, she's not an enforcer or D.J.D. member and she's definitely not a medic."
"Tyrest Accord is an open document, anyone can read it." Ratchet replied. "It's not forbidden."
"And who in their right mind would want to read it?" Knockout chuckled. "The damn thing is humongous, and boring."
"And yet plenty of people read it. He included." Ratchet pointed at Soundwave. "Even Starscream read it."
"Starscream read it because Megatron was standing above him with very large club and made sure that Screamer didn't skip any part." Knockout giggled like a naughty schoolgirl.
"What?" Ratchet optics grew two sizes bigger than usual.
Soundwave only nodded in confirmation, it was no secret that Starscream was seeking for some sort of summary but found none and was trying to convince Rossum to write one.
"Why I am not surprised?" Arcee only sighed. "But it doesn't mean that Airachnid is like Starscream. Maybe she did kill these Insecticons just to set a trap?"
"Well find out in a moment." Ratchet grabbed his ladder and moved it to the lowest pod with dead Insecticon in it. "There should be a switch that will release the clamps." He said as he climbed up to reach the pod. It took him a moment but the pod fell down and rolled a bit to the side. The glass cracked but nothing happened.
Two Vehicons immediately set it back up but the Insecticon inside didn't move, his visor remained dark. Both doctors examined the pod once more but aside from one cracked glass it was functional. Finally Knockout huffed in irritation and pressed the release to open the pod.
The walls folded neatly, the Insecticon inside stood for a short moment and then just fell down like a broken doll or mannequin. His body was limp but he lacked any visible wounds. Knockout gestured for Vehicons to drag the dead bug-former out of his pod and set him on his back.
Even non-active, dead Insecticon was an imposing image. He was large, massive and pointy. It didn't take long for scans to show the cause of his dead.
"What do you mean by 'starvation'?" Arcee's face showed shock.
"Lack of nourishment." Ratchet stayed calm. He knew how often they were way to close to share this Insecticon fate when their energon stash was dangerously low. "They're run out of fuel."
"How can one run out of fuel when they're in stasis?" Arcee moved her stunned stare at the dead Insecticon. "The consumption rate is so low…"
"I suspect they weren't full to begin with." Ratchet scratched his helm. "And even with very slow consumption rate they still used their fuel. Some faster than the others."
"But how? They were all hibernating." Arcee drew large arc with her arm to indicate the whole cave of pods.
"Maybe they didn't go into stasis right away?" Knockout pondered out loud. "Or maybe some of them stayed awake longer? I don't know their standing orders."
"That would exclude Skyquake; if they were his they would stay asleep just like he did." Ratchet gave a closer look to the thicket of the pods resembling some odd kind of mushrooms.
"And his pod was of far older design." Knockout added. "I say they had to come with the Harbinger."
"If their orders were to guard it, then some of them would stay awake while others were hibernating." Arcee began to pace slowly. "At some point the Harbinger ran out of the energon supply and Insecticons had to seek their own fuel, which would explain why some of them survived while others died. The lone Insecticon that Airachnid found had to be some sort of scout searching for energon for his sleeping hive."
"That would explain everything." Ratchet returned his attention to the living Cybertronians. "The question is what should we do with this place?"
"Wake the living ones, and smelt the rest." Knockout answered without much emotion. "That's how it is done."
"Why Airachnid didn't took all the surviving Insecticons with her?" Arcee looked around nervously. "Maybe she rigged their pods to blow up?"
"Where would she take explosives from? She hardly had a chance to take any from the ruins." Knockout shook his head. "They probably didn't react to her call, maybe they're too weak? They probably very low on energon."
"Still, I don't know if we should allow you to keep the remaining Insecticons." Ratchet stepped back from Knockout and cast cautious glance to Soundwave. "It is hardly in Autobot interest for you to increase in numbers."
"There's perhaps a dozen or less Insecticons that we can save." Knockout didn't tense. "And if we won't do anything they will perish, you know your vows won't allow you to condemn them to death and you have no way of supporting them even if they wanted to follow you."
"What are you saying?" Arcee fought the urge to activate her blasters.
"We have a cease fire and it will last for who know how long. We can support few Insecticons more and you can't. And they are our troopers, however disgusting they are, I am willing to bet that Lord Megatron and Prime will agree on us keeping them."
"Forgive me, but I'd rather consult my commander." Arcee walked away and opened the link, then murmured something; she seemed upset when she returned. "Take them, feed them and teach them manners or whatever you do with Insecticons, smelt the rest. Optimus says that aside from the Tyrest Accord regulations it is your burden."
"Thank you." Knockout flashed his most charming smile. "I knew that Prime is reasonable." He glared at the Vehicons. "Hey, you four, fold the ladders!"
"Bumblebee, open us a 'bridge." Ratchet called through his . "It's time for us."
"It was a pleasure." Knockout bowed theatrically. "Oh, and Arcee, I would forgot, Shockwave asks how are you."
"Heh?" Arcee seemed stunned for a second, but then her face turned back to sour. "Just peachy."
"I'll be sure to tell him." Knockout managed to should in sing-song voice before the Groundbridge swallowed the two Autobots.
There was a silence for a moment when Soundwave was giving Knockout his mute yet full of meaning stare.
"What? I know he didn't but he would if he wasn't emotionally paralysed. He will be 'satisfied' to know that she's fine, he flaps his antennae every time someone mentions her."
Soundwave didn't answer anything but he rolled his optics behind his visor. It was true that Shockwave was oddly fascinated with the Autobot femme, but Knockout was too keen to overstate.
oOo
Nemesis, bridge.
Megatron winced when incoming pinged in his audio receptor, he immediately answered and then his face relaxed, it was Soundwave. The spy could send transmissions through without vocalising anything detectable for those around him yet he only chose to contact this way with few Decepticons. Megatron was one of them.
"No, summon Laserbeak back, we have no use for that cave, not when it is known to Airachnid. Yes, we will retrieve them I will send you Insecticons to unlatch them and bring them back, Knockout can administrate them the energon. Yes, and bring the empty pods as well, we will put our Insecticons in them until Shockwave can install them jammers… No, Starscream will smelt them for resources and deliver them to Shockwave. Make sure Knockout and his 'nurses' will dismantle them, keep the T-cogs and any fitting spare parts, we may need them. No, not T-cogs, Tarn contacted earlier, he's still far away but he's heading this way and his stash is running low. He won't mind, he's not picky. No, Airachnid can dig her way out, just blow the place up and be done with it. Make sure to count all the recently opened pods I need to know how many minions Airachnid have."
The connection ended and Megatron returned his attention to computer station where he was reading Starscream's report. Things were starting to become interesting, it was always a bad thing.
TBC
1) Ep 1.04, The Queen of Spain's Beard.
2) Hammerhead, Epilogue.
3) NAIL – Non-Affiliated Indigenous Life-Form, Neutral – Civilian in short.
4) Transfomers Prime S02 Ep26 "Darkest Hour" you can clearly see it 9 min 21 sec of the episode.