Black Wolf
Chapter 2
Black Wolf. Airachnid had heard of the name before. What did it say in his records? She remembered that he was one of the fiercest Decepticons during the Great War; one of Megatron's greatest warriors. But it had said that he perished in an Autobot ambush. But how was this possible? He was standing right in front of her!
"You should recharge some more. This simple conversation may have slightly debilitated you," said Black Wolf. Something about his voice seemed even less threatening know that Airachnid knew who the speaker was.
Black Wolf walked out of the room, leaving Airachnid in a semi-confused state. In all of the military history she learned, there was nothing regarding the chance that he was alive. She would have many questions for him when she woke up.
After a good recharging, Airachnid was finally able to get up off of her berth and make her way out of the room. The ship she was on must has been quite large. Not as big as the Nemesis, but large enough to carry a mid-sized unit of Cybertronian warriors and provide comfort. Airachnid walked to the bridge of the ship to find Black Wolf standing at the controls.
He turned around and smiled.
"Have a nice power-down?" he asked politely.
"Quite refreshing indeed," replied Airachnid, "But such time to myself can give me an opportunity to think of some questions. A lot of them."
"Well, if you want answers," said Black Wolf, "Then won't you accompany me to the dining hall?"
Black Wolf walked past Airachnid and out the door. Not quite sure what to do, Airachnid followed him through the labyrinth-like hallways.
When they came to the dining hall, Airachnid couldn't help but stare. The hall was decorated with magnificent columns and drapes, exotic plants, a crystal chandelier, and a giant window that gave a spark-stopping view of the night sky.
Airachnid began to stumble a little and Black Wolf stopped to help her.
"Careful," he said in a smooth tone, "You still haven't fully recovered from that blast."
He set Airachnid down in one of the chairs near the center table. As he went to grab some Energon to drink, Airachnid asked her first question.
"How did you find me on this planet?"
Black Wolf looked back at her.
"Wasn't that hard," he told her, "I was wandering this part of the galaxy when I pick up a strange, but powerful energy profile. I followed it to this planet and found the remains of what looked like a base, but it was difficult to tell. As I sifted through the rubble, I found the stasis pod that you were contained in. It was breached and you were heavily damaged."
Airachnid looked down her arms and spider-legs and saw the burns and charred metal from the blast.
"I pulled you out to get a better look and almost danced when I saw your beautiful Insecticon-like form," Black Wolf smiled at her again, "So I decided to bring you aboard my ship, the Reaper, and try my best to repair you."
Black Wolf brought over two Cybertronian wine glasses filled with Energon and placed one of them in front of Airachnid.
"Any more questions?"
"Yes," continued Airachnid, "In all of Decepticon military history, it indicates that you were terminated by Autobots in an ambush. Care to explain that?"
Black Wolf paused for a moment.
"That is a lie," His tone was much more serious and his expression grew darker, "There was indeed an ambush, but no such Autobots were present. I was one of Megatron's greatest warriors. But as the war continued to press on, he was becoming concern that I was planning to overthrow him and lead the Decepticons on my own. Leading that many witless beings isn't really my thing. On that fateful day, Megatron sent me and an unusually large unit to investigate the possible location of and Autobot outpost. I should've been more suspicious because the entire unit turned their guns on me. It was almost no trouble extinguishing them all. Later, I confronted Megatron on the matter, and he attacked me himself. I barely escaped with my life."
Airachnid smiled, "Clearly, you've been through tougher scrap."
Black Wolf laughed, "Yes, well, I realized that I no longer had a place in the war or on Cybertron. So, I decided to use my skills for my own benefit, thus becoming a bounty hunter. It certainly pays well, as you can see."
He brought the wine glass to his lips and the Energon in the glass began to turn a sickly green as he drank.
"So," said Black Wolf as he set down the glass, "Why are you on such a primitive planet anyway?"
"It wasn't exactly by choice," answered Airachnid, "I was traveling space looking for alien specimens for my collection when my ship was damaged. I didn't want to crash on a lifeless planet, so I came to the closest one in proximity, which just happened to be Earth."
"Earth," Black Wolf pondered for a moment, "So that's want this planet is called. Quaint."
"Yes, well, I was planning to find a specimen, repair my ship, and be on my way when I ran into an old enemy of mine, Arcee. Apparently, she, Optimus Prime, and a few others are staged on this planet."
Black Wolf laughed, "Really? What a small universe this is!"
Airachnid smiled, "That's what I told Arcee. She had one of the planet's inhabitants, a human, with her. And clearly she cared about the insect. I wasn't about to pass that opportunity up. But while chasing him down, the human destroyed my ship and nearly extinguished my spark by igniting the Energon fuel systems."
"I've read reports on Arcee," said Black Wolf, "A cyber-ninja for the Autobots. Looks like you have more than one person to take your revenge out on."
"Oh, you have no idea."
"Well, I might have a solution for that," said Black Wolf, sitting up in his chair into a more business-like position, "If we work together on this, we can devise a plan to terminate both our enemies in one swift motion. Are you interested?"
Airachnid took a sip of her Energon, watched as it turned to the same sickly green, and said, "Go on. I'm listening."