I do not own Transformers.
Meanwhile, on the ship that Shockwave had traveled to Earth in, the scientist was looking over some more Predacon bone fragments. A blip showed up on the computer radar screen, which got Shockwave's attention. He looked up at it, and walked over to the computer as he punched in a few commands. "Hmmm…" he said "I see that Laserbeak has finally discovered where the remains of the Decepticons are kept. Laserbeak, bring me their core processors. I need them for my experiments."
At a base in the middle of nowhere (Area 51,) Laserbeak flew into one of the hangers that kept the remains of the Decepticon commanding officers. The little deployer landed on Soundwave's corpse, and he extended two tentacles and began removing his master's armor. He got through the tough head armor, and he plucked out the part of his processor that held his memories. Storing it in his subspace, Laserbeak flew over to Knockout and removed the armor on Knockout's head. He repeated the same action for Breakdown, Dreadwing, and Megatron, removing their processor memories each time. Once he was finished, Laserbeak flew out of the lab and headed back for Shockwave's ship.
"Excellent, Laserbeak" said Shockwave as he held out a servo and Laserbeak dropped each of the processors into his palm. Shockwave then said "With the processors, I can bring back Lord Megatron and the others…but I need a few things if I am to bring them back completely. I have plans to upgrade their bodies, but I need the Primal Drive if I am to do so. If we can only find the Autobot base, we can get the Primal Drive and the other relics."
"Perhaps I can help" said a feminine voice as a spider-like femme descended from the ceiling. Shockwave looked up and said "Airachnid, it's been too long." "Not long enough for me, Shockwave. I still remember what you did to me and my sister, Blackarachnia," hissed Airachnid. She crawled over close to him as she said "As much as you made me and my sister a freak, the both of us craved the new powers that our bodies gave us. But, with Arcee getting her upgrade, I've become obsolete."
"Perhaps there is a way to upgrade you" said Shockwave as he punched in a few commands on the computer module and an alien device popped up, which is meteor-like in appearance. "This is the Primal Drive; it's what gave Arcee her upgrade. I used it on you long ago, but I need that as well as this one" said Shockwave as he pressed in a few commands as a second meteor-like device appeared on screen, except it was a liquid-silver in appearance. He turned to Airachnid and said "That one is the Transmetal Driver; a mysterious device that is related to the Primal Drive. I can upgrade your body to become even more powerful than before." "It's a deal. I'll get the devices, and you upgrade my body. Where can I find them?" she asked. "The Primal Drive is in the Autobot base, but its location is undiscovered. As for the Transmetal Drive, it is somewhere on this planet" said Shockwave.
"Don't worry, Shockwave, my lord. I shall find both devices for you" said Airachnid as she turned and left. So, that's the Transmetal Drive. I've been wondering what was that thing that I found. As for the base, it should be easy to find. All I need to do is to follow Arcee after she picks up Jack after one of his hunts, and then I'll find out where they live thought Airachnid as she skittered out of the ship.
As Airachnid left, Shockwave turned to Laserbeak and said "I know that she is traitorous, but I need her. It is very had to clone Predacons, but if we have at least one breeding femme, it'll be easier to increase my Predacon army without having to clone their remains from relics. As for Airachnid, she'll be useful in my experiments on the other Decepticons. She proved that the Primal Drive worked, but since her experimentation, I have perfected the other beastformers since then. Megatron, Breakdown, Dreadwing, Knockout, and Soundwave will be the definition of perfection once I have the Primal Drive and Transmetal Drive."
Jack was out hunting in the wilderness. He was stalking a deer as it grazed. He paused as he saw the deer pick up her head to look around, then went back to grazing. His legs and arms arched as he prepared to pounce, when all of a sudden, a rattling sound was heard. Jack turned his head to see an angry rattlesnake raise its head as its tongue flicked in and out. Moving back slowly, Jack made sure to place as much distance between himself and the snake.
While Jack was backing away from the snake, Airachnid was watching Jack back away from the snake. Airachnid couldn't notice how feral Jack looked as he backed away from the snake. The deer picked up her head, then bolted away from the dangerous reptile and Jack. Watching Jack grunt as the deer ran, he turned and ran, but in the opposite direction. Curious, Airachnid decided to follow the feral teen.
Airachnid moved through the trees by her spider legs as she followed Jack run through the brush. Jack ran until he skidded to a stop, then paused as he looked around. Airachnid stopped as she saw Jack stop, but she had some difficulty stopping like Jack had stopped. The human male crouched, then crept his way to a bush as he waited. Jack had seen a pronghorn deer grazing, but it looked alerted. He waited patiently for the pronghorn to lower its defenses as the deer tried to sniff him out. Since Jack was downwind, the deer couldn't sniff him. All of a sudden, a jackrabbit jumped out of a tall patch of grass and hopped past the deer.
The pronghorn relaxed, then resumed grazing. Once the pronghorn had its head turned away from Jack, the human pounced on the deer and tried to rip out its throat. Airachnid watched Jack kill the deer, then she saw him drag away the deer towards a clearing not too far away. She saw Jack sit in the field as he watched the sky, as if waiting for something. It didn't take too long, but something fast zipped out of the sky and landed in the field. Arcee had landed in the field, and she lowered her head as Jack climbed up her shoulder and held on to her neck as she picked up the deer, then flew away. Airachnid transformed and flew after them.
They flew for about an hour, until Airachnid saw Arcee descending. She transformed and crawled after them and saw Arcee land on a rock. The two then disappeared into a rock, and then Airachnid made her move. She began drilling underground, and she continued to drill until she hit something that felt like concrete. Transforming back into her robot mode and she extended one of her spider legs and melted a tiny hole in the concrete wall. She then placed her faceplates close to the wall and looked through the peephole. Airachnid saw Optimus with June, and he was stroking her hair as she rested on his chassis.
"Mmmm, June" said Optimus "I know that you're thinking of your son." June sighed, then looked at Optimus and said, "It's his behavior. He still keeps on acting like a wild animal. I want back my son, not this feral thing who looks like my son." "June" said Optimus as his digit moved from her hair to her back "He still is your son, pretty much on how Arcee is still Arcee. They're both more Predacon-like, but they're still the same on who they are." June shook her head, then looked at Optimus and said "Listen Optimus, I've been raising Jack for the last sixteen years, mostly on my own. I tried to keep him civilized, but…he's feral now. I'm just worried on what he would act like when he's older. I'm also worried on when he gets both Miko and Sierra pregnant. Will he be a good father, or…" June became silent at that part, unable to speak it out loud.
"June, listen to me. I know that Jack will make a fine sire. He may act like a Predacon when he's hunting, but he's willing to give up his own life to protect his family. Remember on how he rescued you from Silas?" said Optimus. June looked at Optimus straight in the optic, and nodded. "Yes, I do" said June "He was worried that Silas hurt me, and he just wanted me safe. He was scared on what Silas would do to me." "I know that deep in my spark, Jack would protect his family just the same, whether he's feral or not. He cares a lot for both Miko and Sierra, and I know that he will care for his sparklings once they're born" said Optimus.
The ongoing conversation was a bit too family-orientated for Airachnid as she continued to dig as she made some gagging sounds in her processor. The spider continued to dig until she reached another wall, and she noticed that it was different from the cement walls. Making a tiny hole in the wall before her, Airachnid saw that it was part of the Autobots' Ground Bridge, and she heard voices. "If it's not Wheeljack or Bulkhead breaking my tools, it's Predaking using them to chew on them. Seriously, why must my tools suffer so badly?" said Ratchet to himself. "Come on, Doc. You know that I need your tools to build my bombs" said Wheeljack. "Yes, but I would prefer it if you didn't twist them or leave them covered in…whatever you used to make your bombs" said Ratchet.
Airachnid heard Ratchet sigh, then said, "Of course, my tools suffering isn't as bad as what Optimus is doing. I mean, why choose a human femme as your mate? She's going to die off long before we would. She would be lucky if she could live to…what was that human time measurement over a vorn…a hundred years." "Come on, Doc. Have you ever seen Optimus so happy? I have never seen a leader of an Autobot troop so happy before, and his mate seems to be happy as well. I mean no offense, but the both of them looked as if they had a dipstick up their…" "Please, Wheeljack, I don't need you to finish that sentence. I suppose that Optimus should have some happiness, but I'm worried how it would affect him after June dies. I know that both human DNA and Cybertronian CNA are almost identical, but…I don't know on how June can cope with the first six months of Cybertronian pregnancy. Arcee was pregnant for three and a half years, and a normal Cybertronian pregnancy lasts two and a half years. I suppose that I can always remove the protoform from June's body, but the problem would be where are we going to place the developing sparkling? We don't have any of the equipment for an incubation chamber," said Ratchet.
They should see what Shockwave has. They could use some of his Hyperevolution Chambers to place the sparkling in if June ever got pregnant thought Airachnid. She then heard "I don't know about you, Doc, but I'm turning in. Being chased by you has really made me tired." "Keep that up, and I'll make sure that you'll never wake up" said Ratchet. "Goodnight to you too, Doc" said Wheeljack as he left. "I wish that he would stop calling me 'Doc'" muttered Ratchet as he continued to run a few more calculations on the computer.
Airachnid waited for an hour, and then Ratchet left to sleep. She waited another half hour before she made her move. She made a large hole in the wall large enough for her to slip through, and then she navigated down through the hallways.
Airachnid had carefully infiltrated the base. She crawled along the hallways until she came to the place where the Autobots kept the relics. She looked in each and every room until she saw the Primal Drive. If Arcee got her upgrade from that thing, just imagine what it will do for me thought Airachnid as she clawed at the door with her legs. Acid melted the locks on the door, causing her to open it up with ease as she walked in and took the Primal Drive.
That was easy thought Airachnid as she left the room, then looked at the other relics. I could always use the Spark Extractor to offline the Autobots right here and now. Of course, I did love the Polarity Gauntlet. Then again, they do have the Star Saber and the Forge of Solus Prime in their servos. With all of these relics, I could easily destroy the Autobots and offline Shockwave's precious pets. But…with that super-charged Arcee living here, I may want to get my upgrade first. I could win the favor of Shockwave instead of being his precious minion, and then… thought Airachnid before she heard a low growl coming from behind her. She turned around slowly and saw herself face to face with Predaking.
Predaking growled a bit more before he roared at her; waking up the entire base in the process. Airachnid then ran as fast as she could in her spider form. Predaking chased her in pursuit, roaring at her the entire time. He belched out a blast of fire, torching Airachnid's back and several of her spider legs in the process. She screamed as she ran into the main room, then went to the ground bridge controls and punched in some coordinates to a location far away.
Once the Ground Bridge opened up, Airachnid ran through it and it closed immediately behind her. Predaking roared at his failure as he saw the Ground Bridge close.
Outside, in the wilderness, Airachnid panted as she felt the burnt metal and her charred protoform. Aching with each step, Airachnid made it to her cave and she began to look for the Transmetal Driver. After much searching, she found it and held it up in the little moonlight that made it into the cave. Taking both drives, she made it outside into the moonlight into a small clearing by a river. Lets see what you two can do thought Airachnid as she began poking both drives with her spider legs to try to activate them.
She was poking at both drives for about an hour, before she snarled in frustration as she dripped some acid on them. That caused both drives to activate, as both levitated up and spun before glowing really bright. A surge blasted through Airachnid's body as she began to scream and mutate.
The surge was so big; it was recorded on Autobot computers as Ratchet picked up the energy signal. Rubbing his optics from Predaking's roaring earlier, he managed to get a lock on the coordinates of the surge. "Optimus, we've got a massive power surge coming from this area" said Ratchet as he tried to stifle a yawn. Optimus walked over to the computer to get a closer look. "Send Predaking to investigate. I'll be going with him" said Optimus.
Predaking was heading back to his mate Arcee when he heard "Predaking! We need you on a mission!" Great, what does Cranky want now? Grumbled Predaking in his thoughts. He turned around (which was difficult) and headed for the control center.
When he got there, he saw Optimus with Ratchet. "What do you want, Cranky?" grumbled Predaking. Ratchet stared at Predaking as he said "My name is not Cranky. You're to go on a mission with Optimus and investigate this power surge happening at these coordinates." "And why do you need me?" said Predaking. "We need you to investigate this forested region because, with you being a Predacon, you're better adapted to navigate through dense foliage than Optimus is. Besides, you woke us up, so consider this part of your punishment" said Ratchet. Ratchet then activated the Ground Bridge, allowing bot Optimus and Predaking to go through it. What they would find beyond it would astound them.
Once the power surge died down, Airachnid was curious on how her new body form would look like. She moved over to the river, but as she did, she didn't notice how her walking was different than before. Perhaps I am a Predacon like Arcee thought Airachnid as she made it over to the river. The femme looked at the river's reflective surface, expecting to see herself in a dragon-like form, but as she looked, she thought that she was seeing things until the reality sunk in. Airachnid looked down in horror at her new reflection in the river. No, no! This is not how my upgrade is supposed to look! Thought Airachnid frantically, but it was. Her upgrade caused Airachnid to grow white fur on her body, but it didn't stop there. Her lower legs were replaced by a very long serpent body, which too had white fur on her back armor. Her claws on her spider legs were now a golden color, and her breasts had grown bigger. She turned around to look more at her tail. Purple barbs grew out of the spine and at the sides of her tail (scattered, not in solid lines.) There were barbs growing out of her back in sets of three, while single barbs grew out at the sides. Her tail tip was covered in sharp barbs, and the very end of her tail had a very long barb. Airachnid covered her optics with her servos, as she thought No! No! No! I'm a freak!
Both Predaking and Optimus heard a loud scream echo through the woods. The both of them looked at each other then headed for where the screaming came from. When they got to where the screaming was coming from, they saw a white snake-like creature with spider legs crying hard. Both Optimus and Predaking looked at each other, then at the creature, then at each other again. "Airachnid?" asked Optimus. The creature stopped crying, then looked at Optimus. Sure enough, it was Airachnid all right, but she was a different creature than before. "Don't look at me!" she screeched as she turned away.
Before Optimus could respond, a loud roar caught all of their attention. They looked skyward to see a very large dragon with irregular wings with a monstrous pterodactyl and Laserbeak behind him. The dragon landed and barked at the other two to secure the relics. Predaking growled "Skystalker and Windrazor." "Ah, Predaking. How Shockwave speaks of you…as a traitor to the Predacon cause. He has ordered your annihilation on sight to all Predacons" said Skystalker. "I got the Transmetal Driver, Skystalker" cawed Windrazor. "Well, we'd love to stay and fight, but Shockwave wants to bring back the others" said Skystalker before he grabbed Airachnid and took flight with the others. Predaking took flight after them, but a Ground Bridge opened up and swallowed up Skystalker, Laserbeak, and Windrazor, leaving Predaking alone in the sky. Predaking roared in anger at the other Predacons retreating with the relics.
Shockwave waited as the Predacons flew in through the Ground Bridge with the two relics and Airachnid as the femme struggled against the white and blue Predacon. Shockwave walked over to the femme as the female's optics widened in fear as he placed his servo beneath her chin so she can look directly into his red optic. "Airachnid, I see that you have tested both drives for me. Since you already have upgraded yourself, you're no longer needed as a test subject" said Shockwave as the lamia tried to escape from Skystalker. He turned around with his back facing the Predacons as he said "However, I still need you as a breeding femme for my Predacons to increase their numbers and to provide protoforms for the cloned Predacons. Bring her over to the berth so I can prepare her for the breeding process, Skystalker." "NO!" screamed Airachnid as the dragon brought her over to the berth.
Hours later, Airachnid woke up groggily as she tried to figure out what happened. She struggled to stand on her spider legs, but they failed to hold up her weight and she fell down flat on her stomach. Outside "Airachnid's Room," Shockwave was leading Skystalker to the femme. "I have removed her poisonous barbs and some of her armor to make breeding easier, but she is still dangerous. Use extreme caution when breeding with her" said Shockwave. "There is no need to caution me, Lord Shockwave. I happen to like my femmes a little bit dangerous" replied Skystalker as Shockwave punched in the numbers to open the door to the cell. Skystalker walked in, and Shockwave locked the door. He had to locate more Predacon skeletons.
Author's note: Airachnid is an Artic-Basilisk at this point. I will use the word 'lamia' at certain points in later chapters (I wasn't even thinking 'lamia' when I first designed Airachnid's new form. Airachnid looking like a lamia was just a coincidence.) She is far more powerful in this form than in her old form. This even includes zombie/energy-vampire Airachnid from the show.