CHAPTER 10
Grizzly-1, Razorbeast, and Silverbolt's arrival had been a blessing to the battle-weary Maximals. As the wounded recovered, they generously patrolled the borders to ward off any potential Predacon threat.
Affairs in the Axalon gradually turned back to their original state as they recuperated. Cheetor had finally gotten over his battle shock after four solar-cycles, while his sister Airazor was restoring to fully functional order. Rhinox, ever the wise mechanic, was even able to repair Blackarachnia's badly mauled shoulders to their proper working order.
The rest of the Maximals' wounds had been nowhere near as severe as the three weakest fighters' had been, physical and emotional. Primal soon was adding the Axalon crew back to the daily patrols and even sent Rattrap back out to mine away the energon vein.
Grizzly-1 explained that the Maximal High Council had sent the three of them to help defeat the so-called small band of rogue Predacons so the Maximals would be able to safely harvest the energon and conduct whatever science expeditions they needed. Primal smirked at that.
"Looks like they misunderstood my transmission," the commander said with a shake of his head.
"Sure did," the bear-bot responded. "As soon as I saw all of those Preds, I knew it wasn't a 'small band.' That High Council, sheesh…"
"But we do need a few more warriors, that's for sure," Optimus said, "We weren't sent out here for a combat operation."
Even though they now outnumbered the Predacons, they were far from overpowering them. Three of the Maximals were not good for fighting while the opponents had two large mechs with strength equivalent to that belonging to at least three 'bots. They'd just have to deal with what they had.
It was morning now, maybe a quarter-deca-cycle since the big skirmish with the Predacons. Blackarachnia felt much better now, though still shocked from the fact that Wasp was alive and wanted her offline.
Cheetor was back to his chipper, over-energetic self, happily tearing through the base. The Maximal warrior Silverbolt was telling him to slow down, he was going to mow some poor 'bot down. Instead, Cheetor decided to interrogate Silverbolt on everything he knew about fighting.
The poor mech was being hit by a barrage of silly questions, like any young 'bot was liable to do. Silverbolt was doing the best he could to answer but clearly unused to being around younger Cybertronians.
The questions got increasingly ridiculous, such as "Can you fly?"
Silverbolt glanced over his shoulders at his wings. "Uh… yes. I do have wings…" he replied.
"Awesome!!" the little cheetah-bot said, ready to fire another inquiry when Blackarachnia intervened.
"Jeez, Cheetor, give the poor 'bot a break," she said, pulling the young 'bot against herself and playfully giving him the robot equivalent of a noogie. "Go bother your sister."
Cheetor smiled up at Blackarachnia, optics twinkling mischievously. "I'll tell her you sent me!" he called as he ran off.
"Sorry about him," Blackarachnia apologized, "He's barely past protoforming, and they're like that."
Silverbolt smiled. "That's quite alright. I haven't been around 'bots of that age since I was one myself. They mean well."
The two Maximals wandered aimlessly through the Axalon for a bit, waiting for an assignment from Primal. None seemed to come this particular solar-cycle, with the addition of the three warriors and the visiting Tigatron, there were fewer jobs to be done.
It was now mid-morning, as signified by the increasing sunlight entering the base. A nice, laid-back solar-cycle was what the crew needed and today finally seemed like the ideal time. Even Primal thought it to be; therefore he dispersed the Maximals to do as they please for the time being. They needed some down-time, he claimed. A few diligent 'bots remained on duty by will only, such as Rhinox with the monitors and Dinobot out stomping along the border with the Predacons. He had almost gotten into a fight with one of his old comrades and wanted to make sure they stayed off his faction's territory.
Summer was approaching, evident by the increasing temperatures. All of the Maximals felt the intense heat through their organic components, and most resorted to their bestial instincts to prevent overheating.
Most of the 'bots stuck close to the Axalon, which had conveniently crashed-landed near a large waterfall and river. The techno-organics enjoyed the feeling of the water on them; it was cooling to their bodies.
While most rambunctiously splashed around the in the river, Blackarachnia shied back. The memory of drowning in Lake Erie with the winter ice sealing her in was too vivid in her processor. The femmebot's organic components had almost failed from lack of breathable air, which almost took her spark offline.
Good thing she was out of the river, too. The mechs were in a huge play-brawl which flung water droplets every which way. The three newest techno-organics were obviously having a blast discovering these new experiences. All of the 'bots in the water—Grizzly-1, Razorbeast, Silverbolt, Tigatron, Rattrap, and Cheetor—were thoroughly drenched. Optimus Primal supervised from shore to make sure no one got too rough, especially with young Cheetor and the small-framed Rattrap.
The solar-cycle proceeded lazily, the perfect day off. As noontime arrived with an increase of heat as well of altitude of the sun, the Maximals tired some, a few gradually meandering into the cool hallways of the base.
Cheetor was last out of the river. He bounded over to the tree where Blackarachnia was resting and shook out his soaking pelt, splattering the femmebot with water.
"Hey, watch it!" she said, backing slightly. Cheetor just smiled the way he did in his cheetah form and laughed. He butted his head against one of the spider-bot's legs in a cat-like fashion before curling up in the sunlight for a stasis nap.
Blackarachnia looked about for the others and saw Primal and saw him dozing in a tree while Tigatron seemed to have left the presence of the Axalon, probably looking for Airazor. Grizzly-1 and Razorbeast had gone back inside the base, and Rattrap must've wandered back to the energon vein he loved blowing up so dearly. A dull thud and squeal of joy in the distance confirmed that.
Suddenly Silverbolt appeared from the above, pelt fluffy from the wind. He must've been flying about to dry the wetness from his fur. He folded his wings against his back with a nod of greeting to Blackarachnia.
"This planet is quite beautiful," Silverbolt remarked, trotting over to the femmebot.
"Sure is," Blackarachnia responded.
The wolf-eagle started circling on a patch of grass, then settled down with his head on his forelegs. His beast eyes looked somewhat tired as they looked at the femmebot.
"How long have you been with the crew of the Axalon? I do not recall seeing your name on the ship's roster before we launched." Silverbolt tilted his head. "I do not recall ever hearing of you, in fact." He looked at Blackarachnia questioningly.
The spider settled down alongside the Maximal. "Well… you're not going to believe this, but I'm from the past."
"Really?" Silverbolt replied, eyes widening.
"Yeah. I was on Earth around during their year 2050 or so. There was a transwarp explosion and I somehow ended up in the past. And future." Blackarachnia shook her head, "It doesn't make much sense, but I did. Somehow."
"Very interesting," Silverbolt said, witching his tail feathers. It seemed like he believed the wild tale. "So… you were an Autobot?"
"At one point, yes," the femmebot replied quietly. Thankfully the wolf-eagle took the hint that she didn't want to delve into her past.
"What is Earth like in the future then?" he asked.
Blackarachnia sighed softly. "The humans created huge civilizations full of technology. I never saw this much wilderness while I was here in the future." She paused. "Or would it be later?" Silverbolt laughed gently. "Their technology was pretty advanced for an organic race. They even built some robotic dinosaurs that turned out to be transformers like us. Isn't that crazy?"
"The Dinobots?" Silverbolt inquired, ears pricked forward with interest.
"Yeah, that's what Grimlock called the three of them."
"Grimlock, Swoop, Snarl, those three?" the wolf-eagle asked eagerly.
"Yes! I know them," Blackarachnia replied. "What happened to them?"
"I don't know. When Optimus Magnus returned to Cybertron with his crew, the Dinobots had come with him. They soon disappeared, and to this solar-cycle, no 'bot is sure where they went."
Blackarachnia paused for a moment, pondering what could've happened to the trio of Dinobots. She hoped they were alright, wherever they had gone. The femmebot also wished that she'd been kinder to them now. She had been fond of the three but mistreated them severely. Blackarachnia forced the old thoughts back into the depths of her processor for the time being. That's not who you are anymore, she told herself.
"What's Cybertron like nowadays?" Blackarachnia asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "I haven't been home in a while," she admitted.
"Who held Magnus the time you were from?" Silverbolt asked.
"It was Ultra Magnus."
"Wow, his reign was many stellar-cycles ago. Meta-cycles, actually. There have been four Magnuses since then," the wolf cocked his head as he thought. "Let's see… well for one, there became a large population of flying Autobots, which led to flying Maximals such as myself. I trained mainly in aerial combat."
What? Autobots didn't fly, that was a Decepticon thing. Blackarachnia only thought that Airazor and Silverbolt's powers of flight were from their beast forms' abilities. "Really? Flying Autobots?" she remarked with disbelief.
"Yes. The twin mechs Jetfire and Jetstorm were the pioneers of Autobot flight. They were modified from technology stolen from the Decepticon Starscream. This happened under Ultra Magnus' rule, you must have heard about it?" Blackarachnia shook her head. "Hmm, you must've been here when it happened."
"I still think that's crazy," Blackarachnia responded.
"It may be," Silverbolt said, his jaws parting in a yawn, an odd quirk of organic creatures. The femmebot felt like copying that action, but spiders couldn't quite do so. The Maximal warrior drifted into a peaceful stasis nap before Blackarachnia could ask him any more on Maximal/Predacon Cybertron.
Nonetheless, she was glad to have found a friend in Silverbolt.