A loud boom tore Airaneae from her sleep, sending her tumbling out of the berth she had just been sleeping in. A little dazed from the fall, it took the green femme a minute to stand without falling over. She ran to the door of her cabin, opening it just to see Ember rush past towards the bridge, slamming herself in the captain's seat while starting the engine of the ship.
A warning sign popped up on one of the screens before the red femme and she cursed. „We're under attack!" The ship wobbled and Airaneae had nothing to hold onto, so she fell onto the floor once more. She heard a wail pierce the air and saw Athena and Vortex, hiding under a table, wich was luckily connected to the floor, or else it would be tumbling about, hitting bots onboard.
She crawled forward until she was next to the siblings, curling her spider-legs around them to comfort them. „Hold on tight, we're leaving the hangar!" Came a shout from the bridge and the green femme braced herself against table and wall, holding Athena and Vortex tightly. Usually, in situations like these, Airachnid would be the one to comfort Airaneae, since the green feeme would be the one to panick. However, now that even younger children were here, the spider-bot felt the need to protect them.
Another explosion rocked the ship, and Airaneae heard the twins cry out in fear. She squeezed her optics shut, praying that they'd survive whatever they had gotten into. She yelped as the ship was almost flying vertical, and although she had no problem whatsoever holding up herself, with two panicking twins holding onto her legs kicking and screaming, things were a bit more difficult.
She felt their little servos start to slip and she was about to loose the grip on the table herself just as the ship flew horizontal once again. She heard the thud of the twins dropping onto the floor and the green femme looked behind her to make sure they were okay. After she was sure they were fine the femme walked over to Ember, standing behind her seat, her legs shaking slightly. „What happened?"
Ember looked back at her with a serious expression. „The hangar was attacked. We barely got out." Airaneae's optics widened. The hangar was in Kaon's center, basically one of the most protected parts of the city. „The hangar was utterly destroyed, and several ships have been blown up." The red femme continued. How did the rest of the city look then? What happened to Airachnid?
„What about the rest of the city?" She asked, choking back the tears that threatened to spill out of her optics. Airachnid was still there, probably looking for her. Or maybe she was… ? She shook her head, refusing to let her thoughts go there. „I don't really know what happened to the rest of it, but from what i saw when we left the hangar, it didn't look good."
Airaneae felt a tear slip down her cheek and she took a few steps back, sitting down in the co-pilots seat. The green femme thought about the last few days, and what happened. She had been with her sister not even a day ago and now she was in a spaceship, flying to Primus-knows where. It wasn't even that bad, it just would've been much better with her sister at her side.
The spider-bot heard Ember curse under her breath, looking at the screen before her. Airaneae didn't know what was written on the screen, as she had never been taught to read. „We need to land." The red femme proclaimed as she angled the ship's steering wheel downwards to land. As soon as they landed, the red femme stood and stepped to the door of the ship, wich opened and a ramp descended to the ground, wich Ember used as soon as it was in place.
Airaneae followed the older femme cautiously, squinting her optics as the bright light from outside shone on her face. After a few seconds, her optics adjusted to the brightness and she was able to walk without a servo shielding her face. The green spider-bot came to a stop next to Ember and looked at the ship with a gasp.
One of the ship's wings was damaged, metal torn from it's place. You could see some sparking wires and more of the wing's structure. The metal around the gaping hole was blackened and some looked like it was still hot. There was more minor damage all around the ship. Probably nothing to worry about, but this needed to be fixed, surely.
Ember frowned and crossed her arms. „They almost got one of our turbines." She stated, clearly unhappy with the situation. „We need to fix it before we leave the ground again, or else it could explode." She walked towards the ship, armor at the palm of her servos and below her knees folding away, flat pieces of metal forming in both places. Airaneae frowned in confusion as, suddenly, Ember placed her servos on the ship's flat surface, and pulled herself up.
For a moment, the green femme was utterly confused as the other femme climbed higher with ease, but she quickly figured out what was going on. Magnets. She was using magnets! The spider-bot smiled and watched as the bulky femme climbed near the major damage of the ship. The red bot inspected the hole near the engine, flinching back as sparks flew out of it. With a concentrated expression, she carefully reached into the hole with both servos, her knees placed firmly against the metal around it to keep her steady.
After a moment, the red femme retracted her servo with a pleased look on her face. „What did you do?" Airaneae asked curiously, watching as Ember climbed down the ship's wall, the magnets vanishing beneath her usual red armor once more. „I cut off the excess to the main power. Can't explode now." She grinned. „It's been a while since i got to tinker on a ship." A pause, then. „If i'm being honest, for a moment i thought i cut the wrong wire…"
Airaneae's optics widened at that, but before she got to say anything, Ember vanished inside her ship. She hurried to follow the bulky femme and just managed to run through the entrance as the red femme entered her quarters. She waited in the main area, the center of the ship. At the very front was the control center, behind that the main area, wich had two tables on each side, with a bench also connected to each side. Next was a small hallway that lead to the three cabin's.
After a few minutes, she heard the door of Ember's quarters open and looked up, watching as the femme carried a box and set it down on one of the table in the main area. She set it down and opened it, pulling out what looked like a weapon, inspecting it critically. „Airaneae, can you come over here, please?" The red femme asked. The spider-bot walked over slowly, optics fixated on the weapon.
Ember looked up. „Listen, i don't have the materials to repair the ship right now, that means we need to go look for metal resistant enough to withstand the forces of outer space." The older bot held out the weapon to Airaneae. „Wich is why i need you to come with me, and you need to be able to protect yourself." The green spider-bot stared at her for a moment, then at the weapon and back again. „I can't do this." The younger femme said, and backed up a bit.
The red femme sighed. „It'll be much faster with two bots and i could really use some help." Airaneae shook her helm and said. „No, no… I mean, i don't know how to shoot." Ember looked slightly surprised, as if expecting her to argue more. „So, you have no problem with going out there with me at all?" The green femme shook her head once more. „Huh… you're braver than some mechs i got to train." Airaneae looked surprised and slightly proud of herself at this. „Really?" Ember chuckled.
The red femme held the weapon out to Airaneae once more, who begrudgingly took it with shaking servos. The larger femme smiled. „C'mon, follow me." Both bots went outside again, a little bit further away from the ship, near a random metal formation. „I'm assuming that you're going to teach me how to shoot?" The red femme nodded, to wich the other groaned in frustration.
The spider-bot glanced at the weapon with a puzzled gaze, looking at Ember for help. The bulky femme chuckled and took the weapon from her servos, activating it by pressing Primus-knows-what. Airaneae now held the activated weapon, managing to find the handle and hold it by that. „Pull the trigger." The younger femme stared at her as if she'd grown two helms. Ember pointed to the trigger of the blaster. „There." Airaneae aimed the weapon towards the metal formation about 50 feet away from them and pulled the trigger.
Boom.
She flinched at the loud sound as it hit the construction, metal flying everywhere. The green spider-bot had taken a few steps back, almost dropping the blaster as she watched metal melt, dripping to the ground. Her mouth was hanging open as she turned to look at Ember, who looked at the smaller femme with a sheepish expression. „Maybe i shouldn't have turned it up to maximum efficiency."
Her statement was followed by an disbelieving shout of „What?!" as Ember laughed loudly. After the red femme had calmed down, she showed the now frowning Spider-bot how to hold the blaster more steady. After that, she attepmted to show the younger femme how to aim, wich was quite difficult. Noting that Airaneae always took a step back to balance herself out after a shot, she showed the femme a proper, more stable stance.
After about an hour, the spider-bot could now hold the weapon properly and shoot without falling over. However, she still needed to train to actually hit her target, wich was currenty some metal sticking out noticeably from the rest of the metal formation. „C'mon, that's enough for today. Tomorrow, we'll go look for some materials to repair my ship." Ember said and held out a servo, waiting for Airaneae to give back the blaster.
Airaneae looked at her and smiled. She turned off the blaster before returning it to it's rightful owner. Together, they walked back to the ship, finding that Vortex and Athena were both asleep on one of the benches in the main hall. Ember shook her helm with an amused look on her face, walking towards the sleeping twins and picking them up in her arms carefully. Airaneae watched as the red femme brought the siblings to their shared cabin and smiled.
„Well, i don't know about you, but i'm gonna sleep now. It'll take us at least two days to get to Vos." Ember said as she walked out oft he twin's room. „We're going to Vos?" Airaneae asked, surprised. She didn't even realize how far they were from her home city. „Yes, so you should get some rest." The other femme said and yawned, vanishing in her quarters, the door sliding shut behind her.
The green femme stood in the main hall for quite some time after Ember was gone. She sat down in one of the co-pilots seats and watched the stars through the large front window of the ship. Airaneae sighed, wishing for the thousandth time that her sister was here. The green spider-bot wondered if her sister was even alive. „She has to be…" The young femme murmured.
After a few more minutes, she decided that it was time for her to go get some rest. She was, after all, starting her journey to Vos tomorrow. That was at least something she looked forward to. The green femme had never been anywhere beside her home city and thus going to Vos was a big event for her. She trudged inside her quarters and flicked off the light, settling down in her berth once more, looking out the small circular window in her cabin, watching the stars twinkle outside before sleep claimed her.
A/N: Yay, another chapter. Hope you like it! Reviews are very much appreciated. :D