AN: ONE WEEK! I am so sorry about this lack of activity, I can´t stress how much I wanted to give you the two chapters but I just couldn´t find motivation to write being so tired as I am, but enjoy this extra-long chapter as a sort of bonus. I hope you can forgive me and, honestly, I can´t be too sure if the next chapter won´t also be posted a week from now on.
"I really despise what they've done with the place."
The forest looked horrid in Airachnid's optics. Everywhere she looked it was a drab atmosphere with a mostly graying palette, some greenery colors sprinkled about in the ground, making her want to metaphorically purge her tank's contents. The worst part were the widely spaced trees that, while tall, offered little to no cover for someone her size with those thin trunks, making her feel too exposed out in the open forest.
Being on stage was one thing, there were Makers everywhere, be that on stage or among the patrons, but alone (not technically but it felt like it) with an Autobot in an alien planet? That only dug up bad memories. At least they hadn't been sent to search some cave Solus knows where. Airachnid dug tunnels but didn't enjoy being underground for extended periods of time on account of her accident.
"It's an organic forest, not a hab-suite." Arcee didn't take her optics off the scouter as they kept walking but still couldn't help but roll them. This was supposed to somehow build trust between them in case they needed to work together in future missions but the differences between them were more than evident.
"I would be better off in one. Couldn't Silverbot have come instead of me?"
"Solarflare decided to ground him for a few days, or have you forgotten?"
"I swear that femme still hasn't realized he's an adult." Whispered Airachnid while looking up above, getting a better view of the grey skies. Even the sun didn't want to show up there, not surprising her in the least. "Fine. Doomsday, then."
"What do you have against field missions? You're clearly a good fighter." The two-wheeler couldn't even remember the spider-femme volunteering for something as basic as patrol, preferring to conveniently disappear in the webs she'd laid up above in the ceiling.
"It's not so much the surroundings, more the company I'm forced to keep."
"You sure know how to make someone feel special."
"Some of my past experiences with Autobots weren't exactly… pleasant." Had they been she'd have ended up in the Elite guard's science division like she'd planned and most likely offlined during the war. In a way there were some things that had worked out better in the end, as unlikely at it seemed. What was that saying humans had about closed doors and open windows again? "I prefer to keep my distance if possible."
"Yet you feel the need to make a move on Ratchet almost every day." Arcee pointed out.
Seeing the spider-femme flirt with the Autobot medic never ceased to be anything less than watching a highway collision, horrifying but impossible to look away due to its nature. Almost all of her sentences included some sort of implicit actions or double-entendres but Ratchet refused to give her the time of day and add fuel to the fire, preferring to ignore the Maker until she gave up and went away.
Airachnid shrugged, no evidence of regret in her faceplates. "I like to watch mechs squirm. Beautiful and deadly, it used to be my thing back then. I could take a look at a mech and figure out exactly what was his type but my radar seems to have rusted out after so long."
"How did you end up like that?" The question emerged from Arcee's voicebox before she could help herself. Ever since her first conversation with Silverbot the curiosity burned in the back of her processor. If Doomsday hadn't been at fault for the multi-legged 'upgrade' but an accident instead what sort of substance could alter a bot's frame to that extent?
Missing the meaning of Arcee's question, Airachnid didn't give it much thought. "What, in my line of work? Where else in Cybertron would someone who looked like this be able to earn shanix and be treated fairly?"
"No. I meant like…" Oh Primus, her attempt at getting her questions answered wasn't as awkward as she'd though it would be. It was a lot worse. "That." With a graceless gesture to the spider-femme's frame Arcee was swiftly met with narrowing optics and a dangerous snarl along with a sharp digit pointing in her direction.
"None of your business."
"Made something you shouldn't, didn't you?"
"I said it was none of your business!"
"I'll take that as a yes." Whispered the blue femme before her scanner started beeping and she took a closer look at the readings. "That's odd. Ratchet's satellite scans were accurate but subterranean energon deposits don't cause this type of surge."
They kept going ahead, this time at a faster pace, and came across something they hadn't expected to witness. The soil was ripped apart, torn in two by a wide sulk that stretched deeper into the forest, leaving an unmistakable trail of splintered trees around the entire area.
"Someone crash-landed here."
"Please let it be Soulcrash, I could use the distraction." Airachnid crossed her arms and sneered at the two-wheeler. Her past was right where it should be, buried under a lot of high-grade and too many ´jobs´ to count… She´d offline a random bot for just another cube of high-grade… Maybe… Definitely… Maybe…
Arcee didn´t pay much attention to the spider-femme. "Just stay close and on your guard." She continued forward at an even faster pace, becoming almost surprising she hadn´t transformed to her alt-mode and sped off.
Airachnid shrugged and used her spider legs to keep up with the Autobot. Things were getting interesting, there could be a new ally, enemy or both in that ship. That is, if it was intact after the crash landing.
They remained low and used the trees for cover as they got closer to their target, at least the blue femme did, the other settled for going at a slower pace and keeping an optic open to avoid any surprises.
The vessel was a dark color, marred by several lines of silvery gashes, both deep and shallow, and sizably bigger than Wheeljack's ship, big enough to carry more than a servofull of Cybertronians. It was impossible to tell if it was Autobot, Decepticon or neither, the latter category possessed individuals that varied greatly on their moral stances and view of the war, so the friend or foe options were still wide open.
Arcee deployed one of her blasters and motioned for the spider femme to remain in position while she went closer to investigate the spaceship. The two-wheeler steadied herself before jumping in front of the open entrance, ready to shoot any hostiles, but saw no one. Taking another quick look around she went in, careful not to make noise.
Airachnid watched as the Autobot disappeared into the ship and crossed her arms, tapping her digits impatiently, although she was beginning to get on edge about the unnerving silence. Human forests should at least have birds but not one could be seen nor heard the closer they got to the crash site, so either she was more terrifying than she remembered or something else was out there. Before she could ponder about the situation any further Arcee came out looking very queasy and ready to slump over.
"What's the matter? The crew all mangled or something like that?" Airachnid walked over and examined the femme, waving a servo in front of her optics. Was she shaking?
Arcee didn't hear the Maker in front of her, or register the purple servo in front of her faceplates. She only kept reliving the memories being restrained, spark-wrenching fear, a menacing green mech and her partner… Tailgate.
Tailgate never stopped screaming as she was forced to watch her partner be disassembled, the memories haunting her as long as her spark still pulsed. She had been supposed to be next but survived where he had perished.
Snapping out of her trance, Arcee steadied herself and attempted to calm herself. "I know who this ship belongs to." She then commed the others, knowing they´d likely need backup. "Arcee to base, I need a groundbridge ASAP."
"Whose ship is it?" The spider-femme had no idea what was going on.
"Base, do you read?" Nothing but static greeted the blue Autobot. "Scrap. Comm link's dead. The ship has got to be transmitting a high-frequency scrambler pulse." She resisted the urge to yell out expletives and went to investigate the nearby vegetation for tracks. "Be on your guard, this bot will make you suffer before he offlines you." She found that the nearby trees had scratch marks that went off in one direction.
"Explain. Now." Airachnid was getting on edge about the femme´s actions. From what she could gather the bot driving the ship was dangerous enough for them to require backup but everything else was a blank. What did they look like? Were they a Decepticon or something else? Did they use short or long-range combat?
Arcee didn't pay attention to the Maker´s questions and went ahead deeper into the forest, following the trail of snapped and trampled vegetation. She took out her blaster once again but let it drop to her side when a tree trunk with a clean cut caught her optic. That precision, no splinters, it had to be him.
She had been running through a devastated Cybertron, escaping enemy fire, and contacted Delta team for the rendezvous coordinates. Tailgate, her partner before Cliffjumper, had answered and, even though they were in the middle of a war, they still found the time to banter and joke- her sense of direction versus his aim. He was just about to give her the coordinates when something struck her and everything went black.
When she'd woken up she was suspended in the air by energy cuffs keeping her arms apart and her legs were bound as well. Struggling hadn't helped in the slightest and when that odious mech came strutting about, bragging about how easily he'd managed to capture her, she knew it wouldn't end well.
"Seriously, what-!"
"Shhhh!" Arcee shushed the spider-femme. "He's close."
"Who?!" Airachnid was getting closer and closer to losing her patience, wanting to sink her claws into something to get the frustration out in case she did not get her answers.
"Stay behind in case he decides to make a run for the ship." Arcee darted forward, leaving behind an even more confused and frustrated Maker.
He´d been passing near the backwater planet known as Earth when he picked up on Decepticon radio chatter about a group of Autobots giving them some trouble. Being the helpful mech he was (always for a price, of course) he decided to stop by and try his luck at bringing in an Autobot or two. Decepticons had a reputation of paying well for captured enemies and if they were carrying intelligence, depending on the value, their price could even double.
The possibility of adding one more specimen to his private collection was also very enticing to the bounty hunter. He´d decimated countless species in search of the perfect individual among the masses to put on display and used the less-than-optimal ones to make a few shanix on the black market. How much would humans go for in a trade, he wondered.
Spotting a tent with a native life-form hiding away inside, he could not contain his excitement at the commencing of another job.
"Trophy case or dissection, I wonder?"
The bounty hunter moved in on the unsuspecting camper but, before he could strike, a blue blur jumped him, sending both Cybertronians careening down a hill. They struggled with each other until they hit a rock wall in a clearing at the bottom, Arcee being the one bearing the brunt of the hit with her back, and the mech promptly picking himself off the floor along with her.
The two bots sized each other up and the bounty hunter proceeded to laugh upon recognizing her.
"Arcee, how nice of you to welcome me. Small universe, isn't it?" He asked, smiling as if he didn´t have a care in the universe.
The femme clenched her servos and her expression morphed into one of loathing. "Too small, Lockdown."
"I see you still remember me."
"Decepticon scum like you are a shanix a dozen, don´t flatter yourself."
"You know I'm a bounty hunter, I work for the highest bidder and all that. Too bad for you Autobots that Decepticons aren't afraid to spend a few shanix to get work done. "
"I got a look at your souvenir case. Wasn't enough for you to take Cybertronians apart so now organics too?"
Walking into the spaceship the first thing she´d seen were green containers lining the walls of the main hallway with various preserved organic species and, secured in-between the vats, various mods from bots Lockdown had likely offlined. It was as if the ship was itself a shrine to his depraved achievements, a way for him to show whoever was unlucky enough to find themselves inside that there was no way out.
"Oh, you got a look at my trophies?" Lockdown sounded proud of all his ´accomplishments´, almost flattered Arcee had brought them up. "Over the eons I grew bored, you see, of hearing the same screams and harvesting the same mods. They all began to look and sound the same and ever since the war ended payments slowed down, so I decided to expand my business. Even if I have to go through all the population I always get the perfect specimen."
"I'll stop you before that happens!"
Arcee charged at the bounty hunter but he merely raised his arm and shot a sticky substance out of a wrist device, trapping her against the rock wall and pinning her arms against her sides.
"What?!" It looked and felt like the familiar material she'd see every time she looked up inside the base. How could that be?!
"You like it? Went to Archa Seven while tracking a rouge Decepticon and found these organic creatures with lots of legs. They reminded me of a ladybot friend I had back in the day when I was still studying under the old rusbucket who was so fond of that ´processor over matter´ nonsense. Anyways, I went through a good deal of them before I managed to make this here piece of equipment."
While he was gloating, the bounty hunter hadn´t noticed the spider-femme that quietly positioned herself behind him or when she´d jumped in the air, but he definitely felt the kick to his helm that sent him rolling into the ground and against a tree. Quickly getting to his pedes he once more prepared to take care of whatever Autobot had the audacity of attacking while his back was turned but Lockdown was frozen in place as soon as his optics landed on his attacker.
"I told you to stay behind!" Arcee yelled, struggling even harder, but she was still not able to break the webbing, as her blades were pointing towards her body instead of outside. If she attempted to cut through the bonds she would surely lose too much energon and have no way of properly patching herself up.
The Maker smirked and showed off her fangs. "If I went back to base without you after this the others would never let that go!"
Lockdown, who´d finally processed who he was looking at, could not wipe the surprised look from his faceplates. "Airachnid?" All that time she´d likely been on that organic planet and he was on the other side of the universe on bounty jobs as he searched for her.
"What? Do I know you?" She kept her servos splayed open facing the mech but, for some reason, he didn´t seem too keen to fight her.
"Be careful! Lockdown is more dangerous than he seems!" Arcee could not help but remember what had happened to her… to Tailgate.
Lockdown wondered how the Autobot femme had managed to survive by fighting her way through Decepticon ranks and evade whatever enemies were left with such standard gear. There wasn't much he could use there, he already had enough 'spare parts', but she did have some intel about the next attack's coordinates. Lockdown knew she´d never reveal the information willingly, they never did, but he provided a very persuasive method to make her talk.
Tailgate was dragged in by a pair of Vehicons and strapped to a medical table in front of her. Her partner was still conscious, he´d said her name but couldn´t focus his optics on anything. A table filled with all sorts of tools emerged from the ground next to him and the bounty hunter promised if she didn´t reveal what she knew Tailgate would be taken apart right in front of her.
…She didn´t know. SHE DIDN´T KNOW!
He didn´t believe her. Not when she repeated herself. Not when she begged to torture her instead. Not when she screamed for him to stop mixed with Tailgate´s screams as he was picked apart until he offlined from the unbearable pain, his energon cables shut with surgical clamps to make him survive long enough.
"Lockdown? No…" Airachnid had to stop herself from lowering her servos in surprise. She´d met a mech with that designation long ago, back when she´d been no more than a rookie in the main ´workforce´ of the Maker district.
After she was cursed with het current form she had managed to sneak back into Cybertron on a rescue vessel with great difficulty (getting caught would have ended with her offline for sure) and reach the only place she knew she´d be welcome at. One look at her hideous spider-like appearance and any other bot would have either ran away or turned her in to be studied and dissected by the Council´s scientists.
She had been lucky enough to have made friends in the district, Solarflare and Doomsday, who vouched for her inclusion into their community and offered to help her out settling in. Airachnid cast aside her previous designation and took on a new one but she´d also sought to cast aside her original persona and carve out another and it was an ordeal of trial and error before she was done. A small number of bots had served as guinea pigs for her to test out her techniques, one in particular becoming quite attached to her before on one occasion having been forcibly dragged out by his mentor to never be seen again.
Until that moment.
"Surprised?" Lockdown relished in the way the Maker took in his departed appearance from his pupil days in the Cyber-Ninja Corps. He´d done extensive modifications after becoming a bounty hunter and barely recognizable to someone unaware of his past.
Regaining her composure the spider-femme attempted to remain unfazed and put on her usual air of arrogance. "I have to say, quite a departure from the cyber ninja look. Then again, you were never one to behave according to the rules."
"And you… working with an Autobot. Now that´s unexpected. Why don't you ditch the bucket of bolts and join me? We could travel the universe, just the two of us and a whole lot of shanix to collect."
"How about… no!" She took Lockdown by surprise with a few shots while she took off on a dash across the clearing. The picture painted by the mech might have been tempting once upon a time but not anymore.
Lockdown dodged the attack and retaliated with some of his own. "So, that's how it's gonna be, huh?!" He attempted to gain some terrain but it seemed she was decided in keeping him at long range. Smart, he thought, Airachnid still remembered who he´d studied under and that he hadn´t been too shabby of a student.
They continued exchanging shots, Airachnid jumping up to the trees with the help of her spider limbs and using the aerial agility to her advantage but the mech kept dodging everything she threw his way. She´d need to take him down before a stray shot hit Arcee and she ended up getting a talk down from Flare and (eugh) Prime.
One of her servos was still trained on Lockdown while the other shifted to hit a tree behind the spot where he was headed and it fell down just at the right moment when he was passing underneath it. The bounty hunter had to dodge or be pinned under the falling tree and Airachnid used the distraction to jump down, getting close enough to see his optics widen at the realization of his mistake, and covered Lockdown´s face in a layer webbing before punching him, knocking the mech onto his back a good deal away, immobile and seeming very much defeated.
She smirked and placed her servos on her hips, leaning forward to go and deliver the finishing blow. "And now, for the-"
"Get me out of here!" Arcee cut off Airachnid´s murderous thoughts with an angry cry.
The spider-femme rolled her optics but opted to comply. "…Fine." She needed to convince the Autobot not to divulge her connection to Lockdown to the others and offlining him without a care in the world would likely damage her character. Turning around she made her way to the two-wheeler but fell forward in pain when a shot hit her back.
Lockdown was sitting up with the web torn of his faceplates and was smiling at the injured femme. "Sorry, beautiful. You forgot I never miss a target." He picked himself up and began walking towards his old flame, unsure on what to do with her. The Autobot, however, he would certainly contact the Decepticons and try to get a good price for her.
Airachnid clenched her dentas and snarled, her back hurt like there was no tomorrow but there was no way she´d let herself get caught. With a pained cry she turned to drill mode and went underground, leaving Arcee alone with Lockdown. Cooperation was important, as a Maker she knew that, but between herself and an Autobot she would always come first in any situation. Always.
"Airachnid!" Arcee yelled when she saw the femme disappear, leaving only a tunnel opening behind. She´d been abandoned but, for some reason, she wasn´t too surprised.
Airachnid was the lone wolf, the wild card, the one who would go out of her way not to be seen most of the day. The other Makers were used to her personality and even claimed she was always very sociable, the presence of the Autobots being the cause of her more reserved persona.
"Making yourself hard to catch, I see. I do love a good chase." Lockdown closed his optics and felt the earth beneath his pedes, searching for the only disturbance large enough to be detected. He smirked. There. "I´m sorry to leave you hanging… well, not really." He turned his back to his prisoner and began walking away. "But I have a spark to catch."
"No! Get back here!" Arcee struggled with her bonds but came no closer to loosening them. "AIRACHNID, YOU TRAITOR!"
AN: How was it? Were any of you expecting our favorite TFA bounty hunter ;)? On another note I think the quality in my writing dropped a noticeable amount (due to my extended work schedule these two weeks) I really need to know what you all think, be it on the chapter itself or the story so far.