Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.
Pandimala: What sort of scrap do you have me going into?
Authoress: What do you mean?
Pandimala: *knowingly* You know exactly what I mean!
Authoress: Well, the show must go on! *runs*
Pandimala: *yells* Without you maybe!
Chapter 2: Changing Fate
Airachnid's 1st P.O.V.
Recharge hadn't come to me at all during the night cycle. My processor had been jolting with thoughts about that fragging femme ever since my talk with Scuttlebug. I wanted to mistrust her. I didn't want to give her a chance. At least with Astrotrain and…that mech, we knew how they arrived and they had slowly worked their way into our trust. However, the femme had just popped in. There was no telling how she was going to act around everybot…and what her mission was.
While I was reluctantly ready to agree with Scuttlebug about the fact that Cybertron was most likely not behind this, she was still up to something. Since I couldn't fall into recharge last night, I looked at the security footage from the med bay. She was too hesitant at certain points of the discussion. There was something that she was hiding. I wanted to know what it was.
What was worse, was that Scuttlebug had not been exaggerating her reaction to me. Even over the video, I could see the fear that my designation alone brought up. This femme knew of me, and she was scared of me. Seeing that sort of fear of me in a femme that I had never met before shook me more than I thought it would. It was only for a nano, but it was there. Everything that Scuttlebug said was there.
But, there was more. What he must not have noticed was the way that the femme was tense when Astrotrain mentioned the three of us siblings. Not only did she know me, but she had tensed in anticipation of hearing my designation. She had known it was coming, though it was obvious from the footage that she had no knowledge of the hive. How did this femme know me and not of the hive? None of this made sense.
As I walked toward my destination, there was only one option that would give me my answers. Despite everybot else's reservations, I needed to talk with the femme, and with none of the gentleness that everybot else was using. If we let her set the rules, she was just going to keep us all in the dark until it was too late. I was not going to allow her to dictate the hive to suit her needs. I was going to get the truth out of the femme. I wouldn't be as challenging as I wanted to be, given the way the femme was reacting to different things, but I would be forceful. I wasn't the monster she seemed to think I was, but I was stern. I would not allow her to just do as she pleased.
"Lady Airachnid," I stopped and turned toward my personal hardcased guard. Unlike Bombshell and Kickback, Shrapnel wouldn't just relax and call me by just my designation. He always had to add 'lady' in his greeting to me. "Where are we heading to this solar?"
I would be hypocritical if I didn't bring my guard with me into a potentially dangerous situation. I was worried about our safety and so I was going to make sure that I followed every bit of advice I was going to give to my errant brother and sister. When I heard that Tarantulas had disregarded Bombshell and ran to the crashing femme, I about lost it. The femme could be dangerous and, for a grounder, she was very large and intimidating in appearance.
Back to Shrapnel's question though, "You and I are going to go and have a talk with our new arrival. My brother and the others aren't taking this as seriously as they should be. This Pandimala is going to tell me what she is hiding and how she knows me. Astrotrain and Scuttlebug should be out of the med bay right now so we shouldn't be interrupted. However, I am going to need your help."
"Of course, what can I help you with, my lady?"
"When we enter the med bay, I will ask the femme to remove the monitoring system that she is hooked up to. I want you to hook it up to yourself. If the system shows too much change Scuttlebug will either send Astrotrain down or he will come himself. But, I'll need you to stay calm. No matter how irate the femme may become. Only intervene if she makes physical contact with me against my will. I won't be being nice to her, and that may cause her to lash out verbally. I can't have you getting excited about how she may act. Can you do that for me?" It was a lot to ask the mech, given that they were trained to stop actions against us before they even started. But, for me to question the femme as much as I was hoping to, I needed as much time as I could get. And for me to get that, I would need every advantage I could get.
The insecticon who had practically grown up with me nodded. "Of course, my lady." And he didn't even question it. I don't think that there was anything that I could do to make that mech upset with me. Frag, I could turn into some sadistic bounty hunter and collect helms and he would be right there helping me every step of the way.
"Thank you," I said in appreciation as we arrived at the med center doors.
Once we were inside, I moved swiftly with Shrapnel behind me. I didn't have a nano to waste with this. Scuttlebug was a no-nonsense mech which, while a good thing most of the time, would get in the way of my questioning. We needed to know these answers. And I would find them out regardless of how angry Tarantulas and Scuttlebug would be at me.
Thankfully, as we walked by the femme's viewing window, we were in the clear. Not only was she awake, but she was alone. Perfect. I watched her reaction as Shrapnel entered the room and, while she looked tense for a click, she relaxed after a nano of studying him. This was just adding to the confusion that this femme was.
"Hi…um, is there something you need from me?" I watched as the femme engaged Shrapnel in conversation. Interesting. She didn't seem scared. And even among the hardcased, Shrapnel was one of the most intimidating, outside of Bombshell and Hardshell. While Hardshell was a newer mech, he was blessed with a strong disposition to his hardcassed CNA. A towering and straightforward mech if I ever saw one.
Shrapnel looked a little taken aback by the femme's friendly, if not hesitant, greeting to him. Thankfully, he bounced back quickly. "There is something. However, I need you to swear to keep what is about to happen simply verbal. Also, I am going to need to borrow your analyzers for the talk so Scuttlebug doesn't come in too quickly."
A look of distrust flashed across her faceplate. "Why would you need that?"
"Because my lady wishes to speak with you, and we have information that you might not be receptive to such a meeting." Shrapnel explained.
Immediately, I noticed the femme tense. She had a feeling. Not only did she tense, though but I saw the fear flash across her optics. Scuttlebug was right. This femme didn't have any ability to lie. It was quite pathetic, to be honest. How had she survived this long without the ability to deceive a bot?
"Only if your lady swears the same in return where it comes to our conversation." Well, even if the femme couldn't lie, she could negotiate at least…and she could sound more intimidating than I was picturing she could given her hesitant greeting to my guard.
"My lady, is that alright?" Shrapnel asked as he waited for my response. Any other Decepticon would have snapped at the femme for demanding this from me. However, the guards were all trained specifically to allow things like this slide. Personal deals didn't count on the decorum that was normally expected to be followed and our personal guards needed to be able to allow this to happen.
And this needed to happen. "Yes, agree to the terms,"
Immediately, Shrapnel nodded. "Very well, let me remove the sensors before my lady comes in. She wishes to talk with you for as long as we can."
The femme seemed nervous at that but nodded. Shrapnel, taking the visual cue walked up to the femme and took the sensors off, one at a time so the readings wouldn't stop suddenly. If they did, even for a click, Scuttlebug might get suspicious and come check on her. Shrapnel knew me all too well.
Once the cables were attached to Shrapnel, I didn't waste any time walking around the corner. "Hello, I have been told you are Pandimala."
She looked nervous and immediately, I knew that she was going to try and lie. "I'm afraid I don't know,"
"Let's save each other the time femme," I interrupted her. I was working with limited time and I was not dealing with the back and forth. "I know you know who I am. Don't play games with me, for I am not a patient femme."
The femme tensed at my accusation and looked nervous for a nano before she spoke. "Very well, yes, you are Airachnid. Now, why are you here?" Her tone was getting a harder edge to it. But, I could still hear the nervousness in her vocals that I had witnessed. She was on edge already.
"I'm here to call you out on your lying. My brother seems to trust you, as does our medic and Astrotrain. But, we all know you are hiding things." I went in on her. "You don't have as much amnesia as you wish us to think you do. You show too much recognition about enough things, femme. I will not allow you to be a danger to the hive as long as I can take intakes. So, you will tell me all of the information that you are hiding, and you will not lie to me. I will know the nano you do."
"I can't tell you,"
"No, you can!" I growled before I slammed one of my extra appendages against the wall by her helm. "And the more you delay, the more I will think you are trying to harm the hive and I will eliminate you if you are plotting against,"
"How can I plot against something I just learned about?" She yelled back, her optics shining with her charged emotions. "How can I plot against a fragging planet that I didn't even know existed until I woke up here? How can I plot against you when I am still trying to wrap my fragging helm around the fact that I'm no longer an organic species from a far-away planet that, in this time, doesn't exist?"
She was…this was a newspark? They were almost unheard of and for one to be so massive was even rarer. She was not lying in all of this information that she was yelling at me. This femme…no, Pandimala…she was truly feeling lost and now I had just caused her even more distress than she was feeling. This was what she had been hiding. I had seen only an attack as the only possible option for what she was lying about. But, this was something different. "I'm,"
But, Pandimala kept going. "How can I fragging do anything when I've been stranded in a different dimension that is a reality that was fiction for my entire life?! A fiction where only some of you have been in, some of you were in similar fictions, and you were a psychotic killer!" I wanted to step back as the femme yelled that, but I couldn't move. Shock was traveling through my chassis as I processed everything the panicking femme was yelling. Different realities? One where we were as fake as Pied Hamelin and his hypnotizing song. It was one of the hunter's classic tales. It was a story told to help us keep our powers over the hive in check.
However, according to Pandimala, I was playing a role worse than Pied in those stories. I…I was a killer… "What…how…?"
However, this femme was on a roll with her panic rambling. "There were entire species that you wiped out, collecting their helms and putting them on display! You never hesitated to ruthlessly torture anybot who got in your way, tearing them apart! How am I supposed to just tell you all of that and you believe me?!" The room then went silent as Pandimala seemed to realize she had said all of that out loud. Looking up at me, I felt my spark racing as the fear in her optics was shining through.
Slag, I screwed up.
"What the frag is going on here?" I turned and felt my optics widen as I saw Scuttlebug and Astrotrain standing in the doorway. Scuttlebug, who had yelled, was looking between the three of us before his optics settled on the monitor cables that were still hooked up to Shrapnel. I could feel the anger coming from the medic as he turned back on me. "I told you that we needed to keep our guard up around her until she was ready to talk to us. Why didn't you listen to me?"
"I had to make sure! We don't have a monarch right now and the hive is vulnerable to any sort of attack. Regardless of yours and my brother's trust in the femme, I had to make sure!" I yelled right back.
"And what has that done for you? I should,"
"Stop!" We all froze as we looked at Pandimala. She was glancing between us with her servo on her helm like she was soothing pain. "Please, just stop. Scuttlebug, she had every right to…don't be angry at her. I…" She then shook her helm and removed her servo. "Do you mind if I go somewhere for a walk?"
I could see that Pandimala needed to step away for a nano and I knew that the western quadrant would be peaceful. Its seclusion was one of the reasons I was surprised that she had been found out there. "You can go to the western quadrant for a walk while I talk with these two and my brother with Shrapnel here," I agreed. "Once you have calmed down, I think you should talk to all of my siblings about what you told me."
Her small smile and nod toward me, as hesitant as they were, told me that she had not been scarred by my questioning of her. Despite how shaken she seemed, the femme seemed to understand my want to protect the hive. Her previous species must have had extremely high empathic qualities to pick up on that despite the grilling I had just put her through. "Thank you…Airachnid," I barely heard her whisper before she stood and, after asking Astrotrain which way to turn to head toward said quadrant, the femme made her way out of the room.
"I don't know what happened, but you can explain it to Tarantulas. He is in the central hub's rec room right now and I'm sure he would love to hear it as well," Scuttlebug hissed, in a rare form of anger at me.
"I guess I can tell him now," At Scuttlebug's surprised look, he must have thought that I was going to refuse. But, the hive needed to be unified in this and that meant that my siblings needed to have all of the information that they could get their servos on. With the pressure coming from Cybertron, we needed to make sure that we had all of our information in the right servos.
Of course, I did owe the femme. She had defended me against Scuttlebug's anger even though his anger had been at her defense. Realizing that I had just sent the femme alone into the western quadrant, I jumped onto the hive communication link and connected to one of the Hardcased. "Hardshell, I need you to keep an optic on Pandimala…I owe her and I don't want her getting in trouble." I sent to the mech.
It didn't take long for the mech to respond. "Of course," He then let the connection drift, more than likely to go and get Pandimala in his sights.
The walk to the hub took about ten clicks but, once we got there, I felt like the whole building was tense. This didn't feel right. But, I might just be over-sensitive right now. I had just gone against the wishes of my brother and Scuttlebug to interrogate a femme who, I came to find out, didn't need to be interrogated like that at all.
According to her, she knew me as a psychopathic murderer.
How could that have happened? While she did say that the medium in which she knew me was fake, it was still a possibility of what my future held. What sort of event could cause even a make-believe portion of myself to turn to that sort of…depravity? But, she hadn't been lying. In her angry yet terrified rant to me, everything she spoke was the truth…as difficult as that seemed to believe right now.
"I hope your carelessness gave you what you wanted to have," Astrotrain spoke as we neared the doors to the rec room."
I glanced up at the triple changer. "More than you know," He looked down at me in surprise. I guess he didn't think we had accomplished much. In that situation, we normally wouldn't have. The time would have been too short to find out any real information. However, I must have pushed just the right buttons on the femme to get her to spill that. Plus, with her coming from a completely different dimensional plane and changing species, she would still be disoriented from her trip and thus more susceptible to interrogation.
Once the doors opened, I felt my optics narrow on reflex when I noticed the nervous look on Tarantulas' faceplate. Why would he look nervous? If there was anybot here that should be nervous it would be me. However, with Pandimala seemingly not angry at what I just did to her, added with the fact that my suspicions were at least proven to be warranted…though not for the reasons that I thought that they would be. Shrapnel wouldn't be in trouble because I would make sure that all the bots here knew that he was following my direct orders.
"Why do you look so nervous, brother?" I questioned the mech. There was something that he was hiding. While he was loads better at keeping his lies in check than Pandimala, I could still read him pretty well. At this click, I could tell that he was nervous about something…and that never boded well for any of us.
However, before I could get his answer, Scuttlebug interrupted. "We'll get to him in a click, Airachnid. We need to discuss your blatant disregard for your brother's wishes and my advice."
That caused my brother's optic ridges to furrow. "What do you mean?"
Scuttlebug, being the no-holds medic that he was, didn't hesitate in bringing me into focus. "Do you wish to tell your brother, Airachnid, or should I? I'll tell you that either way he won't be happy."
I growled at his sass before I folded my arms. "I…talked to the femme."
"Ha!" I turned and glared at Astrotrain when he let out that sarcastic laugh. "From my view, you were nanos from wrenching out the femme's spark."
"What?" Tarantulas growled as he stood to his pedes.
"I didn't touch her," I growled back at Astrotrain.
"Why were you even in a position like that Air?" My brother demanded as he glared at me.
He would not intimidate me nearly as much as he normally did. My fears were proven to have a base, though what was attached to that base was not what I was expecting. "I wanted answers, and the best way to get them was from the femme. She tried to lie to me and so I made sure she knew that I could tell if she was lying."
"By shoving your appendage through the wall by her helm?" Scuttlebug hissed. "The femme has been nervous since she arrived, and I told you the previous night cycle that she seemed to be familiar with you in a fear-based way. Yet you just brushed that aside!"
"I didn't threaten her until she tried to lie to me. I didn't even walk into the room until Shrapnel made a deal with the femme on my behalf that we would not physically interact with each other during this talk. I didn't touch her when I threatened her so I didn't break my word." I argued back.
"And what sort of information did she lie about to get you to threaten her?" Tarantulas asked.
I crossed my arms before shaking my helm. "As Scuttlebug just said, she was read to know about me even though I have never met her before. She tried to claim that she didn't know me and I could tell that she was lying about that."
"How could she know you Air? She doesn't know the hive and yet she somehow knows about you…and mostly you from what you seem to be implying." Tarantulas insisted back.
"She's a newspark,"
The room went quiet when Shrapnel spoke up. New sparks were so rare and yet, she hadn't been lying about that. Not only that, but she was an organic new spark. They didn't happen often. The last one was near the end of the age of the First Primes if I remembered my history lessons correctly. I would have to ask Entom for a refresher when everything calmed down from this.
Bombshell, who had been standing at the back of the room, stepped up. "What do you mean? She is not a sparkling."
"Not a sparkling," Scuttlebug responded, looking between Shrapnel and me with an appraising look. "A new spark happens when a being of a different species is influenced by either energon or the power of Primus himself and changes into a child of Primus. It hasn't happened since Lumenos back at the end of the age of the First Primes…and historical records state that he was a two-wheeler. Not surprising given that he was changed from an organic species whose average height in modern times ranges between one and two meters." He then focused on me. "Did she say what sort of species she was?"
Well, it seemed like he agreed with my questioning now. But, given how the femme had answered that I needed to make something clear. "Before I answer that, I need all hive and those present to swear upon their very sparks and their connections to the hive that what I say here stays as a secret of the hive and Pandimala. Otherwise, I won't answer." We could not risk the team from Cybertron getting this information. What they would do to a newspark…especially one of her size, was not something I wanted to imagine.
Surprisingly, none hesitated and I felt the affirmation from every insecticon of the hive along with the verbal answers from those in this room. Once that was done, Tarantulas spoke. "What could be so dangerous that we would need to make that vow."
"Pandimala is from an organic species from a planet that does not yet have life yet," I stated resolutely.
"She is a time traveler?" Astrotrain asked in shock.
"More than that," Shrapnel started to respond.
"What do you mean?" My brother interrupted him. "What more could she be than a time traveler?"
Shrapnel shook his helm. "Pandimala has crossed dimensional planes from one such existence where we do not exist in anything more than fictional tales. That is how she knew my lady as much as her tells were saying. She knew that version of my lady and that version sounds like a cruel and compassionless monster that my lady will never become."
The silence in the room was deafening. "Pandimala knows nothing about anything for a fact," I added on. "What she seems to know, she only has those fictional memories to go off on. It would not surprise me if more on this planet seemed familiar to the femme. Once Pandimala calms down, I want the three of us," I motioned to Tarantulas so he knew I was talking about us three siblings. "To sit down with Pandimala and help her piece together what she will need to survive while we learn what we can do to avoid the fate she knew for me."
My senses were on alert when Tarantulas suddenly looked nervous. "Lord Tarantulas, why do you look nervous?" Shrapnel asked in my stead.
The fact that my brother looked even more nervous made me narrow my optics. With all of this talk about Pandimala, I had forgotten about the atmosphere that we had walked into when we arrived here. It was tense…as if he was hiding something. And given how well I knew my brother, there are very few things he would keep hidden from me. "Brother, where is Orbweaver?" That mech was set in seeing that…mech succeeded in his courtship of Orbweaver. This would be the only thing that he would keep from me.
From the increasing nervousness that my brother dearest was showing, I was correct on this.
"Well, a funny story about that…" My brother started before he tapered off into silence.
Feeling anger in my spark, I took a step toward him. "I'm waiting to hear it, my dearest brother…" The end of that came out as a growl. I had a sinking suspicion as to what it could be, and I didn't like it.
"You shouldn't judge the mech for courting her. You were wrong about Pandimala, and you could be wrong about him too." Tarantulas argued. "Sure, he's a shifter, but have you seen them together? You shouldn't judge him on his abilities and instead based on how he acts. He treats Orb like a goddess Air. They are perfect for each other."
I had to restrain myself from berating the mech. Given his fair point about Pandimala, I could see that I was treating the mech too harshly. However, there was still one point that I was upset about that I didn't bring up before…of course, I hadn't had to before. "And did he ask our permission to court our sister…our youngest sister? Or did he just court her without asking? Has he asked you yet?" If he had asked Tarantulas, then I was going to be having more than words with my brother after this.
"That's your only argument?" He asked me in surprise.
Well, it was all I had left, given everything that had happened this solar. "It is the only one I have left. I've had others but, given recent events, I can be honest and admit that I was wrong for those accusations."
"So, you'll give him a chance if he talks with us?" Tarantulas asked me slowly as if I would suddenly change my thoughts on this.
"Yes. If he talks with us, together, and I approve of him…I will give him my blessing." It was difficult to admit when I was wrong, but given what transpired this solar, I realized that I could be more than wrong, I could be making an enemy out of a potentially great ally. But, he was diverting his trouble right now. "But, that isn't important right now. Where are they?" It was easy to tell that Orbweaver was with the mech and they were on some sort of secret date.
He sent me the coordinate burst before answering verbally. "They are in the western quadrant. I only gave them an hour alone and then Kickback will be joining them. He should be on his way to them as we,"
Panic flooded my spark as the hive connection suddenly flared to life with panic and pain. My sparkbeat increased as I realized that those were being broadcasted by Orbweaver and Kickback respectively. "Orb, respond to me now!" I yelled across the connection as we all ran outside. Given that my brother had just given us the coordinates for their date, we could make our way there with the rest of the hive for support. If that mech hurt my sister…
"Airy! Kickback is down and 'Shift is hurt bad and this two-wheeler is after us!" Orb cried over the link. "Airy…Airy she is going to offline me." I felt panic in my spark as we all flew toward the coordinates. We would be arriving in five clicks but, at the bottom of my spark, I felt a cold chill as I realized that might not be enough time…
No! I would not lose her! I would tear them all apart if they hurt her! "Orb! Orb are you still there?" I practically yelled across the link as I felt the panic increase from Orbweaver and no sign of communication from her.
"Airy…I'm sorry,"
"Orbweaver!"
Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.
My spark was still racing as I walked across the barren landscape of this planet. What…what I had just done? The one bot that should not have knowledge of what I was and yet I just blurted it out? I had a feeling I was in trouble when she called my bluff about not knowing her. To be fair, I didn't know her. Instead, I knew a version of her. I didn't want to judge this one based off of the one from the show but she was making it hard to do that. So, since it wouldn't hurt me much to admit that I knew her, I admitted as such and asked why she was here questioning me.
That was a mistake.
I hadn't realized how bad of a liar I was until she called me out for hiding things from Scuttlebug and Astrotrain. Plus, she called me out on the amnesia bluff I was banking on quickly before she dug into the broad spectrum and demanded that I tell her everything I was hiding. But, I couldn't do that. If she didn't believe that somewhat believable lie, then why would she accept the truth that was so bizarre that I would think somebot was crazy? So, I told her that I couldn't tell her. How could I, and not sound like some bot hyped on synth-en?
She didn't like that.
My existence had flashed before my optics when one of her extra appendages slammed into the wall next to my helm and she insisted that I could tell her. I wasn't sure if it was just that or the threat that she had been in the process of adding that caused me to snap. But, before I could stop myself, I started to spill everything.
I couldn't stop myself.
By the time I had told Airachnid…fragging Airachnid of all bots, about most of my secrets coming here it had been too late. The damage had been done. Not only had I spilled my secrets…but I told her about what she was fated to be. A ruthless bounty hunter who took extreme pleasure in her kills, purposefully giving herself her assignments just to hunt some local species to extinction and keep their helms as trophies.
At that click, I realized what I had done and felt that my clicks were numbered…and the number wasn't high. Airachnid was going to offline me and I had little defense against the femme who could tear apart a bot like Breakdown with ease. Slag, I was offline. But, as I looked into her optics, waiting for my end…I felt like my end wasn't nearly as close as I first thought.
In her optics, I had seen regret.
That was a look that the Airachnid I was familiar with would never allow on her faceplate. She looked guilty for causing me to panic like I was. The Airachnid I was familiar with wouldn't have hesitated in piercing my spark and watching the light slowly leave my optics. This Airachnid…she looked upset and sorry for what she had just put me through.
So, when Scuttlebug had come in, showing the famous anger that all medics showed, I had jumped to her defense. She did have to worry about me and my motives. If I was in her pedes, I would have done the same…though maybe not quite as forcefully. But, all of the contradictions, even my own, had started to make me feel like I was being boxed in and my helm hurt. So, I asked if I could step out and walk for a bit.
When Airachnid spoke up, I was surprised. Given what we had just gone through before Scuttlebug had walked in, I figured she would want to keep asking me questions about what I was and more about what caused me to arrive. She was so different from the femme that I was familiar with from the show that I barely got out my thanks to her before I walked by her. Once I asked Astrotrain how to navigate toward the western quadrant, I had done just that.
Now, it had been about eight clicks and I felt like I finally felt like I was calming down. While Airachnid was not one of the first bots I wanted to find out about me…at all, I felt strangely calm about it. Hopefully, that was a sign that I had done the right thing.
Without Paul here like he was supposed to be, I could use all the help I could get. While I never pictured that help coming in the form of Airachnid, I wasn't going to reject help from the femme that I had seen in that med bay. I wasn't sure how Paul would react if he knew my first ally in this new dimension was Airachnid of all the original cast. It was such an irony I was sure he would faint. No questions asked.
My spark felt heavy as I thought about the god. I wish he was here. I was trying my best to make the right choices, but I was out of my element. Frag, I didn't even know how most of my chassis worked. When I had first woken up this solar, Astrotrain had given me a 'remedial' lesson in accessing my subspace. While I wasn't the fastest at accessing it, I could pull out the two swords that were inside if necessary.
I just hoped it wouldn't be so.
A scream echoing from the canyon path to my left caused me to freeze and start running down there. While I wasn't sure what I could do, I could help whoever it was. Tarantulas had risked a lot with his sister to help me out and I was going to return the favor if I could. I wasn't sure what was happening, but I would stop it if it was hurting a member of the hive or a bot they were protecting.
It took me about a click to reach the origin of the scream and what I saw made me pause in shock.
On the far side was a hardcased insecticon laying on the ground, most likely unconscious…at least I hoped he was. There were three other bots here and it looked to be a two-on-one situation. However, from the one that I recognized, the two weren't at much of an advantage. The one I recognized, though I had never seen his actual colors before…or much of him really, was Makeshift. He was leaking energon from a wound on his side.
The femme who was with him, while I didn't recognize the silver and blue hunter class femme, easy deduction told me that it was Orbweaver, the third sibling. She looked nervous and I realized at that click that, unlike the presence that her two siblings gave, the femme did not have much ability in fighting. Not that I could talk much. However, as I stared at her more, I realized that she was injured…and while not quite as bad as Makeshift was, the femme didn't look like she could put up much of a fight.
When their opponent made a move toward them, my chassis acted more on instinct as I placed myself between the two-wheeler and Orbweaver. "Who are…?"
"Get them out of here!" I yelled as I was struggling against this femme. While I wasn't a pro at fighting, mom did sign me up for fencing and, while I wasn't top of my class, I wasn't a slacker. Those lessons had, at the time, helped me move on from the grief of losing dad as we did…I took a lot of lessons to help me move on from losing dad…
Now, I was using those skills as best as I could with this chassis to hopefully save them. Airachnid had been right to worry about outsiders, and this attack proved it. I just needed to keep this bot busy long enough for Orbweaver to get the other two far enough away so that the reinforcements I was going to bet were on their way could arrive.
The sting of pain from my side pulled me back from my thoughts as I barely deflected the strike from piercing my waist.
"Who are you?" Orbweaver asked, seemingly stuck in place by her fear.
Growling, I shoved the two-wheeler back so I could intake for a nano. "I'm a friend. Now, get out of here!" I then turned and, before the femme could say anything, I charged at the two-wheeler. While that was a stupid move, I needed the hunter to snap out of her shock and get those other two away. While we weren't far from the hive central hub, it would probably take them some time to get here.
"So, the hive has another pet. Don't recognize you though," The black two-wheeler femme taunted during our first deadlock. Her many orange and yellow flames were familiar to me, but I wasn't sure why. I just knew she wasn't a part of the Prime universe originally. "Before I take your spark as an extra trophy on this hunt, I gotta know just what you are."
"I'm the femme that's going to stop you," I growled back vaguely as I shoved her back.
The two-wheeler laughed at my response before she started to attack me at a closer range. Frag, this wasn't good. I wasn't keeping up well and the pain that my chassis was echoing was saying that. "Doubtful. You can barely hold that sword right, let alone swing it. If I didn't know any better, I would say that you were a newspark." Fear gripped my spark as those words left her vocals. Slag, was I that easy to read? Apparently, I was as the femme's optics widened. "You are one. Oh, I'm going to get a big bonus for you. I was just supposed to kidnap the shifter and make sure that I took out one of the three bugs who are supposed to take over the leadership of this place. But, having you will give me enough credits to expand my operations. I swear on my designation, Flamewar, that I will not let any possible profit get away from me without a fight."
While she crouched to spring at me, I felt my processor go numb. She… was sent here to kill one of the hive leadership and kidnap Makeshift. This wasn't even wartime…how could a bot just do that? It wasn't right! An image of Airachnid, concerned about protecting her family, flashed through my processor and a growl filled my vocals.
My chassis seemed to move on its own as my servo reached out and gripped this Flamewar's throat. How dare she? These bots, who were just trying to live their existences, didn't deserve the kind of pain. They just wanted to keep each other safe. "How dare you," I ground out as I tightened my grip on the femme.
Anger pulsed from my spark as the femme let out a sarcastic laugh. "And what are you going to do about it, newspark? You can't stop me any more than," My fury reached a peak at that point, and, without thought or hesitation, I threw the two-wheeler with all of my strength. She laughed the entire time she flew back.
That laugh stayed on her faceplate. As her back slammed into the canyon wall…and the spike that was sticking out of it.
As the energon flowed out of her wound, I felt myself grow cold. I had just wanted her to give up. What had I…? My tanks churned as energon slipped from the femme's open mouth. As the light of life started to flicker from her optics, she seemed to realize what happened. What I just did. What did I…what did I do?
There was so much energon. No. I hadn't meant to. Glancing down at my servos, I felt my chassis start to shake as I saw the energon on them. I…I offlined her. I had killed someone…somebot. How…no, I couldn't…but the energon was there. It wasn't going away. I barely realized I had dropped my sword as I stared at the femme, now offline, as she hung off the wall in front of me. I had killed her. She was offline because of me. Maybe she could have turned her life around if I hadn't killed her. Was I a monster?
My servos reached for my helm, to make this pain go away. It needed to stop. I could feel the energon dripping from my chassis. Her energon. I…I…offlined her. I felt my intakes quickening as this thought permeated all of my thoughts. I had just offlined that femme.
A yelp came out of my vocals as I felt a large figure wrap its arms around me from behind. Before I could try and fight against this new threat, though, he spoke in a familiar voice. "Femme, you're alright,"
How could he say that when I had just offlined her? Her energon was on my servos! "But, she's offline…" I let out as my legs felt weak. Thankfully, the mech behind me helped guide me to a sitting position, pulling me back as I felt no control of my chassis as panic continued to be my only thought.
"Yes, she is. However, you saved three sparks this solar." The insecticon's familiar vocals seemed to cut through the panic I was feeling.
Did I save three sparks? But…who…
Makeshift, Orbweaver, and the insecticon I was guessing was Orbweaver's guard.
They were still online. "They're online?" I asked, still in disbelief.
"Yes, they are femme," Hardshell spoke my vents started to slow down their cycling. "Thanks to your actions, they are on their way to get repairs. While that femme is offline, she chose her path, and it led to her destruction. You chose your path, and it has led to your survival and growth. Don't let a monster like that infect your young processor."
His words were what I needed to hear, for once he was done speaking, my chassis released the tension I didn't realize it was holding back and I suddenly felt very tired. "That's good," I muttered as messages were flashing in front of my vision.
"Femme?" Hardshell's panicked vocals seemed like they were miles away as I felt the world around me start to go dark. "Help me get her to the med center now!" His voice was muffled as I felt my grip on my conscious fade.
Unknown 1st P.O.V.
It was the light suddenly illuminating the darkness that drew my optics to the desk in front of me. Strange, that normally didn't happen. That never happened. Ever. A reaction didn't usually happen unless I wrote what was shown to me down there. Yet, the glow was happening and I was nowhere near the book. This was not something that could be taken lightly. Only I could make changes if I wished, though I dare not abuse the power.
For something to change, some outside force had to have interfered. Given the lack of faith in the actual teachings of Primus, or even of Unicron, here on Cybertron, the options were quite limited. Not even the 'Prime' that was currently leading Cybertron, had enough of a connection with our creator to change the fates as they were written.
So, there was only one option for me to do now. Reaching my servos toward the tome, I opened its pages and found myself staring down in interest. The specific page that was glowing was about the fate of the hive on Regulon IV. At first, the original words of the text were shown against the pages.
And so it is written, that fifteen stellars after the reunification of Policidae and Arassi with Primus, a tragedy shall tear the hive apart. One shall offline in agony as the one they love is taken to be experimented on, another is to exile themselves in shame, denouncing their connection to the hive, and the third shall fall into chaos that shall shatter their very being. So begins the Great War.
I barely read the words before they faded. As they did, I made sure that I would save this in my memory banks. Never had the pages changed themselves, without the use of the quill. I needed to keep a close optic on the future from now on. See if any other changes had a common denominator. As these thoughts raced through my processor, new words seemed to write themselves into the tome.
And so it came to be, fifteen stellars after the reunification of Policidae and Arassi with Primus, a tragedy was averted. A herald of Primus, diverted from their path by Unicron, intervened in the tragedy that should have torn the hive apart. With this intervention, the herald of Primus was trained and prepared for their fated arrival at the home of Primus. So rose the dawn of the Great War.
So, a true herald of Primus was among us once more. I would not have believed such a being possible in these stellars. Still, the Covenant of Primus had changed itself, something that had never happened since I came into possession of it, to accommodate this bot's arrival. From what I read, the herald would arrive at the home of Primus, Cybertron, in a short time. So, I just had to bide my time and wait. They would arrive, and then I could meet this chosen of Primus.
For the first time in millennia, I found myself anticipating the future with rapture.
Pandimala: *growls* What the frag was that?
Authoress: *hiding behind a barrier* Story progression. What else would it be?
Pandimala: *angry* Oh I don't know? Maybe the fact that I almost offlined already! What the scrap!?
Authoress: *seriously* But did you die?
Pandimala: *mockingly* But did you die? *growls* You are going to die!
AN: And here is the next chapter! I hope you have all enjoyed this! A lot of things are going down in this chapter. Poor Pandimala couldn't lie to save her life (yet). Airachnid caught her in her lies and Pandimala dumped basically everything on the femme. The next few chapters are going to focus on training and will dive more into the background of the universe we are currently in.
And that's all for now! Down below, as per usual, are the names of the chapters coming up!
Chapter 3: Training
Chapter 4: A Needed History Lesson
Chapter 5: ... (Find out next time!)
And that's all for now! I hope you all keep reading and enjoying this story and the other stories I have! Reviews are appreciated, or saying hi in a review! Until next time, TTYL! *hanging out with the fam*