A quick lil' one-shot. Contains spoilers for Operation Bumblebee: Part 2 The black night sky was dotted with the grey of a cloud or the white of a star, and the crescent moon hovered above the ground below, like a grand sentinel to the Earth it orbitted. The forest was silent of activity, with not even an insect stirring, and it was as if the area had been frozen in time. A large clearing held an abandoned warehouse, the large building bearing a hole in its roof. It was an odd addition to the natural landscape, this place, but quite frankly, there were weirder things in life, so there was not much to complain about. And finally, the silence was broken. The high-pitched whine of a jet engine shuddered across the sky, and a sleek UAV flew overhead. Even more odd than a warehouse, one might question why the military would have a drone over a mere forest. But not everything is as it seems. The UAV circled over the warehouse three times, before descending towards the ground. As it neared a landing, it suddenly underwent an astonishing change. The wings folded down as the front of the plane split apart, the engine folding into a torso as fingers extended from the ends of the wings, which exposed joints as legs formed from the vehicle. The contraption landed gracefully before the entrance of the warehouse, sleek and tall, bearing a face that held nothing but a blank screen. Soundwave. The reaper observed the building for a moment, before turning his attention to the sound of a helicopter. Specifically, a black stealth-variant was approaching, and it too descended to the ground, only to undergo the same change as Soundwave. The second robot landed on four limbs, rotors folding onto the back as odd appendages, the cockpit sliding onto shoulders, displaying a somewhat feral pose compared to the taller Decepticon. Airachnid rose to her full height and sauntered forwards, a somewhat amused smirk on her face. "Well, this is the coordinates you intercepted from the government?" She snorted, moving to stand next to her comrade. "What a setting. I may know what was of interest here." Soundwave did not reply. The two moved forward, the femme sliding through the door into the dark interior first, the larger robot following, displaying none of the caution that she held. Her magenta optics took in the setting. Computer monitors were lined at the sides, and a weird contraption was at the back, supported by two pillars. There was a fight, as shown by two discarded human rifles, black marks on the floor, large barrels strewn around and of course, the aforementioned hole in the ceiling. Airachnid tapped a claw to her chin as she grinned: "Well, my hunch was correct. MECH had a base of operations here, Soundwave. And judging by the mess, I assume the Autobots also had the information of their location." Soundwave did not reply. Airachnid glanced around again, before pointing at the undamaged computers: "Hack into those, Soundwave. Let's see if there are any leftovers for us." The reaper moved to obey, a tendril-like probe extending from his chest, where it launched forward and latched onto a monitor. The screen of the device flickered on as Soundwave's face began to pull up files that might contain any interesting information. Airachnid carefully picked up one of the rifles and observed it: "Hmmm, quite advanced compared to most human toys. And an electric-disruption charge system. I must say, MECH spares no expenses." Soundwave turned to face her, and she elaborated: "Before Breakdown kindly returned me to the ranks, I had a brief partnership with a group of humans in an attempt to get revenge upon Arcee. Alas, it was short-lived and my plot was foiled. Did I forget to mention that?" He nodded once, and slowly rasied an arm to point a finger at her. There was no indication to what he may be thinking, but she quickly worked to make amends in case it were accusation: "I apologise for my oversight, Soundwave. I had thought MECH as no concern to us." The reaper continued to stare at her (That is, if a faceless monitor could stare), before he lowered his arm, satisfied with the answer. Airachnid mentally breathed a sigh of relief. As much it pained her, she had to admit that of all Decepticons, Soundwave was possibly the one she feared most. Most likely because of the paranoia he created. Always watching...... Regardless, she turned her attention to the construct. Interesting; it appeared to have hands. Curious, she moved for a closer look. Hands, yes. There even seemed to be legs and a torso, the latter being ripped open at the 'chest'. And was that a head? Airachnid raised an brow in bemusement. A human-made Cybertronian replica. So, this was what MECH had been up to since they had split paths. They were trying to mimic Cybertronian concepts. "Soundwave, you'll never guess what I've found." She stated, hearing him walk over to see for himself. As he stopped right next to her, the helicopter continued: "MECH seems to have taken a liking to our concepts. They've been trying to make their own robotic transformer." Soundwave retracted his probe and turned his face to her. Glancing at his screen, Airachnid was annoyed to see the large red cross; all files had been deleted, and back-up systems erased. Soundwave couldn't find what wasn't there. With a huff, she snapped: "Never mind. We have a far more interesting prize right here. Such folly that, for all their work to maintain their systems security, MECH left their precious toy." Soundwave's screen changed, now displaying a model of Optimus Prime. Curious, she observed his image, before looking at the contraption. Why, he was right; this thing here did look somewhat like Optimus Prime. And thus, an idea formed insider her head. With a lethal grin, she said to Sounwave: "I think, Soundwave, that we have an interesting opportunity here to give the Autobots and MECH a surprise they won't suspect. Contact troops to move our prize to the Nemesis." He nodded and transmitted a radio message to the ship. Meanwhile, Airachnid unveiled her spider-like legs and crawled onto the faux-Cybertronian. Glancing through the rip in the chest, she noted a cavity that seemed perfectly fit for a T-cog. Soundwave had noted this too, as the sound of his screen flickering earned Airachnid's attention; this time, it was an image of the bug, Honeybee or whatever his name was. "Interesting. MECH knows about T-cogs and stole the little bug's." Airachnid mused, as she moved down to stand next to the reaper. "I suppose that might be considered ominous." Soundwave did not reply. The two stood there for a moment, before the helicopter turned to her comrade and asked: "Why, Soundwave; after we deliver this trophy to the Nemesis, would you care to join me for a little hunt?" He stared at her for a moment, considering, before nodding ever so slightly. Airachnid grinned, a predatory look that matched the malicious glint in her eyes. It was always nice to visit old friends.
Yipe. Airachnid and Soundwave know what's going on and they have Bee in their crosshairs. This is going to get ugly. You did a great job here.
