The Intergalactic Highway

Arachnitron had been following the Maximals silently. She was a skilled fighter, was training to be a medic/engineer before she escaped the research facility, and was very intelligent. She had had little experience working in a team setting and had absolutely no experience communicating with her peers. She had never been asked questions about herself before, had never had the opportunity to express her wants and desires, and had been observed and tested all her life, but no one had ever expressed concern for her or interest. So to her the fact that these Maximals kept trying to start up conversations with her baffled and intrigued her and also kind of intimidated her all at the same time.

Optimus had radioed back to the base when they started out to let the others know of their arrival. Then he had looked over his shoulder towards her and asked her a question.

Optimus wrote: "May I at least know your name?"

Arachnitron hesitated at first, but then she nodded solemnly. She suddenly realized what a comfort it had been thus far to keep her identity unknown. But it would be strange to live amongst the maximals and have them keep referring to her as "the survivor" or "the passenger."

"I'm Arachnitron," she told him. They continued walking in silence, but as they walked Arachnitron grew increasingly uneasy.

Suddenly she felt extremely exposed. She stopped dead in her tracks. What if someone knew she was here? What if someone had sent a warning to this planet to be on the lookout for her? Maybe that's why they had rescued her.....

Arachnitron transformed quickly and without speaking any kind of activation code. She pulled out her energon pistol. The color of her optics darkened again only this time out of fear. She looked around at the Maximals accusingly. She edged away from them slowly, fearfully. She began asking them questions (no doubt they sounded like madness to the maximals). Her voice was on the edge of panic.

"They told you I was coming, didn't they? What are you going to do to me? Kill me? Imprison me? Are you going to finish what they started? Are you going to send me back?" she kept backing up away from them until she backed up into a tree and fell to the ground beneath it. Her optics were filled with terror. "I will die before I let you take me back to Cybertron." she screamed angrily. She was on the verge of hysterics, but instead of aiming her pistol at the maximals in front of her, she held the barrel against her own temple. The reserved, mysterious, quiet female was suddenly replaced by a scared, lost and helpless child.

"I'm Arachnitron,"

"It's nice to meet you, Arachnitron." Whitegrazer said when she noticed that the spider was growing increasing uneasy. Was she nervous? Scared?

Suddenly she felt extremely exposed. She stopped dead in tracks. What if someone knew she was here? What if someone had sent a warning to this planet to be on the lookout for her? Maybe that's why they had rescued her.....

Whitegrazer stopped and looked at Arachintron, "Are you all right?"

"They told you I was coming, didn't they? What are you going to do to me? Kill me? Imprison me? Are you going to finish what they started? Are you going to send me back?" she kept backing up away from them until she backed up into a tree and fell to the ground beneath it. She drew her energon pistol. Her optics were filled with terror. "I will die before I let you take me back to Cybertron." she screamed angrily. She was on the verge of hysterics, but instead of aiming her pistol at the maximals in front of her, she had the barrel laying against her own temple. The reserved, mysterious, quiet female was suddenly replaced by a scared, lost and helpless child.

She backed off alittle as Arachnitron draw her pistol.

"Easy, easy, Arachnitron. We are not here to hurt you." Whitegrazer tried to sooth her and then ask, "What is it? Is someone after you? We can protect you. No one will hurt you."

When she put the gun on her temple, Whitegrazer looked at Optimus and Wintersong in alarm then back at Arachnitron, "Put down the pistol, Arachnitron. Please talk to us."

Hopefully, they can calm her down before she blew her core processor, killing her. If not, she might have to transform and quickly knock her out but she hoped it wasn't necessary.

____________________________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia silently just watched as Starshadow handled things.

If I get that pod before her, maybe... She kept her thoughtful expression as Starshadow contacted Megatron. If she could get the pod, she wished she could bring that dead husk with her..

Ughhh I'm sounding like Tarantulas. That made her roll her eyes inwardly.

As the silence was broke by Optimus asking Arachnitron's name the tigeress listened quietly though it seemed something was bothering the widow. She seemed very uneasy and wondered why that was until she suddenly started to go close to hysterics. Moving forward the tigeress moved carefully after the scared femme but kept her voice low and steady,"Take it easy Araxhnitron, Whitegrazer is right we're here to help. If your being tracked we'll keep you safe." Wintersong told her and transformed though didn't draw any weapons. This was risky but calming and assuring they weren't there to harm her needed to be done.

Moving closer Wintersong laid her hand on top of the pistol,"Give us a chance to show you we mean no harm. Just set the pistol down." She said in a calm tone gently gripping the barrel and moving it away from Arachnitron's temple. It was indeed risky but there seemed no other way besides doing something drastic, even though it was unusual for Wintersong to be doing this.

Arachnitron had backed herself up against the tree, but was still trying to scramble away, her energon pistol aimed at her own temple.

una wrote:"Easy, easy, Arachnitron. We are not here to hurt you. What is it? Is someone after you? We can protect you. No one will hurt you. Put down the pistol, Arachnitron. Please talk to us."

The horse-bot tried to sooth Arachnitron, but it was to no avail.

"Just stay where you are," she ordered the Maximals. She was overwhelmed by fear and anxiety. Her core processor was no doubt short-circuiting. She was revisited by haunting memories of getting whipped and beaten at the orphanage, being tortured and experimented on at the research facility....she remembered the nightmare-ish screams from the other test subjects as they were exterminated. She wasn't going to let them to that to her.

Slowly, one of the Maximals approached her, transforming from her white tiger mode. Arachnitron didn't run, but screamed for the Maximal to go away. Suddenly, Wintersong grabbed the pistol and gently moved it away from Arachnitron's temple. All the while speaking to her as the other Maximal had done.

Wintersong wrote: "Take it easy Arachnitron, Whitegrazer is right we're here to help. If your being tracked we'll keep you safe."

Arachnitron looked up in shock at the Maximal from her place at the bottom of the tree. Her optics were still rich with fear, but she let go of her pistol. She shuddered and almost looked as though she was going to cry, but she didn't. She held her head in her hands and took some deep breaths. When she calmed down she looked up at Wintersong helplessly.

"I'm so messed up," Arachnitron whispered. But the fear had finally subsided and her mind had cleared. If her internal computer had been malfunctioning or short circuiting, the problem had fixed itself quite suddenly. She was wrong to have accused the Maximals of wanting to turn her in. She seriously misjudged them.

Three episodes in one day was not necessarily a good sign. Of course, she'd have had worse days before. She knew they were starting to happen more frequently which is why when she and Optimus got the chance to talk, she was going to ask him for help off the planet and away from others. It was the best plan of action for everyone if she just went into hiding alone. Then she couldn't be used as a weapon. She knew that was the Predacon's plan all along.

She was back to her indifferent, reserved nature. She lowered her optics and said to Wintersong: "It probably would have been better for everyone if you had let me shoot my slaggin' brains out."

"Arachnitron shooting your brains out isn't the answer, if you need to talk we're here as friends. Optimus is willing to talk to you already, it may help you to get some things off your chest." Wintersong replied back and removed her hand from the pistol barrel. She took a half step back and smiled a bit,"Trust me talking helps." She assured her and looked at the other two Maximals then back at Arachnitron,"We won't force you to do anything I can say that now and nor do we plan to bring harm to a bot who is a friend. Beast mode." Transforming the tigeress stepped back to give the widow some room and hoped she would be alright and in a way she seems to need a friend and just some time.

(( OOC: Whoa, ladies! Doesn't OP get a say in any of this? Let me catch up! ))

"I'm Arachnitron,"

Optimus wasn't familiar with her name, but just because he didn't know anything about her at all didn't necessarily make him uneasy around her. It was her optics changing earlier and her sudden change of personality, or so it seemed, that made him a little suspicious. He tried to keep everything comfortable by letting Arachnitron keep to her own thoughts as she requested but it appeared something went wrong anyway.

"They told you I was coming, didn't they? What are you going to do to me? Kill me? Imprison me? Are you going to finish what they started? Are you going to send me back?"

The gorilla stopped in his tracks and turned around when he heard the new black widow starting to panic. Frowning at her, he honestly had no idea who or what Arachnitron was talking about. Watching her back herself into a tree and collapse underneath it, Optimus took a step forward but stopped.

"I will die before I let you take me back to Cybertron."

When she pulled her weapon out and targeted herself, that was when Primal grew extremely concerned. Primus, what had happened to this poor 'bot that she thought the only way out was to threaten her own life by her own hand? Optimus didn't think they had done anything to make her feel threatened. They respected her wishes. They had been nothing but calm around her. No, it went deeper than that. Observing her optics darken again and fill up with fear, Primal stood upright, fearful of what she might do, but Whitegrazer and Wintersong jumped in.

"Easy, easy, Arachnitron. We are not here to hurt you." "What is it? Is someone after you? We can protect you. No one will hurt you." "Put down the pistol, Arachnitron. Please talk to us."

"Take it easy Araxhnitron, Whitegrazer is right we're here to help. If your being tracked we'll keep you safe." Give us a chance to show you we mean no harm. Just set the pistol down."

This was a very delicate situation, and witnessing Wintersong maximize and approach Arachnitron, placing her hand on the spider's pistol, was putting Optimus on the edge. That was an extremely risky manuever, especially for the white tigress.

"Just stay where you are,"

The Maximal leader stayed where he was, processing everything about Arachnitron's expressions, the tones in her voice, the emotions in her optics. One can learn a lot about an individual by sitting on the side line and studying them silently instead of being in the middle of the commotion. And since Wintersong was already beside her, there was no need for him and Whitegrazer to crowd her as well and make her feel even more hostile. Hostility right now needed to be dropped dramatically, not increased.

Relieved to see Arachnitron lower her weapon and hand it to Wintersong, Primal watched the interaction between them. In foresight, it could be the beginning of a bond and trust that might build between the two females.

"I'm so messed up," "It probably would have been better for everyone if you had let me shoot my slaggin' brains out."

Optimus had seen individuals experimented on before against their will, even by Maximals, and Arachnitron's unpredictable behavior was a good indication that she had been through something significantly traumatic. A certain pod that had been ejected from the Axalon with the rest of the pods was the result of an experiment gone terribly wrong, according to some, and the thought of his stasis pod crashing on this planet and coming on-line laid in the back of Primal's mind everyday. He was his responsibility that not even the rest of his own crew was supposed to know about and now he orbited around the world alone. It was very possible that the indestructible bot inside could wreak havoc here if he was reactivated. In any case, the next words out of Optimus Primal's mouth had to be chosen carefully.

"Arachnitron," the commander began with a voice full of sorrow and compassion for the damaged spider before him, "I have no idea what you have been through or who did it to you, but we will not harm you, and we will not imprison you. However, what we will do for you is provide shelter, energy, protection, and someone to listen to you. All we want to do is help you, but you will have to be willing to accept it. I believe we can help you." Primal's brown eyes never left her green optics while he spoke. He was very sincere, and he hoped that she would still come with them back to their base and let Optimus give her his undivided attention about her history and what she went through, if that was what she wanted to discuss. "You will not be forced to do anything that you don't want to." He felt so sorry for her and wished no one was ever treated the way she must have been to end up like this.

The crisis that Arachnitron had experienced was over. She closed her optics briefly as she processed everything that was going on. She was unsure if this was all a result of the genetic tampering or the crash of the escape pod. She decided she would have to have her computer do some internal repairs later on. She opened her eyes to see Wintersong still hovering above her.

"Arachnitron shooting your brains out isn't the answer, if you need to talk we're here as friends. Optimus is willing to talk to you already, it may help you to get some things off your chest."

No, it would not help to talk about it. Arachnitron decided. It would put everyone in danger. She had to lay low. She had to keep a lower profile. She had to stop standing out and being so slaggin' paranoid! She had to just learn to process her surroundings better...maybe not better, differently...that was a better word...differently. She had to learn how to calm herself so she could act more rationally.

Still reassuring her that talking about it was the best form of action, Wintersong stepped back and transformed back to her white tiger mode.

Arachnitron had been tense sitting against the tree, but the tension was now visibly leaving her body. She leaned against the tree, tired, but not scared. Her optics closed again in exhaustion. She definitely needed some R and R.

When Optimus spoke, Arachnitron opened her optics and stared back into his brown, ape eyes. The color in her optics turned back to normal.

"Arachnitron. I have no idea what you have been through or who did it to you, but we will not harm you, and we will not imprison you. However, what we will do for you is provide shelter, energy, protection, and someone to listen to you. All we want to do is help you, but you will have to be willing to accept it. I believe we can help you. You will not be forced to do anything that you don't want to."

She sighed in relief finally convinced that this all had NOT been set up by the scientists on Cybertron. "You will not be forced to do anything that you don't want to. That's what Optimus had said. So she could, based on that sentence, raise her weapon, fire on the Maximals and jump up and join the Predacons. But it was all futile. She faced the same concerns over there that she did here. Who on Cybertron knows she's missing? Who on Cybertron has informed the scouts to look for her? It didn't matter who she was aligned with...at some point, someone on Cybertron was going to find her. The Predacons would turn her over to the Cybertronian scientists that's for sure. They would turn her over in hopes that the experimentation could continue. The Maximals would not.

She was suddenly serene. Optimus was right. She was safe here. She could figure out what to do about every thing else later, but right now she could rest in the knowledge that she was safe and that the Maximals were not a threat to her.

She looked back into Optimus' brown eyes. She took a shaky breath and said, "Just...please....don't make me go back to Cybertron" she begged, her voice quieter and calmer. Then she reached for her energon pistol and holstered it. She did not transform again- she felt safer in her robotic mode. She nodded and said, "We can go now. I'll be okay."

((OOC: Whoa! ))

Whitegrazer was worried for Wintersong as she had stepped up but she had smiled to see that Arachintron had calmed down, back to the reserved self she was.

Good job, Wintersong. She was thinking the same thing Optimus was about the two females forming a strong friendship. If she was in her robot form, she would have given a thumbs up.

"You will not be forced to do anything that you don't want to."

Whitegrazer nodded in agreement at what Optimus said. Their words had affect the widow spider and she hoped that whatever happened in the future that she would remember them. Keeping her smile, she looked at Arachintron, "Let's continue forward, then." She turned around to continue walking to their base after the others started.

Walking beside Optimus, she gave him a look of relief and contentment that the situation was resolved especially one like this. Bought up bad memories and images that no one wants to remember.

I seen that situation before and some don't have a happy ending...I'm glad this one did.

Sighing in relief when the situation calmed Wintersong followed Optimus and Whitegrazer with Arachnitron, though she was glad this had been avoided in losing another bot. Though she looked at Arahcnitron again,"Careful to not stay too long in robot form the highr adiation will put you ins stasis lock if your not careful." She warned her just in case. Looking forward again the tigeress wondered what the two somewhat older Maximals thought of her actions, they were reckless and dangerous perhaps but she had a guess the two were glad to have this avoided. It was still a surprise though when Wintersong thought about it.

Long months before she would never have thought to be calm in this situation or would have ever participated in things with a crew she wasn't suppose to be with. Now it seemed things really have come a long way. Smiling to herself Wintersong knew her personality and attitude had come a long way since that first crash landing of her pod and the first encounter with Starshadow which to this day she still disliked the panther but would wait till battle to worry about the crazy cat. Pushing her thoughts aside Wintersong looked up and flicked her tail a bit,"There's the Axalon."She said.

"Just...please....don't make me go back to Cybertron"

Well... that was a dilemma. While Optimus and his Maximals were trying to get back to Cybertron, this peculiar and tortured soul never wanted to go back. And he wasn't sure she'd ever change her mind about it. She seemed so terrified. He really hoped she'd open up to him eventually, at least a little. Because of the aliens who "controlled" this planet, he didn't think she could stay here. No one should. If he could convince Arachnitron to come back to Cybertron with them, he would fight for her and protect her. After all, he had a feeling that no one had ever done that for her before. But all of that could be discussed later, when enough time has passed and she felt she could trust them. Nodding to her plea, never breaking their eye contact, Optimus said, "No one is going to make you do anything, Arachnitron. You have my word."

"We can go now. I'll be okay."

Watching her convert back to her robot mode, he was about to warn her about the raw energon fields when Wintersong spoke up and covered it for him.

"Careful to not stay too long in robot form the highr adiation will put you ins stasis lock if your not careful."

"Let's continue forward, then."

Turning around Optimus continued to lead them back to the Axalon. While he was grateful that the stunt Wintersong pulled off had a positive ending, he felt he should speak with her about it later on. The tigress had a knack for getting herself in trouble, and Primal was concerned that one day she might use up her nine lives. He knew her intentions were good, but sometimes she reacted before thinking.

The gorilla looked up at the white mare beside him while they walked and returned the expression she gave him, adding a light smile. For a moment, he wondered if there would ever be a time he could discuss his feelings for her without putting her life in jeopardy. On this planet, secluded from contact with Cybertron, stranded with dangerous Predacons? Probably not.

"There's the Axalon."

As Wintersong's voice interrupted his thoughts, he looked over at their peaceful base and glanced over his shoulder at Arachnitron. "You're welcome to enter, if you're comfortable with it. If not, we can speak privately out here," Primal offered her. Seeing how "touchy" she could be outside, he wasn't sure if she'd feel even more hostile in an enclosed structure with several Maximals she had never met before, all of which would probably eye her cautiously whether in curiosity or just suspicion.

Ironclaw he shouldn'y of left those other maximals behind, but he was eager to see Optimus and get to safety. He knew it would be several times harder to even find Optimus or their ship without their halp but he carried on. he had a rough idea based on all the air traffic. He kept on walking, it took him a while before he saw something in the distance.

Ironclaw saw some creatures heading towards the ship. One of them was a gorilla. He moved closer to them. As he got cloaser he could hear them speaking. He increased his spead on all fours and went right up to them. "Hello, is one of you Optimus Primal?" he asked.

Optimus stopped walking when he suddenly picked up an unfamiliar scent in the air. It was faint at first but it gradually grew stronger which meant this being was getting closer to them. Out of the corner of his eye, a smaller animal caught his attention as it rushed toward him and his group. With his beast mode's instinct's taking over, he faced the approaching badger and stood on all fours in the fashion of a slightly hostile male gorilla who thought he might have to protect his "family." Baring his teeth and flaring his nostrils for only a moment, Primal calmed himself down when the badger stopped and suddenly spoke. The leader didn't know who he was, running up to them alone without another Maximal escort, so he wasn't sure if it was an ambush or just a new 'bot looking for assistance. He knew his name, though.

"Hello, is one of you Optimus Primal?"

Relaxing now over the situation and standing upright, the Maximal commander answered the honey badger with a friendly voice, "I am Optimus." Where did this guy come from? Was he one of the pods some of the others were after? If so, where were the other Maximals, his rescuers? Since he had approached them, Primal gave him the opportunity to introduce himself and explain what was going on before he started inquiring.

(( OOC: And now I'm going to wait for una, Wintersong and Blackrosefencer to catch up. ^^ ))

"No one is going to make you do anything, Arachnitron. You have my word."

Optimus reassured Arachnitron that no one would send her back to Cybertron if she didn't want to go. Of course, she wasn't born yesterday. She figured this exploration crew probably would be headed home at some point. She figured she'd cross that bridge later. With any luck, she'll be already gone by then.

When she informed them she would be okay and was ready to get moving again, the other Maximals converted to beast mode. But not her. Arachnitron was more comfortable in robot mode. That way if someone ambushed her she would be able to defend herself. The others warned her that this was probably not a good idea. Wintersong told her that because of the radiation from the energon, she could go into stasis lock. Arachnitron nodded that she understood, but still did not convert back to beast mode.

Optimus led the crew of females back to the Maximal base. As they walked, though the energon did slightly affect Arachnitron, she still did not transform. She stopped every few feet or so to look behind them to be sure they really were safe. She did this once or twice and then finally, she felt comfortable enough to not look again.

Then they rounded the corner and approached the Maximal base. Wintersong was the one who pointed it out to them.

"There's the Axalon."

She informed Arachnitron. She gazed up at it in awe. She had never seen a ship so large before. Her tiny escape pod had seemed roomy enough for her, but now she realized how small it really was. She then looked down at her feet.

"This is such a bad idea," she warned the others behind her.

Then, Optimus spoke to her calmly.

"You're welcome to enter, if you're comfortable with it. If not, we can speak privately out here."

She thought about it for a moment. If she waited and something else happened, someone could get hurt and then they'd think she was a threat. She'd be removed from the Maximals protection and be back out in the open. But if she told him now what was causing her unpredictable mood swings and then something happened later, then he would know what was going on. He would know she couldn't control it and maybe he could even find some way to stop them before they happened or maybe he knew of a cure. Or maybe if another episode happened, she could be restrained.

She looked to Optimus seriously. "I think it's best we talk first."

Suddenly almost out of nowhere, another 'bot, a badger, came into view. Arachnitron froze in her tracks. She noticed Optimus tense in front of her. He leaned forward defensively. Her unease returned. It was clear Optimus did not know this new bot. Had someone found her already? She put her hand on her energon pistol ready to pull it out if the new bot made a move.

But then, he asked about Optimus. When Optimus relaxed and introduced himself, Arachnitron relaxed too. If Optimus didn't feel threatened then maybe she didn't need to either. But she edged backward slightly still a little uneasy. She kept her hand on her energon pistol just in case. Who was this new bot? Was he friend or foe?

The tigeress wasn't quite sure how to help reassure the uneasy spider or what to do to help Arachnitron. Wintersong was about to keep going towards the ship until Optimus stopped and she looked at the badger carefully, tensing as Optimus did before be relaxed though the tigeress only eased up a little. Was this another Maximal and if so where were the others? Sniffing the air Wintersong stepped forward a bit where the badger had come though caught a scent,"Optimus I think Cheetor is with him somewhere though not sure if anyone else is." She said and looked at the gorilla before giving another glance as Arachnitron backed off a little possibly a little unsure again. Though this time she wasn't what to say about the situation and it wasn't that clear if this badger was a friend or not.

The gorilla looked up at the white mare beside him while they walked and returned the expression she gave him, adding a light smile.

She smiled back with her beast mode's tail swaying alittle side to side excitedly.

"You're welcome to enter, if you're comfortable with it. If not, we can speak privately out here,"

Whitegrazer had the idea that Arachnitron might want to speak outside. It might be overwhelm for her to meet their other comrades. At least, she had spent time with Optimus, Wintersong, and herself to know that they wouldn't hurt her. They should really take their time with her and warm her up slowly to everyone else.

When Optimus grew tense, she looked away to see what he sensed. She saw the badger and watched him closely to see if he was friendly or not. When he asked for Optimus and saw Optimus loosen up, she looked back to make sure Arachnitron was okay and it seemed she was.

It seems we are getting more comrades.