Laser trudged steadily through the dank walkways of the courtyard. Luckily they weren't that far away from the medical centre, but he could feel his own weight pressuring his bearings like never before. He didn't turn around, but he smelled Volca as she ran up to follow them. When he heard her voice, he confirmed she was coming along. Which meant the two alcoholics would be left behind to frolic about the fire.
Typical.
However, Laser wasn't as worried about Cutlass and Starport stumbling around drink in hand; he was worried about Spironok. And even more so, Towreck and Jumpstart. He hadn't seen them around, so he assumed the 3 were together. And he didn't think these younger bots truly understood the danger of an Arachnoid. If only they had been there....during the Arachnoid Wars....
<Flashback>
2,000 years ago...
....The ground was soft and wet, and the sky was a deep, rich purple. The clouds bellowed and twisted, and a warm climate settled upon the scene. The smell of freshly torn metal drifted through the atmosphere, and, ever so often, one could see the metallic soil shift as if it were alive....
This was the battle ground. It was morning now, but it the sun hadn't set, and the clouds had not shifted color. No one had slept, and those who did, did not awaken. The small city of Ceolus was being overrun, and the citizens decided to take action at the spawn. They called expert exterminators.
They called the Guardians."We've got about 2 ways out of this hell hole, and that's up or down." Captain Flat was one of many hired guns commanding his own platoon of 25 or so men. They were currently stuck in an old tool shed, and they could feel the creatures crawling underneath. "I can rig the elevator and we can ride down the the mine shaft in groups of 3. I don't know what the hell is down there...so--"
The lights fizzed on and back off in a flash, causing major panic.
"Shut up! Listen, keep it together! To hell with the elevator....wait, I have an idea." He walked up to a critically wounded soldier and stared at him. He had lacerations on his face, and his optics were totally gone. He was hit by an Acarion. The bastards always went for the strangest places...hell, even the boy's skull was half missing. It was a sorry sight. "You doin' okay, son?"
"Oh! Just put me down!" The poor bot sobbed in agony and rolled over. It was disgusting. His processors began to slowly fall from his head...
Flat yanked the soldier off the ground and fitted him with C4. He placed him into the elevator and sent him down to the mine shaft.
The squad listened to the boy's confused murmers, and the squeal of Acarion Arachnoids as they plunged into him. He shrieked in fright, and pain, but he was drowned out by the feeding. Flat detonated the explosives, and all was silent. "Well. Glad we didn't go down there!"
The rest of the squad looked at him in disgust.
"What? He was of no use to us anyway." He spat and turned his back on them. "He would have slowed us down. Thanks to him we know we are better off trying to find another route to escape."
Then the mine shaft buckled and collapsed underneath the building.
Twisting metal and screeching Acarions came bursting from the floor, latching onto the cybertronians and tearing into them. Shouts of terror and pain filled the room instantaneously, and friendly fire went off without a second thought. Flat expertly shot the ones suspended in mid jump, and lead the way outside the building. Turning suddenly, he detonated another explosive, obliterating the building and anyone left inside.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" One soldier punched Flat in the shoulder. "Some of our guys were still in there! And they weren't even stuck! (term used for Acarion feeding) What kind of scrap is running through your mind!"
"It's them or us, Lias!" Flat decked the soldier in the chest. "I'm not taking any chances...."
He was interrupted by the chirping of a hundred Arachnoids burrowing their way.
"Arani...." whispered Flat. "Eight leggeds...."
Enter Laser.
The massive Guardian swooped in from the heights, landing in from the east. He scanned the oncoming colony, and turned to Flat and his remaining squad.
"Retreat," he said dryly. The spider like arachnoids exploded from the ground, leaping onto Laser and swarming him. His entire body shimmered with the silver exoskeletons of the beasts...and then with one shockwave, he sent them flying in all different directions.
Climax rolled in from the south, delivering a beautiful airstrike to the rear of the colonies' advance, smoking out the stragglers and cutting off retreat. Laser began to pick them off by spraying them down with heavy fire.
"Climax, come around for a second pass, sector 3.7 by 3.9, authorizing the sprinkler."
"Roger that, Angel. Sprinkling." Climax zipped by, firing a wave of individual laser shots at the ground in a pattern, melting the arachnoids. Laser tagged a mound nearby.
"Suspicious activity near the mound. Remove it."Climax smoked the mound of soil, sending a plethora of Acarions into the exposed air and weak sunlight, scorching them badly. They twisted and died.
Laser started to walk up to Flat when a loud scream erupted from the ground below.
"Spironok..." Laser swore and grabbed a few soldiers, tossing the upwards for Climax to catch. The ones who could fly did so, and Laser grabbed Captain Flat and flew into the air. The ground below practically turned inside out and the biggest eight-legged arachnoid Flat had ever seen shook itself out of the dirt. It was accompanied by thousand of others, swarming over it and lying eggs in the bellies of the dead. The creatures burst from the freshly killed and ate the carcass, growing rapidly.
"Whoa! Is that--?"
"Spironok. Yes." Laser frowned.
"It's making a last stand.""How are we going to save Ceolus?"
"We're not. The situation is far too out of hand. The Primes have deemed Ceolus...uninhabitable.""....."
"We have been authorized to purge the area."Flat's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "What! Nuke it? What about the civilians!?"
Climax chimed in.
"Everyone is getting out safely."Flat smiled in disbelief.
"Except you." Laser's tone was dry and uncaring, but seemed ominous.
Flat's smile dropped like a rock. "Wait...what???"
"We've seen the way you dispose of your soldiers. Dishonorable. We'll show you what it means to perish on the battlefield for a true cause.""YOU DON'T HAVE A TRUE CAUSE TO LEAVE ME HERE!"
Laser thought for a moment.
"You're heavy." He dropped Flat into the swarm of Arachnoids, and watched the beasts rip him limb from limb. A terrible way to go, it was.
***************
A few hours later Laser was flying over the city, carrying the massive bomb that was to be dropped. But he was looking for something, something special....
Spironok stood at the top of a hill, delivering some kind of inspirational speech to its kin in their native tongue. At the sight of Laser, it snarled and hissed. The rest of the Arachnoids responded in the same way....but watched in shock as the Guardian snatched their leader up with a grappling hook....
And then dropped the bomb....
*************
<Present>
Laser stopped his flashback for a moment to rest himself. He needed only a few seconds, but it was hard on him to move. He only hoped that he could get to the medical centre in time...
***********
Spironok shivered and swerved. It was getting close to the point of no return. Hearing Jumpstart approach, it perked up and stood still....
