Maelstrom Chapter 36
Before the Dawn

Author's note: This story is part of a LONG series called Maelstrom. It is strictly Gen. 1 - sorry, but that was all that was out when I started writing back in the late 1980's. It began as a fan-publication so the first chapters are in the form of a comic book! If you have not read the nine original Maelstrom Comics and the preceding text stories, I strongly suggest you do. This is a complex universe. They can be found at http// illmatar. deviantart. com (I have put double spaces between the URL here or FF . Net eats the link.) The comics and art which accompanies this series are there.

Most chapters of this series contain strong language and violence. Rated M for adult themes! Really! Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Critiques adored! This scene contains strong language, violence, and sex. Rated M for adult themes!


Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Story and OC characters are mine. Critiques adored!

Maelstrom Chapter 36
Before the Dawn
Part A

Char:

Cyclonus watched the monitors in the Decepticon command center with something rare on his face - an expression. Even more rare, the expression was shock. The monitors were showing split screens from eight different news organizations from Cybertron but they might as well have all been one. Every news crew had cameras trained on the oh-so-familiar visage of Optimus Prime...announcing the discovery of inter-Transformer breeding.

All around him, another rare occurrence on Char was taking place. Silence. The entire command center watched the Autobot commander and hung on his every word. No one moved. No one spoke, although Rumble's mouth worked at though he were speaking.

Maybe, Cyclonus thought distractedly, it really is impossible to get that punk to stop working his jaw! The Decepticon second recognized that thought as the random, disorganized product of an overwhelmed mind and struggled to regain his focus. Great Cybertron! Even Galvatron is watching quietly!

Optimus went on to say that the medical staff had already had a full briefing on how an interfacing could be made to induce a new spark, and then went on to detail the changes that would be needed on Cybertron to make way for a new generation.

Cyclonus stared while Optimus called for restraint since undisciplined breeding could result in strained resources and damaged young lives. All very prudent. You could always count on Optimus to be prudent, but Cyclonus heard something else in Prime's words.

He heard the death knell of the Decepticons.

Apparently he was nearly alone in that. The unnatural calm in the Control Room started breaking down. Rumble and Frenzy had rude things to say about the parents-to-be.

"I bet Springer doesn't know how to interface and he hit on this by getting it wrong!" Rumble laughed. They went on about that, getting ever more graphic as they did.

Cyclonus tuned them out with practiced ease and struggled to concentrate on what was being said as well as the body language of those on stage. There were too many for him to analyze at once.

"Soundwave? Are you recording this?" he asked.

"Affirmative," came the immediate answer.

Good, Cyclonus thought. At least I'm not alone in seeing the significance of this. What it will mean for us will remain to be seen, but I fear this is cataclysmic.

He tried to evaluate the enemy. Optimus seemed happy but tired. Cyclonus wondered about that, but since the elder Prime was clearly following a script he gave Cyclonus little to go on. The complete lack of a facial expression on Optimus wasn't useful either, but his hand gestures seemed slow, half-hearted, and completely at odds with the triumphant tone of his powerful voice.

The discovery of the Quintisson files seemed a bit abrupt and convenient to Cyclonus, but it wasn't unheard of. He supposed it was possible.

Arcee and Springer were a study in contrasts. Arcee seemed almost serene, even when bluntly asked questions that pushed Cyclonus' standards for rude... and living with Rumble gave you some fairly corrupted standards. This was a bit at odds with Cyclonus' perception of Arcee. The femme might be a bit small, but she was a brutal opponent if you crossed her. Where was that fire now? Cyclonus wondered if her condition was having a calming effect.

If so it missed her mate entirely. Springer brindled at every turn. He sat on the edge of his seat, jumping once in a while when someone directed anything especially rude at his mate, and generally seemed ready to hurt someone.

This fit with Cyclonus' perception of Springer quite nicely.

Elita he never could get a handle on. All that serenity went straight to the pit on the battle-field and Cyclonus felt strongly that if both her calm and her viciousness were sincere then her time eluding Shockwave had split the femme's mind in two. Right now she just radiated pride and satisfaction... kind of like Ravage did went he caught something he wanted to tear apart.

Magnus looked....pleased. Cyclonus moved on. There was just something wrong about that.

Springer's right hand started twitching. Ah...his blaster would fit nicely into that hand right now. Of course with reporters asking Arcee if she had ever had other partners, and if Springer was equal to those, it was little wonder Springer wanted to start blasting.

Motormaster joined in with Rumble and Frenzy in dissecting Springer's prowess and Arcee's fidelity, even going so far as to imply the femme had come on to him during a fight. Cyclonus grimaced to himself - not at the smearing of Arcee's character, but at how gullible the cassettes were in that they hung on every word. The only thing Arcee ever came at Motormaster with was laser fire.

Right then, Rodimus moved, telling the crowd that the femme was supposed to take it easy. Cyclonus started a bit. Rodimus had been there all along, smiling almost stupidly, but Cyclonus noted that while the young Prime used Arcee as an excuse, it was Springer he pulled up, and Springer he steered off-stage, even as he grinned at the cameras.

Behind the Decepticon second, Rumble suggested that Rodimus might have "helped" Springer with Arcee from time to time... and they weren't alone. Some of the reporters actually threw that question out, although no one on stage even acknowledged them.

Cyclonus frowned.

Rumors about Arcee and Rodimus had circulated for years, but his friendship with Springer was also well documented. This didn't fit Cyclonus' evaluation of the players very well. Especially Springer. As defensive as the triple changer was acting over his mate in the face of simple, if rude questions, Cyclonus was doubtful Springer was the sort to share mates with anyone.

Rodimus himself baffled Cyclonus. The young Prime had sort of fallen out of the spot-light in recent years....or rather he had fallen out of the leadership spotlight. Rumors of his trysts and exploits reached all the way to Char, and yet there was never any video footage backing it up. Never. Rodimus didn't command much respect at home or on Char, certainly no one ever admitted to being trashed by him, while Optimus stories were almost a badge of honor. "Then there was the time Optimus almost...." Yet, it was Rodimus who had taken down Unicron. He had also killed Trypticon - single handed, right before sinking bare hands into Razorclaw's body almost to the core. Why were those stories never circulated? Where was the propaganda machine for all of that?

Cyclonus remembered scanning the news-broadcasts after Trypticon died - expecting the Autobots to bandy pictures of his corpse all over the universe. He expected a hero's welcome for Rodimus' return and decisive victory.

Nothing. Not one report ever aired. No speeches about the tide of war turning in the Autobot's favor, no celebrations for Trypticon's fall. Rodimus' return from the dead got little air time too. The whole thing smelled oddly like a cover up to Cyclonus.

Certainly, after years of unsuccessful maneuvering to get around the young Prime during his first term, Cyclonus had to respect Rodimus' intelligence if he was going to still respect his own. Rodimus had held out against them and the Quints - even before Optimus was revived.
So why did he make such an effort to look like an idiot?

Or maybe Rodimus really was an idiot. Maybe all this speculation was due to Cyclonus' own situation. Maybe he was just used to looking for the hidden manipulation within the leadership. Cyclonus might be the power behind the throne on Char, but that didn't mean Rodimus was anything more than he seemed.

And yet...

When he came back on stage after chauffeuring Springer away, Rodimus took the grumbling and hissing of the reporters as a compliment apparently. He grinned and sat down next to Elita, leaning in as if flirting with her right behind Optimus' back. Could Rodimus really be oblivious to how that made him look? If not, what purpose could it serve the Prime to damage his own standing among those watching?

If it WASN'T a ruse, why would Optimus Prime let his partner get away with such scandalous behavior? Surely it weakened both of them to have one of the co-leaders acting a fool. It made Optimus looked incompetent for having an idiot for a partner.

The graphic questions continued, in spite of Optimus' repeated assurances that the medical details weren't being released at this time. Cyclonus marveled a bit at Optimus' restraint. They were unbelievably rude to him, given how he had made their lazy, cowardly lives possible. It made Cyclonus angry to see his honored enemy so treated, almost as if it was an insult to the Decepticon himself. A warrior of that caliber deserved more respect. At the same time Cyclonus sneered that Optimus didn't demand that respect, and that the other commanders just sat there, smiling.

Magnus' smile was looking a bit strained though. Cyclonus smirked to himself. The former City Commander might have traded his troops for politics, but he remained a soldier at heart. Perhaps Rodimus would have to escort Magnus off-stage next.

Magnus' forced smile told Cyclonus they had decided to be pleasant no matter what.

Stupid Autobots.

Some of the blatantly inappropriate questions obviously caught Optimus a bit flat-footed. He stammered a bit, clearly embarrassed.

"Gee do you think he even knows what interfacing is?" Frenzy asked his brother.

"Maybe he's so old they hadn't invented it yet!" Rumble answered. They both howled. Motormaster and most of the rest of the Decepticons howled with them.

Galvatron fired off one plasma blast into the air. (This did no damage...they had given up repairing the roof and the center of the room was open to the sky. On the few occasions they had any sort of rain on Char, they simply erected a force-field overhead.)

"Silence! Fools! I'm trying to hear!" Galvatron shrieked.

On and on the interview went, and Cyclonus noticed Optimus was answering more and more slowly. His responses became less eloquent, more rote, as time went on. Cyclonus thought he noticed a slight waver in Optimus' stance. He might have chalked it up to his imagination except that Elita's head turned immediately towards Rodimus. Rodimus. Not Ultra Magnus who was sitting to her other side and was closer to Optimus Prime. The young Prime got up and smoothly wrapped his arm around his partner, causing more cat-calls among the watching Decepticons. Rodi's suggestion of a party was well in keeping with Rodimus' reputation, but Cyclonus was already suspicious.

Was it really time to go have fun? Or was Optimus Prime no longer able to continue? Certainly the elder Prime's final (prompted?) wave looked a bit stilted, and Rodimus never let go while they were still in sight of the cameras. Then the news crews broke off into far more various shots - celebrations in the streets on Cybertron, interviews with stunned Paradronians, "expert" medical analysis, EDC's reaction as well as the "general public's" of Earth, and neighboring systems. Some of it was favorable. Some much less so. It wasn't long until protesters made their signs and took to the streets as well.

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Cyclonus looked around him. The command center had filled up as news of the broadcast spread. Nearly their entire force was there...and it worried him that they all fit into this one room, large as it was. The Combaticons, Stunticons and Predicons were all scornful in their own ways. The Predicons were wondering what Autobot young tasted like. Motormaster made remarks about "finally finding out what femmes were good for." Obviously he had forgotten a not too distant battle where Elita had handed him his axle with clever use of a chain, a pillar, very good aim, and Motormaster's own momentum.

Everyone seemed to be talking. No one seemed to be thinking except for himself, Soundwave, and...Galvatron.

Did the crazed leader realize what this meant?

The Autobots would grow in numbers...and the Decepticons would continue to lose ground.

They had lost Astrotrain, all of the Constructicons, that traitor Blitzwing, and Trypticon - all since Optimus Prime's latest revival. That galled. Prime wouldn't stay dead, and now the Autobot's were free to breed at will. Not even Vector Sigma was necessary while the Decepticon had neither access to the super-computer or to the Matrix or whatever brought Prime back again and again like a bad case of Cosmic Rust.

And what had the Decepticons gained in those same years? Two femmes. Adder...and Viper. Adder was more of a liability than an asset. She still had never spoken or relaxed. Her optics followed whatever moved in her line of vision like a threatened snake regardless of whether or not it was actually a threat. Cyclonus had studied her watching one of the few small, native insects which survived Char's cataclysm. She tracked its path around the room for hours while he watched her and did his work.

He shook his head. That one would never breed willingly, and no one was going to risk being poisoned to try it any other way. Besides, from what Prime had hinted, the triggering process was mostly up to the femme. A forced interface, however unlikely on a femme of Adder's speed and temperament, would never be fertile anyway.

Viper? Viper was another story. There were possibilities there...very dangerous possibilities.

Cyclonus left the Command Center without permission or checking with his leader. Galvatron feigned not to notice.

Not much later, Arcee's kidnaping and the resulting near-riots on Cybertron reached the airwaves on Char.

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Maelstrom:

"You OK Elita?" Rodimus asked, looking up with some concern.

Elita was sitting in a corner with her cobalt knees drawn up to her chest. She smiled at him. "I'm perfectly fine Rodi. Why are you bothering yourself over me?"

"Well," Rodimus said. "You look a bit uncomfortable and seeing as how I'm trying to get back on Op's good side I thought I'd make sure his mate was doing well."

Elita was snugly quartered in one of Maelstrom spacious cargo holds. The room was empty. The eleven person (including the kids) Maelstrom crew had no need for the vast majority of the space on a ship the size of a large city. Elita had plenty of room to stretch out and move around, but not quite enough head-room to stand up all the way. So she sat.

"Ah...so it's all about you then?" Elita chuckled.

"Ain't it always?" Rodi asked.

"Hmm. True. Well, since you put it that way, I have scuffs on my finish, my cables are seizing up, room service is slow and when it gets here it's cranky and rude," Elita said in her best "spoiled diplomat" voice.

"So you're fine then," Rodimus smiled.

"Did I ever tell you about the time we had a tunnel collapse on us out of the blue one day? It just fell in for no reason at all, and we of course did not have much equipment to dig with. Chromia and I were trapped in under the rubble, completely uninjured but unable to move for approximately two Earth weeks. My soldiers had to pass us energon down tubes. Chromia and I got a lot of thinking done," Elita said with a smile.

"I would have gone completely haywire," Rodimus said, a bit breathlessly.

"We got really silly. Chromia invented some 'Stuck under the Girders' songs and we sang them for the others. I'm pretty sure they dug as fast as they did to shut us up. Chromia has a nice singing voice. I have a nice shouting orders voice. I was accused of trying to shatter the girders with my vocals alone."

Rodimus snickered.

Elita looked suspiciously at him. His laugh was in no way forced but she would have expected a stronger reaction from him...and his eyes were far away. It was harder for her to read him as a human than as an Autobot, but she was getting much better at translating plastic human faces. "How's Edana?" she probed.

"She'll be fine," Rodimus said evasively.

Elita drummed her fingers on one knee and frowned at him.

"She WILL be fine...but she isn't now. You know I'll get it out of you so you might as well give," Elita pointed out.

Rodimus sighed in resignation, worry and guilt painting his features. In a way Elita was pleased. She wasn't happy about his fears for Edana, but since over-riding Vector Sigma's compulsions, his expressions were far more likely to be genuine. She doubted he even realized.

"Edana's a bit sick, Elita. She's running a small fever and she's hurting. It's recoil from her nervous system. She over-reached with her powers the other day and her nerve channels are inflamed."

Elita frowned, "How long will it last?"

Rodimus shrugged. "We don't know. I suppose it depends on how much she over-did it, but since we don't really know how much she can handle we don't know how far she stressed herself. Claudia...Claudia says she has never heard of a child who can gain directional information from their empathy so young. She says it's an ability many adult empaths can't master even with training...let alone with unsteady shields and a whole planet under stress. Claudia is furious with us, and says we are lucky Edana didn't die or go mad from over-load."

"I didn't know Claudia was capable of being furious," Elita said.

"Neither did I," Rodimus told her. "But she loves Edana and she is pretty much accusing us of abuse. The only reason she is forgiving us is that we really didn't have a way to get Edana out."

"A situation we have to rectify," Elita said simply.

"We're going to build her a smaller version of the council chamber so she has somewhere to retreat to if she needs - except with the shielding set to keep stuff out rather than in," Rodimus sulked. "We should've done it years ago."

Elita cocked her head at him, and flicked him gently with one finger. Gently was still enough to make him stagger. He glared at her. She glared in return.

Magnus (also in human form) walked in and interrupted their glaring contest.

He sighed. "What'd he do now, Elita?"

"He's at it again," Elita said. "Ah! No arguing! You and Lancer do everything you know to do for that little girl. She's never shown any sort of distress until now. Even you never imagined an event like this. Give it a rest!"

Rodimus sighed, looked unhappy, and nodded.

"It's still that hard to give yourself a break, is it?" Magnus asked, not quite joking.

"The Autobots have a lot of damaged goods on their command staff," Rodimus answered grimly.

"Which is why we are going to keep after you two until you get better," Elita smiled. "Orion is doing much better already, but it's going to be a very long road."

"Speaking of long roads," Magnus said, "We still have two days until we make it to Char. I do not understand how this ship works. Sometimes it can clear half the galaxy in an instant, but this time we have to 'travel straight' whatever that means. Why won't you let us use the jump gates?"

"Because traffic through them is monitored by the Sponsors," Rodimus said. "Really, considering we aren't gating, two days to Char is nothing. This ship is extremely fast even when it isn't folding lines."

"Rodimus...if what Vector Sigma confessed to us is true...KC may be dead in two days," Ultra Magnus said urgently.

"Magnus, if what Sigma said is true...and it was because Kain made sure it couldn't lie anymore, then KC has been dead for a week," Rodimus said grimly. "This isn't a rescue mission. It's damage control."

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"Are you going to eat in the mess hall today?" Shellshock asked Spike, "Or shall I bring you lunch?"

"I'm amazed I have an appetite," Spike confessed. "Actually, I'm a bit worried I have an appetite. Can it be I'm getting used to this stuff?" He and Shellshock were working their way up the slaver food chain towards the major Sponsors, in what seemed to Spike like a never-ending river of pure, blood-soaked evil. It was the ultimate pyramid scheme in which the small-time slavers fed ever larger organizations until you got to the top tiers. Spike was amazed to find that the upper echelons of evil were in complete control of numerous planetary systems, surpassing their governments in money, power, and influence by far. Including Earth.

No wonder he had so few friends among the politically powerful.
He grinned.
They hadn't seen anything yet.

"You are not getting numb to it, Spike. Just your stomach is. You want to fight, and its role is to keep you alive to do it. Consider your hunger an act of defiance," Shellshock said.

Spike laughed, then sobered. "Do you think he'll be there?"

Shellshock had no gift for mincing words. "Rodimus is on board. You will run into him sooner or later unless he decides to hide from you. He is an assassin. You are not, so if you meet it will be because he wants to. Given your recent behavior towards him, I highly doubt he wants to see you. He will probably avoid you. He is holed up with Lancer caring for Edana anyway."

"Why? What's wrong with Edana?"

"Skipping breakfast with the crew cost you the news," Shellshock chided. He gave Spike an update of the events on Cybertron. Spike didn't know what had him the most shocked. The fact Transformers could breed, the fact that Arcee and SPRINGER were going to be the first, or how close they'd come to losing everything.

That the fate of it all had rested in the tiny hands of an empathic child sent Spike into yet another tail-spin.

Shellshock didn't sympathize enough to let him digest any of it.

"Claudia is furious that Edana was used like a 'common weapon' but the way I see it the child was probably the only wild card they had. Vector Sigma was very clear on our personnel, our resources, and our tactics, but no one knew what Edana could do."

"They did what they had to do," Spike said.

"Like always," Shellshock said reproachfully.

"You've gotten to be a real bastard you know that?" Spike accused.

"Yes," came the flat reply.
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"We need to go in clean, get to Viper, and get out. If Kain can wipe her memories of KC and we can get the body out, then fine, she lives. If not, Viper comes with us in as many pieces as it takes," Rodimus said emotionlessly.

"What if we get spotted?" Magnus asked.

"Same as always, we improvise," Rodimus said. "It depends on what they see. If they see us human, KC's body, or Kain, they go down. If not, we tell them we're there selling cookies."

"Ah...Girl Scout or Oreos?" Magnus asked, trying to get a smile out of Rodimus.

"Oreos obviously," Rodimus said. "Even 'Cons aren't dumb enough to buy you as a Girl Scout. You're too ugly. Maybe if you add some pig-tails."

Magnus scowled, not because he was overly insulted, but because Rodimus still wasn't smiling.

"She might still be alive," Elita said.

"Elita, you know how I like to go in not expecting anything?" Rodimus asked.

The senior femme nodded.

"I'm expecting anyway. KC's dead. That's the way it is. If she turns out to not be dead, we'll all be pleasantly surprised OK?" Rodimus said coldly.

Continued in Part B