Maelstrom 5
Elita: Part 1
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 addy here or FF . Net eats the link.) The comics and art which accompanies this series are there...and believe me I am a better artist than writer.
Most chapters of this series contain strong language and violence. Rated M for adult themes! Really! Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Critiques adored!
"Man! I just ain't cut out for this kinda work!" Jazz complained. There was grime on his legs which he tried futilely to brush off. His hands were even dirtier and he only made things worse.
"You've given yourself stripes....and it's got to be done," Magnus said, sounding none to happy about it either.
"I ain't stupid Major General," Jazz started.
"You are if you keep calling me Major General," Magnus interrupted, but Jazz continued without missing a beat.
"I just wish Prime and Prime Inc. would let someone else do it. Secrecy stinks. This's Grapple's line," the Specialist complained, struggling with the surveying equipment. Mysterious pieces of it clattered to the floor.
"Prime and Prime Inc.?" Rodimus said with a chuckle, coming up from behind them.
"AHHHHH!" Jazz and Magnus cried out in unison.
"I liked it better when you were pretending to walk like the rest of us," Magnus complained.
"Sorry. Would it help if I told you help is arriving? Grapple, Springer, and Kup are coming down to lend us a hand, although they think this is just a surveying mission to reclaim some of these old tunnels for security's sake and eventually additional living quarters, which is true also."
"Wait. You are planning to allow living areas around your secret express road down to Vector Sigma?" Magnus asked dubiously.
"That is my plan," Rodimus said in a silly tone. He grinned. Magnus and Jazz stared at him. "Oh don't worry so much. No one will even know its here. The quarters will provide cover for our life signs and those living in them will also help confuse any empaths or telepaths trying to single us out. The tunnel itself will be secured, monitored, and worked into the blueprints right under the "real" access-ways so that no one will ever dream of looking for it. I plan to hide it in plain sight so to speak."
"It's scary the way your twisted little mind works Rod-Man," Jazz said seriously.
"When is help arriving?" Magnus said, never having lost sight of what mattered most to him.
"Any minute now, so try to act normal," Rodimus smiled.
"Yeah," Jazz said, "Just be careful not to hurt yourself with the strain!"
By the time Kup, Springer, and Grapple joined them, Rodimus had managed to get Jazz and Magnus separated.
Grapple berated Jazz about the abuse of the equipment and got straight to work. The others mostly assisted by clearing debris and taking measurements. Magnus and Kup resigned themselves to numerous trips to the surface with heaps of scrap-metal loading them down. Wreck-gar waited for them at the surface, rubbing his hands with glee at the prospect of more trash to haul home. As they worked, they generally joked and chattered with each other except for Kup. The old warrior spoke only when he had to and somehow managed to work apart from the others even in the tight quarters of the tunnel. Everyone else was too glad of a relatively stress-free chance to spend time together and tried not to let it bother them when repeated attempts to draw him into the conversation failed. The work was physically difficult but at least it didn't involve out-right fighting, or in the case of the counsel members intrigue, Converts, and murder. The physical activity was almost pleasurable in that regard.
It wasn't long though before Rodimus started slowing down ever so slightly. Magnus and Jazz noticed almost right away but only because they were looking for it. Exchanging knowing, concerned looks, the two of them tried to get a hand in on whatever Rodimus was trying to move. Working as a team, they managed to keep him from lifting any of the heaviest pieces on his own, knowing he would never admit to being tired - especially in front of Kup and the others. He had had several more of those strange "attacks" since their first trip down to Vector Sigma, and neither of them were about to let him exhaust himself moving junk.
Magnus kept a watchful eye on Rodimus but couldn't help but notice that Kup kept staring at him.
"What?" the City Commander finally asked.
"Why are you here?" Kup wanted to know, leaving Magnus in a temporary state of panic. He knew why he was there but he couldn't tell Kup that.
"He's here for his monthly reports of course, and I asked him to help out," Rodimus interjected smoothly.
"Don't you think he should be heading back to Metroplex around now? Seeing as how he's supposed to be running the place," Kup said sarcastically.
"What do you mean 'supposed to be running the place?'" Magnus asked dangerously.
"Well, seeing as how you're hardly ever there anymore. It's just like I'm supposed to be the block-crackin' Security Advisor and no one listens to my blasted advise!"
Rodimus sighed. "We listened to you advise, Kup. We just decided not to follow it."
"Confound it Lad! It is stupid to open up living quarters this close to Central!" Kup growled.
"Optimus and I don't share that opinion, Kup. The refugees from Paradron need more space. They've been packed in those temp quarters for years and this sector is the most habitable. I'm ashamed it's taken us this long." They cleared away a fallen section of ceiling together. Their hands lifted in unison, but the optics they locked were bright with agitation.
Kup muttered curses, "You used to respect my opinion Lad."
"I still do Kup, but I don't always agree with it," Rodimus said firmly, lifting another piece of rubble. It hit the wall with a hollow, ringing thud. Rodimus froze and cocked his head, listening.
"As is his right as your superior officer, Kup," Magnus growled, "and I resent the implication that I'm not performing my duties."
"Be quiet you two," Rodimus said.
"The point I was making Ultra Magnus is that they aren't using either of us for the duties we are supposedly there to perform! I was not trying to say you weren't doing your job adequately."
"Be quiet," Rodimus said again over his shoulder from where he was inexplicably inspecting the wall.
"You see? He's lost all respect for both of us!" Kup cried.
Magnus, having heard Rodi's order, didn't answer, and Kup sputtered in indignation.
"Kup! He said to shut-up!" Springer said.
"Stay out of this Springer!" Kup cried.
"Uh, guys..." Grapple tried. He hated the bickering.
"Look at him! He's not even paying attention to anything I've said," Kup growled, indicating Rodimus who was studying the wall intently. Magnus and Jazz knew that look from their last trip down. Magnus stiffened and Jazz drew his weapon.
Springer warmed to the topic. "Well maybe he's just tired of your pompous, over-bearing..."
"WILL ALL OF YOU PLEASE SILENCE YOURSELVES?" Rodimus roared, his eyes flaring mad-green. Once the echo stopped he got what he wanted - dead quiet.
Magnus smirked just a little. Jazz looked at Kup and shook his head in disgust while Rodimus listened at the wall and tapped on it. Magnus came up to stand beside him.
"What is it?" Magnus asked.
"I don't know. Maybe nothing," Rodimus said. Using his friend's bulk to hide his actions, Rodimus slipped a Jabez-crafted scanner out one of his arm-compartments and scanned the wall. Unbelievably, the hexagonal device registered life-sign. Faint, unmistakable life-sign. He didn't bother to hide his shock. At most, he'd been looking for some kind of hidden tunnel.
"Something's here," he cried. "Someone's here! Grapple - help me find the door!" It took some searching, with Grapple both complimenting and cursing the engineering behind the hidden portal, but they finally defined it's edges. He wanted to know how Rodimus had even noticed the entrance, but Rodimus passed it off as luck and redirected Grapples attention to the wonderful, frustrating problem of getting the door open. Springer and Kup seemed particularly annoyed when Rodimus insisted on spending the better part of an hour hunting for the trigger instead of just blasting it. Jazz and Magnus knew he'd find it eventually, and Grapple had had enough of his own designs carelessly destroyed to be patient with this one.
When the door finally opened it stuck half-way. Rodimus slipped in - ready for anything. He nearly leapt out of his metallic skin when a scanning laser passed over his chest. It focused on his symbol and he prepared for all kinds of nasty surprises. Instead, low powered lights went on and revealed a descending tunnel. He wasn't quite ready to sigh with relief and remained on guard, but he wondered what would have happened if his symbol had been Decepticon. Stepping through the threshold, he got an answer to both that, and the reason the door was jamming.
Two Decepticon corpses, corroded with age, lay just inside the door. Their heads had been neatly severed by some form of laser powerful enough to partially melt their features. One of the bodies was pressing the door from the inside, preventing it from functioning smoothly. Rodimus toed it aside, and the door opened the rest of the way.
"I guess they weren't invited," he quipped. He was excited. Something about this sang of a significant discovery. He led them down the dim tunnel, watching for traps the whole way down in case the corpses were decoys, or something that identified "safe" intruders had broken.
What they found at the bottom surpassed all his wildest hopes and imaginings. It was simply too wonderful to be true - they just weren't that lucky.
I've gotten to be quite a pessimist! Rodimus thought to himself gleefully while the others stared.
They were standing in a large room containing a security computer and twenty stasis chambers - 17 of which were occupied. Rodimus walked up to the first one and grinned.
"It's Elita!" he whispered joyfully, leaning on the tube for support. Jazz laughed at him.
Magnus looked the tube skeptically up and down and then grudgingly agreed. "Yes it is but how did you know? Did you ever meet her?"
"Matrix memories," Rodimus explained. "Optimus is going to flip! We have to try to revive them before we tell him! If something goes wrong or if this is really some form of Decepticon hoax, the disappointment will crush him. Grapple! Check the equipment! Springer, go get Perceptor, but don't tell anyone why. If Optimus asks just tell him I said so and wouldn't tell you why. He'll buy that! Go! Hurry up!"
Springer and Grapple were only too happy to comply. The disappearance of Elita's team had long been a mystery and sorrow for the Autobots - a sadness as deep as they joy that had followed their original rediscovery years ago. The Decepticon occupation had somehow cut off all contact with Elita's nomadic team and there had been no word from them in over a decade. When Rodimus had first become commander and the Autobots had retaken Cybertron, they had hoped Elita's team would resurface, not that Rodimus had looked forward to telling Elita her mate was dead. No more than he had enjoyed telling the revived Optimus that there had been no sign of Elita in the first years of Rodimus' term as leader.
Rodimus remembered painfully the quiet sorrow and resignation in Optimus' eyes - the death of hope. At that time, the younger Prime could only imagine what it must have felt like for Optimus - newly revived, but facing the bleak prospect of an eternity without the one he loved. Now Rodimus understood that feeling only too well, but he was beyond joy at the prospect of at least giving his partner a new reason to live.
He tried to quell the rising anticipation of telling Optimus Elita lived - so much could go wrong with stasis tubes. It really could be some sadistic form of Decepticon trap - Rodimus could picture Megatron using Elita's likeness this way quite easily. Something in him wouldn't listen to the cold voice of reason though - his Matrix spawned instincts told him the figure before him was no Decepticon copy. The layout and the traps FELT like her handiwork. He surveyed the orderly arrangement of room and the equipment. Lots of the parts were jury-rigged. No doubt working stasis tubes were in short supply during the Decepticon occupation. In spite of that, he noted how seamlessly connections between the disparate components were forged. It didn't just work, it was almost....artistic. It could have been forced together and still functioned, but the parts weren't crammed into place - they flowed. It was unlikely a Decepticon would have bothered making a ruse with such craftsmanship. The room itself was in perfect order as well - except for about a decade's worth of dust. He could easily imagine the flurry of activity required to set up this chamber and prepare it for their long sleep. He looked around for a moment and found all the tools neatly tucked away. Rodi wondered how many other Autobots would have bothered to clean after themselves at such a time.
Grapple pronounced the equipment in working order, which didn't eliminate the dangers of revival, but certainly did reduce them significantly.
By the time Springer got back with Perceptor, Rodimus had already decided on how to tell his partner the good news, had relegated poor Jazz to finding the soon-to-be-awakened girls living quarters, and had assigned an openly disgusted (and privately nervous) City Commander the job of bringing them up to date on events since they went into stasis. Kup was designated tour guide.
"And what will you be doing Mighty-One?" Magnus said, facetiously imitating Cyclonus' groveling tones.
Rodimus grinned, "That was pretty good, Mags! Maybe you should always address me that way!" Magnus opted not to respond so Rodimus continued with a smirk. "To answer your question, I will be running the whole show while Optimus and Elita get...reacquainted!" He seemed inordinately pleased with this idea.
Jazz and Magnus sighed in unison. It was becoming more apparent by the day that Rodimus was not entirely well and they didn't like to think of him shouldering the entire burden of command even for a little while. On the other hand, Rodimus refused to admit anything was in any way wrong, and they could tell from his enthusiasm that there was no way they could dissuade him. Without saying a word they both agreed to take on more of it themselves. It was an exhausting prospect.
Perceptor oversaw the revival with his usual meticulous care. It went flawlessly and there were soon 17 dazed female Autobots to reassure. Rodimus radioed Optimus to meet him at the top of the tunnels immediately, putting enough urgency in his voice to send his partner racing. By the time Elita was awake enough to really understand anything that was being said to her, Optimus was at the top of the hidden tunnel, looking at the corpses. Rodimus was waiting for him and slipped up on him from behind, startling Optimus by putting his hands over Op's optic sensors.
"Guess who?" Rodimus sang.
"RODIMUS! What kind of sick prank are you playing now? I don't have time for this! Let me go!" Optimus cried, struggling a little. The fact that he couldn't seem to budge the aggravating weight on his back bothered him a little. He didn't like to be reminded of Rodimus' assassin's skills this way. It made him feel vulnerable.
"Nope! I won't let you go! I have a surprise for you! Don't worry! I'm pretty sure you'll like it!" Rodimus said with a rare, genuine laugh. The laugh startled Optimus into behaving all the way down the tunnel. Kup was sitting with Elita and talking to her soothingly when the Primes made their strange appearance at the mouth of the tunnel. Elita blinked in stasis-induced confusion for a moment, but then a wide, overjoyed smile brightened her lovely face.
She got up swiftly and put a hand over Rodi's, meeting the young robot's gleaming optics with equal mischief and delight. Rodimus grinned and slipped his hands out from under hers.
"Guess who?" Elita said huskily, knowing Optimus could see enough, and pulling her hand down slightly.
Optimus stared. He tried to speak, failed, and stared some more. Trembling, he took her still-extended hand into his own and drew her to him - then suddenly grabbed her in a crushing hug which looked a bit painful to those watching. Somehow Elita didn't seem to mind.
All optics were on this reunion and even the females who weren't entirely awake yet smiled. Jazz was openly mooning over the romance of it all, which made Magnus wish for a lake to dunk him in. Not even Perceptor was oblivious to the profound joy the reunited pair were projecting as they held and stared at each other without saying a word.
Nevertheless, Rodimus was suddenly very glad to have other revivees to concentrate on. His real smile was replaced by a visually identical but emotionally bankrupt mask. He hated himself for not being able to sustain his joy for Optimus, but he suddenly felt overwhelmingly alone. Barring further tragedy, Optimus had just found the completion of his soul for an Autobot's eternity. It only made Rodimus that much more aware of how his own soul was bleeding.
He introduced himself to Elita's awakening forces, and tried to explain away their shock over his name, giving them the barest details of his partnership with Optimus. Elita might have been disoriented and distracted, but she still didn't miss a word he said.
"Partners? You share the duty?" she asked as though she could barely believe it.
"Yup!" Rodimus crowed. "It's good for things like taking a few days...or even a few weeks off!"
Elita blinked, a little dumbfounded. It had been over a decade since she'd desperately put her small band into stasis, but to her it seemed like only moments. Back then, they had been hunted almost to extinction. The Decepticon forces were growing stronger by the day on fuel stolen from Earth, forcing Elita's team deeper and deeper into hiding, and making even finding energon an enormous risk. After losing four of her people on futile raids, Elita knew they were facing extermination. They couldn't even fuel themselves, let alone put up any kind of effective resistance. Their weapons were so low on power they were nearly useless, and Elita didn't need to guess the outcome of even a few Decepticons discovering their lair.
Finally, she had called her team together to discuss their options - they could keep trying and hope for a lucky strike of energon, or they could pour all of their remaining resources into the stasis chambers and the security system. They had voted on stasis, aware of the risks, but hoping against hope that somehow the Autobots would regain the upper hand and come to free their female counterparts.
In the end, they had given the security lasers enough power to fire three separate times and the rest would go towards sustaining them for as long as possible....about 23 Earth years. Elita's team thought there was enough for 24 years and there was, but only because Elita had programed the computer to shut her chamber off if they weren't rescued in the first 15 years. She had, of course, refrained from mentioning that to them. Against the background of a Cybertronian lifetime, fifteen years wasn't long, and in her heart of hearts, the best Elita had realistically hoped for was that silent shut-down for all of her people. None of them would have ever woken up.
The possibility of Decepticon discovery, capture, and torture had been a far more likely possibility.
Yet now they were awake, safe, and in the company of their own people. Better still, Elita could see they were in no dire hurry to escape right away, so the surrounding territory had to be under Autobot control. It was all more than she'd ever hoped for.
On top of all that good fortune, her mate was alive, well, and HERE.
The concept that he had a partner, someone to share the burden was beyond her imagination.
The suggestion of personal time of ANY duration was enough to strain her logic circuits - such things didn't happen anymore. Not since the day Megatron had sentenced Orion and Ariel to a lifetime of war. Obviously, the er....interestingly... painted young robot who claimed to be Optimus' partner was quite out of his mind. It was simply too good to be true.
Optimus confirmed her analysis by saying, "Now Rodimus, you know I simply do not have time for..."
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Rodimus interrupted forcefully. It was Elita's first look into the partnership. In her experience, no one but she talked to the legendary Optimus Prime as an equal - and even she reserved it for private moments. "Let's see if this sounds familiar Optimus," Rodimus went on. "'We formed the partnership so we could help each other. You shouldn't have to sacrifice your relationship for the leadership! Don't make the same mistake I did with Elita! Life is too short! Yaddayadda! Yadda! Yadda!'"
Elita couldn't help it. She chuckled a little, as did some of her team nervously, and some of the Autobots openly. They were apparently used to Rodimus imitating her mate right down to the body language. He had taken on Op's stance, inflections, and gestures -albeit wildly exaggerated - giving Elita the impression that Rodimus had plenty of practice both listening to Optimus, and spoofing him as well. For his part, Optimus must have been fairly used to being teased this way, since he merely sighed, shook his head, and capitulated.
"Elita, don't laugh. It only encourages him," Optimus said with resignation.
"Are you seriously thinking about taking time off? Is our situation that secure?" Elita asked.
Optimus and Rodimus exchanged a look that was only too serious for Elita's comfort.
"It's secure enough for you two to get away for a little while," Rodimus said insistently.
"What about the Decepticons?" Moonracer wanted to know.
"They're around," Rodimus said, "but they no longer have any strongholds on Earth or Cybertron. We've driven them back as far as Char. It's a nasty little place I thinks suits them just fine!"
"Ah!" said Elita. "Then Rodimus gets all the encouragement I can muster!" After millennia of combat, and over a decade of enforced sleep - Elita needed a break.
Rodimus grinned happily. He could sense an ally a mile away.
This statement opened up a flood of questions from all sides about what had happened since the team had gone into stasis. Optimus and Rodimus gave them a very brief run-down with occasional help from the others. Naturally this only led to more questions - some serious, some not so serious. Firestar asked about Inferno, and Rodimus mischievously agreed to tell the unsuspecting fire-engine that he was getting a new partner - like it or not. Firestar was looking forward to surprising her friend the way Elita had surprised Prime. Moonracer didn't even want to give Powerglide that much warning - she just planned to knock on his quarters and accuse him of never contacting her. This idea caused a round of snickering, at least until Chromia asked about Ironhide.
Maybe it was the way all the Autobots grew suddenly silent.
Maybe it was the way Optimus stiffened in Elita's grasp (she still had her arm around his waist.)
Probably, though, it was the profound change in Rodi's expression when he turned to face Chromia. He didn't say anything. He didn't shake his head either. He didn't need to.
Chromia's happy expression faded slowly - she knew - but her body's responses were a few steps behind her heart's. Rodimus sensed it coming anyway and took a step towards her as she stared at him, wide-opticed, with her smile stretching wider into a grimace of anguish.
"no..." she whispered. Rodi's arms enclosed her whole body. "NO!" she shrieked. She pounded on Rodimus' chest with her fists with all her strength, screaming "NONONONONONO!" continuously as she pummeled him. He didn't let go, but held her tighter and tighter until she exhausted herself and sagged against him, sobbing.
"I know," he whispered sadly, "I know."
In the depth of her pain, Chromia sensed complete honesty in that simple statement. She was beyond analyzing or even thinking about what he was saying really - it was just a simple recognition of the truth. He wasn't saying anything else. He never told her it was alright. Never went on about Ironhide's brave death as others would later. He never told her to "be strong for Ironhide" or to " get on with her life". He just seemed to go down into her grief with her to hold her and make her feel less alone.
Magnus and Optimus exchanged glances, and Elita noticed and wondered about it. All this time they had been aware of Rodimus' grief for Lancer, but this was as close as they'd ever come to seeing him show it. Jazz seemed to be thinking the same thing as he looked at Rodimus and shook his head. The boy would bottle up his own pain no matter what the damage to himself, but give him a need to help someone else, and Rodimus would even use his grief as a tool. The Specialist tried to decide whether to admire Rodimus for it or to simply wring his neck.
Most of Elita's team, although greatly subdued by Ironhide's death and the news of the others that had died, quickly regained their enthusiasm once they reached the surface. Cybertron had changed dramatically since they had last seen its skies and they liked what they saw, although they did comment that the boys could have chosen a more attractive moon. There was a brief sight-seeing tour on the way to Central and then a more formal debriefing and round of introductions.
It wasn't until he was formally introduced and Elita teased Magnus lightly by referring to him by his old name, that Magnus noticed one of Elita's team start, and stare at him intently. At first he felt some annoyance, then, as he looked at her, a growing sense of familiarity. When Elita introduced her as Neon, he suddenly placed her curious, somewhat vapid stare. He had known her millennia ago - before he was even an officer, before he was Ultra Magnus. He wondered if he looked as different to her as she did to him - her body armor had changed dramatically. Looking again at her startled face, he realized it hadn't changed at all, and decided therefore that the changes in his own mind were what had rendered her unrecognizable to him. They were in the middle of a meeting, so he couldn't talk to her right then, but he could guess why she hadn't known him. It was more than the name or the massive changes in his body armor. Magnus had known Neon in what he considered his foolish youth, and his entire demeanor had changed. The name Ultra Magnus had been given to him when he'd become an officer to better suit a scarred, more mature personality.
Elita and Neon were among the very few who had ever known him as anything BUT Ultra Magnus, and the City Commander realized he had been pretty comfortable with that.
He remained deeply ashamed of his younger self.
Alone with these worries, Magnus suppressed them with practiced ease and got his mind back on business. Rodimus and Optimus were having a spirited, playful argument about how many days Optimus and Elita would spend off together. Optimus suggested a few hours. Rodimus suggested two years. Elita immediately took Rodi's side, much to Rodi's evident amusement. Optimus agreed to a day; Rodimus suggested three years.
"Oh! I like the way you think Rodimus!" Elita said with a chuckle.
Rodimus grinned in a way that made Optimus and the others shudder in terror and brace themselves for the worst. "Well, my beautiful Elita," he said in mock seduction," Why don't you run away with me since Optimus doesn't seem to want your charming company?"
"OK FINE! I'll take a week!" Optimus said, "But don't you dare leave me a ton of work to make up when it's over!"
"Two weeks!" Rodimus said.
"A week and a half!" Optimus said, cursing Rodimus for doing this in front of Elita's people so that he couldn't really name his objections, which was of course exactly why Rodimus WAS doing it now.
"Done!" Rodimus chuckled, leaving Optimus the sinking feeling that Rodi would really have accepted a week if Optimus had pressed the issue a bit more. Rodi startled his partner even more by saying. "OK! Leave! Go make your plans and get out of my face! I'm sick of you both already!" The girls couldn't believe his audacity, although the Autobots just shook their heads.
"What? Now?" Optimus cried.
"Of course!" Rodi grinned. Optimus got up and dragged his partner to a corner to talk privately.
"You can't be serious. Aren't we going to give Elita a full debriefing? I promise you Rodimus, she will be an enormous help."
"I know, and I agree, but don't you think she will enjoy herself more if she gets her debriefing after her vacation? Go on Optimus. Try to forget for a while. Enjoy her innocence if nothing else. Give her a few days of peace, and try to give them to yourself too."
"But..."
"Nothing's is going to happen in a week's time and if it does, let's face it partner, we aren't ready and a week isn't going to matter much. However, a few days off and a change of scene will make a difference in your state of mind which is far more important in the long run, right?"
Optimus was wise enough to know when to surrender.