Maelstrom Chapter 37
Pilgrimage 1 Part A
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 37
Pilgrimage 1
Part J
Continued from Part I
Char:
Cyclonus could not believe the mess just a few days off Char could make.
Damn that femme!
The audacity!
He knew Viper was ambitious but to just walk up and proposition an insane, plasma wielding, violent Decepticon like that! She was lucky he hadn't culminated his pleasure with a cannon blast to her head! She was lucky he hadn't torn her limb from limb!
Was she blind...or did she take a calculated risk?
Cyclonus was apt to think the former because of her youth, but then again he was very afraid it was the second.
She was smart. She was cunning. She pressed her advantages and let nothing stop her. She was a worthy Decepticon... and she was a great big pain in the diodes.
Then again, so was Galvatron.
Soundwave had told Cyclonus Viper had seemed shocked when Galvatron availed himself of her on the dias, but she apparently recovered quickly. The communications officer told Cyclonus (once again in his usual neutral intonations) that Galvatron had kept Viper at his side ever since. Soundwave sensed a variety of motives from Galvatron in that. He wanted her where he could keep her from the others, who were now both more frightened to approach her and more aroused by her unapproachability. Galvatron also intended to keep an optic on her, once again confirming for Cyclonus that Megatron's instincts lived on. Of course, having her near at hand also gave Galvatron access to her...charms...at a moment's notice, and the Decepticon leader seemed to be making a point of that as well.
Cyclonus remembered very clearly that lithe, strong body pressed up against his, his immediate desire for her, and then that awful smell...
He felt sick.
Then it hit him.
"Where's Adder?" he asked.
"With Viper, as usual," Soundwave informed him.
"But..." Cyclonus said, incredulously.
"She no longer sees Galvatron as separate from Viper. He smells like her. She will not attack him," Soundwave said.
"Unfortunately that doesn't go for the rest of us," Cyclonus said grimly.
"No..." Soundwave said. "No one wants duty here anymore."
Now that was saying something. If you wanted to curry Galvatron's favor you needed to be where he could see you. Galvatron was very much an "out of sight, out of mind" kind of guy.
The door behind the dias opened,
"Ah, Cyclonus!" Galvatron said. "I've been meaning to talk to you."
Cyclonus shivered involuntarily. In this discussion of Viper, he'd forgotten how much trouble he was in....
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Cybertron:
Ratchet was in trouble and he knew it. Perceptor kept finding more tasks for him to try simultaneously. Currently he was constructing 3 news sets of "arms", monitoring the chemical analysis of a crushed Matrix stone, and the energy storage capacity of another one about an inch in diameter.
Rodimus had told them it was set up to be a battery, and Perceptor was threatening all sort of tests to find out how the young Prime knew. So far, they couldn't argue with him, and it was absorbing energy at a rate that fascinated, then alarmed, and then finally fascinated them again.
Ratchet couldn't wait for Rodimus to show. It would give Perceptor something else to obsess over for a while.
The tiny stone took on more and more power until finally it glowed brightly and flared, releasing its power in a short, beautiful burst of rays.
"Oh..." Perceptor said. "Like the Matrix did when Optimus forced Rodimus in, just smaller scale."
"What do you mean?" Ratchet said.
Perceptor looked uncomfortable. "There was a time...Hot Rod was mortally injured... Optimus forced the Matrix on him, and it assimilated his consciousness to afford us adequate time to reconstruct his systems. It glowed, much as this one did when the transmission took place."
Ratchet, being more compassionately than scientifically motivated asked, "Why would Optimus have to force Hot Rod into a life-saving action?" Ratchet had a lot more experience with his own Hot Rod than he did this dimension's Rodimus, and Optimus Prime's son was nothing if not committed to a long and enjoyable life.
"Hot Rod...Rodimus was unfortunately suffering from a profound depression, encouraged, we have just learned, by Vector Sigma," Perceptor said. Moving on to the studies at hand he said, "Do you see what this implies? What your existence there implies? It indicates our sparks really have more to do with energy than circuitry! It never occurred to me to study it before, but Rodimus' life-spark transferred between two very disparate vessels that day...his normal body and the Matrix, yet both his neural circuits and the Matrix's...er...crystalline matrix were able to sustain him! The same has happened with you my friend! And look at how much more efficient the crystals are! Your new residence is one eighth the size of your neural systems and you have included all the reference material you downloaded as well! The potential of a technology based on this is unfathomable!"
Ratchet sighed. He was finding this multifaceted ability to think about many different things at once a bit tiring emotionally. One part of him was already wildly brainstorming ahead of Perceptor...thinking of ways to use a Matrix stone to save dying patients like Rodimus had been saved. But he also thought of the Jabez and their use of this technology... And some part of him couldn't drop something else - how sad it was to think of the endlessly cheerful Hot Rod he was familiar with being driven to such sadness he was willing to die.
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Earth:
Rodimus was ready to die his head hurt so much. Really it was getting to a point he thought only the Jabez could manage. He was also paralyzed with strain. Mental violation was usually something he held out with ease, but apparently pulling Implants had weakened his armor.
The telepath probed his shields, and keeping him out took all of Rodi's concentration, although he was gratified to see the mutant looking surprised when he couldn't get in. That didn't stop the man from simply picking up a board and clocking Rodimus across the face with it.
The physical impact was probably meant to rock Rodimus' concentration. It might have worked on someone else, but for Rodimus the pain barely registered next to the headache.
Rodimus supposed he should be grateful the telepath was very curious to discover who he was, and didn't just shoot him. Still, some of his teeth were loose, and he tasted blood.
Then help arrived.
Aren't you mad at me? Rodimus sent.
I'm not mad enough to let you die Stupid! Lancer sent back, exasperated. You should have called me! I thought all of this pain was just your damned headache!
Well that's good to know, Rodimus returned fondly.
We will discuss how ridiculous you are later, Lancer sent. She immersed herself into his thought-pattern. Unified, as they had been against the alternate universe's Matrix, they pushed with everything they had.
In this at least, two heads really were better than one. Lancer brought her demon to bear...Rodimus brought his madness. Their combined fury torpedoed into their assailant.
The telepath didn't even scream.
Rodimus left him standing there, blank-eyed, brain-dead, and drooling. He laid micro-charges in the corners and at the support pillars. Walking away, he set off the inner charges first and the building imploded behind him.
He didn't look back, but hid on a rooftop across the street.
A few minutes later a large, unmarked moving truck turned down the street, stopped, and backed up in a hurry.
Rodimus shot a tracking device at its roof, and vowed to pay the drivers a visit. Soon.
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Cybertron:
Optimus was not happy. First of all, for some reason having First Aid in his quarters really bugged him - probably because the medic was openly baby-sitting him. The senior Prime felt fine, and couldn't see why he needed watching.
Even when the neural-inhibitor wore off and the medic finally was able to leave, Optimus was still in a foul mood.
Stomping into his office and crashing down into his protesting chair, he found a stack of reports from Kup...in Kup's hand. More problems with reporters. More Paradronians protesting this or that policy for breeding rights.
Jazz's news, also delivered in person, about Overlay's murder didn't help.
"Why didn't you keep an eye on Cyclonus?!"
"I tried! Do you know how many cameras there are to keep track of around here? I wasn't even monitoring Cybertron! I just happened to see the sucker sneakin' in...and then I lost him. By the time I found him again he was on his way down to the lab with a load of tourists."
"This planet is wide open," Optimus groaned.
"My regular security teams are still fully functional," Kup noted.
"Did any of them catch Cyclonus?" Optimus asked.
"Err...no. He skirted the patrols and the obvious cameras," Kup admitted.
"We're wide open," Optimus repeated.
Kup sighed.
"Oh this looks like a fun meeting," a voice said.
All three of them screamed in shock, and Rodimus dropped his cloak.
"How long have you been there?!" Optimus accused.
"Since you guys came in," Rodimus smirked. He stared at Jazz, who took the hint and gave Rodi his seat, not that he begrudged it. Rodimus didn't look entirely well.
"What happened to your face?" Optimus asked.
"A telepath with a board," Rodimus sighed, shutting down his optics.
"A human can cause that much damage?" Kup asked. Rodi's left cheek was concave and crumpled.
Rodimus turned on the one optic nearest Kup and squinted at his mentor, "When I'm in human form, yeah."
"Why didn't you duck?" Jazz queried reasonably.
"I don't want to talk about it," the young Prime said.
"Well...tough shit," Optimus told him bluntly.
Rodimus turned both optics back on, peered painfully at his partner, and then shut them off again. "Elita's gonna wash your mouth out."
"She's gonna have to find it first," Optimus informed him, "You, on the other hand, are putting in a full report. Complete Rodimus. All the gory details, hear me? No more of this editing for anyone's good."
"You don't really need to..."
"RODIMUS!"
"Ouch! OK...geez. You get to have your relapses, I get to have mine," Rodimus said with a smile that held no warmth, only bitterness.
"Rodi..."
"Any word from the M and M's?" Rodimus asked.
"One down, one ta go," Jazz informed him. This time Rodi smiled like he meant it.
"Rodi...stalling is for old rust-buckets like me," Kup informed him.
Optimus laughed a bit hysterically.
Rodimus sat up and stared at Optimus grimly, then compassionately. "Are you sure you're up to this...I mean right now? We are both off-kilter with all these damned implants coming out the hard way. I almost fatally screwed up more than once tonight."
Optimus glared.
Rodimus sighed and gave them a complete report of his evening.
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Earth:
Marissa strained, and roared in relief. Darren followed his brother into the world and shortly was giving his lungs just as good of a workout.
Magnus, who was still giving Marissa something to squeeze with one hand, and gingerly holding Kyle with the other, did the finger and toe count himself this time.
"No wheels?" Marissa asked, exhausted.
Doc put the new one on her chest and said, "No wheels."
"Oh that's good," Marissa said, smiling at Magnus. They grinned like idiots at each other.
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Defensor straightened and looked around. His mind felt....clear. Maybe clearer than it had ever felt. Nothing could replace First Aid's presence, but the four remaining were linked so tight that it almost made up for what was missing...and what was there worked more smoothly. He sensed no delay...no dissension or disagreement to cause static in his thoughts. Even his limbs functioned more smoothly.
He smiled.
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Maelstrom:
Talon whooped in triumph. "I told you they were here!" he cried.
"My records say they are the next hex down," Robert grumbled.
"Yeah well, they were prob'ly supposed to go there but I didn' feel like carrying them, Cross-eye. So I put 'em here," Talon explained cheerfully.
"We've got room to be organized and you've dumped all sorts of things in a heap," Robert sighed.
"This mesh is heavy. Sue me," Talon scoffed.
"Let's see how you like it if someone makes a heap out of your explosives!" Robert argued.
"Let's see someone blow us all t' Kingdom Come!"
They argued like an old married couple, but they got the heavy, metal roll untangled and out the door in record time. It glittered. The thin, tough strands of wire intersected every few millimeters...and each intersection had a Matrix crystal the size of a grain of sand.
Lancer rubbed her temples, not sure if the headache was Rodi's or her own from working with these two, but she smiled. There was enough mesh to shield Edana's room on Cybertron as well. Her rooms would look like space...black and dotted with tiny stars. Maybe they could cover the walls with something else, and just leave the ceiling....
At least there was something they could do to protect their daughter.
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Cybertron:
Rodimus was asleep.
Specifically he was asleep in human form, in Optimus' cab as the senior Prime took him to Med-bay. It wasn't along trip, just a few minutes, but Rodimus had shut his eyes and crashed almost immediately.
Optimus tried to take stock of a lot of conflicting emotions surrounding this one person, ran down the list, and gave up. Too much. Just drive. Quit analyzing and just drive Orion.
Certainly, he understood now why Rodimus had tried to keep so much from him, but it still had to end.
Even when the truth threatened to tear Optimus' mangled mind wide open with rage and disgust and fear and....
Just drive.
What a horrifying mission.
Just...drive.
Neither of us can work on this until our minds heal up anyway, he thought.
Arriving at Med-Bay, Optimus rolled in quietly, trying to let Rodi sleep, only to be greeted by industrious noise, wildly working disembodied limbs, and a cheerful Perceptor. Rodimus jerked awake in Optimus' front seat.
He blinked blearily at the chaos and assumed he was dreaming.
"Greetings Optimus! We've initiated some improvements!" Perceptor cried.
Ratchet, at least, had the sense to look a bit embarrassed. "Maybe we should have asked first," he muttered to himself.