Maelstrom Chapter 35
The Longest Night
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 35
The Longest Night
Part D
CONTINUED FROM PART C
In Med-Lab, First Aid couldn't even scurry. He watched incredulously as Optimus Prime's internal temperature rose by ten degrees...twenty degrees...thirty degrees...all in the space of a few seconds.
There was no cause the medic could find for either Prime's unconsciousness nor this depleting surge in energon, but he already had the senior Prime on as fast an energy feed as Optimus' fuel lines could take. First Aid was pouring power into Optimus at a desperate pace, but Optimus was burning through it even faster.
"He's going to burn out if we can't stop it!" First Aid cried. "If he doesn't suffer complete depletion first! I don't know what to do! The surge and the drain require opposite treatments!"
"It's a self- destruct sequence First Aid," Rodimus intoned. His voice was emotionless, cold. "You aren't meant to be able to save him."
Elita screamed, not in panic or in fear, but in fury. She whipped her head around and locked optics with Rodimus.
"Can you feel him? Can you feel him through the Matrix link?!"
Rodimus shook his head. "E, you know I've cut myself off from it..."
"Once a Prime, always a Prime," she told him ferociously. "Don't tell me you can't. You won't!"
Rodimus looked distressed. "Elita he hates me. If I invade him, I might just make it worse."
"How can you say such a thing? Optimus never hated anyone!" Elita hissed vehemently.
"I guess I'm just special then," Rodimus said in despair. "Between that and anything he might ...pick up from me I'm not sure it's a good idea."
"HE doesn't hate you. If anything in there hates you it's Vector Sigma! Help him damn you!" Elita growled. Her optics flared.
Rodi sighed and nodded in resignation, but that was as far as he got.
Rodimus suddenly gasped and clutched at his audios as if hearing a shrill noise. He nearly toppled off of his feet and startled everyone in the quiet room.
"Rodimus? What?!" Magnus managed.
"The Matrix!" Rodimus gasped. He hadn't felt that touch in so long... so long...it felt like...the greeting of an old friend.
Missed you. How ya been? But it asked for something too. He consented automatically and felt suddenly drained. Grey, he sank to his knees, clutching at the side of Optimus' exam table to keep from collapsing to the floor.
Optimus knew he was dying...and only wished he could speak to his partner one last time...to maybe undo the pain he'd caused. For his Elita, Optimus knew, no words would be needed, but Rodimus should know Optimus regretted being Vector Sigma's weapon of choice.
For the first time, Optimus regretted the death that was coming.
There was a pulse then. A flash of energy. For an instant he felt touched by hands on all sides - helping him. Holding him up. Rodimus. Not the assassin - the Matrix shade! Someone else too. Who? Who?
.......
Who am I?
I'm Orion Pax. I'm the Chosen of my generation. You can call me Optimus Prime if you must...but whatever you call me, it's time to get some work done around here.
Elita cried out and grabbed Rodimus by the shoulders, "is he...?"
Rodimus shook his head. "No! He's not leaving. The Matrix... It's... it's humming?" The "noise" stopped almost at once.
"It's happy," came a very low, very weak explanation.
"ORION!" Elita shouted.
"ow. don't. my head," Optimus said.
"Are you alright?" Elita demanded. The question sounded a bit like a threat. If he wasn't alright, he was in trouble for sure.
"Head hurts...had to do some house-cleaning. Bugs in the system," Optimus said. He laughed weakly to himself.
"House-cleaning? More implanted compulsions?" Rodimus asked compassionately.
"Yes. Quite a few. That's why the Matrix is happy. My mind is my own again," Optimus said. "It stopped the self-destruct sequence Rodimus. It saved me. You...saved me. It will be easier now...for all of us."
His optics smiled at them, and then he fell into normal recharge mode and rested for 14 hours.
Rodimus sighed, tried to stand, and failed miserably. Elita and Magnus pulled him to his feet, and for once he didn't protest when they dragged him, literally, to the recharger.
While the Primes took naps, things got interesting all over Cybertron.
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Some people quit celebrating only to find they weren't as excited about the idea of offspring as they first thought. Some found they could hardly wait to get started. A few didn't wait to get started even though the full details for causing a fertile joining hadn't been released yet. Imaginative experiments caused a upsurge in injuries at regional med-centers. These ranged from innocuous dents and scratches, to embarrassing mid-transformational glitches, to down-right dangerous over-doses of high-grade energon and other chemicals.
Some people got busy planning nurseries, schools, and toys. Some just got busy. Some went into manic research mode. Some just went plain old manic.
A few went really crazy.
Here and there were pockets of resistence. Some Paradronians and even a few humans carried signs protesting an alternative to Vector Sigma. (The humans were incensed the Autobots were usurping 'their' original sin. Or something like that.)
Most of these were shamed off the street by celebrating neighbors.
"What's the matter with you? No one is MAKING you start a spark! Just giving you the option!"
Some persisted. Persisted and found each other. Found each other and unified in outrage and fear of change. They wandered through the tiring revelers, using their anger to outlast the others who were merely happy.
One mingled among these like a rabid wolf among barking dogs, his mind a pre-set trap, sprung by the announcements to the medical staff.
Vector Sigma was obsolete.
To the pawn's mind that meant Vector Sigma had already been murdered, since that's what Sigma itself expected from many promises by the young Prime.
So now this single Autobot became Vector Sigma's vengeance.
First, he sent a signal to Char. Just one specific tone.
Then he stalked amidst the protesters, looking for allies or at least pawns. When asked his name he answered Eclipse, and his new friends had welcomed him. They set up a meeting place right there in the street, with oblivious partiers all around them, showering them with improvised confetti. Then they all went home. Except Eclipse.
He had a home, but he couldn't remember why he would want to go there. His job and his lovely mate had all become immaterial. It was time to prepare - the plan was already set in his mind.
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"Is Optimus going to be OK First Aid?" Arcee asked. He was examining her.
"He's going to be fine," the medic assured her. "You look good too by the way...just in case you were wondering."
Of all of them Arcee seemed the most relaxed about her condition.
"Thank the Matrix," she said. "I was worried about him."
"You could spare a thought for yourself and our sparkling," Springer griped.
"Oh...I feel fine. Wonderful actually," Arcee grinned. "If it stays like this, I may be tempted to have a dozen youngsters I feel so good, but our poor leader has been through the wringer."
"Rodimus says it's Op's turn to put up with me," First Aid snickered. The senior Prime was stuck in the next room, forbidden to leave until the last remnants of his headache left first. He was handling it with the same good humor his partner did under similar circumstances. The sound of his pacing feet penetrated into the exam room.
"Rod is gonna get what's coming to him sooner or later," Springer grinned. "So I take it the boss is wearing a hole through the floor?"
"Maybe he thinks he can escape that way," First Aid remarked dryly. "You can go though...but I want you back here tonight. The readouts say your spark-to-be is about fifteen percent integrated."
"Fifteen?!" Arcee cried, clapping. "Didn't Ratchet say I could find out if it was male or female at twelve percent?"
"Yes, he did," First Aid said neutrally.
"Oh boy!" Springer said.
They both looked at First Aid expectantly.
"Well?" Springer finally prompted.
"Well what?" First Aid replied.
"Well....well? OK fine...serves me right doesn't it? What IS it?" Springer demanded.
"It's a girl," First Aid grinned.
They both whooped, hugged each other, and then froze. There had been an extra voice in their shout of joy.
First Aid went over to the isolation lab and opened the door, hands on hips.
"You are spying on my medical exam, Optimus Prime," he said sternly.
"Very sorry. I couldn't help but overhear," Prime said with great dignity. He looked about as sorry as a cat with its face in a milk glass. "However, now that I know, is it still a secret...or can I rub my partner's nose in the fact I know first?"
The City Commanders looked at each other. On the one hand this was news they were hoping to break themselves. On the other, it was amazing to hear Optimus speaking about Rodi with amusement in his voice instead of icicles.
Springer arched one eyebrow at his mate. She smiled and he smiled back at her.
"Go ahead Optimus, you can tell him!" Arcee said. Her heart, already soaring, somehow rose anyway.
"Oh, I'm not going to tell him! I'm just going to tell him I know! That'll show him," Optimus said in a self satisfied tone. He laughed.
"Ooo...that's an evil sound," Springer said with something like wonder. "I didn't know he could laugh like that. He's...he's different."
"He's been under Vector Sigma's control since long before any of us were activated," First Aid said gravely. "I'm not sure we've met him yet."
They thanked First Aid and left, meeting their current bodyguard (Blitzwing) in the hall. It was no surprise their com-lines both flared to life a few minutes later.
"OK! Give! What is it?" Rodimus voice asked frantically.
They laughed and cut the line.
That was a good thing too, because it set Rodimus off and running after them, but by the time he got down to that level, they were gone.
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"LOCK DOWN EVERYTHING! Get me the footage from every camera in Central and tell me where the hell they are! I want all non-essential personnel down in the lobby NOW! Tell everyone in the building if they aren't down there to account for themselves I will assume they're involved!" Rodimus roared. The whole room rang when his fist hit the wall. The rest of Central seemed to pick up the sound as the alarms went off and every entrance and exit to the building sealed itself in under five seconds.
Rodimus was in what was passing for the new command center scaring the circuits out of Blaster, Cosmos, Inferno, and Boa. The males reflected with shock it had been a long time since this side of "the happy Prime" had reared its ugly head. For Boa it was a unique and enlightening experience - she'd never seen him do anything that merited his rank.
Cosmos scanned through surveillance footage of the couple and Blitzwing leaving the restricted areas in Central and heading for their quarters. They were mobbed as soon as they hit a public area - reporters, well-wishers, protesters, and the like.
Blitzwing made good use of his shady past and was able to scowl most of the crowd back a few paces. Springer's expression was a twin for the ex-Con's, only less patient. The footage showed Arcee calmly laying a hand on her mate and getting him to pose for a few reporters. Her smile was pleasant and genuine. His looked like someone was twisting his internal cables.
A few of the crowd had medical badges and were seen asking Arcee some technical questions. Most seemed enthusiastic and nervous, but Rodimus noted six in the crowd who seemed just plain nervous....and one who looked...
He looks like a Convert...but he isn't! No scanners were tripped. He's an Autobot, but man those optics sure are emotionless...
Rodimus heard Ultra Magnus come up behind him but didn't turn around. Neither said a word...they just watched as the dead-faced medic looked straight up at the cameras... Rodi's hidden, top secret cameras... and smiled.
The hallway went dark for about two seconds before the auxiliary lights came on automatically, but then the cameras went dead too.
"How long ago was this?" Magnus asked. His voice was calm, professional, but Rodimus heard the volcano underneath.
"About five minutes," Rodimus said.
"They were deep within Central when they took them...they can't have gotten out before you sealed the building," Magnus said.
"We hope," Rodimus growled. "Blaster! We need Steel Jaw. Let's go."
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Back at the med-center First Aid had about thirty seconds to wonder what was going on when the alarms sounded, when another problem presented itself.
Optimus Prime was heading for the door.
First Aid moved as only an ambulance could to block Prime's path.
"You can't go!" he insisted.
Optimus didn't say a word. He picked First Aid up by the sides of his arms, lifted, and set the stymied medic off to one side. He stepped out, transformed, and was gone.
"Well," Ratchet said, "that was effective!"
First Aid shot the holographic doctor an annoyed look.
"Don't be like that Aid!" Ratchet laughed. "He does that in my dimension too. That famous temper runs through the whole A3 Line!"
"He has a temper here too, but you don't see it much," First Aid said. "He did deliver a criminal to the Russians strapped to the nose of a jet once though. I'm going to see what I can do down there. Hold the fort Ratchet!"
He sped off.
Ratchet looked around the med-lab, wishing he could at least straighten things up. Since he couldn't he made mental notes of things that could be improved or streamlined. There was precious little to criticize - this lab was several decades more advanced than he was used to, and bits of Maelstrom technology were filtering in. Still, he needed something to do and told himself it was a challenge. The lights were attached to motion detectors and after a minute or two they shut down. His translucent form wasn't enough to reactivate them so he stood, alone in the darkened lab, practicing swear words he learned from Sparkplug.
Then he shut himself down in frustration.
Nothing to do but wait.
He didn't have to wait long.
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Rodimus , Magnus, and Blaster followed Steeljaw's bounding form down to where Arcee and Springer were last seen. Frantic on-lookers and foaming reporters were still on scene. Rodimus questioned a few he had seen in the video, but they were frazzled and contradicted each other. He sighed in disgust, familiar with this response in human victims after a Decepticon encounter. Stress did odd things to their brains and memories. He didn't realize Paradronians were similarly vulnerable.
Rodi wanted to be patient, but with Arcee's life on the line, strangling these idiots was pretty tempting. Fortunately for the bystanders Steel Jaw only needed a few heartbeats to sort Springer and Arcee's scent out from the kaleidoscope of over-lapping smells.
He took off, followed closely by Blaster and the three senior officers. He traced the trail down one hall, then another. As he ran he pulled away from the bipeds that ran in his wake, until he came to a four way juncture leading down towards the various main sectors of the complex.
There was a small, innocuous canister in front of him, laden with Springer's scent. The cassette paused to investigate and nosed it curiously. Behind him he heard Rodimus shouting to be cautious, but it was too late. The instant his nose made contact the can erupted, spraying acid all over his face. Steeljaw felt huge arms yanking him back for just a moment as he shrieked in agony. Mercifully, the pain overwhelmed his consciousness and he passed out.
Blaster was mute with shock. Some of Steeljaw's pain made it through to him, but mostly it was the horrible sight of the cat's face melting. The cassette lay limp in Rodi's arms. The young Prime had been sprayed a bit himself, but he didn't seem to notice.
Blaster would be grateful later. If Rodi hadn't move so fast, Steeljaw would have had his whole head burned off in seconds.
Magnus summoned First Aid immediately but the ambulance was there even quicker than he should have been. Rodimus laid the smoking body in his arms carefully into First Aid's vehicle mode and told Blaster to transform. Blaster was in too much shock to understand the order, but he was also in no way able to argue. Once he changed, Rodimus put him in the back of First Aid's cramped patient compartment.
First Aid left skid marks behind him and didn't think twice about taking the injured cassette and Blaster up to the classified med-lab. Ratchet had a lot to contribute medically, especially at first when they weren't sure what acid had been used or how to inhibit it, but when it got down to the real hands on work, Ratchet's best skills came into play.
He couldn't help First Aid peel away the scorched housing or dead circuitry. He couldn't set the fabricating equipment to build Steel Jaw a new face, or replace the melted optics, but he could talk to Blaster and the other frightened cassettes.
He could tell them what was happening. He could tell them what might go wrong, and best of all, he could tell them, as the hours passed, that Steel Jaw would be OK...eventually.
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Back in Rodimus' quarters, behind the sound-proof, blast proof walls, and the special transmission dampening shields, Edana clutched her hands to her head and screamed in anguish. The girl's mother longed to wrap her arms around her child, but the talons Lancer was unable to retract would have cut Edana. The mutant had to settle for letting Edana lean on her... and wrapping her tail around the small, shuddering body.
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Magnus formed a living blockade against the reporters who tried to follow them into the hall where Steel Jaw was hurt. Rodimus and Optimus were a few hundred feet behind him, scanning the floors and walls with everything from infra-red to ultra-violet to radioactivity levels. From Optimus' grumbling, to Rodimus' ever more deadly silence, Magnus knew they weren't getting anywhere.
"Get out of my way! All of you civilians need to clear out! Go down to the lobby and STAY there!" Elita's clear, strong voice cut through the clamber confronting Magnus.
"You heard her! MOVE!" Ultra Magnus bellowed. Most of them complied, but a few of the more foolish attempted to interview Elita as she pushed through them. They grumbled about Ultra Magnus being "over-restrictive".
Elita's optics narrowed and her weapon materialized from sub-space. "If you don't clear this area in five seconds we will see if you find detention overly restrictive," she said in the sweetest voice she could manage. Her sugary voice and her somewhat demented smile made for an unnerving combination. Those that were immune to Magnus' roar found that the cold fury in Elita's smile did what his bulk could not. Many shuddered with surges.
"Five," Elita purred, "Four, Three, Two.... What do you know. All gone!" She didn't pause to gloat, but ran past Magnus to Optimus' side.
Magnus stomped his way over.
"There's nothing," Optimus said.
"We'll find them," Elita assured her mate. She knew he wouldn't have been more upset if the hostages had been her and their own unborn spark. All of his warriors were his children.
"Jazz reports he's organizing the Autobots searching the area around Central," Rodimus said, "But I have a bad feeling the bad guys still in the building."
"Why? That's a good thing, Rodimus," Elita said.
The young Prime shook his head. "They are invisible to us. They cut out MY security system, and they are hiding under our noses. They know. Our secrecy is compromised. I don't want this to sound like I'm not concerned about Springer's family, but it's a lot worse than just a couple of hostages. They could bring down everything."
They split up and circled out from the acid bomb, but weren't successful in finding any more leads. Perceptor was allowed in through the outside security doors to turn his microscope on the problem, but even his more sensitive detectors couldn't help. They began a room to room search. Given that Central soared two hundred Cybertronian stories above the surface and nearly as many under the surface, they all struggled not to do the math.
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About an hour later, the first broadcast hit the airwaves all over Cybertron. Earth's networks were immediately patched in by the Paradronians so no one had to miss out on the show.
Arcee was bound to a chair. Springer and Blitzwing were similarly bound and seated on the floor behind her, although Blitz was clearly knocked-out. Energon flowed in a slow trickled from his temple. Springer on the other-hand was struggling ferociously with his bonds. His optics pulsed from over-bright to glaring as he tried to reach his mate.
Something was clearly wrong with Arcee.
Her smooth, rose finish was bubbled up and semi-melted along her left arm and the side of her torso. Her optics were dim and she took in oxygen rapidly to fight over-heating. Clearly in pain as she was, she neither cried out nor rested. She was fighting her bonds as diligently as Springer was. The femme glared at whoever was working the camera.
There were several other Cybertronians in the room with the hostages, but all of them wore medical gear to hide their identities.
Except one.
"My friends, you may refer to me as Eclipse. I am grievously sorry to destroy the hopes our misguided leaders have placed in you. We can only hope they did not misinform us deliberately...."
Watching with Rodimus from the room they had been searching, Magnus said, "Which now means most people will assume we DID mislead them on purpose..."
Eclipse continued in a reasonable, apologetic tone. "...rather that they, in their enthusiasm merely misunderstood what was really happening."
Rodimus growled. "Which means everyone else will figure we're stupid."
The sadly smiling, soothing figure on screen went on. "This poor femme has not conceived a spark. Such a thing is meant for organics, not the likes of us. Vector Sigma has always been the only font of life for our kind. The mis-diagnosis has led to unnecessary pain and chaos for us all. I'm afraid it doesn't matter that I knew at once what was happening. As a highly experienced medic I recognized the symptoms. This is an illness, my friends. An end to life, not a beginning. My only regret is I couldn't stop this tragedy before it involved so many. This femme's delusions are only the first stage. She has contracted a fatal virus that causes mental deterioration first, then structural break down, as you can see. Her mate is also showing early signs of illness, so she has probably passed it to him.
We can only hope, the erratic behavior our dear leaders have shown is merely an honest mistake, rather than signs they are all infected."
Magnus groaned. "Oh he's good. Now we're deceitful, incompetent, AND crazy."
"Yeah," Rodimus said. "Have been for years, but I wonder how he knows."
CONTINUED IN PART E