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 F
Continued from Part E
Magnus wished she would just scream already.
He was nervous and weak-kneed, but he held Marissa's strong, sweaty hand as she worked through her early labor. The retired Joe doctor, smiled encouragement at both of them, repeatedly assuring Magnus that early deliveries were common among twins and that their children were more than developed enough to survive.
"Cook 'em any longer and Marissa might explode," Doc said with a wizened wink.
Magnus' eyes widened.
"He's just kidding stupid," Marissa grunted.
Lady Jaye grinned, and gave her befuddled son-in-law a kiss on the forehead. She was playing nurse and camera crew for this secret delivery, while Flint playing the traditional role of pacing male in another room. Magnus probably would have liked to join him, given how pale and confused he looked, but he would have had to leave his hand behind.
Marissa wasn't screaming...she was crushing his fingers with each contraction instead.
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Char:
"He's not here Sister!" Viper said. "Where can he be? What is he up to?"
Adder said nothing, but Viper hadn't expected her to. She turned her smooth, rounded head back towards the base, and wondered how much she should make of this opportunity. If she moved too fast, it could kill her, but how often did Cyclonus desert his post at Galvatron's side?
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Cybertron:
Cyclonus had forgotten all about the time and was giving no thought to returning for his shift. He was now late by about two hours.
The battle field he was searching through did not disturb him in and of itself. Corpses held no fear or disgust for him and normally wouldn't have held his attention, except that these were drones. Vector Sigma's drones.
His chronometer and pressure gauge made him certain he was nearly at the heart of Cybertron. The mysterious tunnel hadn't veered so much as a millimeter. Vector Sigma was no doubt close at hand.
From the position of these bodies it seemed certain they had been placed to defend the super-computer that had spawned Cyclonus...or rather, spawned his previous self.
Why?
The Autobots were undisputed masters of the planet. Why would Vector Sigma need to defend itself from them? Especially if his intuition was right about the Autobots involved. Magnus, Elita, and BOTH Primes going after Vector Sigma? Sure. And Rodimus had a human femme.
Why THAT disgusting image kept creeping in was a disturbing mystery. What was wrong with him anyway?
Try as he might to talk himself out of the theory the Autobot leaders had attacked Vector Sigma, Cyclonus kept finding skid marks and paint scrapes on the drones. Only four distinguishing colors. It seemed impossible that ANY four Autobots could take on so many drones, but if any of them could...
And hadn't he just seen three of those four waltz into Char and make the Decepticons look like complete idiots?
....
Don't dwell on it, he reminded himself.
This drone had a hole blasted clean through. That was such a Magnus move. You could always count on Magnus to put the hurt on. Scraps on the floor this time...Prime's battle deck? Maybe...Cyclonus hadn't faced that deck since his activation, so he couldn't be sure. Then there was a whole road of drones with crushed hulls and tread marks. If that was Prime too he sure wasn't pulling any punches.
Cyclonus remembered that last real battle the Decepticons had waged with Quint help...or interference. He remembered Optimus fighting like a mech possessed and shuddered.
Lots of the drones had wounds he couldn't identify with even that much certainty, but that one had its optics forked out. Cobalt paint around the edges. Cyclonus pursed his lips. Motormaster still didn't claim to see what femmes were good for...maybe Cyclonus should bring him back a souvenir.
Here was one cut neatly in half...no ideas...moving on. Here was a heap of them that looked burned from the inside out. Not even his suspects could do that.
Then he got to the doorway and noted that most of the drones left in the room were just dead for no apparent reason. Not a mark on them. Just a whole bunch of them dead on their feet.
He inspected one from top to bottom...it was frozen mid-step. Reluctantly Cyc admitted to himself it gave him surges - not the body itself, but what might have done it in. He didn't know any weapon that could leave a perfect shell like this with no visible sign of injury.
It gave him no answers, so he went on. In the hallway he saw there were drones blasted and even more crushed, but they had clearly been stacked to the sides.
He stepped into the hallway and noted to his amazement that there was another tunnel heading back to the surface with even more signs of struggle but no bodies. Unlike his pristine road down, this tunnel looked like it was chewed down from the surface by Sharkticons.
He decided to head for Vector Sigma first, then investigate....and found his way blocked.
"Slag it! A force field!"
Turning to the rough-hewn tunnel he found his way blocked again.
There was a mysterious repeated beeping from all along the new tunnel, keeping time with small blinking devices that trailed at intervals up to the surface. Cyclonus squinted, unsure of what they could be.
Faintly he heard Grapple's amplified voice echoing down the shaft all the way from the surface.
"Everyone clear? All right! Three...Two...One! Blow it!"
Cyclonus dove back to the battlefield with lighting fast reflexes. Even so, the explosion knocked him off his feet and into the air. He tried to correct himself but the shockwave flattened him to the wall like a bug on a windshield.
"I hate Autobots." he sighed as he slid down the wall and passed out.
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Maelstrom medical wing:
"Why the hell is she running a fever?" Talon asked Jordan brusquely.
"Unknown," Jordan told him, laying another ice-pack on Lancer's arms. He already had most of her packed in like a fresh fish at the grocer's. "Her wounds would be the first suspect, but I can find no signs of infection."
On the bridge, a horrendous sound made Robert wince and adjust the volume from the open channel with Optimus.
"What the hell...?" Robert asked.
Pagan pulled her cranial fins down over her ears and grimaced.
Shellshock leaned in to listen closer, and to Robert's extreme consternation, he smiled. Smiled! At that horrible sound!
"Great Cybertron," Shellshock mused. "He's screaming."
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Earth:
Optimus put his hands over his audios. It didn't help much. The senior Prime had millions of years experience with battlefields of injured and dying soldiers. He had done more than his fair share of digging victims on Earth out of fallen buildings and crushed cars as well.
Nothing he had ever heard came close to the unbelievable sound his partner was making. Rodimus didn't sound like anything Optimus had ever heard - Transformer, human, or otherwise.
All the pain Rodi had suppressed vomited forth in one long howl of anguish - and Optimus knew his torture was the least of it.
The senior Prime knew this sound would haunt him the rest of his life.
Rodimus screamed for close to ten minutes, on his knees with his head thrown back, and his optics senseless and blank. He clearly had no idea of his actions or surroundings. Optimus didn't know what to do. Calling for Autobot help was out of the question. Touching Rodi during a flashback was stupid too, but was this a flashback? Or just an extreme form of Optimus' own earlier flood of repressed complaints?
Afraid to touch, afraid not to, Optimus crouched close to his friend and tried to talk to him - waiting for the seizure to pass.
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Maelstrom:
"Jesus!" Robert cried. "We have to get down there! No wonder Lancer went ape!"
"NO!" Shellshock cried. "Let them deal with it! Let him get it out!"
"You are as crazy as he is," Robert accused, in a rare show of ire.
"No...you don't understand! He's been holding that in since they had us. If we interfere he'll just cork it back up again!"
"Since when are you a shrink?" Robert asked sarcastically.
"Since I SAW him bottle that up...for ME!"
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Char:
Galvatron was thinking.
It wasn't easy for him...not anymore, but once in a while he could manage.
Once in a while he could pull up some of the lucid cunning that had been Megatron.
It would last as long as he didn't fall into the circular mystery of why that cunning had always ended in failure.
Too bad he would never talk to Optimus Prime about it. His old foe might have told him something about centipedes and Vector Sigma.
All Galvatron knew was that Unicron had changed his perspective on himself. Maybe it was the ignominy of being a slave, maybe it was the direct intrusion into Galvatron's mind, or even the pure shock of being over-powered by an Autobot child.
Whatever it was, once he was thrown out of Unicron's exploding form and was isolated on a plasm-ridden asteroid, he'd done something he'd never really done before.
He took stock of his mistakes.
There was no one around to blame this time. Just himself. For once, Megatron could safely set aside all his posturing of perfection and take a long, honest look.
He was absolutely certain universal conquest was his by right. That his power and intelligence and determination to do whatever it took would hand him victory as sure as gravity pulled objects down.
No question. It would all be his.
Yet...
Rotting alone in a plasma pool wasn't exactly what he expected.
He would do whatever it took. No question.
Yet as he reviewed a long list of absolutely impossible defeats he had to take note of a repetitive theme. Megatron made plans, the Autobots fought back half-heartedly...and yet they won. Why?
Because apparently Megatron would do whatever it took except get rid of Starscream.
Starscream had his uses but at some point over millions of years you would think a cunning overlord set on universal domination would have the intelligence to get rid of an overwhelming liability.
Galvatron's thoughts had begun chasing their own tail in that plasma pool. I am Destined! But... I am Destined...! But...!
Something had to go. The ego, or that sniveling voice of reason that argued "maybe not Stupid."
And thus was the REAL birth of Galvatron.
In the end, reason had walked the plank, leaving the Decepticons following a plasma cannon with an attitude...and Cyclonus.
Oh yes.
Galvatron knew what Cyclonus did for him and was both confused and gratified at his second's apparent loyalty. He knew it would be very easy for Cyclonus to take over if the taciturn 'Con ever saw fit to try.
Galvatron sometimes wondered why he didn't, and had no illusions that Cyclonus was truly that loyal. Galvatron assumed Cyclonus had reasons of his own for leaving Galvatron in power, but also assumed that would change the instant circumstances did.
Still, sometimes Galvatron fantasized about having Cyclonus rather than Starscream back in the early days. Optimus Prime would have never lived to see Earth.
Optimus Prime...his old nemesis. Galvatron trusted him more than he did most of his own soldiers - to be honest, to be predictable.
Optimus Prime was acting like he had a few sparks in his head too these days.
That's what had Galvatron laboriously trying to summon Megatron from the Pitt.
Optimus. Yelling at humans? How delicious. Maybe Galvatron should send him a gift for finally showing some steel to those sniveling fleshlings.
Ah, and those lovely riots. Over too soon to take real advantage of, but were there cracks? Was the vaunted brotherhood of Autobot society not so placid after all? Perhaps those cracks could be encourage to widen...
Where had Cyclonus gone?
Looking for answers probably, unless he had decided to betray Galvatron at last.
He looked across the throne room to the only other Con he felt might one day lead the Decepticons in his stead.
Soundwave was monitoring nearly fifty news broadcasts at once - no doubt neatly organizing and analyzing all of it at once.
Much of it was about Transformer to Transformer breeding.
Galvatron was insane, but not stupid. He needed warriors, needed them badly, and had no way to reach them. One femme was not enough. One femme would most likely bring discord.
He'd heard the Stunticons, and if they were starting to think about it then that meant Razorclaw was already planning to ambush Viper and try a forced interface. Certainly every Decepticon on the base was thinking about that much at least, given how long they'd been isolated.
If she didn't kill them, then Adder would.
Would they fight over her? Surely...they fought over things they didn't even want just for something to do....but time with a femme? Especially if it meant, as Breakdown thought, "someone loyal" to stand with them.
The smart ones would probably kill for it...and there weren't enough Decepticons left for that.
As if his thoughts summoned her, Viper slid into the command center, looking scornful and haughty, Adder coiled in behind her and made Rumble shriek when he and Frenzy tumbled too close. She struck, spitting venom across the room to where they'd been, missing the rolling cassettes by scant inches. They both stood suddenly and flattened themselves to the wall like good little soldiers waiting for inspection.
Galvatron laughed. He always found Adder...amusing.
Viper smirked.
"My Lord," she said, going down on one knee.
"Viper," Galvatron acknowledged. Soundwave turned away from his broadcasts to look in surprise at the calm, cold authority in Galvatron's voice.
Sometimes....sometimes....
"My Lord, it grieves me that I disappointed you," Viper said.
Galvatron smirked. Good girl. She probably fooled some of the others into believing she was sincere.
"No doubt it does," Galvatron said coldly.
"I...was hoping to make it up to you, in private," Viper said, with only a faint tremor to betray her nerves and excitement. She was playing a dangerous card and she knew it, but he was about to trump most of her fears.
Galvatron laughed. Starscream would have recognized the sound. "Come here," he said.
Viper smiled, slyly. She thought she had him, and she did...but having him and controlling him were two different things weren't they? Galvatron grinned, lustful in more than one sense. He had found a way to solve the problem of bickering suitors.
Viper approached his throne with complete assurance, as if it was already hers. She shifted her sinuous, strong body as if to inflame his attraction, but that was unnecessary, as was the tail that slid up his leg over his most sensitive circuits. He had no plans of refusing her. He stared at her face, one side of his mouth turned up in a condescending sneer, and for the first time he saw her confidence falter.
"You think to use me girl?" he whispered to her alone. Then he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down to her knees against him. Aloud he said, "You will make it up to me Viper, but you will do it right here."
With that, he grabbed her armored housing and threw it aside, exposing her and distracting Adder at the same time.
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Cybertron:
Cyclonus cursed himself and his chronometer too. He was late for a shift that was already over, and had no way of predicting what kind of consequences that would bring.
If Galvatron was in a particularly good or disoriented mood this infraction might go unnoticed or at least unpunished. If not, Cyclonus might not live long enough to report his findings.
True Galvatron had been particularly pensive the last few days, but protracted calm spells usually resulted in major meltdowns when they were over.
Cyc just hoped Galvatron didn't cause too much damage while he was gone, but decided since he was in trouble anyway he might as well find out all he could. He decided to try for the mysterious Quintisson records chamber Elita and her team had "found" . The "we found some old Quint records which taught us how to reproduce" thing had seemed thin to him from the start. Given everything else he'd found it now seemed positively shady.
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Jazz watched, aghast, as Galvatron interfaced Viper right on the throne. The femme didn't struggle. She even appeared to be enjoying herself, but Jazz was disgusted that even Galvatron was so...so crude...as to take a femme right in front of his troops, who watched in amazement and growing lust.
Where, or where was Cyclonus? He was like the dampening rods in a fusion reactor as far as Jazz was concerned....and then Jazz saw him.
The Specialist checked the Cybertronian security camera three times before he credited his optics.
Cyclonus was coming out of the Sigma tunnel...less than two miles from where Jazz was sitting.
Continued in Part G