Meet thy Fate part 3

"They have locked down all bases, full shields up," Raptor growled as she slammed her fist down in frustration on the universal schematic in front of them.

Armada Prime sighed as his digits traced one of the many decepticon marks on the schematic, so many bases, so little time to find their lost guardians. "No way to penetrate?" he asked.

"That's a negative sir, guardians cannot warp directly through a force field," Armada Red Alert answered. He pointed to a particular sector, deep within Decepticon territory. "This is the last reported region of sightings by the cons."

"That's too deep in for a direct push," Scavenger added. His optic ridges furrowed in thought.

"But Spot's in there! You've got to get her!" Red Alert pleaded. His optics briefly met his counterpart's, and he felt a flash of disapproval at his emotional state. Gulping slightly, he sniffed back his tears and tried to straighten up. How was his counterpart so cool and collected at a time like this?!

Armada Blurr leaned over the chart. "Hmmm, but without a strategy going in – our effort would most likely be in vain."

"Strategy? You Autobots are so pathetic. We should boldly go in there and just take what we want!" Armada Starscream snorted, contempt filling every word.

Glancing sideways at the lighter built Seeker, the old warrior couldn't help but take a stab at his ego. "Yeah, that's why we won – hmmmm Starscream?" Scavenger taunted.

The red Seeker straightened himself out, glaring at the bigger ground mech. "You wouldn't have won – IF we'd had better leadership!" he spat back.

"Ok you two, this banter is pointless, let's get back to the problem at hand," Armada Optimus interrupted. He sighed internally as his optics continued to scan the vast web of well-secured Decepticon installations laid out before them. So many bases… So well guarded..

"Totally pointless I agree Sir," Blur added.

So the group went back to their tactical discussions, still completely ignoring most of the silent Autobots from this dimension who were watching.

"I still can't believe that that's Sideswipe, Blurr and Red Alert!" Ultra Magnus whispered to his Optimus. He was amazed at how completely different their behavior was from his mechs of those names.

"I know how you feel Ultra Magnus," Optimus agreed. His optics were still fixated on the older Guardian femme. His meta still constantly overlaying the image of Elita One on her. He HAD to find out why this was happening. Why was she bringing up those memories so strongly?

"You too?" the big blue mech asked, his voice so quiet that was barely even a whisper.

"What?" Optimus evasively replied.

"You see her too." It was more statement than question this time.

There was no sense hiding it, Ultra Magnus knew him far too well. But if he was asking – then his meta was also overlaying the image. "Affirmative. I can guess that you are as well?"

"Ever since she showed up. I feel Elita's spark near, almost like she's in this very room," he whispered back. It was a very disconcerting feeling, as if his sister's ghost was standing nearby. Mechs were generally terrified of ghosts – mainly because it was illogical.

"Ditto, I think we need to discuss this with Perceptor," Optimus replied. He was becoming more and more disconcerted for now he saw Elita more than Raptor. This was illogical!

Later that day...

He felt her presence before she even appeared out of warp. Why she had sought him out – he had no clue. He and his Autobots, with the exception of the few Autobots who had been mated with the two lost Guardians, were pretty much out of the loop. The Guardian force and their extra-dimensional Transformer allies were making all the plans without them. This was their mission – not his. "May I assist you with something Elit-Raptor?" He couldn't believe that he'd almost said it! But as she appeared, it was hard for his meta to distinguish the Guardian from his deceased mate.

She had changed her appearance though. Her shiny black fuselage was now a dull camouflaged green, Decepticon insignias bright on her wings. The once sharp-looking femme was now so plain that she wouldn't gain a second glance by most mechs. Only her clear optics with her whirling purple spark shining through them bespoke of her true identity. Strangely, the rather fierce expression she usually had around him – softened at the slip of his glossa. "Come, let us walk for a while," she announced as she strolled by him, not even looking back to make sure he had followed her lead.

Easily matching her pace, the Autobot fell in beside her. Resisting the strange urge to grab her hand and stroll like he'd once done with Elita One, he searched his meta for something to talk about. "So you're going to follow Scavenger and Blurr's plan?"

She shrugged, "It is the only one with a chance of success."

"Hmmm," he didn't know what to say really. He wasn't used to a mixed team coming up with a rescue plan, it had always just been himself shouldered with that immense responsibility. How his counterpart was going to handle watching his men and his femme leave in the disguise of Decepticon bounty hunters – he had no clue. He could never have let his dear Elita One go off into the heart of Decepticon territory without him. Regardless of her going surrounded by disguised Autobots, Guardians and Decepticon allies to protect her.

The dull-colored femme chuckled next to him. "I cannot die Optimus – at least not now," she said, as if answering his silent thoughts. Yet there was a slight off coloring in her tone, as if she didn't like the fact that she couldn't die.

Optimus glanced at her, realizing that she must still be able to read his like an open file through the matrix. "I'm not sure what to say about that – but you don't seem happy about this immortality that you claim to possess."

She stopped at the edge of a cliff, overlooking one of the many destroyed remains that had once been a great metropolis on this dimension's Cybertron. "It is no claim Prime. Sadly, it's my reality – for now."

He saw the regret etched on her face plate, but resisted the urge to pull her in his arms as he would've done for Elita. This was no Elita, no matter what image his meta processor kept trying to overlay. This temperamental femme would probably take any action like that from anyone other than her mech mate – the wrong way. So he just stood there. "You keep insisting that this isn't a permanent condition for you though," he pressed.

He felt the light brushing of digits on his shoulder plate then. Turning his head to her, he was a tad bit surprised that she initiated physical contact with him. From all his observations, she was completely loyal to his counterpart.

Raptor fought her way through her conflicting emotions. She'd suspected the truth for many cycles now. A now, seeing the looks flying between this dimension's Optimus and Magnus – she knew they were seeing their Elita every time they looked at her. It merely confirmed her deepest suspicions. It answered her life-long question of why she hadn't been allowed into the human heaven or hell when she had died. She had NEVER been a human soul! The bitter irony of how the Gods had played with her very soul like some little chess piece - bit into the very core of her being… "I see it in your optics every time you look at me," she said in a low voice. Bitterness flowed through her, balanced now by a strange sense of relief now that she was sure of what her life really was.

"What may I ask – do you see?" he replied evasively. What had the femme taken his expression as? Did she assume he now lusted for her? Did she take offense at the mere thought of that? How would she handle the truth – that he actually envisioned and lusted for his deceased mate when he looked at her – not HER?

Her chuckle now had an ironic edge to it. "You seek to bury your emotions just as your counterpart does." Her hand became firm as she forced him to fully turn and face her. Her optics narrowing as they bore into his. "It doesn't work for him – and it sure as hell doesn't work for you. You see HER." Her tone wasn't accusatory or spiteful, it was as if she was stating some fact that she had seen in a news report.

Unable to keep himself from looking down in slight embarrassment, Optimus felt like a youngling as he mutely nodded. Why did this strange Guardian hold so much power over his emotions? It was as if she'd known him all his life. It couldn't be just because she was his counterpart's mate – could it?

Once again, her chuckle of victory had an ironic edge to it. Moving closer to him, she didn't think about how she was invading his personal space as her digits slipped under his battlemask. The clips opened easily to digits well-practiced at removing his counterpart's battlemask. For some reason she had to see his face plate, expose him as she prepared to expose her own deepest secret. Even as she did so, she felt her bond mate's spark nearby, knew that he was now watching…. Wondering….

Optimus didn't move a servo. Didn't question why his counterpart's mate was taking his protection from the world and all its judging optics away. She knew how much he needed that protection - had to know it since she was mated to his counterpart. He felt that kindred spark nearby. Felt optics boring into them from afar. Why was she doing this? Why was the Armada Optimus allowing her? But his peds were rooted to the crumbling pavement he stood upon, for his meta kept overlaying Elita's image on Raptor. His meta feeling Elita's digits slipping his mask off… He didn't want the dream to go away… Didn't want Elita's ghost to slip away…

Armada Optimus watched from afar. Slipping through his spark link with Raptor, he felt no lust in her – only a strange mix of elation, sadness and trepidation. He didn't know what her actions were leading towards. Didn't know why she had chosen to seek out the other Optimus. But it didn't involve cheating – of that he was sure. He also was positive that they were both well-aware of his presence. Raptor through her advanced sensory arrays – and his counterpart through their shared spark. He stood still and just watched from afar, for some reason knowing that this was a moment that he should not fear – but also should not interfere with.

He was so similar in facial construction to her Optimus. His face plate now bared to her, Raptor ran her digits along his strong jaw line. He was older than her Prime, more like the Prime of her original home dimension. She saw the expression in his optics again, knew without a doubt that he was overlaying Elita over her image. "Every being's soul is like an organic onion Optimus. Whether it be mech sparks – or fleshling souls. They are in layers upon layers. Each layer living life in a different dimension." Her accented voice was low, seeming to flow on the very breeze of time and space.

Fighting the urge to shiver under the familiar touch of her gentle digits, Optimus nodded. There was a reason she was explaining this to him and his counterpart. A reason that had something to do with his meta constantly overlaying a dead femme's image over her.

"Every being, that is, except one," she paused, searching his optics. She felt more than sensed, her Optimus moving closer. But she didn't turn her optics from the older Prime's. It was his spark that had been shattered so long ago. His and many others… Because of her …. Creation…. "Every Elita One off lined on the very same day cycle. The same astrohour… The same moment.."

Optimus blinked back the sudden tears of sorrow that flooded his optics. His chassis stiffened at the unexpected and tragic news. Without thinking about his actions, his hands were now on the femme, his digits pressing hard into her fuselage. He felt other hands going over his, blinking again he realized that his counterpart was there – the femme held between them. "How? Why?" he croaked in a hoarse whisper of dismay. His words echoed by the bulkier Optimus.

"Their sparks combined into a single entity as a child was conceived at that very moment. A human child." Raptor's strong voice broke slightly as her emotions spasmed from her tight control for a brief moment. "That child's name would be Elita Singleton… That child… was destined to become – me." She had now voiced it. For the first time in over a millennia she had spoken her human name. A sense of lightness came over her wings then. The burden of wondering… Of suspecting… Of knowing… Now lifted from her.

She looked deep into the older mech's optics as they widened in shock as the knowledge was passed. "I am your Elita… I am hundreds of Elitas forced into one.. We are not dead.. We are the One – the beginning the end… And the circle nears the division again." She turned slightly, so that she could meet her mate's optics. "That's what Primus was really offering in his riddle of mortality. He's only offering to return me to what I once was."

"Primus, Raptor…" Armada Prime tightened his arms around her, just as his counterpart also did. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, no one speaking…. Just lost within their own thoughts….

"I just need to be alone Ultra Magnus," Optimus explained in a tired sounding voice. Lying back on their berth, he looked away from his dearest friend.

"So it's true, she is Elita?" the big blue mech asked. More to himself than to Optimus… He was still in total shock over the entire situation.

Prime nodded, "She never did die. She just combined into a single spark. Raptor didn't even suspect this until the last few orbit cycles. She finally put two-and-two together because you and I were able to actually SEE the truth of her spark."

"We can't let her go on this mission Optimus. It's our fault that the young Guardians even NEED to be rescued!" Ultra Magnus was now up on his peds, pacing back-and-forth. He'd lost his beloved sister once. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her spark again!

"We have to Ultra Magnus, it's killing the other Optimus as well. But we'd blow the mission. And…."

"And what?"

"Raptor thinks she has to die again and again performing Primus's duty. Each time a layer peels off and another Elita One returns. Then Raptor thinks she'll be forced back to perform the next mission – until she's finally peeled all the layers off. And is mortal again." Even as Optimus repeated her theory, he tried to force himself to believe in it – which wasn't an easy thing to do.

"Damn-it – what if her theory is WRONG?!" Ultra Magnus shot back.

Optimus turned over and looked at his friend. "Then she never dies. All the Elita Ones are trapped as one spark within her." He didn't know whether he should feel sad or happy about either situation. In fact, he simply felt powerless… Helpless to help the one spark he'd give everything for…

Slamming his tailpipes down on the berth, Ultra Magnus put his helm in his hands. He was as helpless as Optimus in protecting his sister's spark. And there wasn't a Primus-damned thing he could do about it!

….

"Psssssttttt, Spot? You ok?" Eject asked. Looking around the cockpit, he read the data tracks coming up on the screens. The femme he was riding in had suffered heavy damage during their attempted escape. But somehow she had managed to avoid totally crash landing when she came down, and even though she wasn't conscious, her cloaking was fully engaged. That's the ONLY reason that the Decepticon searchers hadn't found them yet.

"Still out cold, huh?" Sideswipe whispered. Weakly, he turned his head, scanning their surroundings. They were in a deep chasm, his chained arms still wrapped tightly around her nosecone. This meant he was pretty much stuck in that position, since her underbelly – and thus his arms – were pinned tightly against the rock. Hearing voices, he clamped his lips shut as he watched another Decepticon search team peer down in their direction.

Finally, the searchers moved on. Exhaling in relief Sideswipe relaxed again and set his helm back down against the cool fuselage underneath him. "Well, at least her cloaking covers all of us – and never turns off."

"Mirage needs to learn this trick," Eject agreed. He looked up and saw nothing but the bigger mech's belly armor pressed against the cockpit canopy. "Hey, I know you're pretty damaged yourself, but can you shift enough so that I can try and pry her canopy open?"

"Yeah, think so." The red mech gritted his dental plates together as he forced his chassis to move. Every servo and linkage hurt like hell after his time as a Decepticon play toy. Granted, being trapped in a crevice wasn't exactly the place he wanted to be – but it was far better than where he'd just come from. "So, this femme was the spy running loose on base?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Getting a crowbar in between the seems, Echo grunted as he put all his hydraulics into the effort. "More like a hacker really. She claims to be some other faction of Transformer. But most of us think she's just a young con with a crush."

Trying to shift even more off of the canopy, Sideswipe couldn't help but grin at that explanation. It would be funnier than hell to have one of Megatron's newest prototypes converting to an Autobot because she fell for one of them. "So who's she fixated on?" he asked. He was laying bets on either Sunstreaker or Tracks. Those two usually caught all the femme's optics when they went bar hopping.

"Red Alert." Finally getting the canopy open a crack, Echo transformed, slid out, and transformed again before he fell off the ledge. Ever light on his peds, he hopped onto Sideswipe's backside and began to inspect his comrade's damage.

"Red Alert? You've got to be kidding! Why him?" Sideswipe tried not to gasp in pain as the little mech inspected his damage.

"Dunno. Maybe the whole 'rescue the helpless captive' thing went to her meta," Echo quipped. Getting to Sideswipe's arms, he slid down them and began to cut the piece of chain that was not crammed under the unconscious femme.

"Whatever works. So besides warp and cloak – what else can she do? Well, besides hack into mainframes." Sideswipe's crafty meta was already thinking up some ways to get them out of the predicament they were currently in.

"Hologram imaging, and she's carrying some serious missiles in her interior bays. Didn't tell anyone – until she told me as we were headed here." Echo had been pretty pleased about the full disclosure. She'd actually been calling him 'boss' as well. Made a little mech feel pretty good for sure.

"How serious are we talking about?" Sideswipe tried to wiggle the arm free as the chain loosened.

"Nukes." Walking over the red mech, Echo squeezed himself between them and the cliff and started to cut the chain on the other side.

Impressed, Sideswipe whistled his approval. "Man, the things I could do with a hologram imager and some nukes," he snickered. Wiggling his other hand free, he patted her fuselage.

"E… Echo?" a weak femme voice whispered.

"Shhhh, don't move until you get your bearings," the little mech whispered back. He walked across Sideswipe's back armor again.

"What happened boss?" she asked, her voice getting stronger as she fully reactivated.

"Boss? You?" Sideswipe snickered.

"Yeah, you gotta problem with that?" Echo teased.

"Um, not when you're standing on my interface arrays," Sideswipe teased back. "By the way – that hurts… Move!"

Hopping off his fellow Autobot, Echo landed lightly on the shredded remains of Spot's right wing. "Run full diagnostic Spot," he ordered.

"Yes sir," she simply replied, going silent again as her processor performed the task. A moment later, it was complete. "A-G radar functional, A-A radar functional, Infrared functional, communications functional, port engine functional, port warp functional, cloak functional, HI functioning, Weapons systems 80%, flight capability 10%."

"Ok, so half of your engines are shot and so is long distance warp and flying out of here – right?" he summed it up.

"Yes sir. Any sign of Blackarachnia?"

"Black – who?" Echo had no clue as to what she was talking about. He'd seen that hired gun Hunter show up to cover their afts – but no one else.

"The other Guardian who assisted our escape."

"You mean that arrogant piece-of-slag Hunter?" Sideswipe asked. He'd actually been surprised as hell to see those silver tipped wings fly past them. He'd assumed that Sunstreaker might've come off some credits and hired her or something.

"Yes – her," Spot's voice wavered slightly, as if she was worried.

"You claim she's a Guardian – like you?" Echo asked in a suspicious tone.

"Yes, um, she's my sister actually," Spot explained.

"You've got to be kidding. She's nothing like you. She'd bitch out Optimus for even thinking he could make her do anything." Echo was getting worried himself though. If Hunter was a Guardian and Spot was a Guardian – and it was actually true… Then the Autobots had made a BIG mistake in sending Spot on this mission. He sat down heavily on what was left of her wing. "You're really what you said you are," he muttered.

"Yeah, um, I thought you said you believed me?"

"I was just humoring what I THOUGHT was a young love-struck con." He frowned as he patted her fuselage. "I'm sorry – and I'm really sorry 'bout your sister. Slag it – we really screwed up!"

"Why, what happened to Blackarachnia?" Spot asked.

"Well, last we saw of her, she was diving straight towards the Decepticon base with all her bays open and missiles activated. Then it all blew up in our face plates," Echo told her.

At first her fuselage trembled, then began to shake as she broke out in hopeless sobs.

Rolling off her, Sideswipe kept a hold of her as she transformed. The femme collapsed in his arms, totally inconsolable. The three of them sat on the ledge as the sobs echoed…

Darting out of the inferno, the silvery protoform growled in total disgust. Hiding from boulder to boulder, the now much-smaller form easily evaded detection. Finding a flowing river of water, it jumped in and allowed the current to carry it rapidly away. Hundreds of clicks flowing away before it finally climbed out.

With a growl, the silvery figure reached one hand out then another, laboriously climbing from the current. A quick scan for organic life forms filled it's meta with various forms from which to choose.

As Arachnid body plates replaced silvery skin, the former Guardian looked up at the double moons and screamed, "I'm Guardian no more! Let all who meet my webs – meet their destruction!" No longer cursed with following weak Autobots like her sire had been – the new organofemme allowed her alt mode form to take over her programming. She disappeared amongst the organic creatures of the planet… Not to appear again for millennia…

Note: Ok, another somewhat long one…Hope I surprised you with the true identifies of two of my favorite characters! But there's so many things meshing together in this plot! Eventually I'll get to the next chapter where you shall find out who Sun Spot really is! Please review…