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In this video I take a look at one of the 1st G1 Autobots I owned as a kid, the ever popular Sunstreaker. We really need a proper Hasbro release of this guy.

CHAPTER 1 Twenty five years earlier... The planet Earth was known as one of the most beautiful worlds in the galaxy, with it's massive blue oceans and green, brown and white colored land masses, made it a visual delight for those who looked upon it. But with the arrival of the Reapers, sentient machines created by the Chaos Bringer known to many as 'Unicron'. The Earth came to looked to suffer the same fate as millions of worlds has before it. Gone was the colourful beauty that nature had given it, replacing it with the look of a world that had been burnt to a crisp. The Reapers had begun harvesting the planet's main Indigenous life form, a species called 'humanity', who for the majority of their short existence on the planet had believed that they were alone in the universe. But that belief was not true and as of this very moment, humanity fought alongside a race of autonomous living synthetic brings called 'Cybertronians'. This race who originally arrived on Earth and brought their civil war (which also cost them their own world) with them, was now living peacefully with Humanity. And now with the Reapers threatening to destroy everything that they held dear, both races along with the combined galactic community were fighting this last desperate battle to hold the line against the night. But it was a fight that they were losing, the galaxy has put all of its efforts into a Lithone device that was supposed to destroy their adversaries, but it instead became their doom. It was really a means to return Unicron back to the physical realm and with their creator among them again, the Reapers moved forward with their plan to destroy all organic life in the galaxy. But then stepped forward one man, his name was Jack Darby. But he was known amongst many as Jackson Prime, the first Human Prime. He activated the matrix of leadership and used it to destroy the Chaos Bringer, but at a terrible cost. For it also ended the life of Primus, the Aeon who created the Cybertronians and the line of Primes. For if Unicron was to be no more, then Primus had to fade away as well. So as the Chaos Bringer exploded and the wave of energy expanded across the whole galaxy and wiping the Reapers from existence. Unknown to those who survived that day to see a future that they could not believe that they would witness, a scream echoed from the destruction of the two Aeons. A scream that they could not hear, but as it echoed across the universe like a shout through a mountainous region of land. It would eventually be heard by a powerful force, a force that would see it as an act of defiance by the galaxy in question and in turn set their sights to the Milky Way. And so they begin their journey through the endless dark space that separates the galaxies from each other, to find out what happened to their deceased brethren. Because death is not a idea known to them, and so heaven help those responsible. Present day... In the vast void that was deep space, there was suddenly a flash of white light as a star-ship jumped out of hyperspace. It had the markings and color scheme of the Interstellar Federation and the Autobots on it's hull (white, blue and red), it's name in black, bold lettering 'Icarus' could be could also be clearly seen. Walking down one of the ship's dimly lit corridors was a Caucasian Cybertronian with brown hair and wearing purple and silver uniform that also had green outlines in its joints, he walked up to a door at the far end of said corridor and pressed the control panel to his right. The door opened and he walked onto the bridge of the ship, which had a circular design to it. The Commander's chair situated in the centre of the room with all main stations surrounding it, giving the commanding officer full view of his bridge crew. All stations were manned by a mixed crew of Cybetronian, human, Krogan and Asari, while sitting in the Commander's chair was a Turian who turned in his chair to look away from the Bridge canopy and towards the man who had just entered. "Shockblast, I thought you would like to know that we are approaching the last set of coordinates" the Turian said as the bot stopped beside him. "Commander Villius, we have saved the best one till last right." "I certainly hope so, after spending five years visiting and unearthing ancient Cybertronian settlements on numerous worlds across the galaxy, this last one should be jackpot... So the human saying goes." The Turian then looked at a holo-image that appeared over his right-side armrest, it showed the Icarus and it's distance to the planet. "I have to say that I am looking forward to your briefing, considering the planet we are about to enter the orbit of." "Thank you, Commander Vallius, all I require now is Dr T'Soni's assistance." Shockblast replied as he looked over to the Asari sitting behind the Turian at the science station, she looked over to him having heard her name spoken aloud and saw him smile back to her. "Are you ready, Liara?" The blue woman looked up and smiled at the bot. "Yes, Shockblast." she replied, mirroring his smile before looking at the Turian Commander. "Commander Vallius, I have finished recalibrating the ship's sensor grid and also completed the compiling of our database." she replied before standing up and joining the bot's side. "Thank you, Dr T'Soni, we are certainly lucky to have you on this expedition." Vallius said back as she walked over to Shockblast. "She's the best." the bot said with an affectionate tone, making the Asari almost blush in return. "We are approaching the planet sir." a young man at the helm stated, gaining their attention of which Liara was thankful. The pilot was Caucasian and had blonde hair and was wearing a yellow and purple uniform that like Shockblast, had green outlines at it's joints. "Very good, Six-shot. Take us into orbit." Vallius replied as he and everyone on the bridge could see their destination on the other side of the glass. "Cybertron!" Liara exclaimed with excitement in her voice. "Yes, our former home-world." Shockblast replied as the Icarus moved into high orbit above the dead planet, from their vantage point, they could clearly see the detail of it's heavily damaged surface. Results of the eons long civil war that had caused the Cybertronian exodus long ago. "We are in orbit, Commander." Six-shot stated. "Good. Shockblast, have your team ready in the briefing room." The Turian Commander replied, earning a nod from the Shockblast as he and the Asari walked over to he elevator and entered once it's doors had opened. A short time later and the two were in the briefing room with their team mates, waiting for the Commander to make an appearance. "Liara?" Shockblast asked as he looked down at a data pad in his hands. "Yes." she replied with a smile, earning a similar expression from the bot, though a shy one. "You know, I meant what I said to the Commander earlier." The Asari turned to the bot and wrapped her arms around his neck affectionately. "I know you did, and if I hadn't worked with you for the last five years then I wouldn't feel the same way about you." she said before closing the distance between them, their lips meeting and moving in synch as they kissed for a long moment. They then parted as they heard the door open and turned to see the Commander enter the room along with Six-Shot and several others who all sat down on the chairs that were grouped together in front of the two. "Well, we are all here, are you two ready?" Vallius said before Shockblast and Liara suddenly began moving like they had a purpose, which made Six-shot shake his head and sigh in response as he looked at the ground. "Yes." Shockblast replied before activating his holo-tool, thus making the room go dark. The only illumination coming from a holo-globe that was hovering just behind Liara and himself. "So... here we are, after five years of sifting through the mud on numerous worlds, finding evidence of previous Cybertronian settlements that pre-date the Great War and other discoveries that we did not know. We have finally arrived at the final destination of our journey before heading back to civilization." As Shockblast spoke, Liara with her holo-tool changed the globe to a model of Cybertron that rose up above them, so that those sitting at the back could see. "Cybertron." he said, before noticing a hand rise up from the group watching them. "Yes?" the bot replied as the Salarian brought his hand back down to his lap. "Thank you, but I find myself confused. Have there not been many expeditions to Cybertron over the last twenty-five years, not to mention the years before the Reaper war. What are we expecting to find that has not been found already?" Shockblast smiled and brought up another hologram next to the Cybertron, it showed lines of Cybertronian writings that glowed in orange. "The writing that you see before you is that of ancient Cybertronian, and each line was found on a tablet on each of these worlds." Shockblast added as Liara typed on the interface of her holo-tool, bringing up another hologram. This time of the galaxy which had several red dots scattered over it, gaining a knowing look from Six-shot. "Those are worlds that we have already visited in the last few years, finding those colony ruins." he said, earning a smile and a nod from the bot standing in front of him. "That is correct, now it should be noted that while the ruins we found on these worlds does in fact date back to the early years of the Golden Age. The tablets that these codes were inscribed, on are actually only a few million years old..." The majority of the audience just stared at him blankly which annoyed Shockblast, but he managed to hold it all inside as he took a breath. "...which means these codes were used during the Great War between the Autobots and Decepticons." Suddenly some members started to show sins that hey were catching on as Six-shot decided to speak again. "So what are these codes then?" Shockblast could not hide the satisfaction he felt at the younger bot's questions, he was really the only member of the audience who was showing a natural interest, though Commander Vallius who would just watch and listen, keeping all his questions to himself until the end of the briefing. But Six-shot always did have a keen eye for history, just like himself...his older brother. "Well, Six-shot, I...and it was no small task due to the complexities of the dead language...managed to decipher the codes." Shockblast replied as Liara worked her holo-tool again and made the codes separate from their formation, and hover above the audience. "Now each code on its own read like gibberish, they made no sense. But when I put all the codes together..." He said as the codes hovering over the audience began to join and mix with each other until it made on singular code and an arrow appeared at it's end and pointed to a location on Cybertron. "...they reveal a set of coordinates that are on the planet we are orbiting right now." The bot then smiled as he saw that he had the attention of the audience now. "Do you know which faction the codes belong to?" another crew member asked. "No, but whether Autobot or Decepticon. The fact that the coordinates were encrypted using ancient Cybertronian, shows that whatever is at this location is big and I believe that it is something more than worth a look into." Shockblast replied as he noticed a smile appear on the Commander's face. "Okay, Shockblast, you have a go. Everyone get ready, we will be landing the ship in exactly sixty minutes time. Let's go find out what's down there." With that the audience began leaving the room, going to their respective stations leaving Shockblast, Liara and Six-shot behind. "That went better than I thought it would." the Asari said as Shockblast placed his hand on her shoulder affectionately. "We are going to make history with this discovery I just know it." "Don't go planning any speeches for future awards, we may still find nothing down there." Liara replied as she placed her hand on his in return. "No, this is it. I can feel it in my bones, we are about to hit gold." the bot said back enthusiastically. "Don't you mean platinum?" Six-shot corrected, earning a smile from Shockblast. "Well, I was very impressed with your questions during the briefing, little brother, I think you may have chosen the wrong career." "Nah, I am a pilot, Shockblast. I find history interesting but I will leave that to you." the younger bot replied, earning a brotherly slap on the back from the older brother before he and Liara began to head for the exit. "See you on the bridge, Six-shot, I know you are dying to show off your skills with the landing." "Yeah, yeah. You should know I can make this ship do anything with my skill. The landing will be so smooth, it will be like a leaf kissing the surface of a pond." Six-shot replied as he followed them out. The ship broke orbit as it turned on its side so that the planet was below it's underside, as it prepared for its descent to the dead planet below it. On the bridge, Vallius rotated his chair three hundred and sixty degrees as he looked around at his crew. Six-shot was at the helm performing his per-landing prep, Liara was at the science station and Shockblast was sitting at her side as everyone else worked frantically around them. The Commander activated the intercom. "This is Commander Vallius to all personnel, brace yourselves for entry." his voice boomed around the ship as all that heard it stopped what the were doing and strapped themselves, the Turian then looked at his pilot. "Alright Six-shot, take us down." The pilot nodded before tapping the glowing blue holo-interface in front of him. "Aye aye, Sir." The Icarus's engines then fired as it started to descend down to Cybertron. As the ship entered the atmosphere, the turbulence was strong as they passed through an electric storm on the way down. They could hear the energy strikes through the hull and the inertial dampeners could not stop the vibrations from being felt as it made anything that was not fastened down shake and move around. "I think we are passing through the worst of it." Six-shot stated as the cloud cover dissipated, revealing the battered, and war torn surface below. It was a mixture of grey and bronze colors with the derelict buildings stood inside what looked like a desert. "Commander, that is the 'Sea of Rust, and the coordinates are located just north west of our current position'." Liara stated as she looked at the holo-interface of the science station, showing a three dimensional representation of the area she spoke of. "Very good, Doctor T'Soni. Sixshot, take us to the coordinates." Vallius replied. The pilot merely nodded in return as he made the Icarus turn slightly to the left and fly the ship over to what looked like a desert where a lone mountain could be seen. "There, right there!" Shockblast said as he pointed at the image. "The sensors show that it is not a natural formation." he added as he looked to Liara for confirmation. "He is right, there is another structure buried underneath. Looks like it has slowly been covered by the rust storms over the eons. Perfect place to hide something." she said with a smile, feeding Shockblast's enthusiasm more. "Very well. Six-shot, land us next to it." Vallius said while keeping his attention on the glass canopy and the mountain as the Icarus got closer to it. "Switching to thrusters to slow us and gently bring us down, also deploying landing struts. Touchdown in ten seconds." Six-shot said. The Icarus's struts appeared from inside the ship locked into place as it neared the ground, the strength of the thrusters kicking up a dust cloud around the vessel as it landed on to the Cybertronian surface, sending a shudder through the ship from the contact. "The Icarus has landed, shutting down the engines and deactivating all navigational systems." the pilot stated as the Commander smiled at everyone. "Nice flying, Six-shot." he said as the pilot's older brother undid his seat's straps and got up. "Okay, time to get down there and make history." he said enthusiastically as he looked out of the canopy down at the base of the mountain. "Easy there, Shockblast..." Liara said while looking at the holo-interface in front of her. "Sensors show a rust storm heading this way, it's about five hours away from us." The bot turned to her, his excitement dimming ever so slightly. "That's why we should go now, get a head start." he continued to say as he looked over to the Turian Commander, hoping to get the go ahead. "Very well, looks like you will need that time just to drill through the exterior anyway." Vallius replied with a nod as he brought up the scan of the mountain from the science station, it's three-dimensional model showing the thickness of the rust covering the building. "Thank you, Commander." Shockblast said back before looking at Liara, the enthusiasm back on his face. "Right, let's go." The bot and Asari then got up and left the bridge as Six-shot watched, this did not go unnoticed by Vallius who saw the look on the younger bot's face. "You want to go with your brother don't you, Six-shot?" The pilot's attention snapped back to his Commander from the door as he heard his name spoken. "Yes, Sir." he replied somewhat nervously, earning a smile from the Turian. "Go on then, the Icarus wont be needing it's pilot while we are planet-side anyway." The bot smiled at him and got up. "Thank you, Sir." he replied before heading out of the bridge, through the same door as his brother earlier. Vallius then turned his attention to the rest of his bridge crew. "Alright then, systems check. I want a report on each section by zero eight hundred hours." he said, earning a groan from some crew members around him. PRIME EFFECT 4 Liara looked down at the interface on her holo-tool as she stood outside in her silvery white/blue armour (she was wearing a breather helmet...they all were outside) as Shockblast and his brother (who were wearing armour with the same colour schemes as their uniforms) were helping the dig team operate the large laser drill that was situated on top of the Icarus's MAKO. The laser was firing a bright red and white hot energy beam at the base of the mountain that was towering over them, obliterating the rust that was blocking their way. They had been at this for nearly five hours as the Asari's com-link activated. "Dr T'Soni, how fares the drilling?" the voice of Commander Vallius said from his end of the call. Liara looked down at the read out of her holo-tool. "We are ninety five percent through, Commander." "Well that storm is nearly upon us, you may want to consider returning to the Icarus and finishing it tomorrow. This storm will be going on all night." Vallius replied, Liara then looked over to the north and saw a massive storm cloud approaching, it was so large it seemed to reach up into the heavens. "I think you are corr..." she started to say, only for Shockblast to interrupt over the link. "No, I will not let a storm stop us now. We can take cover from it via the building that is encased in this mountain of rust." the bot replied with a slightly annoyed tone. "Are you sure, Shockblast? I don't want anyone taking any unnecessary risks." Vallius replied. "Yes, and everyone on my team agrees with me." "Doctor T'Soni, does that include you?" the Turian asked. The Asari suddenly felt conflicted by the Commander's question, true she did see the logic in Vallius's words. But she also understood Shockblast's eagerness to find out what was inside the mountain, plus the thought of waiting several hours to a day for the storm to pass did not sit well with her either. She had trusted Shockblast for the last five years, and she did not plan to stop now. "I agree with Shockblast." she replied, knowing full well the grin that would be on the bot's face right now. "Very well, just be careful in there. Due to the strength of the storm, communications will be unavailable until after it has dissipated." "Understood." Shockblast replied before ending the link. It took a further thirty minutes for the laser drill to finish and by then the storm was pretty much all over the area, gale force winds blowing the sand like rust up into the air, making visibility almost zero. But the dig team managed to get into the tunnel that they had created through the heavy layer of rust that had slowly covered whatever structure had stood there over the eons. Shockblast and Liara led the way as they shone their torches into the darkness ahead of them, hoping to find some clue as to what they would find. After a short time walking through the tunnel, the gale force winds of the storm now just a faint echo behind them. The group came up to what looked like a metallic wall. "Looks like there is something written on it." Six-shot observed as His brother reached out and wiped a gloved hand over one of the symbols. "It's ancient Cybertronian." he said before activating his holo-tool. "Can you translate it? Liara asked. "Give me a few minutes to get my bearings with this." the bot replied as both the Asari and Six-shot gave each other a knowing look before looking back at the rest of the team, who had started to talk amongst themselves. After fifteen minutes of hearing conversations such as... "What do you think we will find down here?" "Perhaps a first edition of Sargent Kup's war stories." "By the Allspark, I hope not!" ... Liara rolled her eyes and turned back to Shockblast who was still trying to figure out the wall in front of them. "Figured it out yet?" Six-shot asked before the she could say the same question. "I don't get it! I have gone through every translation matrix I have and the symbols on the wall still make no sense." the older brother replied with a frustrated tone. The three of them looked at wall and the way that the symbols were arranged in a circular pattern. "That looks familiar..." Liara said before bringing up the codes via her holo-tool. "..., the symbols on the wall are identical to the first symbol on each line of code." she added as Six-shot decided to pint something out. "Yeah and the number of symbols on the wall match the lines of code we have." Shockblast looked up at the wall with a confused expression that soon changed to one of embarrassment. "How did I not notice that?" he said. "Don't worry about it, let's just see if we can now open this door." his younger brother said as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, let's see what is in this door shall we." Shockblast replied as he began a scan with his holo-tool. "I am detecting a series of small CPUs inside the door, each one behind one of those symbols, there is also a faint signal being emitted from each CPU. So if we..." he said as he brought up the holograms of the codes and lined them up with each corresponding symbol on the wall. "...send the codes along the same signals, then..." he added as the images then passed into the wall, gaining a ping from his holo-tool. ".. Open sesame." he smiled as the gears and cogs could be heard turning from behind the wall as it began to open up, releasing a small dust cloud from the other side. "Well done." a Salarian team mate said as the rest of them had stopped talking and watched as the three lead members figured out how to open it. "Okay, let's see what's in there." Shockblast said as he done his torch into the opening and began walking through the door, followed closely by Liara and Six-shot and then the rest of the team. It did not take long before the group entered a massive room, one that would have been of normal height for a Cybertronian in their original body. Six-shot activated a drone with his holo-tool, it's bright glow illuminating the room so everyone could see what was around them. It was filled with consoles and heavy equipment and also had three doorways that led elsewhere in the complex. Shockblast looked around in utter glee before turning to his team. "Alright, we are going to split up in to teams so that we can explore this place some more. Also activate your search drones if you find any more rooms, so that we can make a map of this place." So the bot then split everyone into four teams of three (being sure to have both Liara and Six-shot with him) and had one team stay behind and examine the room they now in, while having the rest of teams (including his own) check out where the three door ways led. Once they had split up and headed down their respective corridor, Shockblast's team entered another large room, but this one only had one massive computer at one end, and a large containment tank in it's center. There was also a large hole in one of the walls that looked like it connected to a mine tunnel. "Six-shot, activate a search drone to explore the area behind that hole." the older brother said. His young brother nodded and activated his holo-tool, making an orange bill-orb appear in front of him before it flew off through the opening and into the tunnel beyond it. "Okay, the drone is mapping the tunnel." he said as the interface of his holo-tool showed the ever expanding map of the complex grow some more with the drone relaying more data. Shockblast nodded back before joining Liara at the computer. "I am detecting an Energon source nearby, but it's readings are not exactly the same as what we know Energon to be like." the Asari said as Shockblast looked at her interface. "I thought Energon was completely depleted throughout the galaxy, which was the reason why our species had to switch to pretender bodies to begin with." Six-shot said as His older brother noticed something about the readings. "That's right, but these readings do not match with that. It is picking up Synthetic Energon, a lot of it." Liara gave both bots a puzzled look. "What is Synthetic ener...?" "Just call it Synthergon for short." Six-shot interrupted, earning an Annoyed look from his brother, before he turned his attention back to Liara. "..Synthergon is exactly what it sounds like, a Cybertronian-made alternative to the real energy source. The formula for it was created by the ancients and then lost over time, only for Team Prime to rediscover it during the twilight years of the great war." "So why don't we see this 'Synthergon' around today?" Liara asked, her undivided attention squarely on Shockblast. "Because the formula they found was incomplete, and they would have had to sacrifice one of their team to gain the full formula." "With it incomplete, the Synthergon would have dangerous side effects on any Cybertronian that used it, taking away their inhibitions while also making their bodies grow dependent on it." Six-shot added while confining to map the mine tunnels. "Like a drug addict... I understand. But either way, whoever's complex this is, clearly found a way to use it as a power source." the Asari replied as she looked at the power signature on her holo-tool. Shockblast activated his own and ran a scan of the computer. "I have gained access to some of the system, attempting to restore power to the..." he said before being cut of by the sound of generators powering up and the lighting system of the complex activating, illuminating the rooms and the corridors. The bot looked around at the lit up room and was about to speak when his com-link beeped. "Shockblast, everything is powering up around us. And we are detecting a breathable atmosphere within the complex. Please tell us that was you?" one of the other teams asked. "Yes, we have restored power. Nothing to worry about." he replied as the group removed their helmets, before the containment tank powered up and a trap door opened inside and a human sized synthetic body strapped down to a mobile berth rising up into the center of the tank. "What is that? It looks like a blank slate." Liara asked with wide eyes, gaining mirrored looks from her team mates. "That is a Pretender body." Shockblast replied. "But it doesn't look like any Pretender model I have seen before." Six-shot said as his older brother took a scan with his holo-tool. "This is a more advanced model than the ones that Cybertronians were forced to use all those years ago, I am not entirely sure but it looks like this has an 'T-Cog'." Liara looked at him with another puzzled expression. "T-Cog?" "Back when our race had their original bodies, they also had a T-Cog which allowed them to scan a vehicle of equal size and the transform into a replica. The T-Cog in this Pretender is not as complex, it looks like it only alters the body slightly. In what way I am not entirely sure, I would need to see it in action." Shockblast replied as he walked closer to the glass canopy that surrounded the pretender, only for his holo-tool to start pinging, taking his attention from the body. "Alright, I have manage to interface with the main computer, accessing the data logs now." "I thought the computer would have been more encrypted than that, considering how well locked this place was." Six-shot said. "Maybe whoever owned this place never thought anyone would figure out the codes to gain entry, let alone reach this far." the older brother replied as looked down at the holo-screen in front of him as lines of data scrolled down it. Liara took a closer look at the pretender with an unnerved expression. "I know it is a blank slate, but that thing doesn't look particularly friendly." Six-shot stood beside her and looked at it too as Shockblast smiled and clicked his fingers as his holo-tool pinged again. "Eureka, now let's get some answers." he said as the others stood beside him, just as he enlarged the holo-screen which changed to show a Cybertronian figure looking back at them. It was quite bulky and it's armour was purple colored, but it was the solitary red optic staring back that was most recognisable to two of the group. "Shockwave! Well now we know which faction this complex belonged to." Six-shot exclaimed in surprise as Liara looked at screen. "Shockwave, who's that?" "He was the Decepticon's Head Scientist and he was well known for 'tampering with with nature'." the younger bot replied. "Are we going to see what this log is about or do you guys want to carry on talking." Shockblast said with a tone mixed with annoyance and excitement. "Yeah alright, I know what this means to you, Shockblast. With your liking of all things Decepticon-like." Six-shot said back. "Well, I have known you for five years (dated you for two) and I am still not really comfortable with your favorite subject. I mean the Decepticons were evil right?" Liara said as she looked at her boyfriend. "It was a civil war, only beliefs and ideals separated our people down the middle. It was the Cons leader who was truly evil, and he ruled the faction using fear to keep his men in line." Shockblast replied. "Megatron, that's his name right?" the Asari asked back, earning a nod from the brothers. "I still don't understand it, but at least you're not obsessed with the Reapers like some others I know. Those things nearly destroyed my planet, let alone the entire galaxy. I guess that is far worse." Liara added. "That's right, especially since the Reapers were creations of Unicron and the Decepticons were enemies of him too. Megatron even allied himself with Optimus Prime to defeat The Chaos Bringer." Shockblast said. "Yeah, I remember hearing all about that back at school...so can we play this log now?" Six-shot asked earning a smile from the two lovers, before the older bot tapped the holo-screen to activate the video. "Research log Alpha nine seven two. My continuing research into Pretender technology has brought up a weakness that If not corrected, could prove fatal to any Decepticon using it. Though it is true that even in these smaller bodies, we would still have strength and stamina which would give us an advantage over the Humans, but to maintain adequate deception and allow our agents to walk among our enemy, then certain advantages of ours had to be sacrificed to allow the mimicry to be successful. But now, using the knowledge gained from successful experiments such as Airachnid and to a certain degree, the Dinobots. I believe that I can finally produce a Pretender form that will give us a permanent advantage, not just over the humans, but over all of our enemies." The video ended and the three friends looked at each other. "So that pretender over there is what he came up with." Liara said. "Certainly looks that way, the log was dated during the final year of the war. The Decepticons never got the chance to use any of the Pretender tech, good job too." Six-shot replied as Shockblast kept his eyes on his holo-screen as he scrolled through the list of vid logs. Suddenly The younger bot's com-link activated. "Six-shot, I was trying to contact Shockblast but seem to have trouble making a connection." the Salarian scientist from earlier said, making the young bot look over to his brother. Shockblast just gave him a look which said 'I turned it off', so Six-shot just smiled and shrugged. "...yeah, it seems that we are having trouble with our communicators." "But I managed to contact you just fine." the Salarian replied. "I don't know why that is, I am only a pilot after all." Six-shot answered, annoyance beginning to show in the tone of his voice. "Well, I need to speak to Shockblast..." the Salarian said, earning a eye roll from the older brother who in frustration tapped his com-link. "What is it? He snapped. "Ugh... no need for that tone." the Salarian replied in a similarly angry tone. Shockblast did not need this right now, this particular scientist was annoying at best, but now with the discovery they had just made, he did not have the time nor patience to put up with him. "What is it?" he asked again, this time with a little less anger. "We have found what appears to be the controls for a space bridge generator in the laboratory we are currently inside, I thought you would like to know." the Salarian replied, though you could hear in his voice that he was still pissed off. "Okay, mark the lab on your holo-map, rendezvous with the other teams and come over to our location, we have just activated Shockwave's main computer." Shockblast replied. "Shockwave?... Alright we are on our way." was the reply from the scientist as he closed the com channel. "He certainly changed his tune." Six-shot said as his brother returned his attention to the data base. "There is another file data log that looks interesting, but I am having trouble accessing it." Liara looked at the holo-screen with a curious expression. "Why, is it encrypted?" "No, it seems to be connected to a separate system. Let me just try...(ping)..that's it." he said as suddenly a loud humming could be heard from behind the north wall directly behind of them, making the group turn round. "What did did you do?" Six-shot said as he and Liara looked at Shockblast. "I saw a file in the database that had no name or description what so ever, so I activated it." the bot replied as just like earlier with the large door, the sound of gears turning could be heard before a section of the wall ascended, revealing a inner chamber. It was no bigger than a closest, but contained something that made everyone's eyes widen in surprise. "Is that what I think it is?" Six-shot asked as they stared at a machine that had a glass cylinder in it's center, and inside that pulsed a red glowing ball of energy. "It looks like a spark." Shockblast observed. "But I thought sparks were always white coloured, I have never heard of a red coloured one before." he added. "Instead of standing here scratching your heads, how about looking through the database. Surely there is information about this." Liara said as she brought up the database on her holo-tool after transferring the entry key from Shockblast. But just as she started searching the files, the other groups entered the lab. "Well, we are here. What have you fou..." the Salarian said before catching a glimpse of the red spark pulsing in front of them. For a long moment, everyone other than Liara (who was still searching through the database) just looked at the spark. Some of them were admiring the red energy that pulsed through out it, others just stared at it with a focused expression. But then the Asari brought them all out of the trance. "Damn it." she cursed, which was out of character for her. "What?" Shockblast asked as he looked over to the Asari. "I found the files, but they are all too fragmented to activate." Just as she said this, her boyfriend suddenly had an idea. "Wait, why don't we just transfer it to the Pretender over there and Wake them up?" he said. "You said this was Shockwave's lab right, and now you want to wake up some experiment in the hope it knows what was done to it. It's more likely to try and kill us." the Salarian said in response. "Or we may just free someone who has been another victim of his twisted science." Six-shot said, earning a smile from his brother. "Right, I think it is worth the risk. I mean we do carry weapons with us, so we can act if whoever it is does end up being a threat." the bot said as he gestured to the pistol equipped to his waist. "We should at least inform the Icarus of this and see what Commander Vallius thinks." another scientist said amongst the group. "The storm is still going to strong out there for our com-links to work." Shockblast replied. "Wait, what about the space bridge generator. We could repair that in say...a couple of hours, then use it to get help from the ship." the Salarian said back. "That would take too much time, and do you really have any experience repairing space bridge technology?" Shockblast replied sarcastically. "I believe it would be more prudent than waking up an experiment that we have no idea what it is." the Salarian spat. "Enough!" Liara shouted at the pair of them, making both men look at her with startled expression. "Shockblast, do you think we can wake him up in that containment tank as an added security measure?" she then asked while pointing at it. "Sure." he replied confidently, which made the Asari smile. "In the five years I have known you, I have learnt not to doubt you. Can't see any reason why I should start now." she added with a loving smile. "Alright, we have quite a few preparations to make before we can pull this off." the bot said enthusiastically, as he started giving orders to the rest of the team. PRIME EFFECT 4 Twenty minutes later and everyone took their positions around the lab, three of which held their pistols at the containment tank which still held the inactive pretender body. Which was connected to the cylinder containing the unknown spark via a transparent cable. Shockblast was standing just behind one of the armed scientists, as he and Liara oversaw the operation. Six-shot stood just aways from them, next to the machine containing the red spark. "Alright, we are ready for transfer." he said as his brother nodded back. "Then let's begin, start the transference." The younger bot then tapped a control on his holo-tool which bright the machine to life, and suddenly the red spark began drifting out of the glass cylinder, down the cable and towards the vacant body lying in the middle of the large room. "Okay, so far so good." Shockblast stated as he kept his attention on both the read outs from his holo-tool, and also the progress of the spark, which was coming up to the half way point of the journey. The bot felt a lump grow in his throat as he watched it slowly move down the cable, before it entered the tank and went into the pretender body via an adaptor on it's chest. Almost immediately, the pretender started to change. It's skin colour became that of a Caucasian male in his early-forties, his hair was black with a hint of silver mixed in as it appeared on his head. His torso shaped itself into a well toned and built frame, as the rest of the body grew in height an extra inch or so (six foot tall). The newly transformed figure had the look of a battle hardened veteran as he lay there on the berth. Everyone outside of the containment tank just watched in amazement at the transformation that had occurred before them. "That was amazing." Liara exclaimed before the newly created Cybertronian's eyes suddenly opened, revealing his eyes to have red irises. He gasped as he took his first breath and rose up from the berth, surprising everyone before falling to his knees with his hands up against the glass. "Help...me." he said on a deep, commanding voice. Though a hint of helplessness could be made out in his tone as he looked up at the people staring at him from the other side of the glass. "What are you waiting for, he needs help." Shockblast said urgently while the others looked on utterly dumbstruck. "Why don't you help me?" the newborn bot said. "Six-shot, give me a hand." Shockblast said, earning a nod from his brother as both started for the containment tank's control panel. When suddenly the Salarian scientist got in their way and pointed his pistol at them. "What are you doing? he obviously needs aid." Six-shot asked in disbelief. "No, this has gone to far. As soon as the storm passes, I am reporting to Commander Vallius. We should let him decide the fate of this...?" The Salarian then turned to the unknown male and looked down at him. "What is your name?" The bot looked up at him with a confused expression. "My...name?" "Yes, your name. What is it?" the scientist snapped, but the man was unfazed by the Salarian's attitude. "My name is..." he started to say before mumbling the first half of his name. "...atron." Everyone, Shockblast included stared at him with their eyes wide. "Did he say what I think he just said?" one of the others said at the back. "Are you Megatron?" the Salarian asked, this suddenly caused a change in the Cybertronian as his eyes met with the scientist's and stared at him coldly. "No!" his answer was cold with a hint of anger in his tone as he began to stand up. "Then...what is...it?" the Salarian asked, suddenly feeling very small due to the way that was being looked at. The man was now standing and bracing his hand against the glass, the nails on his hand were changing into claws. His body became slightly more muscular and as he gritted his teeth as he felt his anger building up, revealing them to now be as sharp as a blade's tip. But what had everyone's blood suddenly running cold was that his red eyes now looked like those of a lizard. My name..." he then said in an angry tone as he dug his claws into the glass, making multiple cracks appear, weakening it considerably. The group was now so scared by the sudden change in this bot, that even the ones with their pistols pointed at him could not move. Suddenly the man pulled at the glass, shattering it and freed himself from the tank. And before anyone could react, he charged out and grabbed the Salarian by the throat, digging his claws into his neck and causing blood to pour from the wounds. As the scientist died there in his grip, the man looked around at the others staring back in fear. "My name is Galvatron, you will kneel before me...or die!"

A lot of folks think Hasbro dropped the ball when they didn't make Groove as a deluxe for Combiner Wars Defensor. And Takara agreed with a mighty slap in the face by making a Groove Deluxe figure! But even Hasbro can own up to a mistake now and then, so they bowed to the inevitable and gave us a Groove as well. If you're on the fence about picking this one up, then watch this detailed review of the figure as the Grim Reaper rides this hog....

A/N: This is my first real fan fiction as I bring together Transformers Prime and Mass Effect, creating an Alternate Universe where they exist together at the same time, producing a story that is both familiar and new to fans of both franchises. In the end, I hope you enjoy my story because I certainly enjoyed writing it. Thank you. PS. Transformers Prime and Mass Effect are owned by Hasbro and Bioware. PRIME EFFECT -CHAPTER I- Jack Darby stood at the window and looked out at the Earth before him, the Home-world of Humanity. As he marveled at the beauty of the blue planet, the young Man could not help but reflect on the events that had brought him this far in his life, since before he turned Sixteen, Jack's life was not what you would have called eventful. Probably in no small part to the fact that he lived in a small dusty Town in the North American State of Nevada, and that Town was called Jasper. He lived there with his Mother, June Darby. And he had a lot of responsibilities thrust upon him after his Father left early on in his child hood, something that she would not have wanted for her Son. But Jack never complained, completing any task given by her or dropped on his shoulders by their situation as a Mother and Son team. He even got a after-school job at the local Diner, so that he could help with the rent for their home. Jack never thought that this job would do anything more for him than help put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. But after the events that happened next, the young Man would wonder if this was all really in Fate's control. Since one day he came across a beautiful blue Motorcycle in the Diner's Car-park, and it was this moment that would change his life forever. Because this Motorcycle turned out to be an alien robot or autonomous Robotic Organisms from the Planet Cybetron, as he would later be told. And this one in particular was Femme called Arcee who then took Jack and two other Humans called Raf and Miko to meet the rest of her team, which she referred to as 'Autobots'. There was Ratchet, the team's grouchy medic and Bumblebee, the team's scout. The team's heavy hitter and former 'Wrecker' was Bulkhead , while Arcee herself was the team's second in Command. The one in charge of the group was Optimus Prime, who was noble and compassionate leader. Jack and his new friends soon became part of the Autobots conflict against another group of Cybertronians called 'Decepticons', who were led by the tyrannical 'Megatron'. It was a war that had started on and consumed their Homeworld Cybertron before spreading out amongst the Galaxy and finding it's way to Earth. But the Teenagers new Alien 'friends' were not fighting alone as they had secret backing from the US Government, who's contact went by the name of Agent William Fowler. It was not always the strongest of alliances, but it held on and grew during the ongoing conflict between these two powerful groups of 'Transformers' even when faced with more threats like the treacherous Human group called 'MECH'. Over the years that the War raged on Earth, in secret of course. The Bots and Humans friendships blossomed, while also being tested at times. And the Autobots gained new soldiers to their cause...like Smokescreen, while also losing some too…..like Bulkhead and earlier before that, Tailgate and Cliffjumper, both had been close friends with Arcee. Every member of 'Team Prime' had a part to play, including it's Human members. Jack himself became a temporary bearer of Optimus's 'Matrix of Leadership', after the Autobot Leader was missing in action after the defeat a god-like being called 'Unicron' who inhabited Earth's very core. The Prime had chosen Jack for this purpose after witnessing how mature and responsible the Teenager was, seeing something in Jack that was more than meets the eye. After Optimus retrieved a powerful relic called the 'Star-Saber, the war entered an almost stalemate-like state for a few years as the Decepticons held themselves back in fear of the power the Autobots now possessed. But there were still skirmishes between the two sides, and Jack and Miko found themselves working alongside their friends in the field and gaining the kind of experience that others of their age would not even dream of. By the time that Jack had turned twenty one years old, he was already experienced in the ways of war thanks to his part in the Cybertronian Civil War. But it was at this point that the Decepticons made their presence known to the rest of the world for Megatron was furious with his failure to destroy the Autobots, after discovering the location of their Base near Jasper. So he unleashed the entirety of his Decepticons on Humanity, sending groups to attack major Cities around the Planet while the Con Leader himself attacked Washington DC. And while Jack stood at the window and looked down at the planet as he thought about all of this, he found himself recalling the events of that battle. 'As Arcee sped down the road in her Motorcycle mode with Jack on her back, they both could not help but wonder how the battle was going for everyone else. "I hope everyone else is doing alright, Arcee?" the twenty one year old said with a worried tone while looking down at her futuristic dashboard. "I'm sure the others are alright, Jack, I am more worried about what you had just been through with Starscream." the Femme replied with a supportive tone to her voice, earning a lopsided grin from Jack in return. "I have been through worse than that, Arcee, we both have. And besides, you scrapped that stiletto-heeled true and proper." he said back with a tinge of pride to his voice, which if she was Human would have made the Femme blush. "Thanks, Partner, but he had it coming…. that and more." "I know, but still…." Jack started to say before both his and her Com-links activated. "This is Ratchet, is there anyone in Washington who can respond?" the voice of the Medic said in a heightened and yet still grouchy voice. "We read you, Ratchet, what's going on?" Arcee replied as the pair sped through the devastated streets of the US Capital, heading toward the sounds of explosions and further fighting nearer it's center. "I believe Optimus is in trouble…" the Bot said back, making Jack's eyes widen in response. "What do you mean, Ratchet?" the Human asked, getting his words in before the Femme who instead kept her focus on the road as she let her Partner do the talking. "Jack, Optimus told me to ground-bridge Bumblebee and Smokescreen to assist Wheeljack and Miko at the Trinidad sector of the City, after the pair reported more Vehicon reinforcements overwhelming the Military there. But soon after I lost contact with him and have been unable to regain contact with anyone else before you." the Medic said back with a worried tone. "Well we are heading North West up Pennsylvania Avenue right now, Ratchet, so can be at the White House in a few minutes." Arcee spoke up as they turned onto the stretch of road. "Alright, Arcee, I will try to regain communications with the others in the meantime. Be careful." Ratchet said back. "Will do, Arcee out." the Femme replied before accelerating to full speed, making Jack tighten his grip on her as they sped onwards. Just a few minutes later and the pair entered the President's Park, immediately spotting their Leader as he was fighting a group of Vehicons and Megatron at the same time. "Optimus needs our help, Arcee." Jack said as he saw the Decepticon Leader knock his Adversary to the ground, destroying more of the South Lawn. "First things first, Jack." the Femme replied in an urgent tone as two Vehicons spotted them and opened fire, hitting the ground next to the pair. The force of the nearby explosion sent both of them into the air, with Jack flung off the Motorcycle in response. "****!" he shouted in return. but Arcee quickly transformed back into her bipedal form and caught her Partner with one hand, while changing her other into a cannon and firing back at their attackers. With one blast hitting an enemy Con directly in the spark chamber, while the other rolled out of the way as the Femme landed back on her feet. "I've got you, Partner." she replied, earning an affectionate smile from the Human as she put him back on the ground. "Never doubted you, Arcee..." Jack replied, gaining a quick smile from her in return as he equipped his rifle. "…now let's even this out and help Optimus." he added, earning a nod from the Femme as she activated an arm-blade with her free arm. "Let's do this." she said as the pair ran towards the battle unfolding before them, shooting at the other Vehicon as it took cover behind one of the trees. But they were now close enough to hear what was being said between the two leaders as they fought, gaining the attention of Megatron as he glanced in their direction while pinning Optimus to the floor. "Take care of that wretched Autobot and her Human Pet, Prime is mine to finish." he spat at the remaining Vehicons, who all turned their attention to the new arrivals and opened fire. Optimus though took this as his chance and punched the Decepticon Lord in the face, knocking him away and allowing the Prime to get back to his feet. "This will not by your day, Megatron." he said in a stoic tone, while his rival smirked back at him as he wiped some leaking energon from his mouth. "I have already won, Optimus, you just don't see it." he spat back before the pair charged at each other once again, trading blows as each hit they took erupted with sparks and squirts of energon. "I have put up with you and your wretched Autobots for long enough, Prime. And because of that, this world that you care about will now suffer the consequences….and burn." the Decepticon Leader added as he elbowed the Prime in the face, making him stumble backwards. "I pity you, Megatron…" Optimus began to reply as he recovered from that hit, while Megatron followed through with a punch to the Autobot's chest. But the Prime saw it coming and blocked the attack, countering with an uppercut as he continued. "…For we were once friends…" he added as he then grabbed Megatron and lifted him into the air. "…but there is no redemption for what you have done now." the Prime continued to say as he through the Decepticon to the floor, making him grimace as he rolled onto his front. "And who says that I want redemption, Optimus?" Megatron said in return as he got onto his knees, while the Autobot Leader stared back. "Because our species now stands on the edge of extinction and rather than watch us die slowly, like this war has made us do. So I would rather burn everything around me…" he added as he activated his blade, which slid out from beneath his arm-cannon. "…and feel your spark crush in my hands!" he spat before launching himself at the Prime, who activated his own blades and brought them up deflect the Enemy's attack. "We might have used up our life energy in this pointless war, Megatron." Optimus replied as he continued to defend against the Decepticon Lord's continuous attacks. "But there is always ho…" he started to say, before Megatron suddenly sliced the Prime's right arm off and followed through with a stab to his lower torso. "Optimus!" Arcee shouted after killing another Vehicon with her arm-blade, gaining Jack's attention as he felled another with his rifle. 'Oh no!' he thought as he saw the Decepticon Leader stand over their friend and Mentor. "I really have had enough of your sanctimonious drivel, and cannot for the life of me understand how we were ever friends." he said as Optimus bled out energon from his wounds and fell to one knee, with Megatron lifting his blade up for a killing stroke. "Time to meet the Allspark….Optimus Prime." But just as he was about to kill the Prime, Arcee suddenly jumped in and slashed Megatron across the face with her arm-blade, gaining a grimace from him as Jack shot dead the last Vehicon. "I will kill you, Megatron!" the Femme spat while quickly following through by firing her weapon at the Decepticon Leader, but he simply shrug the blasts off and knocked her to the ground with one punch which cracked her chest-plate armour, winding the Femme in the process. "You really wish to die before your Leader, very well!" Megatron spat as he swung his blade down at Arcee, but was suddenly stopped in mid-attack as the armour on his attacking arm exploded, earning a cry of pain from him. "What?" the Femme said before seeing Jack stand there with his rifle smoking from it's grenade launcher. "No one hurts my Family." he said with a defiant tone, earning a smile from her and a look of shock from the Decepticon Lord. "You?" he spat as he left Arcee on the floor and turned to face the Human, a look of pure hate on his face as he narrowed his red optics. "You have been a thorn in the Decepticon cause for far too long, Boy! I will enjoy ripping you limb from limb!"he said before lunging with a fist at Jack, who dived out of the way just in time as Megatron's fist hit the ground next to him. 'Got to make this count!' he thought as he landed on his front, before rolling onto his back and firing another sabre round which hit the Con Leader directly in his chest-plate. "Arrrggh!" he cried out as he reached to his damaged section, which had left his Decepticon insignia charred. Jack then used this distraction to get back to his feet and get some distance from the Enemy as Arcee watched with widened optics. 'Jack!' she thought as she tried to move, but gasped in pain as the wound Megatron had given her was still causing her trouble. So all she could do was watch as the Decepticon Lord returned his attention to her partner. "You will pay for that!" he spat as he then fired his Cannon at Jack, only for it to hit the ground near him. But the blast was enough to knock the young Man to the ground and wind him, while Megatron walked over and smiled as he saw his Enemy lying there in pain. "Jack!" Arcee screamed as she fought through the pain, trying to lift her cannon-arm up to help as the Decepticon aimed his weapon down at her best friend. But Megatron had heard the Femme and took pleasure in knowing his about to end the life of yet another friend of hers as inside of his Cannon's barrel began to glow with purple energy. "You die now!" he said as he prepared to fire but then suddenly Optimus came out of nowhere and barged into the Con leader, knocking the weapon away from his friend. "No, no more!" he shouted while pushing the Decepticon Lord away from Jack, who rolled out of harm's way before getting back to his feet and watched as the two Leaders clashed again. "You don't have what it takes to end this, Prime, but I do." Megatron spat as he blocked a punch from Optimus's remaining arm, while also reactivating his blade which slid out from under his cannon. But just as he was about to swing it towards his one time friend, Jack fired his last remaining sabre round which hit his left knee and shattered it in an explosion that made the Con Lord cry out in pain. "Arrrragh!" he spat as he began to fall forward, but Optimus instead punched him back in the face. The force of the hit made Megatron lean back while the Autobot Leader readied another attack. " Megatron, be gone...for good!" he spat before punching his former Friend in the chest and crushing his spark chamber inside, which made the Decepticon Leader's optics fade to black as his body went limp and fell onto it's back.' The shock of Megatron's death demoralized the Decepticons and they surrendered to the Alliance of Autobot and human forces who had fought side by side in the battle. Ever since that day, nothing was ever the same. As Megatron and Optimus realised in the last days of the war, both sides had used up all of their remaining energon reserves and so were no longer able to maintain their bodies, which meant certain extinction for the Cybetronian species. But instead of succumbing to what Megatron had seen as the inevitable, the remaining Cybertronians under Optimus's leadership decided to transfer their sparks into the human like pretender bodies that the cons had been building, which originally was so that they could infiltrate Human society . As a way to show appreciation for their efforts to save Earth, the leaders of the planet allowed the transformers to build a city for both species to live and work together in peace and they named the city New Iacon. But after a few years Jack felt that he was no longer needed in the new Utopia that was being built and with Optimus's blessing joined the newly formed joint defence program. Arcee didn't take the news well but wished her close friend the best and told him she would wait for him to return. Miko joined the force too, but only so she could then work with Wheeljack, who had promised her a place among the Wreckers. Bulkhead had died during the war and Miko saw this as the best way to honour his memory. Raf had decided to join the Autobot Science Foundation and Bumblebee stayed with him, loyal friend to the end. Jack made a few friends during his training, one in particular named Kaidan Alenko. And he was part of the reason why Jack was where he was now. He was aboard the Alliance's newest starship, The Normandy. PRIME EFFECT Jack looked away from the window when he heard voices approaching him from behind. He turned around to see two men walking up to him, still talking to each other. One was an African-British man in his mid-forties. The other was a Caucasian man, who was in his early fifties but still in good shape considering his age. Jack recognized both of them. The former was Captain Anderson, the Normandy's commanding officer. The latter was Optimus Prime in his pretender body. Even after all these years Jack was still surprised whenever he saw the Prime. "So this is the young officer that you wanted to have on my crew." said Anderson as he reached out and shook the young man's hand. "Its nice to meet you again, Darby." "Same here, Captain." responded Jack. Optimus looked at both of them before speaking. "Yes, Jack has been a tremendous asset to my team during and after the war. And now that he is a officer in the Alliance, I believe that he could be of greater help to your ship and crew as it explores the uncharted areas of our galaxy." Anderson took a moment and pondered on the Primes words. "Well with your rank, Darby, you would become my XO. I hope you will be up to the challenge that goes with such a position." A slight smirk appeared on Jack's face. "Yes sir, you can count on me." "Good, well I am needed in the CIC, please join me there after you are finished with Optimus." replied Anderson as he headed to the elevator. "farewell, Captain." Optimus said. "Prime." Anderson acknowledged and as soon as the Captain was out of earshot, Optimus turned back to Jack. "So how have you been Jackson, it has been a while since we last spoke." Jack looked back out the window. "Well I suppose you heard about the incident on New Terra." "Yes, the colony came under attack from a large force of slavers looking to abduct the colonists and killed the majority of the security personnel. It looked perilous for the families there. But you took command of the remaining soldiers and even though they were still inexperienced, you helped them keep their cool and successfully drove out the slavers with hardly any casualties to your group." Optimus recalled with pride in his voice. Jack didn't know where to look, suddenly feeling very embarrassed by the Prime's words. "Yeah, those kids did well despite the desperate situation we were in. But they really deserve the credit, all I did was not abandon them." Jack sheepishly replied. Optimus looked at him. "You shouldn't be embarrassed by it Jackson, you showed them that they weren't alone and inspired them with the belief that they could overcome any threat or obstacle. That is one of the virtues of being a Leader, which again proves your potential to becoming a Prime one day. That was why I gave you the key to Vector Sigma all those years ago. I take it you still have the key on your person?" Jack nodded and undid his uniform's collar button and pulled out a chain that he wore around his neck. On the chain and glowing ever so slightly was the key. It had shifted to the size of a pendant (like most Cybertronian artifacts, it had mass shifting ability). Optimus smiled at Jack. "I see that the key still resonates with you Jack. It takes a very strong spark or soul as your people call it to make the key glow like that." Jack put the key back under his uniform and buttoned his collar. He looked up and suddenly saw regret in the Prime's eyes. "Optimus, what's wrong." "Jack, I am sorry I was not there for your promotion ceremony, I was forced to back out do to an incident between an Autobot transport and the Quarian Flotilla." Jack smiled and patted Optimus on the shoulder. "You shouldn't blame yourself, Optimus, I know you would have been there if you could. Mom was there and recorded the whole thing. When next you see her, I'm sure she show you the video. She shows it to everyone." Optimus's face brightened up and he took a breath before replying. "I did hear about that and I will ask her the next time we meet." Jack raised an eyebrow at that comment. "How did you hear about it?" "From Arcee of course, she attended the ceremony. You didn't see her there?" Optimus asked curiously. "No." Jack replied sadly as he looked away from Optimus for a moment, his memories of Arcee quickly overtaking his own thoughts. He had missed her as much as she was obviously missing him. But if that which had happened on the last night they were together had not occurred, then he might not have so readily accepted Optimus's suggestion to join the defense force. He faced Optimus, a little guilt showing on his face. "I didn't know she was there. I mean we have messaged each other while I was training, but I haven't seen her since I left for basic training." Optimus looked at Jack not quite sure as what to say. "Well I am not sure what had transpired between you two which has caused this predicament. But I think that whatever it is, you shouldn't let it get in the way of your friendship….." Optimus was about to say more when his com-link activated. "Optimus, its Ratchet. The world leaders have asked to meet you in New Iacon at the Decagon, it's about the new transit system we will be making available to them." The Prime put his hand to his audio receiver. "Acknowledged, Ratchet, I will be there momentarily." He then deactivated his com link and turned back to Jack. "It looks like I have to be on my way, Jackson. If you ever wish to talk about anything that's on your mind, just give me a call..." He said as he placed his hand on jack's shoulder and smiled at the young man. "..And I also want you to know that I am very proud of you." "Thanks, Optimus." Jack replied as Optimus smiled at him before turning away and entering the elevator, its doors closing behind him. Once he was at the CIC, Jack walked straight up to the cockpit and saw Anderson standing there talking to the pilot. Anderson noticed Jack and beckoned him over. "Commander, this is our pilot, Hotrod." The pilot stood up and looked at Jack. He was a Caucasian male who looked to be in his mid twenties. He had orange hair with yellow highlights. He smiled and offered Jack his hand. "Hi, you must be Commander Jack Darby, it's a real honor to meet the human who helped put down Megatron." "Thanks, so you are from New Iacon." Jack replied as he shook Hotrod's hand. "Yeah..though not originally, I was the one piloting the Ark when it landed on Earth years back. Prowl said I was one of the best pilots around so put my name down for this gig." Hotrod exclaimed proudly. "Well it's good to know that our ship is in safe hands, Hotrod. Now if you will take us out of Earth's orbit, I want to see what the Normandy is capable of before we leave the Sol system. So we will be taking the ship on a shakedown cruise around the system." Anderson ordered as he beckoned Jack to follow him back into the CIC. "Aye Aye, Captain." Hotrod replied as he took his seat and started working the controls, taking the Normandy out of Earth's orbit and into outer space. Jack and Anderson stopped at the Captain's terminal next the galaxy map. "So have you had a good look at the ship yet since you have been on board, Commander? Anderson asked while looking over reports at his station. "Not really, Captain, I came straight up here as soon as I boarded back at Earth." Jack replied, earning a look from Anderson. "Well then, since we are not leaving the system yet, I see no reason for you to be up here right now. Take a few hours off and take a look around. I'll call you if I need you up here." Jack saluted the captain and turned to leave. "Commander, also your quarters are on deck 3 and your belongings are already there." Anderson added as he looked back at his XO. "Yes, Sir, thank you." Jack replied, earning and annoyed expression from the Captain. This made Jack swallow hard in return. 'Great, only been here five minutes and already irritated the Captain.' he thought to himself. "Enough with the sirs, I like to keep things informal with my XO's, okay?" he asked, making Jack smile and nod back. "Okay...Anderson." The captain returned the smile and returned to his station, leaving jack to his thoughts as he left the CIC. PRIME EFFECT In the hour or so after leaving the CIC, Jack had visited the engineering deck and Shuttle bay. He had met with the crewmen there. They all seemed like good, honest people who loved the job they each did. And he was pleased to meet each of them. But as of right now he just wanted to go to his quarters and relax until Anderson called for him. So Jack exited the elevator on deck three (crew deck) and made his way to the door to his quarters. He opened the door and walked in. He was stunned by how large it was. It had a full sized bed, office desk and standard furniture. No bathroom, guess that meant he still had to share with the rest of the crew. But he was very impressed with it. The last digs he had was the top bunk in the crew quarters. he walked over and sat down on the chair and rested his arms on the desk. He then looked over to the personal terminal to his right and activated it. The blue screen lit up and displayed three options, messages, Journal and ship database. He noticed that he had one new message and selected it. His eyes widened at the name of the sender. 'Arcee' he thought to himself. He felt his heart skip a beat as he opened the message and began reading it. 'Hi, Jack, I know we haven't spoken for a long time but I hope that in sending this message to you that we can change that. I don't know how else to say this so I will just go ahead and say it, I miss you. Ever since you left it has not been the same without you partner. In the time after you gone Miko left to join up and Raf and Bumblebee soon after and it seemed that the Silo was more like a tomb than the happy home that it had been for the number of years since the three of you had come into our lives. Ratchet at first looked like he appreciated the quiet especially since it was usually Miko and her electric guitar giving him a headache as he tried to work on his experiments but now it looks like he misses the company too. As for Optimus' he just focuses on his work which as gone up a lot since the war ended. Funny, you would think that it would be the other way round. But I can see it is just his way of getting by. But myself, I have found it really hard to go on each day and not see your face smiling back at me when ever I go out for a ride on your motorcycle (which I have kept in perfect condition) or watch the sunset as we used to do. I have tried to keep busy but I find my thoughts always drift back to you. Jack, I am sorry. If it was something I did I wish you would tell me. I mean very little has been said in the messages we have sent to each other in the past and I feel that we need see each other and get things straight. So I hope you read this that you will at least consider us meeting up. I will be on the Citadel for the next week or so with Optimus. Apparently Perceptor is having a hard time with the council (once again it is the Taurian Councilor causing trouble for him), and I heard that the Normandy will be making a visit to the station in that time so I hope to see you there, Partner.' Jack sighed as he contemplated whether or no to answer. He then highlighted the respond button and was about to press enter when the ships intercom activated. "Commander Darby, you are required on the command deck." A female voice spoke over the the com. Jack stopped and turned off the terminal, got out of his chair and straightened his uniform. "I'm on my way." With that he left his quarters and headed to the CIC, leaving his thoughts of Arcee there in his quarters. PRIME EFFECT Jack entered the CIC as Anderson was standing over the galaxy map. He saw Jack and beckoned him over. "What's the situation, Anderson?" Jack asked, though he still felt a little uncomfortable with that. 'Still not used to that.' he thought as stopped by the Captain's side. "We are receiving a distress call from Ultra Magnus at the colony on Eden Prime." Anderson said before turning to the Yeoman. "Put it up on the galaxy map." "Yes sir, I have worked it through several filters as it it is highly fragmented, probably due to enemy jamming." she replied as she typed at the olo-interface of her terminal. "Okay, show us what you have, Yeoman." Anderson replied as he and Jack watched the galaxy map change into the transmission as it began playing out in front of them. The image showed what appeared to be a battlefield with a man in red and blue armour talking in front of it. "This is Ultra Magnus,Autobot leader of the wreckers. The colony is under attack from the Geth, I repeat, the Geth are attacking the colony. We are outnumbered by superior forces and need assistance. Please hurry befo…" The transmission fizzled out and ended leaving all the bridge staff stunned. Anderson took a moment to ponder his thoughts before he straightened his uniform and composed himself. "Hotrod, set course for Eden Prime and take us into the space bridge, set condition one throughout the ship." With that the lights around the CIC dimmed and the alert sounded around the ship. Everyone went serious and took to their stations. Anderson turned to Jack. "Commander, I want you and Lt Cmdr Alenko to suit up and prepare to go down to the planet as soon as we arrive. I will also place another soldier on your team. Your orders are to find Ultra Magnus and the rest of the wreckers and find out why the Geth are attacking the colony and help in any way you can." "Yes of course, Anderson." Jack replied as he saluted the Captain. "We will be the first ship on the scene. I know the Alliance will have be sending other ships too but we have to do what we can in the mean time." Anderson continued as he turned from Jack and walked away to the cockpit. "Do you duty, Commander." Anderson finished and Jack nodded and turned to leave the CIC via the elevator. With that the Normandy flew up to the space bridge as it came to life with a massive bright portal expanding in all directions out of the device before the ship took off into it and out into the galaxy at beyond the speed of light.

Here is my detailed review of the Transformers Age Of Extinction Leader Class GRIMLOCK. He is really a wonderful figure, and in my opinion, is far superior to the Voyager version. Anyway - give it a look and feedback always welcome! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCYIS3LBdl4