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A/N: Here is the first chapter of the final instalment of the main series. Enjoy. PRIME EFFECT 5 CHAPTER I "Since the beginning of time, we have been here…" a stoic and commanding voice spoke as lightning struck down from the storm clouds that had blackened out the sky, hitting the wind-swept plains as smoke billowed out of the burning wrecks of the Aeonian tanks that were scattered throughout the battlefield. "…for our species was the first sentient life in this universe, gradually evolving and growing into the bio-mechanical beings we felt that we had to become to earn our place in the heavens." Then as wind-swept through the long grass, blowing the smoke to the south, footfalls could be heard as more Aeonian troops and tanks arrived on the scene. They stopped just inside of the area of where the original battle was fought, though none of the soldiers could believe what they could see with their optics as two Commanders walked out from within the large gathering to the forefront. One was male with orange optics, and wearing orange and black armour. While the other was female with green optics, and wearing armour which was green and silver as they looked out at the landscape that was littered with burning wrecks before the latter knelt down on one knee and looked at the ground below her. "Our thirst for knowledge and advancement rapidly overtook our common sense and we quickly found ourselves outgrowing our world, moving out amongst the stars." She then reached with her gloved hand and raked it through the dried-out soil, collecting some in her palm as she inspected its contents. "It was here that we discovered that we were not alone in the cosmos, as many other worlds held life upon them. But these were organic life forms and each new race we came across was completely different from the next. It was an inspiring time for us Aeonians as we met more and more new species." The Bot looked down at his Female companion, his optics focusing on the soil that she was looking at in her hand. And both their optics widened when they noticed that there was another substance mixed in with the soil. "These life forms were nowhere near our level of evolution, though they were not the Neanderthals that we once were a few eons earlier either. But it was obvious that they did not understand what we truly were. For in their eyes, we Aeonians were as gods and so began to worship us as such." In the grains of soil were black dust which made the Femme's face become pained and full of anguish, as did the male's for they then knew what had happened to their comrades just some hours earlier. So the Femme then opened her hand fully and let the soil and dust fall back to the ground before she got back to her feet. "And despite ourselves being more evolved and advanced, we lost ourselves to our pride and began to see ourselves as those below us did. So once we had discovered all that the universe could enlighten us with at that time, making followers of all younger species we had met, we decided to find a way to make ourselves truly what all believed we already were, though we never thought of what the consequences of achieving that would bring upon us." Then the attention of the Commanders and their troops were caught by a deafening roar that made them all look to their right, and stare in disbelief at the jet-black giant who swiping the air in front of it with its hands, whilst stomping its feet onto the ground as though trying to squash something underfoot. The Male Aeonian then raised his hand in the air, earning the attention of all those behind him, whilst the Femme drew her blade and stood ready as they all stared at what was rising up before them. "We had discovered a way to draw energy from another dimension, energy that would grant us the very godhood that we believed we were entitled too. But we were so eager to become the very beings others saw us as, but we did not think about what dimension we were opening a door to and what we may be letting into our own." The entity now stood over one thousand feet tall and was still growing as it stood before the Aeonian reinforcements, as it's glowing purple eyes and mouth were visible to them as it roared, which sounded louder than a clap of thunder as it echoed through the very air to them, earning worried looks from the troops. But both the Male and Female Commanders narrowed their optics at it, letting the pain and hate for this being and the massacre it had committed fill their sparks. "What came through was something we had never encountered before. A form of evil so strong, that it began affecting the sentient life not only in our home galaxy but the entirety of the cosmos. It's very presence in our reality affected their hearts and minds, feeding on their anger and hate as they started to fight and butcher each other. We at first could only watch as we fell victim to the pain and anguish we felt for what we had done. But as the cycle of life that began with us and had expanded outwards into the universe slowly came to an end, we chose to fight…." "But it was to be a futile attempt, for the being had become too powerful for us and our advanced technology. So it slaughtered our armies and fed on their life force until only our few reinforcements remained." Then just as the troops gripped their weapons tightly, awaiting the Male Commander's order to engage the Darkness. Suddenly, a blue energy wave shot up from the ground and hit the monster's chest, causing it to cry out in pain. "…But there was suddenly hope in the form of two Brothers, who stood alone against the monster. And their names…were Primus and Unicron." Right there with the entity, both siblings stood with their entire bodies glowing as they let the energy flow over them. The monster then swung his fist down at Unicron who narrowed his purple eyes and rolled out of the way, just before it hit the ground. The gold and bronze armoured Aeonian then quickly recovered and thrust his glowing red Chaos Edge into the side of its fist and held on for dear life as the creature then pulled it's arm back high into the air. Meanwhile, Primus continued to unleash energy waves with his glowing blue sword, each one impacting on a different area of the entity which made it grimace and cry out in pain, as it's jet black skin reacted like a stone being dropped into a pond as ripples expanded out and over its form. "Together, they embraced the very power that we Aeonians had gained, the power that we tried to ignore in the face of the travesty unleashed upon our reality by our hubris. And this power gave them the edge in the following battle." Unicron then climbed onto the arm, before running up it toward the Entity's shoulder. All the while small tentacle-like tendrils rose up from its surface and attacked the Aeonian, but he cut them all down as he ran with his optics glowing a bright purple. Back on the ground, Primus came under attack from more of the shadow-clones as they grew out of the drops of the black liquid-like substance that dropped to the ground from his Brother's fighting. The clones pounced at him, but Primus swung his blade around him and created a barrier of blue energy which made them disintegrate the moment they came in contact with it. And he followed through from that with another energy wave which cut through the Entity's leg, which made it lose its balance a little as Unicron climbed up the shoulder, nearly losing his grip as the giant swayed a little and being under constant attack from more tentacles. But he kept them at bay and reached the top, before running up to its head and driving the Chaos Edge into its neck. This made the monster cry out in pain, causing lightning strikes and thunder from the surrounding storm clouds spiralled overhead. Primus then took this as his cue and spun around, making his blade glow even brighter before unleashing another energy wave which flew up into the air and hit the Dark one right in it's face. This made it lose it's footing completely and topple backwards towards the ground, while Unicron leapt up high into the air. He was glowing with a purple/red like hue as he floated high above the ground and watched him and his Brother's Adversary fall onto it's back. Primus then bent his knees and focused his power into his legs before launching himself high into the air to join his sibling, and together they both then flew down towards the Entity with their glowing blades thrust out before them. The Aeonian reinforcements and their two Commanders could only watch as the Brothers buried their blades into the Monster's face, which suddenly made it cry out such a deafening scream, that the entire universe would have heard it. And then the giant being exploded in a blinding flash of light, releasing a shockwave that spread out across the planet. "Together, Primus and Unicron defeated our enemy and brought it's reign of terror and destruction to an end. And showed us that we had to embrace the very power that cost us so much to gain." Once the shockwave dissipated, the other Aeonians were surprised to find that they were still standing there. They looked at each other and found that all of their eyes were glowing, even the two Commanders before looking back over to where the explosion to find what looked like a giant, wide mountain. After climbing up the new rock formation, both Commanders stood and looked on in awe at what was before them. For the mountain was nothing more than the ejecta of a massive crater, one that was very deep snd at the bottom Primus and Unicron stood beside their blades which were embedded in the crater's centre, each glowing blue and red. "With this victory, the brothers had not killed the Entity but instead trapped it inside the sealed breach between our reality and the one it came from. Their blades had absorbed some of the power we had received and became a lock of sorts, for as long as Primus and Unicron were alive then the breach would remain sealed." Then as the remaining Aeons joined the two brothers, Primus looked over to Unicron and noticed his sibling's optics flicker from red to purple and back again, earning a concerned expression from him in return. "Not long after this, we soon shed our physical bodies and became the very beings we had striven to become. But as it had come at such a heavy price with the first cycle of sentient life throughout the universe wiped out, one that almost included our own people, we decided that the only way to atone for our great sin was to watch over the next cycle of life that would soon begin to spread throughout the galaxy, with two of our brethren to watch and protect each galaxy in this cosmos." But as Unicron had noticed this look from his brother, the gold and bronze armoured Bot sneered and turned away and narrowed his optics as though disgusted by Primus's look of worry at him as if he saw it as a sign of weakness. "But we have learnt that even back then, we had already failed in our cause. For we had not noticed the seed of corruption which Unicron had been infected with for it would become the seed that would blossom an age of Chaos for the galaxy now called 'the Milky Way'. But over the time that both brothers watched over that particular galaxy, Primus had taken notice of Unicron's changing behaviour and set out to stop him. Creating something that could stop the self-titled Chaos Bringer and safeguard the galaxy while preparing for the inevitable return of the darkness. This was named the 'Trinity of Primes'…" Then suddenly the orange and black armoured male Aeonian turned and looked as though he was staring at someone, his expression was calm and stoic. "…and it is up to you to unite them!" he said in a commanding tone before everything then went white. -PRIME EFFECT 5- Suddenly, a woman covered head to toe in battle-worn black and red armour rose up on her seat, as though she had just woken from a nightmare. Her face could not be seen due to the helmet she was wearing, but she looked through its visor to see that she was still in her passenger seat aboard a transport. A Turian on the other seat in front of her and an Elcor both stared at her with puzzled expressions, but the female just ignored them and looked out of the window to her right, watching the star-filled void on the other side of the glass. 'Another crazy dream.' she thought as she sighed and looked down at the small table in front of her, with her eyes quickly coming across the holo-image device that was currently active. 'I forgot about that.' she thought as this image quickly changed her mood, making her reach down and deactivate the device, making the image of what looked like a man and a woman fade to nothing as a lone tear ran down her cheek from her left eye as it began to well up. 'Damn it. But I can't afford to take this off as I might get recognised.' she thought as she placed the holo-imager in one of the pockets on her utility belt and just leaned back into her chair. The woman then just tried to listen to the silence and relax before the Turian suddenly activated his holo-tool and brought up a screen in front of him, earning a sigh from her as she looked at the screen while a news report appeared on it. "…And in other news, it seems that the five hundredth anniversary of the Inter-Stellar Federation will again be somewhat of a sombre affair, as the once-powerful Alliance continues to slowly fall apart. It has lost members at a steady pace for the last century or so, mainly due to the lack of strong leadership from it's ever-shrinking Senate. But do we here in the Traverse care, can't say that we do…" the newscaster said, with the last part in an almost happy tone as the woman sighed and looked back out of her window, before the inter-com activated and gained everyone's attention with a chime. "If I may have your attention please, this is the pilot speaking. We are now on final approach to Yamm, so may I ask that everyone now remain in your seats until we have landed, thank you." the male voice spoke before the message came to an end with the sound of another chime. So unknown female just continued to look out of the window, now seeing the oceanic world of Yamm now clearly from her viewpoint. As the transport began its descent through the planet's atmosphere, the armoured woman looked away from the window as all that could be seen was a dense cloud. She instead just closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on the reason she was on this vessel, to begin with. 'Go see Barla Vonn and find out where 'she' will be recruiting more Mercs to her 'Leviathan' group.' And though she had tried to stay calm, just thinking of 'her' made the Woman's temper begin to boil. For 'she' was the main cause for the deep hole in this Woman's soul, one that she felt could never be healed. For she had lost everything, because of 'her'. And now after so many escapes and near misses, the 'bitch' was now in her sights. So the helmeted woman opened her eyes and looked back out of the window, noticing that they were now over a metal and concrete city surrounded by ocean. The Woman suddenly felt the transport begin descending again as she watched the ground get closer, while the buildings grew taller before it suddenly touched the ground with a slight thud. 'Not exactly the most delicate of landings.' she thought as the others around her began to pick up their bags and walk toward the exit, except for the guy in front who was still looking at the news reel playing out on his holo-screen. The woman stood up and picked up her brown long coat before noticing a familiar face that appeared on the screen, "There have been reports of this….." the newscaster then began to say before the Woman tapped the Turian on the shoulder, earning his attention just as the person on-screen was being described. "Huh, can I help you?" he asked with a slightly annoyed expression as he looked up at the helmeted person, who had been quiet for their entire voyage. "We've landed." she replied, taking note that the video was still focused on someone who looked a lot like her, even going into detail about her armour and clothes looked like. "Really!" the Turian replied in a surprised tone before looking around and noticing that most the people had already disembarked. "Oh spirits, thanks for letting me know." he added while quickly getting up of his seat and deactivating his holo-tool without really looking at it, much to the relief of the Woman. "You're welcome." she said back as she watched the Turian quickly grab his bags and leave the room, leaving her in there alone as she put on her coat and raised its hood over her helmet before exiting the ship too. As she left the ship, the armoured Woman looked around at the city that surrounded her. 'New Karnak, Capital of Yamm. The city that floats on the ocean.' she thought while activating her holo-tool and bringing up a map of the city, revealing that the majority of it was in fact on the planet's body of water, connected to what passed as the mainland by three bridges which led to New Karnak's outskirts. In fact, it that was where she needed to go, as Barla Vonn's last confirmed sighting was in its slums. 'He better be there.' she thought while walking over to a Human Male in a fashionable suit, who was renting out the hover-speeders which were positioned next to him. They looked like futuristic versions of the motorbikes from twenty-first century Earth, except without wheels and far more aerodynamic. So she began speaking to the Man, who in return smiled back and activated his holo-tool. A few moments later and the Woman was flying through the air on one of the man's very own speeders, zipping between the skyscrapers as she headed for the mainland. She had always enjoyed using such vehicles in the past, but now with everything that has happened in her life since those days, she just couldn't find it in herself to enjoy the moment now. All that mattered was finding her, and this Volus was now the only link she had to that person's whereabouts. So she instead just remained focused on what she had to do as her speeder carried out of the city's centre and over the ocean, giving her a perfect view of the two bridges that connected it to the mainland. It wasn't a long ride to the slums as she descended down to the streets, which looked like they had just survived a war with the rusted and dirty look the small buildings had, a world away from the futuristic skyscrapers that were less than a few miles away. In fact, they could be clearly seen on the horizon from that area, as the armoured Woman landed her speeder outside of a building that looked somewhat like a Tavern, though a very run down one that looked like it should have been a derelict. She took in her surroundings and noticed the people in the area, mostly Humans by the look of them. They all had the look of people who live in the slums with their ragged clothes and look of poor malnutrition, especially the children. There were three sitting up against the front wall of the building next to the Tavern, on it's right. They were just sitting there and playing with the objects lying in the dirt, looking as though they had not had a good meal in days. This once would have made the Woman feel for them and want to help, but at this time she had bigger things to deal with and so blocked it out as she climbed off the speeder and walked over to the Tavern's entrance, which was basically a flimsy saloon style door. So she put both hands on either lightweight doors, pushing them away from them as she entered the building. This made those inside the building stare directly back at her with an unsure but certainly aggravated expression, as though her entrance had interfered with whatever they had done but since she still had her helmet on, they could not tell who she was or what she was likely thinking. So she simply looked around the room in one fluid motion, taking note of everyone that was in there and their exact positions. Like the two Vorcha who stood either side of her, both already had their right hands slowly moving down to the holstered pistols on their utility belts. There was also the Hanar Bartender and two Turians standing at the bar, while to her right there was three Human Males playing a game of Poker. But sitting in the centre of the room directly ahead of her was the Volus in question, who was seated at a table that had a few pads on it. So she walked directly up to his table, looking at him through her visor while never forgetting the two Krogan behind her. 'They must be his muscle.' she thought as she stopped at the opposite side of the table to him, hearing the heavy breathing sound of his respirator coming from his pressure suit as he looked up at her with the yellow optics of his breather helmet. "Ugh…this is a private table." he said in an unsure tone as he looked the armoured Woman up and down, taking notice that she was still wearing her breather helmet and had it covered by the hood of her long coat, which only showed some of her armour, but from how well it covered her obviously athletic figure there could not be any hidden weapons on her person. "Are you Barla Vonn?" she asked while looking down at him through her visor, which made the Volus' posture change as he looked a little more agitated at the mention of his name. "Ugh,,who? I am sorry but I am very busy, so can you leave me alone please?" he replied as he picked up one of the pads in front of him and began looking at it, trying to ignore this strange who had just walked up to him. But the armoured Woman was not going to take this for an answer so she placed both hands on the table and leant down towards him in and swiped the pad from his hand in a more aggressive manner, making him look back at her in shock. "Hey, give that back!" he shouted, but she ignored it and tossed the pad over her shoulder. "Now that I have your attention, perhaps you will answer my question now. Are you Barla Vonn?" But the Volus merely scoffed and looked behind her to the two Vorcha who then nodded and equipped their pistols and start walking toward her. "Step back from…" the one on the right started to say, but the Woman just held her left hand in the air which began to glow with blue energy as she clenched it into a fist. This suddenly pulled both guards into the air, earning gasps from everyone in the room as the Vorcha flapped their arms about in a panic. Then the armoured stranger opened her hand and they were then instantly flung out of the Tavern through the window directly behind them, earning gasps from the people in the street. "You're a Biotic, but that means…" the Volus stammered before he then looked over to the three Humans playing poker and nodded, earning her attention as she turned to see them quickly get up and point their pistols at her. "Really..." she began to say in an unsurprised tone as her other hand started to glow while she raised it at the men, who looked at other with unsure expressions as they aimed their pistols at her. "Well, shoot her then, you fools!" the Volus spat as he was now off his seat and slowly moving towards the back door, but then the men's table shimmered with blue energy before it and all that was on it began to float off the floor. This caught their attention as they glanced at the wood-like structure and the cards and glasses that were in the air with it, making the armoured Woman smirk behind her visor as she then clenched her hand into a fist and made their chairs suddenly fly up from the ground and hit them all in the face hard, knocking the men out in one hit. She then quickly lifted another chair off the ground and flung it at the Volus, knocking him to the ground as she looked over at the Turians at the bar. "We...just...came in...for a...drink!" one said in a fear tinged tone as he stared back with widened eyes, while his friend's hand shook as he took a sip of his drink. "Get out!" the Woman said in a commanding tone, which made the pair suddenly bolt out of the Tavern. Even the Hanar-Barman had made a quick exit through the nearby door into the back of the building, leaving the armoured stranger with the Volus. 'That was fast for a jellyfish.' she thought as she looked back at the little fat pressure suited person, who was currently getting back to his feet. "Perhaps now you will answer my questions?" she then said, which made him look around the room and then back at her. "...Okay, you win." "So, Barla Vonn." the Woman said back, earning a nod from him as he looked up at her. "I am. So, what do you want?" "I am looking for someone, someone that you apparently know….very well." she replied, earning what could only be described as a curious look from the Volus, who tilted his head slightly. "I will need a little more than that." "She is the leader of Leviathan." the Woman said back, instantly making Barla gasp as he took a step back. "Then that makes you….!" he started to say, to which he stepped closer and looked down at him. And even though her face was hidden by the visor of her helmet, the Volus could imagine what she looked like now that he knew who it was. "Yes, and now you know who I am, that should make this much easier." she said, interrupting him while clenching her fist as biotic energy began to glow around it, making Barla gulp when he saw it. "I would help…but if I tell you, then she will kill me." he replied, making her lean over slightly and stare down at him as she raised her clenched fist slightly. "And what do you think will happen to you if you don't tell me what I want to know." she said before suddenly the Volus became enveloped in biotic energy and lifted off the ground, making him panic as he flapped his arms and legs around. "Arrgh….wait….wait…" he cried out. "Now tell me, or I will flay the skin from your body." the armoured Woman replied with a serious and final tone to her voice, which made him nod back in a panic. "Alright, Alright." So she released him and made the Volus fall back to the ground with a thud, earning a grimace from him in return. "So…?" she asked as the pressure suited alien looked up at her, while slowly getting back to his feet. "She is here on Yamm, at an abandoned factory several kilometres from here in a mountainous area. It is being used as a meeting spot for the recruitment of another mercenary group into Leviathan." he said as he activated his holo-tool and showed her the location on a map of the continent. This made the Woman look away from Barla, a thoughtful expression on her face under the visor. 'Finally, I've got her.' "So…..are we done here? Because if she finds out that I helped you then there will be nowhere I can hide, so I should make myself scarce." he added, gaining a nod from the Woman as she turned her back on him and began to walk out. "But just so that you know, but if I find out that she has been alerted in any way whatsoever or was not there, to begin with. Then I will find and kill you well before she even knows of your betrayal." she said in cold tone before walking out of the Tavern, leaving Barla standing there and physically shaking inside his pressure suit. -PRIME EFFECT 5- The journey to the location given to her by the Volus took a few hours as the Woman flew between two snow-capped mountains, but the change in climate did not even bother the armoured woman as she already felt that cold inside. It was even snowing heavily as thick cloud overhead began showering iced water down upon her, hitting the visor of her helmet hard. But the Woman did not even flinch as she remained focused on the one goal that has been her only priority for all these years. 'Today, I will finally give that 'bitch' the justice that 'she' has been evading, ever since…..' she thought before suddenly stop, as she could not bring herself to think of what she had lost because of that 'woman', as she would just find herself crying once again. But luckily for the armoured stranger and her thoughts, the factory suddenly appeared just ahead as she could just make it out through the onslaught of snow, with its towering observation tower and smokestacks. 'There it is.' she thought as she tightened her grip on the accelerator and gave her a sudden speed boost, making the snow hit her armour even more as her long brown coat was blown around behind her. And in a matter of seconds, she had landed the speeder on the snow-covered ground and just as the snowstorm had stopped as the cloud had passed over and revealed the blue sky overhead. She climbed off the speeder and looked at the factory which looked like it had been derelict for decades, with its concrete walls on either side of the large rusted metal door looking damaged and weathered. As she stood there before it, there was no sound around her. Not even that of the wind as the storm had already died down and past by. 'It's too quiet.' she thought while slowly walking over to the door before an RPG was suddenly fired down from unknown location which hit the ground directly in front of the armoured Woman and exploded, engulfing her in flames. But she simply walked through and came out the other side of the flames of the billowing fire, with only her long coat on fire as the rest of her was covered by biotic energy. This made her simply rip off the coat and fling it aside, leaving it to the fire as it slowly burnt to ashes on the snow behind her. But the armoured stranger then stopped and looked up at the observation tower, as that was the only place that the rocket could have been fired. But she then simply took a breath before squatting a little as she put both hands together and held them behind her as she turned on her hips away from the door. And suddenly the woman began to glow with biotic energy before she focused and made it traverse from her body and into her hands, making a ball of energy appear as she slowly began to pull them away. As she did this, the armoured stranger could hear shouting coming from just behind the factory's metal door as she felt the tremendous power building up between her hands. 'My turn.' she thought before she then twisted her body back, thrusting both hands forward as she released the biotic energy ball which then flew towards the door at speed and hit it with such force that it blew them wide open. And then the Woman instantly performed a biotic charge and sprinted through the now open doorway in a blue flash to find that the metal doors were still flying through the air, as was numerous mercs wearing grey and black armour. So she finished her charge by running directly into three soldiers, and the force of the impact flung them high into the air before they hit two of three columns behind them. The Woman then turned around and found that she was standing in the interior of factory's main structure which was littered with numerous columns, as well as many mercenary troops already raising their weapons at her as their hurt comrades recovered. "Freeze!" one of the soldiers shouted as they looked down the scopes of their rifles at the armoured stranger, but she simply charged her biotics and covered her entire body. "Make me!" she spat before swinging her right arm before her, creating a biotic whip which ploughed through several of the troops and knocked them flying. "Let her have it!" another enemy shouted as they opened fire on her, only for the bullets to harmlessly impact against the biotic barrier that was hugging close to her body. She then launched herself at the troops and hit the one she thought was the leader with a glowing fist to the face, shattering his helmet as he revealed to have a grimaced expression before forming a biotic whip and swinging it around her, swatting away several more troops like they were flies. "Take her down!" a voice then echoed from the factory's inter-com as the Woman took down more and more of the troops, either with punches to the face of kicks to the chest and back or from more swings of her biotic whip. And then she made another energy whip appear on her other hand and spun it around, hitting them all with both whips as she did so. After she came to a stop, the woman looked around to see that all the Merc soldiers were now on the floor, groaning as they withered around in pain. 'That can't be all there is…' she thought before the sound of many footfalls behind her, so the armoured Woman turned around and saw even more Mercenary troops rushing at her. 'That's more like it.' she thought as she readied herself for another round and looked back at them, as the soldiers began to surround her and aim their weapons. "Open fire!" one of the newcomers shouted, instantly making his teammates unleash a barrage of gunfire on the woman, but once again her biotic barrier absorbed their impacts as the bullets then fell to the ground around her. 'They never learn.' she thought as a sly grin appeared behind he visor as she then reached up with one arm before thrusting down at the ground, hitting it with a tremendous amount of biotic energy that suddenly expanded out around her in a wave that knocked them all flying. As the troops all hit the ground hard, she was still in a kneeling position with her fist on the floor so she looked up and around her to see that the reinforcements had joined their comrades, but just as she turned her attention to the area in front of her, she suddenly stopped and stared in wide-eyed confusion. For standing amongst the defeated soldiers was the man she had seen from her dream earlier, the Man in orange and black armour. He was just staring at her with a stoic-like expression, which made her feel uncomfortable before suddenly feeling the most aggravating pain in her back as she felt fifty thousand volts pass through her body. For her attention had been distracted from the enemies around her and one of them hit her with a burst of stun bullets while her back was turned, making her fall to the ground, spasming as she lost control of her body while the soldiers that were still alive had recovered and surrounded her before she lost consciousness. When the armoured stranger came too, she felt the armour on her knees scraping against the floor as two soldiers dragged her while holding onto her arms. She looked through her visor to see that she was now in a circular room with quite a view. 'Must be the observation tower.' she thought before noticing that along with the two soldiers holding her, there were three more on either side of the room as well as a Batarian directly in front to which she was being taken to. 'Must be their Commander, but where is 'she'?' she thought as the soldiers and she stopped directly before him. "Drop her." the Batarian said, earning a nod from both soldiers as they let the armoured woman go who then fell onto the ground face first, cracking the visor of her helmet. the masked woman had to admit, she was still feeling the effects of the stun bullets and was a little out of it. "Get up on your feet!" he snarled but the Woman would not comply, so he gestured to the two soldiers who grabbed her by the arms again and pulled her back onto her feet so that their Commander could look at her at eye level. "Take off that helmet." The Mercenary on her right then grabbed her breather-helmet on both sides and lifted it off the Woman's head, revealing a beautiful Asari who simply stared back at the Batarian with a cold stare. "Ah, Myra Darby. Well, this is a surprise…." the leader said with a smile as he looked back at her. "…don't you have something better to do than break into my operation?" he added before shaking his head. "Oh wait, no you don't. Because you're a Rogue Autobot Spectre now, put on the disavowed list by the Federation for becoming obsessed with murdering my Boss." "Where is Vasir!" she then spat back as she pushed herself forward, only for the two soldiers to pull her back as they held on to her arms. This made the Batarian's smile grow wider in return. "I am afraid that our fearless leader is not here, though I am sure she would have been overjoyed to see you again…." he started to say before turning away from her and looking down at the Factory's exterior through the window that surrounded interior of the observation room. "….so she can reunite you with your mother!" he added before quickly pulling his pistol from the holster on his utility belt and aiming it directly at the centre of her forehead, to which the Asari just stared back with not even an acknowledgement to this. "But instead, I will get this honour. Putting an end to what basically has been an annoying thorn in Vasir's side for the last couple of centuries….Farewell." he then finished as before slowly pulling the trigger and firing the gun, which then earned a confused wide-eyed look from him and the soldiers. For what they saw was the bullet floating directly in front of the Asari's forehead, with only the flickering of a small biotic field between her and instant death. "What the hell?" he then said as the bullet then dropped to the ground, earning a smile from Myra. So the Batarian went to fire his gun again, but then the female Darby's arms began to glow with a fiery biotic look to them and made the soldiers let go as it burnt their hands. "Arrgh!" they cried out in unison as she then grabbed the Commander's arm and hit him in the stomach with a biotic punch, winding him as he fell backwards. This also made the Batarian drop his pistol which she then caught in her hand as she turned around unleashed a biotic wave that sent every other soldier there flying out of the windows to their deaths on the ground far below. The Commander could hear his men's screaming before they were silenced a moment later by the sounds of their bodies hitting concrete below, but this only angered him more as he activated his holo-blade. But Myra was ready for this as she then waved a glowing hand in front of him and encased his arm in a biotic field, before then clenching her fist tightly and shattering the bones in that appendage. "Arrrgh! You Asari Bitch!" he spat back with a venomous stare as his holo-blade flickered to nothing, but blue Darby just looked down at him with an uncaring stare. "Please, I have heard far worse than that from others like you." she said while kneeling down and looking at him, as he sat up and cradled his broken arm. "And you should know that my Mother was not the only person that Vasir murdered, and for that, I will make her pay. Now where she is?" she added with a mirrored look as she then tightened her glowing fist even more, making the Batarian grimace and squeal with pain as the inside of his broken arm felt like it was being crushed into dust. "You…will….get….nothing…out….of….me!" he spat as the pain took hold of him, making the Asari shake her head in return. "Too bad. Then you have no further use for me." she replied as she let go of his arm, making him take a deep sigh of relief as the pain numbed down considerably. But Myra just stood back up and waved her glowing arm over him, flexing her fingers a little as he was suddenly enveloped by blue energy and lifted off the ground. "Wait! What are you doing?" the Batarian Commander said in a worried tone as he floated in front of her. "Seeing if you can fly." she just replied coldly before pushing her hand forward and sending him out of the broken window, letting gravity take hold as he began hurtling down toward the roof of the factory. But Myra simply turned around and barely acknowledged the sound of his body hitting the concrete roof of the main structure below her. 'I have to get out of here and find that Volus weasel and make him pay for lying to me. she thought before lifting her hand to the com-link in her ear, but stopped suddenly as the sounds of shouting came from the floors below which were quickly followed by many footfalls that were coming from the stairs leading up to the room she was in. 'Alright, looks like I will have to fight my way out of here.' she thought as she clenched both her fists and made them glow with biotic energy as she looked at the main entrance to the observation room, and waited for the Merc reinforcements to appear.

The Aligned Continuity - some love it and others detest it. Herein, we will cover the topic in three parts. 1. What it was and what it's goal was. 2. An overview of the story. 3. Why and when it went wrong.

Happy Easter! Now then, onto this week's Transformers Top 10 list! The votes are all counted and here are the results for the top 10 Prime characters!

The most "first" thing ever to be first - Transformers Prime First Edition Optimus Prime, the basis of the APC adaptation of this mold. Still, the original was pretty fantastic to begin with!

The femme fatale seeker known as Slipstream has a cult following, and it all kinda started off with her TFCC Timelines Prime First Edition version of her!

Looking back at the still terrific Transformers Prime First Edition Starscream, the fabled legend of the good ole Decepticon Air Commander!

Taking a look back at the Takara release of good ole Transformers Prime War Breakdown and his arms micron partner, Zamu, who basically forms Breakdown's hammer! For a long time, this guy was something of a myth to me but well worth the wait!

Looking back today at the Transformers Prime First Edition Bulkhead. I compare it to the Legacy and comment on the APC Toys adaptation of this mold along the way.

Can you believe I have never ever until now so much as seen the Transformers Prime Robots in Disguise deluxe class Vehcion until now? I have only heard stellar things and it feel like I was missing out on a quintessential mold.

As shocking as it might be, I have never ever so much as seen the Transformers Prime FIRST EDITION Vehicon...until now!

With the new Legacy lad beginning to make his rounds, I thought I'd take a quick chance to look back at another version of Dead End I have never looked at before, the Transformers Prime iteration...weird as he may be!

THIS is the Airachnid for whom I have been waiting! While not perfect, she is stunning and pretty fantastic!

He's sleek! He's cool! He's Transformers Legacy Prime Universe Knockout. While based on the SS 86 Jazz mold, there is enough unique to him that he just might fill the bill for some collectors as a very acceptable version of the resident Decepticon medic.

Going back to look at the large, impressive and odd Transformers Prime Beast Hunters "Ultimate" Optimus Prime. I have seen that word ultimate used fast and loose before, let's see how this guy stacks up!

I need that! A phase collectors often use, but sometimes we just can't get it all and some Transformers molds elude us altogether. Here are the fan voted top 10 Transformers molds that fans missed out on!

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!"

The Hasbro QC Dept. Fumbles the ball yet again on another Exclusive Megatron figure.

No word review/showcase of Transformers Prime Wheeljack! Cool stuff with the legs, arms and head! Made some subtle changes in the video. Longer, clear shots, no sped up shots and show repeating things from different angles. Better? Hope you guys like it.

PRIME EFFECT 3 CHAPTER 1 Jack looked at himself in the mirror as he waited for the guards to arrive so they could escort him to his trial. He had been incarcerated for the last several months while Admiral Bryce and Optimus Prime were attempting to stall the trial so that they could find a way to free him, but the Council or more so Councillor Sparatus had been countering every move the two had made. The reason for his incarceration was that he not only worked with MECH but was also held responsible for the deaths of forty thousand Alliance personnel on board the Paladin station, when it was caught in the explosion from Sparta star that had gone super nova. Jack felt his heart sink a little as he thought about those lives. Yes they had been indoctrinated by the Reaper called Harbinger at the time, and yes there was no known cure the Reaper's control. But Jack hadn't made the choice lightly. He had to weigh their lives against the trillions of lives that the galaxy held. Because if he hadn't then the Reapers would already be here, destroying everything he was trying to protect. He looked away and walked over to the window, he was finding it hard to look himself in the mirror for any given length of time. It was like he could see the faces of the friends and the people he had failed to protect like Kaidan, Miko, Wheeljack, Zaeed, Jacob, the colonists from Horizon and numerous others who had died during the Prime's mission to stop the Reapers. He had originally been plagued by nightmares and feelings of guilt and remorse after he had been brought back by MECH, but after becoming close to Airachnid and seeing what she had gone through in her life. He felt that he was starting to come to terms with it. But after what happened in Sparta and then having nothing better to do but think about it for several months while locked away in this prison, he had suddenly felt like he had relapsed. He looked out of the window, trying to find anything that could take his mind off the thoughts that had been plaguing him. His attention was taken by the sight of the play area that was full of children today. But one child in particular caught his attention, it was the same child he had seen playing there numerous times in the last several months. The kid had his toy ship in his hands as he interacted with the other children. Jack found himself smiling at the sight, if there was one reason for the choices he had made during his time as a Prime, then this was it. He was fighting not only to stop the Reapers, but also to safeguard the future for the next generation and every generation that followed. As he was looking out of the window, the door to his room opened. Making the Prime turn around to see two soldiers walk in and point their weapons at him. Then a third person entered the room, he was a Caucasian male with brown hair and wore white/blue and red armour. He smiled at Jack as he saluted him. "Prime." he greeted him with a smile. Jack though shook his head as he walked toward them, ignoring the soldiers as they kept the weapons on him. "You're not supposed to call me that, Smokescreen." he replied with an un-amused tone. "Not supposed to salute you either, but you know me..." the Autobot said back, shrugging his shoulders in the process. "...Anyway, they are waiting for you." Jack nodded in return before walking out of the room with Smokescreen and heading down the corridor with the two soldiers behind them. As they made they way down the corridor, Jack saw a familiar face waiting just up ahead. An aged man in red and blue armour who looked back and smiled before offering his hand to the Prime. "Optimus" Jack said before shaking the Autobot Leader's hand as Smokescreen saluted back. "Prime." the young Autobot said as Optimus joined the two. "You're looking well, Jackson, considering that you have been incarcerated for the last several months." Optimus stated as he observed Jack's build. "Well, when you have little to keep yourself busy with, working out was one of the few luxuries I had to stop myself from going insane from boredom." Jack replied. Optimus looked back at him, a tinge of guilt on his face. "Don't worry, Jackson, we will sort it out. And then you can get back to what you should have been doing." The three continued through the corridor until they entered a room connected to the courtroom that was just beyond. "Good luck in there, Jack." Smokescreen said before they shook hands. Optimus meanwhile walked up to a blue haired woman who was waiting for him just outside the courtroom. "Optimus." she said before her eyes wandered behind the Autobot leader and she recognised the man talking to Smokescreen. Her heart skipped a beat as she almost froze on the spot. "….Jack?" she said, gaining the Prime's attention as he turned and looked over to her. His eyes widened as he looked at the femme, it had been so long since he last saw her. He felt his tongue almost tie up in his mouth as he tried to speak. "Arcee." he managed as he noticed a slight smile grace her lips, walking up to her and the Autobot leader with Smokescreen at his side. "Arcee, why are you here? I wasn't informed of this." Optimus asked gaining a shamed look from the femme. "I was ordered to give evidence against you, Jack" she began to reply sheepishly while looking directly at the Human Prime. "...I'm sorry. I wouldn't have come, but Sparatus insisted." Jack gave her a sympathetic smile. "Its alright, Arcee. I know why he made you do it. It's not like we parted on the best of terms." he replied. The femme looked at him. "Yeah…." she answered before her smile returned. "…still it's good to see you, Jack." Jack returned the smile as another officer walked up to them. "They are ready for you now." she answered. Jack and Optimus then followed her, leaving Smokescreen and Arcee behind them. Jack and Optimus entered a large circular room with a large bench in front of them, the Admirals and Councillor Sparatus made up the committee were seated there, while at both sides of the room there was chairs for the audience who were starting to take their seats. Jack saw a large glass window behind the committee that showed off a spectacular view of Manhattan. As both Primes stood in the center, Jack noticed the witnesses chairs lined up just in front of the audience on the right and saw Arcee take her seat and beside her, he recognised the other person as one of the colonists from Horizon, not looking happy with the situation either. "Jack Darby,..." Sparatus called down from the bench, making Jack look at him. "...you are here because you have committed crimes against the Alliance and the Council, these crimes are the treasonous actions in working with MECH and the murders of forty thousand people aboard the Paladin station. Do you have anything to say that might possibly help in your defence." the Turian councillor almost gloatingly said. Jack looked at Optimus who nodded back in support before stepping forward. "I didn't ask to work with MECH, but they were the only ones who were doing anything about the threat that the Quintessons posed to our colonies in the Terminus systems. The moment that mission was complete, I broke all contact with them." He then sighed and looked down at the ground for a moment. Arcee saw this and could feel her spark break for him. Yes, she didn't trust him when she found out that MECH had rebuilt him...if that was what it should be called. But seeing him here and listening to him, made the femme realise that she never really gave him the chance to explain back on Horizon and that made her feel guilty as she continued to watch the Prime and the Committee. "...As for what happened in the Sparta system. I regret the lives lost on that day, not a moment goes by where I don't replay that mission in my mind and see if there wasn't another way. But the Reapers were on the verge…." Sparatus then raised his arms in frustration. "Here we go again. Don't you ever get tired of that excuse..." he spat while glaring at the Prime. "...I am sick and tired of hearing you bring up the same lies." Everyone just remained quiet, unsure about how the Councillor was acting. "...I believe what really happened was that you let the power of being a Prime go to your head, so you used the lies that Saren made up with the myths of the Reaper, so you could put yourself in a position of power." Jack could not believe what he was hearing, Sparatus was so delusional that the Turian thought that he was trying to make himself look better then the Council, or was it just Sparatus. Well Jack could feel the anger inside himself come close to exploding as he gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at the Councillor. "I cannot believe this, I thought that the Council were just in denial, but the truth is...it is you and your ego. You think that I am trying to usurp you, well I hate to disappoint you, Sparatus, but I am Prime and it is my duty to protect this galaxy from any threat. And that threat is the Reapers who as we speak are closer to our galaxy, hell they would already be here if I hadn't made the Sparta star go nova." he shouted back at the Councillor as everyone watched. Optimus himself seemed quite impressed with Jack. The Human male had every right to be angry of course, but he didn't let if over ride his senses unlike the Turian. "...We should be standing together as a united galaxy against the Reapers. But thanks to you, we are currently wasting our time with this show trial." Sparatus grabbed the edges of the desk in front of him and leaned over as he stared daggers at Jack, baring his teeth as he gritted them. "There are no such things as REAPERS!" he shouted back in angry desperation. Suddenly the doors at the back opened and an female officer rushed in. "What's the meaning of this?" Sparatus spat in rage as the officer stopped in front of the bench. "Excuse me, Sir. But we have lost contact with our Moon-base." she said, the worry in her voice was evident to the admirals, as they looked at each other in shock. The officer then placed her hand up to her com link. "Sirs, we are getting a visual from UK head quarters." she said as she pointed to one of the screens overhead that activated and showed a soldier shouting into the camera when suddenly an explosion took him out and the image went dead. Everyone stood up in response, the female officer then used her holo-tool and brought up security camera footage from atop one of the buildings and the sight it showed made everyone in the room gasp in fear. The image showed London being attacked by numerous Reapers that were landing in the heart of the city and destroying everything in their path with powerful red energy beams. Sparatus just looked at the images, his eyes wide and his mouth a gap. The Admirals looked at him before looking at Jack, who was just as shocked as they were. 'How did the Reapers get here so fast?' he thought as he looked at Optimus and the for the first time in nearly twenty years, Jack could swear that he saw fear in the elder Prime's face. "Jack Darby..." one of the Admirals said, gaining his attention as he looked back at them. And then he saw it. The fear and uncertainty in their faces, but what the Prime saw mostly was the shame that they had not heeded his, Optimus or Bryce's warnings of the Reapers. "...what do we do?" he asked in an almost pleading voice. With everyone's eyes on Jack, he stepped forward to the bench. "There is only one thing we can do and that is to 'fight'." he answered stoically. The Admirals looked at each other before nodding in agreement. Optimus stepped beside Jack. "We should get to the Defiant." he said as Sparatus continued to stare at the images on the screen overhead, the way he looked was like that of someone who couldn't come to terms with the truth that was staring him in the face. "Where is Admiral Bryce?" Jack asked looking at the committee. The female Admiral looked down at the Prime. "He is currently in command of the seventh fleet that is stationed in orbit but…" she found her self looking down at her table as the realisation sank in. "….if the Reapers are attacking now, then they must have made short work of our defences." Optimus looked at the committee. "Admirals, the first thing we should be concerned about is evacuating as many of the general population as we can out of harms way..." he said in a calm manner. "Yes, while also keeping the Reapers busy with an immediate counter attack. We wont be able to hold out for long, but it should be enough to get the civilians out." Jack finished. The Admirals nodded in agreement before ushering the officer away. As the female officer left, Arcee could not help but feel a smile grace her lips as she watched Jack and Optimus take charge, both of them Prime's to the core. But then her attention as well as everyone else's was caught by what sounded like thunder echoing from outside. The Admirals and Sparatus turned around and looked out of the window as red lightning flashed above the city as thick storm clouds appeared over Manhattan like a shadow looming over the city of New York. Everyone looked on as the Admirals, and also Sparatus's eyes widened at the sight that was appearing before them. "Oh my god!" the female Admiral said in shock as they watched the colossal black form of a Reaper attack the landscape below it. Jack though got to his senses and looked at everyone. "MOVE!" he shouted at them as the audience started to rush for the door, but not before one of the Reaper's attacks hit directly outside the window, shattering the glass in a massive explosion which threw the committee members into the air and launched the bench at Jack and Optimus who dived out of the way. The large wooden structure missing them both by inches as it flew past and smashed against the wall behind them and blocked off the doors. Jack landed into a forward roll before finishing in a kneeling position. He turned to look back when another explosion occurred and he was flung by it's force into a nearby wall. He then hit the ground hard, disorienting him as he lied there on his back. "Jack..." he heard a female voice call out. He then saw a familiar face looking down at him with concern. "Jack!" Arcee said as she knelt down over him. His head was throbbing so he placed his hand to it and nodded back to her, the relief on her face evident as she sighed in return. She then stood up as Jack himself sat up and offered him her hand, which he accepted as the femme helped him to his feet. "Jackson, Arcee." Optimus called to them from across the room, gaining their attention. They saw him standing over two bodies that they recognised as two of the admirals. "Are there any survivors?" Jack asked while looking around the room. Optimus shook his head, his face saddened. "I'm afraid not, Jackson, the admirals were right next to the beam when it hit outside the building." he replied before walking over to the doors that were now blocked off by what remained of the bench. "So was Sparatus." Arcee interjected as she pointed down at the body in front of her. Jack looked down to see the limp body of the Turian Councillor, it was hard for the Prime to feel anything toward Sparatus after all that he had done to stop Jack. And for what, the Turian had believed all along that the Human Prime was just trying to undermine him. Jack had naively thought that maybe politics might have been more honest between these advanced species, but in reality they were exactly the same as humanity. Still distrustful of each other and when someone was just trying to help, they would think that the ones helping were really trying to replace them. Jack was then interrupted from his thoughts by Arcee placing a hand on his shoulder. "Jack…." she asked. Jack nodded in return while looking down at Sparatus. "Yeah, let's go." he said as he looked at her. The femme then offered him a pistol. "You're going to need this." she said as he took it and smiled at her. "Thanks." he replied, gaining a smile back. Optimus meanwhile walked back to them from the entrance. "There is no way we are getting out that way, there is too much rubble blocking the door, we will have to go out this way." he said motioning them to the smashed window. The three climbed onto the ledge and looked out at the horrifying scene playing out in front of them. As they looked out at Manhattan, several giant Reapers had landed and were attacking the city while the sky was filled with hundreds more that were descending to the planet from orbit. "We can get down to the ground by crossing to the building next to this one. From there we will need to cross a few blocks to the spaceport where the Defiant is docked." Optimus stated, making both Jack and Arcee look over to him. "Okay, we better move then." Jack replied as they then followed the elder Prime across the ledge to the far side of the Prison complex. "This is Optimus Prime to any Alliance person, please come in." Optimus said into his com link as they walked. He then put his hand to his ear. "Smokescreen, you and Jazz are where?…..We are on our way to the Defiant now, we will meet you there." Optimus finished as they turned a corner to see that the next building was only a short jump away. Optimus holstered his weapon and leaped across the alleyway that was between the two buildings, landing on the other side without any problems. Jack looked out to see the play area in the park was on fire and then a small figure was seen entering the building that they were just attempting to cross too, he then looked back to Arcee. "Okay, Arcee, you're next." Jack said as the femme was preparing to jump when suddenly an Alliance star fighter flew low above the with a dragon-like husk on it's tail firing at it. Arcee suddenly lost her balance do to the shock and fell of the ledge, only for Jack to grab her hand before she fell any further. "I've got you." he said to her reassuringly as he pulled her back up and onto the ledge. The two embraced for a long moment as she panted slightly, still shaken from what had happened. "It's alright." he said softly as she looked up at him. "Thanks." she said with a slight smile gracing her lips. "Don't mention it." he replied back to her. They both then looked out to see the Dragon shoot down the fighter which crashed into a building, making it collapse instantly. The two then jumped over to Optimus who looked relieved to see his former SIC. "I thought we almost lost you back there Arcee." he said back to her, gaining a smile before she looked to Jack. "Yeah, me too. If it weren't for Jack." she replied. Jack though pointed up to the sky, gaining their attention as more of the dragon creatures were approaching. "We should get inside now." he said stoically, causing the three of them to enter the building via the roof entrance. PRIME EFFECT 3 Once inside they equipped their pistols, they made their way down the stairs to a large room that had looked like it had been recently abandoned. Jack walked over to a closed door only for it open as a Husk attempted to claw at him, but the Prime casually shot the creature in the face and got between the gap and pushed the doors apart. "Through here." he said as Arcee and Optimus each slipped through the gap and into the next room. Jack was about to follow when a noise caught his attention and he walked back into the middle of the room. He looked around and saw the little boy from the play area hiding inside an open vent. "Hey." Jack said in a soft voice as he walked over to the vent and bent down to see the boy retreat further inside it in fear. "It's alright, I won't hurt you." Jack replied in a calm and reassuring manner. The kid though looked at him and Jack could see the tear stains on the boy's face. "Everyone is dying.." he said in between whimpers. Jack though offered the child his hand. "Come on, I can get you to safety….. take my hand." he said. The child then started to crawl forward toward the Prime and took his hand. Jack smiled back at the boy, but then the room shook as the roar of a Reaper could be heard as it walked past the building. The boy looked terrified as he let go of Jack's hand and retreated back into the vent. "Kid, I can save you if you let me." Jack answered but the boy suddenly looked at the Prime calmly. "No, you can't help me." he replied, leaving Jack completely confused as he stared at the child. "Jackson!" Optimus called out from the other room, making the Prime look over. "In here." the Autobot Leader finished as Jack looked back to the vent to suddenly find it completely empty, another Reaper roar could be heard echoing out of the vent. Jack looked down for a moment in confusion. 'I hope that kid will be alright.' he thought as he stood back up and rejoined Optimus and Arcee. The three of them then found another staircase and started to head down to the ground floor. "I can't believe that this is happening." Arcee said with fear in her voice. "I know what you mean, the Reapers hit us so hard and fast…I thought we would have had more time to prepare." Optimus replied. "We knew they were coming, but most wanted to believe that it was just a fairy tale and not the threat that we knew they really were." Jack responded. The group reached the ground floor and entered the lobby, again it was completely empty. "That is why we need to go to the Citadel and convince the Council about the threat that the Reapers present, once and fall all." the Autobot Leader replied stoically. "But the fight is here!" Jack argued back, Arcee nodded in agreement. But the elder Prime looked back at them both. "It will be everywhere soon enough, the Reapers will wipe out every race in the galaxy if we don't unite against them. And I will not allow the home that we share with our friends and allies to share the same fate as Cybertron." he said as they left the building and entered the street. As they looked around, everything looked even worse at ground level. It looked almost post apocalyptic, with the damaged buildings, the streets filled with rubble and fires. "This way." Optimus said, motioning the others to follow when they suddenly heard a woman scream coming from an alleyway just ahead of them. The group ran into the alley to find two people surrounded by husks, the woman saw them and screamed for their help. "Help us, please!" The three then raised their pistols and fired at the creatures, taking two out with head shots. Blood splattering against the alley walls as the other takes several shots to the chest before falling to the ground. The man and woman survivors then got up and ran over to the group. "Thank you for saving us, those things….I can't believe how close…" the woman panicked as the man placed his arms on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her. "Easy, Loraine..." he said before looking to Jack and the others. "...Thank you, we were on our way to the evacuation points when those things chased us into this alley way." Jack gave them a reassuring smile. "It's alright we are heading in that general direction and will escort you until we come across another Alliance unit who will take you from there." The couple nodded in return and Optimus lead the group out of the alley and across another street towards the docks. After taking out some more husks as they went, the group stopped in another alley way to catch their breath. Loraine looked up at the sky and saw more Reapers coming down like fire rain. "My god, Harold, this is the end. Isn't it?" she asked fearfully. The man looked at her with nothing but affection. "Loraine dear, this is not the end. We are with some fine soldiers, you saw how well they have taken down those things that have been attacking us. We will get out of this I swear." he replied, pulling her into an embrace as he looked at Jack for reassurance. The Prime nodded back as Optimus and Arcee looked at each other. "Freeze!" a voice suddenly called out as the group looked at a group of Alliance soldiers approaching them from the other side of the alley. Optimus stood in front of the group. "Easy, we are friendlies." The lead soldier who wore red and silver armour looked at the elder Prime before smiling and lowering his weapon, his unit copying his action. "Optimus sir, glad to see you are alright." he then looked at Arcee and Jack. "Jackson Prime, I guess there are a lot of people that owe you an apology about now." he said as he gestured to what was happening around them. "Yeah I guess, not that it matters right now." he replied. "Sideswipe, we have two humans that need to be escorted to the evac zone. Can you and your team see that this is done?" Optimus asked. The Autobot looked at the couple and nodded back at the elder Prime. "Of course sir, we were actually out here looking for any more survivors, but we haven't found any." he replied in a sombre tone. "You have now." Arcee said with a slight smile, which Sideswipe nodded in return. He then walked over to the couple. "If you will follow us, we will keep you safe until we reach the EZ." The couple looked at Jack and he nodded in kind. Sideswipe and his team walked past Jack and the others with the couple before the Autobot looked back at Optimus. "Be careful if you go that way, the space port is crawling with Reaper forces. Good luck, guys." The others nodded as they watched Sideswipe's team leave the alley with the couple, they then left the alley the way the Alliance soldiers had entered and came to the docks. "It's not far to the space port now." Optimus said before a red laser beam destroyed a large boat at the docks as another colossal Reaper landed next to them and started laying waste to the area. Jack usher Arcee and Optimus behind some cover as they watched the Reaper turn away and start walking towards the edge of the docks. PRIME EFFECT 3 "Optimus to Smokescreen, what is your status?" the Autobot leader said as he activated his com link. "We are at the Defiant now, but the area is being over run…Hotrod….. launch now, before…oh Primus…..look out for that dreadnought." Smokescreen said over the com, as the three looked out at the ocean to see an Alliance star ship being shot out of the sky by two Reapers who were descending to the ground. The dreadnaught hit the ocean, sending water high into the air as it then exploded. The two Reapers then turned and walked over to Manhattan, their roars echoing. Jack then saw a gunship being attacked by one of the dragon-husk things and saw it crash just away from them. "This way, I have an idea." he stated to the others as they followed him to the crashed ship as the two pilots climbed out of it's cockpit. "Are you two alright?" Jack asked while Arcee and Optimus kept watch. "Do you have a distress beacon on-board, we can use it contact our ship." Optimus said looking over his shoulder to the pilots. "Yes, Sir" one pilot said activating his holo-tool. " There the gunship's beacon is online, you can use it now." Optimus activated his own holo-tool and opened up a com channel. "Defiant, this is Optimus, do you read?" he said, gaining only static for a moment. "Jazz here, what is your location, Prime?" the Autobot answered. Jack and Arcee kept look out on the horizon as the Reaper ships continued to rain destruction on the city around them. "We are at a downed gunship between the space port and the docks. We have activated its distress beacon, we need support and evac now." Optimus replied, but then there was only static again as no answer came. "The channel has gone dead." he stated. "Well let's hope that beacon does it's job." Jack said as Arcee pointed up at the sky as what looked like a flaming meteor crashed landed only a hundred feet away, it breaking up to reveal Husks that looked directly at them and charged. "Take cover and use head shots to conserve ammo." Jack said as the five of them ducked behind some rubble and started killing the Husks before they got too close. Jack shot one in the head, making it spasm before falling to the ground while the others each killed a enemy too. The fight went on for a while, but no matter how many they killed another meteor would crash land and reveal more Husks that would start attacking instantly. "I'm running low on ammo." Arcee stated. "We are too." the pilots said as Jack looked down at his own pistol and saw only one bullet left. He looked at Optimus who nodded in return, the young Prime looked around at the people with him. "Then we have to fight hand to hand, and don't let them touch you." he said as they all took combat positions and waited for the Husks to be upon them. Jack took a breath as the mindless hordes came ever closer until a voice could be heard on the com link. "Cavalry's here, guys!" Hotrod's voice said as the Defiant flew in low and fired two torpedoes that destroyed the approaching horde as the group watched in awe. Jack felt a smile appear on his face as he admired his ship's new paint job, blue/white and black, The colours of the Alliance. "Its about time!" Arcee exclaimed as the Defiant circled them and stopped over broken bridge that was raised somewhat. "Let's go." Jack shouted back as the three of them ran and vaulted over a broken beam in front of them and ran up the raised bridge while the two soldiers covered them by shooting the odd husks that had survived. The Defiant then opened the shuttle bay door/ramp and Jack and Arcee jumped over and landed on it, where they were met by Jazz and Smokescreen. "Welcome aboard, Jack." Jazz said, as Smokescreen helped Arcee. "Thanks." Jack replied before turning back to Optimus who was standing at the top of the raised bridge. "Jackson." Optimus called back. The young Prime looked at him confused. "Come on." he replied, waving him over. "Optimus though looked back at the two pilots and then at a shuttle of soldiers that flew past. He then looked back at Jack with a stoic face. "I'm' not going..." he replied as Jack listened to him. "...You've seen what's happening here, these men and women are fighting for their lives and their home and they need a leader." Jack shook his head in disagreement. "We are in this together, Optimus!" he replied. "This isn't a fight we can win, not alone. We need every species and all of their fleets if were are to stand a chance against the Reapers." the Autobot leader said. Jack looked down in defeat, he knew Optimus was right. "Talk to the Council, convince them to help us." Optimus carried on. "And what if they don't want to listen?" Jack asked. "Then make them listen..." Optimus replied in a stern voice. "...now go, that's an order, Jackson Prime!" Jack shrugged his shoulders. "I don't work for the Alliance anymore, remember?" the younger Prime answered. Optimus looked at Jack and then at Arcee. "Bryce and I figured you would say that…..,Arcee." Jack looked at the femme who placed an object in his right hand. He looked down and saw his old dog tags. "You're going to need these." she said with a slight smile. Jack returned the smile before looking back at Optimus. "You know what you have to do!" The elder Prime said as Jack nodded reluctantly. "I'll come back for you and I will bring every fleet I can…good luck." he said gaining a nod from Optimus. "You too, Jackson." Jack then stood beside Arcee, Jazz and Smokescreen as the Defiant started to rise, Optimus himself rejoined the pilots and headed back towards the city as evac shuttles flew towards the EZ at the far end of the docks. Jack looked over there and saw that the couple they had saved earlier were there and boarding a shuttle that had just landed, when someone else caught his attention. In amongst the people being evacuated was the little boy, who looked around nervously before staring directly at Jack. The Prime smiled back at him, knowing that he was now safe, before a roar screamed out as a Reaper appeared next to the EZ and powered up its main weapon. Jack's expression turned to one of shock and fear as he watched helplessly. The boy looked up at the colossal behemoth for a moment before running over to the last shuttle and climbing inside with some help from the soldier standing there, once inside the lad looked back up at Jack and smiled before the hatch closed and the two shuttles flew up and into the sky. But the Reaper fired it's weapon, the beam clipping the ship's side and brought it down, causing it to explode. The Reaper then fired again completely destroying the boy's shuttle before it could get away. The explosion reflected in Jack's eyes as he watched in complete shock before looking at the ground and closing his eyes and standing there completely silent. When he reopened them he looked back at the Reaper with a hatred, before turning around and walking into the shuttle bay with the others as the bay door closed behind them. The Defiant then flew up and away before the Reaper could get a target lock on it while even more landed in the city of New York. The sky looked like it was raining fire as hundreds of thousands of Reapers continued to descend to the ground below as the remaining population tried to survive the nightmare that was happening around them. Once out of the Earth's atmosphere the Defiant flew past the debris field that was once the planet's defence fleet and fled as fast as it could. The sun started setting behind the planet, as the Reapers claimed it as their own.

A/N: Well here is the sequel, I hope you enjoy it. PRIME EFFECT 2 CHAPTER I In a large dark room, the only illumination coming from a grouping of orange holographic screens in its center. A Caucasian man in his late fifties stood there and was monitoring each screen intently. On the screens were numerous videos and images of the star ship Normandy, Commander Darby and his team mates. Other images included Sovereign and Saren. He stared at the screens for what seemed forever until his attention was caught by the sounds of footsteps behind him. "You're late, Agent Lawson." he said in a calm stoic manner. "My apologies, Director, but it would appear that the target was harder to track than we originally thought." a young woman replied as she stood beside him. He did not even acknowledge her as he continued to watch the footage playing on the screens. "Well, it would seem that you still accomplished the task." he replied pointing at screen showing the target's current position. "Yes, we have a vessel shadowing them as we speak, here is the latest Intel we have acquired." she replied as she held out a data pad. The old man just waved his hand over it and the data then transferred to one of the screens. He then looked at it intently before smiling. "Interesting, tell our vessel to keep transmitting data back to me for as long as they are able." The young woman nodded before she turned away and looked around the barren room, it looked like it was made of mirrors as the walls, floor and ceiling all reflected their image back with the orange hue of the screens behind them. The man looked over to her, noticing her tense posture. "What's the matter, Miranda?" he asked, his tone shifting to an almost caring one. She then crossed her arms and looked over her shoulder to him. "It's just that Jack Darby did everything right. He saved the galaxy from Sovereign and the Geth and now humanity's place among the galactic community is stronger than ever." The Director looked back at a screen with the young Prime's image on it. "Yes, he certainly proved his worth when it counted didn't he." he replied while enlarging one screen showing footage of the Prime hacking down Saren from the Citadel security feed. "And yet it is still not enough..." she sighed. "...While he is out there searching, the Council is busy sweeping the entire affair under the rug. They are even secretly clogging up the Alliance with red tape, stopping them from helping in the search." the Agent continued, as her voice showed signs of annoyance. The Director picked up a glass from a stand on his right and took a sip of the liquid inside. "I know, the council would rather blame the whole ordeal on Saren and the Geth. Not wanting to believe in myths and legends, but we know what the real threat is." The young woman then turned around and looked at the older man. "Yes, the Reapers are still out there." she replied as the Director then waved his free hand over one of the screen's, making it swap places with another. "And now it is up to us to stop them." he said as he looked over an image of Sovereign. Miranda shook her head. "Unfortunately no one will trust MECH, even after all these years. They still believe we are the terrorist organisation that we were during the war." She then looked away from the Director, as a slight smile graced her lips. "But they will listen to Darby. He is a hero, the first Human Prime." she said with admiration that did not go unnoticed by the older man who coughed into his hand, gaining her attention. This snapped her out of it, her posture and face becoming serious again. "But he is only a man. If anything happens to him, I believe that we will all lose." she said honestly as the Director turned and looked directly at her. She could not see his face as the light from holo-screens shone behind him, but she could see that his yellow optics narrowed at her. "Then see to it that we don't lose him." he answered before taking another sip from his glass. Miranda then nodded before turning around and leaving the room. Once again leaving the Director alone as he studied the screens in quiet. PRIME EFFECT 2 Meanwhile across the other side of the galaxy, the Normandy dropped out of hyperspace as it's hull shimmered softly while passing a barren rocky planet. In the CIC the crew were going about their duties as Commander Jack Darby and his pilot, the Autobot Hotrod were talking in the cockpit. "We have entered the Amada system and the stealth mode is engaged." the pilot said before turning to Jack. "So we have been searching the Omega Nebula for a means to defeat the Reapers for the last two weeks, hoping to find a super weapon or something to use against them, but have found nothing. A big fat zero." he continued irritably. Jack looked down at the screen in front of him, reading the information that was appearing on it. "Never said it was going to be easy, Hotrod. Besides we still have the rest of the galaxy to search. We check out any lead, any trail that might lead us to something that we can use." Hotrod shrugged and then looked back at his console. "Well the sooner we find something the better. I hear the new Blasto movie is showing at theaters now, and I don't want to miss it." Jack, knowing where this conversation would lead decided to leave before being dragged into another movie talk, so he patted Hotrod on the shoulder before turning around and walking away. "I'll be in my quarters if anything should happen." he said as Hotrod lean out looking back at him smirking. "Is Arcee there too?" he jokingly asked. But Jack being the man he was chose to ignore it. "As you were, Hotrod." he answered stoically, to which the pilot chuckled before turning back round to his controls. "Aye Aye, Sir." As Jack entered their quarters, funny it used to be his quarters. But since he and Arcee had begun a relationship only a few weeks previously, she had spent more time in his quarters so he asked her to move in. He looked around the room to find that she was already claiming it by having more of her belongings on show than his own. The Commander didn't mind though, he would do anything for her. As he sat down at the desk and activated the console, he heard the shower running and smiled. 'She really does love that shower.'' he thought as he looked through the numerous daily reports and messages that had filled up his inbox. One was from Tali who had just gotten Engineering just the way she wanted it. The other was from Garrus and he was complaining that the crew's constant messing with the weapon systems was interfering with his calibrations. There was a message was from Wrex asking him to join the Krogan for a drink in the common room which made the Prime chuckle. Jack then turned off the console when he heard the shower turn off, and turned to see Arcee stepping out of the bathroom with a blue towel wrapped around her figure. "Nice." he said with a big grin. The femme smiled back at him with slightly red cheeks. "Thanks." she replied, a little taken back. He then stood up and walked over to her. "So I guess your shift is over now?" she asked as he put an arm around her back and pulled her close. "I am all yours for the next few hours." he replied as he started to kiss her neck. A sweet moan escaped her as she closed her eyes, enjoying his lips on her skin. "Whatever am I going to do with you?" she said before Jack looked back to her and then pressed his lips against hers. They tasted just as sweet and succulent now as they did the first time he kissed her. She suddenly surprised him by pushing him onto the bed and climbed on top of him as her towel fell off, exposing her athletic figure. Then for one moment they just looked into each others eyes as they smiled at each other lovingly. "Lights off." Arcee said as she bent down and kissed her lover passionately while the room went dark around them. PRIME EFFECT 2 It was late when Jack woke up lying on their bed with the sheets half covering him. He looked to his side to see Arcee lying next to him, smiling back. "Do you realise that you snore in your sleep." she said gently. Jack looked back horrified. "Why did you have to tell me that." he replied as he placed his hands on his face in shame. The femme chuckled as she got on to her side facing him. "It wasn't bad, it was soft and faint. I thought it was cute." she teased as she gently pulled his hands away. He looked back at her and saw nothing but love in her eyes and found himself relaxing as she then moved in close and rested her head on his chest as he started stroking her blue hair. "Jack, do you ever think about the future?" she asked softly. "What do you mean?" he replied curious to why she had just brought it up. The femme then looked up at him. "I mean us, our future." The Prime looked back at the femme and saw that something had been weighing on her mind. "Yes I do, I mean I know that we have the Reapers to deal with first but I have found myself thinking more about what we would do after." he replied which made her spark warm. She then took a breath before speaking again. "Well there was something I wanted to ask you" she said, her voice sounding nervous. Jack looked at her. "Well ask, you know you can talk to me about anything." he replied gently. Arcee sighed as she recognized the caring tone in his voice. "Well first, what do you know of sparkm…" but she was cut off mid sentence by the intercom activating. "Commander, you and Arcee are needed in the CIC." Hotrod's voice echoed throughout the room. Jack looked back at his love as she looked at him disappointed. "I tell you what, we take care of whatever it is that they need. And then we come back up here and you tell me what is on you mind." he said with a warm smile as she closed the distance and relaxed into a deep kiss with him, holding it for several seconds before separating. "Okay, let's get this done quickly then." she replied. As they entered the bridge, everyone was hurrying about as the atmosphere felt tense. The two walked up to Hotrod. "What's the situation." Jack asked. The pilot looked over to them. "Commander, we have an unidentified ship approaching us on a intercept trajectory." he replied, worry was evident in his voice. "But I thought stealth mode was active." Arcee observed while looking over the readouts on a screen next to her. "Yeah it is, so whatever this ship is, it has sensors that are strong enough to detect us." he said as Jack looked over at Arcee's screen. "Can you show us it?" he asked as Hotrod then transferred a picture of it to their console. "Here you go, it's the first scan I took of it." They both looked at the image on screen. The alien ship at a cylinder like shape with numerous sections sticking out while it spun on its axis. If Jack were to describe it, he would say that it looked somewhat like a corkscrew. He looked over to Hotrod as the young bot's face went white. "By Primus, they are targeting us and powering weapons." he said, fear taking over. "Evasive action and raise shields." The Commander ordered as Hotrod too control and veered the ship to the right as the massive cruiser fired an yellow energy beam that narrowly missed them. "Hail them." the Prime ordered as Arcee worked the console in front of her. "No response." she replied as the enemy ship fired again scraping the Alliance ship, causing numerous explosions on all decks. "We have a hull breach on deck four. And we are leaking atmosphere." Arcee stated as Hotrod managed to turn the ship just in time before the yellow energy beam hit again. "Tell everyone to switch to breather helmets, and get damage control teams down there to seal the breach." Jack replied before turning back to Hotrod who had just put on his own breather helmet. "Okay, enough with playing nice, arm weapons and take us at them." The Autobot nodded and swung the ship around and flew directly at the cruiser as it's beam hit the Normandy again, causing the ship to shake against the impact. "Fire!" Jack shouted as the Normandy fired everything from torpedoes, to its cannons at the unknown ship. "No effect." Hotrod replied just as the bridge was rocked by the enemy firing on the Alliance ship and slicing off the port-side wing, making it spin uncontrollably. "We have lost our starboard engine, I am trying to stabilise her with thrusters." The pilot said as he franticly worked at the controls. Jack looked at Arcee who too was now wearing her breather helmet as she looked back at him, it was as if they were both thinking the same thing. "What's the damage report?" he asked hesitantly. The femme flipped through the screens. "We have hull breaches on decks four, five and one. Main power is off across most of the ship." she replied. Jack then turned back to Hotrod and activated the intercom. "This is the Commander, all hands abandon ship. I repeat, all hands abandon ship." Arcee and Hotrod looked at each other worriedly before looking back to the Prime. Then the intercom activated again. "This is Tali, we have crew trapped down here in Engineering and cannot make it to the escape pods. We need assistance." she called as both Jack and his XO started to head to the elevator. Jack turned to Hotrod. "Try to keep that ship from getting a target lock on us, we will go down to deck four and help Tali." he said as they then walked off. "Will do, Commander." he pilot replied as he kept his attention on evading the unknown adversary. Once they got out from the elevator they were met with flames and smoke as the corridors were lit in the red emergency lighting. "I think you should suit up, Jack." Arcee said. The Prime nodded and removed a dark grey octagonal disc that had the silver Autobot symbol on it's topside. He then placed it on his chest and it activated, unfolding and spreading out along the Commander's body before taking the shape of the Prime armour, the Autobot symbol on his right chest plate shining for a second before fading. "Lets go" Jack said as they both headed down towards engineering. PRIME EFFECT 2 Once they arrived at the entrance to Engineering, both of them saw the problem. "Tali, it's Jack, we are outside now. It seems that part of the ceiling has fallen down and blocked off the door." he said into his com link. "Just stay calm as I cut through it." he then activated his energy blade and swung at the debris, slicing it in two. They then cleared out the pieces and entered the room. Jack went over to Tali who was sitting against a control station while his partner helped up the other crewmen. "Are you okay, Tali?" he asked as the Quarian held her arm. "I had a suit puncture that I have just repaired but I am now running a fever from exposure to something in the air." she said as the ship was rocked by another impact from the enemy's weapon. Jack helped his friend up and motioned the femme over to them. "Arcee, I need you to get Tali and these crewmen into the nearest escape pod." he said as he then saw the surprise in her face. "But what about you?" she replied. "I am going back up to the cockpit to get Hotrod, I'll be right behind you." he replied confidently. But Arcee was not having any of it. "We can do this together, I am not leaving your side." she said adamantly. Jack then placed his hands on both of her shoulders and looked into her eyes. I need you to help Tali and these crewmen. I will activate the distress beacon from here and will get into the nearest escape pod with Hotrod. We will be right behind you." he said, his voice remaining calm despite the worsening situation around them. The femme just looked at him for a moment, before accepting defeat. "You better be right behind us." she replied as she turned away only to have Jack stop her and hold his hand to her face to stroke her cheek. "Don't worry, you are not going to lose me that easily." He then placed something in her hand. She looked down to see his dog tags. She looked back up to him to see him smiling at her. "And I will want those back." he replied gently before being cut off by another hit to the ship making the room shake. "Now go." he said as Arcee helped Tali and the others out of Engineering. Jack then turned to the control console and activated the distress beacon, which dropped out of the underbelly of the ship as it drifted near a blue planet with the unknown enemy closing in. Arcee and the group made it to the escape pod as she hit the activation pad, making the pod open up in front of them. "Okay, Everyone, in." she said as Tali and the crewmen climbed in and sat down in the empty seats. The femme then activated her com link. "Arcee to Garrus and Wrex, come in." she called out, hoping to get an answer. "Garrus here, Wrex and myself are just directing crewmen into the escape pods." the Turian replied. "Me too, also I have Tali here." she said as the corridor filled with more smoke from the growing fires. "Is she alright? What about Jack, is he with you?" he asked. "Yes she is fine, but Jack is heading back to the cockpit for Hotrod." she said while looking down at her lover's dog tags in her hand. "Hey, Jack will be fine. He will get Hotrod off the ship before anything happens. We should go now though." he answered over the com link. "Okay, launching escape pods now" she answered as she entered the pod, the hatch closing behind her. Then as the Normandy continued to drift, it's thrusters barely keeping it stable. Parts of the hull folded out to reveal the escape pods which then launched out into space. Jack climbed up through the service ducts to reach the CIC, not even attempting to use the elevator considering how badly damaged the Normandy would be by now. He reached the top when the ship shook severally from another attack. It felt like an earthquake as he barely managed to hold on to the ladder. 'That one felt too close.' he thought as he reached up to the hatch and attempted to open it, but it would not budge. He activated his holo-tool and brought up a scan of the ship, looking at the area he was about to enter. It was flashing red as Jack realised the only reason that it would be doing that. 'There's a hull breach in CIC.' he thought. He then concentrated and his armour responded with his breather helmet unfolding around his head from out from within itself. He then heard his own breathing as he then activated the manual release and opened the hatch, the oxygen in the service duct being pulled out into the vacuum of space. He then climbed out to see that the CIC had a hull breach that covered what used to be the ceiling. He looked up to see a blue planet and the stars overhead as well as the attacking ship closing. He then walked slowly towards the cockpit, as he pushed floating chairs and dead crewman out of the way as he got closer to Hotrod who was still at his station, trying to keep the ship moving. "Hotrod, we have to abandon ship." he said while the Autobot kept trying to control the ship. "No I won't leave, I can still get the ship to safety." he defiantly replied as he tried to retain control of the Normandy. Jack leaned over Hotrod trying to press the issue. "The Normandy is going to be destroyed, going down with her won't change that." Hotrod's face suddenly looked lost as he realised the futile nature of what he was trying to achieve. "….Yeah okay." he replied sadly. The pilot then got out of the chair before noticing some information appear on his screen that caused his spark's beat to quicken. "They are coming around for another attack" he warned Jack as the enemy ship fired on the defenceless and heavily damaged Normandy again, rocking the ship even harder. The Prime then grabbed the bot by the arm and pulled him away from the cockpit. "Okay, I'm moving." he replied as Jack opened the escape pod's hatch and the young Autobot got inside and fastened himself into one of the chairs there. Jack was about to climb in himself when suddenly the hull behind him disintegrated revealing open space. Another explosion knocked the Commander away from the pod and back into the quickly disintegrating cockpit. The energy beam broke through and blocked him off from the escape pod as Hotrod watched helplessly from his seat. "Commander!" he shouted to Jack who grabbed onto the railing on the wall near the pod. Knowing that there was no other way, he took one last look at his pilot and then hit the pod's activation panel next to him. "PRIME!" Hotrod screamed as the escape pod sealed itself and launched into space, away from the ship. Jack then let go of the railing and let himself float in the middle of the room. Another shot from the cruiser hit a power cable near him, causing it to explode and send him flying out of the wreck and into open space. He watched his ship break up as the enemy fired again, cutting through the ship like a knife through butter, making the Normandy explode. The shock-wave from the blast knocked the Prime further away. Then over the sounds of his own heavy breathing, he heard a hissing noise coming from inside his own suit and realised that his oxygen supply had been damaged from the shock-wave. He frantically reached behind his neck to the breach in his helmet, trying desperately to stop all his oxygen from flowing out into space. But the oxygen supply emptied quickly, as he felt his lungs collapse. The air that had inhabited them being forcibly sucked out by the vacuum. He was consumed by a white hot pain across hi entire body as his organs turned to mush and he lost consciousness just as his heart stopped beating. His lifeless body then drifted into the planet's atmosphere. From where she was sitting in the escape pod, Arcee watched helplessly as the Normandy was no more but debris drifting in space. A million thoughts ran through her mind as she fumbled for her com link. "Jack, Hotrod. Are either of you there?" she called out, her voice nearly breaking. Then there was silence for a long moment before Hotrod's voice came through. "Arcee…" he answered hesitantly gaining her attention, as she got off her seat and stood at the window looking out at the destroyed ship. "Hotrod, is Jack with you? Is he alright?" she replied as she tried to keep a grip of her emotions. "Arcee,….I am sorry" he answered shakily. Her eyes widened and her mouth parted as his words sunk in. "Jack got me into the escape pod, but...he didn't make it. He was still on board when the Normandy exploded." The young Autobot answered, his voice filled with guilt and regret. The femme then collapsed to her knees, tears streamed down her face as the control she had over her emotions broke down. She let herself fall into grief as her eyes stung from the tears welling up in them. She looked out into space and placed a hand on the window. 'No, Jack, you wouldn't leave me…Jack!' she thought as she gripped his dog tags tightly. Tali looked away from the grieving femme and muttered a prayer for her fallen friend as their escape pod and the others drifted away to safety.