READ HERE FOR AN EXPLANATION OF SOMETHING:

Some of you might be wondering why the signal was coming from a completely different planet than Optimus was on. Here is the reason: Jazz was the one sending it out. He was semi-conscious and was using the last signal he received to call for help when he was unable to make one himself.

As for background lore... It's not G1. Definetly not using any of the screwed up G1 timeline. The story is set firmly in the Aligned continuity, and even then, the only events taken into account are from War for and Fall of Cybertron. That is all.

Anyway, on with the story.

Chapter 4: Autobots, Decpticons.

"Reformatting commencing..." The Decepticon medic, Knockout said as he entered the required information into his equipment. The red mech was short for a Cybertronian, but his chassis was polished to perfection, from his white face to his crimson heel-strut, a fact he took great pride in. Unlike most transformers, he did not have the glowing Energon lines on his body. He had already reformatted himself into a significantly less lit-up form. He laughed nervously as he turned around. "Um, this might... Sting a bit, Lord Megatron. Just a fair waring."

In the shadows near him, the outline of his master glared at him. "I clawed my way out of the Pits themselves, Doctor. Your procedure is nothing compared to that." The mech was being honest. He had survived the agony of limbs being torn off. He had had his chassis ripped open, revealing his spark chamber. He had been stabbed, sliced, shot at, and crushed under the fist of Metroplex. Reformatting would be less than nothing to him.

His wounds had proven severe, to the point where the chassis Soundwave had designed was falling apart from both wounds in battle, and going into long-term stasis heavily damaged. Even his voice box had degraded, which was why he sounded different. Fortunately, the 'Con had managed to design multiple alternate bodies for his master, and his degraded body was being re-designed into it, though his voice box was irreparable.

Knockout nodded anxiously. He wasn't the most powerful of bots, even vehicons were better armed than him. He usually relied on his partner, Breakdown, to defend him in a firefight. This, and his inferiority to Decepticon scientists like Shockwave and Soundwave, gave him extra reasons to fear the Lord of the Decepticons.

Breakdown himself, similarly reformatted into a non-lit form, was leaning against a wall nearby, examining the scene with mild interest. They were in Knockout's lab on the Nemesis, which was now embedded in a gigantic dust dune. The lab itself was nearly untouched, and most of his equipment still laid unused on his tables, his shiny new operation table only a bit rusted from time.

Soundwave stood vigil over the operation. He had found Knockout and Breakdown hours before, half-buried in the bridge of the ship. The Communications Officer hand been midly surprised at Breakdown's new appearence. The 'Con that had once challenged him to a race during the Siege of Iacon was now a big and bulky bruiser.

Megatron grunted as the Energon tubes attached to his body began to do their work, his chassis bending and shifting as the reformatting took place. Slowly, the lights from his Energon lines dimmed as his new chassis format closed around them, dimming his image even more.

"So, boss," Breakdown said, his unusual yellow optics dim with boredom-or sleepiness, it was a little hard to tell. "Do we have a plan for... Well, anything? I mean, even if we restricted ourself to just the four of us... We ain't gonna last very long, Energon wise. And I saw plenty of Autobots a popin out of all that dust outside." He scoffed, chuckling as a thought came to him. "It's like watching those ridiculous Junkions in their trash piles..."

Megatron glared at him, his red optics the only thing currently visible form the shadows. "If I had a permanent solution for that, Breakdown, do you not think I would have already employed it, rather than joining the Autobots in their quest for energy in the stars?"

Intimidated, Breakdown backed up a bit, holding his hands up in surrender. Though he was one of the few 'Cons who could directly question his master and not be blown to bits-a privilege he had won through many a success in missions assigned to him personally by Megatron- he knew not when to push his luck. "Sorry, sorry."

The warlord glared at him, but said nothing more to the medic's assistant as he turned his attention to Soundwave. "Have you determined if the Nemesis is fit for flight yet?" He questioned simply. As impudent as he could be, Breakdown had a point, as Megatron found the brute frequently did. Without Energon, they were practically off-lined already. They had the equipment to convert it into the Dark Energon the Decepticons now relied upon for fuel and ammo, but that too was less than useless without the original substance itself. And to find it, they needed a suitable ship.

Soundwave nodded. "Rumble and Frenzy have examined the engineering decks. We have determined that they are salvageable. However, we shall require workers."

"And how is the progress on that front?"

"Laserbeak has retrieved approximately a dozen Vehicons," the communications officer continued. "Three are worker class. However, that is still insufficient to restore the Nemesis to its former capabilities."

The warlord's glare harshened, and even though it did little to Soundwave, Knockout and Breakdown edged backwards uneasily. Any sign if anger from Megatron was a bad omen for any Vehicon in bashing range, but the medic and his assistant were the closest thing to the faceless Decepticon underlings present.

"Use them all if you have to. I need this warship operational again if we are to survive," he commanded, his now scratchy and hoarse voice making his steely tone even more intimidating than it had been when he had sounded deep and booming.

Soundwave bowed slightly, dipping his head in respect. "Yes, Lord Megatron," he said simply, and turned to depart.

Pas the door opened, Knockout suddenly remembered something. "Wait," he called, and the Communications Officer turned around slightly, halting. "I was taking inventory before the procedure, and I noticed that the Cargo Bay seems to have some additional weight. Something we didn't have when we fell through the Space Bridge." The medic smirked slightly. "Find something interesting while the rest of us were still in stasis, Soundy?"

Soundwave was silent for a while, his yellow visor seemingly contemplating something. Then, he turned around fully to face the Medic, and said one chillingly simple word. Though it was monotone as ever, something about the way he said it sent a jolt of fear through Knockout's circuits.

"Affirmative."

Shepard sighed as the elevator opened to the Normandy CIC. He tugged off his helmet and held it under his arm as he walked towards the galaxy map, weariness in his limbs.

The Autobots had parted ways with his group on the planet, apparently leaving to find their comrades. Shepard had called in the Normandy to make planet fall while Shepard called the Alliance for evac ships.

That part was... Problematic.

A metal race wouldn't blend seamlessly in a society where anything metal with a mind of its own was treated as a demon, or any equivalent in the other race's religion. That and their massive size and advanced weapons technology, would complicate things to come.

He leaned against the console of the Galaxy Map with a weary sigh, shaking his head. How was he going to do this?

He looked around at the crew. While no one had yet questioned him, it was painfully obvious they all wanted to question him about what was going on. The crew was already on edge about Wrex, Garrus, Liara and Tali. And after what happened on Eden Prime with Jenkins, he doubted they had any better opinions on synthetics than they did aliens.

"Joker," he called over the intercom. "Contact Captain Anderson and Admiral Hackett. Tell them we need a few large cargo ships. There's... Quite a lot we need to transport off-planet."

"Sure thing, Commander," Joke responded over the intercom. "Now, you wanna tell me what's going on here? There are synthetic signals everywhere, and you kinda went dead on our radars for a bit."

"It's something better shown than explained," Shepard said.

"Well, you might want to show us quickly. The rest of your little superhero team nearly had be come down here ourselves to hunt you and the others down."

Shepard smirked. "Well, it's nice to see they care." The commander waited for a few minuets, trying to be patient. But patience was a challenging thing on a toxic world filled with giant robots.

Personally, he was still wary of them. After seeing the Geth impale colonists on spikes and building some kind of occult shrine to the Reapers, a Synthetics made him edgy.

At the same time, though, he could tell they meant no harm. They were a race out of their time, and banished from their home. While Megatron was without a doubt a threat, he had a hard time imagining Jazz pulling a gun on the Citadel and slaughtering the populous.

He was jarred from his thoughts when Joker reported back with an answer. "Ok, Commander, two large cargo haulers en-route. ETA is about ten hours. Plenty of time to 'show' us exactly what we are putting on that ship."

"Don't worry Joker," he said, starting to move away from the Galaxy map. You'll know soon."

He was startled to see a certain young Asari waiting behind him, looking at the human patiently. That said, she was definitely as anxious as the rest of the crew, as could be told from the way she was constantly shifting.

"Shepard," she greeted him. "I wanted to let you know that most of these synthetic signals have converged on two places. And the signals seem to differ greatly from one area to the other. And... One of the groups is quite near here."

The Autobots, Shepard assumed. Jazz had told him that their ship was not a long distance away from the place they had parted ways. "It's nothing to worry about, Liara,' he assured her.

"But Shepard-"

"Trust me, Doctor," he interrupted. "I'll explain, I just need time." She looked dissatisfied by the answer, but nodded, stepping aside so he could proceed. He looked at her. "Liara, I would never do anything to endanger the Normandy or her crew unless is was absolutely necessary. You know that."

She nodded. "Yes, it's just... It's making everyone nervous. I hope you will elaborate soon. Not many people are taking well to the possibility that they are at the point of a gun they cannot see."

"Understandable. But they're in no danger. I'd stake my life on it." With that, Shepard walked past her towards the elevator.

Liara looked from him to her data pad, that showed the geographical locations of the two signals. One cluster was colored red, and the other a sinister purple.

And the purple cluster was getting bigger with every passing second.

"RAARGH!"

The roar echoed across the land as Grimlock hauled a pice of debris out of the way with the jaws of his Beast form. The fallen chunk of roof was hurled across the room where it crashed into, and subsequently obliterated, a wall.

He was in the ruins of an Energon Depot, sniffing around for any scraps. Swoop was right outside, standing guard while Snarl and Slug were searching another part of Iacon.

His demeaning situation angered the great warrior, and heat shimmered around his triangular teeth as he pushed more loose fragments of the building out of his way.

He was grasping at straws to survive, looking for what little remained on this planet. Worse than any scraplet, lower than the most simple insecticon. He was once a member of Cybertron's military in the Golden Age, a figure of awe and pride.

Now he was licking up the droplets he could find, turned into an abomination in both mind and chassis.

That made him mad. It made him wish he hadn't dealt with Shockwave so quickly all those centuries ago. What he wouldn't give to go back and make that one-opticed freak scream and beg for mercy.

Quite frankly, the Dynobots were dying. They had gone so long without Enrgon now that they were starting to shut down, like the planet they had migrated for so long. Grimlock's sword and shield had gone dark, and the others' weapons were long-since useless.

They had tread over the many metal miles of Cybertron, consuming the last remaining deposits and scraps they could find. Any survivors they came across were either dead or on the run from the primal group.

If Iacon was dry... The Dynobots were doomed.

He took a sniff of the air, nudging one of the old rusty Energon tanks with his nose. When he found nothing, a growl rose from his throat, his optics narrowing in rage.

This was how it was going to end for him? For his brothers?! They had survived Shockwave's testing, millennium of war and isolation, the loss if Sludge, all to be brought down by Energon deficiency and left to rust like some faceless drone left unburied on the battlefield?!

Anger and grief at his apparent fate filled him to the brim, causing his Energon light lines to glow even brighter. His optics flared, and he growled, heat shimmering in front of his muzzle.

"Nothing!" He snarled. "Not one scrap. Nothing left on this whole," he ripped the tank off the wall. "Fraggin'!" He stomped on it. "Planet!" He opened his mouth and a wave of fire rushed over the tank, reducing it to a glowing red puddle. He opened his jaw and reared his massive head back, and bellowed out a blood-curdling roar that shook the building and caused debris to fall from the ceiling as he stomped onto the puddle of molten metal.

He panted for a moment, before his chassis split and shifted, spiraling around him until he was back in bipedal form, looking at his work with an enraged posture.

"Hey, Grim," Swoop called over the comm. He had probably heard his Team Leader's outburst. "You ok in there big guy?"

"I'm fine Swoop," he answered. "There's nothing here."

"Well, this would have been one of the first places sucked dry," the smallest Dynobot reasoned. "Did you really expect to find anything here?"

"No..." Grimlock answered.

"Me neither. I think... Well, I think we're finaly outta luck, Grim. Slug and Snarl got nothin' too... And Iacon's probably one of the last places on the planet we haven't searched. I don't want to be the one to say it but..."

"Yeah," Grimlock cut him off, understanding where it was going.

"For what it's worth, it was a fun ride for the most part," Swoop tried to console him. "Rusting away on a barren world may not be a good way to go... But at least we'll die with our dignity."

"Lost that a long time ago. To ins-ect-I-cons." He struggled a bit, his downgraded processor aching from the more complicated word. He growled, and made his way towards the exit, shaking his head.

"Gri-ok," a broken voice said over the comms. It was Slug, his signal heavily glitched and full of static. "Si-o's empty. We'l- ack-amp site."

Though his processor was heavily downgraded, Grimlock was far from an idiot, and could easily infer what the other Dynobot was saying. He had guessed the long-range signal would be bad, what with all the corrupted signals launched by the Decepticons and damages to the communications stations during the war.

"Roger that, Slug," he boomed.

"S-e -ou in a- it. Wait, w-t's that? Gri- we nee-" Suddenly the signal cut out completely, leaving only white noise in Grimlock's audio receptors. His optics narrowed under his visor. "Slug? Slug?!"

No answer.

"Grim," Swoop interjected from outside. "I don't like this. I saw fire from here, and I'm pretty sure I heard somethin' big movin' about in that direction."

"If it can take Slug and Snarl, it has to be tough. Go ahead and scout it out, make sure your not seen."

"On it." Grimlock stomped out of the Energon depot, looking around. He spotted the smoke from the fire Swoop was talking about a few kliks away.

With a grunt, he slammed his fist into the ground and transformed, his chassis splitting and shifting back into his Beast Mode. After bellowing a loud roar, he activated his boosters and charged forwards down the deserted streets of Iacon.

A few cycles later, Swoop reported back. However, his signal was heavily laid with static, like Slug's. He was still to far away to get a clear signal.

"Grim, your not gonna bel- is," the unclear signal crackled in his head. "It's a p- on! Wha- LAG NO! Stay aw-" suddenly there was a loud screech that he could hear it from his current position, and Swoop's audio signal vanished too.

"Swoop!?" He roared, and narrowed his optics as he charged forwards all the faster. He raced towards the site of the battle, climbing over barriers and jumping and crashing through obstacles until he found what he was looking for.

Swoop laid in bipedal form, forced into stasis, but still alive. His leader leaned down and took a sniff at his comrade's defeated form, noting the burns on his chassis and scratches in his armor.

He growled, looking around. A few feet away, laying in fresh wreckage, was Slug and Snarl. Slug was in Beast Mode, laying on his side as his Energon light lines flickered, while a bipedal Snarl sat against a fallen pillar, clutching a wound in his side.

Grimlock leaped down, shaking the ground as he landed in the pit of scrapped and molten metal, making his way towards the most timid member of his team. "What happened here," he questioned. "Is the wound fatal?"

"No, I'm fine. Shockwave built me to last, after all," Snarl said, his voice inflicted with pain. "But... It's just not possible. This kind of thing only happens in vids and shows. Not in real life."

"What?" Grimlock asked again, but Snarl only continued to ramble.

"I saw one of these things at a museum when I was a Sparkling. You know, before the war. Had it hung from the ceiling. The thing used to scare the scrap out of me... Actually, I'm not ashamed to admit, still does."

"Slag it, Snarl, what attacked you?!" Grimlock bellowed, before the Stegasaurus lifted a servo and pointed behind him.

The Tyrannosaurus twisted to see what it was, and his optics widened in surprise as a shape he had previously thought to be a hunk of scrap started to move, revealing itself to be a mech of proportions equal to his own Beast Mode.

The Mech in question was in his own beast mode. It had a long body with four relatively short legs, and a long, lethal looking tail. He had wings folded at his back, and a sharp, spiky design. The beast had a long neck, with a crown of horns, razor teeth, four wicked looking mandibles, and a pair of golden optics studying him with contempt.

And on the Beast Mode's chest was a faction symbol that was neither Autobot, nor Decepticon. It was...

"A Predacon," Grimlock growled, turning away from Snarl as the two giants studied each other, heat shimmering from their maws and dangerous sounds rumbling in both their chests.

"Hey, Commander," the voice of Jazz sounded in Shepard's ear as he entered the hanger deck of the Normandy. "How's the progress on those evac ships. Everyone here is gettin' a little tired of this dust."

"On their way Jazz," he answered. "I promise, your people will be out of here soon."

"That's good," the Autobot replied. "And sir? I've done some research. Metal things with a mind of their own ain't exactly a welcome concept around here, huh?"

"It does make some skins crawl, yeah," the human responded as he headed towards engineering. "Something wrong?"

"No. It just... It means a lot. I'll be sure Optimus knows about this, Commander. And knowing him, all you have to do is ring us up. We'll be there for 'ya."

"Good. Can you meet me in a few hours? My crew wants an explanation."

"Sure thing- OW! Ratchet! I need that arm. Got to go, Commander. I have a pain in the aft medic to- I just made it worse, didn' I?" Shepard smirked as the Autobot terminated the transmission.

He had just finished taking with most oft he crew, and only the bottom level was left unvisited. He turned the corner into engineering, saying hi to Adams. As usual, the head engineer was friendly, but didn't have much to say.

Nearby, Tali was at her usual station. She tapped away at her station, the tiny Quarian seeming a bit more fidgety than usual. Though her face was permanently masked, she was pretty expressive through her body language. She kept shifting her weight nervously, muttering and shaking her head.

He walked up quietly, then tapped her on the shoulder. "Tali?"

"Ah!" She yelped, startled, and spun around. Her glowing eyes were wide, and she released a startled breath. "Shepard. It's you. I... Didn't hear you. Sorry, I've just been... Um, how do you humans say it? Lost in my head."

"Is it the Autobots?" Shepard asked, and she nodded, groaning.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No..." She said, then seemed to think better of it, and reprised with a mournful tone. "Yes, actually." She hung her head, leaning back against the railing behind her.

"To my people, synthetics are like your demons. It's supposed to be impossible for them to be good. They are supposed to be inherently vile, metal monsters that we shoot full with as many rounds as possible," she started to explain, an unidentifiable emotion in her voice. "But the Cybertronians... They act so much like people. That helicopter, what was his name, Grindor? He reminds me of one of my friends from back home, Veetor."

"So your having a bit if a crisis of faith?" Shepard guessed, and she sighed.

"You can call it that. Aiding a synthetic is the worst sin a Quarian can commit. The closest thing our concept of those who do are your satanists. Basically associating with the worst thing possible," she sounded bitter now. He could tell she felt dirty for dong this, and ashamed of herself for mistrusting innocent people, even though she couldn't help it.

Shepard didn't like seeing his friends this way, especially Tali. She didn't deserve to degrade herself like this. Her culture had molded her views, as does everyone's. It was only natural that she would have such misgivings, and she didn't need to beat herself up over something so far out of her control.

He shook his head and put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey. You woke up an ancient race that's been sleeping almost as longer than the Asari have been around. That's a good thing. Plus, you may have gained us some powerful allies against Saren. I'm betting Jazz and Cliffjumper on their own could crush quite a few Geth."

"Well, when you put it like that," she conceded, a hint of a reluctant smile in her voice. "I'm fine, Shepard. Just a bit... Confused, I guess. I'll... I'll sort it out, don't worry."

"Ok," he nodded, removing his hand. "If you need anything, just come find me."

"Got it," she nodded, before jerking her head, as if she remembered something. "Oh, by the way, Garrus wants to see you in the hanger. He told me to send you over if you came around."

"I'll head over there," Shepard, turned to leave. The Quarian nodded, and returned to her work. The commander turned, and smiled when he saw her a bit calmer than before, a bit of the usual contentment in her posture.

"RRAAARGH!"

"SKREEEEEEEEEE!"

Dynobot and Predacon rushed at each other, the ground shaking with the force of their assault.

Grimlock drew first Energon, ducking under the Predacon's bite and delivering one of his own to the creatures long-and venerable-neck. He closed his jaws down on the Predacon, and locked the mechanisms in his mouth to keep it that way.

The Predacon shrieked in pain and rage, and began shaking, though it was an effort in futility against the heavier and sturdier Grimlock. It roared in rage again, and its wings snapped open.

They were large, very large. Bigger than Grimlock expected as the Predacon attempted to lift off, weighed down by the Dynobot. He wasn't going to let this glitch go. He had hurt his brothers, and this beast was going to pay!

Suddenly something moved in the corner of his optic. He realized what it was a micro-cycle too late.

It was the tail of the Predacon. The spiky, claw-ended appendage tore into Grimlock's torso. The Tyrannosaurus grunted, but did not release his bite on the neck of his enemy.

His throat filled with fire, which he blasted into the enemy's neck. They both plummeted back to Cybertron, crashing into the ground with such force it shook the metal around them.

The force of the impact finally jarred Grimlock off of the Predacon's neck, and he fell a few feet away from it. The Predacon got up, Energon leaking from the bite wound on its neck. The beast hissed venomously, it's mandibles flexing at him.

"I'm just getting warmed up," the Dynobot snarled, stomping for the intent of intimidation. He lowered himself into an attack stance, diminutive front claws splayed and teeth bared.

The Predacon growled menacingly, golden optics studying him. The wings snapped back into its spine, and it arched its neck. A red and yellow glow rose from its chest to its mouth, and Grimlock realized what it was a second too late.

He flinched as a beam of fire, much more concentrated than his own, flew towards him. The beam exploded on contact, blinding him and leaving scorches on his chassis. He blinked his optics, trying to clear them of the blaze.

When the fire stopped, he saw the beast heading right at him with a savage bellow. The monster leaped and landed on top of Grimlock. It raised a paw and tore into the Dynobot's side.

He stumbled, shaking himself in an attempt to rid himself of the unwanted burden. However the adversary held tight. Grimlock twisted and grabbed the beasts legs in his jaws, and tossed him aside.

Pit landed on its feet and roared again, but the Dynobot head butted it with a loud yell of, "Shut up!" Before turning and smacking the other Beast Mode with his heavy tail. The Predacon reeled from the blow, and was unprepared when Grimlock rushed again.

Once again, he ducked under the bite of the primordial beast, but this time he put his full weight under the creatures legs, using his momentum to turn the movement into a devestating throw that hurled the beast back a few feet, landing it on its side.

It struggled to get back on its feet, but had no time before Grimlock was upon it once more. He lunged down to bite the Predacon in the chest. He shook it around in the air a few times, before he slammed it back down and planted a massive clawed foot onto the beast's neck.

He panted a bit, noticing the Energon leaking from the Predacon's chassis as he bent down and shoved his maw close to the Predacon's. "Your finished," he snarled, heat shimmering between his teeth.

He heard a sound that he thought was the beast whining, until it dawned at him that the noise was coming from behind him. The Dynobot turned with a grunt of confusion as he heard the sound of a heavy bast going off.

A powerful Energon blast hit him square in the face, sending him flying off the Predacon. He groaned in confusion as his optics flickered. He heard heavy footsteps approaching, until a familiar figure was in view.

There was no way. It was not possible. Sure, the Decepticon in front of him was much bulkier than he remembered, and was devoid of a left arm, replaced by a massive cannon, but there was no other Mech that that that one ominous optic.

"I know what you are thinking," Shockwave said, raising the gun to aim once more at Grimlock's face. "My survival is most illogical." The barrel glowed, and the mech tilted his head, as if scowling. "You were incorrect."

BAM!

Shepard strolled into the Normandy's hanger, but stumbled when he did.

Of all the things he expected, this wasn't one of them. The Mako was back in the hanger once more, but obviously it was far beyond saving. The roof was a twisted wreck, blown open by some massive blast. The rest of the betel was blackened, and the exposed inner workings were fried.

A few feet away, Garrus was looking at the totaled vehicle forlornly. Though he was physically incapable of changing his facial expression, the Turian's face still somehow managed to scream, I spent all this time working on this peace of junk only for this to happen?!

"What... Happened to it?" He looked at Garrus, raising an eyebrow.

"Megatron... I think." Garrus responded. "I mean, it's about the only thing I can think of. The bastard must have hit it by accident after Jazz hauled us out of there. Wrex brought it back a few minuets ago, had to drag it back here. The thing's useless now."

Shepard nodded. "Is this what you told Tali to send me to you for?"

Garrus shook his head. "No. I wanted to talk to you about the Autobots."

Shepard looked at him apprehensively. While the others had made their reactions and opinions of the Cybertronians clear. However, Garrus seemed to have taken a neutral stance on them. However, the Turian was clearly about to share his thoughts on the newcomers.

"What about them?" He asked, crossing his arms.

Garrus looked apprehensive, shifting. "It's a bit... Erm, well, this is huge, Shepard. Especially with the Geth going around. I think... Well, right now, it would be a bad idea to introduce them to the public."

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked neutrally.

"Look, Geth are killer robots with weapons of mass destruction, and they are the size of the average sapient species. The Cybertronians... I think the fact that one of us would be able to fit in Grindor's chopper mode proves my point well enough, considering he's the tiniest one there."

Shepard nodded in agreement. "Now, I know that they're not like the Geth," Garrus continued. "But put say, Cliffjumper, on the Extranet, and it will be chaos. People will... How do you humans say it? Oh right, loose their shit over this. Some people will want to kill us, or kill all of them, Factions be damned. I just want to know if you have this handled."

The commander was a bit nervous. Truth be told, he didn't really have a plan for this. While he knew that Anderson and Hackett had his back the permanently antagonistic Council would have a field day with this, something that he didn't really need at the moment.

"We'll figure it out, Garrus," he assured his Turian friend. "For now, the main focus is getting them out of here. At the very least, the five we've already met deserve to leave. And if the other Autobots are anything like them, they do too."

"I guess. I just... I hope you know what your getting us into, Shepard. I'm putting a lot of trust in you."

"Understood." After a second, he asked. "What's your opinion on them?"

"Personally?" Garrus responded. "I don't know. Some of them-like that Override girl, or Cliffjumper... They remind me of Wrex. Brash, violent and headstrong. Override and her brother already proved they are willing to attack on sight, and Cliffjumepr seems to have a hair-trigger temper."

He shifted, then rolled his hands in a 'to be fair' gesture. "Then again, they all seem to listen to Jazz. And he seems to be pretty level-headed. I guess I'm on the fence about all of this."

Shepard nodded understandingly. "I can understand that." Then he looked around. "I should go."

Garrus nodded, and turned back to the Mako, shaking his head at the sight.

Suddenly Joker's voice blared over the loudspeaker. "Commander, we have a problem. Multiple transports are en-route to the Normandy. Land based, all traveling fast. Is synthetics, but it's not the Geth. I'm prepping for eva-"

"Negitive Joker, don't take off," he commanded, cutting the pilot off. "Tell everyone to get their armor on and meet me in the hanger. It's time I explained things."

"Seriously, Commander?" He asked.

"Yes. Just trust me. We aren't in any danger. Not from these signals." He took the silence that followed as acceptance of the order. He swallows and turned to Garrus. "Looks like were about to see if your right. I just hope the crew can trust me."

Megatron's reformatting had gone very well, if he did say so himself.

He was larger than he had been before, with a more compact chassis. He was now almost uniformly gunmetal grey, with a large purple Decpeticon insignia in the center if his chest. His servos now had intimidating claws, and his optics had turned bright red. He had large spiked shoulder armor, and a compact fusion cannon on his left arm.

But the nose significant advancement was his conversion into a flyer. One were the days of his slow-moving tank form. Knockout had granted him an air-based vehicle mode, one of the most durable and agile aircraft designed by Decepticon scientists. The red medic had certainly earned his place in Megatron's inner circle for the time being.

At that moment, though, he had been summoned by Soundwave. He advanced as the elevator of the Nemesis opened into the cargo bay. The massive chamber was dark, the only light coming from Soundwave a few feet in front of him.

The Decepticon Communication Officer emitted a purple light around him, looking regretful. That was a new concept. A regretful Soundwave. He mech that had slaughtered droves of mechs and femmes, stayed by his side since the Pits of Kaon, had finally found something he was ashamed of.

"Lord Megatron." He greeted him simply without turning.

"Soundwave," he returned, nodding. "Why have you summoned me here?"

The smaller con turned to look at his master, folding his servos behind his back. "I am certain Knockout has informed you that I awoke some time before you did."

"I am aware," Megatron confirmed.

"I was re activated by tectonic shifts threatening my chassis, and putting my systems into emergency mode. I was able to save myself in time, but I was far away from any of our allies.

I spent most of my time since coming back online tracking the Nemesis. Instead, I found something of much greater interest." He looked down again. "I came across an Autobot Teletraan 1 terminal. In it was valuable data. In the final hours, Primus generated 36 Sparklings in an attempt to ensure our race would survive to see his re-awakening. The Autobots recovered them before we could discover them, and his them in stasis http right the course of the war. They were aboard the Ark when we left Cybertron, and had also reactivated prematurely by similar natural occurrences, as well as their stasis pods loosing power."

Megatron grinned at the news, putting his servo on his oldest companion's shoulder. "So, we now possess 36 troops sired by Primus himself?! Excellent work, Soundwave," he congratulated.

The smaller mech seemed to grimace at that. "Negative, Lord Megatron," he denied. "The Sparklings already had Autobot personality matrices programmed into their processors. When I attempted to recruit them, they initiated hostilities. In order to avoid deactivation, I was forced to respond in kind."

Megatron scowled, and tightened his grip on Soundwave's shoulder. "So, you slaughtered them?"

"I did what was required. However, the most powerful three survived my assault. Their designations are, Mirage, Override, and Grindor," he lifted his arm, and a hologram displaying the three appeared. "They have an attribute much like Nexus Prime. They are natural combiners, and form a gestalt called, Centurion." The holograms shifted to combine, much like their real counterparts.

"And now you have firmly assured their allegence to the enemy?!" Megatron snapped. "Centrion would have been a valuable asset after the loss of Trypticon's battle mode, and with Bruticus's status unknown. Instead you handed the power of a gestalt to Optimus?!"

The Decepticon Communications offeicer stayed calm throughout his leaders berating.

"Negative," he shook his head. "I did not kill the Sparklings." Suddenly, the lights activated in the cargo hold, revealing what was inside. As each row was lit up, more and more pods were revealed, until the unconscious forms of 33 Sparklings in stasis pods could be seen.

"The components of Centurion are not fully aware of our body functions. They do not know about Stasis. However, once they find their comrades alive..."

"They will do anything to keep them that way," Megatron caught on, a smirk forming on his face as he looked down at their young prisoners. "Including trading in their Autobot insignias for a trio of fresh Decepticon shields." He grinned, showing off his new sharp teeth as he began to chuckle in amusement.

The crew of the Normandy was gathered outside, their armor and helmets protecting them from the less-than-hospitable environment of the planet.

Shepard stood in front of them, looking around nervously.

The wreck of the Mako had been disposed of a few meters away, tossed uncannily out of the Hangar by Wrex, who had done it with utter glee after all the times Shepard had made him sick aboard the damn thing.

He searched around for any sign of the Autobots, but there was nothing yet. He looked at the people in front of them. The members of the team that had been on the ground with him, Tali, Wrex and Garrus, took up the back, looking apprehensive.

He could see the faces he had grown close to in the crowd. Ashely, Kaiden, Liara, Pressly. Even Joker had been wheeled out on his chair in an environment suit, waiting to see what exactly they were having the Alliance transport off-world.

He took a deep breath, and began speaking. "We've been through a lot. Therum, Feros... Noveria. Much more. You know what our mission has been. To stop Saren and the Geth. To save the Galaxy from... Whatever they are doing."

"However, this is where we change the galaxy. On this planet, we have discovered something that could change everything. It will effect the galaxy just as heavily as when we appeared on the scene." He paused to think. "It could actually affect society more."

"What we found here, we could end this case once and for all. But more importantly, we would be saving an entire species. I know most of you have had issues with aliens in the past, and some still do. However, for those of you who have grown past this, I hope you still keep an open mind about non-humans."

Suddenly he heard the sound of approaching engines. His heart pounded in his ears, and he swallowed. This was it. This was the moment of truth. He felt slightly intimidated by what he was about to do.

He looked around, and saw Tali at the back. She nodded at him reassuringly, as if to tell him that she had his back. Garrus did the same, and Wrex sneered at him in a way that made Shepard think the Krogan was telling him to grow a spine.

"And about synthetics too." He said as several vehicles came into view.

The Autobots approached their new potential allies. They numbered as five, all approaching in a single-file line, their degraded chastises still gleaming in the sunlight. Taking up the front was Jazz, and the screeched to a halt in front of the group, casuing them to stumble backwards as they made a semi-cirlce as round the Normandy crew.

As one, they began to transform, going from ordinary vehicles to several well known Autobots. The towered above the Normandy crew with closing optics and indimidate ing forms, looking like mythological titans as their chassises made the final few adjustments to the their bipedal forms.

Now gathered around the Normandy were Jazz, Ironhide, Cliffjumper, Ratchet and Bumblebee. "Normandy crew," Shepard said, turning to once again address the people who had served under him for just under a year now. "Meet the Autobots."