Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer


Shockwave was overseeing the upgrading of organics volunteers, and others taken in by his forces. Using the vorcha's regenerative ability, survival among the subjects far exceeded Shockwave's initial projections without this genetic inclusion. Now with turians, asari, salarians, and humans, the versatility and durability of these uplifted ones were truly aspiring as even the vorcha were given these new genetic adventitious traits provided by the other races.

Starscream didn't see the progress to be so 'uplifting' however, "A mere three hundred thousand of these flesh creatures and we lose over a hundred Reapers to Megatron and the Autobots. I still don't see how this equates. I thought you were supposed to be all about logic? That is of course unless you decided that logic is no longer the only way of thinking?"

Shockwave's avatar stopped, turning to the pessimist, "Logic is the only thing that drives me. It is the only thing that should drive anything. And everything is proceeding as expected. Reaper forces and my own are still in a joint effort of eliminating the Autobots and delaying Megatron's forces, though both are still secondary objectives. However, you are correct. Foot soldiers cannot replace the value of a strong fleet. So for now, our efforts will remain on continuing with our primary plans, respectfully."

"Primary plans? You mean your upgrades to the organics? And the Reapers…whatever they do."

"Yes and no. The other Reapers will continue their efforts of constructing a new Sovereign-class Reaper, as the organics have dubbed it, from the extracted essence of humans. This project you see before you is simply a cover for my true plans."

Starscream forced his way into Shockwave's path, "And what, pray tell, is that?"

The avatar stopped only because Starscream stood in his path. Though he walked around and continued to the next group for processing, "Plans I instigated before our integration. So far none have succeeded, though my findings suggest that my wait will not be much longer. And it is through organics that these plans can finally be realized."


Grimlock and his Lightning Strike Coalition were able to destroy another Reaper Destroyer, standing victorious over it. But before any kind of celebration or congrats could be exchanged, more Reapers started to break through the cloud cover. "Not sound like coward, but me Swoop think we need new plan."

Roadbuster just couldn't see them fighting that many Reapers at once. "I wouldn't think anything less of us if we temporarily left this world."

Grimlock grabbed the hilt of his sword, angered that the only way to survive was to flee. Snarl grabbed his hand, "Grimlock. Time we go."

"Lightning Strike, retreat to ship." Grimlock looked back one last time, contacting Prime, "Optimus, we leaving now."

"The Ark will provide you cover fire until you return to your ship."

"Just like Cybertron…always retreating…never capturing…"


It took nearly thirty experiments, and more than twice as many explosions, but Wheeljack finally got a stable Energon formula working. Now he had to do the real testing, to see if it was consumable for Autobots.

"Is it safe?"

"Is it safe, you say?" Wheeljack chuckled at Anderson's question, though he paused for a moment to check his notes again, "Yeah its safe! But uh…" waving his hand back to the humans, "I think you should observe from right there."

Cliffjumper picked up the Energon cube, "Only one way to be certain. Bottom's up!" Before Hot Rod or Brawn could stop him, Cliff quickly guzzled down the Energon.

The humans back away again, uncertain what was about to happen to the Autobot, if anything. Wheeljack took a slight step toward him, activating an omni-tool fitted by Perceptor. "How do ya feel?"

Cliffjumper started rotating his arms, "I feel reenergized as usual. Nothing too bad."

Wheeljack's scans also confirmed Cliffjumper's initial assessments. "All readings appear normal. But I wanna run more tests before we start mass producing this stuff. We wouldn't want any backlash in the middle of combat."


Wrex managed to get the two maw hammers ready, now all Shepard had to do was activate them. Unfortunately Warpath and his men weren't in position yet before the Reaper tried to gun down Shepard's team, dropping them to a lower level.

Forced to run across a rather open area, though at least they had cover to run to in between blasts. They were now near the base of the Reaper and with no cover left, they were in a rather tight spot.

"YAHOOO!" a missile careened overhead, smashing into the Reaper.

The Aerialbots and the turians fighters were back as Warpath and the other Autobots started shelling it from multiple angles. "Commander, this is Artimec wing. We'll try to give that Reaper something else to shoot at!"

"I knew they wouldn't give up."

"Goddess be with them."

"Aerialbots, I think we need superior strength now!"

Silverbolt and four other Aerialbots were now flying in formation as the others continued to draw the Reaper's attention. Like the Constructicons and the Protectobots, the five of them were combining into a new form. "Superion ready." The new massive Autobot was on top of the Reaper as he started pounding and blasting at it.

As Shepard's team moved underneath they weren't completely unnoticed. The Reaper started to deploy Brutes to stop them. Decibel moved up, "Commander, we've got this. Activate the hammers!" Decibel split into Noise and Graphy once more as the two held the Brutes at bay.

Now the real work, avoiding the Reaper's legs as they stomped the area. There were a few narrow misses but Shepard reached the first hammer and activated it, "Mordin we hit the first hammer! How's it coming?"

"Almost have cure! Eve's vital sign's dropping! Trying to compensate!"

Graphy was playing a more defensive role, occupying the attention of the Brutes while staying just out of range of their claws while Noise bit their necks, severing the heads. But no matter how many Brutes they were able to dispose of the Reaper continued to send more out against them.

During all of the madness of trying to give Shepard time to get to the other hammer controls, Graphy noticed a unusual shift in the sands below their feet. One of the Brutes was about to crush Noise while he was distracted with tearing the head off another when suddenly a sinkhole appeared beneath it. The Brute managed to grab hold of the ground before falling in, though something was tugging at its legs until the ground it was holding gave way and forcing the Brute down. Noise jumped away from the hole and started to roar at it.

Graphy came back as the two combined, ignoring the Brute behind them as it too was swallowed up by another sinkhole. From the two sinkholes a swarm of Insecticons burst through, as Hardshell landed in front of Decibel. "Autobot…why summon us? I thought I told you to leave this world?"

"We are here to cure the krogan genopahge. We will achieve this mission."

Hardshell looked up to the Reaper before them, then looked to the maw hammers. "You seek to summon the Mother?"

"Mother?"

Decibel looked to the rest of the swarm as they were converging on the ever appearing Brutes, ignoring Shepard, Garrus and Liara, for now. One Insecticon rammed its horn through a Brute's stomach as others ripped its arms off. One Brute managed to use its claw arm to tear into an Insecticon, ripping off its wings before it relentlessly pounded away.

"Yes. She calls to us. She is us. She tells us we are one."

Decibel was uncertain, but he deduced the possibility that Kalros, and the 'Mother' Hardshell refers to are one in the same. "Yes. We seek her aid in destroying the Reaper."

"Then we shall assist. And once the Reaper has been dealt with, you and your Autobot filth are to leave our planet."

Decibel nodded, uncertain of this rather unholy deal. Shepard heard some of it, though he wasn't going to complain as long as they could get the Reaper out of their way. With the second hammer now active, he turned to the others, "Go! Get back to the truck! I'll take care of the cure!" Garrus and Liara did, though Decibel remained, staying with Shepard.

With the two hammers now activated turian and Autobot forces quickly retreated, as the Insecticon swarm continued to nip at the Reaper. Completely ignoring the swarm flying around it, the Reaper turned its full attention to the coming thresher maw as it burrowed underneath just as the Reaper fried. The Insecticon swarm suddenly disbursed as Kalros rose up and latched onto the Reaper

With the way Kalros was attached, the Reaper couldn't use its weapon against it. So it did the only thing it could do, the Reaper used the Shroud to cause pain to Kalros, forcing her to let go. Kalros was more enduring than that, quickly retreating underground before the Reaper could get a beat on her.

The Reaper then tried readjusting itself to prepare for Kalros' inevitable return. But the Insecticons ran interference, starting to bit and rip at its main batter when Kalros appeared, displaying her awesome might, speed, and size, she latched onto the Reaper once more and this time slammed it hard into the sand. On its side now, Kalros started to coil around the Reaper like a snake, squeezing it and forcing its only weapon to look up into the sky helpless as she dragged it underground with the Insecticon swarm right behind her.

With the sight of the Insecticons and the Reapers gone, Shepard and Decibel quickly ran to the lab. Unfortunately the Reaper's use of the Shroud had caused structural integrity to give out. The Shroud had mere minutes left before it would collapse. Mordin though was too busy at work, "Mordin! Is the cure ready?"

"Yes. Loaded for dispersal in two minutes. Procedure traumatic for Eve, but not lethal. Maelon's research invaluable."

"She's okay?"

"Headed to safety now. Her survival fortunate. Will stabilize new government should Wrex get any ideas. Good match, promising future for krogan."

"Damn!" a piece of the Shroud landing a bit too close for comfort.

"Control room at top of Shroud tower. Must take elevator up."

"You're going up there?"

"Yes. Manual access required. Have to counteract STG sabotage. Ensure cure dispersed properly."

"Mordin, this whole thing is coming apart. There's got to be another way!"

"Remote bypass impossible. STG countermeasures in place. No time to adjust cure for temperature variance." Mordin looked up to the Shroud, knowing what he had to do, "No. no other option. Not coming back. Suggest you get clear. Explosions likely to be problematic."

"Mordin, no!"

Mordin lowered his head slightly, pausing inside the elevator before looking back, "Shepard, please. Need to do this. My project. My work. My cure. My responsibility. Would have liked to run tests on seashells."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not. Had to be me." Activating the elevator, "Someone else might've gotten it wrong."


Once at the top, the control room was ablaze as the computer continuously repeated, "Warning: Temperature malfunction detected."

Mordin quickly got to work adjusting the setting so the cure would indeed work for every krogan, freeing them of the gene alteration his people created. As he continued to work, he started to hum a song, "I've studied species turian, asari, and batarian…"

"Temperature now within acceptable range. Dispersal commencing."

Mordin smiled as he watched the cure spread across the entire planet's atmosphere. Feeling fulfilled, Mordin accepted his demise, as he continued his little song, "My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian. I am…" Air Raid landed on the Shroud, putting his fist through the window and grabbing Mordin, pulling him out before the explosion occurred within the control room.

"Decibel asked me to get you before this place went up like a grenade. Looks like I made it just in time."


The Illusive Man was getting suspicious about the unusual silence from Project Nightbird. Suddenly the QEC to the station was online. "Doctor Fujiyama, you're late on those…" Instead the image was that of a Cybertronian. "Megatron."

"The coveted leader of Cerberus, the Illusive Man."

"What brings this rather unusual circumstance of our meeting?"

"Spare me your theatrics. I believe you know well enough why I'm here and why your station has not transmitted. Your attempted assassination will not go unchallenged. We will hunt down and destroy every facility you have. This station was merely our first stop. Next I believe we'll be visiting Sanctuary for a bit."

"I have no idea what you're speaking of Megatron. I would never try to eliminate you," keeping his calm in the face of the Decepticon leader.

"You don't? I believe this will jog your memory banks."

"Have their target be Megatron. Separate the head from a snake and the rest will follow suit."

One of the Nighbird drones walked into view, the Decepticon logo branded onto its chest as it had something in hand. "We extracted your orders from the station's computers. And my little Nightbird here told me just the same," Megatron rubbing his fingers against the drone's face.

Nightbird then displayed what it was that was in hand, Doctor Fujiyama's severed head. Part of his spine was still dangling on as blood was seen dripping from it. One of his eyes was missing as incisions on his forehead indicated some type of surgical procedure. "Unfortunately for 'father', he won't be around to see you die. As a consolation, his 'daughters' and skull will."

The Illusive Man was intrigued to see the drone attain full sentiency under the Decepticons, even with the programmed shackles. "I can assure you, Megatron, those were not my orders. I have a rouge faction I am currently trying to maintain, however the situation…"

"The situation has only become worse. I could admire organics aspiring to higher stature than what they were ever meant to attain, but the use of Cybertronian technology is going too far. You have made a grave enemy of the Decepticons, and of me. A mistake you will soon regret making."


With his meeting with the Illusive Man concluded, Shockwave approached him. "Shockwave, how goes your pet project?"

"Exceedingly well. Initial tests have proved the viability of integrating the ancient fossilized cyber nucleic acid samples recovered by Jhiaxus. The five subjects who were selected for CNA splicing are remarkably receptive to the alterations." The five Decepticons presented themselves on the bridge, "I present to you my liege, the Predacons."

Megatron smirked, looking at the upgraded warriors, each just as fierce as the next, "Shockwave, it does my spark good to see you once again tampering with creation."

With the apparent end of the meeting, Nightbird intruded, "Milord, about finding us altforms…"

Megatron gentle caressed Nightbird, "Fear not. Soundwave is running though a number of vehicles as we speak. Once he finds something that is appropriate for your body's archetype you and your sisters will get their new forms."

Nightbird graciously bowed, "Thank you, Master." She then left, having intentions of removing the remaining flesh from Fujiyama's head and putting the skull on her belt, or another part of her body where it would not be crushed by her, soon to be, transformable body.

With Nightbird gone, Megatron looked out to the remains of the station as scavenging teams were going through the wreckage for anything of value before sending the Insecticons out to consume it. "Shockwave? Did you do the other projections that I requested?"

Shockwave inputted the data extracted by Laserbeak. "Cerberus had every intention of giving the Nightbirds transformation capabilities. They even installed T-Cogs without any knowledge of how it functioned. Data suggests that they were focused on getting them operational in all other matters. Transformation was a secondary objective. One that would never be without Energon. After you introduced Dark Energon to them, their T-Cogs have begun functioning at nominal capacity."

"Good. I want Soundwave to hurry and find appropriate forms for Nightbird and her sisters."


Dropshot looked out to another Reaper that was stomping across Menae. "Yo, Bulk, remember that thing we pulled back at Tyger Pax?"

"Do I? We used the Con's beacon against them and pinned them in a hail of friendly fire."

Dropshot nodded, "I'm thinkin' we do the same thing here."

"Yea…wait? What?"

"Hear me out. We use one of the Reaper creatures, a Brute or whatever the turians call the big ones with claws. We use it and lure one of the Reapers to a location we predetermine. We launch an attack and get it firing at us."

"I was with you up until the firing at us part."

"Let me finish. We're drawing its fire so that it actually blasts a bunch of their own forces. Tyger Pax all over again."

Bulkhead liked it, though he wasn't sure about one thing, "So how are we going to out run that thing."

"We're not." Dropshot turned to Sunstreaker and Sideswipe as the two brothers did another run to keep the Reapers busy, "They are."


"Are you sure you don't want us with you sir? I can come back right now and…"

"I believe you're overreacting Vibes. I should be finished in a moment. Once the upgrades have been implemented the geth will be fully sentient and every platform an individual like Legion. Rather ironic given the meaning behind the name and…"

"I'm still getting this bad feeling in my spark. I would feel better knowing you were on your way back to New Iacon or the Citadel."

"Don't worry. Once I'm finished here I'll go to the Citadel. From there I should be able to aid in the war against the Reapers. Perceptor out." Perceptor finished his last code change before deactivating his omni-tool. "That should do it. Now to get this code to the geth and-AAAHHHHH!"

Perceptor fell to the ground, systems overloaded. "And return the geth to their subservient roles to the quarians." Xen and her like-minded associates had followed Perceptor to the geth mainframe. The geth code was at her fingertips now, and any alterations made here would be more than a simple hack. Though as much as she wished she could examine Perceptor's framework thoroughly they only had enough time to alter the geth code. Xen and her people quickly got to work to reprogram the geth permanently.


A/N: Shockwave has something up his robotic sleeves, but what not even Reaper Starscream knows. Cerberus has just fallen into the critically endangered species list.