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

Thoughts, 'binary code', (alien language), "talking"

It wasn't the physical damage Vibes was recovering from, the emotional ones take more time to heal. A gruff voice could be heard shouting, "Why not? We're best fighters of all Autobots! We should go! Not puny fembot Vibes!" It was Grimlock leader of the Dynobots, and former Decepticons themselves.

The other was Prowl the military strategist for the Autobots, "This mission requires the utmost delicacy and we don't want the Decepticons knowing about it or following!" Prowl retorted squaring up to the bigger Dynobot's chassis, staring him face to visor.

Another voice broke in, "Calm down you two. Optimus wouldn't want us to fight each other." It was Elita-One one of the prominent female Autobots and Optimus' equal in leadership skills. "Grimlock, why do you and the Dynobots want to go on this mission anyway?"

"Me Grimlock know Decepticons. Decepticons will find out about plan. We go and surprise Decepticons, destroy them!" he replied with the same, heated attitude he kept, balling his fist and squeezing tightly.

Prowl continued his protest, "And that attitude is why the Dynobots aren't needed for this mission. What would happen when you met sentient extraterrestrial life? Would you start a fight? Destroy their planet? I don't know. We need a more political approach in case there 'is' any life out there the team might encounter. That is why Vibes is going and not you!" Prowl planned many of the Autobots missions and hated running into the unexpected.

Walking outside Vibes interrupted the little squabble. "Don't I have a say in all of this?" They all turned to Vibes as she walked down the stairs limping. "Grimlock I respect your knowledge of Decepticon tactics, being one yourself once, but I will go with Prowl's plan, just more alert of my surroundings."

Grimlock was somewhat satisfied but he still had objections, "Me Grimlock say Decepticons will be prepared for you Vibes. Decepticons know more than Autobots think."

"Wisdom from the former Decepticon? And why is it such Intel is only being shared no-?" before Prowl could finish, Grimlock had Prowl by the throat lifting him into the air with his ignited energo-sword in front of Prowl's optics. His intentions obvious, but the fact that he didn't do it outright like he usually did to an enemy meant something.

"Enough Grimlock! Stand Down!" Grimlock kept standing, still holding the small Autobot by his neck and trying his best to stop himself from sating the anger that so easily built up inside him. Elita-One shouted again, "That was an order!"

A light growl was heard before the Dynobot roared and stabbed the floor roughly, sinking his sword into the ground deeply. Releasing his grip from the Autobot, Prowl fell to the floor, coughing. Grimlock stood, breathing heavily before turning, grabbing the hilt of the sword with a fist, jerked the weapon from the ground and walked away from them, telling the three Autobots, "Decepticons ready. Will Autobots be?"

Vibes moved to help Prowl, "Are you alright sir?"

"Nothing my equilibrium chip can't handle." Prowl replied, standing and shaking his head as he rubbed his neck with hand. "And that's why it is usually inadvisable to plan things with the Dynobots…Especially Grimlock."

"You should give him credit more often than not, Prowl." Elita-One said as she continued to watch Grimlock storm away. "He may not look, or act, like it but he knows a lot more then he'll ever let on. Do either of you know why he and the Dynobots joined us?"

Jazz happened to watch the scene play out as he butted in with his trademark humor at Grimlock's expense, "Let me guess, Megatron restricted their 'destruction for the day' quota?"

Vibes could only shake her head in pity at that. Elita-One did so too, not seeing the funny side and spoke, "No Jazz, that's not why. Grimlock has a strong sense of a warrior's honor and hates seeing the abuse of power. He joined the Cons first because he saw that was where all of the power was but eventually as the war progressed Grimlock also saw the abuse and misuse of their powers." Elita-One was now looking at the stars through the glass covered dome of Iacon. "I would have been slagged if not for Grimlock. It was when we lost the Hydrax Plateau. I was among the survivors that were captured by the Decepticons, most were barley online. Megatron gave the order to execute the 'forsaken ones' as he jokingly called us. Grimlock protested saying it wasn't right, so Megatron gave him a simple choice, put us out of our misery himself or fight a small army just to help us. Most would have just shot us and moved on but not Grimlock. He and the future Dynobots gave the Decepticons a run for their credits. Grimlock is a natural leader, as he commanded the others, the five of them were unstoppable; offlining more Decepticons and drones in that one skirmish then I have up to date. After Megatron and the others retreated, Grimlock and the other Dynobots carried the twenty or so of us back here to Iacon; without stopping for repairs or rest. The rest is history. Grimlock may not like us because we are weak in his optics but he hates the Decepticons more for abusing their power. I'm only worried about what they'll do after the war is over…"

Vibes had heard stories around how savage the Dynobots were, both on and off the battlefield, but to hear this put them into a new light for her. Vibes turned to Prowl, "I respect your plans Prowl but I plan to take Clocker, Dropshot and a team of drones only."

The original plan Prowl created called for a team of eight to travel through a spacebridge to find energon sources and/or allies. "I already had a roster to go. The plan is for a fast, stealthy team to get in before the Cons can do anything."

"Which is why I'm taking such a small team with me, and Dropshot will be there to help me when the Cons do attack us. But for now I need rest and prepare for the trip."

Everyone was gathered in the briefing room just like when they assaulted the Collector Base. And as always, Shepard addressed them. "I've been thinking about what we're going to be doing besides working to prepare the galaxy for the Reapers."

No one was sure about how to take Shepard's words. As a friend Garrus spoke up, "What are you planning, Shepard?"

"Well you gave me part of the idea, Garrus. So did Jack." Garrus was not sure what he meant. "We're going pirate." Everyone was a bit shocked by the sudden announcement, being so out of character of the Commander. "But we're not just going to be hitting any ship out there; we're only attacking other pirates and criminals while still helping those in need." That removed Jack's grin very fast. "We're still getting everyone to help us fight the Reapers while removing some scum along the way."

Samara was unsure about being called a pirate but she like the idea of defeating the wicked and protecting the weak. Thane had no trouble with it either. It gave him more opportunities to brighten the galaxy.

Kasumi murmured to herself, "This reminds me of this old anime I use to watch with my grandmother when I was little; a band of misfits who call themselves pirates looking for the ultimate treasure while helping innocent people along the way." Looking at everyone, she added, "And this is as misfited as one can get."

It has been over seven days after Vibes returned with Perceptor when she and her new scout team left for the closest spacebridge. Soundwave, with his Recordicons inside him took the Horrorcons; Apeface and Snapdragon, along with a team of twelve drone units, were waiting for them. Soundwave knew the strengths and weaknesses of every known Autobot. Vibes's frame was smaller and harder to hit due to her speed but was capable of taking less damage than the average Autobot. Clocker was fast but he was inexperienced and relatively not very strong. Dropshot was tough and he could take a beating but his size becomes an inhibiter while fighting smaller faster units like Ravage, Rumble or Frenzy. The drones use basic combat protocols, easily thwarted by Soundwave and his Recordicons. Soundwave waited near a spacebridge projector setting an ambush to destroy the Autobot drones first. The plan was going as Soundwave intended, picking the drones off one by one but the Autobots started to get jumpy after seeing one get destroyed and how few they had now. Eventually there were reduced to six drones left with the Autobots. It wasn't Soundwave's style but he went ahead and charged at the Autobot team.

Soundwave gave his order to his drones. "Decepticons attack. Primary targets: Autobots. No survivors."

Dropshot was the first to spot the charging enemy, "Move, we got Deceptiscum on our six."

Swooping in, in jet mode, Apeface screamed on every communication channel the Autobots used. "Time to hunt some Autobots, brothers!"

Flying next to Apeface in a similar jet mode Snapdragon yawned in boredom saying, "Let's just get this over with. I'm here because Megatron demanded it but that won't stop me from having my fun with their chassis!" The duo were part of a rare group that had three different forms, also known as Triple Changers.

The Autobots tried to take on the charging enemy but they were at a disadvantage as the Decepticons had the high ground, numbers, and two aerial combatants. Dropshot had dropped four of the drones but Vibes knew if the Autobots were to survive they needed to get to go through the spacebridge. "Autobots, fall back to the spacebridge. The mission takes priority." As they moved towards the spacebridge Soundwave had gunned down two drones.

The team had just reached the spacebridge when Soundwave called forth his Recordicons. "Ravage, Laserbeak, Ratbat, Buzzsaw, Rumble, Frenzy, Slugfest, Overkill. Operation: Decimation. Eject."

Ravage had a feline design, with a powerful jaw and claws. Ravage was a perfect ambush predator but with Soundwave he can become a dangerous adversary. Rumble and Frenzy were small humanoids. Ratbat was capable of getting into crevices that Laserbeak was not and could hand from ceilings. Slugfest and Overkill were reptiloids. The only difference, besides color, was that Slugfest was a quadruped and Overkill was a biped.

"Let's pulverize 'em!" Rumble shouted as he pounded the ground with his piledrivers.

"Yeah we'll pound 'em to the ground!" Frenzy added with the same vigor as Rumble.

"Destroy the Autobots!" Slugfest screamed, firing his blasters though a form of psychotic oillust.

"Let's smash their bodies, rip their limbs from their socket and eat their sparks!" Overkill roared, once again proving his name by explaining his methods of destruction. Despite being a fraction of a normal Cybertronian's size, the Recordicons are a deadly force to be reckoned with.

The Horrorcons with Ratbat and Laserbeak made hiding behind cover just as hard as each of the Horrorcons take down a pair of troublesome drones that have destroyed three Deceptidrones.

Vibes yelled, "Move it Autobots! Through the spacebridge, we can't let a few Deceptipunks stop our mission!"

While still hiding behind cover Dropshot barked, "Yeah will do that ma'am, the moment I know I won't be blasted to pieces again!"

Jokingly Clocker laughed saying, "What's the matter Dropshot? Worried I might leave one of your favorite parts behind?"

"You haven't seen what I've seen kid! These are the kinds of mission were the team isn't expect to return from!"

Clocker argued, "No way! Optimus would never do that to use! If we don't do this the Autobots will be destroyed."

"I know bot, but we have no backup and any hostiles we run into are our problem and our problem alone." Clocker was quiet for a moment. Dropshot tried to cheer him up, "Come on, if we make it I'll tell you my adventures while working with the Wreakers." That inspired Clocker to keep his spark up and make it through.

Overkill shot a drone that, in turn, shot the control panel of the spacebridge causing various malfunctions. Dropshot tried to get to the control panel but the flak was heavy and Vibes stopped him, "No we don't have time, Dropshot!"

"But ma'am, if the controls are shot we might end up on the surface of a sun or the core of a planet maybe even at the event horizon of a black hole…"

"I know but if we don't go through we'll get slagged here. I'm willing to take the chance, what about you two?" Clocker just looked to Vibes as he gave his cocky smile and a nod from his head. Dropshot grunted with approval and started lying down cover fire at Soundwave and his lackeys. Being the leader Vibes ordered Clocker first into the spacebridge followed by Dropshot, the last drone fell on the stairs to the bridge so Vibes left.

The Recordicons walked towards the spacebridge still eager to fight. Sulgfest growled, "Huarrr…Autobots gone. We follow?"

"We follow, we follow! Smash Autobots to pieces! Rip out their sparks!" Overkill yelled with a vile smile behind it, if his mouth could produce a smile.

Soundwave just stood there scanning the spacebridge and the now shot up control panel. "Speculation: Unstable transit. Drone unit 328. Operation: Reconnaissance." Soundwave pressed a few buttons on his left arm and one of the drones did as Soundwave commanded. Soundwave linked the unit's optical sensors to a holo display and walked it straight through the spacebridge. It took a cycle before the display showed the unit floating in space. The Autobots were prepared for this having had booster packs with them. Determining it was reality safe Soundwave order the continued chase of the Autobots, "Apeface, Snapdragon, Unit 235, Unit 421. Operation: Interception." Soundwave kept the spacebridge open after they left to find a way to capture the random coordinates then shut down the spacebridge, permanently.

Vibes knew this mission hit a big obstacle already and they were far from finished yet. She tried to ease the tension by passing a joke, "Well, time to gain a few thousand kilograms here. Too bad it'll all burn up in the atmosphere." It wasn't exactly what they wanted to hear but at least they could laugh about it for a few milli-cycles. After harvesting some meteors from a nearby belt they transformed into vehicle mode with a comet like shell surrounding themselves with several layers of rock.

While entering the atmosphere, Dropshot talked to the others over the radio, "Make sure that when you're entering the planet's atmosphere you're going feet first; better to lose your legs than a head. The planet's sandstorm will make our optics almost worthless but we should be able to find each other from our energon signals, assuming your scanner survives entry. The other good thing is that if the Cons sent any flyboys after us their going to be grounded until the storm dies down but it also means we have to wait as well to leave the planet." Unfortunately the Decepticons detected them and prepared to crash yet another one of their parties.

Six days after destroying the Collector base, the SSV Normandy SR-2 was traveling towards geth space to try and convince the geth to work with the rest of the galaxy, including their creators the quarians, in an effort to destroy the Reapers or 'Old Machines' as Legion, Normandy's geth crew member, has preferred calling them. While on route the Normandy stopped in an unknown system then EDI noticed something, "Shepard I have detected multiple unidentifiable objects entering the planet's atmosphere. Initial scans suggest meteorites but through analysis indicate metallic cores, masses far greater than their size is supposed to be and the most unusual thing is each one is producing an unusual energy signature. My databases have no data on these energy signals."

"Yeah Commander these readings are all off the damn charts. I can't tell if that's good or bad," Joker didn't like any of it.

Shepard was at the Combat Information Center, also called CIC, asking, "EDI, ask Legion if these things are part of the geth or if they know anything about it?"

A few moments passed then EDI replied, "I have conferred with Legion and he has confirmed that even the geth are unsure what this is. From the energy signals, I count five are entering the planet's atmosphere as we speak and three more are already active on the planet's surface."

Shepard thought about it for a few seconds, "All the surveillance devices have been removed right EDI. The Illusive Man has no idea what we have found or what we're doing?"

With a tiny bit of annoyance in her voice EDI replied, "Yes Shepard. With the help of Tali'Zorah, Legion, Miranda, and Mordin we have removed all surveillance devices, programs and tracking protocols on the Normandy within 24 hours since hitting the Omega-4 Relay. Unless Miranda has sent anything to him or you contacted him in the briefing room, the Illusive Man is in the dark about us."

Joker butted in, "Yeah 'cause he's real in a fine mood to chat with us. You know, especially after you blowing up his prized Collector Base."

"Tell Tali and Legion to load up and prep the Hammerhead. I have a feeling something really bad is going to happen."

While going down to the hangar the elevator stopped at the Engineering Deck. Shepard had caught Tali off guard as she was shocked to find he was already going down. "Shepard? You're already going to the Hammerhead? I need to go grab my weapons and…" before she could finish he handed they young quarian her shotgun and heavy pistol.

"I figured you would still be working on the engines. You look a lot better. The last time we were together. You said you're getting better since we were together before the Omega-4." Shepard was always worried about his crew but Tali was special, especially to him.

"I have been getting better Shepard but what has me worried is that we need to take the Hammerhead?" while nudging his arm. "Do you really think it'll be that dangerous?"

"I don't know but I'd rather not take too many chances." Moving in and hugging Tali, he added, "Especially with you."

The elevator stopped at the lowest level and opened with Legion working on the M-44 Hammerhead hover tank. The geth turned towards them, uttering, "Shepard-Commander, everything is prepared for combat."

Grabbing his helmet from a nearby crate, Shepard said, "Alright team, let's check this out."