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"

While Tali and Legion worked on Dropshot, Shepard stood next to Vibes to ask her questions. "I'm sorry if I was rude, but I guess we got the bad end of the welcoming."

Vibes was sitting in the sand waiting. She looked at Shepard, "No, I understand. If I got shot at by a bunch of giants I'd probably distrust anything that looked like them too. Shepard was it; I've lost so much to this stupid war, I just…"

"Don't worry, I understand. I've lost people under my command too. Though I suspect you've seen a lot more than me. When we first found your energy readings, the scans said there was eight of them; you two, the three we fought, but what about the other three."

"Before you arrived on the scene, we took down two of the Decepticon drones and…" as she looked to where Clocker's chassis laid.

"I'm sorry Vibes, I didn't mean to…" as Shepard tried to comfort the warrior.

"No, it was my fault. If I was more of a leader, Clocker would still be with us. He died because I wasn't able to do anything to defend my team. I was shot in the shoulder, Dropshot was already down before the attack and Clocker went and tried to be a hero. He wanted me to move Dropshot while he drew the Decepticon fire, but the flak was still heavy and I didn't want to risk losing Dropshot while moving him. Dropshot and I told Clocker to get back to cover, but he still fought until he lost his footing to the sands. He took multiple hits until one hit him in the head. I tried fighting back, but I still wasn't able to do much."

Looking at Vibes' damage, Shepard added, "If you want, I could ask my team help fix you after Dropshot."

With a chuckle Vibes replied, "Don't worry Shepard; most Cybertronians have repair protocols to fix the minor damage. It's only my shoulder I have to worry about." She was lying. On Cybertronians both shoulders usually house vital tubes that are crucial to carrying energon throughout their entire chassis. Vibes was slowly bleeding internally and the patch was just slowing it down.

"So Vibes can you fill me in on those Decepticon things?"

Vibes looked up to what little sky she could see and told Shepard, "They are our brothers and sisters." Shepard was lost, "They are led by Megatron, in their pursuit of an empire and power. We are Autobots, and our current leader is Optimus Prime. We want to stop the Decepticons from their insane quest to rule the galaxy and protect freedom and justice. I said something like that when we first met but I guess you couldn't understand me then. We have tried to keep our civil war within our own system, but things happen and other planets get involved sometimes. To put it simply, we Autobots rage our battles to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons. Ever since I was first activated the war has been raging just as strong as it is today, that was almost a stellar cycle and a half ago." Thinking and looking through the data Legion had provided, Vibes looked at Shepard, "That's roughly six hundred organic years or so, if my math is correct."

"Haven't your people tried to talk, negotiate peace with the Decepticons? Couldn't you just leave?" Shepard wasn't sure what they have tried.

Vibes had the same passionate hatred as Tali when she talked about the geth, "If we had that option don't you think we would have done it by now! It was the Decepticons who attacked first; we never knew it was coming. Millions were taken offline in a series of surprise attacks. Most of the Decepticons were Cybertron's military forces, warriors, psychopaths and the like. Autobots are mostly converted civilian or working class units. Our people have been forced to use drones; some are simple program units that are nothing but cannon fodder but there are a few that can thinking and feeling, just like you or I, but no matter how sentient a drone may seem, it can't be considered a Cybertronian."

Shepard was curious, "Why aren't drones consider Cybertronians?"

"Because," Vibes lowered herself to Shepard's level as her chest opened up revealing a semitransparent blue ball of energy with a pulsating center composed of a smaller blue sphere, "without a Spark, one isn't considered a lifeform by Cybertronian standards." Vibes closed her chest again as she continued, "Optimus was utterly opposed to the idea but he was forced to when our numbers were 5-1 in the Decepticon's favor. Cybertron is a dying world now and most surviving Autobots have already been evacuated. All that's left is a group of about 120 or so Autobots strong and the drones we have left."

Shepard thought about Legion and the Heretics, "Couldn't you have created a virus or something to have them give up their violent ways?"

Vibes tried to look at Legion through the sandstorm, "We aren't connected like the geth and most Decepticons would die fighting before you could capture one or get close enough to hack its systems. Snapdragon, Apeface; you saw how they were like. Those two alone have taken down hundreds of Autobots. They may not be on the intellectual side of the Decepticons but they were some of the best fighters they had. Those two represented the ferocity most Decepticons showed against Autobots. Many are loyal to Megatron, but many more are fearful of him, and others are there just to fight. Even if we could reprogram them, we wouldn't. Optimus always says 'freedom is the right of all sentient beings.' We'd be just as bad as the Decepticons if we decided to do such a thing. I know the Cons have done it to a few prisoners, though I really hope those are just rumors to scare the rookies."

Shepard never thought about it from that perspective, but unlike the geth, the Autobots and Decepticons have shown a far greater variety of emotions and understanding of them. Vibes stood up and started to walk towards Clocker's chassis. Shepard wanted to know, "What are you doing?"

Vibes said nothing. Then she opened Clocker's chest and revealed a blue glowing orb similar to the element zero core of a Mass Relay. It floated up and Vibes started to recite something in her original language, (May your spark find its path back to the Matrix. 'Till all are one.) The orb blasted straight up leaving the planet.

As soon as that happened EDI called, "Shepard, an energy source similar to initial scans zoomed past us. Should we track it?"

Respectfully Shepard just said, "It was probably a scanner malfunction, ignore it."

"Affirmative, Shepard."

Turning off his radio, Shepard walked over to Vibes, "What was that?"

Vibes stood back up, "That was a spark, the very life force of a Cybertronian. Hopefully he will be able to reach the Well of Allsparks, where we all come from, where we all are destined to go." Vibes continued to look up into the sky, "I've had to do that far too many times." She grabbed the chassis by the arms and started to drag Clocker's remains to Dropshot. "Legion, Tali'Zorah, here are some parts for you two to use in Dropshot's repairs."

Simply out of curiosity Legion asked, "Unit-Vibes, would the other units not also satisfy for repair purposes?" Legion was looking over at the two drone bodies nearby.

"I'm not familiar with the Con's hardware and I'd rather not take the risk. Some Decepticons have been wired to explode if you try to salvage them; best to just destroy a Con's chassis." That last part Vibes said with plenty of hatred behind it. "Besides I've even heard stories that when an Autobot installed scavenged Decepticon parts they start acting like a Con or worse becoming a sleeper agent for the Decepticons. They may only be rumors, but I won't take that chance on myself or my team."

Dropshot started to speak, "You know I can still hear you, but your right ma'am. I've seen it happen with my own optics to some good Bots as they were blown to bits and pieces. Even some of the simple drones have those charges hidden away. It still doesn't feel right, but the Decepticons will do almost anything to destroy us or achieve their goals, even going so far as to use the deceased." Dropshot didn't even attempt to hide his disguise at the Decepticon tactics. "No honor for the extinguished. Just more tools to achieve their twisted agenda." Dropshot took out a grenade and tossed it onto the drone's remain that he kicked off earlier, "Fire in the hole!" The grenade exploded up causing it to rain shrapnel.

After getting out from hiding under the cover Dropshot provided, Tali looked to Vibes, "This still doesn't feel right. Are you sure it is fine with you?"

Vibes turned to Clocker remains, "I can't speak for the dead, but I know that Clocker would want to help in any way possible. In the past I've even offered to give a few parts myself. I know it feels like cannibalizing but on missions like these we have no choice. I live by a few rules when it comes to doing this: Never use their sparks no matter what, use only what's needed then destroy the rest, and never forget who gave you what part, even if it's replaced multiple times. I myself bare the hopes of forty of my brothers and sisters."

Shepard helped Tali and Legion as they start to take parts from the deceased Autobot, Shepard asked, "Could you tell me more about this Optimus Prime?"

Vibes shrugged, "What's there to tell, he's our leader."

"And one of the best at that, so far, ma'am."

Tali asked, "Alright then, could you tell us about how he became your leader?"

Dropshot cut in before Vibes could answer, "I got this one Vibes. Before Optimus, we had another leader by the name of Sentinel Prime. He was just as strong and caring as Optimus, but he made war look like an art. It happened about a few hundred gigacycles after the Great War started. Uh…In organic terms I guess you could compare it to human years. Anyway, see the problem with Sentinel was he was still open to peace talks with the Decepticons."

Shepard inquired, "That's good he wanted to stop the fighting with the minimal amount of casualties."

Dropshot stopped Shepard, "Wrong, that's bad. Megatron used that to capture and destroy him. Megatron gave Sentinel the location for the 'talks' but when the negotiation team got there it was empty, then suddenly lost all contact. We could only guess what happened next. By the time the search team arrived, all they found was scrap metal and a trail of oil. They followed the trail to an alleyway and found him hanging like a trophy, parts striped, armor and weapons were all gone. Just the frame and the Decepticon symbol burned into his chest." Dropshot had to pause to pull himself together, "It was fortunate though that Sentinel wasn't a complete fool though. Before he left, Sentinel left the Autobot Matrix of Leadership with the High Council of Elders. As soon as Sentinel's body was returned to Iacon, the High Council chose a new leader by the name of Orion Pax. He was then duty bound to join the Matrix within him. He was reformatted, got a new chassis and some upgrades, and becoming Optimus Prime. I think Optimus learned from Sentinels mistake; never trust anything from Megatron. You can take it from here ma'am, I'm going to stasis while these two work on the more internal stuff."

Dropshot relaxed his joints and went into stasis to make Tali and Legion's repairs on him a lot easier. Vibes sighed, "Prime doesn't only mourn us; he also mourns every drone that falls in our goal of defeating the Decepticons." Vibes stared into the sky again, "Our people have suffered greatly but Prime plans to give everyone a proper memorial as soon as the threat is over. From time to time he'll make one for some."

Tali had to speak, "He sounds like a wonderful leader and understands the burden of his duties. He doesn't want to lose anyone but he bears the hopes and dreams of those lost. He sounds a lot like you, Shepard."

"I know. I'm sorry Vibes if this sounds upfront to ask, but we are facing a force that has caused galactic genocide for who knows how long and we need all the help we could get."

Thinking about it Vibes turned towards Shepard, "Well, I don't know what you are expecting from only two Autobots but I couldn't think of a better way of repaying you for all your help."

Shepard nodded, "Thanks, Vibes."

"Unit-Vibes' assistance is required." shouted Legion from within Dropshot. Vibes walked towards Dropshot and squatted down. The two of them converse just like when they first met then they parted ways. Vibes walked out through the sand, "Excuses me, I'm going to release the Horrorcons' sparks and destroy their remains. I'll be back soon."

Shepard stopped her, "You're going to do the same thing you did for Clocker?"

Vibes didn't look to him but she did stopped to answer him, "The Decepticons many not honor the extinguished but I will…even if they were a Decepticon." With that said, Vibes then marched off into the sandstorm.

Tali hopped back onto the sand to talk with Shepard, "Shepard, can we really trust these things? I've been looking through Dropshot's body and it's very advanced; the thing is defiantly an A.I., no shields, very tough armor and the power source is unusual, to say the least."

Concerned, Shepard asked, "Unusual how?"

Tali tried explaining, "It's like, energy in its purest form. I don't know how to explain exactly. Our engines have an energy efficiency of about 54%, and that's really good for a ship its size, but with this we could achieve almost one hundred percent efficiency. Shepard this energy source could power all of the Normandy's systems for years, continually."

Legion chattered on the comm., "5.429 years to be precise."

"That could be some useful stuff if we could use it, especially if the Migrant Fleet continues to wander the galaxy."

"True. But Shepard, be careful with them, I don't like it." Shepard nodded and Tali returned the gesture. She started to walk back to continue her work.

After two explosions from beyond the howling winds, Vibes walked back. Shepard wanted to know what brought them to this desolate planet. "I've never heard of a race of naturally evolved machines like yours."

Vibes just looked at Dropshot, "Actually, I don't think we are to be honest." Shepard didn't know how to take it, "Our people have found ancient hieroglyphs and pictographs within the deeper recesses of our homeworld. They depicted two titans and thirteen individuals clashing amongst the stars. Eventually one of the titans and a single figure were defeated by the other titan and remaining figures. The defeated looked like they were sent through a portal or something, and the victorious titan became a planet. That's a simplified version of what some believe to be Cybertron's origin, parts of that story some do not believe, but the one thing of our history that most will agree upon, we all believe that the first Transformer, or our creator, was named Primus."

"One of my engineers found your friend's energy source," Even with the visor Shepard saw Vibes seemed worried, "She didn't do anything but her scans said that it's a lot more potent and efficient than what we use. What is it?"

"We call it energon. I don't know the specifics, but that's one of the reasons why we're out here."

"What's the other reason?"

"Find potential allies against the Con's. This war of our has been dragging on for too long. Our world has become uninhabitable and it will be for several thousand stellar cycles. But without a working spacebridge we have no way of returning home."

Tali appeared again, "He's stable now. All that's left are the physical repairs."

Vibes bowed to Tali, "Thank you, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy and Legion, for everything. We can take it for here."

"Wait," Shepard intruded, "we could continue working together for a time. Maybe find a way back to your home. It'd be good to have your kind of powers along with us as well."

Vibes thought about it, "Well, I have no problem with it. Dropshot are you active, did you hear?"

"Loud and clear ma'am. And I wouldn't mind it at all. It'll give me a chance to get all this sand out of my transistors and gears."

"Welcome aboard the Normandy. Glad to have you apart of the team."

"The feeling is mutual."

Calling the Normandy, Shepard told Joker, "Normandy, we require extraction. The Hammerhead is down and we have three heavy packages for pickup."

"Roger that Commander, we'll make land down soon. Hope your souvenirs will fit in the hangar."

Shepard turned to Vibes, "It might be best if the crew doesn't see both of you as giant robots."

"Agreed. Dropshot do you think you can still transform?"

"I don't think my transformation cog was damaged. Hold on." Legion and Tali stood beside Shepard as Dropshot attempted to turn into his vehicle form. His feet combined to form the front end of a truck-like vehicle. His head also pulled into his body as his shoulders moved to his back. The arms attached to each other and laid onto his back. His upper body rotated so the wheels were on the sand. The body pulled in, covering the legs. The damage on his feet could now be seen on the vehicle's frontend. Unlike when Vibes transformed, Dropshot was taking it slowly and the unusual sound extended until he finished. After he finished, Dropshot jokingly asked Vibes, "Well, do I look like a damage truck or what?"

"You look fine Dropshot", Vibes said with a smile.

"Thank you, ma'am. Sorry to be a burden, but I think I'm going to need a tow 'cause I still can't see a thing."

"No problem, Dropshot," Vibes said as she changed into her sports car form. Her shoulder damage can still be seen on the front right of the car. Vibes launched a pair of hooks, one on Clocker's leg and the other latched onto Dropshot's engine. "Sorry, Dropshot."

"Don't worry 'bout it, ma'am. I've been towed in more painful areas before, this is nothing."

Tali went up to Shepard, "How will we explain to the crew about the dead one? And when the other two want to, um, 'stretch their legs'?"

"We'll just have to gather everyone in the hangar without their guns," he said with a smirk on his face.

Joker called them, "Making land down now. Glad to see everyone's in one piece."

The hangar door opened up, "Legion, guide Vibes and the others into the hangar. Tali and I will see if we can fix the controls to the Hammerhead enough to drive it in."

"Acknowledged." Legion walked beside Vibes while she dragged Clocker and led Dropshot. "Warning: Transition from sand to metal plate. Recommend easing onto plating."

Vibes was having a hard time pulling Clocker's remains but she wasn't leaving him out there. She could finally feel the cold metallic plating she liked sliding under her tires. She wasn't having such a hard time pulling now that Dropshot started to help pull Clocker into the hangar.

Tali liked being with Shepard alone. It gave her more time to show her feelings, but she was concerned, mostly about their newly acquired 'tech'. "Shepard, I know you'd never endanger the crew, but do you think it was wise to let them on the Normandy?"

"I know it's because they're A.I.s, but when we were talking to them did they sound like A.I.s to you or people?" Tali couldn't think of anything against that, "Tali, I know I'm taking a big risk but what would happen if Cerberus captured them or worse. I gave Veetor to you because I don't trust them. I'd rather have them on our side then their tech used against us one day. Besides, Cerberus wouldn't be so kind to them either."

"I'm sorry Shepard."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. You're just thinking about the crews' safety and the galaxy's, right?"

"I guess I'm still stuck with quarian mentality that 'anything A.I. is evil'."

"Other than Legion's geth and these two, your people have been right so far."

Tali cuddled against his arm, "Shepard."