Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect or Transformers

I am so, so, so (not enough so's) sorry for the delay in updating this chapter. I truly hope everyone is still interested because I'm still interested in writing this story. Not as a trilogy, but as a single story that encompasses the Mass Effect Reaper war with a Transformers take on it.

After my holiday I'll be going through some editing of previous chapters to reflect the new direction.

Some notable changes in the cast: Yes nothing beats the originals, Peter Cullen is Optimus, Frank Welker is Megatron.

Optimus/Convoy: Still I imagine Tyler Hoechlin of Teen Wolf and Superman and Lois voicing the Autobot commander, the tones he took for Sephiroth with his Nemesis persona.

Megatron: Matthew Waterson was a standout voicing Magneto in the X-men 97 series, taking over for David Hemblen whilst doing his own thing. He'd portray well the articulate and calm moments of this version of Megatron, as well as the ferocity when he is angry.


Transform Effect: Rise a Prime

Chapter 33: Getting Wrecked

Thousands of years ago

Springer looked upon the rioters of Kaon, his fingers tensing over his blaster as they slammed themselves against the barricades. He looked to his commander, Ironhide, in his black armour; Ironhide cast an intimidating figure, one amplified by the container on his back.

"Stop, all of you, please stop," he said.

"DOWN WITH THE COUNCIL!"
"TILL ALL ARE ONE!"

"Cog it," Ironhide said.

He removed cannon from his waist, one with a tube connecting it to the container on his back. When he pulled the trigger, he released a cloud on the rioters. Ice crystals formed in their joints, freezing their system.

"Liquid Nitrogen, best way to avoid a fight," Ironhide muttered.

"It won't end here, the Aerial bots could strafe the region," Springer said.

"That will make things worse, if we start dropping bombs in our own cities then it could lead us back to the dark days," Ironhide said.

"Dark days are already ahead of us sir, what backup from the capital?"

"It isn't coming Springer," Ironhide said.

"Curse Convoy, what is he thinking with this uprising?"

"It isn't an uprising, the people of Kaon have legitimate grievances, grievances we should take to the council," Ironhide stated.

"And then what? It won't change anything, for thousands of years, this has been how the system works, those formed in Kaon are the labourers and the strong rule over them," Springer explained.

"Then why is a triple changer my subordinate?" Ironhide asked.

The question was enough to make Springer hesitate; he couldn't justify the answer at all. He was gifted with three forms, yet he had fallen behind and others had taken their places in positions of command. Then he realised, perhaps he was no different from those in Kaon, thrashing against a system that dictated others roles from the beginning. A commotion rose behind the unit as a car with sirens on it drove towards them. The car transformed into one of the Autobot scouts.

"Commander Ironhide, Commander, they've all gone crazy," the scout said.

"Calm down and relay your report," Ironhide said.

"It was Convoy sir, he has delivered a speech within the arena, its rallied the people of Kaon into a complete frenzy, our bots are being attacked on the streets, they're ramming themselves against the barricades in their vehicle forms," the scout explained.

"Maintain your discipline, hold the line and bring up the auto guns, release a controlled burst and they will retreat," Ironhide said.

"But what if they don't?" Springer asked.

"They will," was all Ironhide said.


Now

Pinnacle station

"Incoming objects from the debris field," voices filled the command centre.

Ahern kept his hands behind his back as his team worked, their consoles blaring with information as it became available to them. Marines in onyx armour picked up Lancer rifles from their lockers, whilst non-combatant staff made their way to elevators to escape possible breach zones. Shepard ran with Kaidan and Tali to the cargo area, weaving through crowds of the station's staff. She and Kaidan put their helmets on and prepped their rifles, him letting his biotics glow whilst she activated her Omni-tool.

"Don't make us guess what we're dealing with Autobots," she said.

"Action and Target masters, limited transformation abilities, the majority of their weapons transform," Arcee said.

"They're approaching the portside," Wreck-Garr said.

Convoy drove began to drive through the corridors of the ship again. He activated his thrusters, performing tight turns as he made his way to the potential entry port for the Wreckers. Prowl, Arcee and Jazz came up to the portside, seeing a spark on the hull slowly turn.

"They're going to cut through," Prowl said.

"Same on this side makes sense considering their ship won't fit at the docking station," Garrus said.

Ashley readied the rocket launcher she held and Wrex cocked back his shotgun.

"Today is a good day to die," he said.

Ashley and Garrus looked at the Krogan in shock, he shrugged his shoulders and chuckled.

"Got it from some human show, seemed a cool thing to say," he said.

"I think it's time to kick some ass," an Asari commando said.

She eagerly glowed with biotic power, other trainees had their weapons at the ready. They were all piled up, waiting for the Autobots to break through. Garrus aimed his rifle at the circle being cut into the wall.

"EVERYONE PUT ON YOUR BREATHER MASKS AND PREPARE FOR ZERO G COMBAT!" Ironhide's voice suddenly came through the radio.

"Hide, what is it?" Shepard asked.

"They aren't docking shuttles, they're going to cut a hole through the hull and blow anyone inside out, it's a Wrecker clearing tactic," Ironhide explained.

"So you are a Wrecker," Arcee said.

"Was a Wrecker!"

"Special forces unit right, okay, everyone activate the magnets on your boots," Shepard commanded.

"We don't have magnetic boots," the Asari commando said.

Convoy turned another corner; he was close to the potential breach sight. He was about to get there when his HUD flickered. Suddenly, static replaced his vision, effectively blinding him. His wheels folded back, the front section of his truck form rose and his tail split apart. Stuck in a semi-transformed state, Convoy could only crash into the wall.

"PRIMUS!" he cursed.

"Optimus are you all right?" Jazz asked.

His question remained unanswered as the hull was blown open. The artificial atmosphere on the ship was blown out of the hole, air rushed over the Autobots, trying to push them out of the breach. Jazz kept his grappling hook ready whilst Arcee and Bumblebee slid slightly. A wire suddenly flew through the breach, hitting Bumblebee's chest. The scout was yanked, hitting one of his horns as he was pulled out of the ship.

"BEE!" Jazz yelled.

Arcee fired off a few shots before a flurry of blasts flew towards her. She was barely able to dodge in time, shifting her position to limit her visibility. Jazz fired off a few shots and then contacted the bridge.

"Bee is out there, does anyone have eyes on Bee?" he asked.

"Just give me a parsec, potentially more, Isaac Newton can be a right troublesome man, want to get rid of a target, just let gravity do the work," Wreck-Garr ranted.

"Not on my watch, open the bay doors," Jetfire said.

"Open the bay doors," Wreck-Garr repeated.

As the hanger bay doors opened, Jetfire transformed, igniting his after burners and flying into space. He banked around the Autobot ship, his HUD scanning the debris, rock and trash from the station. There was a blur of yellow rolling in the emptiness. Jetfire folded out his legs and arms, reaching his free hand out whilst the other held his blaster.

"Come on," he muttered, moving towards Bumblebee.

His radar picked up heat sources however and he twisted, just enough to dodge several blasts.

"Six Wreckers in jet packs, I'll get a few away from you," Jetfire said.

"Focus on Bee," Jazz said.

"I can do both!"

The Wreckers moved into the ship, their commander was the first to place his foot on the floor and gently float forward. Springer scanned the corridor and when he caught sight of Arcee, immediately opened fire. His rifle had two barrels on the end of it, and fired a solid shell at such a speed that it ricocheted off of the wall, hitting Arcee's knee. Circuitry and oil floated out of the hiding spot, with Arcee's pained yelled following. Jazz took her hand and fired his grappling hook down the corridor, zipping up it and reaching the end just as blaster fire began to follow them. On the outside of the ship, Bumblebee looked at his surroundings, making sounds of panic before seeing the hawk action masters. He opened fire, making the hawks scatter.

Jetfire would have blinked if he could; he heard the clicks and whirls over his radio that Bee provided.

"Support Pinnacle station, you and your love for humans, all right, Pinnacle station if you have any kind of batteries on that monstrosity you call a training camp don't hit me," Jetfire stated.

"The debris field is our defence Autobot, if they breach our walls, you're fixing them," Ahern said.

"I'm a renegade now Admiral, you couldn't make me do anything even if I was under your command," Jetfire said.

He moved along the surface of the station, banking to avoid garbage chutes and antennas. In his peripheral vision, Jetfire noticed one of the antennas shift.

"You have a possible infiltrator on the north west maintenance hatch, how about you send those idiots you call trainees to that area," he said.

"Try to use stasis fields and lift biotics, don't kill them," Ironhide said.

"Are you serious, these guys are aiming to blow us out into space," Arcee said.

"They kind of already have," Jazz added.

"Ironhide is right, if possible we can…negotiate," Nemesis stumbled as he walked.

Ironhide was making more progress than him, getting closer and closer to the intersection Jazz and Arcee had gotten to. Springer kept moving with his men, keeping their guns aimed down the corridors. They reached a split, with Springer pointing for the group to separate, sending a few of the bots down one corridor whilst he and others continued onwards. Springer's eyes narrowed, his trigger finger trembled, yet still he continued on.


Thousands of years ago

The barrel of the training blaster flared, but it didn't unleash any kind of beams or rounds. Instead, every small laser was a mark of Springer's accuracy with the weapon. He hit the knee cap of his target, then the shoulder, and then the top corner of the target, a miss. The targets folded back into the floor and Springer lowered the blaster.

"You can do far better than that," Kup said.

"Of course he can," the commander, and Springer's sponsor made his way around the corner.

He walked past every other trainee, even those who had done better than Springer. Ironhide looked at the results and smirked.

"Not bad, not good but not bad, now let's see how your driving is," Ironhide said.

They walked to the training track, a huge field that would transform in order to mimic an assortment of terrain. Ironhide gave the data of the run he wanted to the technicians at the control station. Then he loaded up his usual truck form and broke off into a job with Springer. Both transformed at the same time, accelerating onto the track as it chaotically shifted. It was an uphill drive and then a dive into a spiral road that Springer pushed his engines to drive through.

"By Primus," Springer muttered.

"He won't help you, push it Springer, and keep up," Ironhide said.

Springer ignited his rockets, increasing his speed. His tires however came off of the floor when the road spiralled and he fell, transforming to robot mode and landing in a heap. Ironhide transformed, landing smoothly in front of Springer and turning to the recruit.

"A good try, but I told you to keep up not run past me," he said.

"Are we supposed to accomplish the impossible in the wreckers?" Springer asked.

"Of course we are, but more importantly we're supposed to make impossible decisions," Ironhide said.

"What do you mean?" Springer asked.

"Come on, drive with me again, this time we'll take a more peaceful route," Ironhide smiled before he transformed.

The clouds cleared and the light shined down on the pair as they drove away from the training facility. Cybertron back then had bustling metropolis's all filled with the higher class citizens going about their carefree days. Days that Ironhide protected, in the absence of war, soldiers were explorers, bodyguards and police. Springer marvelled at the golden age of Cybertron, even when they moved to the lower class slums. He thought they were going to one of them, but their drive continued, for miles and miles they kept driving, even when they reached the metallic dunes and drove along the expansion zone of the city, where purple and green constructicons were working hard to make their already great capital bigger and better.

"Where are we going?" Springer asked.

"Somewhere that doesn't matter," Ironhide said.

Their path took them to the mountain areas, and Springer finally got a sense of where they were going. They transformed to robot mode when they reached the entrance, a place guarded by several red armoured bots with minimal weaponry. The guards saluted Ironhide as he and Springer passed them. Springer looked, fascinated at the cave they walked through, it was rock, not metal, which was strange for a world like Cybertron. His eyes grew wide in further fascinating when he saw something green sticking out of the ground, it was droopy with odd blades sticking out of the sides of it.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Is that really what you're interested in?" Ironhide asked, looking over his shoulder and rolling his eyes at the trainee's wide eyed innocence.

Finally they came to an opening and the wonder turned into shock. They were in a mine, but the workers didn't operate gigantic power loaders, they had to use hand held drills and saws to cut at the rocks. Rows of crates were rolled across the floor, passing Springer and revealing the shining crystals inside them.

"Energon, this is the energon mine," he said.

"Yes and everyday there is some incident here, a casualty because of a lack of equipment, overworked miners, or just dumb luck," Ironhide stated.

"They have to do all of this by hand?" Springer asked.

"Of course, raw energon can be very explosive, and as you see, it doesn't react well to us," Ironhide said as one of the workers collapsed.

The worker screamed, he was holding a crystal, the energy surged through his body and made his limbs twitch.

"Why do they do this then?" Springer asked.

"They have to, it is the only role that the council has given them, they could put them towards construction or bargage disposal, but no, they have to risk death in order to pick from our planet the resources we need to keep our fair capital going," Ironhide explained with a roll of his eyes.

The damaged miner was supported by a dust covered miner with dull red and blue armour, carried onto a gurney whilst the medics focused on getting the crystals to storage before treating the miner.

"Is this what you mean by impossible decisions?" Springer asked.

"We have to do difficult things, the council doesn't want to risk damaging bigger and more expensive mining equipment. So use the natural life cycle of our own citizens, especially the ones that can't transform and you've got a good system for getting energon transported for refinement. But these people matter too Springer, they're citizens too," Ironhide turned to his trainee and smiled softly.


Present time

"They matter too," Nemesis muttered.

He raised his head; he had paused in the middle of the corridor, another blackout. His hands shook as he looked at them, flashing between black and blue hands, hands meant for battle and hands meant for menial labour. Not the hardened hands of a gladiator, but ruined hands that hadn't been suited for anything.

'Primus Ratchet, what did you do to me?' Convoy wondered.

He heard blaster fire and immediately began running to meet it. Arcee and Jazz fired a few shots towards Springer and his men, keeping them from coming around the corner to target them.

"What's the plan here Wreckers, you kill every last one of us, because of what we know?" Jazz asked.

"I don't care what you know," Springer retorted.

"Really, you don't care about potential infiltrators within our government, within the Citadel government too, what about the Reapers?" Arcee asked.

"We'll wreck them too," Springer said.

"Oh clever, to a hammer everything is a nail, but guess what, this mission you've been sent on is to kill the people trying to stop the Reapers," Jazz said.

"Everyone should want to stop the Reapers, only there would be different methods and reasons, why should I think yours are more moral than the others?" Springer asked.

He fired another shot, ricocheting the round again into Arcee's shoulder, knocking her to the ground. Springer signalled his men to go through and they did, only for the three bots to be tackled. One was thrown into the wall, whilst the others were punched and kicked across the face. Springer cocked back his gun again and came out of cover, pausing when he saw who had beaten his men.

"Never hesitate when you look down the sight, I taught you that," Ironhide said.

"Ask questions you told me," Springer huffed.

He kept his gun raised, walking around Ironhide, stomping his foot down when he saw the armour around Ironhide's wrists shift.

"I see those cannons come out and you're dead," Springer said.

"I'm raising my hands and interlocking my fingers, this is a surrender commander, you don't have to use lethal force," Ironhide said.

"You're one to talk about the use of lethal force," Springer snarled.

"Are you making this personal commander?" Ironhide asked.

"It's only ever personal Hide, every battle, every injury, every death is personal. But that will not interfere with my mission," Springer narrowed his eyes at Ironhide, his trigger finger stopped shaking and he raised his gun into a one handed grip, reaching behind with his free hand to take out a pair of binders.

"When I heard that you didn't join Rodimus's revolt I was surprised, I wasn't though when I heard you were actually against all of the factions within the Autobot camp. After witnessing what we did on Kaon, it's hard to fully support our side, to not feel doubts, to make drastic decisions based on trauma," he explained.

"Is that why you think I'm here? Because of some kind of post traumatic stress?" Ironhide huffed.

"You don't feel any guilt for what we had to do?"

"All I feel is guilt for what we chose to do Springer, all those people dead and for what?"

"For peace, for order on Cybertron, we made the impossible decision, that's what you taught me to do," Springer kept his hand steady, but his glare contrasted how he handled his weapon.

Ironhide didn't move an inch, didn't break down or back down.

"I can't say for sure if there was a better way, if there was a right way, sometimes the choices others make can take our own away. We took away so many choices too," he said.

"But it gave us a few cycles of order didn't it?"

"Or helped to create a movement, we made thousands of martyrs."

"What is this Hide, a last attempt of convincing me of the righteousness of your cause. Ask questions, make clear your hesitation, your hatred of the order but do not hesitate to carry it out, that's what you taught me Hide. And I have had thousands of years to carry out impossible orders," Springer explained.

"I don't believe that for a second, I don't believe it Springer," Ironhide reiterated his point, leaning his head against the barrel of Springer's gun.

"I wasn't shocked when I heard you rebelled, what did shock me, what did anger me was finding out you had aligned with the monster responsible for inspiring that riot in the first place, NEMESIS CONVOY!" Springer yelled, swinging his gun, taking aim at Nemesis as he came around the corner.

"His name is OPTIMUS PRIME!" Ironhide yelled as he tackled Springer.


Citadel

Nihlus tried to stay relaxed; there was nothing to worry about after all. They were going to the Asari consort, you could get a relaxing massage, acupuncture (if that was your thing) or have a friendly and confidential chat. There was no reason to suspect Vasir either; she was a fellow Spectre after all. They were just going to talk to the Asari consort about the rumours concerning her client information leaking. It was a legitimate concern after all considering her clients included ambassadors and high ranking military personnel, as well as corporate representatives.

'Oh shit,' Nihlus thought. 'Of course the Asari consort is a pretender,' he wanted to chide himself for how obvious a cover it would be.

And how obvious this trap was. Vasir pushed him through the entrance to the Consort's office, the greeter smiling at them.

"Welcome back Vasir, and with a friend I see, hello sir, the consort is booked up for the month but we offered fine physiotherapy," Nelyna said.

"Thank you for the offer, and I don't know anything about Vasir's time with the consort but we're here on council related business," Nihlus said.

"Oh, let me call the consort now."

"Thank you," Nihlus smiled at the girl and gripped the handles of his chair as Vasir pushed him through.

"Excuse me Nelyna, we won't be able to wait for an appointment," she said.

Nihlus looked at the other visitors, humans, Volus, people who looked like they were just waiting for an everyday appointment or speaking with their shrinks. The consort wasn't a prostitute in the traditional sense, not all pleasures were vices. She had a private chamber at the back of the building, a metallic floor with calming blue lights on it and elegant plants on the side. Vasir rolled Nihlus towards the door and they waited for a few seconds before the door opened. The consort's chambers had comfortable sofas in the corner, plants and a bubble chamber with a bed in it. She stood with poise and elegance and a friendly smile on her painted pink lips.

"Vasir, it's good to see you again, I believe you're Nihlus yes, how may I help you both?" she asked.

"We've come to talk to you about unsettling rumours about your client information," Vasir said, using her less than professional tone, she had a way of condescending people she spoke to.

Either she hadn't been replaced, or the Vasir that Nihlus knew never existed and had always been this pretender.

"Anything my client's share with me is completely confidential I assure you," Sha'ira said.

"Of course consort but we are concerned about…"

Nihlus paused as Sha'ira's Omni-tool flashed.

"I am sorry, give me a moment please," she turned the communicator on and spoke with a tired tone. "Nelyna, I am busy," she said with a slight scolding tone.

"I am truly sorry Consort, he insisted on coming through," Nelyna panicked, letting out a shocked yelp.

The sound over the radio was followed by a grinding sound outside. Sha'ira opened the door, revealing an Autobot with armour that was numerous shades of blue. He was a short Autobot, but just big enough to have to kneel so that he could fit into the pathway. The rectangular top of his helmet grinded against the ceiling, and a look of annoyance spread across his metallic face before he began to speak quickly.

"First I will mark you down negatively on access for fellow Cybertronians like myself as you can obviously see that the ceiling is much too low how are you supposed to treat the mental well being of everyone if not everyone is allowed into your place of business even beyond the building itself its location is in a far corner of the Presidium far too close to the water thus increasing the chances of people falling in," even Sha'ira's stoic expression turned to bewilderment at the way the Autobot spoke, without any pause.

"Furthermore there seems to be a lack of Cybertronian clients granted we have only just arrived still for the purpose of inclusion perhaps you would be willing to allow me to book an appointment depending upon the results of my investigation!"

The Autobot finally stopped talking.

"What?" Vasir looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"I could repeat if you'd like…"

"That's fine, I got most of it, you're also here to investigate the potential leaks within the Consort's office yes?" Nihlus asked.

"Yes of course did my explanation not make that clear?"

"It's perfectly clear Mr…"

"We do not use the term Mr not to say we do not have genders because of course we have genders just not the biological refinement like organics have if you'll excuse me…" the Autobot seemed to reach, putting his hand to his mouth and making a vomiting sound.

"What are you doing?" Sha'ira asked.

"I apologise it is just that you biological organisms have all of these parts and fluids flowing through your bodies as well as these chemicals some of which dictate your biological gender and even your mood I do find it difficult to trust which is perhaps why I am eager to seek the guidance of a person such as yourself," the Autobot explained.

"I'm sorry but who are you?" Vasir asked.

"My designation is Blur Autobot intelligence officer!"

"This blabber mouth," Vasir muttered.

"You've come to the potential source of information leaks, that's very good intelligence work, we are council spectres, perhaps we can work together and share what we have learned," Nihlus explained.

The Autobot looked at him, tilting his head curiously.

"Would that not ruin the point of confidentiality?" he asked.

"Information has already been leaked, for the sake of catching who is responsible sharing information is necessary," Nihlus said.

"You do make a good point," Blur said abruptly.

He took a seat on the path as he couldn't fit in the room.

"First I would like to begin with the case of the Elcor diplomat and the quite appalling leak of his sexual preferences and then we will go through forty other cases of data breach," he began.

"The Elcor diplomat's details do interest me, not his personal business but his work, details of negotiations he had with Volus representatives were put onto the Extra-net and even more details spread through word of mouth, what do you have to say for yourself Sha'ira?" Nihlus asked.

"I do keep records of my clients, a thousand years doesn't guarantee a perfect memory and I have so many clients it is difficult for me to remember them all. This is a deep confession for me Nihlus, Blur, Vasir is already aware but I am not as I appear," Sha'ira explained.

'Not as she appears?' both Nihlus and Blur widened their eyes slightly.

The Autobot didn't really understand the statement, but for Nihlus it was because of his paranoia. He looked at Sha'ira, his fingers tensing, inches away from activating his Omni-tool whilst simultaneously watching Vasir as she sat on one of the coaches. Sha'ira shifted nervously, out of character for her reputation.

"I'm a fraud, as the humans say I 'fake it till I make it', my family was rich you see and over the years I tried to make it in any business I could. I failed with corporations, failed with military and even with dancing at clubs. But what I excelled at was words and listening, both of which I applied to this job," she explained.

"Wait a micro-second here you're saying that you are essentially the world's oldest con woman," Blur said.

"It isn't a con; it just isn't as accurate as I make it appear. Many of the people who come to me are looking for someone to say the right thing to them, that's what I do, say the right thing based on my interactions with them. Shepard for example, her general history is public knowledge, growing up on the streets, surviving Akuze, it has allowed me to make a speech based upon that background. Whether clients come for sex or comfort it's all about knowing exactly how to please them, being the person you want to be with them," Sha'ira stated and Blur shook his head.

"It seems you don't spend a lot of time being yourself," he said.

"Like most spies," Nihlus said.

He wanted the jab, and the accusation behind it to be obvious, sometimes emotional people gave things away.

'If she doesn't crush me with her biotics first,' he thought.

The consort sat on one of her chairs, running her hands over her face in frustration.

"I have kept recordings and notes, but it has only ever been to better serve my clients just like any kind of psychologist," Sha'ira said.

"Understandable, which means it is possible someone could have hacked this information," Vasir suggested.

"A consort would have considerable material for blackmail, could it also be the work of the Shadow Broker?" Blur asked.

"The Shadow Broker is always interested in information," Nihlus said.

A case regarding the Shadow broker would be dismissed easily by Vasir. He knew she often used his Intel for her missions. The Asari Spectre had no shift in her demeanour; her attention was on Blur as the Autobot tapped the side of his head.

"How many of your clients do you engage in a…physical manner with?" the Autobot asked, reaching slightly.

"That is confidential and personal," Sha'ira said.

"But still relevant, considering if you have slept with them there is an interval for them to…" Nihlus paused, looking at Sha'ira, whose gaze shifted just ever so slightly to Vasir.

"An interval for them to place a bugging device within any of the assortment of items in your office," Blur said bluntly. "One would need to have the resources to get their hands on the equipment that could record whilst avoiding detection and also have the type of relationship with you in order to engage in a physical relationship that would tire you and allow them to use that gap during your sleep to place a bug in…" finally the Autobot paused, pointing at a lava lamp. "That lamp with the strange wobbly fluid inside it," he said.

Vasir took hold of the lamp, looking it over and carefully scanning it with her Omni-tool. She tipped it over and began to turn the bottom of it. Shai'ra watched her work in shock as she removed a chip from inside the lamp.

"There was, there was one person, someone I trusted but shouldn't have, I thought he loved me," Sha'ira rubbed her head in confusion.

"Who is it Sha'ira?" Nihlus asked.


Pinnacle Station

Jetfire fired at the blue and red jet flying around the station. Every time Jetfire tried to bank and approach the breaching team, he was met with resistance from Metalhawk. The blue and red jet transformed, revealing the gold body helmet and silver face of Metalhawk. Jetfire quickly transformed, blocking a kick that Metalhawk aimed at him. Metalhawk however followed up with a second kick, hitting Jetfire in the chin and dazing him. Wrex prepped his carnage missile as the wall was blown open. Ashley instinctively took the hand that Garrus offered her. Even their magnetic boots protected them completely from the artificial atmosphere being blown out of the room. They quickly recovered, looking down the sights of their Vindicator rifles.

A green robot with tracks for its feet suddenly flew through the whole, clamping down its pincers hands as the camera lens on its blue head widened. Then an Autobot came into the room, the Action master had a blue body with red legs and shoulders. The silver visor over his eyes flashed before he flicked his fingers and the little green robot transformed, its head popping out and folding to form the barrel of a gun. Mainframe began to fire at Shepard's crewmates with his partner Push-Button, giving his fellow Action master time to fly through.

Rad deactivated his jump jets just in time to dodge the missile Wrex sent at him. He threw his hand forward and the small orange and silver, lion like robot pounced towards the Krogan. Beneath his helmet, Wrex smiled, before meeting Lioniser head on. Rad banged his wrist gauntlet, activating an energy shield and blocking the shots Garrus and Ashley fired at him and Mainframe.

"From this point we're to engage the Autobots with disruptor rounds, disabling shots only," Shepard said, adjusting her Avenger rifle whilst Kaidan summoned a biotic barrier.

She saw his arms shaking as the Autobots came in, one grey and red jet helicopter that had transformed into a robot with a grey body and helmet, red arms, black legs and a blue face. He wielded a grey blaster and used his helicopter blade as a typed of scythe. His ally was a miniaturised jet, the nose cone quickly folding onto the chest armour of the all red Autobot, though he had an exposed blue face. He fired his blaster, breaking Kaidan's barrier and forcing him to use his biotics to 'strafe' to the right of the blaster fire. Two soldiers from Ahern's staff came in, setting up devices whilst Adepts and Asari unleashed whatever biotics moves they could use on the Autobots.

"This feels really weird Skyhigh," the red Autobot said.

He was lifted off of the ground, slamming into the ceiling above.

"Then can do all that without magnets, well isn't that something Cloudburst," Skyhigh remarked before his scythe was pulled out of his grip.

Kaidan came out of cover, releasing a 'throw' at the scythe. The biotic field detonated, obscuring Skyhigh's vision. Suddenly, his scythe was thrown back at him, hitting his shoulder. Cloudburst came down from the ceiling, firing his blaster but hitting the shields that the soldiers had created.

"Experimental portable cover shields, they'll feel like a wall on your back and give you some protection whilst your regular shields recover," Ahern explained.

"They always save the good stuff for later don't they?" Tali muttered.

"Drive them back, then use Cryo grenades on where they breached through," Shepard commanded.

She threw the upgraded grenades, freezing Cloudburst's blaster. He picked up Skyhigh as more explosives shook the hanger, flying out only to be hit in the shoulder by a distant shot.

"Who in Primus's name…" Cloudburst's voice drifted like he did, looking to the yellow blur in the debris field.

Bumblebee would have grinned if not for his face shield. He dragged his hand against a piece of rock, flailing before he slammed into another space rock. Putting away his blaster, he dug his fingers into the rock, gaining control of his drift and looking towards the station. A pair of Autobots were fixing something to the bottom of the station.

"We've been spotted Broadside, want to take care of it?" the silver and blue Autobot asked.

Broadside was a grey armoured Autobot with red hands, a red visor and red armour over his legs. He looked towards Bumblebee and huffed.

"Too late for the scout to do anything now Topspin," he said, pushing a few buttons on the device.

He then transformed into a jet, whilst Topspin became a brick shaped aircraft. Bumblebee let out a series of beeping sounds, which echoed through the Junkion's bridge.

"A bomb, they're really trying to kill us aren't they," Wreck-Garr said.

"Laserbeak, prepare for flight, destination: Pinnacle station, objective: disarm," Soundwave ejected his cassette bird and moved down the corridor, following the sounds of battle and where his instincts told him Convoy would be.

Convoy stood in front of Springer, facing down the barrel of the Wrecker's rifle, but still looking the bot in the eye.

"Do you have any idea how many people died because of you, because of what you did?" Springer asked.

"Focus on me Springer," Ironhide said.

"Why him, why the man who led us to do the unthinkable? Do you think you'll find some kind of redemption for what we did Hide? Or is this your way of saying that he was right?" Springer asked. "All those people dead, their sparks on our hands as much as his…do you at all think about what you said…'freedom is the right of all sentient beings', did you at all think about what people would do when denied that freedom?"

"They had already been denied it," Convoy retorted.

"You gave them hope, which is the most dangerous thing you can do," Springer said.

"Springer I said, FOCUS ON ME!" Ironhide yelled, rushing towards Springer.

Springer turned, firing his blaster, only for Ironhide to duck and punch him in the face.


Thousands of years ago

Bots were dying anyone, some idiots thought they could breach the barricades by driving as fast as they could and crashing into them. Ironhide stood at the gun turret, looking over at the carnage, the fools broken apart by their own desperation. He looked at the workers who couldn't transform. For a moment, he thought they would concede and go home. Both he and Springer widened their eyes as the workers raised their hands, as if they were holding something over their heads.

"FREEDOM IS THE RIGHT OF ALL SENTIENT BEINGS!" they chanted.

Then they charged, banging their fists against the barricades.

"Release the riot foam," Ironhide commanded.

"We're out of it sir," Springer said.

"Cog it, the council and their budget cuts, just keep holding the line and get ready to release a volley if needed," Ironhide said.

"Sir," a scout drove up to them, shifting to robot form with a nervous expression on his face.

"Are any reinforcements coming?" Ironhide asked.

"Longarm has denied the request of any reinforcements, his orders are to get those people away from the barricades, to get them back to work as soon as possible," the scout explained.

"These people aren't going to be intimidated by us," Springer said.

"What exactly did Longarm say?" Ironhide asked.

"He said he doesn't care what you do, it's your responsibility just make sure you get them away from the barricades, put the fear of Primus in them!"

Ironhide looked down, tightening his hand into a fist and shaking with pure rage. He looked down the sight of the turret, and then to his men.

"Aim just outside the crowd, release a volley," he commanded.

"What if that isn't enough?" Springer asked.

"It has to be," Ironhide muttered.

He fired first, a few seconds of turret fire that broke off pieces of the ground behind the crowd. The crowd paused for a moment before they began punching and throwing themselves at the barricades. Cracks spread across the energy wall, and the troops behind it began to panic.

"What do we do?"

"Please stop this!"

"Commander what are your orders?"

"By Primus stop!"

"Commander!"

"COMMANDER!"

"OPEN FIRE ON THE CROWD!" Ironhide yelled.

He pulled the trigger, releasing a barrage of rail gun blasts that ripped through several bots. His troops followed, firing their turrets. Springer watched in horror as the front line of the rioting crowd was ripped apart. Oil and circuitry spread across the ground, explosions went off on some of the bot's chests, signalling the end of their sparks. Ironhide stopped firing first, looking at what he had done. His troops followed his example. Those workers left ran or drove away as fast as they could. Ironhide climbed out of his turret and went up to the barrier. He watched the light go out of a bot's eyes and then fell to his knees.

"Why?" he muttered.


Present

Ironhide looked down at his former apprentice, holding the blaster he had taken by its stock.

"I follow him because I believe, well and truly I believe Springer, when I hear him say that freedom is the right of all sentient beings, I believe that Cybertron can be better because I have seen him fight as hard as he can and live by that belief. I don't care about what Ratchet did to him, I don't care about this 'constructed leader' conspiracy, I truly believe that he is who I believe he is because I have seen who he is in every choice he has made at this point," he offered Springer the blaster and stepped back.

Springer pointed the blaster at Ironhide, his hand shaking despite the glare on his face.

"Watch him Springer, and believe me there is more to him than meets the eye."

"More to us than meets the eye!"

The words echoed in Convoy's head, a voice spoke them, a voice that was not his own yet at the same time was. It sounded as familiar to him as if it was his own voice, yet as distant as a dream. He fell forward and gripped his head.

The ship was gone, the battle gone, Convoy found himself in a void of white light. He looked ahead and saw an Autobot. He had blue legs, arms, a red chest plate and shoulders and a blue helmet. The Autobot turned, smiling at Convoy before turning into a new transformer entirely. A familiar finned helmet with a plate over the mouth, truck like armour on his chest and boots and a voice that again sounded familiar.

"Welcome young Autobot, we are Optimus Prime!"

Next Chapter 34: 40 cycles


I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter

The video by Studio Trigger has really inspired me, I've heard some positive things about the upcoming Transformers One too.

Next time also features a little tribute to Transformers as part of the 40th anniversary, with the conflict at Pinnacle Station escalating as Decepticon forces arrive.