FicWad

As the Defiant left Earth to the Reaper forces that now occupied it, Arcee was looking at the Prime octagonal disc as Jazz was checking their combat gear. But their attention was drawn to an argument as Jack and Smokescreen walked over to them.

"What the in Allspark is going on Jack. Where is Optimus?" Smokescreen said while Jack carried on walking.

"He's staying behind, but not before giving us a mission." The Prime answered. Smokescreen looked at him confused.

"Mission, what mission? The fight's back there on Earth."

Jack walked over to a console and activated it. Smokescreen walked around it and faced Jack while the others watched.

"I was robbed of my chance to help fight for Cybertron and I'll be damned if I am stopped from fighting to protect my new home. So you can turn around and drop me off." the Autobot replied right in the Prime's face. Jack though had just about enough of Smokescreen's attitude as he looked up him, his stoic expression quickly changing.

"Stow it Smokescreen." Jack answered angrily as he walked right round the console and pointed at him.

"I get it, you don't want to leave. You are not the only one here that feels that way, but Optimus gave us an order and I will see it through. Because we don't stand a chance against the Reapers, not without the help of the Citadel fleets."

Jack then walked past him towards Arcee and Jazz, the femme could see that he was seething.

"If you want to go back, you can board a transport from there." the Prime finished without even looking back at the young bot. Smokescreen just stood there and looked down to the ground as if he was mopping. Arcee and Jazz didn't know where to look as Jack joined them but before the Commander could say anything the inter com activated.

"Jackson Prime, we are receiving a transmission from Admiral Bryce." Teletraan said, making Jack walk back to the console he activated earlier, completely ignoring Smokescreen in the process.

"I'll take it down here Teletraan." he replied before the screen came to life and Admiral Bryce appeared on the screen as interference messed with the image.

"Commander…..seventh fleet….no…chance…..Reapers….out….nowhere." the Admiral said between the jamming that was fragmenting the transmission.

"Teletraan, any chance you could clean this up." the Prime asked.

"I will try Prime." the AI replied. Suddenly the image on the screen cleared up, and the Admiral continued.

"They had us completely outnumbered, thousands of ships in the first wave alone. We suffered heavy losses. The Reapers can not be defeated conventionally."

"Optimus has already ordered me to go to the Citadel and speak with the Council." Jack replied.

"First I need you to go our Lithone dig site on Mars before we lose the sol system completely. Our scientists found something there, something that can stop the Reapers, the only thing that can. So I sent Soundwave there to confirm and retrieve it. But we have lost contact with the dig site." Bryce said.

Jack saluted the Admiral in response.

"We will head to Mars and pick up Soundwave sir."

"Very well, Bryce out." the Admiral finished as the transmission cut. Jack then activated his com link.

"Hotrod, set course for Mars." he said.

"Aye aye, Commander. It's good to have you back." Hotrod replied, Jack smiled as he went back over to the others.

"Why Mars, what does Bryce think we will find?" Jazz asked as Arcee handed Jack the octagonal disc.

"I believe that this is yours." she said with a smile.

"Thanks." he replied as he accepted it before looking back at Jazz.

"I don't know, but if it can help us win this war…" He then placed the Prime disc on his chest and the others watched as the armour expanded over his body.

"Jazz, I need you up in the cockpit with Hotrod. Arcee and Smokescreen, grab your gear." he said before the two bots walked over to the armoury and suited up, Jazz then saluted Jack and headed to the elevator.

PRIME EFFECT 3

The Defiant flew out of the darkness of space and entered orbit above the red planet as it's shuttle bay door opened and shuttle one shot out and descended down into Mars's atmosphere. Smokescreen was piloting the shuttle while Jack and Arcee were sitting in the back.

"Commander, I have tried contacting the dig site, but have received no answer." Hotrod said over the com.

"Any sign of Reaper activity Teletraan?" the Prime asked.

"No Prime, but the facility appears to be online. I have detected life signs, but not enough to account for all the personnel that is stationed there." the AI replied.

Okay, we'll find out soon enough, just make sure the ship is ready…Prime out." he answered as both he and Arcee put on their breather helmets.

"We are almost there." Smokescreen commented from the cockpit as the shuttle headed down to the dig site, landing just outside the facility as Smokescreen put on his own breather helmet.

"The base is still not answering our hails." the young Autobot stated as Jack opened up the hatch, letting the light enter the shuttle as Jack stepped out and looked around at the red landscape. Arcee and Smokescreen joined him as they started towards the facility.

"Never been to Mars before." Arcee commented as Smokescreen looked back to her.

"Well since I was stuck in a stasis cell for most of the war, the only place I have seen a lot of is Earth." he replied before going quiet. Arcee noticed this and placed a hand on his shoulder in support.

"Hey, chin up. We will make it through this and we see our home again."

The young Bot nodded as the three suddenly heard a gun shot echoe around them. They ran around a small hill to see several soldiers standing over some Alliance personal who were on their knees. Jack and his team took cover behind some rocks as they watched them execute their prisoners one after the other. Smokescreen looked at the soldiers who were wearing black/gold and green armour.

"What the hell, they are executing them." Arcee said gritting her teeth. Jack though aimed his weapon at the soldier right in the center and fired, blowing a hole through the enemy's helmet and spraying blood all over the side of the truck behind him. The soldiers all turned around and instantly started firing at the group.

"Well they know we are here now." Smokescreen said sarcastically as the three of them fired back at the enemies. Though the solder's attempted to find cover, one by one they were all killed. Jack and the others then walked down and looked at the corpses. Smokescreen bent down over one of the enemy bodies and recognised the symbol on it's chestplate.

"These guys are MECH right?"

Jack looked back at him.

"Certainly looks that way." he replied. Arcee though looked worried, he could not see her face fully, but Jack could see her azure blue eyes staring back and he knew what she was about to say.

"What are MECH doing on Mars?"

The Prime shrugged his shoulders in response.

"That's a good question." he replied.

"You don't know?" Arcee asked back a little inquisitively, causing Jack to look back at her.

"No, how should I know why they are here." he said as the three of them walked over to the facility's entrance.

"But you worked with them, I mean it is a bit convenient that they show up here at the same time as us." Arcee argued back.

They walked into the loading bay and Smokescreen closed the bay door behind them, then activated the depressurization mode. Arcee walked straight up to Jack as the oxygen started flowing around the room.

"Jack, I need to hear you say that you don't know why MECH are here." she said in a serious tone.

"Why, why would I know what they are up to?" he replied in confused manner. She though looked away and walked over to the other side of the room.

"You worked for them for Primus's sake, how am I not supposed to think it?" she replied. Jack though shook his head and walked over to her as Smokescreen watched the two of them.

"We worked together to take down the Quintessons, that was it. I cut all ties with them after that was done."

The femme just carried on looking away from him, not wanting to look Jack in the eyes.

"But there is more to it than that, they brought you back from the dead, gave you a new ship, a crew…"

Jack took a chance and stood directly in front of Arcee and made eye contact, hoping that he would get the message through.

"Look, I have not had any contact with MECH since the Quintesson home world was destroyed, and I have no idea why they are here or what they want."

Smokescreen took a breath before adding his voice to the argument.

"Commander Darby has been in lock-down and under constant watch since he was arrested, there is no way that they could have communicated with him since."

Arcee finally just sighed as she admitted defeat, just as the room finished pressurising.

"I'm sorry Jack, I…" she replied as they took off their helmets, Jack looked back at her with his blue eyes.

"I shouldn't have to explain myself to you Arcee." he answered honestly as the door opened to reveal hollowed out tunnels and ancient stone work, Arcee though just looked down to the floor as she gently raked her fingers through her blue hair. She then looked back to the Prime and saw his expression soften.

"Please….trust me?" he said as they started walking through the tunnel. Arcee looked back at Jack.

"I want to Jack, believe me. It's just…" she replied before being cut off by the sounds of fighting up ahead. The three then ran down a tunnel and into a large room and took cover before looking over to see a man in dark blue armour with purple neon lights standing in the middle of a group of MECH soldiers, he was in a defensive stance as they looked at him nervously. Suddenly one of the soldiers made a move and attacked with an electrically charged escrima stick. The man though grabbed the stick and pulled it from the enemy's hand before sticking it right through the soldier's helmet, making his body go into a spasm before falling onto the ground.

The other MECH troops looked at him shocked before the man raised his hand and gestured them to try again. The troops suddenly angered, charged at him and he roundhouse kicked one in the face, sending the soldier to the ground before grabbing another in mid attack and snapping his neck before sweeping the last one off of his feet. He then got back up and equipped his pistol, before looking down at the troops still alive and shooting them in the head, one bullet each. Jack then gestured his two companions to follow him as they left cover and walked over to the man. Smokescreen raised his gun, only for Jack to stop him.

"Easy Smokescreen….he is with us." he said smiling as the man looked back and smiled in return.

"Jack, its good to see you my friend." the man said.

"Soundwave," the Prime replied.

"I heard about Earth, I am sorry." Soundwave said as Jack looked down for a second with regret. But he looked up as Arcee walked toward the spymaster.

"What is he…" she said before spotting the Autobot insignia on his chest plate.

"Why is Soundwave an Autobot all of a sudden and why.." she was cut off by Jack who stood between the two.

"Arcee, its alright. Soundwave helped me take down the Quintessons, and so I made him an Autobot in return. The war has been over for nearly twenty years now….remember."

Arcee looked at Soundwave a little unsure before looking back at Jack, the two looking at each other for a second, She then sighed and nodded back.

"Okay Jack."

Jack could see she wasn't completely comfortable with the situation, but now wasn't the time for old grievances, not with the Reapers now holding Earth and threatening to spread out into the galaxy. Jack turned back to Soundwave.

"Bryce told us you have found something here that can help us."

Soundwave looked at Jack and a slight smile grew on his face. This surprised both Arcee and Smokescreen who had never seen the former con even blink before. The young Bot stood close to the femme and whispered in her ear.

"Hey maybe Jack's right about Soundwave."

Arcee nodded in return.

"Soundwave wouldn't be the first Cybertronian that Jack has helped change." she whispered back as she remembered how she had changed because of him. The two bots then walked forward and joined the Prime and the spymaster.

"I have looked through the information that was stored in the databanks here and have found what looks like a weapon, a weapon that can kill the Reapers."

Jack and the others looked at each other and then back to Soundwave in disbelief.

"Here, on Mars?" Smokescreen asked.

The spymaster nodded in return.

"Yes, in the Lithone databanks that are stored in the outpost here."

"But haven't we only just discovered this Lithone outpost like nearly a year ago, seems like a bit of a coincidence." Jack replied sceptically.

"Well I think the Archaeologists were surprised when they discovered this place and the information in the data core, so Admiral Bryce asked me to take a look into it and tell him if it is the real thing."

"And is it?" the Prime asked.

Soundwave smiled.

"I believe so, I have deciphered a set of blue prints for the device."

Arcee stepped forward.

"So where are these plans?" the femme asked.

"Just a few levels below us." Soundwave replied.

"Ok, then lets get going. Soundwave lead the way." Jack finished as the group walked into the main tunnel that was heading further underground.

As they headed further down the tunnels, the only light coming from the small light cables that lined it's corners, Jack and his team came across more bodies of Alliance soldiers. Soundwave and Arcee activated their holo-tools and scanned the corpses.

"Jack, these men were killed by a single attack to the head." the spymaster replied as he looked at his holo-tool.

"Yeah, I would say that from the way they fell to the ground, that they did not even know that they were under attack." Arcee carried on.

Smokescreen kept an eye out as he looked further down the tunnel with his weapon ready.

"So whoever did this was extremely stealthy?" the young Bot asked.

The femme nodded while before looking at Jack.

"So we have another player here then, especially since the MECH soldiers seem to be rather trigger happy. Okay lets keep moving, but keep an eye out." The Prime replied as the group carried on down the tunnel, leaving the dead soldiers behind.

PRIME EFFECT 3

They soon came into a large cavern that was filled with numerous mining tools and supply crates, when they suddenly heard voices the group took cover as four MECH soldiers came into view from the other side of the room.

"We have this passage protected, what about Bravo team?" one soldier said to the others.

"Bravo team has sealed off the data core at the other end of this tunnel and will defend it until given orders from the Director."

Jack looked over to the Arcee and Smokescreen, Arcee nodded as she could tell what he was thinking. But unfortunately Smokescreen didn't as he nodded back before jumping out of cover and firing at the enemies. The MECH soldiers fired back as they took cover, while Jack silently cursed before he, Soundwave and Arcee joined in. Smokescreen saw this as he killed two of the enemies.

"I've got this!" he said confidently, not noticing the three other MECH troops enter the room from behind him and they were about to fire when Jack grabbed the young Bot and pulled him behind cover as the spymaster and the Femme shot them. Jack then came back out of cover and killed the final two soldiers. Once they were all dead, Smokescreen sat on the floor, leaning against the crate and looking at the ground with a sullen look. He knew that everyone else was staring daggers at him at that moment.

"What the hell was that?" Arcee said with her anger evident. "Didn't you see the other group of enemies entering the room, Jack did.."

The femme stopped when she felt Jack place his hand on her shoulder. He then stepped beside her and looked down at the bot, his face stoic.

"Smokescreen, no heroics. We work as a team, understand?" he said before offering his hand to him. The Autobot looked at his hand and then back up to the Prime, he then nodded and took his hand, as Jack helped him to his feet.

"I understand, it won't happen again…it's funny, I remember the first time we worked together and how that turned out. But now I look at you and can't help but notice how much you remind me of Optimus."

As Smokescreen and Jack spoke, Arcee looked away as she too remembered that day and how angry she was at Smokescreen for taking Jack into danger like that, and also at the young human for going along with the Autobot. She also remembered the talk they had the next day, he had told her the reasons why he had gone along and she couldn't help but feel the anger she had held inside seep away from her being.

Jack told her that he only went because he didn't want Smokescreen to go alone and that he also kept his distance from the fight, and was just unlucky that the Insecticon had found him. He was also the one who contacted Ratchet and told them know about the Star-saber. When Arcee had heard these reasons, she found it very hard to be angry at him. It wasn't like he was doing a Miko.

"Arcee."

The femme was brought out of her memories by Jack who was looking at her curiously.

"You okay?" he asked. She smiled and looked at the tunnel that the MECH troops were protecting.

"Yes I am fine Jack, I think we should see about getting through that door?"

Jack smiled at her.

"You just read my mind, have any ideas?" the Prime replied.

Arcee looked around.

"Well we can't just attack, but maybe we can trick them into opening the door for us." She then looked at one of the MECH soldiers and knelt down beside it.

"What are you looking for?" Jack asked as he stood over her.

"This soldier has a two way radio, I almost have it." she answered as she pulled the helmet off the dead enemy's head, she then almost jumped back with a gasp at the sight before them. Jack himself looked down at it in shock. What they saw was the soldier's face which was horribly transformed. His eyes were blue optics with tiny tubes running down either side of his face.

"By Primus, he looks like a Husk." Arcee stated as Jack knelt down and took a closer look.

"Yeah, but not quite. It looks like they stopped the transformation only a quarter of the way."

Arcee looked down at it before looking back to Jack.

"And by they….you mean MECH? They did this to their own people?"

Jack got back to his feet as the femme looked at him worriedly.

"Jack, that could have been you. I mean for all I knew, that's what MECH had done."

The Commander looked at her, his expression was one of hurt and of shock.

"What….how can you compare me to that thing?" he said taken aback by her comment. Arcee though looked away.

"I….I don't know what you are, not since they rebuilt you." she answered honestly, her voice becoming emotional. She stood with her back to him and looked out into the tunnel.

"Is it really you? Do you even know. I mean Silas could be controlling you even now."

Jack cocked his head and looked over to her.

"Arcee…" he said in a soft voice. She turned around and looked at him.

"You don't need to say anything, I just need some time to get used to this." she then looked down to the ground.

"So I just want you to be honest with me…is the man that I loved still in there?" she asked as she looked back at the Prime with her azure blue eyes. Jack smiled and walked closer to her.

"Arcee it's still me, I am the same person I always was. And I will wait for you, however long it takes."

Jack watched as the same beautiful smile that he remembered graced her lips again.

"Thanks Jack, I needed to hear that." she replied.

"Good, lets see if we can get them to let us in." he said with a smile as he activated the radio.

"This is Gamma team, anyone there?"

They both waited for a moment as Soundwave and Smokescreen joined them. Suddenly another voice could be heard on the other end.

"Where the hell have you been…..wait forget it. What is your status?" the soldier asked.

"We are at the corridor leading to the data core, all enemies eliminated." The Prime replied.

"Roger that, Delta team will join you momentarily." the MECH soldier finished. Jack then threw the radio away as they all equipped their weapons.

"Do you think they believed you?" Arcee asked.

"Well, I think we are about to find out." The Prime replied as they heard the door at the end of the tunnel start to open. Jack signalled everyone to take cover before he jumped over a crate next to Arcee who smiled back at him while he readied his weapon just moments before the MECH troops walked in.

"Where's Gamma team?" the lead soldier said to the others. Suddenly Jack stood up, startling the troops.

"Looking for me?" he said with a slight smile before opening fire on the group, Arcee and Smokescreen joining him as they riddled the troops with bullets.

"Soundwave now!" Jack shouted over the gunfire, the spymaster was hiding by the tunnel's entrance and he threw a flash bang grenade in there, as the last trooper that Jack and the others had killed fell to the ground. The tunnel then filled with a bright white light, that blinded the MECH trooper who was standing at the doorway at the other end. Soundwave then moved into the corridor while the light continued to shine brightly for another moment, it was then quiet as the light died down and the others uncovered their eyes with their hands to hear an echo of a neck snapping .

Jack, Arcee and Smokescreen walked into the tunnel's entrance to see Soundwave standing at the other end as he let go of the trooper's body and watched it hit the floor and go limp.

"Not bad." Arcee said, gaining a nod from the spymaster. The others quickly joined him as they entered the data core. The room was massive and in the center was makeshift Alliance computer terminal which was connected by data cables to what looked like the Lithone beacon that Jack had come into contact with back on Eden Prime nearly three year ago.

"Smokescreen." he said, and the young bot nodded in return before he started searching the outer section of the room while the Prime and the others walked up to the core, walking past a hologram of the data core that was just beside the computer console. Soundwave started working the holo-controls as Jack and Arcee watched, unaware that the hologram behind them started shifting and changed into the form of a man.

"Darby!" a familiar voice called out. Arcee and Jack spun around with pistols ready to see a hologram of Silas standing in front of them. The MECH Director looking rather smug as he took a sip from the drink in his hand.

"Silas." the Femme spat at him as she gritted her teeth, but Silas just ignored her and looked directly at the Prime. His yellow optics glowing brightly.

"Tell your femme to back down Darby." he replied coolly. Jack lowered his gun and gave him a lop sided grin.

"I don't take orders from you Silas, or had you forgotten." he said before looking over to the femme. "Arcee you alright?" he asked softly, gaining a smile from her.

"I'm fine Jack, thanks for asking. Just wish he was really here so I could put a bullet through his head." she replied staring coldly at the MECH director. Jack looked back at Silas just a coldly.

"I know what you mean. So what do you want Silas?"

The Director looked up at the data core and smiled.

"What I have always wanted, the data in this core holds the key to solving the Reaper threat, thanks to the Lithone. They are certainly an interesting race, they left this all here for us to find. But thanks to the Autobots, it took a while finding it."

Jack looked at him cynically.

"I have seen your solution, you are turning your people into Husks."

Silas shrugged off the Prime's reply.

"Hardly, I have improved them."

Jack continued to stare at the Director.

"Improved?" Jack asked back.

"That's the difference between us, Darby. You always destroy what you do not understand and fear, while I always aim to control and dominate. And with this data I can do the same to the Reapers, to harness their power for the good of Humanity. Imagine how strong we would be if we can control the Reapers." Silas replied.

Jack felt his patience disappear as he stepped forward, giving Silas a judgmental look.

"Earth is under Reaper control and you are trying to find a way to control them."

Suddenly another hologram appeared next to Silas, taking the form of the Quintesson planet.

"You know for a Prime, you are really short sighted and hasty, just like Optimus. You proved that when you destroyed the Quintesson home world." he said looking at the hologram.

"That planet was an abomination, hundreds of thousands of Humans were murdered there." Jack replied, feeling his anger growing by the second.

"You know you can not defeat the Reapers Darby, even with the data from this Lithone core." Silas responded. Jack though had to try and get through to the MECH director and so took a breath.

"Then work with me, give me MECH's resources and I 'will' stop the Reapers." he said confidently.

Silas gave him a knowing look as he sipped his drink.

"You would do better then most, but the odds are not in your favour. More importantly I don't want the Reapers destroyed. We can control them, harness their power to our will as we evolve ourselves and become the dominant species in this galaxy."

Jack had finally had enough of Silas's ramblings.

"It doesn't matter how hard you try Silas, you will never control the Reapers, but it sounds to me like they are already controlling you."

Silas's expression remained stoic, but Jack could see that Silas was getting angry.

"No ones controlling me Darby, you will never understand what I am trying to accomplish and I am certainly not looking for your approval." he said, his optics narrowing at the Prime.

"You were just a tool to me Darby, an agent with a single purpose. But you served it well despite our differences, but now your time is over."

Jack looked defiantly at Silas.

"I have heard enough. Soundwave download the data."

The spymaster nodded before continuing to work as Silas pointed at Jack.

"Stay out of MECH's way Darby, I will not warn you again." Silas finished.

"Go to hell." Jack replied as Soundwave looked back at the Prime.

"Jack, I have a problem here." he said gaining the Commander's attention as Silas smiled before his hologram disappeared.

"What is it?" he replied as Arcee joined him at the spymaster's side.

"The data, it is not here. It is being erased." Soundwave answered.

"Damn it, how are they doing it" Jack asked irritably.

Soundwave worked the controls and saw the problem.

"They are downloading the copy from a local terminal."

As they spoke Smokescreen came across a woman standing over a computer, she was wearing red and black armour.

"Hey, stop what you are doing and step away from the terminal." the Autobot ordered. The woman stopped and looked over her shoulders at Smokescreen, her red eyes narrowing at him.

"Move away Now!" he repeated.

But before he could stop her, she attacked him and knocked him to the floor with a back kick before slamming her fist into the terminal with her holo-tool activated, causing the data core to lose power. She then ran as Jack and Soundwave reached Smokescreen who was still on his back.

"I've got her." Arcee stated as she ran after the woman who was already in the tunnel. The femme entered the tunnel just behind her, 'Damn she is fast' she thought as she sprinted from one tunnel to the next, hoping to catch up to the unknown female.

PRIME EFFECT 3

When she got back outside (having placed her breather helmet on) she saw the shuttle ahead but no sign of the woman. She slowly walked toward the shuttle while scanning around her with her weapon. 'Where are you?' she thought as she turned around and looked back to the facility's entrance. The woman then appeared on top of the shuttle and dived at Arcee, who just managed to dive out of the way, landing on her hands before flipping back on to her feet.

She spun round with her weapon ready, only for the woman to grab her arm and knock the pistol out of the femme's hands before kicking her in the stomach, making Arcee back step and recover. She looked at the woman and her eyes widened as she recognised her. Apart from her red and black armour (she also had a breather over her mouth), the woman also had a pale complexion and red hair with blue highlights. She just stared at Arcee blankly.

"Flamewar!" Arcee gasped as the woman grunted and attacked the femme, throwing punches and kicks while Arcee deflected and blocked them while trying to counterattack. Meanwhile Jack and the others arrived to witness the two femmes fighting and Arcee noticed this, Flamewar took advantage of the femme's distracted state and grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air, tightening her grip as the femme struggled. This caused Arcee to choke as she tried in vain to breath.

"ARCEE!" Jack shouted as he trained his weapon on Flamewar, who ignored him and tapped the com link on her ear.

"Orders?" she said in a seductive but dark tone.

"Kill her!" came Silas's voice from the other end and Flamewar smiled as she pulled Arcee back before slamming her into the side of the shuttle, knocking her unconscious and cracking the visor on her helmet. Flamewar then pulled her free hand back and clenched it into a fist and was about to smash the Autobot's face in when suddenly a bullet shot straight through one side of her head, before exploding out the other side with liquid spraying everywhere as she fell to the ground along side Arcee.

Jack then looked at Arcee's prone form lying on the floor as his instincts kicked in and before he knew it he was running to her side, hoping that she would be alright. He knelt down beside her and looked down at her cracked visor, his heart skipped a beat when he saw no movement in her face, but then she murmured something and the Prime breathed a sigh of relief as he scooped her up in his arms.

"Come on Arcee, I am getting you out of here." he said softly as he walked over with her towards the shuttle as Smokescreen powered up it's engines. Jack then looked over to Flamewar's corpse.

"Soundwave grab that thing, we are taking it with us."

The Spymaster knelt down over her head and ripped it off in one clean motion.

"I only need the head Jack." he said stoically before he joined them in the shuttle, the hatch closing behind them as the com link activated and a worried sounding Hotrod could be heard.

"We have to leave guys, Reaper signatures have just appeared in orbit."

"Roger that Defiant, Smokescreen get us out of here." Jack ordered.

The shuttle then lifted off and flew up out of the atmosphere before re-entering the Defiant's shuttle bay. Once onboard, the Alliance ship then pulled out of Mars's gravity and flew to the outer area of the sol system before the Reaper ships had a chance to react.