FicWad

Jack was standing alone in the Com room as he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed, the incoming transmission LED on the control console in front of him was blinking back at the Prime. He knew who it was on the other end, but had no idea how he was going to explain what happened, how he came so close to acquiring the means to end the Reapers. But then not only coming away empty-handed, but also losing a friend and teammate. He closed his eyes and sighed as brushed his and through his hair before standing up straight and walking over to the control console. He then tapped the button next to the blinking LED and a fragmented hologram of Councillor Tevos appeared.

"Jackson Prime do you read?" Jack could hear her say barely through the static before her image cleared up.

"Prime, are you there?" she asked again, her voice sounding anxious. Jack looked down and took a deep breath before answering.

"Councillor, I am here."

"Prime, we have lost all contact with our forces on Thessia, the entire system has gone dark. How long until the Crucible will be ready to deploy?" Tevos asked.

Jack looked up and met the Asari's gaze.

"Councillor… I wish I…."

He just couldn't say it, say that he lost the data and also watched as the Reapers lay waste to her planet. But then he was snapped out of his self loathing by the Councillor's voice.

"What is it Prime, what happened?"

"We found the Kranix matrix, but MECH arrived and took the information. We were… we were defeated. We can not finish the Crucible." he said as he forced the words out of his mouth, leaving a bad taste. Tevos looked down to the ground and placed her hand on her brow.

"I… I don't know what to say." she said before looking back at the Prime.

"What was the situation on Thessia?"

Jack looked back down to the console, unable to even look the Councillor in the eye.

"The Reapers are there in force, your people are being…"

Tevos's expression changed to one of worry and despair as she failed to keep her emotions in check and looked back to the Commander.

"You will have to excuse me Prime, there are…. preparations to make. I never thought this day would come."

"None of is did Councillor, I am….." Jack said as he looked up at her, only for Tevos to end the transmission and her image to faded to nothing. Jack felt his heart sink as he looked into the empty space where the Asari's hologram once stood.

"… I'm sorry." he said before taking a step back from the console. Everything that they had planned was unravelling fast, the Reapers were now attacking every major power in the galaxy and the one thing that could help was no in the hands of Silas and MECH.

'How did it come to this?' he thought before turning around and leaving the room.

Arcee was waiting for Jack as he exited the room, she took one look at Jack and saw that he was hurting. Not only for losing to MECH, but also for losing Airachnid. The femme knew that they had been close, that they shared just a brief moment of what she and the Prime had. When Airachnid had asked to kiss Jack one last time, Arcee could not feel angry about it. Because over time the former Con had become a good friend and if it hadn't been for Airachnid, then she and Jack would never had gotten back together. And for that Arcee would be forever grateful.

"Jack, Teletraan has reported that Liara T'Soni has made it safely to the Asari cruiser 'Aurora'. She sends us her thanks and says that she will be helping the evacuation of her people."

"That's good to hear." the Prime replied with a blank expression.

"Teletraan also said that the remaining Asari forces are pulling out of the system, they are leaving it to the Reapers." Arcee added as she looked at Jack with concern.

"Okay, I will tell Hotrod to get us out of here." the Prime replied before starting to leave, only for the femme to speak again.

"What are your orders once we are on our way?"

Jack stopped and looked back to her.

"I don't know Arcee."

It was killing the femme to see her lover like this, her spark ached at the sight of Jack looking so lost and defeated.

"Jack, if you want I will cover your duties so that you can get some rest."

Jack sighed and look down for a moment before looking back to her.

"And if you want to talk, you know I am only a spark beat away." she added, gaining a slight smile from the Prime.

"I know Arcee, thank you." he said before he turned away and walked toward the elevator, leaving the femme to watch him go.

Jack entered the CIC, ignoring the worried looks from the crewmen as he walked up to the cockpit where Hotrod was.

"Hotrod report."

The Autobot pilot typed into the holo-keyboard in front of him and brought up the map of the system, it showed a number of white dots leaving Thessia as a mass of red dots surrounded the planet.

"Prime we better get out of here, the Reapers are setting up shop in this system."

Jack's face remained blank as he looked at the screen.

"Very well, get us out of here."

"What's our destination?" Hotrod asked back with a somewhat confused tone. Jack just looked at the ground as he turned away and began to walk back towards the elevator.

"Pick one, I don't care where." he mumbled under his breath. The Autobot knew that something wasn't right, so he spun his chair around to face the Commander.

"Prime"

Jack stopped and looked back to his pilot.

"Yes Hotrod?"

"Sorry to see Thessia that way, I'm guessing the Asari wish they trained more commandos instead of dancers now huh.." the pilot joked, earning a bemused look from the Prime which quickly changed to one of anger as he walked back towards the cockpit.

"If you hadn't noticed we just lost a few million people down there with even more to follow, this isn't the time." he snapped at Hotrod. The pilot looked up at him with wide eyes before his expression mirrored the Prime's as he activated his hook-tool, bringing up a holo image of a planet.

"See this planet, it's called Temptoria, it's a human/Cybertronian colony near the edges of Alliance space. My brother Rodimus is stationed there."

Then the image showed Red dots arriving at the planet.

"Two weeks ago Reapers flew in." Hotrod continued as he deactivated his holo-tool and looked up at Jack with a serious expression.

"So you can assume that I am fully aware that there is war going on."

"Then why the joke?" Jack asked back in an angry tone.

"Because according to Teletraan and Ratchet's scans, you are under more pressure now than on New Terra, where it was just you and a handful of rookies versus an army of slavers. Or better yet the battle of the Citadel or the attack on the Quintesson home world.".Hotrod replied.

Jack was about to say something but the pilot continued.

"Also not long back Bryce sent a message from Optimus, who asked me to look out for you. The leader of the Autobots, who is back on Earth coordinating the resistance is more worried about you." the Autobot added.

"I didn't know that, and I do appreciate the concern... but I am fine." Jack replied, but Hotrod saw otherwise.

"No you're not Jack..." the Autobot replied which stunned the Prime, as this was the first time that Hotrod has called him by his name.

"... your like a terminator right now, and it is my fault. Nearly three years ago when the Quintessons destroyed the Normandy, you died after coming back for me. Because I wouldn't leave, that's on me." Hotrod replied with a guilty tone in his voice.

"Well I couldn't leave the best pilot in the galaxy behind now... Could I?" the Prime replied with a slight smile, hoping it would calm his pilot down.

"I guess that would look bad on your record." the pilot replied as he saw that Jack had made a joke.

"But I still owe you for saving my life Jack and I will repay you."

"You don't owe me anything Hotrod, your my friend. Thank you."

The young bot nodded in return before Jack looked out of the cockpit's canopy into space.

"Set course for the seventh fleet, we will see if Admiral Bryce has any Intel for us. In the meantime I will be in my quarters, Arcee will be covering for me."

"Aye aye." Hotrod replied as he turned his chair back round to the controls, and Jack turned to leave, walking back into the CIC. The pilot then leaned round and watched him leave.

"I will pay you back Jack." he said under his breath.

"Did you say something Hotrod?" Teletraan asked as its holo-form appeared next to the pilot.

"Nah, I didn't. Setting course for the Seventh fleet." the pilot replied as he looked back towards the canopy and took control of the ship, which then flew through the active space bridge vortex.

PRIME EFFECT 3

It had been a few hours since the Defiant had left Thessia to the Reapers and morale on board was low to say the least, Jack had not been out of his quarters since the ship had retreated along with the Asari forces. Arcee was at this moment in engineering with Garrus and Tali. The Quarian was performing a diagnostic on the engine core from a console over looking the Core's containment shield, Garrus was standing behind her with his arms wrapped round her waist. Though you could not see her face behind the visor of her helmet, she was content and had a big smile on her face. Garrus looked over to Arcee who was leaning back against the rail that half surrounded the core, she was looking ahead with a pensive expression.

"Arcee everything okay? You haven't spoken in a while." he asked. The femme sighed before looking back to her friends.

"Sorry guys, I was just thinking." she said in a sombre tone.

"About Jack?" Tali asked as she looked up from her work to the Autobot, Arcee nodded in return.

"He has taken Airachnid's death very hard, I can't help but wonder how he would be if anything..." she said before cutting herself short, not wanting to say the words.

"You mean if anything had happened to you?" Garrus finished, making the femme look at him and then back down to the ground.

"... yes."

"I know how Jack feels for you Arcee, because it is exactly the same as how I feel for Tali." the Turian said as he gently tightened his arms around his lover's waist, the Quarian took a deep breath as she tried to stop her self getting too excited by Garrus's open act of affection towards her. She then stopped what she was doing and turned around and looked him in the eyes.

"If anything had happened to you on Omega, then there would have been nothing Jack or anyone could have done to stop me from killing Petrovsky and every member of MECH on that station." he said as she placed a hand on the chest plate of his armour and smiled back, the Turian then looked back to Arcee when he remembered they weren't alone.

"So Arcee, believe me when I say that I know what his reaction would be if it was you."

The Autobot nodded back with a slight smile gracing her face.

"Yeah, I guess I have always known that about Jack. Thanks Garrus." she replied.

"Hey, you should go corner him and get him to talk. I did that with Garrus here and he felt better once it was off his chest." Tali then said getting the femme's attention as she stood back up.

"I think I will, see you guys later."

As Arcee left, the Quarian then wrapped both arms around the her lover's neck gaining a puzzle smile from him.

"I thought you had work to do?"

"Well I did, but someone keeps distracting me." she answered coyly.

"Well….. Damn, what are you going to do to this person?" he replied just a coy, making Tali rise up on her tip toes and whisper into his ear. Garrus's eyes then almost popped out of their sockets before he looked back to her in surprise.

"… really, I didn't know that. I mean if you feel ready.. but." he said before she cut him by placing a finger on his lips.

"Follow me." she said in a low seductive tone before taking him by the hand and leading him out of Engineering, only stopping to look over to another engineer who was trying to act like he had not seen anything.

"Adams, I am taking a break. Please keep an eye on things until I get back." Tali said in a professional manner.

"Yes Tali sir.. I mean miss." he replied awkwardly as the two lovers left. Meanwhile Arcee exited the elevator on deck one which led to her and Jack's quarters. She stood outside the door and took a breath before taking a step forward and the door opened, revealing the interior to her. But she stopped when she saw that the room was empty.

"Teletraan where is Jack, I thought that he was up here?" she asked into her com link.

"I am sorry Arcee, but Jackson Prime has asked for privacy." the AI replied, earning a slight scowl from the femme.

"Teletraan, this is me you are talking too. Tell me where Jack is?"

There was silence for several seconds before the AI spoke again.

"Very well, Prime is in the gym."

Meanwhile Jack was alone in what the crew called 'the gym, it wasn't particularly large room but it was filled with some weight machines, treadmills and mats. The Prime at this moment was unloading into a punching bag. He was throwing a flurry of punches and kicks into the bag, as if he was picturing it as someone else. Every time a fist or foot connected, he would try to see flashes of Sideways in pain. But instead he saw the friends that he had lost since becoming a Prime, friends that he believed should still be here.

He hit the bag as hard as he could and saw a flash of Miko, another punch connected and then it was Kaidan. Then a roundhouse kick and he saw Wheeljack. He then performed a combination and he saw Jacob and Zaeed, Soundwave and Legion. Then the last punch made him see Airachnid and that stopped him in his tracks, he stood there with his fist still embedded in the punching bag. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. he had been so preoccupied with the apparatus that he had not noticed Arcee standing in the doorway watching him, her face was one of worry and concern. True if she had seen him doing this at any other time, then his current appearance would have gotten quite a different reaction from her, with his toned and sweaty physique. But this was different, she watched for a moment longer as he pulled his fist from the bag and looked down at the floor.

"Jack, I thought I would find you in our room." She said gaining the Prime's attention as he looked back to her, his expression one of annoyance.

"I told Teletraan I didn't want to be disturbed." he replied as he took a stance and readied himself for another round.

"Like that was going to work with me Jack, you know me better than that." the femme said back as she stepped into the room towards him, the Commander then began punching the bag multiple times in the process.

"I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts Arcee." he said with heavy breaths as he concentrated on the apparatus, which had begun to swing due to the amount of force being used against it. Arcee saw this and took hold of the bag from the other side and steadied it, never taking her eyes off her partner in the process.

"So you wanted to be alone to torture yourself mentally and physically." she said as she looked at him.

"Well you have picked a hell of at time to let yourself go."

Jack stopped and glared at her, but all he saw from Arcee's face was love and worry and tah causd his own expression to soften.

"Arcee..." he replied before he stopped his assault on the apparatus.

"Talk to me Jack, what's wrong? Why are you down here?" the femme asked. The Prime then moved away from the punching bag and sat down on the bench that ran the length of the wall, the Autobot doing the same while keeping her eyes on her lover. Jack bent forward and hung his head as he sighed.

"It's my fault."

"What is Jack, what's your fault?" Arcee replied with a confused look.

"What happened on Thessia with MECH." he answered sombrely.

"Jack, you couldn't have known what was going to happen down there." the femme said back with a supportive tone.

"I should have, as a Prime I have to be ready for anything that may happen. But I was just so fixated on getting the Kranix matrix, that I lost sight of everything else." he said.

"Jack, you had to be though because we needed that to end the war. And no one thinks less of you, because they would have been exactly the same." Arcee replied as she placed a comforting hand on his knee. Jack though didn't acknowledge her as he just kept looking down at the floor. The femme could see that he wanted to be alone and stew in his own juices... If that was the correct human term, but she wasn't about to give up on him. So she instead sat closer to him, showing him that she wasn't going anywhere.

"I know there is more to this than just what happened on Thessia Jack, this goes back further than that. Like the fact that you sleep erratically, or that you close yourself off from the others." Arcee said with a tone that Jack could not help but notice, so he glanced up to her.

"You never give up do you? He replied somberly. The femme then gently placed a hand on his cheek and turned his face towards her, bringing his eyes to meet hers.

"I'll never give up on you Jack... not ever." she replied softly. Jack then sighed as he remembered what he had promised Garrus only days before, he knew he could not hold it off any longer and that Arcee deserved better than to be kept in the dark. Hell maybe getting it off his chest would actually relieve him of the guilt and pain that he had felt over the last few months.

"I am truly sorry for worrying you, but I thought that this burden was mine to bear alone."

The Autobot then gave him a knowing look.

"You really just said that, after what you said to me not long back about keeping things to yourself when I was worried about Chromia, you did the opposite of that and now it is effecting you. Trust me as I trust you, let me in…let me help you." she asked in an almost pleading like tone. It was funny that both Garrus and Arcee had said similar things to the Prime in just a matter of days, those closest to him knew him better than he knew him self it would seem. So Jack sat up with his back to the wall and took a breath as he looked directly in front of him.

"Back on Earth, while I was incarnated. There was this boy who was playing with other kids in a playground just away from the complex I was held at. He couldn't of been any older than six or seven years, but nearly every day I saw him there enjoying his childhood without a care in world. Well when the Reapers attacked and you, Optimus and I were trying to get down to street level, I found him hiding in an open vent. I tried to convince him to come with us, so that we could get him to safety. But he was too scared to trust anyone and when Optimus called back to me, I looked back to find that he had gone retreated further into the vents."

"I am sorry Jack, but when a child is scared. Usually the only ones who they will trust are their own family." Arcee replied sympathetically.

"That wasn't the only time I saw him, there was 'one more time'." Jack said back.

"One more time?"

"Yes, it was when we were standing on the Defiant's shuttle bay ramp and looking out at the devastation that the Reapers were inflicting. I saw him at one of the evacuation zones, he was about to board a shuttle when he looked directly at me. So I smiled back, knowing that he would be alright. But then just as his shuttle was leaving, it was blown out of the sky by a nearby Reaper." the Prime said with his eyes wide as if he could see the whole moment happen in front of him.

"And from that moment I have felt that those who have died during this conflict, not just our friends who have fallen. But everyone…. is on me, because I didn't fight hard enough." he said simply before looking down to the floor. Arcee immediately moved and knelt down in front of him.

"Look at me Jack." she said with a gentle but firm tone, gaining Jack's attention as he looked at her.

"You have been fighting the Reapers since the beginning. And you have warned people about them for years now, so the blame must rest solely on the shoulders of those who would not act, not on the one who did." she said firmly while looking into his eyes.

"And as for our friends who are no longer with us, they knew the risks and dangers that came with fighting beside you and yet they followed you anyway. Because they believed in your cause and knew that it was the right thing to do, as does everyone else on this ship. And so do I."

Jack then gave the femme a sad smile as his eyes began to well up.

"Thank you Arcee, I have held this in for so long now, I know that I should have known better but…" he said before the Autobot cut him off.

"Sssshhh." she said as she got up and pulled him into an embrace, the Prime resting his head on her shoulder as a solitary tear ran down his cheek.

"Your putting too much on your shoulders Jack, you maybe a Prime. But you are still just a man, but you are 'my man'." she said affectionately before the two parted slightly to look at each other. The femme then leaned in and kissed him on the lips lovingly, with Jack returning it in kind. Once they separated Arcee smiled at her lover.

"Now go and get yourself cleaned up and meet me in the CIC, the crew needs it's Commander more now than ever."

"Yes sir." he answered with a surprised smile, before walking past her and out of the gym, Arcee watched with a smile as he left.

PRIME EFFECT 3

Twenty minutes later and Jack exited the elevator and entered the CIC as Arcee was looking over some data on the galaxy map.

"Teletraan, are you sure these bases are no longer used by MECH?" the femme asked as she stared at three yellow dots blinking on the map.

"Positive Arcee, these bases have been searched by the Alliance since I uploaded their whereabouts to our mainframe." the AI replied. Jack then stood beside his partner, earning a smile from her. But before he could say anything, one of the crew approached him.

"Commander, I have this week's duty roster for you to check." she said as she handed him a pad which he looked at.

"It looks good ensign, carry on." he replied stoically. The ensign nodded and was about to leave when he turned back to the Prime.

"It's good to see you sir." he said a little nervously, but Jack smiled back at him.

"Thank you."

The crewmen smiled and then headed back to his station, Jack then turned back to see Arcee still smiling at him.

"Told you." she simply replied, as the Prime turned his attention to the galaxy map.

"So where are we at right now?"

"Well, as of right now. We are nowhere, none of our leads (which is nearly none) have anything we can work with." the femme replied.

"We'll figure something, we always do." he said in return.

"Prime." a voice then spoke from behind the partners. They both turned to see Chromia standing in front of them looking rather sheepish.

"Here is my security report, I hope you find everything satisfactory." she said as she handed her pad to Jack who looked it over.

"Yes, that will do Chromia." he said before handing it back to the femme. Chromia then looked at her sister and then back to the Prime.

"I am sorry to hear about Airachnid and how I treated her when her earlier, I didn't know about her past."

"But you do now?" Arcee asked gaining a nod from her younger sister.

"Yes, Hotrod told me. I wish I could take back what I said and did, but now she is gone and I won't have that opportunity." Chromia replied sombrely.

"How do you feel about Airachnid now, knowing the truth about her? Jack asked.

" I wish I got to know her better, she was another victim of Shockwave. I lost some friends to his cruelty during war, Hotrod also told me that you helped her kill him. I just hope that she finally finds some peace now with the Allspark.

"As do we." Arcee replied before looking to Jack who smiled back, the femme and Prime then looked back to be younger bot.

"I know Airachnid would appreciate what you just said Chromia, thank you."

The purple femme nodded before turning to leave, then looked over to her sister.

"want to talk over a coffee later sis?"

"Sure, I'll see you at lunch." she replied with a smile. Chromia returned the smile before leaving the two at the galaxy map and walking up to the cockpit, leaving the partners alone again.

"Jackson Prime, I am receiving a transmission along the Defiant's secondary com array."

"I thought we don't use that particular array, unless the primary has been disabled?" The Prime replied.

"That is correct, but it is left active invade of emergencies. Also while the primaries are active, all messages received on the secondaries are never recorded." Teletraan stated.

"So whoever sent this message knew this and wanted it left off our records." Jack replied.

"Someone really wants to contact us." Arcee said in return.

Jack looked over to the holo-form of the AI.

"Is there any way to locate the source of the transmission?" the Prime asked.

"Negative, as the strength of the transmission is very weak and so it's trail degrades quickly, blocking my attempts to localize it." Teletraan replied.

"Very well, reroute it to the com room." Jack said before looking over to Arcee.

"Someone is going to get lengths to contact us and her keep themselves hidden, so let's see who it is shall we." the Prime said as he gestured to the femme to follow and the two entered the elevator.

Once in the Com room, Jack activated the central console and an image started to appear in front of them. But it was distorted and barely recognizable.

"Ja...ck, can...read." it's voice managed to say through the static. Jack then typed a series of commands into the console's holo-keyboard.

"I am going to try to boost the signal with power from our own con array, hopefully that will clean it up."

After a moment the image vegan to clear and take the form of a familiar human woman who made Jack's eyes widen in surprise.

"Miranda."

"Jack, it's been a while." she replies as she stood before the two partners.

"Yes it has, what's going on?" the Prime asked but the former MECH agent just stared back with a look of urgency on her face.

"Sorry Jack, I can't tell you much. I don't know how long it will take before they notice what I am doing and block the signal."

"What do you mean, who do you mean by they?" Jack asked with a confused expression.

"I mean MECH, they are here at 'Sanctuary'. The station is not what people think it is." Miranda replied, Jack was about to speak again but the Agent cut him off.

"Shit, they have found me. Look just come here to Sanctuary and see for yourself, I will try to stay alive long enough for us..."

Her image then fizzled out as the transmission was cut off at the source. Jack looked over to Arcee.

"Tell Hotrod to set course for the Sanctuary station and then meet me down in the shuttle bay with Garrus and Grimlock."

"Sure Jack." the femme replied before the two of them left the room and headed off in different directions.

Meanwhile on Sanctuary, Miranda slammed her fist down on the console as the screen changed to a locked out warning. The former agent then tried to regain control of it before the power in the room shut down, blanketing her in darkness.

'Damn it, wont be long before…' she thought before hearing a lot of footfalls rapidly approaching the room she was in. So she grabbed her SMG from the side of the console and took cover behind a table, just in time for a group of MECH soldiers to enter the room with their weapons ready and shining their torch light around the room, one of the beams narrowly missed Miranda as she kept low as it passed over her.

"This was where the security hack occurred, search the room." the lead soldier said, before the group started to spread out around the computer lab. The former agent noticed one of the enemies closing on her position, so staying low she crawled slowly round the table. Just narrowly missing being spotted by another soldier as she turned the corner and crept up behind her target. She then got back to her feet (in a squatting position) and activated her holo-knife and stabbed it into the soldiers back, making him cry out in pain before she hid again as the others turned and shone their torches on their comrade who was flinching and grimacing while blood flowed freely down the back of his Armour from the wound.

"Echo three!" the leader shouted as the wounded soldier fell to the floor. The others were about to move toward their fallen, but the leader stopped them.

"No, don't stop searching. That was what our target was hoping for, so that we would open up an avenue of escape for them." he said as he stood next to the door. Miranda looked up from her hiding spot behind another table and saw that the other five enemies were evenly spread out around the room. So she activated her silencer mode on her SMG and stood up and fired three bullets directly into the back of the head of the soldier nearest to her, causing him to fall to the floor dead with a thud. The former agent got back behind cover as the remaining soldiers turned and looked where the sound came from.

"Echo-Two?" the leader called out.

"He's dead." one of the others stated as he shone his torch down at the body, the beam of light just missing Miranda as she had took cover around the corner.

"For fuck's sake, everyone watch yourselves." the Leader said with a tone that had fear and nerves underlining his words. The others nodded, while Miranda had quietly made her way round to the soldier that was standing in the west side of the room. She got up behind him and grabbed at his throat and snapped it in one clean move. The last two remaining soldiers (including the leader) suddenly looked round to see another comrade dead and lying face down over a table top, Miranda peeked up from behind her cover and could see that the enemy was now losing their nerve and was letting fear.

'Good, they should be scared. I wasn't Silas's best agent because of my looks.' she thought as the squad leader tapped his com link while the only other soldier covered him next to the door.

"Doctor Saleon, come in Dr. Saleon?"

Elsewhere on Sanctuary, the hologram of Silas could be seen talking with a Salarian.

Doctor Saleon report." the yellow optic eyed man said. The scientist turned and typed away at his console's holo-keyboard until a large screen in front of the two activated, then large amounts of data started scrolling down the screen.

"Well as you can see, the tests continue to be running at one hundred percent success rate. Every one of our test subjects has succumbed to our own signal and will no longer listen to the Reapers, so long as they remain in the radius of ours."

The Director smiled as he looked at the screen.

"Excellent Saleon, you have just given humanity a way to control Reaper forces. This will turn the tide of this war and allow MECH to take the offensive."

He then looked at a scan of a Reaper that appeared next to the data.

"So how long before we can use this technology on the Reapers themselves?"

"Now there is the problem, you see it's one thing to control the ground forces, but another to do the same to one of the Reapers themselves, let alone the entire race. I am afraid I have hit a wall in my research into that particular area." the Salarian replied with a slightly nervous tone.

"Relax Doctor, I have acquired the information you need to solve that particular puzzle and will be sending it momentarily, but first..." Silas said back before being interrupted by the sound of Saleon's com link activating.

"Doctor Saleon come in." the soldier said.

"I am in the middle of a meeting, what is it?" he replied with a slight venom like tone.

"Echo squad reporting, Sir my squad were checking out an illegal activation of the com system in lab two-seven-four. We cut power to the room and swarmed in but who ever it is has killed most of my men, I need reinforcements." he said before the sound of gun fire could be heard.

"Aaaggggrrrhhh!..." the solder cried out before the link went quiet for a moment. Silas just watched as Saleon frantically tried to regain communications with the squad.

"Come in Echo squad?"

Suddenly movement could be heard as if someone was picking up the com link.

"So your Doctor Saleon, where are my parents?" a woman's voice spoke back angrily.

"Miranda." Silas said with an impressed tone in his voice as he stood there watching the doctor.

"Ah Miss Lawson, the former rising star of MECH. I am afraid that I have no idea where your adoptive parents are. But I know your 'real' father wants to see you." Saleon replied.

"I always knew Salarians were terrible liars, my parents are there. And 'Silas' is no father to me, he has proven that fact time and again over the last year."

"Well I know that what you just said would burn the Director right to his heart." the Salarian said as he looked back to Silas who just stared back with a disinterested expression.

"MECH kidnapped my parents and I will make you all suffer." Miranda replied with anger underlining her words, then the transmission cut off. Saleon then looked over to another screen, this one showed another squad of soldiers.

"Have you locked in her location?"

"Yes sir, we are ready to terminate on your order." the lead soldier replied. Silas though faked a cough to gain the Salarian's attention.

"Saleon, I want Miranda taken alive so I can deal with her myself."

"yes I see, a 'Father's right' of course. What about the transmission she managed to send out?" the scientist asked.

"I know who she would have contacted and 'he' will be here soon enough, so I want you to send all data on our project to me at once, purge our computer banks and prepare to scuttle the station. We can not afford to allow our enemies to know what we are about to achieve. Understood?" Silas said in return, earning a nod from the Salarian.

"Yes Director, but what about the hostages? Should we not kill them?"

"No, let Miranda see that they are alive. And then force the issue that if she wants them to stay that way, then she will have to surrender. Inform me when it is all done, Silas out."

The Director's hologram then faded away as Saleon looked back to the soldiers.

"The Director wishes for our guest to be taken alive, so switch to stun rounds."

"Roger that." the trooper replied before the transmission cut.

Miranda was running down a corridor towards the elevator when suddenly another group of soldiers turned the corner up a head and immediately fired on her, her personal shield taking several direct hits before she managed to take cover behind part of an archway that spanned the width of the corridor. She then fired off her SMG and took out one of the enemies as the rest of them took cover and fired back.

'I don't have time for this.' she thought as she took cover again as the gun fire hit the wall next to her. Suddenly the station's alarm blared throughout the corridors and the lighting system changed from white to flash red.

"Alert, Alert, proximity Alert!" a VI voice spoke on the intercom. Miranda peek around the corner of the archway to see the soldiers backing off, the leader was motioning them away while holding a hand to his helmet.

'Why are they being called away?' the former agent thought before her attention was taken up by the window closet to her. Miranda's eyes widened as she saw a Reaper approaching the station.

'Great, this is where the fun begins.'

PRIME EFFECT 3

Jack was sitting in the shuttle with Arcee to his left and Garrus to his right, and sitting on the other side was Grimlock who was checking his sword.

"Teletraan, what are the details on Sanctuary?" Jack asked.

"Sanctuary is a station that the Council offered to the Alliance at the start of the war, it is slightly smaller than the Citadel and can hold around two and half million people. The Council have devoted it and it's facilities to aiding refugees from Alliance space that have lost their homes to the Reapers. The station went dark only a short while ago and no further communication have come or gone since. It is unclear why MECH would be interested in Sanctuary." the AI answered.

"Well Miranda said they were here, so lets meet up with her and figure it out." Jack replied, earning a nod from his team mates.

"Jack, we have just entered the system… oh scrap, we have two Reaper signatures in proximity to the station." Hotrod stated over the com link.

"There is a Sovereign class Reaper which at the moment is engaged in combat against three MECH cruisers and another Reaper, I have never seen this one before." the pilot added.

"What does it look like?" Arcee asked.

"It looks similar to the larger vessels we have seen, but is smaller with a wider frame. Right now it is clinging to the side of the station." Hotrod replied over the com.

"Alliance Intel has classified this as 'troop transports', I am reading that it is offloading a couple hundred husks onto the station as we speak." Teletraan interjected as an image appeared on a monitor for Jack and the others to see.

"Alright we launch now, Swoop be ready." the Prime said over to the Dinobot in the pilot's seat.

"Roger that." he replied as he activated his holo-controls. The Defiant's shuttle bay ramp opened up and once clear, shuttle one flew out and headed towards the station.

"Hotrod, keep the ship clear for time being." Jack said over the com link.

"Will do Jack, good luck." the pilot replied.

The shuttle then closed the distance to the station as Jack walked into the cockpit and stood beside Swoop and looked out of the canopy to Sanctuary. It looked very much like the Destiny Ascension, only on a far larger scale. And the Reaper troop transport was hooked into the side of it.

"There is the main landing bay, drop us off there and then find a place to hold up until we call." Jack said as he pointed over to the entry point.

"You're the boss Prime." Swoop replied as he piloted the shuttle inside, Jack moved back to his team as they readied themselves and stood beside the hatch.

"Okay your clear." Swoop called back and the Prime hit the control panel and the hatch swung open to reveal a group of Husks standing over a pile corpses.

"Take them down!" Jack shouted as Garrus, Arcee and himself fired on the creatures, ripping them apart in storm of bullets. Once they were dead, the Turian climbed out of the shuttle and scanned the area with his weapon.

"Clear." he said, before the others joined him on the ground. The shuttle then closed it's hatch automatically before turning around and flying back out into space through the force field that held back the empty void.

"Well I understand the Reapers being here, what with their forces now attacking everyone but why MECH? What could they be after?" Arcee asked as they began to head for a door at the far end of the landing bay.

"No idea, maybe Miranda might know." Garrus replied as Jack took point and Grimlock watched the rear. Once they made it to the door, the Prime activated the door's control panel and a VI voice spoke as the doors opened.

"Welcome to Sanctuary. For yours and others safety, please follow the orders of the station's security officers."

The group walked into what looked like a battlefield, but it was in fact the station's reception/lobby.

"Looks like they had one hell of a fight in here." Garrus said as he looked over at the large scorch marks left on the walls.

"Well why aren't there any bodies?" Grimlock asked as he looked round the empty room.

"The Husks probably took them all for processing." Jack said as he approached one of the desks and activated the computer there.

"Look at this." he said as the others stood beside him and watched as a vid log played. It showed lines of people queuing to enter the station.

"They probably thought that they were safe here from the Reapers." Arcee said as she saw children among the refugees.

"What happens here though, I mean this place doesn't house all the refugees does it?" Garrus asked.

"No, originally it was meant for that. But as soon as their numbers went to high, this place became a hub, where any new arrivals were checked up and then sent to other colonies in Council space." the Prime replied before deactivating the computer.

"I wonder how things are going outside?" Grimlock said.

"Jack to Defiant, come in Hotrod." Jack said as he attempted to use his com link, but was answered by a hissing noise on the other end.

"This is Jackson Prime, can you hear me?"

The others watched as the Prime tried to contact their ship with no success, Arcee then tried her com link before shaking her head.

"Our com links don't work, this place must have a dampening field in effect."

The group looked at each other before a voice caught Jack's attention from another room just behind them.

"Can you hear that?" he asked before walking over to the door way and looking inside. There was an active terminal with another vid log playing.

"This is Miranda Lawson, if you have managed to come this far, you are must be desperate or stupid. Listen to me, this is not a refugee camp but instead is a MECH facility run by Doctor Saleon."

Garrus's eyes widened at the mention of that name, which did not go unnoticed by Jack but he then looked back to the terminal screen which showed more images of the station's interior as Miranda continued.

"Turn back now, there is no help to be found here. All communication within the station is being blocked from the CIC, situated in the station's tower. Sanctuary is a lie, stay away."

Then the message ended and Jack turned back to the others.

"So we have Reapers, MECH and the Doctor who created the Adjutants. Seems like the pieces of the puzzle are coming together."

"Yeah, with the work that Saleon did on Omega. It would seem that MECH are doing similar experiments here, I wonder if this is where it all started." Arcee added before an uncertain expression appeared on her face.

"Jack, how could this have been going on, I mean right under the Council's noses?"

Jack activated his holo-tool and connected it to the terminal remotely.

"Lets find out." he replied as he looked at the data scrolling down the tool's screen.

"Well it seems that this station is being run by a Doctor Mordin Solus. Must be a fake ID being used by the Doctor."

Grimlock started to fidget as if he didn't like to be standing in one place to long while Garrus just remained quiet and watched the two partners.

"Makes sense, MECH gave him a new identity and then he gains the Council's favour and is allowed to use this station, supposedly as a haven for refugees." Arcee said in return.

"I've heard enough, lets just go." the Turian said coldly as he turned for the door.

"Garrus wait, I know you want Saleon and I will help you get him. But I need to know that you're not going to let your need for revenge make you go all terminator on us." Jack said back in a worried tone. But the Turian looked back at him and smiled slightly.

"I'm fine Jack, but I was thinking more about that." he said as he pointed up to another monitor above them. The Prime and his XO looked up and sighed.

"Oh crap, we better move." he said as the image on the screen showed scores of Husks running down a corridor (probably leading directly to them).

"Finally something to kill." Grimlock happily exclaimed as he equipped his blade before the team moved out of the room.

After searching all the rooms connected to the main reception/lobby, Jack and his friends stopped to assess their findings.

"Well with a station this big, I'd think that there would be more rooms than what we have found?" Garrus said with an annoyed tone.

"Well, this is a secret MECH base, my guess is that there would a hidden entrance somewhere." Jack replied, which made Arcee look at him a certain way.

"What is it Arcee?" the Prime asked, having noticed this.

"Follow me." she said as she walked back towards the main corridor. Once they were all back there, she pointed over to the dead end at the other side.

"I know we have already searched here, but it wasn't until you said 'a hidden entrance', I mean this just feels wrong to me." she said with a unnerved tone. Jack then walked toward the far end and felt a tingling sensation the closer he got to it.

"Arcee's right, there is something not right about this." he said back to the others before reaching out with his free hand until his finger touched something, which made a ripple effect span out and showed that the far end of the corridor was not what it seemed.

"A hologram, shielding the entrance to the facility." Garrus stated as Jack looked back to them.

"Looks like, lets move." he said before he started to walk into the hologram, but suddenly a Husk dived through and sent the Prime tumbling to the floor.

"JACK!" Arcee shouted as the Husk bared down on her partner who was trying to fight it off.

"A little help?" he said back as the drool dripped onto his chest plate from the Husk's rotten looking mouth. But before the others could do anything, more Husks ran through the field at them.

"Take them down." Garrus said as he and the femme fired back against the horde as it rushed towards them, Grimlock merely smiled as he began swinging his large blade at the creatures. Slicing them in two as he did. Jack's face was now only an inch away from the Husk as it tried to bite him.

"Not…..today." he said through gritted teeth before he punched the creature in the face and as it was disoriented, he activated his star saber and in one swing had decapitated the Husk. It's head roll onto the floor as it's body began to slump on the Prime, but he pushed it off as it's blood leaked over him.

'Perfect.' he thought as he then got up and ran through the hologram.

"Jack?" Garrus said just after shooting down the final Husk, Arcee had finished off her last enemy with her arm blades and Grimlock had impaled one to the ground with his sword. He then looked around at the bodies of the creatures and sighed.

"Too bad."

"I'm sure there will be more that that Grimlock." the Turian said as Arcee started looking around with an almost frantic expression.

"Where's Jack?"

"He killed that Husk and went through the field."

Arcee immediately bolted through the field herself, leaving both her team mates behind. Garrus sighed before both he and the Dinobot followed. Once through they saw that they were in a massive room filled with machinery, and a lot of it did not look like Human nor Cybertronian tech. Arcee was kneeling next to Jack who was on his knees, panting heavily.

"You used the wave again didn't you?" the femme asked with concern in her voice.

"Took care of the Husks didn't I." he said back to her between breaths. Grimlock then saw what was left of the horde as their body parts scattered around the place.

"Impressive." the Dinobot said to himself. Arcee helped Jack to his feet as they looked around the room.

"This is mainly Reaper tech." Garrus observed as he looked over to a jet black device with blue energy glowing from the outing as it formed the base for a large machine that was connected to cables that linked it to other similar machines.

"MECH working with Reaper technology, this isn't going to good." the femme replied as they walked through the large room to a door at the other end.

Behind that door they found what looked like a control room, with a massive window that overlooked something, but it was too dark to see what it was.

"Lets see if we can shed light on what's going on here." Jack said as he walked up to the main control station.

"Really Jack, how long did it take you to think of that?" Garrus asked.

"Longer than I care to admit." the Prime answered as he tapped the console's keyboard, suddenly the screens around the console activated and started playing back vids.

"What is this?" Arcee asked as they watched people being placed inside glass pods that had Reaper tech built into them. The pods then filled with gas as it's occupants started hammering on the glass with their fists as the fear shown on their faces.

"They are just rounding them up and killing them?" Grimlock asked, but then Jack's eyes widened when the gas cleared.

"No, its worse. They are being turned into Husks." he replied as the footage showed the pods now contained the Reaper turned creatures. Arcee looked away when she couldn't watch anymore, until she saw another console in front of the large window. So she walked over to it and tapped on it's interface. Suddenly the lights came on and revealed another massive room beyond the window as Husks panicked and moved the moment the lights above them activated.

"By Primus." she said as the others stood beside her and looked out to the hordes below them.

"Come on." Jack said as he then walked over to the next door and opened it. They all readied their weapons and followed him.

"Why create Husks, aren't they just more troops for the Reapers. It seems like such a stupid risk considering if they escaped, they could destroy this place." the femme said as they moved through another lab.

"I think the Reapers have attacked this place because it is a threat, which means we need to find out why." Jack replied as they neared a large reinforced door.

"You do realise that door leads into that large room we just saw." Garrus said.

"Yeah, but it's the only way forward. Be ready." the Prime said back as he opened the door for a Husk on the other side to look directly at him. Jack fired his weapon and blew a hole in it's head as the group moved into the room and started taking out all the husks there. One of the creatures pounced at Grimlock, only to be met with the sharp end of his blade.

Arcee took out two more with her SMGs, before spin kicking another who got too close. Garrus switched to his sniper rifle and took out those that were crawling up the walls on the other side of the room, and Jack sliced down one husk while pummelling another with a burst of bullets from his assault rifle. Within a few minutes the room was clear and the Husks lied dead at their feet.

"Well that was bracing." the Turian said as he reloaded his weapon.

"I can hear Miranda's voice." Arcee said as they walked through the door at the other side and saw another console playing a vid on a loop.

"Reapers wanted this place shut down, this might give us a clue as to why." Garrus said as Jack activated the log.

"I am heading to the CIC to disable the communications black out, I have to get word out. Some of the refugees are turned into Husks, some are just being indoctrinated and shipped to Silas. Whoever is left is used in experiments. The data show that MECH are trying to figure out how Reaper indoctrination works." Miranda said before the vid closed. Jack shook his head in response.

"Tricking refugees with food and shelter, only then to use them in experiments. And for what?"

"Draw them in and throw them in the meat grinder." Garrus replied.

"Wait a second, Miranda said that test subjects were being sent to Silas. Maybe we can find him that way." Arcee added.

"Good catch, lets see if we can catch up to her. She said she was heading for the tower." the Prime replied before walking through to the next room.

After moving through more labs and killing a few more Husks, Jack and the others came to what looked like an office. Arcee sat down at the main computer and activated it.

"Find anything?" the Prime asked as she looked at the screen.

"Someone is making copies of the files and deleting the originals, but they haven't finished yet. Here is a file that has yet to be deleted." the femme replied as she played a vid for the others to see. The image showed Saleon, who Garrus immediately narrowed his eyes at. The Salarian was standing next to a hologram of the MECH Director.

"Doctor Saleon report." the yellow optic eyed man said. The scientist turned and typed away at his console's holo-keyboard until a large screen in front of the two activated, then large amounts of data started scrolling down the screen.

"Well as you can see, the tests continue to be running at one hundred percent success rate. Every one of our test subjects has succumbed to our own signal and will no longer listen to the Reapers, so long as they remain in the radius of ours."

The Director smiled as he looked at the screen.

"Excellent Saleon, you have just given humanity a way to control Reaper forces. This will turn the tide of this war and allow MECH to take the offensive."

He then looked at a scan of a Reaper that appeared next to the data.

"So how long before we can use this technology on the Reapers themselves?"

"Now there is the problem, you see it's one thing to control the ground forces, but another to do the same to one of the Reapers themselves, let alone the entire race. I am afraid I have hit a wall in my research into that particular area." the Salarian replied with a slightly nervous tone.

"Relax Doctor, I have acquired the information you need to solve that…"

The video then stopped abruptly and the window it played in disappeared.

"Damn, that footage was just deleted." Arcee said as she typed on the computer's keyboard. Garrus looked over to Jack with a confused look.

"Controlling Reaper forces? Is that even possible?"

"I don't know, but we do know why the Reapers have attacked Sanctuary." the Prime replied.

"They must have discovered what MECH were up to, that Silas is in for a world of pain now." Grimlock said from behind them.

"Yeah, can't say I feel bad about that." Jack said before looking over to the doors at the other end of the room.

"There's the elevator, come on."

PRIME EFFECT 3

Once they were inside, Arcee pressed the button for the top floor and the elevator took them straight up. It didn't take long for them to reach the top as the doors opened to reveal another reception like area. Suddenly gun fire could be heard from behind the next door.

"Get ready." Jack said as the door opened up to reveal the CIC, and the group moved in with weapons ready.

"Jack." Miranda called from behind a console that she was using as cover. The Prime then saw the Salarian standing next to a set of controls connected to two pods that had occupants inside them, he also had a pistol in his free hand and was pointing it in their direction.

"That is close enough Prime. I told Miss Lawson that I would kill her 'fake' parents if she didn't surrender. She didn't listen." Saleon said angrily.

"Put the gun down." Jack said firmly.

"I think not, but if you think that you can shoot me then you should know that I have already activated stage one of the conversion process. If I press this button…." the Scientist said as his finger hovered over a green flashing button.

"…then they will be turned in to Husks in a matter of moments."

Miranda stood up from behind her cover with her SMG in one hand, but covering a wound on her stomach with the other.

"Jack, don't let him harm my parents."

Arcee and Grimlock both looked over to see the older humans standing in the sealed pods, looking out at the situation unfolding in front of them. The femme then glanced to her side and could not see Garrus.

"Where's….?" she whispered to the Dinobot as Jack kept his attention on Saleon.

"I have seen what you have done here with MECH, you can't possibly think that it will work?"

"Why not, we can control the Reaper's ground forces now." the Salarian replied.

"But your sacrificing people to gain that ability, men, women…..and children. What you are doing is beyond…." Jack started to say before he was cut off.

"Don't judge me Prime. What I do, I do for the greater good. If a few people, even children have to die to see it through. Then so be it, my conscious is clea…."

BANG!

A gun shot rang out from behind Jack and the Salarian cried out in pain after a bullet passed through his shoulder, he dropped the gun and fell to the ground. Miranda immediately moved to the controls of the pods as Arcee and Grimlock looked around for the shooter. But then a shimmer moved in front of them and picked up Saleon by the throat and pinned him against the glass wall behind him. The shimmer then stopped to reveal that it was Garrus, and he looked the Salarian in the eyes, his own narrowed as he gritted his teeth.

"Saleon, nice to finally meet you."

"Do I ..(gasp), know you?" the Salarian asked in confusion.

"No, I am just someone who wants to avenge a friend whose life you ruined. But that was before I saw this place, now I really want to kill you." the Turian replied coldly.

"(gasp) I see, so you are not a fan of my..(gasp) work. So get it over with then." the Scientist taunted him. Jack was helping Miranda to deactivate the pods but looked over to Garrus and Saleon. The Salarian really did not care about what he had done.

'The ends justify the means.' he thought to himself before shaking his head and then looking back to what he was doing. Leaving his friend to do what he had promised he would do. For a long moment there was silence between Garrus and Saleon, but then the Turian finally spoke.

"No, killing you now would be quick and that's too easy for you."

He then noticed that the glass wall was actually a one way mirror into a room connected to cages holding Husks. Garrus then holstered his weapon and with his now free hand activated the door controls and prepared to throw the Salarian into the room. Saleon, knowing where he was about to be put tried to resist but Garrus then punched him hard in the stomach, making the Salarian wince in pain before he was thrown through the open door and into the room. The Turian then shut the door and walked over to the console.

"Garrus what are you doing?" Arcee asked with concern in her voice.

"Giving him a taste of his own medicine." the Turian replied as he started to use the console's keyboard. Saleon got up and looked around the room, behind him was three doors which at the moment were sealed. It he knew very well that would change in a moment or so. He then looked in front of him and saw a large mirror reflecting his image back at him, it was a one way observation screen. And he knew that Garrus and the others were watching.

"If you think you all get me to beg for my life, then you are mistaken. I regret none of my decisions." he said at the screen, his words sounding defiant and firm yet they were betrayed by the frightened tone that accompanied them. The Turian then activated the intercom and his voice boomed into the room.

"Well I hope you can live with that... for the last moment you have left. Goodbye Saleon, this is for Shen." Garrus said before pressing a button on the control console which turned off the lights, bringing total darkness into the room as the Salarian tried to look around. Garrus then pressed another button l labelled 'release'.

Saleon being unable to see anything stayed very still and relied on his hearing as he heard the doors behind him open up with a metallic creaking noise. He turned round to face where the sound had come from and saw a pair of blue optics looking back at him in from the far side of the room, then another pair, and another. In just a few moments he was surrounded by them as he heard grunting and other inhuman noises, despite his words Saleon's heart was beating fast as he knew his time was up.

And then the horde rushed at him, bringing him to the floor before biting and clawing into his skin. His screams echoed through the room as the Husks ripped him apart, while Garrus watched on a screen showing the inside of the cell through night vision. He then turned it off once the Husks were done, meanwhile Jack deactivated and opened the pods allowing Miranda to help her parents out.

"Miranda." her mother called out as she embraced her daughter, before her father hugged her too.

"Are you alright, he didn't hurt you two did he?" Miranda asked.

"We are fine Miranda, I would just like to get your mother out of here." her father replied.

"We can help you there, our ship will get you someplace safe." Jack said gaining their attention, the former agent gave Jack a smile.

"Thank you Jack."

"You know you didn't have to do this all by yourself, if I had known that MECH had taken your parents hostage…" the Prime replied.

"I know you would Jack, but you had enough on your plate dealing with the Reapers. But I am very grateful for your help." she said back.

"Well you'll have all the time now to be with your family." Jack said back gaining smiles from her parents, but Miranda shook her head in return.

"No, once I know that they are safe and if you'll have me. I want to join your crew."

Her father then gave her a concerned expression.

"Miranda wait, I thought…." he started to say before she cut him off.

"Dad, Mom, I need to do this. Because while Silas is still out there, then none of us will be safe." she said with a stoic expression before placing a hand on their shoulders.

"And I promise I will tell you everything after this is over."

Both her parents looked like they were having a hard time accepting this but they then both nodded in return, before her father then looked at the Prime.

"She called you Jack, that would make you Jackson Prime. Yes?"

Jack nodded as her father stepped forward.

"If you will promise me that you'll ensure our daughter comes back to us unharmed, then I will let her go with you. Do I have your word as a Prime?"

Jack looked over to Miranda while Arcee and the others simply watched, he knew that he would rather she stay with her parents, but since Miranda had such inside knowledge on MECH. He had to say yes.

"You have my word." he replied stoically, before the two men then shook hands.

"I will hold you to that." the father replied before turning back to his wife and daughter, Jack then looked back to his team. Garrus handed him an object back that Arcee recognized.

"That's the personal cloaking generator."

"Yeah, Jack lent it to me before the mission. Thought it would come in handy, thanks Jack." Garrus replied as the Prime fitted it back into his Prime armour. Jack then looked at his friend.

"What about you, you alright?"

Garrus looked back at the observation screen and took a breath.

"Yeah, I am. It's comforting to know that because of us, he wont be able to harm anyone else."

Arcee placed a hand on the Turian's shoulder.

"You had me worried back there Garrus, I thought you were just going to shoot him originally."

"I was, but then when I heard him gloating about how far he was willing to go….. I knew that just shooting him would be to much of an easy way to go." he said looking back at the femme. Jack was going to say something but his com link activated.

"Prime, that Reaper has finished off the rest of the MECH ships and is now heading back to Sanctuary." Swoop stated.

"Alright, we already cleared a path from the landing bay to here. We should be able to meet you there again." Jack replied.

"You don't have time, but I am detecting an auxiliary shuttle dock on the floor you are now on. Meet me there for extraction." the Dinobot replied, Jack then looked at everyone.

"Alright, it's time to go."

The Prime then took point with Miranda and her parents at the center of the group, and Arcee and Grimlock covering the rear as the group left the lab and made their way to the rendezvous point.

About a few minutes later they were all on board the shuttle as it flew away from the station at top speed, just as the Reaper returned and charged up it's beam weapon. The troop transport Reaper un-docked and joined it's Sovereign class counterpart's side as it fired three shots with it's red beam which cut right through the station, causing Sanctuary to explode and send it's debris in all directions. The Reapers seemed completely unaware of the shuttle as it rejoined the Defiant and entered it's shuttle bay just a short distance from the enemy vessels. The Alliance frigate then turned around and jumped into hyperspace.