FicWad

Liara was lying down on a berth in the Normandy's medical bay as Red-Alert attended to her injuries, injuries sustained while under the 'care' of the slavers and then Donovan Hock. The door that connected the medical bay to the rest of the ship opened, gaining the Asari's attention as she saw Nightracer and a Male Turian enter the room.

"How are you doing Liara?" the Femme asked as she smiled at Liara.

"I feel fine now Nightracer, thanks." the Asari said before Red-Alert looked up from her work.

"You are only fine now because I have healed the bruises and internal damage with my instruments here." the Medic replied as she gestured to the trolley full of medical tools next to her.

"Thank you Doctor." Liara then said with a smile, which made Red-Alert smile in return.

"You are welcome.." she replied before returning her attention to the Asari's last bruise on her arm, holding a device to it and watching as the skin heal under the yellow light it was emitting.

"...and there you go, fully healed. You are free to go Doctor T'Soni."

Liara nodded in return before sitting up and turning her attention to her two visitors. She looked at the Turian with a curious expression, one that Nightracer noticed.

"Liara, this is Shen Vakarian. He is the same class of Spectre as Orion and myself."

Shen and the Asari then shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you Doctor T'Soni." the Turian greeted.

"Thank you but please, just call me Liara." she replied.

"So, you may not know this. But I was the one who shot down the second gunship that was targeting your vehicle back on Illium." Shen replied with a confident tone, but Nightracer merely crossed her arms and stared at him.

"Really, that was some good shooting too. Did you happen to calibrate the weapons system before you used it?"

Shen just looked blankly at her while Liara watched them both with a bemused expression, before the Turian finally spoke again.

"Oh...I get it, just because my Dad was well known for 'calibrating' the weapon systems of both the original Normandy and the Defiant, then you would think that I'd be like that too."

Nightracer responded with a nod and a large smile on her face, one that Shen then mirrored.

"Well sorry to disappoint, but I joined the Autobots to be a sniper."

"I bet your Dad gave you hell for that career choice." the Femme asked, gaining a nod from the Turian.

"You bet, my Dad said...'Son, you will never get anywhere in life unless you know how to repair and maintain big cannons'..." making both Females chuckle as he did his best impression of his Father, Garrus Vakarian.

"...and I said 'but Dad, I just like firing them so isn't that enough?'. And before he had the chance to reply, my Mum who had been eaves dropping on our conversation said 'Of course, as long as your happy that's all that matters...now will both of you get outside and repair the sky-car...' this caught me and Dad completely by surprise."

Both Nightracer and Liara just listened intently as Shen continued with his story.

"...I then said to Mum 'but what about doing just what makes you happy?', and she replied 'sometimes life is a bosh'tet...now get on with it.'"

All three laughed as Red-Alert turned round from her console.

"That is very true...but I do have a lot of work to do, so could you please vacate my medical bay please."

The three new friends shrugged and did what the Medic asked.

"Well why don't we go to the Mess Hall, since Rodimus is still being debriefed by Jackson Prime." Nightracer asked as they left the room and entered one of the Normandy's corridors, earning nods from Shen and Liara. The Asari then looked back at the Turian curiously.

"You sound very close to your parents Shen." she asked earning a nod from him.

"Yeah, we're very close. I mean even though they are only my adopted parents, that means nothing to me because well to me...they are my real parents." Shen replied proudly.

"That's great." the Asari said with a smile before turning her attention to Nightracer as the three of them entered the mess hall.

"I am just curious, are the two of you dating then?" Liara asked, earning shocked expressions from both the friends.

"What! No." the Femme replied quickly.

"No we're not." Shen quickly added in succession, as Nightracer's cheeks began to heat up from the embarrassment of the moment.

"Nightracer is more like a sister, just as Orion is like a brother." Shen said, the Femme quickly nodding in agreement.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to offend." Liara said, nearly horrified that she may have embarrassed her new friends already, she never was very good at meeting new people. It took her a little while to get used to Shockblast and his Brother when they first met five years ago, the Asari was just not that sociable really.

"It's alright Liara, it's probably an easy mistake to make as the three of us have been close since we were kids. Shen, Orion and myself." Nightracer said as she had noticed the worry rapidly appearing on the Asari's face.

"Out of the three of us, only Orion and Nightracer have dated." Shen added, earning a look of surprise from Liara.

"It was when we were teenagers and though it was great at the time, we were young and it didn't last." the Femme said while the Asari listened.

"And yet you are still close friends." she replied, earning a nod from Nightracer.

"That is a rarity to see and I should know, I am nearly one hundred and thirty four years old after all." Liara casually added, earning surprised looks from both femme and Turian.

"Really, well you look more like twenty five years old if I'm perfectly honest. I doubt I will look as good if I ever get to your age." Nightracer replied.

"Thank you, though I am still considered to be very young by my people's standards. Since the average Asari can live up to one thousand years old." the Asari added before looking around the room as they picked up their drinks from the food and drink dispensers.

"Where is Orion?" Liara asked with slight disappointment in her voice, while looking back at Shen and Nightracer.

"He is currently assisting Rodimus with the mission debriefing." Nightracer replied.

"Who is debriefing them again?" the Asari asked, her face looking all curious.

"Well as a Autobot spectre Elite class, Rodimus answers only to the very top of the Autobot Command..." The Femme added with a solemn expression, one that was shared by Shen too. It then clicked in the Asari's mind with why her two new friends had gone quiet all of a sudden.

"I take it Orion and his Father don't get on?" she then asked with an inquisitive tone, on that surprised Nightracer.

"How did you guess that?" she asked before taking a sip of her drink.

"When I met Orion and he told me who he was, I just made the connection about his Father. But when I asked about him, Orion became distant so I dropped it." Liara replied before going silent for another moment as she wondered what to say next, as did the others. This was obviously a taboo subject between the friends, but Liara was curious.

"What happened between them?" she then asked, gaining slightly surprised looks from the pair.

"We don't know, Orion was once extremely close to their Parents." Nightracer then replied.

"But then one day, something just changed in him when it came to them or more so his Dad." Shen added as he tapped the side of the cup he was holding with his finger repeatedly.

"He never wanted to talk about it and so we didn't push him to." Nightracer finished before taking another sip of her drink. Liara could feel that her new friends were uncomfortable talking about this subject, and though she was curious as to why someone would turn away from their Parents. She instead decided to change the subject, while keeping focus on the man that she found she had an interest in.

"Okay, so how did the three of you meet?"

Nightracer and Shen looked up at her with relieved expressions and with that the uncomfortable atmosphere around the new friends lessened considerably as they started to talk.

PRIME EFFECT 4

In the Communication's room, Rodimus and Orion stood in front of the hologram of Jackson Prime as his image was being transmitted from 'The Ark', over a half a galaxy away.

"Agent Zero didn't give away much Intel, which isn't surprising when it comes to the Shadow Broker. But what she did say was that they had been hired to find and retrieve Liara from Donovan Hock." Rodimus said while the Autobot Leader looked at the pad in his hands, glancing up at Orion on occasion. The Bot had noticed this but decided to ignore his Father's attention as he stood beside the Commander, keeping his on the report that was on screen of the pad in his possession at this time.

"Any ideas as to who hired the Shadow Broker?" Jack asked as he looked back at Rodimus.

"No sir, but I believe Liara knows. Though as of the start of this mission debrief, the Asari is still in the Medical-Bay receiving treatment the injuries she was given while in hands of both the Slavers and Hock." the Autobot replied.

"And how is Liara doing...Orion." Jackson Prime asked as the young Bot felt the eyes of his two superiors on him now, making Orion wish that he was elsewhere.

"Liara is doing very well, which is surprising when you consider what has happened to her over the last month." the Bot replied, making Jack nod in return.

"She is a strong individual, I remember as much from the time I met her during the Reaper War. Even when Thessia was lost, Liara wouldn't let grief take hold and instead focused on helping the Refugees. A lesser person would not have been able to remain that determined."

The Prime then brought another pad into view and examined it.

"I have received Kasumi's report from Miranda and she said that the mission played out like she had planned, except for your escape transport being destroyed."

"Has she determined how the transport was found out to be for us?" Rodimus asked, earning a head shake from Jack.

"Not yet, but she is determined to find out. Kasumi did ask that I send her congratulations to you, and that she hopes to work with your team again in the future."

"Thank you for relaying that to us Prime, I think I can speak for my entire team when I say we would welcome Kasumi's help again down the line." The Commander replied as Jack took another look at the pad in his hand.

"Any ideas who this other group were that attacked you?"

"None sir, though considering that they appeared once we had secured Liara. I am guessing that she will have more knowledge on that matter, so I will ask at her debriefing." Rodimus replied.

"Good, so I would like to hear how you managed to escape when this 'other' group attacked." the Prime said as he looked back at the Commander.

"Well we have Orion to thank for that, for he was piloting the sky-car we were in. Pulling off some impressive evasive manoeuvres which bought us some precious extra time, so the Normandy could extract us. That too was Orion's doing, as I originally ordered the ship to stay outside of the system. On the off chance that it may be identified by anyone who is affiliated with Hock, but then your Son counter-mended my orders and had the Normandy enter the system and come and get us if a signal was broadcast on a particular frequency..."

As Rodimus spoke, Orion could see a proud smile appearing on his Father's face and yet found it hard to feel anything toward it.

"...Now I would usually be disappointed and angry that someone under my command failed to follow my orders, but if Orion had not taken the initiative then none of us would have made it out of there alive..." the Commander continued.

"...In fact Prime, I would like to ask that Orion be promoted to Spectre first class and made my XO."

Orion's eyes widened as he looked over to Rodimus, completely surprised by what the Commander had just said. But the Autobot simply smiled and nodded back to him.

"Very well Rodimus, consider it done." Jack replied as he typed on his holo-tool. Orion right now was feeling very ambivalent about this, he was happy to be promoted but the Bot was never keen to move into the area of command, and with good reason to which he didn't want to think about right now.

"Is everything alright Orion?" the Autobot Leader asked, noting that the newly promoted Spectre was looking surprised still.

"Yes sir, I am fine." the Bot replied, though Jack could read him like a book.

"Rodimus, congratulations on a job well done. Now will you will set course for Thessia, because Matriarch Benezia is awaiting her Daughter's return." the Prime said to the Commander.

"Of course Prime." Rodimus replied.

"And can you give us a moment please." Jack said as he gestured to himself and Orion. The Commander nodded and began to leave, but not before looking over at Orion. And then he was gone and the two Darbys were alone.

Rodimus entered the CIC and took his position in front of the galaxy map which like the Defiant and the Normandy before that, was located at the center of the CIC and in front of the elevator which led to the other decks of the ship. The Commander placed his hand to his right ear and activated his com-link.

"Jetstorm, set course for Thessia. We are to take Dr T'Soni back to her Mother before we resume with our missions."

"Yes sir, do you want to use our Space-bridge. Or shall we do this the usual way?" the Pilot said back.

"It would be quicker, but you know protocol. No use of our Space-bridge unless absolutely necessary. So I guess it will have to be the usual way." the Commander replied with a smile, earning a sigh from the pilot.

"Oh well...alright course set, we will be in range of a space bridge in two point five hours."

"Very good, Rodimus out." the bot replied before his com-link activated again.

"Rodimus, Red-Alert here. Just so you know, Liara is gong to be fine and I have already discharged her. So she is free for your debriefing, though is it possible for you to wait at least an hour first." the Medic said over the com channel.

"Very well, I still have some reports and what not to be done before then." Rodimus replied as he activated his console that was located just to the left of the galaxy map.

"Thank you." Red-Alert said back before closing the com, the Commander then focused on the data on his screen for a moment. Then suddenly the door leading to the area of the deck where the com-room was opened and Orion walked through towards the elevator, gaining Rodimus's attention as he turned to face the bot. He noticed that the young man didn't look happy, obviously his and Jack's 'chat' hadn't gone well.

"Orion, a moment of your time please." the Commander said, making the bot walk over to the galaxy map.

"You okay Son."

"Yes, I am fine." Orion replied, trying to hide the fact that he was seething inside right now.

"Are you really? Because it looks like you were butting heads with your father again." the Commander said as he looked at Orion with a knowing expression.

"What gave it away." the younger Bot replied.

"Well, it is not exactly a secret that the two of you don't get on. And as you already know, I will not pry into personal matters that do not concern me...but if you do ever need to talk then my door is always open." Rodimus said as he placed a hand on Orion's shoulder.

"Thank you Rodimus, I will remember that."

The Commander then placed his arms behind his back and corrected his posture, looking like the Elite Spectre he was well known as.

"I do however, need to know if you will be handing in a transfer request in the days to come?"

"No Rodmius, I have no intention of anything like that at this time." Orion replied, earning a smile from the Commander.

"Good, well I have everything under control up here. So why don't you go and take a break, I hear the others are with our guest right now."

"Alright then." Orion said before turning around and heading for the elevator, a slight smile appearing on his face as he thought about just spending time with his friends and not thinking about his father. Rodimus meanwhile turned back to the galaxy map and stared at it's image, as he thought back to several weeks earlier.

Rodimus stood outside one of the many buildings at the Autobot Barracks on the outskirts of New Iacon, while watching a group of Autobot soldiers as their prepared to ship out on a transport that was located on a landing platform at the center of the grounds. The group was made up of a number of milky way species that included Cybertronians, Asari, Krogan and Turian.

"Commander Rodimus!" a voice called gaining the Spectre's attention as he turned to see a Caucasian man in Orange and blue armour approach him.

"Drill Sargent Hoist."

"Forgive me Commander, I had not been informed of your arrival." the Sargent said with an apologetic look, but Rodimus gave him a slight smile.

"There is no need, I am only here due to the suddenly availability of a particular soldier on your base, Lieutenant Darby."

"How did you hear about him?" Hoist asked with surprise in his voice and expression.

"I am on the lookout for the best that we Autobots have at our disposal, and I hear he is one among them." Rodimus replied.

"Well that he certainly is...but." the Sargent said, earning a curious look from the Spectre.

"But in the seven years that Orion has been an Autobot, he has served in almost all sub-factions. his longest spells have been in the Aerialbots and Team Delta." Hoist added, gaining a smile from Rodimus.

"Impressive, that is exactly the kind of soldier I want for my operation."

"Yes, Orion's record is very impressive. But he hasn't done himself any favors with his constant transfers requests..." Hoist replied in a worried tone.

"...You see Orion has also shown time and again, that he has great potential in leadership skills. But when we try reward him and give the Bot more responsibility with a command rank. He simply refuses it and then asks for a transfer to another area, this has become a routine over the last couple of years."

"You said that his longest periods in one group was with both the Aerialbots and Team Delta?" the Commander asked as the two bots began walking across the grounds.

"Yes, he spent two years with each group. Orion showed great piloting skills with the Aerialbots, but the moment he was given command of his own squadron...he quit. The same was said with Team Delta, which is renowned for their espionage capabilities. This is a real shame on his part, because Orion is hurting his career by not moving up the ranks." the Sargent replied as they approached another building.

"So where is Orion now?" Rodimus asked, making the other bot point ahead of them both.

"He is in his barracks directly ahead. You can speak with him if you want."

"Thank you." the Spectre replied before leaving the company of Hoist and entering the building's entrance.

The building was split up into several areas labelled Alpha, Beta, Ceta and so on. Rodimus found himself in the Omega section now as he walked down a long corridor that had numerous doors on either side, each one connected to a living quarters for a said number of Autobots. He stopped when reaching a door labelled 'Autobot living quarters Omega One', pressing the control panel at the door's right hand side which then opened he door and allowed him to enter. He walked in to see multiple bunk-beds positioned in an ordered fashion down the length of the room, each one also had a matching pair of cupboards too. Though as he walked down the isle, Rodimus saw a blue haired man sitting on a lower bunk-bed and typing on his holo-tool.

"Orion Darby" the Commander said, making the younger bot look up from what he was doing and stare at who just called his name.

"Yes?" he replied

"My name is Commander Rodimus." the Spectre said back.

"Can I help you Commander?" Orion added as Rodimus sat down on the lower bunk opposite the blue haired bot.

"I hope so because I hear your requesting a transfer out of this sub-faction." the Commander replied.

"That's right, I feel that I have gone as far as I can in this current field." the bot said back as group of soldiers jogged passed the his window, interrupting the two.

"I see, so it isn't because you had recently been promoted?"

Orion sighed at that last sentence, which pretty much answered the Spectre's question as he slumped forward a little. It was as if he was expecting a lecture from the Commander, must have become a common thing for he young bot.

"Okay, lets go." Rodimus said as he stood up, surprising Orion.

"Go sir?" he replied with a confused expression.

"For a drink, it was a long shuttle ride over here and my mouth is becoming dry. Grab your jacket and lets go." Rodimus replied, so even though the younger Bot was still confused at what just happened. He grabbed his jacket off his bunk and followed the Commander.

"Two cold buds please." Rodimus said to the landlord as he and Orion approached the bar of the Pub they had just entered, earning a big smile from the old man behind it.

"Rodimus!" this is certainly a surprise." the Landlord said as he and the Spectre shook hands.

"How long has it been...five..." he continued to say before Rodimus corrected him.

"Seven years, Alan."

"You don't say. Well you still have all your limbs and in all the right places, so I am guessing it's been alright for you." the old Man replied, earning a nod from the Bot.

"There have been some close calls here and there, so about those cold buds?"

The landlord smiled at him.

"Yeah you've not changed Rody, sure let me get them for you." he said before turning around and walking into the back. Rodimus turned his attention to Orion who had started to look around the place. The pub certainly had an old style to it, with nearly all the furniture made out of wood. There was a pool table and darts board just aways from them in the games area, but the rest of the pub was mainly filled with tables and chairs. Despite it's space, the place didn't have many customers. Leaving the place with a unnaturally cold atmosphere, especially when compared to places that Orion had drank at in his time. The landlord returned and handed Rodimus two Budweisers before looking Orion up and down with a curious look.

"Say, you look familiar. Have I met you before?"

"No, we have never met before." the bot replied as the Commander handed him his drink. Then after a second or so longer of having the old man staring at him, the Landlord's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You look just like him."

Orion felt himself go uneasy at what the Landlord had just said, as well as the way he said it.

"Him?"

"He's Jackie's lad isn't he?" the old Man then asked, earning a nod from the Commander. Orion took a long swig of his bottle, feeling the cold and refreshing beer run down his throat and hoped that it might wash away the rather sour taste that had developed in the last few moments.

"You know my Father?" he then asked, feeling both sets of eyes on him as the landlord gave him a big warm smile in response to the Bot's question.

"Know him? He was a regular here and a friend. Take a look over there." he said while pointing to the framed photos on the wall just aways from the three of them. So Orion walked over as Rodimus watched quietly, observing the young Bot as he looked at the photos. It looked somewhat like a timeline as half of the pictures looked like they had been taken from when the pub was first opened, and then as he moved his eyes along the wall. The photos started to look more and more modern until it reached the here and now, each one had either a pair or a group of people in it and they all looked happy. That was when while Orion was more looking more than halfway along the wall, that he a photo of his Dad, the photo in question had Jack standing with Garrus, Uncle Ironhide, Smokescreen, Wrex and a younger Krogan that he did not recognize But the youngest person in the photo was Rodimus, who looked like he was in his late teens/early twenties. They all had a drink in their hand as they had it raised in a toast-like pose, like they were celebrating something. As the younger Bot looked at the photo, Rodimus then joined his side.

"Did 'he' put you up to this?" Orion asked calmly before taking another swig of his drink.

"No Orion, your Father didn't." Rodimus replied as he guessed the younger Darby would come to that conclusion.

"Then why did you bring me here?"

"I like this place, have a lot of good memories here. That your father and I used frequent this place is purely coincidence, I brought you here because I felt a change in scenery would be good." the Commander answered as Orion kept looking at the photo.

"When was this taken?"

"That was twenty two years ago, after we completed our first operation as a team. Your Father led us into a two-day battle against what was left of the Blood pack and Eclipse and Blue Suns who were holding a rather large town hostage, the rest of those groups had already joined Omega at that point. It was also the first time I had worked with Jack." Rodimus replied.

"How did you come to work with him?" The blue haired Bot asked, surprising the Commander with yet another question.

"Well I met Jack after the Reaper War, the two of us talked about my Brother Hotrod and he said how sorry he was for what had happened to him. And after going into detail about what I wanted to do in the Autobots, your Father offered me a position on his team and from that moment he became like a mentor to me."

"What about that guy?" Orion asked as he pointed over to the younger looking Krogan, because he already knew Garrus and Wrex.

"That is Grunt, a Krogan that Urdnot Wrex let Jack have on his team. This is because Wrex was no longer available due to his duties as Leader of the Krogan and Grimlock had taken up a post teaching at the Academy, and your father wanted to have a 'heavy hitter' on his team...I think that is the right term, so that got filled up by Grunt."

Both bots then took a swig of their drinks before Rodimus gestured to the younger one to sit down, both taking a seat at a table next to them.

"So, to the reason why we are talking. You obviously know about the Council Spectres, and how your Father had them disbanded not long after the Federation's forming." the Commander said, earning a nod from Orion.

"Of course, it was because of the massacre at Delta Vega. A Turian Spectre had the whole colony wiped out just to get one man, who was hiding among the people there."

"That's right, Jack could no longer let the Spectres go about and keep doing whatever they wanted to get the job done. But he still saw the need for a special ops faction, but this time running with a better moral code. No killing of innocents to get the job done for starters, it was time to bring some rules in. I was one of the first that your Father made into a Autobot Spectre, and generally we still work alone." Rodimus said as Orion just sat there and listened.

"But I had an mission recently where the rule of 'working alone' was of no benefit, so I brought an idea to your Father." the Spectre added.

"What was that?" The younger Bot replied.

"To start having teams of Spectres working together, not just on their own. Now Jack agreed to give this idea a test run, and I am in the middle of assembling a team. And because of the positive experience I had working with your Father and his team, I wish to have the same unity with my own. So I have already recruited Jetstorm, Red-Alert, Shen Vakarian and Nightracer, I believe you are friends with the last two." Rodimus said.

"Yes I have known them for a long time, they are like family. So now you want me to join your team?" Orion asked, earning a nod from the Commander.

"Exactly, though your Father tried to dissuade me from it."

The younger Bot gave Rodimus a confused look at that last sentence.

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't know, but my offer is on the table...if you want it. You have all the skills and experience I would want out of a Spectre." Rodimus said back.

"And we would all be Spectres?" Orion asked, still thinking it over.

"We are also trying out a new ranking system, three ranks in total. Second class, first Class and Elite, each class answers to the one above it, and the Elite answers to the Prime or as you know best...your Father. Now my rank is Spectre Elite, you and your friends be Second class Spectres until I can decide who should become First class and my XO." the Commander said.

"XO?" the blue haired Bot replied.

"Yes, I have been given command of an experimental frigate. But I can not say anymore unless you are on board with this?" Rodimus said as Orion looked away from the Commander with a thoughtful expression, while he considered the offer.

"Alright, count me in." the young Bot then said back with a smile, one that Rodimus mirrored before finishing his drink.

"Excellent, okay In that case. I will expect you to meet me at Eighteen hundred hours at dock N-seven in New Iacon, the Normandy and I will be waiting for you there." the Spectre said as he got up from his seat.

"Normandy?" Orion replied with a confused look as Rodimus began to head out of the pub, stopping short of the front door and looking back at the young Bot with a smile.

"You'll see." he said before walking out of the door and leaving Orion with another confused expression.

Rodimus was then brought back to his senses by his holo-tool beeping, so activated it and looked at the data scrolling down his screen.

PRIME EFFECT 4

Orion walked out of the elevator onto the crew deck and he was still fuming from his most recent argument with his dad, he just couldn't understand him right now or maybe he never would. It had not always been like this, but it seemed the older the Bot gets, the more unlike each other he and his Father were.

Orion then entered the mess-hall and his eyes immediately fell on Liara as she sat with both Nightracer and Shen. As the three of them were talking and laughing, about something that the bot could not hear due to distance. Again just like at Hock's party, Orion found himself looking at the Asari as she talked with the others.

'Wow.' the bot thought as he watched her talking with the others and you wouldn't have thought, that Liara had been held as a slave only recently. She certainly was strong, perhaps stronger than they had thought. And she carried herself with a grace that the Asari were well known for, then there was her beauty. Orion had seen a number of Asari before Liara and they were certainly a beautiful and elegant species, but if there was a true Sapphire among them. Then that was Liara, or at least it was in his eyes.

"Orion, over here."

The blue haired Bot was snapped out of his gaze by Shen who was waving him over. Both the females were waving at him too, but it was Liara that had his attention as she smiled at him, which made him forget all about what had just transpired on the floor above. So he smiled back, grabbed his drink and walked over to them.

"Good of you to finally join us." Nightracer said as the bot sat down on the other side of the table opposite the Asari.

"Yes, it is good to see you again." Liara added as Orion took a sip of his drink.

"Same here." he added with a smile before looking at his friends.

"Sorry about being late, debriefing took longer than expected." Orion replied.

"Did it go alright?" Shen asked with a knowing tone in his voice. The blue haired Bot knew what his friend meant, but was thankful that he didn't spell it out.

"It went alright." he lied, not wanting his friends to worry and if they could tell he was being untruthful, they certainly didn't show it.

"So how are you Liara?" Orion asked.

"I am fine Orion, thank you. Nightracer and Shen have made me feel very welcome." the Asari replied, earning smiles from the others.

"We were just keeping Liara company until Rodimus is ready." Shen said in return.

"That could be any time now, so what were you doing to pass the time?" the Bot asked.

"I was curious how you all knew each other and so asked, Shen and Nightracer have been very informative." Liara replied before taking a sip of her drink.

"Well, We have had a very good run together. So I'm not ashamed to admit it." Nightracer added.

"Neither am I." the Turian replied , earning a smile and nod from Orion.

"Yeah we sure did, the only one missing from this table is Quickstrike. But we are supposed to meet up with him during our next shore leave."

"Quickstrike is your cousin, am I right?" the Asari asked, gaining a nod from the Bot.

"Yes, he is the son of my Mum's sister...Chromia."

"Well after hearing about the things you used to get up to with the practical jokes and everything else, you certainly had more of an exciting childhood then me." Liara replied.

"Why? What was yours like Liara?" Orion asked, finding himself wanting to know more about her. The Asari smiled at the blue haired bot's curiosity and looked ahead as if she could see it ahead of her.

"I grew up on Thessia, in the city of Armali. My mother and I lived near a park, and I spent hours there."

"Doing what?" Orion asked, while the others just remained quiet.

"Reading, exploring, attempting to find ruins in the grass. I got into a lot trouble for that." Liara added with a slight smile.

"I bet, we got into trouble once for playing in farmer's crop field back on Rannoch, remember guys?" Shen replied, earning nods from both the Bot and Femme.

"My mother was furious with me, the lecture alone….." Liara said, making Orion remember the lectures he received from his parents, only for him to push them to the back of his mind and focus on the Asari as she carried on talking.

"..But she did get me my first history book the very next day."

"That's how you got into History then?" he asked.

"Yes, the book I received was about the Lithone. I found everything about them so fascinating, so much that I spent ninety years studying them." Liara replied, earning dumbstruck look from Orion.

"Ninety years, old are you? he asked in disbelief.

"I am one hundred and thirty four years old." the Asari said, almost making Orion's jaw hit the floor.

"Really, you don't look a day past twenty five." Orion replied while blushing slightly which unbeknownst to him, Liara found to be very cute as both Shen and Nightracer gave their friend a knowing look.

"Why thank you Orion, that is very flattering. Though among my people I am still considered to be a child due to the fact that we can actually live up to one thousand years old, but I have heard that Cybertronians used to live for far longer." the Asari replied.

"Yeah, that's true. When our species had their original Cybertronian bodies, our life-span was eons long. I though can't imagine living for so long." Nightracer said before taking a sip of her drink.

"So did you have any friends when you were a child?" Shen asked.

"Not when I was a younger, no." Liara replied with slight regret in her voice.

"Why not?" Nightracer asked in return, a curious expression on her face.

"I wasn't very social-able as a child, I preferred my own company to that of others. I always found that I would say the wrong thing and alienate them or embarrass myself, so I decided to leave it. So while they played with their friends everyday, I would instead do what I wanted. It stayed that way for most of my life." Liara added.

"Sounds lonely." Orion replied before finishing off his drink, Liara looked at him while he did so.

"I didn't think so, I found it liberating to be able to focus on my studies and later on the work I was doing on dig sites and such. It wasn't until the Reapers invaded that my solitary came to an end when I was put in a team of scientists, it was then that I started to see that I was wrong."

"But you said you were happy about it?" Shen asked in response.

"Well when you work closely with a group of like minded people While under the threat of extermination, it sort of changes your viewpoint. We all ended up being good friends" the Asari answered.

"Well what happened,"? Are they still around?" Nightracer asked, making the Asari shake her head.

"No, they died in the last few weeks of the war. It was while we were on Thessia, the day I met your parents Orion."

The Bot nodded in return, but looked somewhat worried. This didn't go unnoticed by Nightracer.

"I see." the Femme replied, knowing full well that her best friend and former lover would be uncomfortable if they carried on with the most recent topic. In fact she could see that Liara had noticed the same thing.

"Orion, what I want to know is where did you learn to fly? Because what you did to avoid those gunships back on Illium was amazing." the Asari asked which made the bot smile back to her, a silent thank you for changing the subject.

"Well I have always been interested in flying, ever since Jetfire took me up in one of those old T-fifty seven aircraft. So I learn't from him and Nightracer's mum - Slipstream." Orion replied, his tone sounding somewhat happier.

"Yes, and he even got to fly in Jetfire's old unit, the Aerialbots." Nightracer added.

"Really, aren't they like the best of the best of the Autobot flyers?" Liara asked with a curious smile, obviously impressed with the bot thus far.

"Yes they are, there have been many great pilots who have made the team such as Jetfire, Hotrod, Air-Raid, Silverbolt, Steve Cortez, Slipstream, Vortex and Jeff 'Joker' Monroe." Shen said while counting the names on his fingers.

"And your among them Orion, that is most impressive.." Liara replied with a smile that the Bot was finding hard not blush against.

"..So why didn't you stay with them?" the Asari then asked.

"I fancied another challenge." the Bot replied, then Shen smiled as something came to mind.

"Hey Liara, want to hear of the time that we and Quickstrike had a sort of joyride that really showed off Orion's skill at flying?"

Liara gave the Turian a skeptical look.

"Joyride?"

"It wasn't meant to be that, but it was seen that way by our parents and the Geth patrol that chased us. But Shen is right about the potential that Orion here displayed that day." Nightracer added with a smile at the blue haired Bot.

"Want to hear it?" he asked Liara with a smile, which in turn made her smile back.

"Sure."

"Okay it was eight years ago and..." Orion started to say before the intercom activated.

"Can Team Rodimus and Dr T'Soni please meet the Commander in the CIC." a female voice spoke, which made Orion tap his com-link as the others finished their drinks.

"This is Orion, we are on our way."

He then closed the call and looked at the others and Liara.

"Well it's time, rain check on the story?"

"Definitely." Liara replied with a coy expression before she then followed the Bot and the others out of the mess-hall.

PRIME EFFECT 4

Six-shot walked onto the bridge of the Icarus, having just returned from his failure on Illium and saw that apart from the Terracons who were manning the bridge's stations, there was not one single lieutenant of Galvatron or the Predacon leader himself there. The foot soldiers were all Caucasian and had the same armour with their black and purple color scheme, they were all armed with pistols on their utility belts while also carrying assault rifles on their backs. But Six-shot had also heard that they like himself and his brother and the other higher up Predacons, were also capable of unleashing a beast mode and thus making them far more formidable cannon fodder than the army that the Autobots now have. The bot walked over to one of the Terracons who was running a diagnostic on the engineering station.

"Soldier where is my brother? Have you seen him?"

The Con turned and gave Six-shot a blank expression.

"Commander Shockblast is still in the Predacon lab sir, but I have to inform you that Lord Galvatron is expecting you in his ready room." he replied as he pointed over their left.

"Very well, carry on." the bot replied as he turned and walked over to the door, pressing the button on the control panel to his left and waiting for a moment.

"Enter!" Galvatron called back and Six-shot entered the dimly lit room to find the Predacon Leader standing at the window and looking out at the devastated surroundings of Cybertron.

"Welcome back Six-shot, I hope you were successful in your mission."

"I regret to inform you my Lord that the Autobots managed to retrieve the Asari and take her off planet before I had the chance to terminate her." the Con replied in a calm manner though inside his spark was pulsing very quickly, having remembered what Galvatron was capable of after seeing him make short work of Scourge only a month earlier. Six-shot did not have to wait long for an answer as the Lord turned round and smashed his fist onto his desk, his face one of pure rage as his eyes glowed blood red.

"You let her escape!" he spat as the bot looked down to see Galvatron's fist was embedded in a small crater on his desk, the dent was quite deep. His attention then went back to his leader's face which was all kinds of scary right now as.

"I cannot believe that you let the Autobots outsmart you like that!" he added while Six-shot was almost about to fall to his knees and beg.

"My Lord please, I was this close to ending the life of that Asari and the Autobots that were protecting her, I even managed to kill two of the Shadow Broker's agents that were also pursuing them." Six-shot replied with a fearful tone as Galvatron lifted his fist up and walked around the desk and right up to the bot's face.

"But now as we speak, that Asari is no doubt telling the Autobots about our existence." he growled while bringing his face within an inch of the of Six-shot, who swore he could almost feel the heat of the pit emanating from those blood red eyes of his Master. But then Galvatron pulled away and merely looked at his Lieutenant with quiet rage as he gritted his sharp teeth before turning around and moving his attention back to the window.

"I would like nothing more than to rip out your spark for failing me Six-shot, but your Brother has found something. Something that once under our control, will allow us to deactivate the Autobot's communication network and cripple their forces. Only then will we Predacons be in strong enough position to announce ourselves to the galaxy."

"How was this achieved my Lord?" Six-shot asked sheepishly, hoping that he could keep Galvatron's attention from said desire.

"Shockblast has discovered the Autobots Communication Hub which is hidden on the Omicron Colony. I have already sent word to Ser-Ket and Rip-Claw aboard the Achilles, who are now preparing to strike." the Predacon Leader replied before looking back at the Con.

"Now get out of my sight, or do you wish for your spark to be removed?"

Six-shot's eyes widened and his mouth was agape as he realised what Galvatron was doing.

"No, of course I will go now. Thank you for sparing me my Lord." he replied with a relieved tone while backing towards the door, never taking his eyes off of his Leader.

"Do not thank me Six-shot, save that for your Brother. Now leave!" he spat, making the Con hasten his exit through the door. Galvatron waited for it to shut before taking a breath, sighing once he was truly alone in the room again. His spark was still pulsing with anger and hate and he wondered how he managed to control that and not just kill Six-shot when he had the chance, yes it may have made his working with Shockblast somewhat more tougher. But it would have set a fine example to his troops of what happens when one of them fails him. But then Galvatron was pulled out of his thoughts when that familiar laughing began to echo around him again, as if someone was in the room with him.

"Who's there?" he said aloud as he scanned the room with his eyes, but was still by himself.

'What is that laughing? And why am I the only one that hears it?' he thought before….

"I always knew you would be a failure!" a familiar voice suddenly said from behind the Predacon Leader, who spun around to see that no one was there.

"Who said that?" he spat as he felt his anger beginning to boil over again, but this was also mixed with a hint of fear as he looked around with wide eyes.

"Someone that remembers you all to well." the voice said, once again from behind Galvatron who turned to see just the window and desk behind him, now if there was something other than his anger that was building up to a critical point, then it would be his patience and that was just as much in fear of breaking than his temper.

"Enough games, show yourself. Nobody makes a fool of Galvatron!" the Predacon spat into the empty room.

"Very well, see me now." the familiar voice spoke again, this time from in front of Galvatron who's eyes widened even more as a silhouette of a Cybertronian began to appear before him. The shape of his body looked very familiar as his shoulder pads had sharp curved spikes growing out off them and his armour had a very gladiator like feel to it.

"This cannot be!" Galvatron said as he blinked once the figure was fully in front of him, with a dark grin on his face plate. For standing in front of the Predacon Leader was none other than the long dead former leader of the Decepticons...'Megatron'.

Galvatron stood there in complete shock as Megatron smiled at him, the Decepticon looked exactly the same as the Predacon leader remembered with his silver armour and face plate that bared some battle gained scars. The only change was that the con leader was about six foot tall like a Human, and not the height of what Cybetronians used to be.

"So I see that nothing has changed, you are still just same failure that I had Shockwave lock away all those years ago." Megatron said as he began to walk towards the shocked Predacon.

"You can't be here, you are dead." Galvatron spat back before the Con went right in his face.

"Ah but you see, I have always been here or maybe I should rephrase that. I have always been 'here'." Megatron replied as he pointed at the Predacon leader's chest, at the Predacon insignia and the spark that lay beneath it.

"Your very spark was cloned from my own, which means that I have survived through you."

The Decepticon then looked around the room and shook his head.

"And I have to say that I am unimpressed with what you have accomplished thus far."

Galvatron's face then went from shock to anger as he narrowed his eyes at this Con, seemingly back from the dead.

"I have resurrected the Predacon species, acquired a fleet and together we will conquer this galaxy, something that you never did." he spat back, which earned a laugh from Megatron.

"Predacons, don't you mean Preda-clones. Because that is what they are, merely shadows of their mighty ancestors. They are the same as you are to me. And this fleet you have is nothing more than light cruisers and civilian vessels, I doubt you could conquer a planet let alone the entire galaxy." The Decepticon replied in a goading like tone which made the Predacon Leader explode into a fit of anger as he activated his holo-blade and swung it at Megatron. Only for the blade to pass harmlessly through the Con like he was hologram, earning another shocked look from Galvatron while the Decepticon smiled at him.

"And again you prove yourself inferior to me, for you should realise that I exist in your mind and because of that you cannot harm me...but that doesn't mean that I cannot harm you." Megatron replied before punching the Predacon in the face, knocking him back against the desk. The Clone then tried to recover and get back to his feet, but suddenly Megatron grabbed him by the throat and pulled him back up.

"Your...not...here. How...is...this...possible?" Galvatron managed to say through the vice like grip on his neck, until the Decepticon let go and pushed him against the desk.

"Like I said..." he began to repliy before the door behind them opened and a Terracon entered the room.

"Lord Galvatron, we heard a loud noise come from in here. Are you alright?" the soldier asked as he looked at the Predacon Leader.

"I am fine..." he replied while Megatron remained quiet.

"...Now leave 'us'."

The Terracon responded with a confused expression at the Predacon Leader before looking around the room, yet Galvatron was the only occupant.

"There is no one else in here my Lord." he replied with an equally confused tone, one which made the clone narrow his crimson eyes at the minion.

"I said leave!" he spat, making the Terracon almost jump out of his skin.

"Of course my Lord." he replied in a fearful tone before bolting it out of thr room. Once Galvatron was sure that he was alone, he turned back to Megatron only to find that he was not there.

"Like I said before we were rudely interrupted..." Megatron said from behind Galvatron, who spun around to see the Con Leader leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"...I exist in your mind and so only you can see and hear me, as well as feel everything I do to you."

Megatron then uncrossed his arms and clenched a fist, smiling all the while at Galvatron.

"Why are you here? what do you want?" the clone asked with a very agitated tone.

"For you to accept who and what you are, that you are nothing more than a clone of myself and start acting like it. Or else I will make you suffer for it." Megatron replied, which made the Predacon walk over to him, stopping only a few centimeters from the Con's face-plate.

"You may be able to hurt me, but your still just an hallucination of my mind. I will find out a way to control you or block you out, this I promise along with my previous vow. To surpass you and everything stand for, now shut up." Galvatron said before walking away from the Decepticon, who merely chuckled in return.

"He said shut up to me."

Galvatron walked back onto the bridge and saw the Terracons all look at him with worried expressions.

"As you were." he replied before noticing Megatron sitting down at one of the vacant stations, smirking at him. But the Predacon leader chose to ignore him as he turned his attention to the Terracon manning the communication terminal.

"Get me Ser-Ket and Rip-Claw."

"Yes my Lord." the soldier replied before tapping commands into the holo-interface before him. A moment later and Ser-Ket's face appeared on the main view-screen for all the bridge to see.

"She is certainly a sight to behold." Megatron observed as he was now standing at the weapons station just behind Galvatron, who continued to ignore him.

"Ser-Ket, what is your current status?"

"We have arrived at the system where the Omicron Colony is located my liege, and are awaiting you word to proceed." the femme replied in a professional and elegant manner, which was very unlike that of Rip-Claw who Galvatron had noticed retained a very beast like tone in her voice, which was the same as the other Predacons.

"The word is given, take the Colony and obtain that Communication Hub. I also want you to take prisoners if the opportunity presents itself, do you understand?" he said, earning a nod from Ser-Ket.

"Understood Lord Galvatron, we will attack at once. Achilles out."

The screen then went dark and Galvatron just looked ahead.

'This is it.' he thought as a smile grew on his face.

'Time for the Autobots to feel our wrath.'