FicWad

The noise felt almost unbearable as it filled the room and his ears, making him open his eyes slowly and stare up at the ceiling above him. He needed at least a minute to fully comprehend his surroundings at this point of the morning, but that damn sound was drowning out his very thoughts so he rolled on to his left side and looked down at the floor beside his bed. His eyes fell upon a small squishy grey cube that had a green holo-image of the time being emitted on it's side which said five am, so he picked it up and threw it away. The cube bounced off the wall to his left and then rolled to a stop on the floor and the sound with it, earning a smile from the man.

'Good job I found that gizmo on the net, or else I would be paying out for a lot of alarms.' he thought before climbing out of bed and walking over to the bathroom, the lights of the room activating at a low level for him as he entered the room. The man then stopped at the sink and turned on the cold tap which let the water flow freely out of it's snout and into the sink before disappearing down it's drain, so he then bent down over the sink and cupped his hands together before placing them under the running tap to collect some of the cold and clear liquid. He then splashed it on his face, the immediate sensation of the cold water waking him up far more effectively than the alarm clock had. Once he felt fresh and alert enough, the man then stood up and looked at his image in the mirror in front of him, which was that of a Caucasian man with short dark blonde hair and a medium built physique. He then reached over to the toothpaste and toothbrush which were located in a transparent glass on the back of the sink when a holo-interface appeared on the mirror.

"Good morning Lieutenant Quickstrike." a synthesized voice spoke, earning a sigh from the man.

"Morning 'Skeets'." he replied before brushing his teeth as 'Skeets' was an Autobot VI, one that Quickstrike and all Autobots on Omicron Colony had received as a part of an initiative, yet the Bot could not know why. And the VI was worse than the alarm clock since it didn't understand what privacy was, having appeared to him numerous times when the young Man did not want to be disturbed.

"Quickstrike I have to remind you that in thirty minutes you will required to be at your post." the VI said while the Bot swilled some water in his mouth and spat it and the excess toothpaste into the sink's bowl.

"Yes Skeets, I know. I will be there in plenty of time." Quickstrike replied before turning on the shower and taking off his boxers.

"Computer deactivate." he then replied as the interface shut down.

"Sir wai..." the VI replied before its voice was gone and the mirror went back to normal, which made the Bot smile as he climbed in to the shower for his morning wash. Then ten minutes later, Quickstrike was fully clothed in his red and black armour bearing his Autobot insignia proudly as he stood in one of the colony's many transports as it flew towards the Command center which was situated at the city's central area. Well to call it a city was a bit of a stretch really, as none of the populations centres on the planet really had a number of citizens needed to be classified as a city. This one was only given the honor because it was the first and it itself was called 'Omicron City'.

'Really needed someone with a better imagination to name the city.' the Bot thought as he looked around at the buildings as they zipped by, all of which looked like slightly larger and taller versions of the buildings on Eden Prime and Horizon. The transport then slowed down and landed on a landing pad next to the command center, which was the only building on the entire colony that could be close to being called a skyscraper. Quickstrike exited the transport and it then took off and flew away, while the Bot looked up at the tall structure as it reached up into the cloudy sky, with rays of sunlight managing to break though the odd gaps here and there in the cloud. He could also see the large red Autobot emblem that was positioned at the center of the building, but this building was actually a decoy for the real facility which was underground. The Facility in question was the Autobots main Communication Hub for the entire galaxy, it was made so that the Federation's main defence could be better prepared in case a galactic threat on level with the Reapers ever appeared.

Quickstrike began to walk up the steps to the building's entrance when a someone called his name.

"Hey Quickstrike." The voice said, gaining the bot's attention as he turned to see another Caucasian man in a Orange and blue uniform approaching him. This one had brown hair that could be just seen under the safety helmet he was wearing.

"Morning Long-Arm, I thought you would be at one of the construction sites for the perimeter defences right now?" Quickstrike replied as the shook hands.

"I was on my way, when I suddenly got called in because we have a damaged Autobot cruiser that is due to arrive in the next twenty minutes." Long-Arm replied.

"That's strange, don't we usually get more of a warning than that when Autobot ships are incoming." Quickstrike asked with a curious expression.

"Yeah, but still I should..." the other Bot said in return before his com link activated, prompting him to tap his ear.

"Long-Arm here...Hey Grapple,…yeah I just got told to go somewhere else...I know, short notice huh...okay, I will be back on site once I'm done."

Long-Arm then stopped the call and smiled back to his friend.

"Well I have to get moving, so I will see you later."

"Sure will." Quickstrike replied before both bots continued in opposite directions, with him entering the lobby of the command center. He said morning to the Turian female who was manning the front desk before entering the elevator and pressing the key on the control panel labelled 'SUB-LEVEL TWENTY EIGHT'.

Quickstrike waited in the elevator for a few minutes as it made it's descent towards the lowest level, the Bot though just stood there patiently while looking up at the level indicator that was situated above the door and watched as the number of each floor he passed appeared and disappeared quickly in ascending order. This elevator ride might have been a nice break for the bot except for the god awful music that played constantly to anyone who was inside, and was on a constant loop so there was no break. It was supposed to be an orchestral piece from the Geth, apparently the first piece of music they had every created. Though if that was what the Geth called music then they needed their audio receptors retuned, but luckily for Quickstrike the elevator came to a stop on the floor he wanted, and as soon as the doors opened he was out of there. The Bot stepped into a grey corridor of the large bunker-like base

Quickstrike exited the elevator and walked down the bunker-like corridors of the real Autobot base, making his way towards the CIC. He then stopped at this large metallic door as a green laser beam passed over him.

"Identity confirmed, Lt Commander Quickstrike, access granted." a synthesized voice spoke, before the door opened and revealed the nerve center of the base. Quickstrike walked into a large dome like room that had numerous control stations and terminals positioned systematically around the room, in the CIC's center was a massive cylinder like machine that rose high up into a tunnel at the very peak of the dome and was covered in thousands of LEDs, that were blinking on and off at a very high rate. An Asari Autobot greeted the Bot while she was talking to a Krogan and a Salarian before pointing over to a Caucasian man in red, yellow and silver armour, who was reading data that was scrolling down a large holo-screen in front of him.

"Commander Blaster, Quickstrike reporting for duty." Quickstrike said, gaining The leader's attention.

"Quickstrike, good morning. I guess ya heard the news." he said, earning a nod from the younger Bot.

"Yes, I heard it from Long-Arm as I arrived. What's going on, has this ship just completely forgotten protocol when it comes to our Colony?"

"I don't know bud, we have been trying to contact the ship ever since we it entered the system. But no answer so far." Blaster replied as Quickstrike stood beside him and looked up at another screen, which showed the planet and an Autobot emblem that was getting closer to it.

"Do we have a name for this ship?" the Lt asked, but the Commander shook his head in response.

"No, ship registry is not working. But the Autobot IFF (Identify Friend & Foe) has been detected, so at least we know that it is one of ours." Blaster replied.

As both bots watched the screens, a Krogan operative turned to face them from his station.

"Commander Blaster, the ship is hailing us."

"On screen." the lead Bot replied.

"Sir, it is audio only." the Krogan said back.

"Put it on speakers."

Suddenly a sound of static crackling echoed around the CIC before a female voice could be heard.

"This is the Autobot cruiser 'Lakota', please respond?"

"This is Omicron colony, Commander Blaster speaking. Can you identify yourself?" the Commander replied.

"My name is Lt Commander Sasha Emmerich. Our Captan and XO are both dead and I have taken command. We were ambushed by an Omega patrol and have suffered many casualties and a number of our systems are shot to hell, We are in desperate need of repairs and medical assistance." the Female voice responded as Blaster looked past a pensive looking Quickstrike at the Asari sitting at the station next to them, she had on her screen a profile for Lt Cmdr Emmerich and so turned and nodded at the Commander who then refocused his attention back on the transmission.

"We will clear landing platform ten on the outer section of Omicron City for you, there will be Medical and Engineering teams waiting for you."

"Thank you Commander, Lakota out." the voice replied before the call cut out. Blaster turned to Quickstrike, who still looked uneasy.

"Something doesn't feel right, may I have your permission to call in the 'Fearless', our colony's defensive dreadnought to keep an eye on our visitors?"

"Alright, but you can call them on the way." Blaster replied, earning a confused look from the younger bot.

"On the way?"

"I want you to head over to landing platform ten with a squad of marines, just as a precaution." the Commander replied, gaining a nod and a smile from Quickstrike.

"Very well sir." he said before turning around and heading for the exit, while also activating his com-link as he did.

PRIME EFFECT 4

Meanwhile the Autobot star-ship currently heading toward the Colony, that they were told was the 'Lakota' was actually the Predacon controlled 'Achilles'. And on the ship's bridge, Rip-Claw was looking out at the image of the planet on the view-screen before turning to her 'Sister' Ser-Ket and smiling at her.

"That was impressive Sister, you even had me fooled."

The other Femme deactivated the holo-interface of the communication terminal in front of her and turned to face Rip-Claw.

"Let's hope that the deception was good enough to last until we are inside their defense perimeter." she said, her voice sounding more like a Human than her Predacon Sister, who's was more deeper with a hint of beastliness to it which underlined her more feral nature.. She gave Ser-Ket a curious expression in return.

"I still find myself wondering why you sound less like the rest of us Predacons. I mean you are my Sister, I can still remember the two of us fighting side by side against the 'enemy' on the day the world ended and everything went dark. It was so long ago, yet I can remember it like it was yesterday." the Femme replied as Ser-Ket looked away. She was wondering about that herself, because it was all true. She was a Predacon, but even the Femme had noticed that there were more differences between herself and the rest of Predacons than similarities. For she did sound more human-like than the others and she could not remember the events that Rip-claw had spoken of, for the last thing Ser-Ket remembered was being killed by Grimlock while fighting for Shockwave. In fact she could remember every detail of her time working for the Decepticon scientist, her willingness to do anything to protect her Master and use her abilities to their maximum potential. But now since her reawakening, something had changed and Ser-Ket would not dare mention this to anyone, especially her 'Sister'. Because she doubted that they were even related, even though Rip-Claw could feel a sibling-like bond between them. Ser-Ket could not and whenever the more muscular femme called her Sister, it made her feel uneasy right down to her spark. And all of these doubts really started to bear down on her after the incident on the very ship that they now commanded, back when the Predacons killed the original Autobot crew for it and showed that they were truly different to her.

"We are beginning our descent into the atmosphere." the Terracon piloting the cruiser said back, snapping Ser-Ket from her thoughts as Rip-Claw stood beside her, looking excited.

"I can not wait to drench my claws in more Autobot blood." she said, earning a stern look from the other Femme.

"Remember what Lord Galvatron said, we are also to take prisoners. So don't make it a massacre down there...understand?"

"I promise nothing." Rip-Claw replied with a rebellious tone, before noticing that the HUD of the view-screen showed how far into the atmosphere they already were.

"Didn't Shockblast mention that once we were at the right altitude, that we should open our cargo bay doors?"

"That's right.." Ser-Ket replied as she looked over to the Terracon to her left.

"Open the cargo bay doors now."

The minion nodded in return, and then began typing on the holo-interface in front of him. Meanwhile on the outside of the ship, the cargo bay doors opened up to the sounds of growling and heavy footfalls before something quite large launched itself out of the Achilles and flew down into the thick cloud cover.

On landing platform ten, Long-Arm was with a gathering of ISF engineers, medics and Autobot marines when he noticed another gunship...the third in the last several minutes, approaching their location from the direction of the Command tower.

"Hold up." he said to three of the engineers that he was talking to, before walking up to the gunship as it slowed down and landed on the edge of the platform. The back door then opened and folded down into a set of steps before a familiar face appeared and exited the vehicle.

"Quickstrike? You've been brought into this too?" the bot asked as the Lt Commander joined him on the ground.

"Yep, I am too take command of the marines here...excuse me a sec." Quickstrike replied, earning a nod from his friend.

"Of course." Long-Arm replied as he watched the Bot head over to the marines and speak with them.

"Who's in charge here?"

"That would be me sir, Lieutenant James Vega." a very built Hispanic soldier in heavy armour sporting a Mohawk spoke back, gaining the Bot's attention.

"At ease Vega, Commander Blaster has put me in charge of this group until this situation has been resolved."

"Alright, so what are our orders sir?" Vega replied.

"Just to be ready for anything Lieutenant." the Bot said back in a somewhat cryptic way, which confused the Marine.

"We expecting trouble sir?" he asked as Long-Arm joined Quickstrike.

"I just think it's better to be ready." the Lt Commander replied before looking at his friend who had his holo-tool active.

"How long?"

"It's here." Long-Arm replied as they heard the loud noise of the 'Lakota's engines before looking up to see the cruiser appear on the other side of the city, as it dropped under the heavy cloud cover and slowly fly over Omicron City. Quickstrike activated his own holo-tool and typed set of commands into it's interface before a set of holo-binoculars appeared in hand, which he brought up to his eyes and looked out at the new arrival.

"Well that's weird." he said, earning inquisitive looks from Long-Arm and Vega.

"What is?" the Marine replied.

"In their communication, the Lakota said it had been heavily damaged in a fight with Omega forces. But it doesn't even have a scratch on it." the Bot answered as the ship was about to pass the command tower.

"That is strange." Long-Arm said as Orion looked at him and Vega.

"The Lakota will be here in a moment, prepare your men. Be ready for anything."

Both Men nodded as they were about to turn and go over to their units, when they suddenly just stopped and looked up at the ship.

"What the hell?" Vega said, making Quickstrike turn round to see that the Lakota had stopped next to the Command tower and was just hovering there at the City's center.

"What are they doing? The landing site is here." Long-Arm added as they looked on while in the Hub's CIC, Blaster and his crew were thinking the exact same thing.

"Sir the ship is just hovering there, right above us." the Asari just aways from him said from her station.

"Yeah, I can see that." The Commander replied before turning to the Krogan at Communications.

"Keep relaying the landing instructions, I want that ship berthed now." he said, gaining a nod from the Krogan who looked at his screen which showed the clear cut com-signal. He then tapped a button on his interface.

"Lakota, the landing site is platform ten. Please..." he said before the link stopped and the visual of the signal on screen suddenly became distorted and erratic, making his eyes widen in disbelief.

"Sir, our communications are being jammed!"

As he said this, the screen at the Asari's terminal began to flash red, making her turn to Blaster.

"Sir I am detecting an energy spike coming from the cruiser."

Outside, the cruiser's cannons on it's underbelly suddenly came to life and began targeting the buildings below them, a red glow emanating from within their barrels. Suddenly they opened fire, reducing three buildings to rubble in an instant before firing on the others around them. The explosions and destruction could be felt all the way down in the CIC as Blaster activated the intercom.

"Battle stations, we are under attack. All Autobots to Battle stations." The commander then turned to the Krogan.

"See if you can cut through the jamming, we need to contact Jackson Prime on the Ark."

"Yes sir." the Krogan replied while Blaster looked back at the main view-screen and watched as the Lakota continued to fire at the city around them.

'I hope the Fearless received our message.' he thought as the room shook from another blast above.

Meanwhile on landing platform ten looked on at the utter devastation that was being inflicted on Omicron city , half of the Engineers and Medics just watched as they were paralysed by fear and shock of what was happening, though the Marines just looked angry as they stared at it. Quickstrike noticed this and he knew if he didn't do something, then he would almost certainly lose these people to their fear.

"Why hasn't the perimeter defences activated and taken that ship out?" one of the Medics asked.

"The defences are not yet ready for use yet, it's almost like whoever is attacking us was counting on that." Long-Arm replied as Quickstrike began walking in front of the group.

"Alright listen up." he said in a commanding tone, immediately gaining their attention as he stood between them and the chaos that was erupting in the City's center.

"I know your scared, but there will be Civilians caught in the chaos that ship is causing. So we are going to split into two teams made up of marines, engineers and medics, Lt Vega will lead one while I will lead the other." the Bot added as Vega smiled back at him.

"Hell yeah, I like your thinking. So what's the plan?"

"There are two main routes back towards the Command Tower, so each team will take one and find and escort any civilians they find to the evac zone at the base of the tower. Once there we will assist with the defence of the Hub, which is likely the enemy's target...Lets move out." Quickstrike said as the group began splitting into two, while Vega handed a rifle to the bot.

"Here, you will need that."

"Thanks, see you at the EZ." the Lt Commander replied.

"We get out of here in one piece, beers are on me...Loco." Vega said back with a smirk.

"Loco?" the Bot replied with a confused tone.

"You don't like it, I think it suits you.

"Alright, just make sure you get to the Command tower. We will need everyone to hold it." Quickstrike replied, gaining a nod from Vega as the Marine climbed aboard one of two MAKOs with his team while Quickstrike and Long-Arm boarded the other with their team. Then both MAKOs left in different directions, but with the same destination in mind as the enemy ship continued its assault on the city.

PRIME EFFECT 4

The people were in an absolute panic in the shadow of the Achilles as it rained torpedoes down on to the streets around them, reducing the buildings to rubble in seconds as they attempted to flee the carnage. On the bridge, Ser-Ket could not help but notice the look of utter glee o Rip-Claw's face as the Femme watched the destruction on the screen before her.

"What an age we now live in, right Sister?" she said while watching another building explode and take another group of civilians with it as it collapsed over them. But the other Femme did not answer, earning a puzzled look from the Rip-Claw as she looked over to her sister.

"What's wrong, why..." Rip-Claw started to ask before a Terracon who was manning the sensors spoke out.

"We have a ship incoming." he said as another blip appeared on his screen and began closing on their location.

"What is it?" Rip-Claw asked as she turned her attention to the bot and away from Ser-Ket, who was relieved for the distraction as she too looked toward the Terracon.

"I have an ID for the ship from our database, it is the 'Fearless'. An Autobot dreadnought assigned to protect this colony, oh scrap." the Terracon said as he looked at the ship's details on his screen.

"The Achilles is no match for that ship, it's shields are strong enough to absorb any attack from us and the moment we are in range of it's weapons then we are as good as scrap." he added before Rip-Claw ripped him out of his chair and held him up in the air with a vice-like grip around his throat.

"Are you saying you want us to run rather than fight for our Lord Galvatron? Because that is not going to happen…is it?" the Femme spat as she narrowed her eyes at the fearful minion.

"No…I….live…..to serve…Galvatron." the Terracon managed to say between gasps for air as the Predacon Femme tightened her grip around his neck. After a few seconds of toying with the notion of whether to kill him, Rip-Claw dropped the Con.

"Good, now I want everyone to prepare for combat while I call in our 'friend' to assist us." she said before smiling deviously to Ser-Ket, while the Terracon crawled back onto his seat and began working with an even more fearful posture.

Meanwhile Long-Arm pushed the MAKO to it's limits as it sped through the streets of Omicron City, which now looked like a post apocalyptic landscape than the clean and busy town it was this morning. He and Quickstrike's group had stopped and picked up a few civilians each time, but now there wasn't even one as they continued past the smoldering and burning ruins. As the bot kept his eyes on the road ahead, Quickstrike looked back at the civilians as they received medical attention in the back of their vehicle.

"Quickstrike, I don't like this."

The Lt Commander gave him a funny look in return.

"Really? Well neither do I?"

"I mean, we haven't seen any ground forces yet from this as yet unknown enemy which seems more happy with blasting everything on the ground. But they have not even shot one torpedo at the Command Tower, and why is that?" Long-Arm replied as Quickstrike looked ahead at the destroyed buildings as they continued to zip by.

"Surely, that would be target one right?" the driver added, but he noticed that his friend was staying quiet and decided to change the subject.

"Alright I know that's classified, but tell me you have had some luck with your com-link at least?"

Quickstrike then tapped his and activated it again, but all he could hear was static so he shut it down again.

"No signal, these guys must be jamming all communications. I did manage to get through to the Fearless before the attack happened, hopefully they will get here and take that cruiser out."

Then just as the MAKO made a right turn into a back alley that was littered with pieces of concrete and other debris that the military all-terrain vehicle easily passed over, suddenly Quickstrike's holo-tool began beeping.

"What is it, are Comms back up?" Long-Arm asked.

"No, but the cavalry has arrived." the Lt Commander replied with a smile as above them the Fearless arrived at the edge of the city, it's cannons aiming at the Achilles.

"Who is in command of Fearless?" Long-Arm asked as he brought the MAKO to a stop and opened up the roof hatch to take a look at the dreadnought.

"Admiral Pentagast, he is one of Human Alliance heroes during the battle of Earth. He used the Fearless to defend the Destiny Ascension which was being attacked by three Reapers at once." Quickstrike replied as the Dreadnought closed in on the enemy cruiser.

"Well lets see them blow that cruiser out of the sky." Long-Arm said enthusiastically as the Fearless powered it's weapons and prepared to fire, but suddenly a loud roar echoed from the clouds above them. The group as they looked up to the sky, wondering what had caused it.

"What in the Allspark was that?" Quickstrike asked before three white energy blasts shot out of the clouds and passed through the Fearless's shields. Hitting the hull and freezing it on impact as a metallic winged Beast burst out of the clouds and descended towards the Autobot dreadnought at top speed, it had a light blue body with yellow shoulders and knees with two massive white wings that flapped with a great strength that would push clouds out of the beast's way.

"What the hell is that?" Long-Arm said in wide eyed shock as the beast opened it's mouth and fired two more ice blasts at the ship, freezing the cannons there into place.

On board the Achilles, the Terracons manning the bridge stations now looked relieved as the Predacon Dragon continued it's attack on the Fearless, taking it's attention from them as Rip-Claw tapped her com-link.

"Good Skystalker, now go for their engines and thrusters...freeze them up."

Ser-Ket walked up to the Femme and gave her a thoughtful look.

"How is that com up-link to Skystalker holding up?"

"It is working fine, Shockblast assured us that we would be able to maintain control of our beastial brethren with these up-links despite them being under the influence of Synthergon." Rip-Claw replied as the two Femmes watched as the beast evaded the cannon fire from the Autobot ship and froze three stabilizing thrusters on it's starboard side. Skystalker then rose up high above the Fearless and then folded its wings in and dive bombed at the dreadnought, firing several more ice blasts that impacted the hull and damaged some more of it's cannons before the Beast extended it's wings and pulled up gracefully. It then flew the length of the ship, evading the cannon fire from the few remaining active weapon emplacements on it's hull. The Dragon then descended under the Fearless and began freezing the thruster ports and cannons on it's ventral side, when suddenly a burst of bullets flew past it's head.

So Skystalker turned it's head as it flapped it's wings and saw a squadron of fighters on it's tail, so it roared at then before pulling away from the Fearless. The fighters followed and fired on the beast again but the creature went into a spin, so the weapons fire missed again. The Predacon then turned on to it's back and looked at the Autobot fighters before unleashing it's ice attack in one continuous blast, three of the fighters managed to evade it but two were caught in it fully and froze. Skystalker then turned back round and roared as the frozen fighters dropped out of the sky and exploded as the impacted on the ground below.

Quickstrike and his team just continued to watch as the Beast headed back toward the city again with the remaining fighters re-engaging him, when suddenly the Predacon pulled a loop on the Autobot fighters and was now following them as the pilots began trying to evade and lose the creature, but it as it flapped it's white wings and came right up behind the fighters. Skystalker opened it's jaws and bit clean through the wings of one, causing it to spin out of control and crash into the side of the Command tower.

The Beast then fired another ice blast which clipped the second remaining fighter, making the pilot lose balance and eject from the damaged vehicle. But as he pulled his shoot, the Autobot looked to his left just in time to see the open jaws of the Predacon before they closed on him and his body was ripped to pieces by it's extremely sharp teeth. The last fighter managed to get away and it fly around the Command tower, hoping for the chance to get a shot at the winged beast. But all of a sudden the pilot felt his cockpit shake with tremendous force before noticing that a pair of claws were gripping his wings. He looked up out of roof of his canopy with a fearful expression as he saw that his fighter was in the hands of the Predacon, which looked down at him and roared before throwing the fighter into the Command Tower. The vehicle impacted on the Autobot emblem, which was dislodged from it's position and fell to the ground below.

Skystalker then reaffirmed it's attention on the now defenceless Dreadnought as it finished freezing up it's thrusters with it's ice blasts, before flying to the aft of the ship where it's massive engines located.

"Do it Skystalker, bring down that enemy ship." the Beast heard Rip-Claw say in it's mind, so it took an upright position while keeping its powerful wings flapping so it would not lose altitude. It then roared as a white light glowed beneath it's armoured chest, rising up it's neck and into it's throat as the Beast opened it's jaws and let loose with a massive ice blast that enveloped the Fearless's engines and caused them to flame out.

"By the Allspark." Long-Arm said in shock as he, Quickstrike and their team watched as the Autobot dreadnought began to slowly drop out of the sky. Even Blaster and his CIC staff could not even believe what they had just seen, as they watched the Fearless on their main screen.

"Prepare for ground assault." the Commander said as everyone around him began readying their weapons.

Meanwhile there were smiles all round on the bridge of the Achilles as Rip-Claw and the Terracons saw the Autobot ship continue to descend until it crashed into the ground just outside the city's perimeter. Even Ser-Ket was smiling but this did not last long as a Terracon turned to Rip-Claw.

"The Fearless has crash-landed and it's shields are down."

This made the Femme's smile grow wider while her Sister's disappeared.

"Target the ship with a full spread of torpedoes and missiles."

"Rip-Claw, we should take the crew prisoner." Ser-Ket suggested, but the other Femme ignored her while keeping her attention on the Terracon.

"Fire!"

The minion then looked back at his interface and smiled as he tapped a button there, and suddenly the Achilles fired several torpedoes and missiles which all successfully hit the defenceless dreadnought. Multiple explosions covered the hull until the Fearless could not take anymore and exploded to the sounds of cheering coming from the Predacon crew, as debris was sent up into the air followed by black smoke.

"Time to go in and secure the Hub." Rip-Claw then said as she started for the door, only to stop and look back at Ser-Ket when she had noticed the other Femme had not moved.

"Are you coming?" she said, the growl in her voice more noticeable as Ser-Ket looked at the smoldering wreck of the Fearless on the screen.

"Yeah, sure." the Femme replied before turning around and following Rip-Claw out of the room.

PRIME EFFECT 4

The MAKO had picked up the pace now as Long-Arm pushed the vehicle to it's limit, as it sped down what was the home straight back to the Command Tower. Everyone onboard was quiet ever since they had just witnessed the destruction of the Fearless at the hands of the unknown enemy cruiser and their winged beast.

"That Beast….It looked kinda like a Dragon to me...a robotic Dragon." one of the Marines said while talking amongst the group at the back of the vehicle, Quickstrike and Long-Arm both heard this and the former looked back at the group.

"A Dragon, you serious soldier?" he replied with a disbelieving look.

"Well what else could it be? It was moving too fluid and graceful to be purely machine, I mean the way it outmaneuvered the Fearless and it's fighters. If it reminded me of anything, then I would say the footage we were shown at school of the Great War between the Autobots and Decepticons."

Suddenly Long-Arm's eyes widened as if he thought of something, this did not go unnoticed by Quickstrike who still needed some convincing after hearing the Marine.

"What is it?"

"Did you ever learn about Ancient Cybertronian history at school Quickstrike?" the driver asked before turning the MAKO around a derelict vehicle that had been crushed by a large piece of concrete.

"Maybe, I think I pretty much zoned out whenever at History class." his friend replied as he remembered flirting with the girls in his class back then. Long-Arm just shook his head in response.

"Well if I can recall, my history teacher said that it was rumored that Cybertron was inhabited by Beasts that looked a lot like the one we just seen. But they went extinct during the Great Cataclysm and left next to no evidence of their existence."

And what were these Beasts called? Not that I believe you." Quickstrike replied.

"If I remember correctly….Predacons." the other Bot said as he took his eyes off the road and towards the Dragon as it circled the Command Tower's peak, when suddenly a shuttle came down and hovered off the ground in front of them.

"Look out!" Quickstrike shouted as Long-Arm hit the breaks and swerved out of the shuttle's way by mere inches, coming to a stop just aways from it. The driver looked back at their passengers as Quickstrike climbed out of the MAKO and made his way towards the shuttle.

"Is everyone alright back there?" the Bot asked, and one of the Medics looked up at him and nodded.

"I think we are okay, just some bumps and bruises so nothing serious."

"Alright then, time to get out. Your ride is here." Long-Arm replied as they began to exit the vehicle. The engineering bot then met up with his friend as he finished speaking to the shuttle pilot.

"So is this our stop?" Long-Arm asked as the marines helped the rest of the group out of the MAKO.

"Yeah, this is as far as the civilians, Medics and Engineers will go...and for you too..." Quickstrike started to reply, gaining a shocked look from his friend.

"... Because I have to stay and help defend the Command tower, if that falls…." he continued to say before Long-Arm cut him off.

"What! If your staying then so am I."

The Lt Commander placed a hand on his friend's shoulder in response.

"Your job now is to make sure the Civilians here get to safety, we will keep the enemy's attention down here. Plus with communications down, the Federation has no idea what is happening here, so you have to tell them. Now go." he said while gesturing to his friend and the others.

"But..." Long-Arm replied.

"Go!" Quickstrike said back in a more commanding tone, surprising the Engineer Bot who still just stood there. Not wanting to abandon his friend to the odds that were staking up against him.

"Do I need to pull rank?" he added, knowing that usually shut Long-Arm up. And just as he thought, his friend finally accepted defeat and nodded somberly to him.

"Good luck."

"You too, I'll see you later." Quickstrike replied as they shook hands, then Long-Arm entered the shuttle with the rest of the group and civilians. The Lt Commander than watched along with the rest of the marines as the shuttle closed it's hatch and took off into the sky.

'Go on, make it.' he thought with a slight smile before that disappeared as the Beast then flew up towards them

'No!'

Skystalker flapped it's wings and gained on the shuttle, which had put everything into it's engines as it shot up like a missile through the sky. The beast then opened it's jaws and fired and ice blast which froze one of the three engines on the aft of the shuttle. But luckily for Long-Arm and the civilians, their craft had made it high enough to make orbit while Skystalker was finding it hard to keep up and eventually gave up and glided back down to the city below. Quickstrike smiled again as he realised they had made it.

'Stay safe.' he thought before turning back to the marines.

"Alright according to the shuttle pilot, Lt Vega and his team are already at the Command tower and enemy ground troops are attacking. So we will join them and hold it from this enemy, understand?"

All the soldiers nodded without even an inkling of fear in their faces.

"Good, move out."

PRIME EFFECT 4

The battle at the base of the Command Tower was frantic as Vega opened fire on a group of enemy soldiers, the bullets from his mini-gun ripping through the purple and black armour of these foes and spilling blood all over the floor around them.

"Yeah, have some of that!" he shouted back as his marines held their position at the top of the stairs leading to main entrance. They literally had the high ground advantage on these enemy soldiers...whoever they were, but Vega was wondering what was keeping Quickstrike and his team.

"Anything on the Comms yet?" he called over to a marine who was taking cover and working on his holo-tool.

"No luck James, that cruiser is still jamming all frequencies." the soldier answered while shaking his head. Vega felt his heart sink a little at that answer but then responded by firing on another group of enemies that were trying rush their defensive line.

"Yeah, like shooting fish in a barrel." the marine Lt shouted again, obviously enjoying the battle.

"If you say so James." another marine to Vega's left replied as they shot down another group of the advancing enemy, before suddenly a gunship flew down in front of it's allies and began charging it's cannons as they were aimed at the group.

"Take cover!" Vega shouted when suddenly out of nowhere, the other MAKO appeared and blew the gunship out of the air with it's cannon.

The Marine Lt smiled as a familiar face could be seen behind the vehicle's canopy.

"You took your sweet time Loco?

"We took a wrong turn, and had an early meet up with the shuttle." Quickstrike replied while shooting one of the enemies in the head as he got out of the MAKO, while one of the marines took over.

"Yeah, I told that shuttle once they had our civilians on board to find you. Tell me…..did they make it?" Vega asked as he shot dead another enemy soldier. Quickstrike and the rest of the marines joined the building's defensive line as the MAKO came around between them and the enemy, firing several shots out and scattering the enemy troops.

"Yeah, it was a close call. But they made it out." the Lt Commander replied, earning a look of relief on Vega's face as there was a pause in the enemy offensive.

"Gracias Loco, but I wish things were better here because I don't know how long we will hold out with just one MAKO." the Marine replied as his men reshaped their defensive line and waited for the next attack. Quickstrike knelt down beside him next to the concrete slab that was being used as cover.

"Where is your MAKO?" he asked, making Vega point over to the burning wreck just aways from them.

"Damn bastards used a missile launcher on it, managed to take it out in a few hits. I am sure we took the one out that was using that heavy weapon, but can't say that they won't have another."

"What about that Dragon….Beast….thing, any sign of that?"

"Saw it flying around above the tower earlier, but nothing since. That thing has me on edge." Vega replied.

"Yeah me too, what about those doors?" Quickstrike asked as he pointed at the building's entrance.

"Can't we get in and barricade them?" he asked, making the Marine shake his head.

"No, they are sealed shut. When under attack and with no communication with the outside , then the facility has to go into lock-down." Vega answered in a text-book like tone.

"So we are on our own then." the Lt Commander replied.

"Looks that way…..okay here they come again, everyone look sharp and take them down!" he then shouted to his men as they all began firing their weapons at the enemy soldiers who began advancing on the Command tower again, with the added echo of the MAKO's cannon firing off shots into the enemy lines.

Meanwhile at their landing site, both Rip-Claw and Ser-Ket stood and watched from outside of their shuttle as their Terracons continued to attack the tower. Both Femmes were wearing using holo-binoculars to view the action, and Rip-Claw liked what she saw.

"I think it is time for me to join this battle, it has been long enough since I last felt an Autobot break in my hands." she said.

"Well I think it would be best if we got rid of that MAKO first, don't you think so?" Ser-Ket said sarcastically, earning a growl from her sister.

"Very well." she huffed before activating her com-link.

"Skystalker, destroy that vehicle and clear the area of our enemies." she said before a Beast-like shadow flew over them and up to the building's entrance.

"Look out!" one of the Marines shouted as the Predacon flew in and with a few flaps of it's strong wings, the gusts it created sent the Autobots nearest to it flying through the air before hitting the ground hard.

"Take that monster out!" Vega shouted into his com-link before the MAKO turned it's cannon towards Skystalker who had landed on all fours and folded it's wings, it then turned it's head at the vehicle and opened it's mouth as the inside began to glow with white light.

"Fire!" Vega shouted, but before the MAKO could give off a shot. The Predacon fired it's ice breath at the tank and froze it to the spot in a large chunk of ice which killed the Marine inside instantly.

"Take that fucking thing out now!" the Lieutenant then spat at his men, who all advanced on the Beast who began to back away as bullets rebounded and deflected off it's metal skin. Vega moved up to join his men when he felt a hand grab his shoulder firmly, so he looked back to see Quickstrike who was glaring at him.

"What are you doing?"

"We are gonna kill that monster, come on Loco." he said defiantly as he brushed off the Bot's hand and ran down to join his men as he fired his assault rifle at the beast as it slowly retreated backwards.

"We've got it on the run, keep going." one of the Marines shouted to his friends over the gunfire before Skystalker let loose with a long sweeping shot of it's ice breath which enveloped all the marines in front of it and froze them in place except for Vega, who dived behind some cover. Then the Predacon turned around quickly and swung it's tail through every single frozen marine in one go, smashing them into small bloody icicles on the floor. As the huge Beast turned itself back to face the building's entrance, James Vega stood back up to see that every man in his squad was now in small icy pieces all over the floor, and he felt his anger and rage building up as he clenched his fist and looked up at the Beast which looked back at him with curiosity.

"Vega, get out of there!" Quickstrike shouted, but the Marine did not listen as he raised his rifle and fired it at the Predacon, holding the trigger down hard as his weapon unloaded every last bullet he had left. But all this did was make the Beast blink at him as the bullets once again rebounded off his face harmlessly, before the gun ran out of ammo and Vega was left standing with used up bullet casings lying around his being. He then dropped the empty gun and activated his holo-blade and beckoned the monster to him.

"Come on you fucking Beast, lets have it! He spat as he began charging towards Skystalker who lunged his head forward with his jaws open, showing rows of razor sharp teeth. And before Vega could even swing his melee weapon, the jaws clamped around him and the Predacon lifted him up into the air before biting down hard and hearing armour and bone crack along with the tearing of flesh as blood poured out from the marine's body as he died right there and then.

"No!" Quickstrike shouted out with wide eyed shock at the Beast who looked back at him, still with the dead body of James Vega in it's mouth. But it then swung it's head to the left and let go of the body which then flew through the air until it landed like a rag doll in the fire that was currently burning brightly from what was left of the first MAKO.

Quickstrike readied himself for the beast as he raised his weapon to it, despite knowing what little good it would actually accomplish. Skystalker meanwhile prepared it self to pounce at the bot before another voice gained both their attention.

"Skystalker heel!" a Female voice called out, making the Dragon pull away and back off as the Autobot saw two female soldiers with helmets on standing just away from him with more of the enemy soldiers behind them.

"You are outnumbered and have no chance of victory, surrender now and we will let you live." said the one in the green and yellow light armour as the other female standing beside scoffed at her words. This one was wearing light blue and red armour which made her look far more built compared to the one that had spoken first, who had a more athletic physique.

"No, too many of my friends have died here for me to just roll over and let you pass without a fight." Quickstrike replied as he stood ready for whatever came next.

"There is no nee….." Ser-Ket began to say before Rip-Claw pushed her aside and began walking towards the Bot.

"No more talk, this one wants to fight to the death. I say we let him and I…..Rip-Claw will end his life." she said, as Quickstrike took note of her more deeper and feral voice as he dropped his nearly empty weapon on the floor and activated his holo-blade, this gained a smirk from Rip-Claw from behind her helmet as a blade ejected from the forearm section of her armour and she raised it, showing the stained blood covering it. The Terracons and Ser-Ket just watched as both Bot and Femme began to circle each other.

"Autobot, this blade has tasted many of your Brothers before this day. Know that I will be adding yours to it as well." Rip-Claw said before swinging her blade at Quickstrike who blocked and deflected it with his own blade, before he pushed her back and then took a step away to regain some space between them.

"I guess that just gives me more reason to kill you then." he replied before lunging in with an attack, one that the Femme blocked before kneeing him in the chest and then back handing his face, making him fall onto his backside.

"Your not even trying, it is not because I am Female is it. Because if it is that, then I will take even more pleasure in snuffing out your spark." Rip-Claw said before swinging her blade down at the Bot, who rolled away and got back to his feet before jumping back in with a lunge of his holo-blade, which caught the Predacon on her shoulder before he then punched her helmet, making her stagger back in surprise.

"No I don't hit women, but I think that with you an exception can be made this once." Quickstrike replied, making the Femme grit her teeth as her spark began to become enraged. Ser-Ket continued to watch as this Autobot began to take a more offensive role against her Sister, and she could not help but be impressed by his technique and skill. For she had seen many Autobots die too easily by Rip-Claw's hands during their commandeering of the Achilles and other ISF ships so far since their reawakening, so to see one Bot prove otherwise was very refreshing. But then as Ser-Ket witnessed Quickstrike sweep her Sister off her feet, she saw that Rip-Claw was getting very angry. So much so that her body armour was beginning to flinch and twitch.

'Oh no, not now!' she thought as the Autobot swung his blade down on his opponent who then surprised him by grabbing his blade and holding it there as she started to change before him.

"You think you will win, have a taste of this!" she spat before swiping at him with her free hand and cleaving some of his armour off from his chest plate, making him stagger back and notice five large cuts in his armour. Quickstrike looked back at Rip-Claw with wide eyed shock as she started to change, her armour took on a more feral look and her hands had become more like claws. She had also gained far more muscle and some extra height.

"I will have your spark!" she spat before roaring at the Bot and charging toward him. And before he knew what to do, Rip-Claw hit him so hard that he felt his armour crack and she sent him flying into the wall next to the Command Tower's entrance with a loud thud, one that winded him somewhat as he fell back to the floor. The beastial Predacon then walked over to him and raised her razor sharp claw in the air, readying to deliver the final blow.

"Rip-Claw stop!" Ser-Ket shouted at her sister, earning a dagger like stare from the powered up femme.

"What!" Rip-Claw spat back, who's voice was filled with rage. Meanwhile Quickstrike tried to move but found he had no strength left from that last hit, he felt like he had been hit by a wrecking ball. All he could do was look up at the two Females, as the one in green and yellow armour stood between him and Rip-Claw.

"Are you forgetting Lord Galvatron's orders? We are to take prisoners, which requires them to still be alive!" Ser-Ket spat at the Femme, not caring that at this moment the other Predacon towered over her.

"Fine, you want a prisoner then take him. I will lead the final assault on this Command Tower, but if you ever get in between me and my kill…I may forget that we are Sisters!" Rip-Claw spoke through gritted teeth as she brought one of her claws up to the other Femme's helmet. But Ser-Ket knocked it away.

"Don't threaten me Rip-Claw." she replied as the two stared daggers at each other for a moment, before the larger Femme turned away towards the building's entrance.

"Predacons with me, we have to smash our way in."

Ser-Ket looked down at the beaten Quickstrike and sighed before bringing her attention to two Terracons near her.

"You two, take him to our ship's brig." she ordered and the two minions then picked up the defeated Autobot and dragged him back to their shuttle as she watched them go, before following with a confused expression on her face as she felt and not for the first time since her reawakening….that she didn't really fit in with her Predacon brethren.