FicWad

"Orion, what are you doing?" Quickstrike asked in a confused and slightly panicked tone as everyone else had their weapons aimed directly at Ser-Ket, who stood there in complete shock at what was transpiring.

"Lower the weapon." the Bot continued, making his cousin shake his head in return.

"No, I will not." he said back in a cold and angry tone, as Quickstrike sidestepped between both Femme and Bot, covering her from the weapon and earning a confused look from Orion.

"What are you doing?"

"I am not going to let you hurt her." the blonde haired Bot replied.

"But she is a Predacon. If you haven't noticed they have made it their goal to kill every Autobot they can find and defeat the Federation." Orion said back as his anger over-ruled his confusion, while Shen and Nightracer remained quiet. The pair were both confused by the entire event.

"Oh believe me, I know what the Predacons are capable of." Quickstrike replied as he remembered his ordeal, but the younger Darby wasn't convinced.

"Do you? Do you even know what they did to New Iacon?"

This made both Quickstrike and Ser-Ket's eyes widen as hey heard this, which the others all took notice too.

"You don't do you?" Shen said in return.

"What happened? I mean all we know is that the Predacons attacked the colony to gain control of the communication network, but..." the blonde Bot said back, which then made Orion look unsure as he remembered his cousin's parents.

"The Predacons pretty much levelled over half of the city, murdering thousands of people. They took my parents prisoner and also... your..." he began to say, earning a look of growing despair on Quickstrike's face as he started to put two and two together.

"My parents...their okay right?"

Orion looked at him with a mirrored expression, one that was shared by Shen and Nightracer.

"I am sorry Quickstrike, I am so sorry."

These words suddenly collapsed the blonde Bot's world as grief took over, making him fall to his knees and shake as tears began to well up in his eyes.

"Both of them?" he asked in an almost pleading like tone as he looked up at his cousin, who shook his head in return gently.

"Your Mother's alive, though she is in a coma. But your Father ...he was killed during the initial attack."

Quickstrike did not know where to look as he felt like the whole world had faded to darkness around him, making the Bot feel all alone as he realised what had just happened. Ser-Ket saw this and felt her spark ache at what had just befallen her lover, she wanted to reach out and wrap her arms around him. To show him that he wasn't alone, but she dared not move with the way Orion kept his gun trained on her. He kept switching his attention between her and his cousin, for she knew exactly what his intentions were. But the same could not be said of his companions, who shared in her lover's grief but looked unsure when it came to her and her loyalties.

But the Femme pushed all doubts aside as she kept her attention squarely on Quickstrike as he suddenly got back to his feet, but kept his back to her as he looked at Orion.

"My Dad..., will my Mum ever wake up?" he asked, his voice still straining with the grief he was feeling at this moment.

"Yes, her Doctor told me she would be fine and that she will wake up." the Bot replied, earning what looked like a sigh from Quickstrike as if some of the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Do you know how my Dad...?" he then said, but was unable to finish the sentence.

"No, I am afraid not. But your 'friend' here might know." Orion replied, staring daggers at Ser-Ket. Quickstrike looked back at her and she could tell in his expression that he was conflicted, but he shook his head in return.

"No, Ser-Ket could not have known. She has been with me this whole time. If she had known anything about that, then she would have told me." the Bot replied, earning a confused and angry look from Orion as Ser-Ket remained on edge.

"I didn't know Earth had been attacked." she said back with a tinge of fear in her voice.

"Bullshit, she is lying. You can see it all over her face." the young Darby snapped, as his cousin looked back at his lover and recognising the fear in her eyes. It would be easy for one who's anger was clouding their senses to see it as guilt, but Quickstrike had come to know the Predacon female over a short span of time. Hell, she had turned her back on her entire race to save him and they had fought together side by side to survive. And he has come to care deeply for her, so he wasn't about to turn on her now.

"No, I believe her Orion. I wouldn't expect you to understand, but we have been through alot together and she saved my life, and we..."

Everyone, Orion included then looked upon the pair with a mirrored dumbfounded expression as they heard that last part.

"You have what?" Orion spat back as he continued to let his hate dictate his actions. To answer this question, Quickstrike took a step back so that he was still standing between his cousin and Ser-Ket, but was still almost side by side as he took her hand in his own. This made the others eyes widen in shock as they saw this display from the pair, which to Orion looked completely wrong.

"You and her!..." he spat back while Shen and Nightracer remained quiet, unsure of what to do.

"...You're sleeping with the enemy."

"Orion..." Quickstrike tried to say back, but his cousin then cut him off.

"No, you're simply to loved up to see the truth. That she is just manipulating you for her own ends, whatever they may be. But I still want to know where my parents are and I will find out from her, one way of another." Orion spat as he took a step forward, still training his weapon on the Bot. But suddenly Quickstrike rushed forward and grabbed the weapon, disarming Orion before forcing him to the ground with a CQC move. Everybody watched in wide-eyed disbelief as he stood over his cousin and dropped the weapon on the floor behind him.

"I am not going to let you or anyone else hurt Ser-Ket." he said with a defiant tone as he looked down at the young Darby.

"I am really sorry Orion, but at least there is a chance for you to be reunited with 'both' of your parents." he added with a touch of sadness and remorse at what he had to say. But Orion simply glared at him in return, as he clenched his fists.

"You pick a Predacon over your own family, how dare you!" he exclaimed as he threw himself at his cousin with his fists ready to strike, earning a shocked expression from Quickstrike who took a defensive stance but as they both readied themselves for a fight, suddenly a biotic field appeared between them and then pushed each other away.

"That's enough!" came an angry voice, making everyone look to the doorway to see an Asari who had her hand outstretched and glowing with a blue hue.

"Liara!" both Shen and Nightracer said in unison while Orion steadied himself and looked over at the blue Woman.

"By the goddess, what is going on here?" she asked in a disbelieving tone as she looked around the room, recognising Quickstrike from her meld with Orion, but not the female.

"Quickstrike has turned on us with this Predacon wretch." Orion spat as he equipped his pistol and readied it, earning a scowl from Quickstrike as he prepared himself for another attack.

"I don't want to fight you Orion."

"Back off both of you." Liara said back as she walked between both Bots.

"Liara, where were you?" Nightracer asked in return, gaining the Asari's attention as she turned to face the Femme.

"I was scouting one of the other buildings, when I heard a lot of shouting and then raced over here to find this." she replied while gesturing to the two Bots.

"Liara, we can't trust this Predacon. We will never complete or mission if she is allowed to live." Orion said, his tone still laced with anger, earning a regretful look from Quickstrike that Liara noticed while looking back at them and that was when an idea hit her.

"I know how to find out where her loyalties lie." the Asari said before looking over to the Predacon.

"What's your name?" she asked in a calm and un-judging way.

"Ser-Ket." the Femme replied while Liara took a step closer to her, earning an unsure expression from Quickstrike who stayed between them.

"I am not going to hurt her Quickstrike, I am just going to meld our minds. And I will know if Ser-Ket can be trusted."

"No offence, but I don't know you lady. And..." he began to say back before he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over at Ser-Ket.

"It's okay Quickstrike, I'll do this if it was they need to accept me and us."

The blonde Bot felt his defence soften as he looked into her eyes, before simply nodding and standing aside, allowing Liara to walk up to the Predacon.

"It's alright Quickstrike, you can trust Liara." Shen said, earning a nod from Nightracer, though Orion remained quiet as he merely observed what was happening in front of him.

"I want you to stay calm, close your eyes and lean your head towards mine." Liara then said, gaining a nod from Ser-Ket who then did just that. The Asari then took a deep breath and looked directly at the Femme before closing her eyes.

"Embrace eternity." she said before opening her eyes again to reveal them to be pure black while everything around the pair melted away, with the memories of both women flowing over them.

The link only lasted a few moments before Liara then turned away, closing her eyes as she did so. Ser-Ket opened hers and looked at the Asari in surprise as her eyes went back to normal.

"She is telling the truth." Liara said, earning a look for vindication from Quickstrike while Orion's expression was still one of uncertainty.

"She is no friend to the other Predacons, and wants to help us in any way she can." the Asari continued while Shen and Nightracer both looked relieved, but then she looked back to Ser-Ket who still looked surprised.

"What is it?"

"While you were looking at my memories and thoughts, I could see yours." the Femme replied, earning a nod from Liara.

"Yes, the joining of minds is a two way conduit."

"But I saw that you knew both Shockblast and Six-Shot..." Ser-Ket replied. Now it was the Asari's turn to look surprised as the Predacon continued.
"...and you were also in a relationship with one of them before you encountered Galvatron."

"That's right, we didn't know who he was before releasing him." Liara said back while everyone else just watched the pair.

"Galvatron told us that he and your friends were Predacons like us but he lied to us, I am so sorry." Ser-Ket said back with a knowing look, earning a nod from the Asari.

"Thank you, but I have come to terms with what happened then, abet with some help."

"I know..." the Femme replied as she glanced over to Orion who was still staring daggers at her, though the tone had softened a little.

"Indeed, as I also know how much Quickstrike means to you." Liara said back with a knowing smile as both Shen and Nightracer walked over to the blonde Autobot, happy relief written over their faces.

"Well I am glad we have got all this straightened out, so we can get on with the mission." the Femme said, earning a nod from the Turian.

"Exactly, well it's a good job Liara got here when she did and used her 'Vulcan Mind Meld'."

This earned a curious look from Nightracer and an eye roll from Quickstrike.

"Shen, you really should stop watching Star Trek. I think it is messing with your perception of reality." he replied with a chuckle, making his friend stare at him.

"We'll see who has the last laugh when we finally come across some Klingons, but either way. I feel our chances of succeeding in this mission have gone up, what with a Predacon aiding us that is."

"That's former-Predacon..." the blonde Bot replied, earning a smile from Ser-Ket, who looked back with Liara.

"..., perhaps we may even be able to convince the other Predacons to turn away from Galvatron, considering what has been discovered during your melding." he added as the women joined them, though Ser-Ket shook her head with a regretful expression in return.

"Unfortunately the others will not listen to us, and they certainly won't take the word of one who betrayed them."

"None of this matters if we can't work as a team..." Nightracer said as she glanced back to Orion who suddenly felt like an outsider, as Quickstrike took notice of this and stepped toward his unsure cousin.

"Orion, I have never given you reason to distrust me in the past right? So if I say that you can trust Ser-Ket, then that should be enough...right?"

The Autobot-Spectre looked deep in thought for a second before looking over to Liara.

"Ser-Ket can be trusted Orion, believe us...believe me." she said back, earning a reluctant nod from the Darby.

"Okay Liara, if you say so." he replied though deep down he knew he couldn't trust this Ser-Ket, simply for the fact that she was a Predacon. And he sensed that Liara knew this of him as well, since they melded back on Earth. But if saying so meant that the others were less confrontational with him, then so be it.

"Tell me Ser-Ket, what is the situation with the colony's civilians?" Orion then asked, turning his attention to the Predacon.

"There were some casualties during the main assault to capture the colony, but most of the population are under house arrest so they won't get in the way. The Predacons main objective was the Tower, which holds the Autobots Communications Network Hub." Ser-Ket replied, gaining a knowing look from Nightracer.

"That explains the comms blackout that's effected the entire Autobot fleet, and how their attack on Earth was executed so efficiently." the Femme said back before Orion activated his holo-tool, revealing a holo-image of the tower and complex.

"Right, so we need to regain control of the Hub, we can call in our forces to liberate the rest of the colony." Orion added, earning nods from the rest of his team as they looked at the image.

"This is the security layout for the complex, as it was when it had been built by the Autobots. So my question Ser-Ket is...what has the Predacons changed since they took control?" he asked, though while he tried to hide it, for Quickstrike's sake. But there was still a trace of an untrusting tone to his voice, but while this was ever so noticeable. No one decided to pick up on it, as Ser-Ket looked at the image closely.

"My brethren did not make any changes to any particular areas of the complex, not to my knowledge but we should be prepared for any...just in case."

"So how are we going to go about this, I mean you say 'gain control' of the Hub. But with the fact that there are only a few if us, I don't think this is possible." Shen asked with an unsure expression, which earned a knowing look from Orion.

"Shen when I said 'gain control', I meant of the system...not the complex. We just need to take control away from the Predacons, and back to the Autobots."

"So we switch the system back over to the good guys, and then destroy the Tower." Nightracer said back, earning a nod from the younger Darby.

"Exactly."

"Okay, now that's a plan I can get behind." the Turian replied, gaining knowing smiles from everyone around him.

"Oh can you now, well that's good to know." Nightracer said back before turning her attention to Quickstrike who was standing next to Ser-Ket, holding her hand supportively.

"So how do we switch the system control back to Autobot, and then destroy the tower?"

Before the blonde Bot could reply, Liara had looked at the holo-image and was now connecting her holo-tool to Orion's wirelessly, so that she could study it further.

"The main control room is where the Hub is generally accessed." she said as she zoomed the image to reveal the room to everyone.

"But that room is not a viable target since it will be heavily defended." Ser-Ket stated in return, gaining a smile from the Asari who then zoomed into another area of the complex at the edge of the city.

"That is true, but there is a secondary access terminal in the sub-communications room in the eastern look-out complex. Which by my reckoning should not be as well defended."

"That is correct..." the Predacon replied with an unsure expression as she looked back at Liara, who knew why.

"Liara, Liara T'Soni." she said back with a smile while holding out her hand to Ser-Ket, who then took it in her own and shook it.

"Thank you...Liara, and as you have pointed out. The area would be defended by only a handful of Terracons at most since most Predacon activity is at the heart of the colony, so there should be no problem to get access to it. In fact while there, it would also be a good opportunity to download any Intel from the Predacons database, I would be able to do that for you." the Femme added, earning a smile from Quickstrike and the others, though Orion refrained from doing so.

"Okay... now to destroy the Tower and complex, I believe that overloading it's geo-thermal reactor would be the most sufficent way of accomplishing this."he said while highlighting the reactor on the complex's holo-image, which earned a nod from his cousin.

"Yeah, that should do it. And it would only destroy the complex, leaving the city around it completely unharmed, since it was designed that way to begin with. And we can do that from accessing it via the tertiary reactor-obersvation port which is in the same complex, on the lowest sub-level. There are five ROP which are located along the perimeter of Omicron City and they all connect directly with the main reactor at the center of the colony." the Bot said as Orion changed the image to reveal the underside of the colony and the geo-thermal reactor.

"But if we take out one, shouldn't the others be able to keep the reactor stable?" Nightracer asked.

"Yes, normally that would be the case. But we can ensure that doesn't happen by making the system run a diagnostic subroutine which would fool the system when the overload arises, so it would not be able to subdue it." Quickstrike replied, earning content looks from everyone before Shen spoke up.

"Right so I guess it would be time to pick the teams." the Turian said, with Orion nodding in return as he expanded the holo-image to show the area around the complex.

"Right, Under the cover of darkness, we will proceed from this area and it will also act as our rendezvous." he said as a small building upon a hill on the eastern approach to the city was highlighted.

"Shen you will be holding this area for us, as it is a perfect sniping position that gives you an excellent view of the complex that we will be hitting, and the building that is there is listed as abandoned so we can use that for cover if we find ourselves under fire."

The Bot then typed some instructions into his holo-tool as two arrows, one red and one green then appeared on the map and moved towards their two objectives.

"Nightracer, you will be in command of Bravo team which will consist of yourself, Liara and...Ser-Ket. You will be heading for the terminal." Orion added, earning nods from The female members of the team.

"Alpha team will consist of myself and Quickstrike, our objective will be the geo-thermal reactor. We will sabotage it and planet explosives to ensure that no one can regain control of the system. Once done, we will rendezvous with Shen and make our way back to the shuttle." Orion finished before deactivating the holo-image.

"Any questions?"

Everyone shook there head before Ser-Ket and Quickstrike looked at each other, earning a uncomfortable feeling in Orion's spark as he tried to ignore it.

"Alright, we will head off once I have relayed our mission to Rodimus."

PRIME EFFECT 4

On the bridge of the Achilles, Rip-Claw sat in the Captain's chair and looked out of the large canopy ahead of her at the view, which was that of the Tower. Which was what had given the Predacons such an advantage over the Autobots at this time. Now it had only been several hours since her Sister had been reported killed by the Predacon Beast called Skystalker, which had been confirmed by Ser-Ket's tracking beacon shutting down, and that would only have happened once her life-signs had been terminated. The Predacon knew this because she had secretly taken a scan of her own body and had found the very same beacon nestled near her spark, in fact it was connected to it.

So if she had tried to remove or deactivate it, then that would kill her as well. This had been troubling the Predacon since hearing about the devices from Lord Galvatron himself, but why did he commission such things. Did he not trust his Brothers and Sisters, or was it an idea from Shockblast who seemed very closed off and distant to both herself and the rest of the Predacons. But as these thoughts played out in Rip-Claw's mind, one such thought that did not however was of her Sister. Which one would think would, but Ser-Ket was dead to the Femme.

For she had betrayed her brethren and chosen to side herself with their enemies, which was something that the Predacon could not understand or forgive. But the Femme's thoughts were interrupted by a Terracon who was Manning a terminal near her.

"Commander Rip-Claw, I thought you would like to know that the motion sensors we have planted on the eastern side of the city have picked up movement." he said, gaining a thoughtful expression from the Predacon.

"It may be nothing more than some of the planet's indigenous life-forms, but dispatch some stalkers to the area to check it out, just to be on the safe side." she said, gaining a nod from the soldier, who then turned back to his terminal and carried out her orders.

Several minutes later, on the grassy plains that made up the approach to the eastern side of the city and the complex there in. The Autobot teams moved stealthily towards the outer wall of the complex, their very movements hidden under the cover of darkness that had blanketed the sky in the very early hours of the morning. They had left Shen up on the hill, who was now watching their every move through the scope of his sniper-rifle.

Not much had been said between any of them as they walked along with their weapons ready, just on the off chance of an attack by the enemy, though according to Ser-Ket should not have been even aware of their presence. But Orion was still not sure of the Predacon, despite her having the backing of the rest of the team and his cousin, for the young Man simply did not trust her to not lead them into a trap. As they moved suddenly a whisper like sound was heard in the air before his and the others com-links activated.

"Guys, Shen here. I just took out a Terracon that was bearing down on your position." the Turian warned, making the group stop and look around with tight grips on their weapons.

"I only just spotted one before killing it, though it moved with a very different posture than your standard soldier, and I bet there is more than one." Shen continued, earning a wide-eyed expression from Ser-Ket.

"Stalkers!" she exclaimed in a quiet yet alert tone, making Quickstrike shake his head in response.

"Shit, not those things again." he said as his cousin looked over to them curiously.

"What are Stal..." he started to say before he was suddenly tackled to the ground, but before anyone else could do anything, they too came under attack as the Stalkers attacked the group, earning whisper-like gunfire from them as they fired their silenced weapons. Quickstrike immediately turned to his right and fired at a pair of red-lit optics which were flying through the air at him, pummelling the silhouette of a figure with a couple hundred rounds, making it fall to the ground.

"Not this time." he said back, earning a smile from Ser-Ket who had switched to her holo-blades and thrust them up into the air, just before impaling the blackened form of a Stalker that was midway through pouncing at her.

'He is a fast learner.' she thought as Liara stopped another in mid-air with her biotics before slamming it into the ground, gaining a bone crushing sound as it hit the ground. Quickstrike meanwhile has turned his attention to Nightracer who had Managed to dodge her Stalker's initial attack by rolling out of the way. She then joined the Bot by firing simultaneously into the enemy, ripping it apart with bullets.

Ser-Ket though looked behind her to see Orion wrestling with his Stalker, which was snapping it's jaws at his face with drool dripping down upon the Bot. Without a second thought, the Femme moved over to him and with one swipe of her holo-blade, sliced off the demented Terracon's head which made the body go limp so the Autobot could simply throw it off him.

"What the hell are those things?" Nightracer asked as she looked down at the corpse of the one that attacked her, covered in blood-like liquid. But the Predacon ignored her to offer her hand to Orion who looked up at her with a surprised expression.

"Are you alright?" she asked as the young Darby looked back at her, and then her hand before finally grasping it, allowing the Femme to help him to his feet.

"I am...thank you." he answered with an unsure tone, gaining an honest slight smile from Ser-Ket as she nodded back. This made both Quickstrike and Liara smile as they saw what looked like the first signs of the Bot's acceptance of Ser-Ket's allegiance to their cause.

"These are modified Terracons renamed Stalkers." she then said, turning her attention to the rest of the group as they looked to her for an explanation.

"We Predacons have the ability to tap into our beast-like nature, which changes our forms somewhat while also granting us increased strength, speed and ferocity."

"Think of it as the Predacons way of hulking out." Quickstrike added, earning a sigh from Shen over the shared com-link.

"Really have to stop reading comics Quickstrike."

"But these Stalkers have been modified to stay in their beast mode indefinitely, making them simply mindless beasts, completely focused on hunting down their prey and ripping it apart." Ser-Ket continued, choosing to ignore the Turian's remark.

"Well hopefully we Managed to take them down before our presence was recorded." Liara said with an uncertain tone, gaining a nod from the Predacon.

"I think we did, it looks like the Stalkers were as surprised to see us, as we with them. They usually have a better approach that that."

"Thanks for the advance warning Shen." Quickstrike then said to the Turian with a chuckle.

"So that Sniper rifle isn't just for show then." he added, making the young Vakarian sigh in return.

"You know, I could shoot some of those blonde locks off your head if you need further proof of my skill with this thing."

"Okay guys that's enough." Orion then said with a commanding tone, gaining everyone's attention.

"We are close to the point where our teams split up, so keep the chatter to a minimum. And Shen, keep an eye on our six. Now lets move." he added before the team all nodded, and then carried on towards the city.