Prime Effect (Transformers Prime/Mass Effect)

I have decided to repost the Prime Effect Series from the first instalment to the fourth, making sure that each chapter is in it's own post and not all joined together in one big post (like I did previously). I have also updated the chapters to be more in line with how I have written the later stories.

And my latest version of Prime Effect will start on the second page of this thread.

Enjoy and thank you for reading.  

 

I have just posted Chapter V

enjoy!  

 

This is pure win. I've been looking for a descent Transformers/Mass Effect crossover and I've found it. Keep up the good work and please, no Catalyst.

 

No worries there, I have a lot of ideas for Prime Effect 2 and 3 and that little star child is not among them.

So you don't have a problem with the romance (jack/arcee)?

Glad your enjoying it.

Thanks  

 

Nah, I don't have a problem with it. You made a realistic way for it to work.

 

Just posted chapter VI.

 

Man, I guess the husks arrive.

 

Yep and first time that sovereign has been name checked.

 

Chapter severn has been posted.

Enjoy  

 

Spoiler

RIP Colonel Kage

Have you ever thought about posting this on FF.Net?

 

Chapter VIII is up.

Enjoy  

 

Just posted Chapter 9.

Enjoy!  

 

The final chapter has been posted. This story is now complete.

Enjoy  

 

Just a quick update. I have an revised version of Prime Effect 1 on Fanfiction.net.

here is the address.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8472368/1/Prime-Effect

 

A/N: This is my first real fan fiction and I am attempting to blend Transformers Prime with Mass Effect, by mixing the characters (well getting rid of some and replacing others). The themes from Mass Effect will also be altered to fit more in tone with Transformers.

I hope you enjoy my story, because I certainly enjoyed writing it.

Thank you.  

UPDATE: This is the newest version of this story, I hope you like it.  

PS. Transformers Prime and Mass Effect are owned by Hasbro and Bioware.

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PRIME EFFECT​

CHAPTER 1

Jack Darby stood at the window and looked out at the Earth before him, the Home-world of Humanity. As he marveled at the beauty of the blue planet, the young Man could not help but reflect on the events that had brought him this far in his life, since before he turned Sixteen, Jack's life was not what you would have called eventful. Probably in no small part to the fact that he lived in a small dusty Town in the North American State of Nevada, and that Town was called Jasper.

He lived there with his Mother, June Darby. And he had a lot of responsibilities thrust upon him after his Father left early on in his child hood, something that she would not have wanted for her Son. But Jack never complained, completing any task given by her or dropped on his shoulders by their situation as a Mother and Son team. He even got a after-school job at the local Diner, so that he could help with the rent for their home.

Jack never thought that this job would do anything more for him than help put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. But after the events that happened next, the young Man would wonder if this was all really in Fate's control. Since one day he came across a beautiful blue Motorcycle in the Diner's Car-park, and it was this moment that would change his life forever.

Because this Motorcycle turned out to be an alien robot or autonomous Robotic Organisms from the Planet Cybetron, as he would later be told. And this one in particular was Femme called Arcee who then took Jack and two other Humans called Raf and Miko to meet the rest of her team, which she referred to as 'Autobots'.

There was Ratchet, the team's grouchy medic and Bumblebee, the team's scout. The team's heavy hitter and former 'Wrecker' was Bulkhead , while Arcee herself was the team's second in Command. The one in charge of the group was Optimus Prime, who was noble and compassionate leader.

Jack and his new friends soon became part of the Autobots conflict against another group of Cybertronians called 'Decepticons', who were led by the tyrannical 'Megatron'. It was a war that had started on and consumed their Homeworld Cybertron before spreading out amongst the Galaxy and finding it's way to Earth.

But the Teenagers new Alien 'friends' were not fighting alone as they had secret backing from the US Government, who's contact went by the name of Agent William Fowler. It was not always the strongest of alliances, but it held on and grew during the ongoing conflict between these two powerful groups of 'Transformers' even when faced with more threats like the treacherous Human group called 'MECH'.

Over the years that the War raged on Earth, in secret of course. The Bots and Humans friendships blossomed, while also being tested at times. And the Autobots gained new soldiers to their cause...like Smokescreen, while also losing some too…..like Bulkhead and earlier before that, Tailgate and Cliffjumper, both had been close friends with Arcee. Every member of 'Team Prime' had a part to play, including it's Human members.

Jack himself became a temporary bearer of Optimus's 'Matrix of Leadership', after the Autobot Leader was missing in action after the defeat a god-like being called 'Unicron' who inhabited Earth's very core. The Prime had chosen Jack for this purpose after witnessing how mature and responsible the Teenager was, seeing something in Jack that was more than meets the eye.

After Optimus retrieved a powerful relic called the 'Star-Saber, the war entered an almost stalemate-like state for a few years as the Decepticons held themselves back in fear of the power the Autobots now possessed. But there were still skirmishes between the two sides, and Jack and Miko found themselves working alongside their friends in the field and gaining the kind of experience that others of their age would not even dream of.

By the time that Jack had turned twenty one years old, he was already experienced in the ways of war thanks to his part in the Cybertronian Civil War. But it was at this point that the Decepticons made their presence known to the rest of the world for Megatron was furious with his failure to destroy the Autobots, after discovering the location of their Base near Jasper. So he unleashed the entirety of his Decepticons on Humanity, sending groups to attack major Cities around the Planet while the Con Leader himself attacked Washington DC.

And while Jack stood at the window and looked down at the planet as he thought about all of this, he found himself recalling the events of that battle.

'As Arcee sped down the road in her Motorcycle mode with Jack on her back, they both could not help but wonder how the battle was going for everyone else.

"I hope everyone else is doing alright Arcee?" the twenty one year old said with a worried tone while looking down at her futuristic dashboard.

"I'm sure the others are alright Jack, I am more worried about what you had just been through with Starscream." the Femme replied with a supportive tone to her voice, earning a lopsided grin from Jack in return.

"I have been through worse than that Arcee, we both have. And besides, you scrapped that stiletto-heeled true and proper." he said back with a tinge of pride to his voice, which if she was Human would have made the Femme blush.

"Thanks Partner, but he had it coming…. that and more."

"I know, but still…." Jack started to say before both his and her Com-links activated.

"This is Ratchet, is there anyone in Washington who can respond?" the voice of the Medic said in a heightened and yet still grouchy voice.

"We read you Ratchet, what's going on?" Arcee replied as the pair sped through the devastated streets of the US Capital, heading toward the sounds of explosions and further fighting nearer it's center.

"I believe Optimus is in trouble…" the Bot said back, making Jack's eyes widen in response.

"What do you mean Ratchet?" the Human asked, getting his words in before the Femme who instead kept her focus on the road as she let her Partner do the talking.

"Jack, Optimus told me to ground-bridge Bumblebee and Smokescreen to assist Wheeljack and Miko at the Trinidad sector of the City, after the pair reported more Vehicon reinforcements overwhelming the Military there. But soon after I lost contact with him and have been unable to regain contact with anyone else before you." the Medic said back with a worried tone.

"Well we are heading North West up Pennsylvania Avenue right now Ratchet, so can be at the White House in a few minutes." Arcee spoke up as they turned onto the stretch of road.

"Alright Arcee, I will try to regain communications with the others in the meantime. Be careful." Ratchet said back.

"Will do, Arcee out." the Femme replied before accelerating to full speed, making Jack tighten his grip on her as they sped onwards.

Just a few minutes later and the pair entered the President's Park, immediately spotting their Leader as he was fighting a group of Vehicons and Megatron at the same time.

"Optimus needs our help Arcee." Jack said as he saw the Decepticon Leader knock his Adversary to the ground, destroying more of the South Lawn.

"First things first Jack." the Femme replied in an urgent tone as two Vehicons spotted them and opened fire, hitting the ground next to the pair. The force of the nearby explosion sent both of them into the air, with Jack flung off the Motorcycle in response.

"Shit!" he shouted in return. but Arcee quickly transformed back into her bipedal form and caught her Partner with one hand, while changing her other into a cannon and firing back at their attackers. With one blast hitting an enemy Con directly in the spark chamber, while the other rolled out of the way as the Femme landed back on her feet.

"I've got you Partner." she replied, earning an affectionate smile from the Human as she put him back on the ground.

"Never doubted you Arcee..." Jack replied, gaining a quick smile from her in return as he equipped his rifle.

"…now lets even this out and help Optimus." he added, earning a nod from the Femme as she activated an arm-blade with her free arm.

"Let' do this." she said as the pair ran towards the battle unfolding before them, shooting at the other Vehicon as it took cover behind one of the trees.

But they were now close enough to hear what was being said between the two leaders as they fought, gaining the attention of Megatron as he glanced in their direction while pinning Optimus to the floor.

"Take care of that wretched Autobot and her Human Pet, Prime is mine to finish." he spat at the remaining Vehicons, who all turned their attention to the new arrivals and opened fire.

Optimus though took this as his chance and punched the Decepticon Lord in the face, knocking him away and allowing the Prime to get back to his feet.

"This will not by your day, Megatron." he said in a stoic tone, while his rival smirked back at him as he wiped some leaking energon from his mouth.

"I have already won Optimus, you just don't see it." he spat back before the pair charged at each other once again, trading blows as each hit they took erupted with sparks and squirts of energon.

"I have put up with you and your wretched Autobots for long enough, Prime. And because of that, this world that you care about will now suffer the consequences….and burn." the Decepticon Leader added as he elbowed the Prime in the face, making him stumble backwards.

"I pity you Megatron…" Optimus began to reply as he recovered from that hit, while Megatron followed through with a punch to the Autobot's chest. But the Prime saw it coming and blocked the attack, countering with an uppercut as he continued.

"…For we were once friends…" he added as he then grabbed Megatron and lifted him into the air.

"…but there is no redemption for what you have done now." the Prime continued to say as he through the Decepticon to the floor, making him grimace as he rolled onto his front.

"And who says that I want redemption Optimus?" Megatron said in return as he got onto his knees, while the Autobot Leader stared back.

"Because our species now stands on the edge of extinction and rather than watch us die slowly, like this war has made us do. So I would rather burn everything around me…" he added as he activated his blade, which slid out from beneath his arm-cannon.

"…and feel your spark crush in my hands!" he spat before launching himself at the Prime, who activated his own blades and brought them up deflect the Enemy's attack.

"We might have used up our life energy in this pointless war, Megatron." Optimus replied as he continued to defend against the Decepticon Lord's continuous attacks.

"But there is always ho…" he started to say, before Megatron suddenly sliced the Prime's right arm off and followed through with a stab to his lower torso.

"Optimus!" Arcee shouted after killing another Vehicon with her arm-blade, gaining Jack's attention as he felled another with his rifle.

'Oh no!' he thought as he saw the Decepticon Leader stand over their friend and Mentor.

"I really have had enough of your sanctimonious drivel, and cannot for the life of me understand how we were ever friends." he said as Optimus bled out energon from his wounds and fell to one knee, with Megatron lifting his blade up for a killing stroke.

"Time to meet the Allspark….Optimus Prime."

But just as he was about to kill the Prime, Arcee suddenly jumped in and slashed Megatron across the face with her arm-blade, gaining a grimace from him as Jack shot dead the last Vehicon.

"I will kill you Megatron!" the Femme spat while quickly following through by firing her weapon at the Decepticon Leader, but he simply shrug the blasts off and knocked her to the ground with one punch which cracked her chest-plate armour, winding the Femme in the process.

"You really wish to die before your Leader, very well!" Megatron spat as he swung his blade down at Arcee, but was suddenly stopped in mid-attack as the armour on his attacking arm exploded, earning a cry of pain from him.

"What?" the Femme said before seeing Jack stand there with his rifle smoking from it's grenade launcher.

"No one hurts my family." he said with a defiant tone, earning a smile from her and a look of shock from the Decepticon Lord.

"You?" he spat as he left Arcee on the floor and turned to face the Human, a look of pure hate on his face as he narrowed his red optics.

"You have been a thorn in the Decepticon cause for far too long, boy! I will enjoy ripping you limb from limb!"he said before lunging with a fist at Jack, who dived out of the way just in time as Megatron's fist hit the ground next to him.

'Got to make this count!' he thought as he landed on his front, before rolling onto his back and firing another sabre round which hit the Con Leader directly in his chest-plate.

"Arrrggh!" he cried out as he reached to his damaged section, which had left his Decepticon insignia charred. Jack then used this distraction to get back to his feet and get some distance from the Enemy as Arcee watched with widened optics.

'Jack!' she thought as she tried to move, but gasped in pain as the wound Megatron had given her was still causing her trouble. So all she could do was watch as the Decepticon Lord returned his attention to her partner.

"You will pay for that!" he spat as he then fired his Cannon at Jack, only for it to hit the ground near him. But the blast was enough to knock the young Man to the ground and wind him, while Megatron walked over and smiled as he saw his Enemy lying there in pain.

"Jack!" Arcee screamed as she fought through the pain, trying to lift her cannon-arm up to help as the Decepticon aimed his weapon down at her best friend. But Megatron had heard the Femme and took pleasure in knowing his about to end the life of yet another friend of hers as inside of his Cannon's barrel began to glow with purple energy.

"You die now!" he said as he prepared to fire but then suddenly Optimus came out of nowhere and barged into the Con leader, knocking the weapon away from his friend.

"No, no more!" he shouted while pushing the Decepticon Lord away from Jack, who rolled out of harm's way before getting back to his feet and watched as the two Leaders clashed again.

"You don't have what it takes to end this Prime, but I do." Megatron spat as he blocked a punch from Optimus's remaining arm, while also reactivating his blade which slid out from under his cannon. But just as he was about to swing it towards his one time friend, Jack fired his last remaining sabre round which hit his left knee and shattered it in an explosion that made the Con Lord cry out in pain.

"Arrrragh!" he spat as he began to fall forward, but Optimus instead punched him back in the face. The force of the hit made Megatron lean back while the Autobot Leader readied another attack.

"Megatron, be gone...for good!" he spat before punching his former Friend in the chest and crushing his spark chamber inside, which made the Decepticon Leader's optics fade to black as his body went limp and fell onto it's back.'

The shock of Megatron's death demoralized the Decepticons and they surrendered to the Alliance of Autobot and human forces who had fought side by side in the battle.

Ever since that day, nothing was ever the same. As Megatron and Optimus realised in the last days of the war, both sides had used up all of their remaining energon reserves and so were no longer able to maintain their bodies, which meant certain extinction for the Cybetronian species. But instead of succumbing to what Megatron had seen as the inevitable, the remaining Cybertronians under Optimus's leadership decided to transfer their sparks into the human like pretender bodies that the cons had been building, which originally was so that they could infiltrate Human society . As a way to show appreciation for their efforts to save Earth, the leaders of the planet allowed the transformers to build a city for both species to live and work together in peace and they named the city New Iacon.

But after a few years Jack felt that he was no longer needed in the new Utopia that was being built and with Optimus's blessing joined the newly formed joint defence program. Arcee didn't take the news well but wished her close friend the best and told him she would wait for him to return. Miko joined the force too, but only so she could then work with Wheeljack, who had promised her a place among the Wreckers. Bulkhead had died during the war and Miko saw this as the best way to honour his memory.

Raf had decided to join the Autobot Science Foundation and Bumblebee stayed with him, loyal friend to the end.

Jack made few friends during his training, one in particular named Kaidan Alenko. And he was part of the reason why Jack was where he was now. He was aboard the Alliance's newest starship, The Normandy.

PRIME EFFECT​

Jack looked away from the window when he heard voices approaching him from behind.

He turned around to see two men walking up to him, still talking to each other. One was an African-British man in his mid-forties. The other was a Caucasian man, who was in his early fifties but still in good shape considering his age. Jack recognized both of them. The former was Captain Anderson, the Normandy's commanding officer. The latter was Optimus Prime in his pretender body. Even after all these years Jack was still surprised whenever he saw the Prime.

"So this is the young officer that you wanted to have on my crew" said Anderson as he reached out and shook the young man's hand.

"Its nice to meet you again Darby."

"Same here Captain" responded Jack. Optimus looked at both of them before speaking.

"Yes, Jack has been a tremendous asset to my team during and after the war. And now that he is a officer in the Alliance, I believe that he could be of greater help to your ship and crew as it explores the uncharted areas of our galaxy."

Anderson took a moment and pondered on the Primes words.

"Well with your rank Darby, you would become my XO. I hope you will be up to the challenge that goes with such a position."

A slight smirk appeared on Jack's face. "Yes sir, you can count on me".

"Good, well I am needed in the CIC, please join me there after you are finished with Optimus." replied Anderson as he headed to the elevator.

"farewell Captain " Optimus said. "Prime" Anderson acknowledged. As soon as Anderson was out of earshot Optimus turned back to Jack.

"So how have you been Jackson, it has been a while since we last spoke." Jack looked back out the window.

"Well I suppose you heard about the incident on New Terra."

"Yes, the colony came under attack from a large force of slavers looking to abduct the colonists and killed the majority of the security personnel. It looked perilous for the families there. But you took command of the remaining soldiers and even though they were still inexperienced, you helped them keep their cool and successfully drove out the slavers with hardly any casualties to your group." Optimus recalled with pride in his voice. Jack didn't know where to look, suddenly feeling very embarrassed by the Prime's words.

"Yeah those kids did well despite the desperate situation we were in. But they really deserve the credit, all I did was not abandon them." Jack sheepishly replied. Optimus looked at him.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed by it Jackson, you showed them that they weren't alone and inspired them with the belief that they could overcome any threat or obstacle. That is one of the virtues of being a Leader, which again proves your potential to becoming a Prime one day. That was why I gave you the key to Vector Sigma all those years ago. I take it you still have the key on your person?"

Jack nodded and undid his uniform's collar button and pulled out a chain that he wore around his neck. On the chain and glowing ever so slightly was the key. It had shifted to the size of a pendant (like most Cybertronian artifacts, it had mass shifting ability)

Optimus smiled at Jack.

"I see that the key still resonates with you Jack. It takes a very strong spark or soul as your people call it to make the key glow like that." Jack put the key back under his uniform and buttoned his collar. He looked up and suddenly saw regret in the Prime's eyes.

"Optimus what's wrong."

"Jack I am sorry I was not there for your promotion ceremony, I was forced to back out do to an incident between an Autobot transport and the Quarian Flotilla." Jack smiled and patted Optimus on the shoulder.

"You shouldn't blame yourself Optimus, I know you would have been there if you could. Mom was there and recorded the whole thing. When next you see her, I'm sure she show you the video. She shows it to everyone."

Optimus's face brightened up and he took a breath before replying.

"I did hear about that and I will ask her the next time we meet."

Jack raised an eyebrow at that comment.

"How did you hear about it?"

"From Arcee of course, she attended the ceremony. You didn't see her there?" Optimus asked curiously.

"No" Jack replied sadly as he looked away from Optimus for a moment, his memories of Arcee quickly overtaking his own thoughts. He had missed her as much as she was obviously missing him. But if that which had happened on the last night they were together had not occurred, then he might not have so readily accepted Optimus's suggestion to join the defense force. He faced Optimus, a little guilt showing on his face.

"I didn't know she was there. I mean we have messaged each other while I was training, but I haven't seen her since I left for basic training."

Optimus looked at Jack not quite sure as what to say.

"Well I am not sure what had transpired between you two which has caused this predicament. But I think that whatever it is, you shouldn't let it get in the way of your friendship….."

Optimus was about to say more when his com link activated.

"Optimus, its Ratchet. The world leaders have asked to meet you in New Iacon at the Decagon, it's about the new transit system we will be making available to them."

The Prime put his hand to his audio receiver.

"Acknowledged Ratchet, I will be there momentarily." He then deactivated his com link and turned back to Jack.

"It looks like I have to be on my way Jackson. If you ever wish to talk about anything that's on your mind, just give me a call..." He said as he placed his hand on jack's shoulder and smiled at the young man.

"..And I also want you to know that I am very proud of you."

"Thanks Optimus." Jack replied as Optimus smiled at him before turning away and entering the elevator, its doors closing behind him.

Once he was at the CIC Jack walked straight up to the cockpit and saw Anderson standing there talking to the pilot. Anderson noticed Jack and beckoned him over.

"Commander this is our pilot, Hotrod."

The pilot stood up and looked at Jack. He was a Caucasian male who looked to be in his mid twenties. He had orange hair with yellow highlights. He smiled and offered Jack his hand.

"Hi you must be Commander Jack Darby, it's a real honor to meet the human who helped put down Megatron."

"Thanks, so you are from New Iacon." Jack replied as he shook Hotrod's hand.

"Yeah..though not originally, I was the one piloting the Ark when it landed on Earth years back. Elita One said I was one of the best pilots around so put my name down for this gig." Hotrod exclaimed proudly.

"Well its good to know that our ships is in safe hands Hotrod. Now if you will take us out of Earth's orbit, I want to see what the Normandy is capable of before we leave the Sol system. So we will be taking the ship on a shakedown cruise around the system." Anderson ordered as he beckoned Jack to follow him back into the CIC.

"Aye, Aye Captain" Hotrod replied as he took his seat and started working the controls, taking the Normandy out of Earth's orbit and into outer space. Jack and Anderson stopped at the Captain's terminal next the galaxy map.

"So have you had a good look at the ship yet since you have been on board Commander? Anderson asked while looking over reports at his station.

"Not really Captain, I came straight up here as soon as I boarded back at Earth." Jack replied, earning a look from Anderson.

"Well then, since we are not leaving the system yet, i see no reason for you to be up here right now. Take a few hours off and take a look around. I'll call you if I need you up here."

Jack saluted the captain and turned to leave.

"Commander, also your quarters are on deck 3 and your belongings are already there." Anderson added as he looked back at his XO.

"Yes sir, thank you Sir." Jack replied, earning and annoyed expression from the Captain. This made Jack swallow hard in return.

'Great, only been here five minutes and already irritated the Captain.' he thought to himself.

"Enough with the sirs, I like to keep things informal with my XO's, okay?" he asked, making Jack smile and nod back.

"Okay...Anderson"

The captain returned the smile and returned to his station, leaving jack to his thoughts as he left the CIC.

PRIME EFFECT​

In the hour or so after leaving the CIC, Jack had visited the engineering deck and Shuttle bay. He had met with the crewmen there. They all seemed like good, honest people who loved the job they each did. And he was pleased to meet each of them. But as of right now he just wanted to go to his quarters and relax until Anderson called for him. So Jack exited the elevator on deck three (crew deck) and made his way to the door to his quarters.

He opened the door and walked in. He was stunned by how large it was. It had a full sized bed, office desk and standard furniture. No bathroom, guess that meant he still had to share with the rest of the crew. But he was very impressed with it. The last digs he had was the top bunk in the crew quarters. he walked over and sat down on the chair and rested his arms on the desk. He then looked over to the personal terminal to his right and activated it. The blue screen lit up and displayed three options, messages, Journal and ship database. He noticed that he had one new message and selected it. His eyes widened at the name of the sender. 'Arcee' he thought to himself. He felt his heart skip a beat as he opened the message and began reading it.

'Hi Jack, I know we haven't spoken for a long time but I hope that in sending this message to you that we can change that. I don't know how else to say this so I will just go ahead and say it, I miss you. Ever since you left it has not been the same without you partner. In the time after you gone Miko left to join up and Raf and Bumblebee soon after and it seemed that the Silo was more like a tomb than the happy home that it had been for the number of years since the three of you had come into our lives. Ratchet at first looked like he appreciated the quiet especially since it was usually Miko and her electric guitar giving him a headache as he tried to work on his experiments but now it looks like he misses the company too. As for Optimus' he just focuses on his work which as gone up a lot since the war ended. Funny, you would think that it would be the other way round. But I can see it is just his way of getting by. But myself, I have found it really hard to go on each day and not see your face smiling back at me when ever I go out for a ride on your motorcycle (which I have kept in perfect condition) or watch the sunset as we used to do. I have tried to keep busy but I find my thoughts always drift back to you. Jack I am sorry. If it was something I did I wish you would tell me. I mean very little has been said in the messages we have sent to each other in the past and I feel that we need see each other and get things straight.

So I hope you read this that you will at least consider us meeting up. I will be on the Citadel for the next week or so with Optimus. Apparently Perceptor is having a hard time with the council (once again it is the Taurian Councilor causing trouble for him), and I heard that the Normandy will be making a visit to the station in that time so I hope to see you there partner.'

Jack sighed as he contemplated whether or no to answer. He then highlighted the respond button and was about to press enter when the ships intercom activated.

"Commander Darby, you are required on the command deck" A female voice spoke over the the com. Jack stopped and turned off the terminal, got out of his chair and straightened his uniform.

"I'm on my way"

With that he left his quarters and headed to the CIC, leaving his thoughts of Arcee there in his quarters.

PRIME EFFECT​

Jack entered the CIC as Anderson was standing over the galaxy map. He saw Jack and beckoned him over.

"What's the situation Anderson" Jack asked, though he still felt a little uncomfortable with that.

'Still not used to that.' he thought as stopped by the Captain's side.

" We are receiving a distress call from Ultra Magnus at the colony on Eden Prime." Anderson said before turning to the Yeoman.

"Put it up on the galaxy map"

"Yes sir, I have worked it through several filters as it it is highly fragmented, probably due to enemy jamming". she replied as she typed at the olo-interface of her terminal.

"Okay show us what you have yeoman" Anderson replied as he and Jack watched the galaxy map change into the transmission as it began playing out in front of them. The image showed what appeared to be a battlefield with a man in red and blue armour talking in front of it.

"The is Ultra Magnus, autobot leader of the wreckers. The colony is under attack from the Geth, I repeat, the Geth are attacking the colony. We are outnumbered by superior forces and need assistance. Please hurry befo…" The transmission fizzled out and ended leaving all the bridge staff stunned. Anderson took a moment to ponder his thoughts before he straightened his uniform and composed himself.

"Hotrod, set course for Eden Prime and take us into the space bridge, set condition one throughout the ship."

With that the lights around the CIC dimmed and the alert sounded around the ship. Everyone went serious and took to their stations. Anderson turned to Jack.

"Commander I want you and Lt Cmdr Alenko to suit up and prepare to go down to the planet as soon as we arrive. I will also place another soldier on your team. Your orders are to find Ultra Magnus and the rest of the wreckers and find out why the Geth are attacking the colony and help in any way you can."

"Yes of course Anderson" Jack replied as he saluted the Captain.

"We will be the first ship on the scene. I know the Alliance will have be sending other ships too but we have to do what we can in the mean time." Anderson continued as he turned from Jack and walked away to the cockpit.

"Do you duty Commander" Anderson finished and Jack nodded and turned to leave the CIC via the elevator.

With that the Normandy flew up to the space bridge as it came to life with a massive bright portal expanding in all directions out of the device before the ship took off into it and out into the galaxy at beyond the speed of light.

A/N: Well that was the first chapter, hoped you enjoyed it and thank you for reading.  

Next Chapter: Jack meets an old friend from basic training and heads into battle at Eden Prime.

 

CHAPTER II

The Normandy exited hyperspace and a shimmer glazed over it's hull as it entered orbit over a large planet.

"Captain we are in orbit over Eden Prime and the stealth system is activated. No Geth ships should be able to detect us." Hotrod explained to the Captain as he looked over the data on the pilot's display.

"That's good to know Hotrod. So are there currently any Geth ships in the vicinity?"

Hotrod worked the controls and another display appeared in front of him showing the planet and three red dots positioned around it.

"Sir, there are currently three Geth cruisers orbiting the planet and they have shown no signs that they have spotted us".

Anderson stayed quiet for a moment as he took in the information given to him before activating the comm.

" Anderson to landing party, we are in orbit over Eden Prime. There are three Geth cruisers in orbit. To escape detection, I suggest your shuttle dives through the atmosphere and heads in low from the south and use the mountainous terrain to cover your approach."

In the shuttle minutes earlier Jack was sitting alongside two other soldiers. The guy sitting to his right Jack didn't know, but the guy to his left he knew very well.

"So we finally get an op together Darby." the raven haired young man said with a smirk.

"Yeah well we did make a vow during basic training to get put on the same ship eventually didn't we Kaidan." Jack replied with a smile to which His friend chuckled in return.

"We sure did, but we were just two raw recruits back then. Didn't realise how much crap we would see between then and now though right. I mean even after training we had numerous separate sorties against those Omega mercenaries and the Taurians while the Alliance was trying to be make peace with them, and then after those events you had to defend the colony on New Terra from those slavers by yourself and a few soldiers who were still green themselves."

Jack took a breath as he recalled those memories. The battles flashing right before his eyes like they had happened only yesterday. He blinked, forcing the memories away and then smiled back at Kaidan.

"Its not like you had it that much easier, when you and your team were dropped off onto that uncharted planet only to come up against the Yahg." Kaiden rolled his eyes and laughed out loud.

"Oh god those things, they were ugly hulking brutes. And they have four sets of eyes, I certainly thought that hey look behind you wouldn't work."

The third man in the room who had been staring at Jack since they got into the shuttle, not that Jack hadn't noticed suddenly jumped into the conversation nervously.

"So…um, is it always this relaxed when you head into a battle situation or is this just a good day."

Both men looked at him bemused, Jack was surprised that the man could actually speak before Kaiden replied.

"You look nervous, is this your first op?"

The man wiped some sweat away from his forehead and nodded before carrying on fiddling with his hands.

"What's your name?" Jack asked gently. The nervous man looked up at him with an almost startled expression before clearing his throat.

"Verner sir, Private Conrad Verner."

"Well private, you shouldn't worry. Since your on this ship my guess is that your good enough to be here. Plus you have me and the Commander here to watch your back." Kaiden added, giving Conrad a thumbs up. Conrad smiled back, looking a bit more relieved.

"Thanks." he replied before turning his attention to Jack.

"I would just like to say that it is a real honor to serve with the man that killed Megatron."

Jack tensed up and crossed his arms, he never really liked having this kind of attention.

"Thanks private, but I only helped end Megatron's life, I didn't do it my self."

Conrad just stared at him intently, taking in every word that Jack said but not looking like he heard it properly. Jack just sunk into his seat and sighed, Kaiden noticed this and nudged his mate's shoulder.

"Everything alright?"

"I'll tell you later" Jack replied before the shuttle's com system activated. Captain Anderson briefed them on the situation and the plan to get them down to the planet. Jack acknowledged and reported their status.

"We are ready for launch Captain."

"Good Commander, we are opening the shuttle bay door now. Good luck."

The shuttle bay door opened to reveal the green planet of Eden Prime. The lights in the cargo area changed to red as the pilot called back to them.

"Okay better strap yourselves in. High speed atmospheric entry can be quite nauseating."

Jack, Kaiden and Conrad strapped themselves into their chairs as the pilot worked the controls and the Shuttle lifted off the bay floor and flew out into space, leaving the Normandy behind as it fired its engines on full burn and descended down to the planet below like a bullet.

Within seconds it hit the atmosphere causing the front of the shuttle (which has extra an layer of Cybertitanium coated on the nose) to heat up at an extraordinary rate, causing things to get more than a little bit bumpy inside. As everything shook inside the shuttle, Conrad started feeling queasy and looked like he was about to spill his guts over the floor, until Kaiden got his attention.

"Hey Conrad how many atmospheric dives is this for you?"

Conrad looked up, his face once again sweating and his eyes looking like they were screaming for it stop.

"Four, simulated." he stuttered back nervously as Jack turned his head to him.

"How many actual dives?" he asked curiously.

"One sir…..this one sir." he answered before he was forced to re-swallow the morning's breakfast back down his throat. Jack and Kaidan looked at each other and chuckled.

"Suck it up private, we're almost through the worst of it." Jack replied with a reassuring smile, which seemed to have had the intended effect on the private as he tried harder to fight the urge to regurgitate.

Suddenly the shaking subsided and the cargo area lights went back to white.

"Atmospheric dive complete, we are good and in the mountains." the pilot informed them, as Jack un-strapped himself from his chair and got up to look out the main hatch's window. He could see that they were flying low to the ground with the mountains around them.

"Great flying ensign." Jack congratulated the pilot, who felt a proud smirk grow on his face.

"Yeah, that was the best dive yet, I didn't even notice what was happening this time" Kaiden remarked with a joking tone. Jack turned back to his squad who un-strapped themselves and stood up.

"Okay guys, check your gear, we'll be at the LZ in…", he looked back to the pilot who had heard him and replied.

"Three minutes sir."

Jack turned back to Kaidan and Conrad. The former looking very happy with his weapon.

"You like your new rifle Kaiden?" Jack asked.

"You serious, this is the N7 avenger assault rifle. The newest gun to roll of the N7 production line." Jack picked up another avenger and looked at it.

"Wasn't N7 founded by Ironhide and your friend Rafael Esquivel sir?" Conrad asked Jack.

"Yes, Raf has a lot of projects on the go while he is working at the Ministry of Science in New Iacon. He messaged me a few days ago to tell me about our new armour that Mainframe and he had invented."

Kaiden then tapped Jack's shoulder pads.

"Yeah our Armour now has a small shield generator built into it and also the armour itself is made from a filtered cybertitanium alloy."

Jack handed a rifle to Conrad.

"Which means we can take a few more hits than usual, but if your shield fails, don't take the risk. Get behind cover and wait for the shield to reboot."

Conrad nodded and held his rifle ready while Jack turned to Kaiden.

"I just wish I had this armour a few years back."

Kaiden smirked in return.

"I hear that." he replied as the pilot glanced to them.

"We are at the LZ, ready?"

Jack signaled the pilot who opened the hatch and the three of them jumped to the ground below, quickly regaining their balance and aimed the rifles ahead of them, scanning the area around them for hostiles.

"Clear." both Kaiden and Conrad called out and Jack acknowledged them before turning back to the shuttle which was hovering a few feet off the ground behind them.

"Okay we are going to head to the colony, you should head back to the mountains and lie low until we signal you for pick up."

"Acknowledged." The pilot responded before the shuttle rose in to the air and flew back towards the mountains in the distance, Jack then turned back to his team.

"Our first objective is to reach the colony and make contact with Ultra Magnus." He then activated his holo-tool which lit up around his lower left arm and opened a screen showing a map of the area around them. Jack studied it and then looked back at his men.

"We are several clicks south of the colony, we will use this thick forest as cover as we make our way there. According to the Normandy's sensor sweeps, the Geth seem to be located around the North west area, while sending patrols through the rest of the colony to root out any resistance." He brought up the scan of the area surrounding the colony.

"There is no sign of any Geth in the forest ahead of us." He added before turning off the holo-tool and re-equipping his weapon.

"You ready?" he asked both of them.

"Yes sir." they responded in unison. Jack smirked at them.

"Okay, lets move out".

PRIME EFFECT​

Dusk set over the planet's landscape as the Jack and his team made their way through the dense forest towards their destination. They had been walking for just over an hour, and were only a about two clicks out now. As they had traversed the forest, Jack had witnessed a number of the planet's creatures roaming the area.

Intel stated that Eden Prime was not known for having any wild life that would pose a danger to humans which is one of the reasons the colony was set up. And the intel proved true as the animals Jack and his team encountered had kept their distance and just watched them for a moment before carrying on with what they were doing.

'Probably wondering what the hell we are.' Jack thought to himself as he saw a creature that looked somewhat like an earth deer, but with more of a serpent look, with scales instead of fur staring at him. Jack ignored it and carried on walking ahead of Kaiden who was scanning the distance for any enemies that they may have missed and Conrad bringing up the rear. Jack took a quick look at the private who had just slapped his neck in retaliation to a bug that had landed there. He lifted his hand off his neck and flicked it, sending the dead insect into the undergrowth beneath their feet.

"Damn bugs." Conrad muttered to himself. Jack looked forward again and smirked.

'Talk about déjà vu.' he thought as he remembered the first time he went on a mission with Arcee, during his first year with the Autobots. They were investigating an energon signal that was deep in a forested area. Jack though was getting annoyed with the mosquitoes draining him of blood every few seconds. But by the end of that mission they had faced Arachnid and grown a little closer due to Jack's courage and compassion. Its funny how his thoughts would always drift back to Arcee no matter what was going on at the time.

'Okay, I will take her up on her offer and meet her at the Citadel after this mission.' he finally admitted to himself.

'I don't know what I am going to say to her though…' He was snapped out of his thoughts by a the sound of rustling in the undergrowth just ahead of him.

He raised his hand and signalled his team mates to stop. They both looked at him confused, obviously having not heard the noise. Jack pointed over to the undergrowth in front of them, and gestured Kaidan to go round from the left and Conrad the right. Both men nodded and slowly and quietly went in those directions, circling the area that Jack had pointed too.

With both men out of sight Jack slowly closed in on the area, making sure not to make any sounds as he lessened the distance between himself and whatever was making the noise ahead of him. He was just about on top of it when SNAP! He looked down and noticed a broken branch under his right boot.

'Scrap.' he thought but carried on and closed the distance on the unknown, holding the rifle ready as he was prepared to kill if it was an enemy. But what he found was something else entirely.

He looked down on what had made that noise in the undergrowth. He was looking at a human woman in armour not unlike his own, but coloured pink and white. She was Japanese and had long raven black hair tied in a pony tail.

"Don't move." she warned him, panic evident in her voice, as she aimed her pistol at him, hands shaking slightly.

"I'll shoot you if you come any closer."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kaiden said as he and Conrad appeared both sides, weapons aimed at her. She looked around at them. Then it dawned on Jack who this was.

"Miko." he called to her, gaining her attention immediately. She narrowed her eyes at him as looked him up and down. Jack lowered his weapon and moved slowly towards her.

"Miko, its me Jack." he spoke calmly to her and approached her slowly.

"Weapons down." he ordered the men and they obeyed, lowering their weapons as Jack squatted in front of the woman. She lowered her weapon slowly too, though not sure why she was complying. Jack was no right in front of her and her eyes widened as it suddenly dawned on her.

"Jack." she happily exclaimed as she gave him a hug before a second later letting go and clutching her side.

"You're hurt, let me see that." said Jack as he examined her wound.

"Nothing some medi-gel couldn't fix." she replied as Jack pulled out a metal cylinder shaped apparatus and sprayed it over the wound, gaining an immediate relaxing look from Miko as the pain subsided.

"How did this happen, I thought you were with the Wreckers?" Jack asked concerned as he put the medi-gel away in the pouch on his belt. Miko sat up and pointed over to her right. Kaiden noticing this went over and found the corpse of a Geth lying face down in the undergrowth with a hole in its back. The body had a synthetic humanoid appearance except for the head which one would only describe as a flashlight head.

"Damn toaster was chasing me. You see our sensors detected an alliance signal for a micro second over the planet. Magnus knew it was help and sent me out here to meet up with whoever they had sent, knowing that any rescue would have to come via the mountains to prevent being detected by the Geth. I just didn't realise it would be you."

"Wait they sent you alone" Jack replied shock evident in his voice. Miko stared daggers at him.

"I'm not kid any longer Jack, and you should know how good I am at stealth."

"Tell that to the Geth over here." Kaiden remarked as he looked down at its lifeless body.

"That thing was already here, no one was following me from the base, I made sure of it." she replied irritably while Jack smiled at her in return.

"Sorry Miko, I am just glad that you are alright, I still worry about you, you know."

Miko calmed and returned the smile.

"So, what kind of help have you brought other than the three of you." she asked.

"The Normandy is in orbit in stealth mode and we have a shuttle in the mountains waiting for our signal. But we need to get to the colony, what's the situation there?"

Miko activated her holo-tool and showed them the information on the screen it emitted.

"We have control of the south side of the colony and the Geth are holding the north side. But they are no longer attempting to come any closer. Almost like there is something in the North side that has their interest."

"Any idea what?" Jack asked curiously, which made Miko shake her head.

"I don't know, you will have to speak to Magnus."

"Okay then" Jack replied as he stood up, helping her to her feet.

"You alright to move?"

Miko padded herself down and holstered her gun.

"Yeah, that medi-gel did the trick." she then turned around and walked over to the Geth corpse.

"You know, you will need more than just that pistol." Kaiden remarked. A confident smirk grew on Miko's face as she bent down and picked up the Geth's weapon and checked its ammo, before smiling back at Kaiden and Conrad.

"I think I'm good, thanks."

"Okay then, Miko can you lead back to the colony." Jack asked as he held his weapon ready.

"Sure thing, follow me." she replied as she took the lead and the four of them headed further into the forest

PRIME EFFECT​

By the time they had reached the colony, dusk had almost become night as the cloudy sky took on a dark crimson look above them. Miko had been right about the Geth staying on their side of the colony. They had not seen a single Geth centurion at all as they moved from one building to the next. The group came up to one building that looked almost identical to the others they had seen, save for the big metal doors blocking the entrance. Miko went up to the door and knocked on it several times, waiting a number of seconds before knocking it a final time.

Jack had Conrad and Kaiden watch their backs as they waited for the doors to open, which they then did with a loud screeching sound. Miko then lead the group inside as the doors closed behind them. They entered a room filled with monitors with a man in blue armour with a red pattern standing in the middle looking at information on the screen in front of him. Miko stood to his side as he turned and looked at the new arrivals.

"Miko I see you were successful in your assignment." he stated with the same calm stoic presence that Jack would associate with Optimus. Jack stepped forward and shook the Wrecker leader's hand.

"Ultra Magnus, Commander Darby of the Normandy, we are here to assist you in reclaiming the colony."

Magnus looked at the three of them before turning back to Miko.

"Gunnery Chief Nakadai, Wheeljack wished to know when you had returned, I suggest you go speak to him." Miko saluted him before giving Jack one last look and then leaving the room.

"Commander, I am glad you are here, the Geth have taken over much of the northern part of the colony."

Jack stood beside the man and looked at the monitor in front of them.

"What is exactly in the northern side of the colony, civilian quarters?"

"No the civilians are locked in their quarters, to protect them. This part of the colony contains the labs where the colony's scientists work on the relics found in the dig site a few clicks to the west of the colony." Magnus replied with a head shake.

"Dig site?" Jack repeated. Magnus typed on the computer's keyboard and brought up images of the dig site and several artifacts that had been found.

"The scientists believe that this planet used to be inhabited by the Lithone, an ancient bio-mechanical race not unlike how ours (Cybertronians) used to be. But they died out 100,000 years ago by unknown reasons. Or so the scientists say."

Jack studied the images before turning to the Autobot.

"Why would the Geth attack the colony for a bunch of relics. I thought they hadn't been seen outside the outer rim of the galaxy for the last few centuries" Magnus deactivated the console and turned back to Jack.

"I don't know why they would be here now, but we have to stop them."

"I couldn't agree more." came a voice from the area where Miko had gone. Jack looked over to see Miko and a caucasian man in white and black armour with twin swords strapped to his back and two SMG's holstered to his belt. He had brown, wavy hair and a confident smile.

"Wheeljack." Jack smiled as the Autobot slapped his shoulder.

"It's been a while Jack. So I am guessing that between the two of us, these Geth don't stand a chance." Wheeljack said back as Kaiden and Conrad walked forward and introduced themselves to him, while Jack looked back to the Wrecker Leader.

"Well I think we have enough people here to make an attack on the lab complex."

Magnus nodded in agreement.

"If we split into two teams, one attacking the Geth head on while the other team can sneak in and finish this."

Jack nodded and looked at the people in the room.

"Okay, I'll take Kaiden, Miko and Wheeljack and we will attack their position head on. And private Verner will go with you."

Conrad saluted at that, but Magnus shook his head.

"I'll do better on my own." He replied and was about to walk past when Jack grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"I won't let you go out there alone." Jack replied with a determined look.

"Conrad, you will go with Ultra Magnus and support him while the rest of us attack." Conrad readied his weapon and waited for the Wrecker leader, who picked up his Magnus hammer and holstered it on his back. He then turned to Jack with slight smile on his face.

"I can see why Optimus likes you Jack, alright... I will follow the plan."

Jack smiled as the Autobot and Conrad left, only himself, Kaiden, Miko and Wheeljack remaining. He turned to them and readied his weapon.

"I hope you guys are ready for a fight. Because the Geth will have that lab heavily protected. We need to insure that we can keep the Geth occupied long enough for Magnus and Conrad to slip by unnoticed."

They all readied their weapons with confident looks on their faces. Jack smiled at all of them.

"Okay, lets move."

PRIME EFFECT​

Jack's group had again not seen a single Geth as they made their way to the lab complex.

"I guess they really have got all their drones protecting the labs. I was at least expecting to kill at least a few of them before we get to the main event" Wheeljack said irritably as Miko walked beside him. "I'm sure there will be more than enough Geth for each of us to shoot once we get to there" she said reassuringly.

Jack signaled them to stop when he noticed something.

"What is it Jack?" Kaidan asked.

The Commander turned to them, his face questioning.

"Can any of you hear that?"

They all looked up suddenly when thunder and lightning blasted across the sky as the clouds parted to reveal a gigantic black alien ship descending over the colony. It was massive, with a shiny surface that looked like you would lose yourself in it if you looked at it too long. If Jack was to describe it, he would say that it looked like a some ancient monster from one of those old stories back home.

"What the hell is that?" Wheeljack asked in amazement at what he was witnessing.

"You haven't seen anything like that before?" Jack asked him back.

"No not in my lifetime and that is a long time." He replied not taking his eyes off the black ship.

"Well whatever the hell it is, it is stationed itself right at the north end of the colony just beyond the complex. So lets keep moving." Jack said motioning them onward. Further away down the colony, the ship didn't go unnoticed by Ultra Magnus or Conrad who were quietly making their way to the lab.

The courtyard leading to labs was crawling with Geth centurions while Jack and the others hid behind a small wall and used it as cover at the far end. Jack peeked over the wall and saw not only centurions but also a cannon emplacement right at the entrance at the top the stairs which was high which gave the cannon the advantage of the higher ground and it would be able to fire at them no matter where they were in the courtyard.

"So how are we going to take out the Geth and that weapon emplacement?" Kaidan asked trying to sound confident. Jack looked back out to the Geth and smiled. The others noticed this and looked bemused at how their leader suddenly could smile despite the situation they found themselves in.

"I have an idea." he responded before he aimed his weapon and opened fire, causing the Geth to fire back, turning the courtyard into a battlefield.

Ultra Magnus and Conrad had made their way to the side entrance at far side of the lab complex that were guarded by just two Geth centurions who just stood there like statues. Weapons fire could suddenly be heard from the front of the building, making the Geth turn their heads towards the commotion.

As soon as he noticed this Magnus equipped his hammer and at first very slowly crept towards the two guards, making sure they did not notice him. When he was almost on top of them, he swung his hammer as hard as he could and smashed it into the head of the nearest centurion causing the flashlight it had for an eye to smash open spilling fluid out, staining the ground around them. The other Geth turned around and looked down at it's friend and then back up to the intruder with the large hammer. It then pulled out its weapon and aimed it at the Autobot, before having its head explode from a gunshot from Magnus's right. The body went limb and hit the ground, while Magnus looked to see Conrad with his rifle and smiled at the human.

"Nice shot kid."

The two of them entered the complex and searched each room, which was either full of cargo boxes or machinery. They came up to a large room with what looked like an large alien artifact in the middle of it, Magnus turned to Conrad.

"Hey kid, I want you out there and make sure no one enters this room, got it?"

Conrad nodded and headed out of the room. Magnus walked up to the artifact, fascinated by the patterns, the strange language that was carved on to it. He reached out with his hand and was about to touch it when the sounds of footsteps behind alerted him. He turned around Hammer in hand, ready to attack and stopped when he saw a Taurian in grey armour walking up to him.

"Saren Arterius" he asked, the surprise evident in his voice as the Taurian smiled at him.

"I am here to help" he said in a calm tone as he walked past Magnus towards the artefact.

"I hadn't realised that the Council had sent a Spectre to help too" he replied while Saren stood behind the Autobot and pulled out his pistol.

"I never said I was here to help you." he replied as he aimed the gun at the back of Ultra Magnus's head.

A gunshot alerted Conrad as he ran back to the room he had left the wrecker in and was shocked by what he saw. As he stood in the doorway he looked in to see the Autobot lying on the floor dead with his head in a small pool of fluid. He looked up to see the Taurian staring at him. Conrad knew who it was, a million questions ran through his mind. '

Why is Saren here, why is Ultra Magnus dead?' But before he could think of an answer Saren fired at the human, causing him to jump out of the way, training and instinct taking over as he rolled across the floor and ended up back in a kneeling position with weapon aimed right at Saren. But before he could fire a sound of something robotic approaching behind him caused him to turn and see a Geth centurion standing next him, weapon aimed right at him.

"Kill him." Saren ordered. Conrad knowing he was beaten, closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen. The sound of a gun being fired echoed through the building.

The battle in the courtyard had heated up as Jack's team had taken out a number of the centurions but were still at a stand still due to the weapon emplacement.

"So I would love to know what this idea of yours is?" Kaiden asked impatiently. Jack smirked and looked at him.

"This." he answered as he placed one hand on the small wall they had used for cover.

"Now cover me!" he shouted as he vaulted over the wall and fired his weapon riddling the Geth in front of him with bullets before charging off up the courtyard, the others didn't have time to be shocked as they fired their weapons at the Geth bearing down on the Commander who was still running through the battle, taking out enemies who got too close. Jack then saw his target and closed in on a Geth centurion who was carrying a grenade launcher. He pulled out his combat knife and sliced clean through the robot's left arm making it drop the weapon, before plunging the knife right into its eye, fluid squirting out onto Jack's face.

He then noticed the cannon bearing down on him, so ducked behind cover while grabbing the grenade launcher off the ground next to its dead owner. He looked back to see his friends firing at the geth. He then summoned all of his courage to get up, aim the weapon and fire three grenades at the weapon emplacement causing it to explode in an amazing fireball sending the Geth around it into the walls of the building. At that moment the last Geth fell as his friends joined him where he stood. Miko looked at him and pointed at his face.

"I think you should clean that off" she suggested in a sisterly tone. Jack smiled and wiped the fluid off his face, while Wheeljack and Kaiden looked at him impressed.

"Jack, who knew you had moves like that" Wheeljack said not hiding how impressed he was.

"The last person I saw move like that was Optimus."

Jack suddenly felt embarrassed again. It happened every time someone compared him to the Prime. Wanting to change the subject, he pointed towards the complex.

"Well thanks but its not over yet, lets rendezvous with Magnus and Conrad and figure out what the Geth were after."

The team then headed into the complex.

Once they were inside they walked through numerous labs and supply rooms looking for their friends, until they came to a large room with an artefact in the middle of it. On the floor was two bodies which all four recognized instantly.

"Magnus!" Wheeljack cried out as he and Miko rushed to side of the fallen wrecker, while Jack and Kaiden went to Conrad. But one look at the body gave them the unfortunate truth.

"He's dead." the Autobot confirmed as he reached down with his hand and closed the eyes of his old friend and Commander. Miko looked at the back of Magnus's head and noticed the bullet wound.

"Looks like someone got the drop on him." she said as she showed it to Wheeljack.

"Impossible, the only way that would happen is if it was someone he knew." Wheeljack replied as Jack and Kaiden looked over Conrad's body laying limp on the floor.

"I know who did it." Conrad opened his eyes and spitted out blood, gaining everyone's attention. Jack kneeled by him and got out the medi-gel, but Conrad stopped him.

"It's too late for me" as he gestured to the exit bullet holes in his chest.

"We cant just leave you like this." Jack argued back. But the private smirked at him.

"It was Saren Arterius, he has aligned himself with the Geth" he said trying to ignore the pain in his chest as blood continued to spill out despite Kaiden's attempts to stop the bleeding.

"The council Spectre with the Geth, that's impossible. Why would he even be here?" Miko asked confused.

Conrad used what strength he had left to lift his arm and point towards the artifact.

"He was after that, but had to leave when he heard your approach."

As if on cue, the thunder and lightning returned as Jack looked out of the nearest window to witness the giant black ship lifting off and back out into space. His com link then came to life.

"Commander Darby this Anderson, we have noticed that the Geth ships and one ship of unknown origin are leaving orbit, what is your status."

Jack put his hand to his com link in his ear and responded.

"This is Darby, the colony is secured but we have one casualty, Ultra Magnus and one critically injured, Private Verner. We need pick up and will need the infirmary standing by."

"Understood, we have signaled the shuttle. It should be there in minutes, Normandy out."

Jack looked over to Kaiden who couldn't hide the sadness in his face as he looked at Jack.

"Conrad didn't make it." He said as he closed Conrad's eyes and stood up taking a deep breath. Jack walked over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look.

"He was a good soldier and he has just told us who did this. His death will not be in vain." Kaiden looked at Jack and nodded. The Commander then looked over Kaiden's shoulder and noticed Miko standing extremely close to the artifact which started to have a green glow around it.

"Miko I wouldn't stand to close to that."

Miko looked over to him before a she was hit by a green energy that was being emitted from the Artifact. Wheeljack looked on in horror as she was covered in the green energy before seeing Jack push her out of the way, the energy flowing over him instead. Jack found that everything went white. His whole body was in immense pain. Then it happened, the white light was replaced by a vision.

'There was fire everywhere, the environment around him was a smoldering ruin as Storm clouds raged overhead. The thunder deafened Jack as lightning flashed across the sky. The Commander looked around to find the bodies of aliens he had never seen before lying around him, hundreds, no thousands of bodies. It was a massacre of immense scale, then a familiar sound echoed behind him. Jack turned around to see the same massive black ships overhead firing extremely powerful looking red energy beams down at the planet's surface causing more devastation, then everything went black. If what he had seen had scared him, then what happened next caused chills right down to his soul. A ghostly voice spoke to him through the darkness.

"You have witnessed our end. Your end is about to begin. The Reapers are coming!"

A/N: Well I hoped you enjoyed chapter two and thank you for reading.  

I will be reposting the chapters every few days.

Next chapter, Jack awakes from his nightmarish vision and arrives at the Citadel to tell the Council what he has found, as well as meet Arcee. Meanwhile Saren plots his next move.

 

CHAPTER III

The Reapers are coming. That one sentence kept repeating in Jack's mind as he was surrounded by darkness. Usually he would be at peace with nothing around him while he slept, but this time was different. He had just been given a vision by an artefact that was built by an ancient race called the Lithone who had been wiped out 100,000 years prior by giant black ships which he assumed were the Reapers that the vision warned him of. But he found that the darkness around was not comforting, but cold and fearful and he wished that there was someone there to banish the loneliness he was feeling at this time, to tell him that everything was going to be alright.

He wished Arcee was with him. If there was one person in this life that could make him feel better, that could reassure him with the simplest of actions, such as smile it was his partner. But she wasn't there and that was his fault. Again he was reminded of that which he had pushed away all those years ago when he left. He wouldn't make that mistake again. He would fight to have her back in his life if necessary, and fight this new threat any way he could. But first he had to wake up. He willed himself to break free of the darkness around him and slowly but surely the darkness rescinded, replaced by light as he slowly opened his eyes and took a breath.

The brightness of the lights in the room dimmed as he eyes readjusted giving him chance to view his surroundings. He looked around and found himself to be lying on a bed in a room he did not recognize. A woman walked over to his bed side and looked down at him and smiled.

"I see your back with us Commander." she said in a friendly tone. He reached up with his left hand and rubbed his eyes as he tried to sit up, but then felt a hand on his shoulder gently stopping him.

"Easy, you have been unconscious for nearly four hours since you were brought on board"

Jack listened to her and lied back down. The woman went over to a work station and activated the com link.

"Captain Anderson, Darby is awake." she said. "You can come and see him now"

"Acknowledged Doctor Chakwas, I'll be down right away" came Anderson's voice over the com. The Doctor then returned to Jack who was starting to feel fidgety.

"Can I get up now?" he asked a little irritably.

"So you are one of those sort of patients then are you?" she asked jokingly. Jack looked at her confused. Now that his eyes were focused again, he could see the woman more clearly. She was a Caucasian woman in her mid fifties, but looked like she looked good for her age. Obviously she had taken good care of herself through her life. Jack could only hope that when he, or rather if he ever got to that age that he would look at least as healthy as she did.

"What kind?" he asked curiously.

"The kind that I will have to strap down to this bed to make sure that they don't move until I say that they can." she remarked.

Jack shrugged and looked at her.

"Can I at least sit up, it feels like I have been lying down for long enough." Chakwas looked at him and then finally admitted defeat.

"Fine sit up, but don't get off that bed."

Jack the raised himself into a sitting position with his legs hanging off the side of the bed.

"Now that's better." he said feeling a little better. Chakwas then activated her holo-tool and ran it over the Commander, taking readings.

"So I take it your Doctor Chakwas, the ship's head physician." he asked, to which she nodded back whilst continuing to take scans.

"Yes, and you are Commander Jack Darby, the Captain's new XO. Its a pleasure to finally meet you. I thought you would have at least seen me before you had gone off on a mission first mind you."

Jack smiled at her.

"Sorry Doctor, when I looked around the ship earlier I would have seen you, but I was told you weren't here at the time."

"No, I was in the cockpit, treating Hotrod's headache." she replied, the irritation evident in her voice.

"Wait, Hotrod gets headaches, but he's Cybertronian. How does he get headaches?" he asked, his curiosity now peaking.

"Well the Cybertronians may be using pretender bodies now, but those bodies are bio mechanical in nature and were designed to mimic human physiology perfectly. So they are now susceptible to most none lethal ailments that we deal with everyday."

Jack was about to reply with another question when Anderson entered the Infirmary and stood next to him.

"How are you Jack?" he asked, once again in the informal way that Jack himself was still trying to get used too.

"I'm fine si….Anderson"

He did it again, but if the Captain had noticed, he didn't let it show.

"No self diagnosis please, let the Doctor do her job if you can?" Chakwas jumped in. She had just finished her scans and deactivated her Holo-tool as both men looked at her.

"Sorry Doctor, how is he?" Anderson asked.

"Well he is fine, physically and mentally. Whatever that energy was that hit him, has not damaged or effected him in any way that I can detect."

"Thank you Doctor." Anderson replied. Chakwas nodded and turned to Jack.

"You may return to duty Commander." she told him before turning and walking away.

"It was nice meeting you Doctor" Jack said with a smile, making her turn to him and return the smile before she carried on to her station. Jack then looked back at Anderson, who had a look of worry on his face.

"What happened to you when the Artifact hit you with that energy?"

Jack looked at Anderson and shook his head.

"I'm not entirely sure, I believe it showed me a vision, if that's the best way to describe it."

The Captain didn't take his eyes off Jack, listening to his every word.

"What did it show you?"

Jack closed his eyes and tried to remember the images that it showed him.

"I was standing in the ruins of a city with thousands of bodies lying around me, and then I saw a number ships that looked like that unknown ship that attacked the colony with the Geth. Then I heard a voice, and it said that I had just witnessed their end and ours was getting closer. The Reapers are coming. And then that was it."

Anderson saw Jacks face go slightly pale as he described the vision.

"You think that giant black ship is what the vision was warning you of?"

"I'm not sure, but whatever it was, it was certainly powerful." Jack concluded.

"Well we will be arriving at the Citadel in the next few hours. The Council has requested us to give them a report on the Eden Prime incident. I think it is because one of our people has pointed the finger at Saren Arterius, the Council's most famous Spectre." Jack gave Anderson a determined look.

"Hey, I may not have known Private Verner long, but it was long enough to know that he is no liar. If he said that it was Saren working with the Geth, then I believe him."

"Agreed, but we just have to hope that we can convince the Council of that." Anderson replied before turning to leave.

"Anderson, how are the others?" Jack asked gaining the Captain's attention again.

"Gunnery Chief Nakadia and Wheeljack are over in the common room. They have been quiet ever since we brought Ultra Magnus's body onboard. As for Lt. Cmdr Alenko, he was last seen down on the cargo bay. I had told them not visit you until you had been checked out, but since there is nothing to worry about, maybe you should see them before we reach the Citadel."

Jack nodded and got off the bed and walked out of the Infirmary with Anderson before heading to the common room.

PRIME EFFECT​

Jack entered the Common room, it wasn't much really, just some tables with chairs as well as two sofas, one at each end of the room. He saw Miko and Wheeljack sitting opposite each other looking rather sullen.

"Hey guys" he said sheepishly as he walked over to them. Miko's face lit up as she darted over and gave him a hug.

"Jack, thank god you are alright, we thought you would never wake up."

After the embrace, they both sat down with Wheeljack.

"Yeah well some of us weren't so lucky." Jack replied sheepishly.

Wheeljack's eyes narrowed at the Commander's comment.

"Yeah well that will change as soon as I see that Turian bastard again. 'I'll carve Magnus's name into his chest as he dies."

Jack knew that Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus had a long history that started long before the war for Cybertron, but he could see where this was heading.

"Yeah, all we need to do is wait for that Turian to show his ugly mug and then put a bullet through it." Miko added enthusiastically.

Jack looked down at the table annoyed.

"Yeah because that worked well the last time didn't it." he muttered under his breath.

Miko having heard that looked at Jack.

"What did you just say?"

The Commander looked up to see both of them staring at him.

"Well remember Bulkhead and Hardshell." he said.

Both sets of eyes widened at the mention of Bulkhead's name and then narrowed at him as anger started to appear on their faces. Jack knew that Bulkhead was a sore subject, even after all these years, but he also knew he had to put an end to what ever they had planned so he continued.

"You killed Hardshell for what he did to Bulkhead, but what did it accomplish? It didn't help him did it, Bulkhead still died."

Wheeljack clenched his fist and slammed it into the table as his finally let his anger get the better of him. But rather than let the wrecker scare him, Jack stared directly at him. His face stoic and his eyes determined.

"Anger will not change that fact Wheeljack. Now if you want to remain on this ship and help me bring Saren to justice for what he did then I will happily accept your help. But I don't need nor want anyone on my team who as score to settle."

Wheeljack suddenly felt small in front of the human staring at him. God did this guy remind him of Prime. Jack then turned to Miko who was just staring at him, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. She had never seen Jack like this. She could now see why he now held the rank of Commander, and she suddenly felt a little better for realizing it.

"Same goes for you too."

Miko nodded as Jack got up, slid his chair back under the table and walked out the room.

When Jack reached the cargo bay he found Kaiden leaning against the shuttle with a bottle of what looked like whisky.

"I hope you are not planning on drinking all of that now, especially since we are still on duty." Jack asked. Kaiden looked down at the bottle and then back at jack with a slight but sad smile on his face.

"Na, I was actually waiting for you to turn up. Glad to see your up and about." he said.

Jack stood beside him, arms crossed.

"So I'm here, what's up Kaiden?"

Kaiden bent down to a box he had next to his feet and pulled two glasses out of it and handed them to Jack.

"Well I thought we should share a drink in honour of Conrad."

Jack held the glasses as Kaiden opened the bottle and poured a small amount into both glasses, before putting the bottle down and accepting one of the glasses from Jack.

"He was certainly an interesting guy wasn't he? With the motion sickness and his strange ability of attracting bugs to bite him." Kaidan said, earning a chuckle from the Commander, reminding him of those particular moments.

"Yeah, as well as his fascination with me." Jack replied.

"Well the guy had a good taste in role models didn't he." Kaiden said casually.

Jack rolled his eyes at the comment. Again it made him feel uncomfortable, Kaiden noticed again and chose now to voice his concern.

"That really bothers you doesn't it?"

Jack looked back at Kaiden and nodded.

"I guess that maybe I just don't feel like I deserve it." the Commander replied as he looked down at his drink.

"I mean there are plenty of other people out there that deserve that kind of attention."

Kaiden looked at his friend who was still looking away and thought about what he was going to say next, then smiled.

"Well its not every day that you discover an alien race, befriend them and then help defend the planet. Or even all the things you have done after you joined the defence force. But I tell you now, I know you deserve it. There aren't many people out there with the ability to inspire those around them the way you can Jack, and Conrad knew that too. Your exploits inspired him to join up and become part of something that was bigger than himself. You inspired those young men back at New Terra. Hell, you even inspire me Jack and I know you." he said with a smile on his face. Jack looked back to his friend, a lopsided grin growing on his face.

"Thanks Kaiden." he replied. He then raised his glass.

"To Conrad Verner."

Kaiden raised his too.

"To Conrad." he replied, before both men then downed their drinks in one go. Jack started coughing as the strength of the whiskey hit him.

"That's good stuff." he coughed.

"Yeah it sure is." Kaiden replied chuckling at his friend's discomfort.

"It's the Doc's, I sort of borrowed it while her back was turned. I intend on giving it back."

Jack having recovered, looked at him and shook his head at his friends confession.

"Still the same old Kaiden."

PRIME EFFECT​

The Normandy exited the giant green portal of the space bridge and flew towards the colossal Citadel station as it sat nestled inside the gases of the serpent nebula. Jack observed the station from his room's window. He had seen many wonders during his life, and yet found he could still be surprised. The station was a marvel to behold, the nerve centre of galactic politics for the last several centuries as well as a massive city, home to over thirteen billion people from all over the galaxy.

Now he was there to see the council and hopefully convince them that one of their most trusted Spectres had betrayed the values that they had entrusted him with. Jack knew that this was going to be a tough pill for them to swallow. Not only was it unthinkable, but the fact that it was humans pointing the finger too was not something they could tolerate. After all the Council saw humanity as a very young and brash race, not unlike Ratchet when he first met Jack and his friends. But they had managed to change the medic's view and Jack hoped that he could do the same for the council.

After the Normandy docked. The crew disembarked, Miko and Wheeljack heading for a club called Purgatory, obviously wanting to have a drink after the scolding the Commander had given them. Jack though was heading for the Council Embassies with Anderson and Kaiden. They had been told by a C-Sec officer that the Earth's political representative wanted to speak to them before he took them to meet the council.

After an elevator ride that felt like it lasted forever, they found themselves in the office of Donnel Udina. He had been chosen to be Earth's voice at the Citadel. Optimus Prime had not been in favour of this choice due to the man's obvious ambition for power. A trait that Optimus saw in Megatron when they used to be friends, but he let it pass due to Earth's leaders having the right to choose who should speak for them.

Jack saw the man standing next to the large windows that showed the rest of the presidium below them. Udina looked like a man that always had a lot on his mind. He turned to the three of them and he did not look happy.

"So Captain Anderson, I would say that it is a pleasure to see you again but that is not the case is it. Especially with the shit storm that you have brought with you." he said in dry tone underlined with a hint of anger.

"No I guess its not Donnel, but what we have to say to the Council is nothing but the truth." The Captain responded. Udina then looked at the Jack and Kaiden.

"So this is this must by Commander Darby. The one pointing the finger at the Council's precious Spectre."

Jack looked at him, the Commander's remaining stoic and calm.

"it's the truth, Saren attacked Eden Prime with the Geth and murdered two of our friends."

Udina looked like he was having none of it as he waved off what Jack had just said.

"You do know that those alien arse-holes will not believe you, and I would rather keep my position if it is all the same to you."

Anderson walked right up to Udina and looked down at the old fool.

"I don't particularly care for you Donnel, I never really have. But if you are through with all the self whining, we would appreciate it if you took us to the Council now."

Udina did not know where to look, but shrugged and beckoned them to follow him.

PRIME EFFECT​

Elsewhere on the Citadel, Optimus stood and looked out at the cityscape before him. Whenever he visited the station, he would always take the time to visit this spot and take in the view. After all it reminded him of Iacon, the city where he lived before the war that destroyed Cybertron all those millennia ago had happened. Back then he was a young clerk that went by the name of Orion Pax. Sometimes when remembering how simple life was back then, he found himself wishing that his life was still the way it was before he became a Prime. But unfortunately for him, fate rarely calls at a moment of their own choosing and what followed was meant to happen. The war that ultimately led to the fall of Cybertron and the exodus to Earth. And then only for the Decepticons to follow in their wake and prolong the war, with the future of the planet's original inhabitants at risk.

But Optimus had found that the humans of Earth were not as easy targets for the Decepticons to conquer as Megatron himself foolishly believed. Because from that fateful day that the Autobots had met the three teens that had become like family to them in so short a time, Optimus could see what humans were capable of. There was Rafael who though was still very young, was so smart for his age, that he even gave Ratchet a run for his money though the medic never liked to admit it. Then there was Miko, she had an energy that never seemed to stop. She was impulsive and quick to action without a second thought. That many times caused the Autobots problems, but she had a strong and caring heart and still offered much to earth's newest residents.

Then there was Jack, if ever there was a person who the Prime would be proud to call a son it was him. For the young man was very much like Optimus, compassionate and courageous. He was always on hand to help whenever the Autobots had needed him. Then there was his friendship with Arcee, Optimus's SIC. Optimus had heard that she was not one for company after she lost her partner Tailgate. But when Cliffjumper had brought her to their base on Earth, he noticed that the femme had started to soften around the young Autobot warrior. Then that changed the day he was killed by Starscream. And she closed herself off from her family again, until she met Jack. And slowly but surely Jack's caring and compassionate nature managed to bring Arcee out of the dark and back into the light and their friendship strengthened as a result. Yes Jack was indeed a Prime in the making, even if the young man did not want to accept it, just like Optimus hadn't.

"Well I knew I would find you up here." a female voice said that caught Optimus's attention, making him turn to where it was coming from. There he saw a young woman walking up to him. She had pale soft skin and electric blue eyes. Her hair was blue with pink highlights that came down to halfway down her neck, and she was wearing a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt that complemented her athletic figure, Unlike most Cybertronians, Acree did have a liking for human clothing. She stopped next to Optimus and looked out at the view, a happy smile on her face. Obviously she was happy and looking forward to seeing Jack after having received his message a few hours before that said they would meet up and she sure wasn't going to hide it.

"Well I like the view up here" the Prime answered.

"I can see why." she replied as she looked out at the city in front of her with the cabs flying past, going too an fro. Optimus then noted the time on his holo-tool and turned to the femme.

"Well now that you are here, we can head to the Council chambers in the presidium tower. Jack and Captain Anderson will be presenting their case against the Spectre Saren Arterius to the council members."

"Yeah sure." she replied happily. And the two of them made their way to the nearest elevator. As they walked through the garden like area around them, Optimus noted how this was the first time in years that he had seen his SIC this happy. He still did not know the reasons for her and Jack's uneasiness with each other and why the young man had chosen to take up the Prime's suggestion all those years ago. But he wasn't going to pry, he would wait for them to open up to him when they felt ready to do so. Of course their seeing each other here on the station could also bring their problems to a close and that would also be good.

"So how are you Optimus? Ratchet told me that the Quarian situation had gotten a bit strenuous." Arcee asked seeing the thoughtful look on his face.

"I wish I could say that it was a minor misunderstanding Arcee. But one of our transports had gotten to close to their Flotilla and they sent out some of their patrol fleet to warn our ships away. It would seem that they still do not trust us."

Arcee looked at him confused, trying to read the Prime's thoughts.

"But why, we are nothing like the Geth. Those robots were built by them, we didn't have the same kind of origin as them, hell we weren't built by anyone." she questioned, irritation evident in her voice.

"I tried to reason with them as such when I spoke to Admiral Raan over the com channel back at New Iacon. But she wouldn't have it, she said that if one of our ships ever happened to be in the same system as their flotilla, then it would be destroyed. I fear that we may never be able to gain their friendship."

Arcee saw the disappointment in the Prime's face and thought it was best to try and cheer him up.

"Come on, lets go see Jack and watch him show those Councillors whose boss."

The Prime looked down at the femme and saw the infectious smile that had appeared on her face and could not help but smile back. He nodded and the two of them entered the elevator and headed up to the Council Chambers in the tower above them.

N/A: I hoped you enjoyed that, because I enjoyed writing it. And thank you for reading  

In chapter 4, Jack makes his case to the council, meets a certain token Tauran C-Sec officer as they go about proving Saren's guilt.

 

CHAPTER IV

As Optimus and Arcee entered the Citadel Tower, Acree was amazed by the beauty of the gardens and fountains that made up the area that lead to the Council chamber. As she looked around she saw many people of different races walking around the area or sitting on the benches talking to one another. She unintentionally overheard a conversation between a Turian and Salarian discussing the chances of a Volus getting a seat on the council.

"No chance there." the Salarian replied.

"The Volus would need a ladder to reach the seat." gaining a laugh of approval from the Turian. Acree frowned at the remark. She didn't like people who made fun of others for their differences, no matter what they were.

For her back on Cybertron it was due to her lack of height back when she had her old body. The bots would make fun of her and she always snapped back at them. She was temperamental that way. But when the war started she used what many considered to be weakness to great effect as a sharpshooter and scout, being able to sneak in and out of places undetected was an advantage that the Autobots could not afford to waste.

And also with her combat training curtsey of Prowl. Who was a master of circuit-su, the Cybertronian equivalent of martial arts. Arcee became a weapon of war on the battlefield. He taught her to use her small size and quick speed to devastate those who were larger and slower than her, and as time went on she did just that. But she wasn't the only one to prove true her belief, there was also Jack who time and again during the twilight years of the war proved how much of a danger they could be to those who underestimated them.

When they were further away from the pair of idiots as Arcee thought of them, she caught sight of a monument in the center of the main garden display. If she was not mistaken, it looked just like a space bridge.

"I see you recognize it Arcee." Optimus observed as she studied the monument.

"Why would they have monument to space bridges here?" the femme asked.

"No one really knows, since it has always been here since the Citadel was discovered by the Asari several hundred years ago."

He was about to continue talking when they saw that the Council meeting was about to start and so headed on in.

When they entered the council chamber, Optimus and Arcee found a spot on one of the upper floors and stood at the balcony which gave them a great view of the whole chamber. As the femme looked around, seeing that quite an audience had gathered for this meeting, looking down from adjacent balcony's on the other side of the chamber. She looked down to see the Councillors themselves standing at their podium. There was an Asari, a Turian and a Salarian and of course she would recognise Perceptor, who was the Cybertronian Councillor. He looked like he didn't want to be there and when she looked up at Optimus, she noticed the same worry on his face as he looked down at the other Councillors.

"Whats wrong?" she asked.

"I can already see that this will not go well Arcee, I can tell that just by looking at Perceptor."

The femme was about to speak when from the corner of her eye she spotted someone. A young man she would never forget, he was dressed in the standard alliance uniform and he looked rather good in it if she did say so herself. It was her partner, her Jack.

Jack walked into the Council chambers with both Anderson in front and Kaiden to his left and Udina following behind them. They crossed the bridge to the box in the centre of the chamber as the Council members stood before them. The massive pane glass window behind them bathed the councillors in light, almost making the four of them look like gods up there on their podium. Jack remembered back to Arcee's stories of the High Council back on Cybertron before the war, they too were described as just as illustrious. But he wasn't going to be intimidated here, he had a job to do and he was going to see it through.

"The council would like to welcome you to this meeting Captain Anderson." Tevos the Asari Councillor said trying to sound as pleasant as possible.

"Thank you for seeing us today madam Councillor." the Captain replied. But before he could say anymore, the Turian councillor jumped in.

"Can we stop with the pleasantries and get down to the reason why this meeting was called for today." Sparatus said.

"Yes we would really like to know why you believe that a Spectre as honourable as Saren Arterius would commit an atrocity like what happened at Eden Prime." Valern the Salarian Councillor asked.

"Councillors, please show some restraint and give them some room to breath before you start attacking them with questions." Perceptor said trying to use reason, earning a glare from Sparatus.

"Why, how would you feel if someone came in and tried to blame a heinous crime on your own Optimus Prime, I have every right to be angry. Saren is a good friend of my mine and I will not see his name being tarnished by humans."

The Asari councillor turned to the Turian.

"Then maybe you should exclude yourself from this meeting? We should at least hear them out first, no matter how ridiculous their claims may lead to be."

Jack looked up at the councillors bickering between each other and couldn't help but smile slightly. Doesn't matter if you are on Earth or at the far end of the galaxy, politics was politics wherever you went.

"Very well, please come forward and deliver you evidence." Sparatus said after he calmed down.

With that Jack stepped forward.

"And who are you?" Sparatus asked not even trying to hide the disinterest in his voice.

"Commander Jack Darby, Alliance Military." the young man answered stoically.

"Welcome Commander, please give us your account of what happened." Tevos encouraged in a friendly manner.

So Jack and then Kaiden began giving their accounts of what happened on Eden Prime, from the landing on the planet and battling the Geth to the mysterious black ship that appeared over the colony, the latter being dismissed as a Geth ship.

Arcee looked down from the balcony with Optimus as the meeting continued, watching as Jack gave his account of the events. He was so confident and mature, not that he wasn't always like that. It was just that he seemed so much more sure of himself. She found herself entranced by Jack as he talked, a feeling coming over her that she had not felt in a long time. Not since the night he left, and she still was not entirely sure what the feeling was.

Optimus had noticed the femme's attention had been solely on Jack this entire time and smiled. He finally started putting the pieces together to the puzzle that was Jack and Arcee. He knew that they had been extremely close, but seeing this behaviour from his SIC had confirmed it. The only mystery now left to solve was what had happened between them years ago. He opened his mouth to speak to the femme, when he noticed her relaxed face suddenly become serious as she looked out to the other side of the chamber.

"What is it Arcee?" the Prime asked.

"You see that Turian over there, the one in the blue and black armour. Isn't he acting like he has a lot riding on this meeting?" she asked.

Optimus looked over to see a Turian with blue face paint and a visor over his left eye. He was watching the meeting below and did not look happy with how it was proceeding. And after a few more minutes he had had enough and walked out. Optimus turned back to the femme.

"Yes Arcee, he did look somewhat disturbed by the proceedings." They both looked back down to the council meeting below them, Arcee's attention returning to Jack.

"That is the most ridiculous story I have ever heard and you don't even have any real proof." Sparatus spat back at Anderson and Jack as the two of them stood there looking back at him.

"Please calm down, this isn't getting us anywhere." Perceptor pleaded. But the Turian was having none of it.

"I would have to agree with Sparatus, Captain Anderson and Commander Darby unless you can bring us real evidence to back up your claims, then there is nothing we can do. I am sorry, and this concludes this Council meeting."

And with that, the councillors started to leave, the Turian storming out first. Perceptor was about to leave but not before looking back at the humans and giving them a sympathetic look and then like the others he was gone. The audience that had watched the whole thing had upped and left too, leaving just Optimus and Arcee who watched as the human trio turned and left in defeat.

"Come Arcee, we shall go and offer our support to Jack and the others" the Prime said. Arcee nodded and the two left the now empty Chamber.

Once outside and back in the calming environment of the gardens, Anderson turned to his two officers.

"Well that went well" he said trying not to sound too sarcastic.

"Your telling me, they were never going to believe us in the first place. Which made this whole meeting a waste of time." Kaiden replied, not even hiding his anger.

"Well until we have solid evidence, I guess there is nothing we can do" Anderson said.

Jack stayed quiet the entire time the two were talking, trying to think of something that could help them. He was about to speak up when another voice was suddenly heard from behind him.

"Maybe I can be of some help?"

The three of them looked over to see a Turian approach them. He was wearing C-Sec armour and had a visor covering his left eye.

"And you would be?" Kaiden asked.

"Garrus Vakarian, I am with Citadel Security."

The three men looked at the new arrival, trying to work out whether this was real or not. But Jack stepped forward and offered the Turian his hand.

"I'm Commander Jack Darby." he said in a friendly tone and with a slight smile.

"it's good to meet you Commander." he replied as he noticed Kaiden staring at him with distrust.

"I guess you would like to hear how I can help."

"Oh we are all ears" Kaiden remarked sarcastically. Jack glared at him, making the Lt Cmdr suddenly feel very small. This had not gone unnoticed by Anderson who watched as his XO and the Turian began to talk.

"Well how can you help us then?" Jack asked. Garrus activated his holo-tool and showed them a number of reports.

"Well I was recently running an investigation into the Spectre Saren Arterius, due to some very disturbing reports of his activities in the Terminus systems, but I found that I was being blocked at nearly every turn. You know sometimes giving Spectres free reign across the galaxy can be a real pain in the ass. Especially when that Spectre is playing everyone for fools"

"What makes you say that?" Jack replied. Garrus showed them some more intel on his holo-tool's screen.

"Well like I said, I keep getting blocked at every turn, but there just is something not right about that Spectre. But I do have one lead."

"What's that then?" Jack asked, his attention fully on what Garrus was telling them.

"I know a Krogan Bounty hunter, who goes by the name of Wrex down on the lower levels, he has come across some information about Saren."

"Well what kind of information?" Kaiden asked.

"He wouldn't say over the com, he would rather meet face to face and down on the lower levels. And with how C-Sec doesn't have that much control down there. I feel it would be better to go down in greater numbers than just one." Garrus told them honestly, which then made Jack turn to Anderson.

"Captain, I think this worth investigating."

"I agree Commander, okay you and Alenko will assist Mr Vakarian here in getting that proof and bring it back to the council while I head back to the Normandy and report the days events to our superiors" Anderson replied as he gave them a supportive smile, before turning around and heading to the transport back to the Presidium.

Garrus then stopped the two men as they were about to head to the transit hub.

"What is it Garrus?" Jack asked confused.

Garrus looked them both up and down.

"Don't you two think you two should be wearing something a little less conspicuous, Alliance military types are not well known for walking around with the lowlifes."

"Well what about you, don't tell me that you can go in dressed like that?" Kaiden asked surprised. Garrus gave him a knowing smile.

"Well its like I said, a C-Sec officer isn't even a blip on the radar of the guys down there, maybe because my superiors are busy being paid off by them..." he answered, the last part had a tinge of anger to it.

"...but if we come across any trouble, I can easily handle it myself."

"That's good to know..." Jack replied with smile.

"..okay if you know where we can get clothes to better blend in with the lowlifes down there, then lets get going."

"I know just the place." Garrus finished as the two humans followed him to the transit station.

Optimus and Arcee had just re-entered the gardens when they noticed Jack, Alenko and that Turian from earlier get into a cab and watch it fly off to another part of the Citadel.

"Well that is unfortunate." The Prime said sadly. He then looked at Arcee and noticed the intent in her eyes as she looked at the transit station.

"You want to go and help Jack don't you?" Optimus said bluntly, causing the femme to look up surprised.

"Am I that easy to read?"

"Not at all Arcee, but I do know you well enough to see when you have made your mind up about something." he replied as he smiled at her. She sighed as his words hit home within her spark.

"Yes I want to help Jack, I want to help my partner." she answered truthfully.

"Then I will take my leave and go and see Captain Anderson." the Prime replied as he turned and walked away before turning to his SIC one last time.

"Arcee, be careful and good luck."

She smiled and nodded at the Prime, her smile saying a silent thank you to her friend and Commander before heading off to the transit station to follow her partner where ever he was going.

PRIME EFFECT​

The trip in the transit cab was not a very relaxing one for Arcee. Mainly due to the fact that she spent the whole time thinking about Jack. As she looked out of the side window at the sky scrapers that flew by as the cab followed the same path as Jack's one, she thought about how much he had changed since the last time she had seen him. Well she was thinking of the very last time she had seen him years ago, but she did recently attend his promotion ceremony, where he was given a medal for his part in the defence of New Terra and was also promoted to Commander. It had surprised Arcee how fast it had taken Jack to rise up the ranks.

For herself it had taken several vorn to reach the rank of commander. So for the young man to reach it in a fraction of the time was something to be proud of. If only she had gone up to meet him then and tell him how proud of him she was. But at that moment she felt that if she was to surprise him like the way she had the night he had left, that it would have ended in a similar fashion. Remembering that night made her spark ache, so she did her best to expel those thoughts from her mind as she looked out at the city expanding down one of the arms of the Citadel. It growing larger as the cab descended into it.

Down in the under city of the Citadel, two men and a Turian walked down one of the many dark and trodden streets that littered the foundations of the massive station. As they walked through the crowded streets, the two men did not look any different from anyone else that was there. Kaiden was wearing a baggy pair of jeans and a grey hoodie, while Jack was wearing a similar set of jeans, but instead of a hoodie, he wore a dark green T-shirt with a black biker jacket. Kaiden gave Jack jealous look.

"Why did you get first choice?" he asked. Jack looked over to him and gave him a lopsided grin.

"Maybe because I am the Commander."

Kaiden muttered something that Jack did not hear clearly, and just assumed that it was an insult. But he just ignored it and looked ahead to Garrus, who was still wearing his C-Sec armour. But true to his word, no one around here had even batted an eye lid at him.

'I guess the lowlifes really do run things down here.' he thought to himself as he looked around him to all the shady people that were crowding the streets.

"So where are we going exactly?" Jack asked to the Turian in front of him.

"Well, Wrex told me to meet him at the End of Days club just down this street."

"We are meeting him at a bar?" Jack asked curious about the location. Kaiden having heard Garrus perked up.

"You read my mind, I was just thinking that I would rather be drinking after what we just went through upstairs". Garrus chose to ignore the man and carried on talking to Jack.

"Well he is a Krogan and he likes watching the dancers, plus it is about the only bar left on the Citadel that hasn't banned him."

"Charming." Jack replied as they came up to the entrance to the bar. It was covered in violet and blue neon lights and had two Batarian bouncers guarding the doors. Garrus turned to Kaiden and Jack to do some final checking.

"Now you both have the pistols I gave you right?" he said while looking like he was handing out credits to both of them as the bouncers looked over curiously.

"Yeah we have them hidden, think we will need them?" Jack asked as he pretended to accept the creds from his Turian friend.

"Hard to say, Right then shall we?"

With that Garrus and the humans walked past the bouncers and into the club. Not a second had past that another group of men, well armed by the looks of them walked out from the shadows and entered the club after them. Had they checked their surroundings first, they may have noticed a pair of electric blue eyes that had been watching them from further in the shadows, a stern look growing on her face. Only one thought entering her mind. 'Jack!'

If it looked like the place was crowded on the outside, then it was heaving inside. There was barely room to breath let alone move as Jack, Kaiden and Garrus tried to squeeze past all the bodies in the club. The neon lighting inside was almost as bad as it was outside. It was starting to give Jack a headache. He would rather spend a quiet night watching the sunset than have his eyes and ears physically abused by the lights and sounds of these types of places. The music was a one note, tone deaf assault on the senses.

He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts when Garrus tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the large Krogan in red armour sitting at a table with an Asari Dancer on top of it, holding onto the pole going through the middle of the table. He was drooling over the girl as she thrusted herself into the pole before bending over backwards and smiling at the hulking brute while giving him a good view of her large breasts that were nearly bursting out of her skin tight outfit.

"Very nice." he slobbered as Garrus and Jack approached his table with Kaiden behind them.

Wrex then spotted the group as they neared, his reptilian eyes narrowing until he recognised the Turian and smiled.

"Garrus, you old pyjak." he said as the dancer noticed the group and decided to leave, taking a tip from the Krogan before disappearing into the crowd.

Both men shook hands before Garrus took a seat next to him.

"I figured you would have been kicked out of this place by now, going by your current track record."

The Krogan gave a hearty laugh.

"Yeah well that doesn't usually happen until I am on the eighth bottle of Ryncol, then I start trying to touch the dancers."

Garrus looked over Jack and grinned.

"Its true, he is like a newborn baby, hands everywhere." Garrus joked, gaining a slight smile from Jack. Wrex looked over at the strangers.

"Garrus, who are these pink skins?"

Jack offered the Krogan his hand.

"I'm Commander Jack Darby" he said with a smile. The Krogan just looked at it and scoffed, making Jack feel a little nervous.

"Hey these guys are okay, in fact they are with me because of the intel you have on Saren."

The Krogan suddenly looked serious as he looked around them before speaking.

"Well it's not so much intel as it is a person."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, edging closer.

"Well I ran into this Quarian a few days back, poor thing looked like she had been running for a long time. She saw me and probably thought that I could protect her and so asked for my help. She said that she had stumbled onto some information while on her pilgrimage. Then next thing she knew, she was being chased by mercenaries."

Jack and Kaiden listened to every word that Wrex told them before speaking.

"So where is she, we could really use the information she has."

Wrex pointed up.

"She's upstairs, I have been hiding her here since I found her. Gave her some first aid too, since she had been shot when I found her."

Jack stood up and tidied himself up.

"Can you take us to her now. We can pay you whatever fee you want and place her into protective custody once we get her back to the presidium."

The Krogan looked both men up and down and scoffed again.

"You, what makes you think you can protect her?"

Garrus nudged Wrex's shoulder and whispered something into his ear.

"That's him, the hero of New Terra and the man that helped kill the Decepticon leader Megatron."

"Well now, why didn't you just tell me that to start with." he chuckled as he got up and lead the three of them up the stairs. He lead them to another room that was only half the size of the club below and they saw the Quarian sitting at a table, her body language looking rather nervous. This was the first time that Jack had seen a Quarian. She was wearing a black and purple enviro-suit with purple hood covering her breather helmet that had a purple glass visor covering her face. Only her white eyes were visible and they looked directly at the new comers.

"What's going on Wrex, who are these people?" she asked, fear in her voice.

"Don't worry, they are here to help get you someplace safe." Wrex said gently as Jack walked up to her, extending his hand.

"I'm Commander Jack Darby and this is Lt. Cmdr Kaiden Alenko of the Alliance, we are here to take you into protective custody miss.."

She looked at both men for a moment.

"Tali….. Tali'Zorah nar Raya" she replied as she took his hand and stood up. Jack then turned to Wrex and Garrus.

"Is there a faster way out of here than the way we came in. I don't think that would good idea to go back, especially if the men that are after Miss Raya here are still out there?" he reasoned as the Quarian looked at Jack.

"Please call me Tali." she insisted, Jack smiled back in return.

"Okay Tali." he said gently before returning to the others.

"So is there another way out of here?"

Garrus shrugged and Wrex rolled his eyes at the Turian in amazement before walking over to the back wall and pushing against it. Causing it to open up revealing a hidden exit.

"I noticed that this was here the last time I stayed, obviously the new owners never figured it out."

Jack smirked as he offered Tali his hand, which she gratefully took and lead her through the hidden exit onto a balcony outside. Kaiden saw a mechanised ladder and activated it, making it extend all the way to the ground. Kaiden then climbed down first followed by Garrus, then Tali and finally Jack and Wrex. They then started to head away from the club when armed Batarians and Humans appeared out of the shadows and surrounded them. They were wearing the white and blue armour of the Blue suns mercenary group. Jack and the others equipped their own weapons and stood in a circle with Tali in the middle, out of view of the newcomers.

"Give us the Quarian and you can walk away." the lead Batarian offered dryly as he signaled his men to walk closer to the group, weapons armed.

"Why, who hired you to take her out?" Jack asked not taking his aim off the leader.

"That's none of your concern alliance scum. We have been tracking you since you entered the under city, we knew that you would lead us directly to the girl. Now hand her over to us, or this will end bloody for you."

Jack glanced over to Garrus who was holding what looked like a grenade in his right hand and nodded slightly.

"That sounds like a good deal, but I have a better one. How about you let us pass and you don't leave the Citadel in body bags." Jack answered cooly.

The leader gritted his teeth as he lost his cool and yelled at his men to fire at them.

"Garrus now." Jack ordered as the Turian threw the grenade into the air where it exploded bathing the entire area in a white light.

Before the light had a chance to fade, Jack and the others killed the mercs before they had a chance to recover, leaving only the leader left standing. Once he had recovered his sight he looked around to see his men scattered around on the floor before his eyes landed on Jack standing in front of him, gun pointed at his face.

"Now how about we make a new deal, where you get to keep your life?" he asked calmly, his face remaining stoic. But to his surprise the leader chuckled which completely threw Jack off.

"What's so funny?" Kaiden asked stepping forward.

The leader looked up to the balcony and smiled, making the group look up too to see three more mercs standing over them, guns trained on the group. The leader then loosened up and held out his hand.

"Give me the gun?" he said to Jack as several more mercs appeared around them.

"And the rest of you drop your weapons, I want ask again."

Jack looked back at the others and nodded. Each one dropped their pistols as Tali looked around panicking.

"Oh keelah." she said under her breath.

"You didn't think that I wouldn't have back up did you?" the leader gloated at Jack as he walked forward towards Tali. Jack glanced over to the new men on the ground with them. They were not carrying firearms like the others earlier or the ones now on the Balcony. They were only armed with combat knives. He looked over to Garrus and Wrex who looked back at him like they were all on the same page.

'If there was only a way to take out the gunmen on the balcony then these guys would be no trouble.' he thought to himself as the leader grabbed Tali by the arm and dragged her away from Jack and his friends.

"It was nice doing business with you" the leader gloated as walked past Jack with Tali.

"Kill them!" he ordered to his men as Tali tried to break free of his grip.

"NO!" she screamed as she anticipated the mercs gunshots. But after a moment nothing came.

The leader suddenly looking irritated looked up towards the balcony as did Jack and the others. What they saw was not three gun men looking down at them, but a blue haired young woman standing amongst the now unconscious mercs that littered the balcony.

Jack smiled as his eyes met the woman's electric blue ones.

"Hi Jack, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

"Not at all, how about you wait right there, while we throw out this trash?" he replied as the leader just looked at both of them, utterly confused. The blue haired woman then folded her arms and lent forward on the balcony's rail.

"Don't know, I might get bored before then? She said acting coy. Jack chuckled at her response.

"We wouldn't want that now would we?" he answered. It was funny, he hadn't seen her for years and he had thought that their first meeting would have been awkward. Yet here they were, talking like nothing had happened. He had missed that.

"What the fuck is going on here?" the confused Leader screamed regaining Jack's attention.

"Well, this is what is happening." Jack responded before punching the Batarian squarely in the face, knocking him to the ground. Now free, Tali ran to the side to get out of the fight as Jack and his friends and the mercs suddenly turned the area in to a street fight. Garrus kicked one merc in the stomach before pushing him into the nearest wall. Wrex grabbed two mercs with both hands and slammed them into each other.

Kaiden threw punches at one merc while Jack had turned his attention to two mercs who charged at him. One swung a knife at Jack, who caught the man's attack in his hands and twisted his arm, the sudden pain causing the merc to drop the knife. Jack then kicked at the guy's kneecap, forcing him to the ground as the other man came in from behind. But the Commander spotted him and hit in the face with a back kick, sending the merc flying backwards onto the floor.

Arcee just relaxed and leant against the rail watching Jack take out one merc after the other. Sure the other guys with Jack were good fighters, the Krogan was devastating, but she liked watching Jack. He had become an excellent fighter since the last time she saw him years ago. Back then what fighting skills he knew was from watching martial art films with her back at the silo, or in the garage of his mom's home in Jasper. When June had gone to work at the hospital on a night shift, he would bring out the TV and sit and with her and watch Bruce Lee movies.

She then chuckled when Jack threw one of the mercs into the nearby wall like a rag doll. But her happy mood suddenly changed when unbeknownst to Jack, the Leader had gotten up and was charging at him with a knife.

Jack had just taken out the last merc when he saw Garrus point and shout at him.

"Jack behind you!"

Hearing this, the Commander spun around to see the Leader with the knife mere centimetres from his face. But he did not move any further and Jack looked behind the Blue Sun commander to see Arcee with her pistol, holding it at the back of the Batarian's head.

"You so much as move against my partner and I will send you to the pit you piece of scrap." she said, gritting her teeth. The leader dropped the knife and got down on his knees.

"I surrender, don't kill me, I was only doing my job." he pleaded as Jack picked up the knife and threw it away before looking at his partner with a warm smile. Her cold look softening as she looked back at him, returning the smile.

"Saved your ass again partner." she said jokingly, not moving the gun from the back of the Batarian's head.

"Hey, I had everything under control." he joked back, earning a chuckle from the femme.

Garrus and Wrex stepped in and escorted the leader away as Kaiden went over to help Tali, leaving the two partners alone. With nothing between them Jack walked over to his partner and wrapped his arms around her, embracing her. Her smile went even bigger as she returned the embrace. For the first time in years the two of them were back together and she finally felt like herself again. She rested her head against his.

"I've missed you!" she said as she gently squeezed him a little more, as if making sure that he was real. Jack felt his heart skip a beat at the sensation of what she just did.

"I missed you too Arcee." Jack replied, unable to register what was going on around them. As far as long overdue reunions go this was much better than he had envisioned. But the moment didn't last as the two of them were brought out of it by Garrus.

"Hey, I don't mean to intrude on this happy moment, but could we like get out of here before anyone else tries to take us all out."

Both Jack and Arcee suddenly looked embarrassed as they jumped away from each other, their faces a shade redder than normal.

"Yeah good idea." Jack replied as the femme tried to look anywhere but at the Turian who was glaring at both of them.

"I have a cab waiting for me at the other side of the street" She answered finally finding her voice.

"Good" Jack replied, composing himself. "Kaiden help Tali to the Cab, Garrus and Wrex watch our prisoner."

The others nodded and walked in the direction that Arcee had pointed them in. When they were again alone, they both started walking to the same destination side by side. Jack looked over at Arcee, the warm smile of his returning.

"It's really good to see you again Arcee." he said gently. She smiled warmly back, her electric blue eyes meeting his.

"Yeah Jack, its really good to see you too."

A/N: Well I hoped you enjoyed that and thank you for reading.  

Next chapter: Tali gives the Council her evidence and Jack gains another promotion.

 

CHAPTER V

The Batarian merc leader sat at table in a dark room, he had been in there for the last forty minutes and was now getting frustrated, his four eyes starting to show desperation as he frantically looked around.

"I want out, you hear me, I want out." he screamed, when suddenly the door in front of him opened filling the room with light. He closed his eyes as it almost blinded him, not noticing two figures entering the room before the door closed, blanketing the room in darkness again. The prisoner opened his eyes and looked around the room again.

"Who's there, I know someone is there, I'll tell you anything you want if you let me out."

No one answered and he felt alone.

"Well isn't that interesting..." a voice suddenly said from the corner of the room.

"...wouldn't you say Wrex?"

"Sure is, I never thought Blue Suns were so chatty." another voice said from the opposite corner behind the Batarian.

A small light activated above the table, illuminating it in front of the prisoner. Then the face of a Krogan entered the light.

"So are you gonna talk or do I have to crack you open." Wrex said with a fierce look. Garrus appeared next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I think you should listen to him, because I don't think that I could hold him back even if wanted to." Garrus then moved closer to the Batarian, right up to his face.

"And just so you know, I really don't want too." He smiled.

The Leader suddenly felt his nether regions get very wet as Wrex moved round the table, getting closer to him.

Meanwhile Jack, Arcee and Kaiden were with Tali. They were sitting at the Apollo café in the presidium commons. Tali was looking up at the projection of a blue sky with few clouds that was on the ceiling that ran the length of the Presidum ring of the Citadel. Jack and Arcee sat at one end of the table with Kaiden and Tali at the other.

"Quite a view isn't it." Jack asked as Tali finally looked back.

"It really is, I never thought I would be able to see the presidium..." she replied before her eyes started to look sad as she placed her hands on the table.

"..though Quarians have never really been welcome on the Citadel." Jack reached out and placed his hand on hers .

"As long as your with us no one will give you any trouble, I promise." Tali looked up at Jack before looking around to Kaiden and Arcee who smiled at her reassuringly. She sighed and regained her composure.

"Thank you Commander. Apart from Wrex, you and your friends are the only people to show me any kindness here."

"So can you tell us how you came to be caught up in all this?" the Commander asked. Tali looked away for a second as a cab flew past the café before looking back to the group.

"Well I was on my pilgrimage, when I began hearing reports of Geth activity outside the Perseus Veil which had to be impossible, since the Geth had never left our home system since driving my people out three hundred years ago."

"So what did you do?" Kaiden asked as the three of them listened to the young Quarian.

"Well I thought that they may have been making attempts to find our Flotilla, so I went looking for them. I managed to find a patrol on an uncharted planet and kill them."

Kaiden looked at her confused.

"Wait, but if you could fight then why didn't you help us out against the mercs earlier?"

The Quarian just looked at him, before tapping her stomach.

"I was recovering from an injury if you remember and I was running a fever due to the suit breach. And anyway you haven't seen me with a shotgun" she said acting coy.

"Anyway..." Jack said, jumping in.

"...What happened then?"

" I then removed the data core from the lead Geth and hacked its files, to see if they had discovered the Flotilla's location. But what I found was something completely different."

What did you find?" Jack then asked, his interest peaking, which made Tali shake her head and crossed her arms in return.

"Sorry, I will not reveal it here, not until we are in front of the council."

Jack nodded back with an understanding look, then leaned back and looked over at Arcee who gently smiled back at him. He returned the smile and looked back to Tali and Kaiden.

"Well we shouldn't have to wait much longer. We gave Optimus and Anderson the heads up the moment we got back and I believe they are talking to the Council right now."

Arcee then tapped Jack's shoulder and pointed over to the right. He looked in the general direction and saw Garrus and Wrex walking towards them.

"How did it go?" Kaiden asked.

"Well there was some sweat and other bodily fluid involved that I'm trying to forget" the Turian remarked irritably. Kaiden looked at them bemused.

"Wait, did you hit him?"

"Didn't get the chance. The damn fool pissed himself before I even got to lay a finger on him, never knew the Blue suns hired such losers." Wrex answered disappointingly.

"So did you get a name of the guy who hired him?" Arcee asked entering the conversation.

Garrus grabbed a chair from an unused table and sat down next to them as Wrex walked over to the bar.

"Sure did. It was someone going by the name of Sideways, does that ring a bell with any of you?"

Arcee's eyes went wide at the mention of it. Jack noticing this placed his hand on her shoulder, not noticing that he was gently rubbing it with his thumb affectionately. This didn't go unnoticed by the femme as her spark warmed to his touch.

"You okay, you look like you saw a ghost for a second there?" he asked her. She gave him a reassuring smile as he let go and picked up drink of a tray that Wrex just brought over from the bar.

"I'm fine and yes I know that name though I never met him, it was of a Decepticon that had vanished during the war. He was a double agent, playing both sides in the conflict, so neither was very accepting of him and so he hasn't been seen or heard of for a long time since."

Jack was going to ask more about him when another C-Sec officer approached them.

"Commander Darby, I am here to inform you that the Council have requested your presence in main Chamber."

Jack acknowledged the officer and the group got up from the table and followed him to the elevator. As Arcee walked with the group she noticed Tali looking at her.

"I'm sorry but is there something wrong?" she asked trying to sound friendly. The Quarian shook her head, looking embarrassed.

"No, there's no problem. Its just that you are the first Cybertronian that I have ever met."

Arcee gave her a sympathetic look.

"I realise your people don't exactly trust us". Tali again shook her head as she offered Arcee her hand.

"Well I am not among them on this, because you helped save my life down in the under city and your friends with Commander Darby, so that counts as good in my book". She replied with a smile on her face, not that Arcee could see the smile due to Tali's enviro-suit. But the femme accepted Tali's hand and they shook before joining the others in the elevator.

PRIME EFFECT​

As Jack and the others entered the Council Chambers he saw again the four Councillors on their podium and Captain Anderson and Optimus Prime standing in the box.

"Jack" a voice called from behind the group, making them turn around to see Miko and Wheeljack joining them.

"You were called here too?" Jack asked as Miko went straight up to Arcee.

"Arcee, what are you doing here?" the Gunnery chief asked. The femme looked at the woman confused.

"Well I was in the neighbourhood and thought it was about time I visited my partner."

Miko smiled and nodded.

"Yes well it has been ages since you too were last together, ever since that.." Miko was about to finish when she was cut off when Councillor Tevos spoke.

"This meeting is now in session, Commander Darby I believe that you have acquired evidence that proves our Spectre has gone and turned against us?"

Jack stepped forward next to Optimus and Captain Anderson.

"That is right madam Councillor"

He then turned and motioned Tali to join him in the box, the two older men stepping out to give them room.

"This is Tali'Zorah nar Raya, she came across the evidence while investigating why the Geth were spotted outside the Quarian system. Soon after she found herself on the run from Blue Sun mercenaries who had been hired to terminate her"

Then Sparatus decided to speak up.

"And we are supposed to believe the words of a suit rat, over Saren's own testimony."

Jack noticed Tali's white eyes flare up behind her visor.

"Listen here you stupid bosh'tet I wont.." Tali shouted at Sparatus as Jack stepped in to calm her down.

"Tali don't, that won't help." He said before turning his attention back to the council.

"What do you mean Saren's testimony?" he asked curiously.

Sparatus then activated his holo-tool and a giant hologram of Saren appeared in the middle of the Chamber.

"Dear Councillors I wish it was under better circumstances that I contact you but when I was informed about the ridiculous claims against myself, I decided to take matters into my own hands. You see I was nowhere near Eden Prime on the day of the attack by the Geth which of course is a terrible tragedy. But I was actually on Illium hunting down a lead on the assassin that had tried to murder my good friend Councillor Sparatus three weeks ago. I do not know where or who started this incredulous rumor, but if this Commander Jack Darby knew anything of me. Then he would come to see that it would be impossible for myself to have been a part of the events at the human colony. I serve the council and the people of our galaxy as a Spectre to my absolute fullest. I do wish to give my condolences for the lives lost on that black day at Eden Prime. My thoughts go to their loved ones and I make this pledge, that I will not stop until I find out why the Geth attacked Eden Prime and put a stop to this sudden act of aggression against our worlds. Farewell."

With that the hologram vanished as Kaiden turned to Garrus.

"What a load of bullshit right?" he whispered to the Turian who nodded in approval. Optimus and Anderson and everyone else then looked at Jack who could feel all eyes on him at that particular moment. He looked back to see Arcee giving him a warm smile of support. If he knew any better it was a look that said 'You show them who's boss!' and he smiled backed to her in appreciation. Sparatus deactivated his holo-tool and looked down at Jack.

"So have you really got anything against our Spectre?" he asked in a sceptical and quite insulting tone. Jack though did not let that get to him as a confident smirk appeared on his face.

"Yes we do honoured Councillors". He then turned to Tali who activated her holo-tool and played an audio file for everyone in the chamber to hear.

"Have you located the next Lithonian Artefact" Saren spoke as the council chamber suddenly went silent as everyone was listening intently to the audio file that was now playing.

"Yes Saren, it is located on the planet of Eden Prime, but it has been excavated by the Humans and Autobots who have a colony situated there." an unknown voice replied.

"They are of no concern, alert the Geth forces we have to attack the planet, secure the artefact and await my arrival." Saren said as gasps could be heard among the audience that was watching from the balconies high up in the chamber.

"It will be done Saren." the unknown voice answered.

"Our search is nearly over Sideways, because once we have what we need from Eden Prime, we will be one step closer to the finding the Conduit" Saren continued.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers" Sideways finished.

Tali deactivated her holo-tool and looked around as the audience started talking amongst themselves. Jack looked at the councillors who looked shocked at the new development. Sparatus looked absolutely furious.

"How do we even know that this evidence is even legitimate. It could be a fake." he tried to reason weakly.

Valern was working his holo-tool when he stopped and looked towards the Turian councillor.

"The Quarian has just sent me a copy of the file and I have completed the scan of it. It is genuine and the voice sample is a one hundred percent match with Saren".

The whole room went silent again as the Sparatus looked down to the ground, obviously this news had hit him hard. Tevos decided to speak for her fellow councillor.

"As this new evidence has proved that Saren has in fact gone rogue and attacked the very people and principles that he was chosen to protect, we have no choice but to strip him of his Spectre status. We wish to offer our apologies to you and your people for any animosity that we had pointed at you."

"Thank you madam councillor, we were only here to make sure that the truth was known to all of you so that Saren could be stopped." Anderson replied as Tevos nodded in return.

"Since we are now one Spectre down, Commander Darby you have proven yourself worthy of becoming the first human Spectre to the Council, but unfortunately as your race is not part of the council then you do not qualify."

The balconies above started chattering again at the councillors comments. Optimus stepped forward.

"Madam Tevos and respected Councillors, I do have an answer to the problem if I am allowed to continue" the Prime said as his face remained stoic.

"And what is it Optimus Prime." Valern asked the Autobot leader.

"As the history records show, Cybertron was once a part of this council during our golden age many millennia ago and It was the duty of the Primes to defend the rights and freedoms of all sentient life in the galaxy. But when our civil war began and we found ourselves cut off from the rest of the rest of the galactic community. This Council saw fit to hand that duty to the Spectres and it seems that they too have now failed. So I believe that it is time for one to rise up and carry the title of Prime and protect this galaxy from whatever threat that Saren is planning to let loose on us all."

The Councillors spoke among themselves for a moment, going over what Optimus had suggested.

"And would that be you Optimus Prime?" Tevos asked. The Prime shook his head.

"I maybe a Prime and the leader of the Autobots, but my time has passed. Though I do know that there is a person among us today who is ready to accept this title."

Jack suddenly felt very self conscious and gulped when the Council looked at him and then his friends.

"Of whom do you speak of?" Sparatus asked, looking among the group in front of him, not looking at Jack.

Optimus turned to Jack and motioned him forward.

"Commander Jack Darby of course." he said beaming with pride, which made The Turian Councillor's jaw drop.

"But he is not even Cybertronian, how can he become a Prime?" he spat in complete disbelief as Optimus's face went stoic as he looked back at him.

"To be a Prime is to stand for and protect the values that Primus himself embodies. To lead by example and inspire those around him and forever stand vigilant against those who would seek to bring darkness over us all. Jackson Darby has proven himself worthy time and again, during the final years of our civil war and after becoming a soldier of the Alliance. He is the perfect choice to become the next Prime."

Sparatus suddenly found that his voice had deserted him after Optimus had said his piece as the other councillors nodded in agreement.

Jack meanwhile had no idea what to do and his stomach felt like it was tied up in knots, but then suddenly he began to calm down when he felt a soft hand take his and squeeze it gently in support. He turned to find Arcee standing beside him, his hand in hers. She turned to him and smiled the kind of smile that would make Jack's heart skip a beat every time he saw it.

"Its time" she spoke gently to him as she let go of his hand and watched him walk up to Optimus, the look on her face was that of the same pride that was on Optimus's at that exact moment. Jack stood beside Optimus as the council studied him from their podium.

"Commander Darby, we accept the suggestion that Optimus Prime has offered us. But do you accept the title of Prime and the responsibilities that it brings?"

Jack looked to Optimus who was looking at him in a way that Jack could only describe as a proud father, a warm smile on his face. With the silent approval that Optimus gave him. Jack turned back to the council.

"I accept it with all that I am." he answered.

"Very well, Optimus Prime we leave this in your capable hands." Tevos said as the Council stood and watched history unfold in front of them. Optimus turned to Jack and removed a chain that was around his neck and hidden under his armour. On the chain, much like the one that Jack had with the key on it, was a small pendent shaped crystal. Optimus placed the crystal in the palm of his right hand and it glowed a gentle white energy as it grew into the now recognizable matrix of leadership.

"Jack take the key to vector sigma and place it in your right hand." Optimus told him. Jack nodded and took the key from under his t-shirt and held it in his right hand as it too grew to the size that it had been the last time he had used it years ago.

"Now hold it up against the Matrix and if proven worthy of which I have no doubt, then primus will bestow upon you the title of Prime." Optimus commanded. Jack nodded and held the key next to the fabled relic. As if on cue both relics started to glow a bright white light that encompassed both Optimus and Jack and making everyone cover theirs eyes. After several seconds the light died down and everyone looked at Optimus and Jack.

Optimus had no changes to his person, but the same could not be said of Jack who first looked at the object in his hand. Gone was the key to Vector Sigma and it was replaced with a silver and gold relic that had a doughnut like shape with a white shining crystal in the hole at the center. Jack then noticed that he was no longer wearing the clothes that he had worn in the Under-city, but instead was wearing an armour that he had never seen before.

It was dark grey and had a very sleek and lightweight design to it. It had a red stripe with thick silver outlines going down both of his arms from past the shoulder pads that ended at his gloved hands. And on right side of his chest plate where the Alliance insignia would be, was a Silver Autobot insignia with Red outline. He smiled at his new look before looking back up to Optimus.

"Primus has found you worthy Jackson Darby and has given you the Star of Terra, the Human matrix of leadership, inside it contains the wisdom of the Primes and is a sibling to the matrix that I carry. You are now Jackson Prime, the first Human Prime."

And with that the chamber filled with the sounds of applause as everyone from his friends and the audience, and even the Council were applauding the new Prime as both he and Optimus watched as their matrixes shrunk back to the pendent sized crystals for them to wear on their person.

After the applause had died down. Tevos stood forward and looked at the new Prime in front of her.

"Jackson Prime, we thank you for what you have done for us this day by showing us Saren's true self and for accepting the role of this cycle's Prime. We now order….no we ask that you stop Saren from achieving his goal of finding this Conduit. We may not believe in the Reapers as a threat but Saren and the Geth force under his control must be delt with. Will you do this for the galaxy?"

Jack took a step in front of Optimus and saluted the Council.

"I will madam Councillor. I will do everything in my power to bring Saren to justice."

Tevos smiled as did Valern and Perceptor, Sparatus though gave a nod of respect to Jack.

"Then go with the knowledge that this Council grants you every resource that you will require in you mission. Good luck to you Jackson Prime."

With that the council left the chamber as Jack was left with his family and friends smiling back at him as they grouped around him.

After leaving the Council Chamber and being congratulated by each of his friends. Jack noticed Arcee checking out his new Armour.

"I have to say that armour looks really good on you Jack." she said with a playful smile.

"Thanks," he replied shyly, his face going slighty red from all the attention he was getting or maybe it was the way Arcee had just looked at him. He wasn't entirely sure which it was.

"It doesn't even feel like I am wearing it. It's not the least bit heavy." Jack added as Optimus walked up to both of them.

"I believe that armour holds more surprises for you that will reveal themselves when needed." he said with a proud smile. "I am very proud of you Jackson, but I believe that Captain Anderson would like to speak to you."

Jack turned to Anderson who looked at him with a proud look, not the first Jack has seen in the last half hour or so.

"Commander Darby or is it Jackson Prime?" he asked a little confused.

"Jackson can use both titles, it is not one or other" Optimus told Anderson which the man nodded at in understanding.

"I have another surprise for you Jack, I will be staying aboard the Citadel when the Normandy leaves. Instead you will be the ship's commanding officer from now on. After all you will need the ship more than I will." he continued as he offered Jack his hand.

The surprise in Jack's face made both Optimus and Anderson chuckle before Jack shook Anderson's hand.

"Thank you Anderson, I will take good care of her." he replied. Jack then turned to Wrex, Garrus and Tali.

"Hey guys, you know we made quite the team earlier today. Is there any chance I can convince you to join the us on the Normandy?" he asked as he was joined by Kaiden, Miko and Wheeljack, not noticing Arcee who had slipped by to speak to Optimus in private.

"Hell why not, count me in Darby" Wrex said with a smile on his face.

"Well I don't know how much help I could be, but you did save my life back in the under city so, yes I will join you and do what I can." Tali replied.

Jack then looked at Garrus, who looked like he was thinking it over.

"Well, my father always wanted me to serve in C-Sec, but I am getting tired of all the red tape and you do seem to have a knack for finding trouble Jack so yes, count me in too." The Turain replied with a smirk. Jack shook their hands and offered them a warm smile.

"Well then welcome to the Normandy. The ship is docked at bay 23 on the presidium ring. We will be leaving as soon as everyone is ready." As the three left, Optimus and Arcee joined Jack.

"Jackson, Arcee has requested a transfer from my team to your command on the Normandy" the Autobot leader said as Jack looked to Arcee.

"I am yours if you want me partner?" she said hiding any doubt she might had had at that particular moment behind a smile. Jack looked at her and gave her a big grin as he held out his hand to her.

"I would be honoured to have my partner alongside me on this mission Arcee, if you will accept the position of my XO?" he replied gaining a shocked look from the femme.

"Are you sure?" she replied hesitantly.

"You have been Optimus's SIC for a long time Arcee, you have more experience than anyone on the Normandy, and I trust you to keep me on my toes as this is my first command."

Arcee smiled and shook Jack's hand. "Well I guess I'm your girl." she said, her face beaming.

"Yes you are Arcee." Jack replied in a gentle and warm tone that made femme's spark skip a beat.

Optimus had watched the two as they were talking and took great joy in seeing how happy they were together at this moment.

"Well it is time I was on my way. I wish you the best of luck in your mission Jackson, and Arcee take care of him."

"I will Optimus, that's a promise" the femme replied as Optimus said his goodbyes to the two of them and walked away to the transit hub. Then both partners headed for the elevator back to the Normandy.

PRIME EFFECT​

As the Normandy left the Citadel and made its way towards the space bridge, Jack and Arcee were in the cockpit as he had just introduced his new XO to Hotrod. Both command officers were now wearing Alliance uniforms.

"Sir we are getting a data packet from the Citadel. It's the council, they have sent us information on a number of coordinates where Saren might be located, based on his past actions a Spectre as well a large data file concerning the Reapers." Hotrod told Jack as he was flying the ship.

"Thanks Hotrod, now could you patch me into the intercom." Jack asked the pilot who obliged.

"Intercom open" he replied. Jack then thought for a second on what he would say before he stood straight and started to address the rest of the ship who were listening after the intercom activated.

"Crew of the Normandy, this is Commander Darby speaking. As you know I have been given command of this ship from Captain Anderson and we have been tasked with a mission of the utmost importance. We have to find Saren before he finds the Conduit. Now I won't lie to you, this will not be an easy mission. We all saw what happened at Eden Prime and we may only be one ship. But I know that this ship and her crew are the best in the Alliance and we will not fail in our mission, because this is our chance to show the galaxy what we are capable of when we all work together. We will find Saren and put an end to him and the Geth force under his control. This I promise you all." The Commander then deactivated the intercom.

"Well said Commander and congratulations on being made a Prime. You deserve it Sir."

Jack patted Hotrod on the shoulder. "Thanks Hotrod, now take us to the first set of coordinates on the list the council sent us." Jack ordered as he and Arcee who was looking at him full of pride, turned and headed back to the CIC.

"Aye Aye Commander" Hotrod answered as the Normandy left Citadel space via the Space Bridge.


A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed that and thank you for reading.  

Next chapter: The Normandy comes across a derelict starship with a terror on board beyond anything they have seen.

 

CHAPTER VI

The Alliance frigate Normandy appeared from inside a plasma cloud and flew through another star system before jumping to hyperspace. It had been several days since the new Prime, Commander Jack Darby and his crew had started its search for Saren and so far the they had come up empty. They had visited several of the coordinates given to them by the Council and yet they had found nothing. What if Saren had found yet another relic of the Lithone or had discovered the Conduit already. These thoughts and more had gone through the minds of the crew as they performed their duties aboard the ship.

Miko was keeping Wheeljack company as he worked in the ship's science bay. Tali was in Engineering. Kaidan was talking to Hotrod in the cockpit. Wrex was sitting alone the Common room and felt quite bored. He activated his com link.

"Garrus its Wrex, you there you little Pyjak."

Garrus though was in the main battery room, running diagnostics on the ship's weapon systems.

"I can hear you Wrex, what's the problem?" Garrus replied not taking his attention from what he was doing.

"Are you gonna come up here and talk to me. The others are busy with whatever it is that they are doing, the rest of the crew wont speak to me." he said with a rather sad tone.

"I think they are intimidated by me."

Garrus then looked up from the console.

"Intimidated by a Krogan, now what would give you that impression?" Garrus replied with a chuckle.

"Yeah yeah, just get your ass up here and have a drink with me." Wrex replied with a sigh.

"Sorry, I'm still in the middle of some calibrations." the Turian replied with a sympathetic edge to his voice.

"You said that same thing two hours ago." The Krogan said bitterly as he looked down at his glass and sighed yet again as two crewmen walked in and immediately kept their distance.

Jack was in his new quarters, well they were Anderson's quarters but as he was in command now, had the honour of a more spacious room that had everything his old quarters had and a little more. It had a bathroom and also a fish tank, Jack looked over from his desk to the fish tank that was lit up in an azure blue light.

'No, definitely not getting any fish for that.' he thought to himself. The last time he had attempted to look after fish, his mother ended up flushing it down the toilet when he was younger. He turned back round to his desk and reactivated his console. There were still empty boxes lying in the corner of the room next to the far end of the fish tank, left over from his attempts of making it feel more like his own. But he had to keep on looking through the reapers file that the council had sent him before they had left Citadel space.

As he looked through the file, he could see why the Council liked to believe the Reapers were nothing more than a myth. This whole file read like one of those dark fairy tales his mother read him when he was a little kid, like Hansel and Gretel. The old witch in that one had scared him so much that he had to sleep in his mother's bed that particular night. His thoughts drifted to his mother as he recalled the conversation they had a few days ago over the stellar com. She was extremely proud of him for becoming a Prime and had faith in him to complete this secret mission that she could not know about.

She had also told him not to worry about her as her husband, Jack's step father William Fowler had just bought them a new house on the coast of California and they had just moved in a few days ago. Jack had never really liked Fowler when they had first met, but they soon earned each others respect as they took part in the Autobots war. They had even grown to be friends by the end and Jack had also noticed how Folwer and his Mother had grown close. He was happy that his mother had found someone who actually cared about her compared to the other guys that had come and gone in her life. So when Folwer asked June to marry him, he first asked for Jack's consent and he gave it happily.

As Jack sat in silence he was suddenly brought out from his thoughts by a sound going off which meant that someone was waiting outside his room.

"Come in" he answered as the door opened and Arcee walked in, her electric blue eyes scanning the room before falling on Jack as he sat at his desk. A gentle smile grew on her face.

"Hey Jack, I'm not bothering you I am?" she asked as Jack returned the smile.

"No not at all, actually I could use the company. This file on the Reapers is starting to give me a headache with how little it actually says on them." He replied while gently rubbing his eyes.

Arcee walked beside him and bent down placing one hand on the desk and the other on the back of his chair as she looked at the data on his screen. At this close Jack could smell the natural fragrance of her soft skin and it sent waves over him as he suddenly felt very hot. He took a deep breath before looking back at the screen. If Arcee had noticed this, she didn't show it as she continued to look at the data, but Jack couldn't see a small smile that had graced her lips.

"Maybe you could use a fresh pair of eyes on this?" she said in a gentle tone.

"That's a good idea." he replied as Arcee rose back up and walked over to get a chair. She then noticed the door to her left. Her curiosity got the better of her as the femme walked over to it and opened the door revealing a small bathroom with toilet, a sink and a fully functioning shower.

She turned to Jack with a look of surprise on her face.

"You have a shower?..." she asked making Jack turn to her.

"...My quarters don't have one?"

Jack gave her a playful look as he looked at the femme.

"Well I am the commanding officer, all the privileges and such "

She crossed her arms and tried to look as annoyed as she could though she found it hard to do with the way Jack was looking back at her.

"But you can use my shower if you like?" he said which caught her by surprise.

"Really Jack?" she asked.

"Sure, we are partners after all." he said as he got up and went over to the drawer and picked out a large towel which he then handed to her. Arcee took the towel.

"Thank you Jack" she smiled to him as she then turned and headed to the bathroom.

"It does only have cold water though" The Prime joked which the femme didn't find funny.

"You better be joking because if not, then I will hunt you down…partner" she playfully replied as Jack chuckled.

Arcee then entered the bathroom only to come back out a moment later.

"There is not enough room to change in there" she observed. Jack then pointed behind him to the area on the other side of his bed.

"Then get changed behind me, I promise I wont look" Jack said with a smirk gracing his face. His XO looked back at him with a look of disbelief.

"Yeah sure, because you are not like other males of your species are you." she replied dryly.

"I am a Prime after all and we Primes do not lie remember" he said in kind. Arcee then motioned him to turn back to the screen, Jack faking hurt feelings as he gave her a sad smile and then carried on reading the data on the Reapers.

After a moment, making sure that Jack was true to his word, Arcee then started to undress. As he kept his eyes on the screen, not wanting to upset his partner. Jack found himself actually wanting to take a peek, but kept himself from doing so out of respect for her. When she walked back towards the bathroom she was wearing only the towel that Jack had handed her.

'Damn, Arcee looks great no matter what she is wearing.' he thought as he found himself ever so slightly glancing back.

"I wont be long Jack" she said as she closed the door behind her. Jack then looked back at his screen only for his attention to be caught by the sound of the shower activating. He just sighed and slumped into his chair, numerous thoughts going through his mind.

Arcee removed the towel and hung it up on the wall as she walked under the shower, the warm water spraying over her. It was so soothing on her skin that she let herself completely relax. But it was at that moment that her thoughts dwelled on the man in the next room, her Jack. And she found that thinking of him warmed her spark more than the shower she was in.

After a few minutes, Arcee stepped back out with the towel wrapped around her, and her blue hair all messy from drying it with that same towel. Jack turned away again, this time without her needing to mention it. Which made her smile as Arcee got dressed, she actually thought it was quite cute that Jack had obeyed her.

"So did you enjoy the shower?" Jack ask as Arcee stepped back round to him fully dressed and her hair styled back to the way that she always had it and personally Jack loved the way she looked.

"Yes I will have to use it again" she replied.

"You hungry, I was just thinking of getting a bite to eat if your interested in joining me?" the Femme then asked. Jack smiled at her and turned off his console.

"Sure, feeling a little peckish myself actually, lets go see what chef has on the menu today." he replied as the both headed out of his room.

They had only got to the elevator when suddenly the intercom activated and Hotrod's voice spoke.

"Senior Officers report to the CIC, I repeat….." Jack and Arcee looked at each other for a moment and they could both see the disappointment in each others eyes as they entered the elevator.

Once in the CIC, they both walked up to the cockpit and stood next to their pilot.

"Report Hotrod, what is it?" Jack asked.

Hotrod looked up from his console at both of them.

"Commander we are picking up a strange signal coming from the star system next to one we are in. I only detected it because I recalibrated the sensors to a more sensitive calibration, so that we don't miss a thing when we entered the last system on our list."

Jack smiled at his pilot and placed his hand on his shoulder in support.

"Good work Hotrod, I think this is worth checking out"

Arcee looked at the Commander questioningly.

"Jack why do you think that?"

Jack looked over to her.

"Just seems strange to pick up a signal when we are about to reach the final set of coordinates. We might have missed it if Hotrod hadn't altered the sensors."

Jack then turned back to the Autobot pilot.

"Hotrod set course for the location of that signal and engage the hyper drive."

"Aye Aye Commander" Hotrod replied.

PRIME EFFECT​

The Normandy entered the system and flew towards a large brown/red planet with a ring of asteroids around it. Both partners were still in the cockpit with Hotrod.

"Sir the signal is coming from a star ship that is inside the planet's asteroid field. I can't get any more details from this far out."

"Then take us in closer Hotrod." Jack said. The pilot nodded and flew the ship towards the outskirts of the field and slowed the ship to a stop.

"Cant afford to get any closer with the random way that those Asteroids are moving in there. But I am getting a more clearer scan. I am also picking up an Alliance IFF code." Hotrod said while bringing up the details of the ship on his screen. The Prime and the femme looked over the details.

"Alliance cruiser Conestoga, what is it doing all the way out here in the Terminus systems..." Jack asked.

"...How is the ship looking?"

"Sensor readings show that it has taken a bit of a beating from the asteroids but it still has about 57% hull integrity and breathable atmosphere aboard." Hotrod reported.

"What about life signs?" the Commander asked.

Hotrod shook his head in frustration. "Funny thing is whatever that signal the ship is emitting, it is blocking our sensors from detecting any life signs. But the same signal doesn't effect our sensors when it comes to anything else."

Jack mulled over what their next move would be and then activated the intercom.

"This is the Commander, Garrus, Wheeljack and Tali, I want you to meet Arcee and myself in the shuttle bay in full combat gear. And Colonel Kage, I want you and a team of marines down there ready too." Jack said before gesturing to Arcee to follow him.

"Hotrod, the ship is yours until we return" he added, earning a nod from the pilot.

"Aye Aye Commander." Hotrod replied as the partners left the CIC.

Down in the Shuttle bay, Garrus, Wheeljack and Tali were waiting next to shuttle one in full armour. Wheeljack's was his usual Black and white design, while Garrus was wearing a blue and silver armour. Tali was still wearing her enviro-suit while adjusting the shotgun in her hands. Next to shuttle two was a group of marines in standard alliance battle gear. Among them was a Caucasian man in his mid forties who looked like he had seen many battles in his life.

"I cant believe that I have to take orders from that boy." he said in a gruff voice tinged with frustration.

One of the marines turned round to him, surprise on his face.

"But he is the first Human Prime sir, as well as a Commander. Surely that is enough to warrant respect Colonel?" the private asked hoping not to offend him.

He looked at the private and gritted his teeth.

"Son I have spent twenty five years in the military, I have fought in some of the most dangerous conflicts on our planet. But this boy, this Jack Darby has risen through the ranks with ease, probably due to his friendship with the Autobots. I don't trust anyone who has had an easy ride, especially in our field of expertise."

One of the Marines then pointed out to the Colonel that Jack had just entered the Shuttle bay. Kage looked around to see the commander in his Prime armour and walking next to him was the Autobot femme Arcee, who was wearing a blue and black armour with pink highlights on her arms and legs. Jack stood between the two groups with his XO to his left side.

"Okay everyone, the mission is simple, we are going over in two shuttles. Arcee, myself, Garrus, Tali and Wheeljack will be in shuttle one and will board the Conestoga via the bow shuttle bay. Colonel Kage, you and your team will take shuttle two and board via the aft cargo bay. Once onboard, we will search the ship and meet in the CIC at its center. Our objectives are to access the data core and find out what happened on the ship, see if the crew are still alive and assist them if possible. Any questions?"

Everyone remained quiet as Jack looked at each of them, noticing Kage's not so pleasant look, Jack walked up to him.

"Is there a problem Colonel?" The Prime asked his face remaining stoic. The colonel just stared at Jack. If this was Kage's attempt to make the Prime feel small, then he really didn't know Jack at all. "Is there something on my face Colonel?" he asked, his face remaining stoic. The two just stared at each other like statues. Neither man wanted to break first, as the room had gone so quiet that if you listened you could hear crewmen talking on the deck above. Everyone just looked at the two leaders. A slight smile appearing Arcee's face.'

That's my Jack' she thought as Kage finally broke the silence.

"No Commander"

He didn't look happy that he had just yielded to Darby, the man he didn't believe deserved to be where he was.

"If there is nothing else…..sir" he replied in a annoyed tone.

"Carry on Colonel" Jack replied as he turned, ignoring the fact that the Kage was staring daggers into his back as he joined his team in shuttle one.

The two shuttles left the Normandy and flew into the asteroid field, dodging the huge chunks of rock that were double, some times triple the size of them. Onboard shuttle one, Jack was sitting down with Arcee to his left and Garrus to his right.

"Jack, I know you may not want to hear this, but I think Kage is going to be more trouble than he is worth." the Turian said looking at Jack with a troubled expression.

"He will do his duty, he wears the uniform." The Prime replied, causing Arcee to give her two cents.

"I don't think it is that simple Jack..." she said while placing a hand on his in support. Jack smiled back in appreciation.

"...he doesn't respect you and I can see that. Just don't turn your back on him." she said as she looked into his eyes. Jack could see the worry in her electric blue eyes.

"Okay Arcee" he then looked over to the Turian.

"Garrus thanks, both of you. I will make sure not to turn my back on him." He then looked across to Wheeljack and Tali who also smiled at him in support.

"Commander we are coming up on the Conestoga." the pilot reported as Jack went over to the cockpit and looked out at the damaged ship that they were heading towards.

"Okay, land us in the in the shuttle bay at the ship's bow." Jack said before rejoining his team.

The two shuttles then split up, shuttle two went round to the aft of the large star ship as jack's shuttle flew round to the bow and into the open shuttle bay and landed.

"Sir I have established a connection to the Conestoga's systems and erected a force field and established a breathable atmosphere in the bay." the pilot said. Jack acknowledged him and opened the hatch, him and his team disembarking, weapons at the ready.

"Colonel team one is aboard, report your status." Jack said over his com link. After a few seconds Kage's voice came through.

"Team two is aboard and has begun searching the ship. No sign of the crew yet."

"Roger that, we are heading towards the CIC now." Jack then closed the com as Tali activated her holo- tool and brought up a map of the ship.

"We should be able to reach the CIC via the these corridors" Tali pointed out to the group as they left the shuttle bay and promptly headed into the rest of the ship. As they walked the corridors the team found that they were almost completely dark apart from one or two lights flicking on and off every now and then.

"Well this is a good sign" Garrus said as they activated their torches and illuminated the area around them as they started down one of the corridors. Following the map that Tali had, they walked through the empty hallways but not come across one single crew member.

"Is anyone else getting a bad feeling from all of this." Wheeljack said as Arcee and their Prime took the lead.

"It certainly doesn't bode well for the crew does it." Arcee replied.

"Tali, are you getting any life readings at all." the femme asked the Quarian who just shook her head.

"No, I have added my scanner to the map, but that signal is still messing with them."

Jack turned to face Tali. "Any idea where that signal is coming from?"

"No, I can't pin it down, its like the whole ship is emitting it." she answered, the confusion in her voice evident. Jack was about to say something else when Arcee froze on the spot, her weapon's torch illuminating a body lying on the ground in front of them.

"Jack, I have found something" she said with a unnerved tone. The Commander and Wheeljack walked up to investigate while Garrus watched the rear. The two kneeled down next to the body as the Autobot started scanning the body with his holo-tool. Jack looked down at it. It looked like it had been attacked by a wild animal. The flesh had been torn from the bones and the face was missing, most likely ripped off. If Arcee had been human, she would have thrown up by now. She had seen some sights during the war, but nothing like this. Jack looked at Wheeljack.

"What have you got?"

The bot looked up from his holo -tool.

"Well he's dead Jack" he said in a matter of fact tone. Jack looked at him with deadpan expression.

"No shit, can you tell us anything else?"

"Well that whatever killed him was strong and fast, going over the marks left by the flesh being torn from the body."

Both then got up and stood over the corpse and looked back at the others. Jack saw the worry that had appeared on his team mates faces.

"This doesn't change our mission, we still have to find out what this ship was doing out here and we can only find that out at the CIC." He then activated his com link.

"Colonel Kage, we have found one of the crew dead. Have you found anything on your end."

Nothing came over the com but static.

"Colonel come in" Jack said again but still nothing.

"Now that can't be good." Garrus said as he kept watch.

"Maybe the signal is interrupting our com link." Jack replied before he turned to Tali.

"How far are we from the CIC?" he asked as the Quarian looked at the map.

"We are not far now, just a little bit further."

Jack nodded and looked at the rest of the group.

"Okay, we're moving on, but be on your guard. Whatever killed that man is probably still here. Lets go."

The team then moved further through the ship, keeping a watchful eye on everything they saw as they tried to stay silent, so not to alert whatever could be hiding in the shadows.

When they got to the CIC, they found it the same as the rest of the ship they had gone through, empty. Wheeljack and Tali started working on the ships computers, trying to bring up whatever information they could find. Garrus kept an eye on the door they had just entered by while Arcee guarded the other, looking out into the dark corridor ahead. Jack walked over to the galaxy map that was still functioning and activated the captain's terminal. He saw the last two reports that the ship's commanding officer had recorded and played the second to last entry, keeping the volume just loud enough for the team to hear.

"Captain's star log, 13th March 2028. We have now been in this system for the past three days, while attempting to repair our engines that had been going faulty ever since we found that artefact on the planet Virmire days before. I do not know why that Spectre had ordered us to that system but I am certain that the artefact is to blame. Since we excavated it, several of my crew have complained of headaches and others have reported seeing things that are not there. Even as I record this log, I too have seen parts of the bulkheads seemingly move when in fact they did not. What is happening to us?"

Everyone looked toward Jack.

"So this ship has been here for over a year and yet no one even noticed that it had gone missing?" Wheeljack said as he and Tali continued to work.

"And he mentioned a Spectre and an Artefact, it has to be Saren. I guess he sent this ship out here and then deleted any record of its mission." Arcee replied while looking down the dark corridor.

"And what about condition of the crew, the headaches and hallucinations they were experiencing, could the artefact be responsible. Does that mean we are in danger of falling to its effects." Tali said looking at Jack.

"I don't know Tali, but it sounded like they had been exposed to it for several days, so for the moment we should be alright. Now I will just play the last report." Jack said as he activated the terminal.

"Captain's Star log, the date…. what was it again, It doesn't matter. I was wrong, we were all wrong. They are here to save us all, to make us one with them. Help us ascend. All we need to do is listen to their song. When I close my eyes I can see them in my mind, black shadows infesting my thoughts. I was afraid of them to start with, but not any longer. I will give my life for Sovereign…." the captain said before the sound of something metal piercing his skin filled the room and then he was heard coughing up blood before everything went silent and the recording ended.

The whole room was quiet, as everything they had just heard sank in. Jack then turned off the terminal and walked over to Tali and Wheeljack.

"Oh keelah" Tali said as the Commander put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

"Have you found anything?" he asked and Wheeljack nodded.

"Yes, Saren was the Spectre in charge, he used his position to have this ship go out to the planet Virmire without giving them any additional information. Also the artifact they found wasn't Lithonian, but of unknown origin and is currently in the Science lab. I can't get anything else of any use since the rest of the database is heavily fragmented."

"Is it possible that the artifact is of Reaper origin?" Arcee asked as she looked over at them.

"It is possible, and I think it is worth a look." Jack replied as he placed his hand to his ear and activated his com link.

"Commander Darby to Colonel Kage, please come in" he said, but still nothing. Jack was about to turn if off when sound of gunfire came over the com. He then heard voices shouting, including Kage's.

"Kage come, in what's your status?" Jack asked again.

"Kage here, we are under attack by multiple enemies and have been forced to take cover in a storage room on deck 12. We have lost two of our team and could use some assistance."

Jack motioned the others in the direction of Kage's team.

"We are on our way, hang on Kage" Jack said before turning off the com and looking at his team.

"Okay, we now have a better idea of what happened here, but team two needs our help. So our new objectives are to help Kage and his team, then find this Artefact and find a way to shut down its signal so that we can communicate with shuttles, okay?"

Everyone nodded even though Jack could see that they were shaken a little by what they had just found and heard in the last few minutes. "Alright then, lets move out" he said as they left the CIC and headed in the direction that Kage's team were in.

They hadn't gotten far when a high pitch scream echoed down the corridor in front of them. They raised their weapons and illuminated the area in front of them with their torches.

"What the hell was that" Arcee asked as Jack took a step in front of her.

"I guess we are about to find out what has killed this crew and who are currently attacking our other team. "Garrus said as another scream echoed behind him making him turn in its direction.

"Okay we are surrounded then, everyone take defensive positions." Jack ordered as he and Arcee kept a vigilant view on the corridor ahead of them, it was blanketed in darkness between flickers of the lights on the ceiling. Garrus, Wheeljack and Tali watched the area behind them. For a long moment all they heard was inhuman screaming getting closer from both directions. Then suddenly a horde of creatures ran out of the shadows towards the group. They appeared to be human but their eyes were devoid of life, glowing a hollow blue light as they screamed at the team.

"Fire at will" Jack shouted as they opened fire, taking down several of the creautres that were running at them, but more still came. Bullets riddling through the creaures, spilling blood all over the walls, but still they kept coming.

"They gonna be on top of us in moments Prime" Wheeljack shouted back as he and Garrus took down several more while Tali blew two others away with her shotgun.

"Take that you bosh'tet" she cried out while Jack and Arcee remained quiet and just focused on head shots, putting down a number of the enemies.

"Go for head shots and conserve ammo" Jack commanded as he took down three more that had nearly got within arms reach of them.

"Start moving forward and keep this formation" he said as the group started moving while keeping the creatures at bay with their weapons fire.

"These things just don't know when to quit." Wheeljack commented as one enemy got too close, causing him to equip his sword and slice it in half, blood splattering on the wall next to him.

"Well at least they not very smart" Garrus observed as he and Tali switched positions so that she could cover him while he reloaded his weapon.

"Yeah but if we let our guard down even for a second they will overwhelm us" Arcee replied as she blew open the head of one, causing its insides to hit the face of another creautre that screamed at her. Arcee then pointed her weapon at that one and fired taking its right eye out the back of its head as it then fell limp on the floor. Others running over the body as they continued to attack.

Jack then got a signal from Kage and answered it as he killed a few more creatures.

"Kage what is you situation?" he asked as he heard gunfire and inhuman screams over the com link.

"We are holding our own right now, but they just keep coming. How close are you?" he shouted over the weapon's fire.

"We are near, but have come under attack too" Jack replied as he reloaded his gun and Arcee covered him.

"We will join you in a few minutes" he said as he lifted the gun up and blew the legs from under one creature before putting a bullet between its eyes.

"Roger that" Kage replied before deactivating the com link.

PRIME EFFECT​

They slowly made their way through the hallways while under continuous attack from the monsters. But things were starting to get desperate as they soon realised that if these things continued to attack like this they would run out of ammo before they could reach Kage and his team.

"So any ideas" Garrus asked as he took down two more with one bullet passing through both their heads.

"Nice shot" Tali said gaining a smile from the Turian. Jack took a quick scan of the corridor ahead while continuing to fire on the hordes approaching them. He then saw what looked like a gas cylinder which was on a the wall right down the bottom where the creatures were running from.

"Do you see a gas cylinder down your end of the corridor." Jack asked.

"Yeah" Garrus mentioned after spotting it.

"Shoot it" the Prime replied. Garrus looked back after killing two that had gotten close.

"That's your plan?"

"Yeah" Jack said with a grin growing on his face.

"Okay then, fire in the hole" he shouted as both of them shot their respective cylinders which exploded into a fireball at either end of the corridor, enveloping the horde close by and taking out the ones closing on the group. The team dived onto the floor as the fire passed over them before disappearing.

After the ringing in their ears had died down. They all got up to find charred remains lying around them and no more creatures attacking. Wheeljack looked at the bodies and smiled.

"Why didn't I think of that?" he said happily as Garrus turned to him.

"Well if you had you may have brought some grenades with you." he responded with sarcasm in his voice.

"Well I didn't know we would be fighting zombies on this mission." Wheeljack answered back.

Tali looked over at one of the bodies.

"It's not a…what did you call it. A zombie?" she remarked as she took scans with her holo-tool.

"They were human though but it seems that they have been heavily modified by tech. And that tech has the same energy signature as the signal covering this ship." she added as the others stood around her as Arcee and Jack looked at each other.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked not trying to hide the concern in his voice.

"I'm fine, just running low on ammo" Arcee replied while giving Jack a gentle smile. Jack then turned back to Tali and the others.

"Well we can figure out what these things are once we are together with Kage's team, lets keep moving."

They were about to head on when suddenly the vent covering behind Arcee smashed open and a creature grabbed her and pulled her into the vent.

"JACK HELP!" she screamed as it hauled her off. Jack suddenly felt any self control he had disappear as his mind was overcome by the need to help his partner, his girl.

"ARCEE!" he yelled back as he jumped into the vent, falling down into the darkness below. While leaving his three friends alone with the sounds of more creatures screaming as they approached them again.

A/N: I hoped you enjoyed that and thank you for reading. 

Next Chapter: Jack and Arcee are alone and facing hordes of those creatures with little ammo and no way to escape.