Chapter 9: Another Day in Paradise

Here's another update that I have been meaning to get out in the open. At first I was unsure how this was going to proceed until I remembered that synthetics are NOT the most trustworthy in the galaxy due to the geth rebellion against the quarians. Expect a lot of fear against the Autobots, and I mean a lot of fear.

The small group of Autobots stood before the airlock, Optronix could easily sense the uneasy tension in the air. He knew that they all knew that once they stepped onto the Citadel, they would no doubt be in for a lot of guns pointing at them. He had made his orders perfectly clear, that no one was to resist should the Citadel Security take matters into their own hands. He reached behind his back, checking to make sure that his weapons were tucked safely and out of sight. No matter what the situation, he would never even dream to think about raising a weapon at the organics. Dealing with synthetics was certainly something no one expected.

He took a deep intake of air, mentally praying to Primus that this meeting with the Council would go as smoothly as possible. To make things easier, every Autobot had agreed to take on Wheeljack's new inventions, thus shrinking down to organic size and make themselves less threatening then they already were. Optronix had then selected a small team of five Autobots: Jazz, Cliffjumper, Arcee, Mirage, and Windblade.

Jazz was mostly needed for his coolheaded and friendly nature, not to mention Optronix needed the presence of his old friend to ensure that everything would go well. He would've picked Prowl to come along instead, but Jazz insisted that he come so that he could get a better understanding of the strange organics.

Cliffjumper and Arcee were chosen for their cooperation and good intentions. Though they were young, they had a relationship that extended beyond normal friendship. The pair was never seen without the other, having been through a lot more than Optronix knew during the war on Cybertron, and were practically joined at the hip. Wherever you saw Arcee, Cliffjumper was bound to be close by.

Mirage was a difficult kind to get along with, having been raised in the upper caste system before the Great War started. Even though he looked down upon those who were of lower status than him, nothing was better than to have his sniping skills. It was said that he could detect the wind trajectory of a bullet with his acute sensors and never miss his target. But what made him different was his ability to turn himself completely invisible to the naked optics, shifting his armour into a mirror like image that rendered him hidden from all sensors, unless you had a heat detecting sensors. He took his job as a scout very seriously, and he was quite proud of his skills too. He even mentored Bumblebee in the ways of scouting himself.

Windblade was, however, one of the most difficult to understand. Like Arcee and Cliffjumper, she was young, but perhaps a little younger than them by Cybertronian standards. However, she had a quick temper and a quicker wit, deflecting words with humour and a kind smile. However, she was not without her issues, seemingly having a large amount of confidence in her abilities, and for good reason too. Unlike everyone else on the team, she was one of the rare individuals to have flight capabilities, thus giving her the ability to transform into a jet. Unlike Jetfire, who had been a Decepticon for a short period of time and was a Seeker himself, Windblade had been born amongst the Autobots during the War. She was practically the first femme Seeker to be born and grow up in the Autobot ranks. Strangely though, when she had been born, her face had been dotted with strange markings unlike anything the Autobots had seen before, though they merely viewed it as a simple spark-mark when she had been born from the Well.

But of course, Optronix treasured each and every Autobot amongst his crew. Every individual was different no matter how great or small they were. He trusted them to get the job done, hence why he chose them to come along for this simple mission.

If it were a simple mission.

"Nervous, Arcee?" Cliffjumper teased.

Optronix allowed a small smile to cross his faceplates. He glanced over his shoulder to see two out of five of his team members bickering quietly amongst themselves. The young blue and pink femme huffed in response, smirking as she answered in a cool manner, "No, I'm not nervous at all, Cliff. In fact, I am the complete opposite."

"What makes you say that?" Jazz asked. "Judging by your fiddling hands and your shifting pedes, I'd say you're the opposite."

"I'm not, Jazz," Arcee protested, turning to the black and white mech. "I'm actually worried about how this is all going to go. For all we know, we could be stuck talking about politics all damn solar cycle! We should be out there looking for Megatron and his Decepticon goons before they cause more harm."

"And we will, Arcee," Optronix said, his tone gentle and calm, "once we work things out with the Citadel Council. Without their aid, we'd never make it through the galaxy. We'd be viewed as enemies, not as castaways that need help."

"Tell that to the aliens who view synthetics as beings that need to be destroyed," Arcee sighed.

"That is where we come in, two-wheeler," Windblade said as she took one step in and playfully poked Arcee in the chest plates. Windblade seemed to have a bit of a habit with providing nicknames for most of the Autobots, some of which were quite amusing. "We're here to talk to the Council and get some help for our people. If they greet us with welcoming arms, then that is good for us."

"And what if they greet us with weapons at our faces?" Mirage asked as he folded his arms across his chest.

"As the humans say, Mirage, we will cross that bridge when we come to it," Optronix replied. He turned back to face the airlock and pressed a finger to the side of his helm. "Bumblebee, you can open the airlock now."

"Yes, Sir," came Bumblebee's reply. "I'm opening the airlock now."

The massive door in front of the team slowly opened, steam hissing from the joints. Optronix's audio receptors quickly tuned out the sound that affected his sensitive hearing, but as the door kept on going up his proximity sensors immediately picked up several figures standing just in front of the door, and they had their weapons drawn out.

Shepard was nervous, she normally never got nervous at a time like this, but the longer the airlock took to open up, the more anxious she became. She paced constantly up and down in front of Ash and Kaidan, the two watching her with surprise. Kaidan knew her better than Ash did and it seemed quite obvious to him that she was determined to get out of the blasted ship and sort out whatever could be going on outside where the Ark had been stationed just behind the Normandy.

The massive Ark had dwarfed the entire docking station, making it difficult for it to manoeuvre into position, but thanks to gentle and swift hands the Ark had made it to a station where it could dock safely without causing too much of a hassle for the other ship. But even the Destiny Ascension was dwarfed by the massive size of the ship that was home to all the Autobots.

Now if only this blasted VI of the Normandy could finish depressurizing the interior atmosphere, they could find out what was going on when Joker had picked up the welcoming party for the Ark. Shepard growled in frustration as the slow as hell computer continued to scan. She turned and slammed her fist upon the damn control panel.

"Come on!" she snapped. "Hurry the fuck up!"

Then, as if some unknown god heard her anger and her determination to get to the Autobots, the virtual intelligence of the Normandy finally opened the airlock and Shepard made a mad dash towards the Ark. To her surprise an entire C-Sec squad had their weapons trained at what happened to be the small human-sized forms of Optronix and several other Autobots.

Optronix she managed to recognise, but the others were all completely different. Only two out of the whole group looked extremely strange, like they reminded her of human women. The dark blue and pink one looked extremely tempted to shoot the face off the officer in front of her were it not for her red companion trying to ease her temper. The red and black one with the wings had a smirk written all over her white red-marked face, she looked like she was willing to leap into action in the most awesome way possible, a rookie no doubt.

The rest of the group looked completely male, if the robots even had gender. But the more she looked at them, the more she realised that there was indeed a male and a female of the Cybertronian species. They were aliens! Aliens that were not machines like they usually expected.

Wait a minute, Shepard thought, weren't they bigger before?

Maybe it was some kind of tech that Optronix hadn't told her about.

Whatever it was, they certainly were not tall anymore and she was surprised to see that the small group of Autobots had their arms placed behind the back of their heads. It would seem like they were willing to cooperate with the police force by any means necessary in order to appear non-threatening.

The officer in charge, a turian male with white markings on his mandibles, continued to stare icily at the Autobots. "What are synthetics doing onboard that ship?" he demanded furiously. "Where are the aliens?"

Shepard watched as Optronix looked at the black and white mech from the corner of his optics. The white mech made a gesture by shrugging his shoulders, as though they seemed to be communicating over some kind of unheard frequency. Optronix turned back to the turian in front of him and slowly lowered his arms, but the officers jerked their weapons slightly to indicate that they were more than willing to shoot. Optronix understood the message and returned his arms to the back of his head.

Shepard knew that she had to step in or else risk the unexpected guests' personal safety. She ran forward before either Kaidan or Ash could stop her and stood between the officers and the Autobots. "Detective Chellick, wait!" she cried. "They're not the enemy."

"What are you doing, Commander?" the turian she identified as Chellick demanded. "These are synthetics, they are the enemy! We should destroy them while we have the chance. We need to speak with the aliens, not them."

"Commander Shepard," Optronix's deep baritone voice cut through, shocking the entire squad, "we will take care of this. Do not endanger yourself for our sake."

"By the Pillars, it talked!" a batarian shouted from the back. "We should kill them where they stand before they have a chance to attack the Citadel!"

"I assure you, Detective Decian Chellick," Optronix said softly, causing the whole squad to gasp even more, "that we are not the enemy and mean you or anyone else on this station any harm. My people and I came to the Citadel in a desperate time of need. We've come to make negotiations with the Council in order to secure shelter, fuel, and perhaps even talk into exchanging technology."

There were mutters and whispers amongst the squad before Chellick slowly lowered his weapon, but not low enough to show that he meant business. "Fine, but I'm warning you that if you or your men try anything funny, I'll see to it that my squad and I shoot you down."

Optronix nodded. "And I will ensure that we will not resist, Detective," he said. There were groans of protest from the other Autobots, but the white mech next to Optronix settled them down.

"Very well, we will escort you and your team to the Council chambers," Chellick replied, his mandibles twitching in agitation. "I am assuming you are the one that Captain Anderson called Captain Optronix of the Ark?" He gestured to the enormous ship behind the Autobots.

"I am," Optronix replied, nodding.

"Good, we will take you to the Embassies," Chellick said before looking over at Shepard and her team. "You'd best come with us as well, Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina wish to see you all as soon as possible to discuss the attack on Eden Prime."

"Yes, sir," Shepard replied as she and her team followed closely alongside Optronix and his team.

She couldn't help but notice how Kaidan was quirking an eyebrow at the two female Cybertronians, especially the dark blue and pink one. The female seemed to catch wind of his eyes and shot a glare in his general direction. "What?" she growled warningly. "You look like you haven't seen a femme before!"

Kaidan yelped and jumped back with surprise at the sheer ferocity of the female's tone. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare," he stuttered, clearly nervous about the whole affair.

The red and grey mech beside the femme gently touched her arm and she no longer retained her bristled posture. "Easy, Arcee," he said gently, "he doesn't understand that our people are a little different to theirs. It's not his fault to be curious."

Optronix, the white mech, and some of the other officers looked over their shoulders to see what all the fuss was about.

"Why do you have females?" Ash asked, clearly not bothering whether she was offending them or not. "You're made of metal, so shouldn't there be any gender at all?"

"You are asking a very complex question, Ashley Williams," Optronix spoke softly as the group filed inside an elevator that was big enough to hold them all together, Chellick pressed a button and they worked their way down. "It would take a long time to explain. However, if you must know, our people have evolved a very different method in having gender. Femmes – as they are called roughly translated from Cybertronian –are just like your human women, respected and admired, feared and loved." He grimaced, much to Shepard's surprise.

The ding of the elevator touching the floor forced everyone into silence. Shepard found herself constantly brushing her fingers against her weapons as a form of reassurance in the hopes that no one would react too aggressively against the Autobots. But her nervousness was all for naught as the doors opened to reveal an almost empty C-Sec building. There was almost no sign of anyone! The only signs of life were several C-Sec officers standing at attention. It would seem that they were determined to keep everyone clear from the C-Sec area to prevent anyone from freaking out over the newcomers, though Shepard suspected that there was a lot more to it.

As the group walked towards the next elevator, Shepard eyed Chellick and asked him, "Where is everyone?"

"We did not wish to cause a panic," explained Chellick in a casual manner, "if the entire public witnessed synthetics walking around without so much as even proper escort, they'd be afraid and attack without question."

"A wise decision, Detective Chellick," Optronix replied and Shepard caught the ghost of a smile forming on his metallic lips. "We are new to you and if the whole of the Citadel was aware of alien synthetics walking freely, it would cause a widespread panic."

Once they were inside the next elevator and made their way up, Shepard couldn't help but eye Optronix from out of the corner of her eye. She noticed the way how he kept on glancing over at the black and white mech. They were making strange gestures to each other as though they were silently communicating their current situation. She wanted to open her mouth and speak, but the way Optronix was looking at her kept her from saying anything. It was as though he wanted the moment to be silent so as to avoid a dangerous situation. However, he made a humanlike gesture with his hands and she instantly understood the message: "We'll talk later, I promise."

She nodded in understanding and allowed the silence to envelop them.

Optronix understood the nervousness of his team as the elevator made its way up. Arcee kept on looking from Cliffjumper to back at him, but he kept a stony expression in order to show the strength of a captain. If anything, he was just as nervous as they were. They were meeting the leaders of the galactic race and a slight hint of doubt was creeping into the back of his processor. If he so much as even screwed up this meeting, then all hell will break loose and fear would spread all over the system that aliens were here to cause trouble.

Yet, as they drew closer to their desired level, he managed to catch a glimpse of Shepard placing a hand upon her weapon as though she was trying to draw courage from it. He understood her worry and he kindly reassured her that all was going to be well, but the doubt still lingered in her facial expression.

The elevator suddenly dinged at their level arrival and the entire group walked out. Once again, Optronix detected the uneasiness of his soldiers at the sight that welcomed them. The entire garden world of the Citadel loomed in front of them and his sensors detected the way how Arcee drew closer to Cliffjumper, her hand reaching for his and he gave her a gentle squeeze to let her know that he was there to protect her.

Optronix's bright blue optics scanned the entire area for any signs of trouble that would befall his comrades. All he could see was the bright clear lake with what appeared to be a statue of a mass relay in the middle. Yet, unlike the C-Sec area, it was just as crowded and he saw the way how the squad drew closer to him and his team to prevent them from being seen by anyone.

"This is unlike anything I've ever experienced before," Jazz commented through the private com-link.

Optronix couldn't help but smile at his friend's enthusiasm. No one was more fascinated by alien culture than he was.

But the moment they stepped outside, the entire activity of the Presidium seemed to ground to a halt. All heads who could see the massive group turned in their direction and Optronix found himself pressing a little closer to his comrades all the while the officers drew even closer to keep them hidden from plain sight. But it was difficult to keep their guests hidden as some could see from above their position, some of the natives pointed fingers and talons at the grouped C-Sec officers, while others made strange noises in their alien languages, chatting both excitedly and nervously at the same time.

Optronix immediately picked up on the uneasiness of the officers. There was no way they could not avoid being seen, but they had to try their best. They were carefully escorted from the elevator and over to the Citadel Tower where they were to meet up with the Council. Optronix couldn't help but feel even more uncomfortable as eyes belonging to every species watched them with fear, uncertainty, and agitation. Some of them even turned to run when they caught glimpses of him and his people, though what they were shouting was beyond his understanding.

They stopped before the elevator and they were filed into the elevator, but only Chellick and two turian officers stayed with them while the others left. Chellick took notice of Optronix's surprise. "They've done their duty," he explained as he pressed the button to take them up to the top.

Optronix nodded and he soon found himself descending into silence. He was well aware of Cliffjumper and Arcee talking privately amongst themselves via their private com-link because of their gesturing, while Shepard constantly shifted her weight on her feet. Ash and Kaidan were also very quiet, taking into accordance with their weapons as though they were expecting trouble to come up any second. Windblade and Jazz were looking around with curiosity, while Mirage just stood with his arms folded across his chest and looking very bored.

Optronix opened his mouth to say something to Shepard, but found himself halting in his vocal processor, as though it was locking up on its own without his consent.

The last few seconds of riding the elevator let him drown himself in his own uncertainty as questions bubbled into the pit of his processor. What would he discuss with the Council? He knew they'd be virtually afraid of him and his people, worried that they would turn on them. Would they treat them as how all synthetics were treated? The only thing he could think of was that there were a lot of reasons the Council had to fear them.

"Penny for your thoughts, Optronix?"

He lifted his head and turned to the speaker, unsurprised to hear it come from Kaidan. He quirked an optic ridge in puzzlement. "I…" he paused to search for the right words that would match his confusion in English, "beg your pardon?"

"Oh right, you're still new to human idioms," Kaidan chuckled. "Just noticed that you seemed really quiet. What's on your mind?"

Optronix tilted his head slightly as he processed the question, his antenna twitching a little. "It is… strange to be in a place where synthetics are not welcomed," he replied honestly. No use lying to his allies. "You saw the way how they acted when they saw us. They are afraid and I do not like to install fear into innocents. I have a duty to protect them at all costs."

Chellick turned to him. "Judging from the way how you are acting right now," he said, "I can tell you are no different from organics. Though they will not see it as that, not unless you can really convince the Council that you mean us no harm."

The young captain bowed his head a little. "Organics," he whispered quietly underneath his breath, "they judge things too harshly."

"They are afraid, Optronix," Jazz said kindly, "the war between the quarians and the geth put a bitter taste in their mouth. They're afraid of artificial intelligence. When the Council see us, they'll assume we're AI, not actual aliens."

"That is why you're coming to meet them and discuss what you offered us," Shepard smiled.

How could he have forgotten so soon? Optronix nodded as the elevator dinged their arrival and they stepped out. The three turian officers escorted them through the path, passing a sprinkling fountain that seemed to capture Jazz's interest until he was forced to turn away. They made their way up the stairs, only to stop at the top at the sight of two turians engaged in a conversation.

"Stall them!" demanded a blue-painted face male.

"Stall them?" the other male with the white-painted face asked, shaking his head. "No, your investigation is over, Garrus." He turned and walked away, leaving the blue-faced one hanging his head and fluttering his mandibles in frustration.

"Garrus Vakarian," Chellick spoke, surprise in his flanged voice, "what are you doing here?"

The turian named Garrus turned to face them, blue eyes widening with surprise at the sight of the guests, but eventually settled to calm as he stepped before them. "I came to try and get the Executor to stall the Council," he growled, his talons balling into fists and he shook his head. "I was put in charge of the investigation on Saren on the proof that he attacked Eden Prime at the demand of the human ambassador."

"And you turned up with nothing?" Chellick asked.

Garrus' brow furrowed angrily. "He's a Spectre!" he snapped. "The Executor knew all along that everything he touches is classified."

Optronix looked from Shepard, who looked back at him, and then back at Garrus who was looking at him with puzzlement. "Pardon for me to ask, Garrus Vakarian," he said, his tone evenly respectful to the turian officer, "but what do you mean Saren Arterius' work is classified?"

Garrus rose a scaled blue brow. "You must be the alien synthetics that helped repel the geth from Eden Prime," he said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare, but it's not every day that you get aliens that are a species not recorded in our Codex."

Optronix's lips curled into a smile. He liked this turian definitely. "You are not xenophobic?" he asked.

Garrus chuckled a bit, folding his arms across his chest. "No, that would make me a difficult turian to work with in C-Sec," he answered. "How else would I even be able to do my job? One needs to keep an open mind in order to be able to work with other races. But to answer your question, Saren is a very well respected Spectre, the Council's favourite if you will. They keep everything he touches hidden away so they can turn a blind eye from everything he does."

"You do not trust Saren?" Shepard asked.

"No, Shepard, I do not trust him at all," Garrus huffed. "There's something about him that rubs me the wrong way. You humans have a saying right? I believe it would be: I feel it in my gut."

"We should get going, captain and commander," Chellick spoke up. "We cannot keep the Council waiting any longer."

"Yeah, we shouldn't," Shepard sighed.

"Good luck you two," Garrus urged. "Maybe they'll listen to you."

Optronix thanked the young turian and he and the others made their way over to the platform where the three representatives of the Council were waiting for them. Captain Anderson welcomed them, but forbade Optronix's and Shepard's teams from proceeding any further, but he motion to Optronix and Shepard to come forward.

"Come, the hearing is about to start," he insisted.

There they stood before the three Council members and Optronix's spark dropped right into the pit of his aft. He hoped that after this session, he'd never have to go through with it again, but a part of him knew that nothing could ever compare to the sheer looks of uneasiness and concern written on their readable organic faces.

"This Council is now in session," the blue skinned humanoid councillor began, though Optronix quickly researched the Extranet and realised that she was an asari and he pardoned his naivety.

He took a deep, quiet vent and closed his optics for a brief moment.

This was going to be a long political meeting.

My apologies for the super long delay for this chapter guys, but shit has been going on and I lost my muse, but now I got it back and it's going VERY strongly again. I've never been so happy with this in my whole life. Yay!

Now, let's add more voice actors for some Autobots and Decepticons!

Autobots

Windblade: Kristy Wu (best known actress for playing as P'Li in The Legend of Korra, but she played roles as Windblade from Robots in Disguise 2015, Chao-Ahn from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Melissa Wu from Flight 29 Down, Sook from End of Witch, and Scarlet Sinister from Return to Halloweentown)

Mirage: Kevin Bacon (played as the Hollow Man from the film of the same name, also played as Sebastian Shaw in X-Men: First Class, Ren McCormack in Footloose, and Valentine McKee in Tremors)

Blurr: Hugh Jackman (Logan "Wolverine" from X-Men, who else? Memphis in Happy Feet, The Drover in Australia, Charlie Kenton in Real Steel, the Easter Bunny from Rise of the Guardians, Vincent Moore from Chappie, and Blackbeard from Pan that is currently in production)

Hot Rod: Travis Willingham (known for a lot of roles in both anime, films, and video games, his most famous roles are Ace from One Piece, Pierre Vieira from Genesis of Aquarion, Thor in Avengers Assemble, Knuckles the Echidna from Sonic Boom, Captain Toni from Mass Effect: Paragon Lost, Sideswipe from Transformers: War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron, Rell Nightwind from World of Warcraft, and Toha Tahu Mata from Bionicle: The Game)

Decepticons:

Thrust: Adoni Maropis (best known for his role in The Scorpion King, CSI: NY as Sebastian Diakos, Johnny Black Hawk in Bone Eater, The Oracle in Pair of Kings, and Jarma in Bad Company)

Dirge: Michael Champion (his roles include Wade Fontaine from Knight Rider, Helm from Total Recall, Luther in False Identity, Jack Thorpe in Toy Soldiers, and Wolf from Maximum Surge)

Ramjet: Taylor Kitsch (Gambit from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Alex Hopper in Battleship, Kyle "Crocodile" Cho from Snakes on a Plane, John Carter from film of the same name, and Paul Woodrugh from True Detective)

Thunderblast: Laura Prepon (best known for her deep, husky, and sexy voice, Laura has starred in the short film Once Upon A Time as The Witch, the television show How I Met Your Mother as Karen, American Dad! as Haley Smith, Angevin Duvet from Lightning Bug, and Frankie from House)

Stay tuned for another chapter soon guys! I have NOT abandoned this story!