Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers or Mass Effect franchises

Hey guys, I don't have that many crossover fics and while I'm already working on a Mass Effect and Marvel crossover, I'm beginning to like this one more from the plans I have for it.

Basically this series will be like Mass Effect, a trilogy, it will follow a loose adaption of the Mass Effect universe but featuring some transformers lore and characters. Ultimately the main threat of the series will be related to the Transformers. As for the universe and characters, the main inspiration for Transformer designs came from the games War for and Fall of Cybertron. So when you are introduced to a character imagine their War For Cybertron look, or a WOC spin on their G1 designs. Or just imagine them as you've always wanted them to look :)

As for the universe, I'm trying to go with originality concerning the history of the Cybertron race though there will be inspiration from different series such as Prime, the Bay universe and the original cartoons including their Japanese spinoffs. I'm doing something slightly different in concern to the main Autobot we always want to see in a Transformers series, you might wonder from this first chapter and throughout the story where he is, but those people who know their Transformers know that he's there.

Anyway I hope you enjoy this first chapter, which is just a basic introduction to the universe and the first half of the Autobots arrival in the Mass Effect universe.

Transform Effect 1: Rise a Prime

Chapter 1: Personal Histories

The galaxy is a wide place, grander and more mysterious than anyone can imagine. The possibilities of life are near infinite, for every world produces their own sentient life and with their freedom they rise and accomplish wonders. Even the complex planet of Cybertron produced life, robotic organisms evolved in their forms and intellect and the great Cybertronian Empire was one that spanned the entire planet. They evolved, developed and became a near perfect society, every Cybertronian was created for a purpose, some were built to become warriors, others engineers, scientists and leaders, the Primes were the greatest of these leaders. For centuries Cybertron prospered and spread to the numerous moons of their solar system. But everything changed the day the mass relays were discovered.

Left behind by an unknown race, the mass effect relays utilised a technology that was foreign and inefficient to the people of Cybertron, the planet was self repairing and continued to produce the life blood of the Cybertron race, the mineral known as Energon. The Cybertronian high leader Vector Prime believed that the relays would be the beginning of a new age for Cybertron. But that age was not to be, for the Prothean Empire had other ideas. The Protheans were a galactic race that spanned millions of planets and life forms; all were forced to call themselves Prothean. But they did not wish to convert the people of Cybertron, they wished to destroy them out of fear of what a synthetic race would do to their empire.

Hundreds and thousands of Cybertronians were destroyed in the fighting and not even the society of warriors born could stop the relentless and unforgiving Prothean Empire. A hundred years passed and the war still continued, with the Prothean Empire gaining the advantage, they remarked that the Cybertronians were the most resilient race they had ever encountered. But like any race in the empire, they believed without shred of doubt that they would be victorious, that the Cybertronian's would welcome their intended purpose in Prothean society, destruction. However the tide of battle changed and the people of Cybertron found new hope in the form of two great leaders.

Sentinel Prime was one of the last surviving members of the Primes, though he commanded great respect, the people were ultimately inspired by the gladiator turned resistance leader Megatronnus. The army they built was magnificent, and at first no one believed that their group of security officers, racers and construction bots would accomplish as many victories as they did. In the end the Autobots claimed victory and drove back the Prothean forces. But the Prothean Empire would not allow Cybertron to exist, yet alone be known as the only world not to have fallen. A single Prothean science team corrupted the core of the planet, resulting in the corruption of its Energon reservoirs. Then the Prothean squadron retreated, destroying themselves and the Mass Relay, so that none could follow.

With only Sentinel Prime remaining from the council of elders, leadership of Cybertron was left in the hands of Megatronus and Sentinel. The people likened Megatronus to the former glory of the Fallen one and thus he took the name Megatron.

With Cybertron's natural resources depleted, Sentinel and Megatron rallied their people to seek a solution in the stars. Sentinel Prime took civilians and none combatants onto the Arc in order to find a solution amongst the wreckage of the mass relay network. Sentinel and Megatron however were divided by their beliefs, while Sentinel believed in combing uncharted worlds for Energon, Megatron believed that sacrifices had to be made, that like the Protheans they had to sacrifice other life forms if necessary. They argued and when they came to blows, the brotherhood and friendship they had formed shattered. Megatron left in fury, vowing to save his people no matter the cost. He formed his own army from the soldiers loyal to him and criminals both reformed and shackled to obey his will. From that day forward they were known as the Decepticons.

Millennia's past and the forces of the Decepticons and Autobots continued to battle one another over the fate of Cybertron and all other life in the galaxy.

The much wider galaxy however followed the path of the extinct Protheans, presumably weak from their war with Cybertron, the Prothean empire fell and those that came after them still try to determine why it happened. One such scientist researching the Prothean's fall was Asari archaeologist Liara T'Soni.

At the age of 106 she was considered a child by the standards of her Monogendered species. She sat alone at her dig sight, controlling the mechanised drones that carried out the daily digging operations. The drilling class Atlas mech moved out of her way as she examined her latest find. Her eyes widened with scientific wonder, for what she saw was a sight she hadn't seen in the fifty years since she had started studying Prothean history. She looked upon the carved image of a great battle, the Protheans fled before the presence of two giants whom stood side by side like brothers. Activating her holographic computer, the omni-tool, Liara began to contact the galactic council.

In the grand Citadel space station sat the council of races, consisting of Asari, the amphibious species known as Salarians and the avian/reptilian Turians. They were the three most powerful species in the galaxy and the most revered. But as it has been said before, the galaxy is wide and the possibility of life is endless. There were other species, Batarians, Raloi, Drell, Hanar, Quarians, Krogan and Vorcha and the newest additions to the galactic community humanity.

It was humanity that sought to become part of the council, and their first step was appointing a human Spectre. The Spectres were the hand of the council, operatives with the freedom to protect galactic stability at any cost. The main leaders of humanity, Representative Donnel Udina, Admiral Hackett and N7 leader David Anderson ran through their list of possible candidates.

"What about Shepard, Earthborn, but no record of her family," Udina said.

He bought up the image of the soldier, a young black haired woman with a stoic military gaze and lightly tanned skin.

"Doesn't have one, she grew up on the streets," Anderson said.

They cycled through her military history, a long list of N7 missions and near perfect military test scores. Hackett looked at a picture of Shepard with her fellow N7 operatives.

"She lost her whole unit on Akuze, she could have some serious emotional scars," Hackett said.

"Every soldier has scars, Shepard's a survivor!"

"Is that the kind of person we want protecting the galaxy?" Udina asked.

"That's the only kind of person who can protect it!"

"I don't think that's entirely accurate sir!"

Sentinel Prime was not the only Prime. There was another Prime equally valued amongst the Autobots, the captain of the autobot ship G2. Rodimus Prime stood as tall as Sentinel Prime, his metallic face watching his crewmembers with conflicted eyes. Behind him stood his lieutenant and former mentor, Autobot veteran Cup. They watched young Autobots pull open the energon filters of the generator and reload it with Energon crystals.

"Why don't you agree Cup?" Rodimus asked.

"You used to be more idealistic than this Rodimus, remember the days you wanted Megatron and Sentinel to ally to save Cybertron? That's why we saw potential in you lad, you were a thinker, but this is a very dangerous game, Sentinel wont like what you have planned," Cup explained.

"Space bridge technology is dwindling old friend, mass effect fields are the closest things we have to transportation units, our ships don't have nearly enough Energon to support thousand year flights, that was the mistake Sentinel made," Rodimus stated, looking out of the window of the ship.

He looked at the construction crew on the surface of the makeshift mass relay. The green and purple machines flew around the installation, adding cybertronian tech to the relay, in order to make up for the unusable wreckage left by the Protheans. Cup sighed and turned to the monitor station. He shook his head; Rodimus had ordered all squadrons to focus on either the mass relay reconstruction or data mining. One very specific team had chosen to disobey the order.

"Jetfire, prepare a shuttle, I'm heading for team Pax's location," Cup spoke into his built in communicator.

"Orion's team, don't be too harsh on them old bot, they're a good team and Orion's a good leader," the white and red aerial bot said.

The said team was located on a nearby asteroid, whilst the team leader and their medic were mining for information, the remainder of the team were all doing what they did best. Consisting mainly of bots of the scout class weight, the nimble members of the squad moved across the surface of the asteroid in their vehicle modes. The only member whom lacked a vehicle mode focused mainly on watching and commentating.

"Welcome to another incredible showing of Autobot rally where our contestants compete to see whose the biggest idiot on the field," the commentator was a red robot with a silver face and a yellow plate on his chest.

"Ha, there's no contest on whose the fastest here Blastar," a red cyber car said as it led the race.

"Focus more on inflating your tires over your ego Cliff Jumper," a yellow mini car suddenly dashed past the appropriately named Cliff Jumper.

"I'll take that as a challenge Bumblebee!"

"I thought this was a race," a pink and white robot sat next to Blastar.

"Just keep watching Arcee I'll be crossing the finish line first, after all the prize is a kiss," Cliff Jumper said.

"How's about I give you a kiss with my fist gear tosser," Arcee snarled.

"Hey easy sparklings, no need for the swearing, besides we all know whose going to win, I was racing the track since you bots were gleams in the matrix!"

"Oh and Cybertron's racing champion Jazz takes the lead, he's just near the finish line, wait Bumblee is gaining and…JAZZ WINS AGAIN!" Blaster yelled.

"YIPPEE-KI-YAY!" a hulking, red and silver armoured Autobot at the finish line pumped his fists.

The three racers turned into their forms one by one. Jazz resembled a rally car and had a visor over his eyes. Cliff Jumper and Bumblee both similarly had horns on their heads, but Cliff Jumper's armour was smoother and he was a few feet taller than Bumblebee. The scout sighed as Jazz bowed to Blasters imitated cheering. Blaster was their communications officer, Bumblebee, Jazz and Cliff Jumper were point men or scouts as they were commonly called, Arcee was a pure combat specialist and the biggest of the bots Ironhide was a weapons specialist.

"You know, this is technically going to be our final moments in Cybertronian space, do you guys know what that means?" Bumblebee asked.

"Yeah, whatever else is out there we're the ones making first contact, we're representing our entire species," Cliff laughed.

"Actually its Rodimus who will be representing us, any negotiations between species will go through him," Jazz said.

"Thank Primus cause if Cliff Jumper represented us we'd have a first contact war," Arcee said, causing Bumblebee to giggle and Cliff Jumper to frown.

"Ah'm hoping they're gonna be friendly cause the last thing we need is another enemy, between Megatron and Sentinel," Ironhide sighed.

"Rodimus believes in the path he's taking, Sentinel may not agree with it but he respects it, with any path we take there are going to be risks, we just have to believe in the people we've chosen to follow," Bumblebee explained.

"Ah thought the Major was the one with the speeches," Ironhide chuckled.

"You haven't been with the team as long as we have Jumper, Orion Pax chose to believe in Rodimus Prime, so we'll believe in him too," Jazz said.

A few miles away from the younger members of the team, their medic and their leader were both digging for materials. Working in separate caverns the two bots piloted tanks fitted with drills for tunnelling. The medic was a white and red robot with a silver headpiece; his form was appropriately based on an ambulance. He stopped his drill as he looked at a beacon on his HUD.

"Cup's hailing us Orion, we really need a new communications officer," Ratchet sighed.

The tank in the opposite chamber deactivated its drill and the pilot climbed out. He was a tall, thick armoured robot with blue armour and a red helmet with a grey plate over his mouth.

"There is something imbedded in the rock here Ratchet, I think Rodimus will be interested in seeing it," the robot said.

"Cup isn't going to be in a good mood Orion, we should hurry up and get back to the shuttle," Ratchet said.

"Just one moment Ratchet," Orion Major pulled a staff from his back, shaping it into an axe.

With a strong swing he picked at the rock, breaking pieces of it aside to reveal what his sensors had detected. By the standards of organic beings the object he found was large, but to a Cybertronian it was small, small enough to fit in the palm of Orion's hand. He yanked the object free of its makeshift pedestal and examined it with both his eyes and his energy sensors.

"What did you find Orion?" Ratchet asked.

"I recognise it from my days as a records clerk old friend, this is a Prothean data recorder," Orion said.

"Slag, its useless then," the medic sighed.

"No, while it's a common belief that these terminals were only capable of linking with organics, the information inside of them is still digitised, thus a simple hack of the lock will be enough to unlock its secrets," wires spread from Orion's fingers and connected to the Prothean device.

Green lines suddenly began to glow on the surface of the black obelisk. Orion froze as piles of information passed through his memory banks, becoming just as real as his own memories. He saw the small organics known as the Protheans, around the time Megatron rose to power. They were inside a ship of some kind, which shook no doubt because of the elite guards cannon fire. Both four-eyed creatures seemed to be panicking for a reason other than the pursuing Cybertronians.

"To think that the empire could be defeated so easily, where will we go? The Citadel?" one of the Protheans asked.

"No, the Citadel has been lost, we must blow the relay and rejoin the survivors," the superior officer stated.

"Survivors? Did the Metacon attack?"

"No, something else came from beyond dark space, we don't know what they are but the council has called them…"

Orion clutched his head as a series of incoherent images flashed before his sensors. He stored the corrupted data in his memory bank and stored the device in his equipment compartment.

"Lets return to the shuttle," he said.

He and Ratchet jumped off of the rocks, changing into their vehicle forms. They drove through the caverns, both slightly enjoying the sight of the small energon deposits they had found. In an age were fresh unrefined energon was raw the sight was appealing to the two Autobots. Though the Autobots were losing, both Orion and Ratchet held fast to the beliefs of the Primes. Orion himself had a strong moral core; even if Sentinel Prime himself ordered him to kill in cold blood he wouldn't do it. He drove ahead of Ratchet, dodging a rock at the last moment.

"Is something wrong Orion?" Ratchet noted his friend's absence.

"The information I found was corrupt, incomplete, I may be able to restore it but its current data troubles me, it implies that the Protheans didn't leave because of Megatron's counterattack," Orion explained.

"Do you mean that there was something besides us the Protheans fear?"

"I don't know my friend, what I do know is that something had come from dark space and it may be the very reason we have not had contact with the Protheans for fifty thousand years."

"True, our stasis cycles have gone uninterrupted, but something that was more frightening than the Prothean Empire…it seems a little farfetched," Ratchet chuckled slightly.

"I'm sure the Protheans felt the same thing about us and whatever was waiting for them beyond the relay," Orion sighed.

Orion and Ratchet transformed into their robot modes as they reached their shuttle. The younger members of their team soon followed, looking up at Cup's shuttle. Without speaking a word Orion motioned for the team to follow him into the shuttle. He and Jazz took positions at the piloting and auto piloting stations respectively. Blaster grinned sheepishly as Cup's hologram appeared at his communication station.

"Orion, what in the name of Primus was your crew doing?" Cup asked.

"I gave my crew permission to hone their combat skills sir, the responsibility for their behaviour is mine," Orion explained.

"HA! In my day we would have them at target practice, not racing around like sparklings fresh in their first bodies," Cup said.

"The racing assisted them with manoeuvres but I do admit they have been too caught up in the competitiveness of racing, I will accept a disciplinary but I must get information I have found to Rodimus and possibly Sentinel himself," the former record clerk explained.

"What information?" the combat veteran narrowed his eyes slightly.

"A Prothean data capsule left behind by their occupation forces, its incomplete but with time I may be able to decode it," Orion said.

"Negative Orion Major!"

The Autobots gasped as Rodimus's holographic form appeared beside Cup's.

"Once you have returned to base give the data to me, it may contain information we need once we have gone beyond the relay," the Autobot leader said.

"But with all due respect sir the capsule is incomplete, without knowing what it contains we will be making dangerous assumptions, until the data is complete we must prolong going through the relay," Orion explained.

"Your caution is noted Orion but I'm afraid we can no longer delay the launch, our allies are arriving," Rodimus said.

"Allies?"

The members of Orion's team widened their eyes as several jets flew past their shuttle. There were six in total, the leader was a white and red jet, the second had primarily blue colours across its armour whilst the second was black and purple. The other three jets were red, blue and grey and followed behind the first three. Orion's crewmembers watched them in fear, whilst the Autobots working on the surface of the mass relay looked up at the jets in horror. As soon as they saw the purple face symbols on the wings of the new arrivals they began to ready their weapons.

"All Autobots stand down, I repeat all Autobots stand down!" Rodimus's voice echoed through the radio channels.

The Autobots began muttering amongst themselves as five of the jets swung away from the leader. One by one the jets began to transform into their robot forms, landing amongst the Autobots like invited quests, calm yet rife with a smug superiority. Two of the Decepticons had identical bodies, but Skywarp and Thundercracker were both identified by their respective colours. The other three had the wings of their jet forms more apparent in their feet and had cone shaped heads, though not as well known Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet were just as deadly as their two superior ranked Seekers. Their commander, bearing the same body type as Skywarp and Thundercracker landed in the G2's docking bay, smirking as he looked at Jetfire.

"Starscream!" Jetfire growled.

"Is that anyway to welcome an old friend Jetfire?" the commander of the seeker squad asked, bearing a far greater sense of self-importance and arrogance than what his brethren had.

Jetfire narrowed his eyes and snarled as a heat blade extended from his wrist.

"Enough Jetfire!" Rodimus spoke sternly as he walked into the docking bay.

"Rodimus, what is the meaning of this?" Jetfire asked.

"A truce Jetfire, what Cybertron needs to survive, Starscream is here on Megatron's behalf," the Autobot leader planted his hand on Jetfire's shoulder, calming him slightly.

The docking bay doors opened and Orion's squad emerged from their shuttle, weapons armed and aimed Starscream. He raised his hands and scuffled back in fear, even falling to the ground as Orion stepped out of the shuttle bearing his massive path maker blaster. Cup soon emerged from the shuttle next to them looking just as bewildered as Jetfire had been.

"Commander…"

"WHY IS HE HERE!" Cup yelled, pointing his pistol at Starscream.

"Now, now l-lets not get h-hasty here," Starscream trembled.

Orion lowered his gun, causing his teammates to look at him in horror.

"What are you doing Orion?" Ratchet asked.

"Let Rodimus explain why Starscream is here before we pass judgement," Orion said.

The Autobots hesitantly followed Orion's example and lowered their weapons. Starscream lowered his hands and returned to his usual smug pose. He looked to Rodimus and bowed in mock respect. Rodimus exchanged a brief look with Orion, lowering his head slightly as Orion narrowed his eyes into a frown. Putting his hands behind his back, Rodimus walked out of the shuttle bay. Orion and Cup followed beside Starscream, the veteran made a point of glaring at the seeker as they followed their leader through the halls of the ship.

"We have energon to sustain us, but not nearly enough to restore a planet, Sentinel and Magnus would have us continue to wage a war to preserve our ideals or to claim revenge for those lost to us. But that is not the way, it will not save Cybertron and will only guarantee the destruction of both factions," the leader stated as he walked into the chamber of artefacts.

The chamber contained only a small amount of the artefacts that were the culture of the Cybertronian race. Rodimus's eyes passed over several pieces of broken tech before passing on an ancient wall carving. It portrayed the battle between the lance wielding Fallen one and the axe wielding Risen.

"Two shall clash, their ideals unwavering and sparks shining, one shall stand and rise a Prime, leader of our people, one shall fall to ruin!"

"The words of Primus, spoken in reference to his first children, Megatron and the first of the Primes," Orion identified the text that Rodimus had read.

"History has a habit of repeating itself, how long before we destroy ourselves with an unnecessary war?" Rodimus asked.

"I understand your words Rodimus," Orion said.

"Pax how could you, and how could you Rodimus, how many of our brothers have we lost, how many has Starscream alone killed?" Cup asked.

"I'd say about fifty," Starscream laughed.

"Peace should be made if it is at all possible, but if the Decepticons are willing Sentinel should be told so that we can negotiate," Orion explained.

"There is the problem Orion, Sentinel does not agree nor does Ultra Magnus, they are both stubborn, Magnus believes that Megatron must be destroyed and the Decepticons executed as war criminals, he would have us become as evil as he believes Megatron is, whilst Sentinel believes there is something in dark space worth finding, a miracle that will restore our world when the truth is we can only save our world by working together," Rodimus explained.

"A fine speech, Lord Megatron will certainly be willing to forgive any prior defiance to those whom surrender," Starscream said.

Cup and Orion walked to the cockpit of the ship and looked down in horror at the excavation sight. The seekers and construction drones revealed to be Decepticons themselves had begun tearing apart Autobots outside of the ship. Some of the Autobots however had changed their activation codes, converting the symbol of the red face into the purple colour of the Decepticons. In the mess hall, Orion's crew watched in horror at the sight of the Decepticons massacring their fellow Autobots. A door opened behind them and two Autobots stepped out, the security officer Prowl and the red weapons expert and guardian Warpath.

"Sorry bots, but we've been ordered by Rodimus to watch you," Warpath said, crossing his arms over the cannon on his chest.

"You keep apologising Warpath, the rest of you will go into a cell," Prowl said, he was always good at antagonising his fellow Autobots, it had made him a very unpopular ally.

"On what charge?" Ratchet demanded.

"Conspiring against the bearer of the matrix," Prowl said.

"Conspiring? We haven't conspired against anyone," Bumblee spoke up from behind Ironhide.

"Lets not get too hasty, we've got nothing to hide," Jazz said diplomatically.

"No way, we aren't going anywhere, we haven't done anything wrong, Prowl may be security officer but he has no right to detain any crewbot without sufficient cause," Arcee walked up to the taller Autobot, locking glares with the imposing bot without any show of fear.

"Wait, just explain to us why you're doing this," Blaster said.

Prowl palmed his face in frustration, Warpath however sighed and looked at Pax's team with a conflicted expression.

"Pax is an extremely popular member of the army, Rodimus was not the first recommended bearer for the matrix, Rodimus has a plan that will bring all factions together and to carry out that plan he can have no arguments against it," the guardian explained.

"Which means what? You'll execute us?" Arcee asked.

"No it means your team mates will be held in a cell indefinitely, you however Femmebot we might make an exception to," Prowl explained.

Arcee narrowed her eyes before she punched the taller bot across the face. Ratchet slapped his palm against his face whilst the younger Autobots laughed. As Prowl fell into Warpath's arms, nursing his jaw, Arcee rushed forward. Jazz however grabbed her by the arms, causing her to flail her legs at the security bot. Ratchet sighed, Arcee had more discipline in a combat scenario than her other young team mates but she was more defensive, she always rose to challenges. When she was a sparkling she had a very rude and disrespectful mouth. Fortunately her teacher was able to, figuratively speaking of course slap the sass out of her and replace it with military discipline. She still showed moments of passion however, such as in defending her teammates and the ideal that female Cybertronians were just as valuable as male ones.

"Now, now lets get not get too hasty here hit bot," Jazz said, using his affectionate nickname for Arcee.

"That's it, you six are going in a cell, Arcee I'll make sure you never hit another bot again," Prowl growled.

"ENOUGH!" Warpath yelled, knocking both Arcee and Prowl away from one another. "You are both warriors, start acting like it and until proven otherwise we will continue to regard Orion Pax as loyal to the cause as the rest of us!"

Prowl and Arcee turned away from one another, huffing. Arcee snarled at Cliff Jumper and Bumblebee, halting their laughter.

"I am getting far too old for this," Ratchet muttered.

Orion Pax squeezed his hands into fists as he watched the massacre of his Autobot brothers and sisters. He turned to Rodimus, making no attempt to hide his fury.

"Why Rodimus, WHY!" he yelled.

"There are too many Autobots stuck in the old ways Orion, you better than anyone know of the history of our race, of the destruction pointless wars of ideology have reaped. You were a simple records clerk when Megatron and I found you, you were invaluable in the war against the Protheans but a new war is coming, you are the best of us Orion, so much better…" Rodimus opened his chest cavity, revealing a orange orb with a glowing blue light at its centre. "So much better that the council recommended you bear the Matrix, yet you gave it to me…you saw greatness then Orion, believe in me now," Rodimus removed the device from his chest, holding it by the grey handles on its side.

"The Autobot Matrix of leadership," Starscream gasped, identifying the most powerful artefact of Cybertron, such a small device topped even the lost fortress and the star sabre because it possessed the collective wisdom of every Prime in the history of Cybertron.

Cup walked to Orion's side, showing the former record clerk his support.

"Please Orion, I'd rather you not be against me, think of your team, think of Cybertron," Rodimus said.

"I do think of Cybertron, I think of the peace we could create from first contact with the species outside of our galaxy…that is no peace craft the Decepticons have bought with them, I know you intend to go to war with the species beyond the relay and I can not and will not allow it to happen," Orion explained.

Rodimus lowered his head and sighed, lowering the Matrix. Starscream reached for his wing, pulling out the concealed blade on his shoulder. Cup noticed the slimy Decepticon's movement and drew his pistol.

"GREASY COG!" the veteran yelled, firing a blast past Rodimus's face.

The blast hit Starscream in the shoulder, causing the blade to slip from his grip. It imbedded itself in the console behind him, creating sparks of electricity and triggering warning alarms. Orion swung his fist forward, striking Rodimus in the jaw so hard that the matrix flew from his grip. Cup grabbed the matrix, firing his pistol again and again, taking down three Decepticon drones. Jetfire helped Rodimus off of the floor, watching his two former allies in shock as they barged through Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet. Orion punched Skywarp across the face, knocking him into the wall. Cup then jumped, kicking Thundercracker in the chest and sending him flying into the path of the blast door, preventing it from closing. The Autobots stepped off of the Seeker, running down the corridor.

"By Primus Orion just decked Rodimus," Bumblebee gasped.

"Pay up Cliff," Ironhide said.

"You two were betting on whether Orion would betray Rodimus?" Warpath asked.

"Whose the real traitor here, the bot trying to save our brothers or the bot having them executed?" Arcee asked.

"Why couldn't you all just agree with what Rodimus had planned, why must you all be so self righteous?"

"You're one to talk about self righteousness Prowl," Blaster retorted.

"Exactly the kind of reply I'd expect from a washed out radio broadcaster," Prowl huffed.

Seven Decepticon foot soldiers suddenly stepped up from behind Warpath, arming their bladed weapons.

"You'd need not join that traitor Orion Pax, don't go against us, a records clerk can only get you so far," Prowl said.

"Everyone's always screeching about how Orion was a records clerk, well guess what, he's twice the bot Megatron is and proven now, four times the bot Rodimus is, so go straight to the pit you piece of slag!"

As soon as the words left Arcee's mouth, Orion's team struck. They each collectively and instinctively knew that they all wanted to follow Orion. Ironhide threw a metallic orb towards the Decepticons, releasing a bright flash that disrupted their sensors. He and Ratchet then bulldozed through them, picking Prowl and Warpath up and throwing them into the drones. The other smaller bots ran behind them, kicking or punching the Decepticons to make sure they stayed down. Ironhide pulled a cannon from his back and fired at the blast door, knocking down the Autobot defectors on the other side.

"You could be a little more graceful, and quiet," Ratchet said.

"Sorry Ratchet, but Ah like to make a mess, leaves more debris to get in the way of the enemy," Ironhide laughed.

He replaced the barrel of his cannon, converting it into an automatic chain gun. Flurries of armour piercing rounds flew into the Decepticons in front of them and cut apart the door at the same time. Cliff Jumper and Bumblebee turned into their car forms, riding around the two bigger Autobots and charging towards the Decepticon brute waiting for them. Cliff Jumper hit its legs with his chain gun and Bumblebee launched himself towards the brute, turning to robot form and driving his sword through the Decepticon's eye. Blaster stopped at the blast door and connected with the main console, looking at the security cameras. He and Jazz clapped their hands together, cheering for Orion and Cup as they smashed and blasted their way through Decepticons. Orion bought out his axe and beheaded a Decepticon bruiser, then drew out his path blaster and shot two-foot soldiers. Cup traded his empty pistol for two chain guns and fired down the hallway, cutting apart the squad of Decepticons brave enough to try and stop them.

"Blaster, make sure our channel is secure, put Cup on our frequency as well," Orion commanded.

"Please boss bot this is me you're talking to, I had the channel secure as soon as you knocked out Rodimus, mean swing you've got there by the way," Blaster explained.

"Get to a shuttle as quickly as you can, Jazz you have command until Cup gets there," Orion said.

"All right, finally a promotion…wait what do you mean Cup?"

"What about you big bot?" Bumblebee asked.

"Our escape will be meaningless if the Decepticons follow us, once you are through the relay I will the ships cannons to damage the relay just enough to keep the Decepticons from following," Orion explained.

"Then I'll go, those sparklings need a leader they respect," Cup said.

"They need a leader who will get them through a war zone."

"You're wrong Orion, they need a good leader and you are the good leader, you shouldn't have rejected the council's offer to make you a prime…"

"Because I was not worthy of it, Rodimus was!"

"Perhaps at the time, but right now the matrix needs someone to keep it from Megatron's clutches just as your team needs its true leader," Cup explained, putting the matrix in Orion's hand.

"Only one Autobot can be worthy of the matrix, only one can light our darkest hour," Orion sighed.

"I know, but right now it'll have to be you…until you find that Prime we need," Cup said.

Orion hesitantly nodded his head before placing the matrix inside his chest. He shook Cup's hand and bowed his head in respect. Cup was a warrior born, one of the greatest in Cybertron, victory after victory against the Protheans had been because of his actions on the front line. As Orion ran down the corridor to the shuttle bay, Cup turned and began rotating the barrels of his chain gun, targeting the Decepticons cutting through the blast doors.

"Come on you slagging drones, come and see what the insides of a true warrior looks like," Cup yelled before lighting the corridor up in a flash of gunfire.

Blaster hacked open the doors for the shuttle bay and ducked his head, dodging an energy blast. The Pax team drew their blasters, meeting the Decepticons gunfire. Blasts seared through Decepticon armour, bullets pierced their optics and metal smashed against metal as Ironhide knocked two Decepticons to the ground, executing them with shots to the head.

"Get the shuttle prahmed Jazz," Ironhide said.

"That sounded an awful lot like an order!"

"Don't let the second in command role get to your head racer bot."

"Enough, we need to focus, we have to wait ten more minutes and then we can take off," Arcee said.

"Negative hitbot, we wait for as long as it takes, you heard Cup Orion now has the matrix inside of him and we cant let it get into Decepticon hands," Jazz explained.

"He is second in command," Cliff Jumper gestured to Jazz.

"Stop inflating his ego," Arcee groaned.

"Orion," Bumblebee muttered, concerned for his commander's safety.

"He'll make it, Orion has the makings of a Prahm within him," Ironhide said.

"Ironhide, since we might not make it can you tell us why you talk like that?" Cliff Jumper asked.

"Prothean beam weapon damaged my vocal pipes, should consider myself lucky, some bots can only communicate through beeps after damages like that," Ironhide explained.

"I did offer to repair the damage, it isn't irreparable you know," Ratchet said.

"Ah like talking like this, it makes me unique!"

"We don't have time to wait around any longer," Arcee said.

"No, we wait for Orion," Bumblebee retorted.

"Prepare the ship for launch Jazz," Orion said over the radio.

The team remained silent, listening to the blaster fire over the radio. They heard metal grinding against metal and the agonised cries of Decepticons. Orion cut through his enemies with his axe, the blade glowed orange at temperatures so hot that the armour of the Decepticons it cut melted. He deactivated the weapon as he rushed into the shuttle bay.

"ORION OVER HERE!" Bumblebee yelled.

Orion switched to his vehicle mode, dodging the gunfire of the Decepticons that opened the blast door behind him.

"Provide covering fire for the boss," Jazz said.

The Autobots aimed their weapons at the Decepticons, firing flurries of bullets and beams past their leader. Orion turned to robot mode and slid across the floor on his back, firing blasts from his path blaster that destroyed the remaining Decepticon drones. He grabbed Ratchet's hand, allowing his old friend to pull him into the shuttle as the hatch closed.

"LAUNCHING!" Jazz yelled.

The shuttle slid through the launch catapult and out into space.

"ALL DECEPTICONS SHOOT DOWN THAT SHUTTLE!" Starscream yelled over the radio.

"Don't let them escape," one of the Decepticons said as he began firing at the shuttle.

The Constructicons joined their brethren in firing at the Autobot shuttle. Bumblebee and Cliff Jumper mounted the rear gunnery seats, shooting at the Seekers pursuing them.

"FOOLS! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" Starscream yelled.

"Notice how he isn't pursuing them," Warpath whispered to Prowl.

"Go straight for the relay Jazz, Blaster link us to a system the Decepticons wont be able to follow through traditional space bridge transport," Orion explained.

"Yes sir," the communications officer nodded his head before linking via wireless with the relay. "I'm linked with their commercial data net sir, they call it the Extra-net, wow the things on here," Blaster whistled.

"Focus!"

"Sorry sir, lets see, its on the edge of something called the Terminus systems, there's a world there colonised by a species called 'humans' by Primus how do they do they get by being so small and fleshy?"

"FOCUS!" the Autobots yelled.

"Sorry, the colony is called Eden Prime…well that sounds like as good a place as any to get started," Blaster said.

"Any place would be better than here," Cliff Jumper said.

"Slag it, we've taken a hit," Arcee growled.

"We've got this, I've programmed the course boss, but there's no activity from the G1's batteries," Blaster said.

"Cup," Orion squeezed the edges of his seat, praying the Autobot veteran would find a way.

"Incoming from above," Ratchet warned.

Jazz tilted the shuttle to the left, dodging a rain of missiles from Dirge.

"Target locked on, NOW DIE!" the Seeker yelled.

Suddenly, a beam flew into Dirge's chest, cutting him in half.

"WHAT!" Starscream yelled, more astonished by the attack than angered over the loss of his fellow Seeker.

Another shuttle flew up beside team Pax's, piloted by the Autobot veteran.

"Get through the relay Pax," Cup said.

"What about you old bot?" Bumblebee asked.

"It's a one way trip bee, nothing but you bots should go through it…this isn't a shuttle I'm riding, it's a missile," Cup smiled.

"Till all are one," Orion said.

"Till all are one," the other Autobots joined their leader in what was not only a hope but also a promise to the dead.

"NO! DON'T LET THEM GO THROUGH!" Starscream yelled.

Jazz yelled as he dived towards the mass relay. The blue energy of its mass effect field gripped the shuttle and propelled it into deep space. Cup also dived towards the mass relay, but to the 'fork' area the Autobots had worked so hard to rebuild. He revved the engines to full heat, pushing them past the recommended limit. The shuttle slammed into the relay, generating an explosion that tore the tuning forks off of the relay. Explosions spread across the relay, sending pieces of debris crashing onto the Decepticons. Rodimus lowered his head as Starscream lived up to his name, screaming in horror at the sight of their work breaking apart.

"Sir, incoming ship detected," one of the bridge crewmembers said.

"On screen," Rodimus commanded, much to Starscream's displeasure.

The Decepticons and Autobot defectors, both on the surface of the asteroid and inside the ship widened their eyes at the massive ship that exited warp space. It looked like a flying fortress, with spires and layers of gun batteries on its black surface. Starscream whimpered in fear, recognising the ship as the Nemesis, the command centre of his master.

"Megatron isn't going to like this!"

"It doesn't really matter what he thinks," Nihlus Kryik said, huffing slightly at the absurdity of the question he had been asked.

It wasn't your everyday gathering. Whilst true everyday a Turian, a Salarian and an Asari sat together to discuss events of galactic importance, this meeting was taking place inside the Spectre offices of the Citadel. The Spectre office could only be accessed by people of that rank, there were no chairs to sit at as it was not a place of comfort. Nihlus was a Turian Spectre, one of their best agents and a personal overseer of the joint project the Turian hierarchy and systems alliance were working on. His fellow Spectres were infamous in their own rights and good at their jobs. Spectres required people willing to be ruthlessly efficient, to protect the interests of the council no matter what, but to do so in a way that let people know they were still safe. No one was better at that than the Asari Spectre Tela Vasir, Nihlus didn't know specific details but guessed she got a lot of her Intel from the Shadow Broker, meaning the Asari had to do some kind of favour. Nihlus personally didn't like Tela and admitted that he wouldn't be particularly disturbed if she did die on a mission. She was a good actor, able to hide her sick enjoyment of wet work from the council and military personnel. Nihlus however knew exactly what the job could do to, it took a certain mindset to do ruthless things as Spectres did. The Salarian Jondum Bau seemed like the kind of person who didn't have that mindset, but he was one of the best Spectres, he had a level head, intelligence and a drive people thought Salarians lacked.

"The decision to induct a human into the Spectres will not sit well with Saren, you know what happened the last time it was attempted," Tela said.

"That was never proven to have been Saren's responsibility," Nihlus countered.

Saren Arterius was a Turian like Nihlus as well as a Spectre. He was more than a mentor to Nihlus, he was also a friend and comrade. Nihlus would not defend his friend's xenophobia but he would defend his judgement on the qualities needed in a Spectre and thought David Anderson was a brilliant soldier and commander, he didn't have the background Nihlus believed was essential for the mindset of a Spectre.

"Responsibility is equal, Saren took the mission too far, Anderson could not carry out objective, both failed in a way," Jodum said.

"We are not here to discuss the past, we are here for the future, to add to our ranks a human Spectre. Their ambassador Udina has provided us a list of names, dossiers of soldiers presented to the council whom represent the best of what humanity has to offer," Nihlus explained.

"On that note I like this one," Tela said, putting one of those dossiers on the terminal. "Raised on a military cruiser, very powerful biotic testing scores, decimated enemy forces on Torfan and he got away with his breach of military protocol."

"Too ruthless, execution of prisoners is unnecessary, especially considering they were foot soldiers and not officers, psychological profile suggests anti alien views," Jodum listed.

"Who do you suggest then?" Tela asked, glaring at the Salarian.

Jodum's black eyes scanned the dossiers. He muttered casual rejections one after the other, finally finishing on the one suggestion Nihlus had been thinking of.

"Danielle Shepard, records indicate she had no family and that she survived mostly through petty crime, there was one instance of major crime but she was exonerated. Her military record is very different and very impressive too, broke her camps obstacle course record, it would remain set until one marine Ashley Williams broke it by a mere two seconds, made N7 status early in her career, fought through the Blitz where she received many awards for bravery and was able to take enemy positions with very little resources," Jodum explained.

"Very good, but I am worried about this mission on Akuze, Thresher Maw hive…don't get me wrong its remarkable she survived such an experience with only a few fractures and scars but that might have left some serious emotional issues," Tela sighed.

"Or it could have left her the drive to make a promise…to never let that happen again, her missions since then have had minimal casualties on both sides, her negotiation skills are top class and more than that she understands the kind of people likely to threaten galactic stability, she was a criminal herself you know," Nihlus explained.

"There, that little quote 'minimal casualties on both sides' you can not negotiate with terrorists, you wipe them out," Tela smashed her fist into her hand.

"Depends on demands really, humans have a saying, what was it? Oh yes, 'one mans terrorist is another's freedom fighter' though why it is men and not simply people in general I do not know," Jodum muttered.

"Her career hasn't been defined by a body count Vasir, it has been defined by her drive, her will. She showed a remarkable will to live since then and a remarkable drive to keep people from dying, she's no naïve idealist believing that education alone will prevent the formation of terrorist cells, she knows they have to be dealt with but she takes an approach to dealing with threats that ensures there is no bad blood…keep in mind certain methods provoke not just fear and anger too. As for Saren's view point it doesn't matter, once he sees the good Shepard can do he will change his tune, it doesn't matter that she's human it only matters that she can get the job done."

Jodum nodded his head in agreement over Nihlus's statement.

"Personally it would be good to have a Spectre who doesn't just blow stuff up," he eyes lingered slightly over Tela, causing the Asari to glare.

"Then its decided, as the three most senior Spectres present we will declare on our records that Jane Shepard shall be put forward for Spectre status," Nihlus said.

"Agreed," Jodum nodded.

"Very well, agreed, lets hope she does better than the last one," Tela huffed.

"Her performance on Eden Prime will be the first, but I have faith she will live up to my expectations," Nihlus said.

He knew that the galaxy would soon change because of his decision. But he had no idea just how greatly things were going to change. The sentient species of two galactic civilisations were about to meet for the first time and an ancient evil would return to reap its cycle again.

Next Chapter 2: Shakedown

Hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter. Please tell me what you thought of it, I've wanted to do a Transformers and Mass Effect crossover as well as I can.

Sorry to fans of Rodimus Prime, I like him too and I originally planned for Hot Rod to be the main autobot character. But then i thought of doing something different, a reverse of positions if you will. Orion Pax will be the main autobot character, if you've figured out who he really is then well done, he has a reversed colour scheme and he isn't quite the leader you know but he will be. The hint is in the title of the fic, I wanted to bring down the character we love to someone who has the potential to be great within him, but he hasn't fully adjusted to the responsibility behind him and the destiny ahead of him. Rest assured he will be the Prime you recognise by the end of the fic.

Though I'd go onto an interesting subject, which you're welcome to add to in the reviews too. Whilst I'm a fan of the original voice cast particularly Frank Welker and Peter Cullen I thought of certain voice actors who would do good at voicing certain characters, some already have voiced these characters others are actors I imagined speaking as I wrote dialogue:

Orion Pax: Jason O'Mara (played Albert Wesker in Resident Evil: Extinction but recently provided good voice work for Batman in the Justice League: War movie and will do so again for Son of Batman)

Ratchet: Jeffrey Combs (provided Ratchet's voice for the Prime series but before hand played the Question in Justice League Unlimited, plus I like it when he says 'I needed that!' which he will say a lot :)

Bumblebee: Johnny Yong Bosch (famous for being both a Black and Green ranger in Power Rangers, but has a good list of leading voice acting roles including Lelouch from Code Geass, Yukimura Sanada from Sengoku Basara and Ichigo from Bleach. Yet another whom has voiced this character, this time in the War For Cybertron game)

Rodimus Prime and Prowl: Travis Willingham (played Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist)

Arcee: Chloe Grace Moretz (famous as Hitgirl from the Kickass series and the Carrie remake, I just imagined her as the defensive Autobot who occasionally drops a swear word, yet kicks ass at the same time :)

Warpath: Jamieson Price (voiced Warpath in War for and Fall of Cybertron but has for the longest time provided the voice of Lu Bu in the Dynasty Warriors series)

Cliffjumper: Nolan North (voiced Cliff Jumper in Fall of Cybertron but also provided voice work for Desmond in the Assassin's Creed series, Smokescreen in Prime and Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series, oh and he also does the best Deadpool you'll ever hear)

Starscream: Steve Blum (voiced Starscream in Prime, but you've likely heard his voice in a lot of things :)

Anyway that's enough Transformers and their potential voice actors, might do more as I introduce more Transformers. Next time the Normandy crew and Commander Shepard will make their debut, as will Megatron.