He didn't dream.

There was only an instant of dark nothingness and in another instant, crashing.

Pain. Loud noise. An explosion. Weightlessness and the feeling of being too heavy as he was tossed around like a youngling's toy. The sounds of glass breaking and metal screams as it was twisted out of shape by blunt force trauma.

He didn't know what was going on.

In that one instant, when he should have been in a stasis pod, he was not. It was dark, blurred shapes illuminated by sparking wires that flickered from broken machinery. Warning sirens blared faintly, far away. Or were they close and his audios were glitching? His claws dug into the ruptured metal of the floor. Somehow, he'd changed to true-form without realizing it. It was cold, so cold. He needed to be warm.

He didn't feel heat.

Or perhaps he did. Ahead of him, a bit to the right, he could feel a faint heat. Loopy from the protocols screaming at him to go back to stasis and injured from a gash along his front, he crawled and staggered toward the warmth. Heat was good. Heat was life. It would keep him safe.

He didn't know how much time passed.

It seemed like no time at all. Like a dream that faded away as soon as one woke. The before was forgotten, everything forgotten, as he struggled over rubble and wreckage to the warmth. If there were bodies in his way, he didn't notice. Somehow, he found himself at the source of the warmth. A soft glow of orange rock and light from below heated stones called him until he collapsed in exhaustion atop them.

Then he dreamed.

Ghost-like things of little sense and no meaning, no coherent thoughts wafted through his mind. It was a content slumber of warmth and safety. And then there was a song. It tugged at his core, telling him to wake, there were things to be done. Forgotten people he needed to be with. It stoked a fire in his belly that curled and spun but the warmth was too much for him. The serene refuge filled with dreaming dragged him under again, stasis protocols refusing to let go.

And he slumbered on.

.

.

"Look at the light...good, just like that." Ratchet clicked off the light and pulled it away from Arcee's optics. "Everything checks out. You're clear. Now out." A red servo jerked toward the open door where several faces were peering around the door frame to get a glimpse of the new bots. They'd had enough energon to wake some of those in stasis and the regular crew were understandably eager to talk to them.

"Aww, don't like me hanging around medic?" The smaller pink and white femme teased. She'd heard of Ratchet's cranky personality (who hadn't?), but had never met or been treated by him before.

A loud snort answered her as the ambulance turned away to the medberth next to hers, "I don't like people being in here if they aren't injured. I need the space in case there's an emergency. And your friend here," Ratchet lifted Springer's arm to get a good look at the torn metal adorning it's side, "isn't quite as unscathed as you."

Springer made a rude noise, "You make is sound like it's my fault."

Ignoring the ensuing bickering and Blurr's giggles, Arcee did as the CMO had bid and hopped off the berth. Wandering out to the hall she was immediately greeted with the ruckus of several mechs all trying to talk to her at once. The Twins managed to catch her attention.

"Hey 'C," Rubbing his servo on the top of her helm, Sideswipe cackled cheerfully, "You escaped the clutches of the evil Ratchet the Hatchet! Good job!"

"I heard that, you glitch!" A faint shout from within the medbay did nothing but send the red mech howling.

Swatting his servos away, Arcee smiled, "Hey Sides, Sunstreaker. You guys still driving Prowl up the wall?" A few hoots and chortles from the other mechs in the hall answered her question. Sunstreaker rolled his optics but failed to hide a smirk that was sneaking it's way across his face. His twin had no such issues and openly bared his sharp denta in the semblance of a smile.

"Only on occasion."

"Yeah, right." Kup drawled, as he came up behind the small femme and put her in a loose headlock, ignoring her complaints and struggles to get him to let go. "You two couldn't behave and give him peace and quiet unless you were bribed."

"Oh? Bribed with what?" Sunstreaker leaned forward curiously, optic ridges raising in question.

Bumblebee walked by, gaining a one-servo wave from Arcee, "My guess is highgrade or prank materials."

The conversation took a severe turn as Ultra Magnus left the medbay and came up to their little gathering. Taking one look at Kup holding Arcee in a headlock, the giant blue mech frowned, "Sergeant Kup, that is not how cadets are treated."

"I'm old enough to be their grand-creator." An optic roll as he used his free servo to poke at her sides, tickling her, "I can act like it if I want." He pulled the cygar out of his mouth long enough to blow out a puff of gray smoke at the Justice before shoving it back in. Magnus wrinkled his nose but made no comment about the vapor cloud.

Shoving her elbow back, the femme gained enough room to slide out of the Kup's arm and twirl around to face him, "If this is how you treat grand-creations, I shudder to think of how you'd treat trainees you don't like." Laughs started up with the band of hooligans gathered about and a few started shouting mild insults at the newly-awakened bots. It quieted though, as Optimus and Prowl came through and stopped before the medbay doors.

"Wrestling is to remain in the training room." Doorwings flicking in greeting, Prowl dipped his helm in respect to Kup and Ultra Magnus. And was then immediately pulled into a hug by the older pale green mech. "Ah! Kup..."

"Ha! How you doing mech? It's good to see you! And Prime," Kup turned to drag Optimus into a hug as well, "Still running helm first into fights?"

A sarcastic but delighted huff flared from the Prime's vents as he returned the hug. It had been too long since he'd last seen the ancient wildling, "I'll have you know I don't do that all the time."

"So he says." Called Ratchet out of sight within the medbay.

How he could hear what was being said out in the hall when the doors were only partially open and there was chatter, no one was sure. The peanut gallery started another chorus of chortling and mockery until Prowl turned to them with a stern look. Ultra Magnus cleared his vocalizer to gain Prime's attention before speaking, "I would like to be caught up on the events we have missed."

"Of course," With a sweeping gesture, the blue and red siren started to steer them down the hall.

But Kup dug his feet in, "Now wait a moment. Prime." Everyone turned to see what was a matter. Arcee hadn't moved either, staying right new to her leader's side. "You woke up my unit."

"Uh, yes." Optimus' finials tilted back a little in confusion.

"My whole unit." Kup continued, expression hardening. Ultra Magnus straightened as he realized what the wildling was getting at. The mechs around them tensed, knowing something was wrong but not knowing what. With a frown growing, Prowl intervened to explain.

"There are only a few others still left in stasis. None are listed under your unit."

"But where's Hot Rod?" Arcee blurted out, quickly tacking on a "sir".

An uneasy silence descended upon the group. Shifting uneasily, the Twins looked at Wheeljack and Bumblebee before dropping their gaze. Bumblebee worried his lower lip and refused to look anyone in the optic. Tipping his head as he checked the list, Prowl finally broke the quiet, "Hot Rod is listed under 'Assumed Dead'."

"Why assumed?" Kup crossed his arms, armor creaking slightly as it flattened like a tire losing air.

"Those in stasis are all listed and known. Those found dead are on the list of casualties. Those not found at all are on the 'Assumed Dead' list." A soft sigh. "I'm sorry."

Struggling to keep her armor from shifting, Arcee gave a quiet, "Oh." Her plate edges started to darken to black before Kup set a warm servo on her shoulder. She squeezed her optics shut and murmured, "I...I should go tell Blurr and Springer."

"No. Go with the others and talk to people. It'll be good for you" The older mech said gently, "I'll tell them."

Carefully setting their servos on her elbows, the Twins steered Arcee toward the rec room where everyone else was gathered. Ultra Magnus bowed his helm for a long moment before following Prowl towards the officer meeting room. Silently, everyone else left to either join their comrades in the rec or return to their shifts. Within minutes, only Optimus and Kup remained.

Without a word, the taller mech pulled Kup into another hug. "I'm sorry."

"He was a good kid." Kup pulled back and chewed harshly on one end of his cygar before giving a harsh puff, "Annoying as Pit sometimes and kept doing some dumb-aft slag... but a good kid."

Rubbing his tired optics, he waved the Prime off so that he was alone in the hall. After standing unmoving before the medbay door for a very long minute, he walked in. They closed with a muted click.

Tap. Tap-tap-tap. Tap.

A yellow foot tested the floor in the rocky cavern before moving forward a yard and repeated the action again. Whey he'd gone a fair ways, Grapple cocked his head slightly and stomped the ground a little harder before turning to Hoist. "Stable."

"The ground at least." the pine green and gold mech agreed, "I don't like the look of that ceiling."

Above their helms, stalactites hung down in jagged angles and broken spires. Several had already fallen, their points littering the cavern floor. Cracks ran along the larger flat stones like grasping fingers, dark even when the mechs lifted up the lights they were carrying. Smaller pebbles could be seen filling in a few of the gaps. Even as the mechs looked up, a few fell loose to clatter down. Tiny clouds of dust followed.

"That is definitely going to collapse," continued the visored medic.

Grapple sighed, "I tried telling that to the officers. This whole area has to be blocked off, but Prime was insistent that we try to stabilize it."

"Could Ironhide do it?"

"I got him down here to take a look. He said, 'It wants tah come down an' it's gonna come down. No amount'a supports are gonna fix it.' And I'm trusting him on that. At the very least, we can make sure it comes down without damaging our base." After mimicking Ironhide's drawl, he rubbed his face tiredly. The mech crossed his arms and eyed the supporting stones with a critical optic. "We need to mark out what can drop this mess without destroying the entire inside of the volcano."

A hum came from Hoist as he slowly checked over the right wall where several smaller tunnels started. "You're tired." He observed.

"Of course I'm tired." The light English accent got stronger. "Do you know how much of the mountain I've already covered? Every single bit of what's left of our ship, all the adjoining passageways, every ceiling, wall and floor that looks the least bit unstable, which is a lot mind you. I had help fixing the doors and walls but that's only because Wheeljack's destroyed them enough times that he knows how to fix them. We need another architect or two. Someone who actually knows what they're doing aside from me."

"Do you want to be less stressed out?" His friend asked quietly, as he pulled out a light pen to mark out weak structure points on the walls.

Grapple groaned, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble. You don't have to."

With a shake of his head, Hoist disagreed, "Stress isn't good for you. It's not any trouble at all." Reaching out mentally, the empath felt the tension and anxiety practically bleeding from the yellow and black mech. Slowly he tugged it away, stretching it thin until it tattered and tore like wet paper. While the negative emotions were drained away, Hoist pulsed calm out from himself, nudging it toward Grapple if the mech wanted it.

Empaths were not common. And the temptation to use their abilities to manipulate the people around them was terrible. How the Autobots were lucky enough to have found someone as kind and caring as Hoist who didn't abuse his powers, no one was quite sure. But they were extremely grateful.

With an easy sigh, Grapple accepted the emotion that was not his and allowed it to put him in a better mood. "Thank you."

"Huh," Hoist was distracted from replying as a large gaping hole in the floor caught his attention. It was farther back and hard to see in the dim light they were carrying. "Is this going to be an issue?"

Walking over, Grapple knelt to get a better look. Running his servos carefully over the edges of the crack that was barely as wide as his chest, the crane truck hummed. He tapped the ground around it, nodding as he noted it's stability and then leaned forward to peer downward into the pit. "You know, I believe there's a light down there."

"Probably lava."

"Yes but..." Grapple shuffled onto his front to get a better look, "Hang on... There's something down there."

Rocking back on his heels, Hoist couldn't help but peer over his friends shoulder, even knowing he wouldn't be able to see with the mech blocking the hole, "What sort of something?"

"I'm not sure. Lets dim the lights."

The lanterns were flicked off. Hoist dimmed his visor until the yellow light was barely perceptible and only the fainest wash of blue could be seen highlighting Grapple's optics and upper cheek structure. Scooting around so they were on opposite sides of the chamber opening. Grapple stuck his helm back down for a long moment before he sat up and gestured for the green mech to take a look. Since he didn't have a large support structure around his helm like the architect, Hoist was able to lean down farther.

Without the stronger lights, the muted glow of soft orange and golds was much more apparent. As was the creature curled up in the middle of the warm stones below.

Hoist stared for a long moment before pulling himself up and looking blankly at Grapple. They stayed silent and still for a long moment before the medic spoke, words hushed as they understood they were no longer alone in the depths of the mountain. "That's a suncore."

"Yes."

"There is a mech down there."

"Yes."

Another moment of silence, broken by Grapple's quiet insistence, "We have to tell high command... I'll stay here to keep watch." He brightened his optics, blue lighting up the groaning rocks above. This far back and down, the metal of the ship and trace elements in the rock disrupted the comm links. They'd get nothing but static if they tried to use them now.

Nodding, Hoist carefully stood and turned on a lantern, quickly heading back they way they'd come, "I'll be back soon."

Without another word, he was around the corner of the tunnel and gone.

In hardly any time at all, the back cavern housed a number of people. All of which were arguing and muttering to themselves in low voices lest a loud sound bring the boulders down on their helms.

"We'll have to widen the entrance. I think it would be a tight fit for even a minibot right now." Grapple explained.

Ironhide crossed his arms, thick limbs of stone with darker crevices carved in swirls at the joints. "Did ya get a good look at the inside a' the chamber? It ain't gonna stay up if yah start diggin' at it."

"Well, do you have a better plan?"

"How did he get in there in the first place?" Ratchet growled, very unhappy with the entire ordeal. Standing by the hole, the medic lifted his lamp higher and squinted down into the pit as if he could see if the mech was injured from all the way up here. "Blast, there's not enough light down there to get a good look."

Pulling a crystal chunk out of his chest, Ironhide rubbed it until it was glowing a strong white and dropped it down. Rolling a little, the makeshift light settled near the sleeping suncore. "Rocks 'ave been shiftin'. It was probly bigger awhile ago. Maht not have even bin a'chamber at all a'fore. This whole thin's been collapsin' in for at least a couple centuries."

Being a stone elemental, Ironhide was the go-to expert when it came to rocks and mountains of almost all kinds. Even earth ones. He was one of the few that was positively gleeful that their base was in one at the moment.

"Hmrph." Ratchet peered down, "He doesn't appear severely injured. Although he undoubtedly needs energon. I understand how he got in. My problem is how far back we are."

"The crash could have thrown him and/or his stasis pod quite a ways," supplied Prowl, examining the ceiling above. The black parts of his plating were nearly impossible to see with how little light was available. Only his optic glow and the muted whites on his armor showed were he was standing. "We're just past the very front of the ship. Or what would have been the front. If his stasis pod was on the far side of the stasis room, the crash could have carried him..."

Turning around, the black and white studied the tunnel, "...roughly ten yards back. He would have had to move on his own."

"There's heat coming from the rocks. He would have been drawn to it, injured or in shock as I assume he was." Sighing, Ratchet straightened. "And we'll have to widen the hole. He's on the small side but it's still not big enough for him to climb out of."

Ironhide was not happy and rumbled his displeasure with the grinding noise of boulders. Everyone else flinched and looked up, thinking the ceiling was coming in before they realized it was the red and gray mech.

"Ironhide!" Hissed the medic angrily like a startled cat.

He had enough shame to look chastised, "Sorry. How's about we wake the kid up first and then open the hole as he's comin' out? That way if it starts tah cave we kin move real fast?" There were nods of agreement as they all gathered around the opening. Hoist voiced what they were all thinking.

"The question would be how to wake him up."

"I'm going to assume stasis protocols are still in place. And definitely exhaustion from lack of energy. The heat has been keeping him alive, but it's not enough energy." Ratchet tapped a finger on his hip as he thought.

Prowl tilted his helm, "You assume?"

"He's a suncore." Snorting, the medic explained, "Protocols are always a toss up with them. It would honestly be easier if they just had a difficult reaction to them like elementals but I have no idea if they're working. Obviously they disengaged long enough for him to move but I don't know if they reengaged or if they're even on at all."

"So someone has to go down there."

Rubbing his chin in thought, Prowl came up with a solution, "Arcee. She is a pooka."

"She could easily change shape to fit through." Finished Ironhide, "I'll go get her." With that, he turned away towards the main base. Ratchet narrowed his optics at the SIC.

"He's Hot Rod, isn't he? Kup mentioned the kid being a suncore."

A sigh as Prowl stared down at the slumbering mech below them, the suncore unaware of the audience he had gained, "I believe so. There was only one other suncore listed on the crew and that mech's body was found."

"For the sake of Kup and his crew, I hope that it's him."

Little more was said until Ironhide returned with Arcee, Springer, and Optimus in tow. Staying out of the way, the Prime joined Hoist by the wall as he watched the proceedings. Even as Prowl scowled at Ironhide for bringing more people to the already crowded area, Kup joined them. Throwing his servos in the air as if to say, 'Fine. Do whatever you like', Prowl gestured at Optimus for help.

He only shrugged. Mediating, Grapple spoke up, "As long as no one causes the rocks to shake and we keep our noise level down, I believe we'll be fine."

Pushing past all the arguing mechs, Kup knelt by the gap in the floor and looked down, "Yep. That's the kid alright." Even in the half dark, everyone could plainly hear or see the smile he was wearing.

"Damn it, Hot Rod!" Snapped Arcee quietly as Springer started laughing. Unsure if she was relieved he was alive or mad at him, the femme ended up scowling. She hit her fists together, "I'm gonna kick his aft when he's out of this. How dare he make us think he's dead. I don't like my friends being dead!"

"Be glad you have the chance to smack some sense into him at all." Ratchet advised her sagely.

Giving a harsh cough to gain their attention, their unit leader waved the two younger bots over, "Alright. Arcee, I know you can get through. Springer?"

The younger green mech made a negative regretful sound as he examined the whole, "If my alt didn't have wings I probably could."

Everyone shuffled to the side to allow Arcee plenty of room. Stretching slightly, the femme shifted to her smallest form. Pink armor darkened to black and stretched, folding in on itself and collapsing until a four-legged beast the size of a large dog stood in her place. Similar in form to a wild hare with a whip-thin tail, Arcee twitched the side panels chock full of sensors just behind her helm to gather sounds before scampering forward on crouched legs.

With a careful hop, she jumped into the chamber. Her feet stung as she landed harshly. "At least it's not very deep."

It was warm though. Above they had barely felt the hot air rising past them but down here it practically cloaked her. Perspiration gathered on her cooler armor as the dark metal heated. She lit her large optics to their full setting, the glow illuminating the walls and the crystal Ironhide had tossed down. The ground beneath her feet was hot, almost too hot, and as she crept forward carefully, Arcee noted the open cracks in the flooring where molten rock could be seen just below. It gave the open space an orange tinted glow. Her large audios flared to gather more information before snapping back down. Sulfur. Tremors below but very faint. The right wall of the chamber had too many cracks and looked like it would fall at any minute. Best to stay away from that one.

In front, the resting suncore. Arcee sighed. He looked alright, just unconscious.

Imagine a European dragon, those ones with four legs and long necks and tails. But the legs looked more like a birds and had burnished carmine feathers starting halfway up, meeting with thin oblong shaped plating that overlapped. The larger plating of his body was partially transparent, showing off the slowing twisting golden flames inside his core.

Instead of a long scaled tail, there was a magnificent plume of feathers. Faceplates stretched and curved down almost into a beak but not quite. Atop that helm, another plume sat, although not as splendid as the tail. The edges of the feathers glowed the same soft gold as his flames. Curled on his side with optics shuttered, Hot Rod's back legs were pulled up towards his chest, front ones stretched down so his claws hung off the flat stone he rested on. He didn't even twitch as Arcee came closer, lost somewhere in dreaming.

They called them suncores because their core was made of fire, not spark. Unlike the lava elementals, they didn't go to molten rock. No, they felt called to open flames. Sometimes their inside fires consumed them, flaring out as if they were a sun formed into a mortal creature.

Yet now, no flames glimmered between the mech's scales. No flickers tried to dance atop his crest and beneath his paws.

And when Arcee carefully set her own tiny paw on his flank, the warmth of his armor didn't burn her as it should have. Transforming back to root mode, the femme tried to shake her friend awake. "Hey! Hot Rod, wake up!"

No response.

She growled, starting to become frustrated as she grabbed at his shoulder pauldrons and gave a harsh tug. That always got him up before. "Now is not a good time to be lazy. Come ooooonnnnn..."

"Arcee." She looked behind and up towards the hole where Ratchet's face was visible, "If he's not responding, the stasis protocols are probably still active. He needs a shock to his systems so they realize he's in danger and back off." The words were hushed but still carried to the back of the mountain cave.

Her foot nudged one of his hind legs slightly to the side as she settled into a more comfortable crouch. After a few seconds of hard thought, the pooka carefully rolled him fully onto his front and wrapped her servos around the feather flaring at his shoulders. They could've been mistaken for wings, and sometimes where, but it was just plumage.

Still hurt like a demon when they were injured.

Leaning forward, Arcee muttered a quick apology before biting down hard with her partially sharp denta. A sickening crunch yielded how deep she'd torn into the delicate metal. With a painful whistling moan, the suncore stirred.

His claws scratched at the rock slab weakly, a tea-kettle sound ripping from his muzzle as he tried to lift his head. Optics opened a smidge, a glow of sparks caught in amber. Arcee was quick to yank his helm toward her and urge him up, "Get up!" She hissed as loudly as she dared, "Hurry! No! Slagggit, don't you dare go back to sleep! Get up Hot Rod!"

Helm drooping, he'd started to fall still again before a rough shake of his helm startled a keen from him. On scrambling legs, he hunched forward, paws slipping as the mech tried to remember how to stand.

"Good! Yes, come on. We have to move!" Arcee's voice accidentally rose in excitement as she ushered the woozy suncore forward.

He managed to get his front feet off the slab before a humongous groan within the mountain shook the rocks above them. A sharp crunch from the right wall made the pooka jump. She froze, armor starting to rattle with nerves as Hot Rod bumped against her shoulder in dizziness. Slumping forward, he started to fall back into recharge right there until she dug her servos into his shoulder plumage. A hurt yip burst from the suncore to echo around the small cavern.

"That rumbling was not Ironhide." Grapple called down solemnly in a low tone.

Arcee winced, "I gathered..." She turned to Hot Rod, "Hey, we're on a mission, okay? There's Autobots above. Kup and Springer too. We have to get to them, okay?" She tugged on one of the tiny horns just in front of his helm plume.

"...-cee?" A slurred mutter.

"Yeah, it's me. Come on. We have to go up." She urged him forward, avoiding the heated cracks that criss-crossed the floor. Scrambling and weaving back and forth as he tried to go in a straight line and failed, Hot Rod suddenly paused to turn his helm at her drunkenly.

"...mission?"

It was a relief that he seemed to understand some of what she was saying and respond to it, "Yeah. We have to go up through that hole." A gesture at the opening above them as they stopped. Several of the Autobots could be seen, gathering around the crack.

Grapple called down again, "Ironhide and I will widen it. Springer, Optimus, and Magnus are going to lift you up." He explained, even as a thick net with attached ropes was tossed down. When Magnus had joined the party, Arcee didn't know or care but was extremely thankful that the large bot was there to pull them up. She didn't weigh much but Hot Rod in his trueform wasn't exactly small.

As she opened the netting and tried to push the suncore into it, he started to struggle woozily. "NO Hot Rod. Stay there. You have to stay in the netting." She explained.

A curious and confused noise curled from his throat, "What...-rrrr we doing?" Tipping back, almost to the point where he fell over, Hot Rod stared up at the bots, "Up? Right,...going up."

"Yes. We're going up."

As soon as he looked like he wasn't going to fuss, the mechs above lifted the netting enough that the sides came up to enclose the suncore in it. He immediately started moving around, tail flaring and lashing around with a disgruntled look. Optics widened and brightened in dazed panic. His friend started to hiss at him but Kup called down, "Hold still kid."

Unquestioningly, he did. Even if he didn't know why. Kup was in charge and Arcee had told him it was a mission, so obviously he had to follow orders.

That didn't mean he was comfortable as the net lifted from the floor, wrapping around him tightly like a second skin. While the drowsy mech shivered and tried to fight the stasis protocols, Arcee shifted back to her smaller form, lunging forward to hook her paws through the holes in the mesh as they rose. "Hey Hot Rod," she batted at his face to get his attention, "We're Kup's grand-creations now."

It was a good distraction, odd enough to for him to focus on as he swung his muzzle around to look at her, "...When'd that happen?"

"A couple days ago."

Grapple and Ironhide started tearing at the hole, widening it so the pair could pass through without a struggle. Tremors rocked the chamber below. Ratchet shouted at the mechs to be careful as the ground around the opening started to buckle. Pebbles and rock chunks cascaded down in a steady rain, forcing Arcee to duck her head into the netting, tail wrapping through it for extra support.

"Move back!"

Hoist yanked Prowl sideways as the floor beneath him crumpled inward. They were behind the others gathered around the opening, trying not to be in the way. Several stalactites cracked and fell, breaking upon the mech's shoulders and shattering on the floor like discarded blocks.

They all paused for a moment, rock dust swirling in and out of their vents as everyone save for the group lifting moved back carefully. Another faint quake moaned deeply beneath their feet, a sea beast reminding sailors it was still there under the waves. With a grunt, Springer's foot started to slip toward the enlarged hole but he quickly scooted back.

Slowly, carefully, Optimus and the others heaved the suncore up out of the hole. In seconds, he was pulled toward safer ground while the netting was yanked off and the mechs started to sigh in relief. Arcee had just climbed off and transformed when the group managed to free Hot Rod.

Before anyone could do anything else, Kup grabbed the younger mech by his tiny horns and dragged his face up towards his own. "Kid, I'm glad you're alive."

"...?" Hot Rod let out a confused warble as Ratchet urged him to transform to root mode so he could turn off the protocols.

Ultra Magnus ducked under some particularly long stalactites as he backed up to the wall so there was plenty of room for everyone, "Even in stasis he manages to get into trouble."

"Hey, it's not like he did it on purpose." With a laugh, Springer pulled his friend into a partial hug-partial headlock, ignoring Ratchet's blistering swears of annoyance.

Finally convincing the mech to transform, the medic had just managed to turn off the protocols when Hot Rod collapsed on the ground on his back, "Ugggggghhhh, I feel awful." Noting Springer near his legs, the maroon and gold youngster gave a sharp kick. Springer startled.

"What was that for?!"

The adults all made loud shushing noises as another rumble echoed above and below them. Once it settled, Hot Rod answered dully, "Not finding me sooner."

"Not finding you-I was in STASIS until two days ago you UNGRATEFUL IDIOT. And then I was told you were dead!" Hissing insults on his friends intelligence and battle prowess, the green mech started swearing something pretty colorful as Ultra Magnus rumbled at him to keep his mouth clean and Hot Rod himself started to chuckle. With a sigh, Arcee traded looks with Kup who only smirked and lifted the suncore up so he was standing. Albeit wobbly and leaning heavily on his unit leader like a drunk, but it still counted as standing.

"Off to the medbay now, enough of that." Ratchet came up behind them, neatly slapping the backs of both Hot Rod's and Springer's helms. The mechlings grunted and made wounded noises but didn't argue. "Arcee, good job." A solemn remark to the femme as they started moving.

Giving a nod in return, the pooka shook herself to get rid of the last of her nerves and went to Hot Rod's other side in case he tried going back into recharge while they were walking. Optimus signaled Grapple and Ironhide to bring the cavern down as soon as everyone was clear so no one else could get hurt. As the group moved out, Hot Rod's voice rose loudly above the clatter of their feet and bounced against the walls.

"What the slag did I miss?!"

And then there was a sharp clang as the medic slapped the back of his helm again.

.

.

Everyone is pretty sure Kup's cygars are magic. They're just not sure how. Or what they do.

Suncore: Somewhat like a phoenix dragon. They are very pretty and often a little vain like crystal dragons. Tend to set themselves on fire when cornered and when they are completely grown, are rather large. Almost as large as a sphinx. There is a huge debate if they're elemental or otherkin. The Suncore's themselves generally don't care.

Justice: Mystic. Can always tell when people are lying and can't lie themselves. However, they are very good at twisting their words so it seems like they're saying one thing when they're really saying something else. Always have a very large scale that is sometimes used as a weapon. Beings of law and order, they make it their duty to keep balance and peace wherever they are. If there's an argument, find a Justice. They are always impartial when it comes to settling things.

Pooka: Otherkin. A sibling species to the Kelpie, Pooka are limited in form only by what they can manage. Their other forms are always black, which sometimes leads others to mistake them for a Blackdog if one of their forms is similar in shape to it. Arcee has two other forms, a wild hare with a long thin tail and a equine form. On the rare occasion and in emergencies, she might be able to shift into her third form, similar to Bluestreak's canid alt but more like a bear than anything else.

Empath: Mental. Pick up on how others are feeling and can manipulate those emotions. Hoist only manipulates others feelings when there's an emergency in the medbay and a patient needs to calm down so they don't hurt themselves or others. He does have to careful though. If he's in a place with a lot of people all feeling similar emotions, they can subtly influence how he himself is feeling.

Stone Elemental: Large, rough dark gray mechanoid shape with lines carved into swirls along his body and between the limbs. Spots of crystals sometimes appear on his "skin". While guardian's are warm stone to the touch, stone elementals are cold. They prefer to live in and around mountains. If they feel threatened, they can merge with a mountain (depending on it's size) and become bigger.

Next chapter, Decepticons...