LongingResider: Thank you for your review! That's exactly what I was hoping to capture in this fic. I wanted to show the brutality of the caste system, not brush it over or make it seem insignificant. After all, it is what created the Decepticons, who rose up in response to the oppression.
The sweltering heat of the mines was an unrelenting force that constantly pushed against him at all sides, always keeping him company. C-14 could feel it seeping into his circuits, every wire and cable, until his cooling fans clicked on.
He had been patched up by Remedy, and not even given a solar cycle to recover. Instead, Streamline had put him back to work just out of spite, even if he was still covered in energon and low on reserves. It didn't matter to the mech what condition he was in, he wanted his slave back.
C-14 shifted his grip on the drill, feeling its vibrations running through his frame as he angled it towards a fresh energon vein. He focused, adjusting the drill's setting, ready to tear into the previous fuel source when a low rumbling reverberated through the tunnels.
The miner paused, optics narrowing as he looked up. The sound wasn't from the drill, or any drills for that matter. Around him, other miners had stopped, optics wide and looking uneasy as they glanced up at the ceiling. For a klik, all was still.
Then the taskmasters started barking orders. "Keep working! Get back to it! You're on the clock!"
The gladiator frowned, but nevertheless complied, not wanting to receive a beating or a shock, turning back to resume his work. Before he could, however, a sharp crack came from above. Pebbles and small chunks of rock fell from the ceiling, bouncing off his armor.
Then came the violent tremor, and a terrifying, audial-splitting shriek followed. It was a sound so terrible that it stopped every miner in their tracks. It echoed through the caverns, a high-pitched wail that sent chills through even the most hardened mechs. A Dweller.
Panic surged through the group. Every miner knew what that sound meant, and none of them wanted to face the horror that dwelled beneath Cybertron's surface. C-14's optics darted to the taskmasters, only to find them gone—vanished. The overseers had fled, abandoning the miners to their fate.
The floor beneath C-14's pedes grew unstable as a web of cracks spread throughout tunnel. His optics darted upward just in time to see larger rocks splintering from the ceiling, crashing down and sending tremors through the cave system. Dust spilled through every crevice as the walls groaned and buckled. He recognized the signs immediately, spark racing as panic seized him.
"Cave-in! Run!" C-14 bellowed, tossing his tool to the side. The miners who had been frozen in fear, snapped out of their trance at the sound of his voice, scattering and abandoning tools as they bolted for the exit.
The miner followed the wave of bots desperately scrambling to escape. The ground quaked violently, chunks of ceiling cascading down like an avalanche as he struggled to reach the front of the mine.
"Get out!" C-14 shouted, seeing the cracks were spreading faster, and the tremors were getting worse. The ceiling wouldn't hold. He grabbed Chainlink by the arm and pulled him forward as the ceiling began to buckle.
Miners were screaming, shoving, scrambling over one another in a desperate attempt to escape the collapsing tunnel. The ground beneath them was starting to give way. All the mechs were pushing past each other in blind terror, not caring if they left their own behind.
C-14 could hear the thunder of rocks crashing behind them, cutting off those too slow to keep up. Some were already being swallowed by the mine. Chainlink stumbled beside him, his bulk making it hard to keep pace with the faster, more agile miners. The gladiator steadied him, grabbing his arm and keeping him upright as they sprinted for their lives.
But when C-14 spotted movement out of the corner of his optics, he stopped, seeing a miner nearby who had been knocked down by falling debris. The bot lay pinned, struggling under the weight of a massive slab of rock. Without thinking, the miner rushed to their side.
"Hold on!" the gladiator shouted, servos digging into the slab as he heaved the debris off the trapped miner. They looked up at him with wide, terrified optics as he hauled them to their pedes. Chainlink started to run the klik their optics met.
Slinging the bot over his shoulder, he ran as fast as he could to the entrance. He could see the light just ahead, they were so close—
But their combined weight slowed him down, and the floor beneath him cracked loudly. C-14's spark lurched in his chassis as the ground began to give way beneath his pedes. He dropped the miner, losing his balance and the ground crumbled. Suddenly, there was no more floor beneath them.
A massive chunk of the cave collapsed beneath their feet, and all three mechs were swallowed by the collapsing earth. The world above disappeared into dust and shadow as they plummeted into the depths of the mine.
Orion groaned softly as onlining protocols booted up, systems restarting and data rearranging. A deep, dull ache radiated through his frame, and he became dimly aware of the soft warmth beneath him. He opened his optics to see blurry surroundings.
Where... am I?
The question lingered hazily in his neural net as his processor struggled to piece together his fragmented memories. Onlining protocols booted fully, and he tried to sit up. Pain lanced through his frame immediately, forcing a startled gasp from his vocalizer.
He sank back into the berth with a frustrated groan, optics focusing on the room around him. Turning his helm slowly, he scanned his surroundings, looking at the white walls and bare room. Near him, to his side, there were monitors displaying his vitals and diagnostic readings.
This is... a medbay.
His gaze drifted downward, and he spotted the brace encasing his leg. What? How did he get here? Why was he in a brace. Then, the memories hit him. The alley, the crimson message on the wall, the overcharged mech in the alley, and brutal attack that had—
Jazz!
Where was Jazz? Had the mech been hurt? The last thing he remembered was seeing Jazz go down, trying to bravely protect the defenseless mech. The sound of approaching pedesteps reached his audial receptors, drawing his attention to the doorway.
A familiar orange and white figure stepped into the room. Cerulean optics widened as they saw he was online. "Primus, you're online," Ratchet muttered, sounding relieved as he stepped to Orion's side and pulled out a scanner. "Stay still. You're not in any condition to be moving."
"Jazz... is he...?"
There was a spike of affection and exasperation through Ratchet's field as the mech vented. "He's fine. Took some hits, but I patched him up. You should be more worried about yourself."
Relief washed over Orion and his tense frame relaxed slightly against the berth. But the ache in his spark didn't fade as the light of the scanner engulfed his frame. "What... happened to the mech?" he asked, his optics searching Ratchet's face.
Ratchet hesitated. "You were in bad shape when Jazz brought you in. He couldn't do much against that brute, and neither could you. Be glad you're still functional."
Orion frowned. That wasn't an answer. "Ratchet... the mech. What happened to them?"
The medic's optics darkened slightly. "That's not something you need to concern yourself with right now. You should be focused on recovering."
Why didn't the mech kill him and Jazz? It would have been two easy kills? Did something stop him from finishing the job?
Orion vented, turning away from his friend.
"You should be fully operational within the cycle," Ratchet announced. "But as of right now, you need to rest, Orion."
The archivist muttered an acknowledgement. The medic hovered just a bit longer before turning and leaving the room. Nearby, a screen flickered to life on the small screen mounted near the corner of the room. A speech from Sentinel Zeta Prime.
"My fellow Cybertronians," Sentinel began, raising his servos in the air. "It is with a heavy spark that I address you today regarding the collapse of Nova Point Mine, our largest and most critical source of energon.
"The loss of this mine," Cybertron's leader continued, "is not just a blow to our resources but to the very foundation of our society. The energon extracted from Nova Point powered our cities, our industries, and our futures.
"As your Prime, I vow that this tragedy will not go unanswered. Measures are already underway to ensure the stability of other mines across Cybertron. We are working tirelessly to prevent such a disaster from occurring again."
Sentinel Prime looked down, shaking his helm. It almost seemed as if he were genuinely caring about the workers of the underworld. "This tragedy claimed the lives of 557 brave miners. Another 356 remain missing, though our search teams are doing everything in their power to find them. These workers were the lifeblood of our planet, toiling tirelessly so that Cybertron could thrive. Today, we mourn their loss."
Orion's spark twisted painfully at the numbers. So many lost... His optics followed the images that flashed before the screen, showing the ruined, collapsed mine. The mouth of it had rubble and rocks spilling out it, and parts of it were unrecognizable.
"To honor the memory of those we have lost, I am declaring a planetary day of mourning. All mining operations will cease for one solar cycle to allow our workers to grieve and recover. Cybertron will stand united in this time of loss.
"And let us not forget," Sentinel continued, placing a servo over his spark, "Cybertron faces threats from within and without—monsters, dissidents, and extremists who seek to tear us apart. But together, we shall overcome. Together, we shall ensure that tragedies like Nova Point never happen again."
The screen cut to a shot of the crowd gathered, many of whom were nodding fervently or holding their servos over their sparks. Then, the broadcast ended. Orion's frowned, not liking the implications of what Sentinel Zeta had just said.
Was the Prime using this tragedy to bolster his ideas against the growing unrest among Cybertron's lower castes?
Everything was dark. Completely black. His optics whirred as they struggled to adjust, but nothing happened. For a fleeting panic-filled klik, the miner thought his optics were damaged by the collapse. He waved his servo in front of his face, frantically searching for any signs of movement.
Nothing. His sparkrate spiked.
The large mech shifted slightly, when a soft glow caught his attention. Immediately, relief flooded through him. He wasn't blind. But now he had a new set of problems.
That soft blue glow was energon. Specifically, his energon which was leaking from his side into a pool that seeped into the rocks and onto the ground below. He checked for the damages, finding that it was already being sealed by his self-repair systems.
His optics caught on a dark shape that twitched below him. It took a nano-klik for C-14 to realize that he was on top of the miner that he had saved. The miner stirred, groaning weakly as the bot shifted underneath him.
"You... alright?" the miner rasped, his voice laced with static.
The smaller bot grunted, trying to move under his weight. "Feels... like I'm being crushed... by a boulder."
C-14 winced, realizing just how much of his bulk was weighing down on the smaller bot. "That... uh... might be me."
The miner let out a weak chuckle, though it was strained. "Great... I always wanted to be flattened by a 'bot as big as you."
"Sorry," the miner muttered. He gritted his dentas, adjusting his weight as much as his frame would allow, though he couldn't move his lower half. The pressure from whatever was pinning him down had his systems screaming in agony. "Can you... can you move?"
The smaller mech grunted again, shifting slightly beneath him. "Got... a bit of wiggle room. Enough to get out, maybe."
"Hold on," C-14 said, biting back a groan as he pushed up with his arms, trying to give the miner more space. Whatever was pinning him down wouldn't budge, but he managed to lift himself just enough for the smaller bot to start crawling out from under him.
The miner grunted and strained as he wriggled free, finally pulling himself out and slumping to the ground next to C-14. "Primus... that was... not fun."
The larger mech let out a pained chuckle. "You're telling me."
The smaller mech shifted slightly. "Can't see a fraggin' thing... can you activate your headlights?"
Headlights? he thought, his processor trying to catch up. Then he remembered the headlights from his alt-mode. How stupid could he have been? C-14 concentrated, and with some effort, one of the lights on his chassis flickered on, casting a dim light, but it was enough to help them see. The other headlight remained off—probably broken in the fall.
The beam of light barely illuminated the area close by, revealing the collapsed walls, scattered debris and the massive slab of rock that was crushing his legs, keeping him trapped. He stared at the obstruction, realization dawning.
He wasn't getting out of this easily.
"Well," the miner said softly, staring at the slab of rock, "you weren't kidding about being crushed."
"Yeah," C-14 muttered, ex-venting heavily. His processor started to come up with ways to free himself as he assessed his situation. He turned to the miner, whose optics were offlined. "You see anything we can use?"
The smaller mech didn't respond at first, staying completely still. C-14 watched the bot curiously, trying to figure out what he was up to when the miner's headlights flickered to life. The bot grinned slightly, then glanced around, optics trailing over the wreckage. "Not much," he replied. "Most of the tools are either buried or smashed..."
There was a sputtering sound, followed by a click in the miner's direction. It took a klik for C-14 to realize that it was the mech's cooling fans trying to come to life...
"You think most of us escaped?" the miner asked, sifting through debris.
The gladiator vented heavily. "Maybe. I warned them early enough. But... down here... I'm not sure if we can get help."
The smaller bot was quiet for a klik before he muttered, "Well, at least we're not offline... yet." He gave C-14 a weak grin.
"Let's just hope they start digging soon," the gladiator said to himself, but he doubted they would. The taskmasters hardly saw any worth in lowly miners, they wouldn't spare the energon to searched for them. If they died, they died. If they didn't, they went back to digging. It really depended on how many were caught in the cave-in.
The miner shuffled closer, eyeing the massive boulder trapping his legs. The smaller mech's headlight swept over the jagged edges of the rock, and the miner vented heavily.
"Alright, let's see what I can do," the miner muttered. He crouched down, carefully placing his servos on the edge of the boulder, testing its weight. "Frag, this thing is heavy," he said, frame trembling.
C-14 grimaced. "Yeah, figured that out when it fell on me."
The smaller mech chuckled weakly. "Alright, smart-aft. Let's see if we can move it together." He planted his pedes firmly on the ground, bracing himself before turning to look at him. "On my mark, you try to push up with your arms, I'll lift as much as I can. Ready?"
C-14 nodded, gritting his dentas. He suspected trying to drag his lower half out from under the boulder would be brutal, considering how much pain he was in. He didn't voice his thoughts, however, saying, "Ready."
"Three... two... one—lift!" the miner grunted, his frame trembling as he tried to push the boulder upward. C-14 pushed with all his strength, arms shaking under the pressure as he forced his frame up, trying to life the rock just enough to shift his legs free.
The boulder shifted—barely.
"Come on... come on!" the smaller mech grunted, his frame groaning in protest. "Just... a little... more!"
C-14 groaned, feeling the sharp edges of the rock scraping against his armor, but he pushed harder. His entire frame trembled and his already low energon levels dipped even more as he used the remainder of his strength.
The boulder creaked again, this time shifting more. A gap formed between the rock and his legs—enough for him to try and pull free.
"Now!" the miner shouted. "Try to get your legs out!"
C-14 gritted his dentas, summoning every ounce of strength he had left. He pulled, wincing as his legs dragged against the rough ground, and against the rock that scraped against his armor. Pain lanced through his legs and upwards, nearly paralyzing him.
He pushed through it, focusing all his willpower on one thing—getting free. C-14 was almost there until—
The rock slammed down onto his legs, and there was a burst of excruciating agony that rattled his frame. The mech lay there in shock, vents hissing loudly as he bit back a scream. That was going to leave a dent. A big one at that.
"Scrap," the smaller mech swore, falling back onto his aft. "Sorry, big guy. That's all I got. It barely moved at all..."
C-14 ex-vented, wincing at the jolt of pain from his side. "Not... your fault." He glanced down at his trapped leg, knowing it wasn't going to budge without something stronger. "We just... need to think of something else."
The miner looked around the dark cave, clearly trying to come up with another idea. "I could... try to find something to use as leverage. Maybe there's a pip or something in the rubble." He stood shakily, disappearing into the shadows.
C-14's HUD kept flashing warnings of system failures, while his energon levels continued to drop steadily. After fifteen kliks, the miner returned, holding a long metal pipe. "This might work," he said. "I'll wedge it under the rock, and we can try again."
The gladiator gave a weak nod. "Let's... give it a shot."
The smaller mech wedged the pipe under the boulder, using it as a lever to try and lift the rock. He strained, frame shaking as he applied pressure. "On my mark again..."
C-14 braced himself. "Three... two... one—go!"
This time, the boulder lifted up enough for him to free himself. He quickly dragged himself out of the slab, just in time too, because the rock slammed back down, missing him by a fraction.
The miner dropped the pipe, collapsing next to him. "Primus... though I'd have to scrape you out of there."
C-14 huffed weakly, too exhausted to make a retort. "Let's just... get out of here..."
The larger mech looked down at his legs, seeing deep grooves and scratches on them, but nothing that could impair him for life. All he would need was a visit to the medic. Dragging himself over the uneven ground, he slid off the rock pile, ignoring how it bit into his damaged armor.
That's when he saw it.
A large purple tendril lay motionless in the debris, its organic surface shredded and oozing a viscous fluid. The severed appendage was as thick as one of C-14's arms, covered in jagged barbs and faintly glowing in the darkness.
It was a piece of a Dweller.
The sight of it made his energon in his fuel lines run cold. He'd heard about these creatures before in horror stories shared by miners, though he never believed them, thinking that they were made-up stories to scare sparklings.
From his limited knowledge, Dwellers were subterranean horrors—massive, ancient creatures that roamed the deepest darkest part of Cybertron's underground. They had never been seen by surface-dwellers, but sometimes miners who dug too deep would be on the receiving end of one of its attacks.
There had only been one bot who had ever seen and survived a Dweller.
Chainlink.
He remembered the rumors surrounding the bot, some believed his wild story, others just called him an 'old glitch.' He was starting to believe his story now.
C-14 could feel his spark start to beat faster as he scanned the area, praying he wouldn't see the rest of the creature lurking in the shadows. If a Dweller had been here, it meant they were far deeper underground than he thought. And if that said Dweller had been close enough to lose a tendril... it might still be nearby, wounded and angry.
"We need to get out of here. Now," he muttered.
He glanced over at the miner, who was still sitting a short distance away. The poor mech was covered in dust and grime, plating dented and scratched from the cave-in, but he was still in much better shape than he was.
"Hey!" C-14 called out. "We've got a problem. Look."
The miner scrambled to his pedes, rushing over to his side. His optics followed the gladiator's gaze to the severed tendril. The klik he saw it, his entire frame went rigid, optics widening in shock. "By the Allspark... is that...?"
"A Dweller," C-14 confirmed grimly. "Or at least, part of one."
The miner stared at the tendril, horrified. "We're dead, aren't we?"
"Not if we get out of here," the larger mech said, gesturing to his shattered legs. "You're going to have to scout ahead. Find us a way out."
The smaller mech's optics went even wider. "Scout ahead? What if that thing is still down here? I don't want to get scrapped by it!"
C-14 understood the fear in the miner's voice. He felt it too, deep in his spark, the terror of facing something far beyond what they could handle. But he didn't have the luxury of being afraid right now.
"I know it's dangerous, but we don't have a choice," C-14 said shakily, trying to ignore the pain lancing through his frame. "If we stay here, we're goners. You've got to find us an exit. I'll stay here and see if anyone else survived. You find a way up, and we get out of here. Got it?"
The miner hesitated, looking doubtful. "What if... what if I don't come back?"
C-14 clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to snap at him. He didn't have time to coddle the mech's fears. "You'll come back. You're tougher than you think. If you don't find a way out, we're both slagged."
The miner stared at him for a klik longer, then nodded. "Alright... alright. I'll go. But if I see any sign of that thing, I'm coming straight back."
"Good," C-14 said with a tired nod. "And don't make too much noise. We don't want to attract attention."
The miner gave a shaky salute, then turned and started crawling through the debris, moving cautiously as he disappeared into the shadows. C-14 watched him go, feeling the exhaustion start to take hold.
The gladiator leaned back against the cold stone, glancing back at the severed tendril of the Dweller. The creature was somewhere down here. It had been injured, but that only made it more dangerous. If the miner didn't find a way out soon...
C-14 shook his helm, banishing the thought. He had to trust the miner. It was all he could do now. He slowly climbed to his pedes, scanning the immediate area. As he did so, he caught onto a glint of grey metal sticking out from underneath a large boulder.
C-14's spark lurched. No. No, it couldn't be...
The mech rushed over to the rock, gripping the sharp edges protruding out of the massive stone. With a grunt, he summoned all his strength and began to push. The rock shifted, scraping against the ground as C-14 strained, using what little strength he had to push it away. He could hear a faint moan beneath the stone as it crashed to the side.
His spark stalled when he saw Chainlink lay beneath it, his frame crushed and twisted at unnatural angles. His usually gunmetal grey armor was now soaked in energon, leaking from several deep gashes and punctures all over his body. The soft, ragged sound of the elder miner's vents struggling to pull in air filled the silence.
C-14 dropped to his knees beside his friend. He was alive, but only barely. If he could get Chainlink to a medic—a proper one like Shockwave or even Relay, who was decent at best—there might still be time to save him. They could rebuild him, repair his frame, fix his spark. There had to be time.
"Chainlink, hold on, I—I can get help. I just need to—"
Chainlink's optics flickered weakly and he attempted to lift a servo, only for it to collapse back down weakly. His intake opened, trying to say something but only a metallic groan came out.
"I'll be right back," the gladiator said. He hated leaving Chainlink in this state, but he had to check for survivors, for anyone who could help. The larger mech placed a servo on the older miner's shoulder. "I promise, I'll be back. Just—just hold on, alright?"
Chainlink didn't respond.
The next solar cycle passed in a haze of drifting in and out of recharge for Orion. His frame was still sore, but the intense pain had dulled into a deep ache. Ratchet become his only visitor and the archivist suspected that his friend had kicked out anybody that would try to visit him.
During his more clearhelmed kliks, Orion would stare at the ceiling, thoughts circling the events that had led him here. The crimson splotch on the alley wall, the overcharged mech, Jazz risking himself to protect him—all of it replayed in an endless loop. He felt useless, knowing that he hadn't been able to protect himself or his friend.
By the second solar cycle, his frame recovered enough to make the numbing idleness unbearable. He wanted to move and feel like he had control over his own frame again.
Ratchet entered the room at that klik, preforming his routine checks. A bright light ran over his frame, scanning for improvements. The IV was removed carefully and replaced with a fresh one, flooding his systems with new medical grade energon.
"How am I doing?" Orion asked.
Ratchet gave him a pointed look. "You're improving, which means you'll stay on that berth and let your frame finish repairing."
Orion frowned. "Ratchet, I've been lying here for two solar cycles. I need to get up and—"
"No," Ratchet interrupted sharply, optics narrowing. "Your leg is still recovering, and your internals aren't fully stabilized. If you push yourself too soon, you'll undo all my hard work."
Orion vented. He respected Ratchet, truly, but the need to move was clawing at him. "I just need to stand. Test my balance. That's all."
Ratchet crossed his arms, fields radiating disapproval. "And what happens when your stabilizers give out and you end up back on the floor? Or worse, you damage your leg further?"
"I'll be careful," Orion promised, trying to keep the pleading tone out of his voice and failing. "Please, Ratchet. I just... I can't stay here like this."
His friend's eyes narrowed but he relented. "Fine. But only standing. If you so much as try to take a step without my say-so, I'll weld you to that berth myself."
Orion managed a small, grateful smile as Ratchet moved to help him. The medic supported him as he carefully swung his legs over the edge of the berth. He was determined that he could prove that he could do this. He needed to recover in time for the rally, it was vital.
With Ratchet's help, the archivist slowly shifted his weight onto his good leg, keeping most of the pressure off the injured one. His stabilizers wobbled slightly, but he managed to remain upright, gripping the medic's arm tightly for support.
"I'm standing," he announced triumphantly, unable to help the grin that spread across his face.
Ratchet huffed. "Congratulations. Now sit back down before you hurt yourself."
Orion hesitated, looking at the door. The medic seemed to catch onto his thoughts and gripped him in a way that would prevent him from moving. "No," Ratchet barked. "What did I just say? You're not ready."
Reluctantly, the archivist allowed himself to be guided back onto the berth. The warmth of the berth enveloped him once again and he leaned back with a vent, feeling drained from the brief movement.
His friend frowned down at him. "You'll get there, Orion. Just give it time. Rushing this will only set you back further."
Orion nodded, knowing that Ratchet was right. But he couldn't help but feel guilty that he allowed his friend to get hurt. He silently vowed to himself: Next time, I'll be stronger.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think :)