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Antarctica, the southernmost continent and site of the geographic South Pole, is a virtually uninhabited, ice-covered landmass with no indigenous population to speak of. At 14,000,000 square miles, it is the fifth largest continent in area. Antarctica is considered a desert with annual precipitation of only 8 inches along the coast and far less inland. The temperature here has reached −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F), though the average for the third quarter, the coldest part of the year, is −63 °C (−81 °F). Antarctica is noted as being the last region on Planet Earth in recorded history to be discovered and/or colonized by humans. Although myths and speculation about this “Southern Land" date back to antiquity, one thing is certain. Antarctica still has many secrets yet to be uncovered, some of which would be better left buried in the ice.

Shuttle – Over Antarctica

While not a pilot by trade, Wheeljack had flown more than his fair share of shuttles during his time in this Primus-forsaken war. He was one of the smartest mechs the Autobots had to offer even if many of his inventions blew up in his faceplate. Piloting a small spacecraft was protoform’s play for someone with the mechanical engineer’s level of intelligence.

Soon the Autobot shuttle entered Earth’s atmosphere, causing the craft to shake more than slightly. “No reason to panic, everyone,” Wheeljack called back to those in the passenger cabin. “We’re descending through the planet’s atmosphere now. We should pull through in a breem or so.”

“We’re not worried at all, Jackie!” Hot Rod called back. “We have complete confidence in you!” The cavalier then looked at everyone around him. “Right guys? Heh.”

[Skies Above Antarctica]

Cosmos lifted off from the shuttle bay, the spinning green saucer gliding downward alongside the shuttle. Though Wheeljack had provided the thermal armour, Cosmos was used to the harsh ambience of space anyway. As the shuttle entered the atmosphere, glowing orange and yellow from the heat resistance, Cosmos followed suite, descending himself down a separate path from the Autobot expedition shuttle.

Pulling down into the lower mesosphere, Cosmos couldn't believe his visuals. The entire surface of this continent was nothing but white. It looked really pretty, but unfortunately, he couldn't go down onto it. That's a bit of a shame. He opened up his comm to the 'bots in the shuttle, which was still descending further down.

>>"Hey, I'm in my position now. Let me know when you guys are ready!"<<

The shuttle began to shake a bit, but not enough to warrant panic. Wheeljack called out that everything was okay, which Cliffjumper already knew. He was the master of danger. He could smell it from light years away.

“We’re not worried at all, Jackie! We have complete confidence in you! Right guys? Heh.”

Cliffjumper smirked at Hot Rod, and then said, "I would... But I'm not exactly scared of crashing on a random planet with danger around every corner. Sounds kinda fun actually," laughed the minibot.

Snow Cat accepted the small disc given to him and followed Wheeljack's instructions. He was grateful for this. He figured he may be able to survive in that environment, but better safe than frozen. Excitement began to build up in him. First mission to Earth! One of the most beautiful planets Snow Cat had ever read about.

Hot Rod wrote: “Well, I hope that alleviates your fears. By the way, I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Hot Rod. And you are…?”

Snow Cat almost jumped. He was used to being ignored, as he didn't mind working on his own and scouting missions didn't commonly need a lot of bots.

The little blue bot looked at his warmly colored colleague, taking a quick second to enjoy the irony in the differences in their names. He chuckled a little. "Yeah, it does. Trust me, iced systems are fragging annoying. I'm... Snow Cat, explorer."

Shuttle

Despite placing himself in the forward cabin alongside where one would find the pilots, Perceptor allowed his fellow scientist the helm the craft while he sat and overlooked the various screens of technical reasons covering both the shuttle and the planet below.

“Take your time old friend,” Perceptor started following Wheeljack’s update, “We’re in no rush and making great time as is.” He have a brief smile towards ‘Jack before his attention was drawn towards one of the display screens. Cosmos had radioed in and checked. Speaking aloud so both Wheeljack and Cosmos could hear, Perceptor opened his comm link. >>“Be aware though, the storm and wind patterns around that area might make the ride a little more bumpy as is. I’d advice some caution during the final portion of our decent.”<<

In the back of the shuttle with the rest of the Autobots the two lab-rats had pulled together, Railway sat with a look of strained boredom. He didn’t do enclosed spaces that well and was doing everything in his power to not show any uneasiness amongst the crew. Last thing he needed was a panic attack...

Everyone else seemed to be practically giddy about this endeavor, namely Cliffjumper talking about how fun a crash could be for him. Yeah... for him mainly! The shuttle rocked about again which made the Train-former practically cringe in his seat. Almost over... Please almost be over with.

Shuttle

Blurr tapped his foot impatiently as the shuttle rocked around. He was all too familiar with bumpy rides, but it was always this riding around in something else that agitated his nerves. Everything was so slow. Glancing around, he didn’t seem to be the only one vaguely bothered. While Cliffjumper seemed kinda into the danger, the large mech sitting beside him – Railway, if he remembered right – looked downright uncomfortable.

Blurr gave the mech a pat on the arm. “Heyheytherebigguy,” he said, forcing himself to slow down a little. “It’s alright. We’ll bethere soon.”

Antarctic Skies

Calling Twin Twist bored would be an understatement. He'd been in plenty of atmospheric shuttle flights. This one was no different. He looked at Topspin and punched his twin in the arm as hard as he could in cramped quarters.

"That's for dragging me along on this Primus forsaken mission. I'd better be able to do some real damage to something or else I'll..."

Twin Twist left off there, unable to form any real threat. Then Cliffjumper mentioned mentioned something about crashing. Twin twist grinned. "Heh, wouldn't that be fun."

Trailblazer huddled himself in the corner. His pride kept him from admitting the terror at the cramped space. The bumps and talk of crash didn't alleviate his anxieties in the least.

Trailblazer took a look out the window, noting the landscape with scorn. Fraggin' Pit! Ice?!

Ever the soldier, he quelled his fear and asked whoever would answer, "When's this boat landing?"

Shuttle – Night Skies over Antarctica

“Yeah, it does. Trust me, iced systems are fragging annoying. I'm... Snow Cat, explorer.”

“Nice to meet you, Snow Cat,” Hot Rod said with a warm smile. “By the sound of your name we’re heading into just your kind of environment. Heh.” Cliffjumper then mentioned something about crash landing and not being scared of it. “Oh, come now, Cliff, you wouldn’t be scared just a little bit maybe? A tiny bit?” The cavalier held up his right hand and pinched his actuators together leaving no space in between to help illustrate his question. Roddy had a smile on his face the whole time, of course, showing that he was just kidding around.

“Still, I wouldn’t too be worried. Jackie might blow up his lab every once in a cycle or so, but I’m sure he’s a much better pilot. In fact, I can’t remember the last time he crashed anything. Heh.”

As Hot Rod continued to joke around about Wheeljack’s piloting skills, the Autobot inventor remained focused on bringing the shuttle down through the atmosphere in one piece. Finally, the orange glow around the craft’s heat shields dissipated and the shuttle entered the darkened skies of Antarctica’s polar night that lasted for several months straight during the winter season in this region.

“Take your time old friend. We’re in no rush and making great time as is,” Perceptor said as he continued to keep an optic on the various display screens. A few astroseconds later, Cosmos radioed in so that both Wheeljack and Perceptor could hear him. The scientist/sniper responded, warning the green saucer-bot about potentially rough weather conditions.

>>”Yes, be very careful out there, Cosmos. It’s dark out there and it’s going to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Just keep an optic out for any human activity within 50 miles of our target coordinates, not to mention any Decepticon activity. And thanks for the assistance.”<<

Wheeljack then turned his attention back to the control console. One of the lights began to beep, indicating that they were coming up on the coordinates. It was then that Trailblazer spoke up asking when they were going to land. “We’re almost there. Hold on everyone!”

Keeping a firm grip on the controls, Wheeljack guided the shuttle down towards the ice and snow covered landscape beneath them. He activated the craft’s outward lights once they were low enough so he could see better. As they approached the coordinates, the shuttle slowed as Jackie pulled back on the controls. Moments later, the craft landed gently into the snow, the bottom sinking down about a foot or so into the cold, white powder. “Well, we’ve landed!” Wheeljack exclaimed as he gave everyone a thumbs-up. “And no worse for wear I might add. Heh.”

“Good job, Jackie!” Hot Rod shouted from his seat. “See, guys, no worries and no crash landing. Sorry, Cliffjumper. Hah.”

“Okay, fellas, let’s get up and at ‘em,” Wheeljack said as he stood from the pilot’s chair and entered into the passenger cabin. “We’ve landed about a quarter Earth mile from where the Ore-13 deposit was detected. Shouldn’t take too long to get there. It’s buried pretty deep so we’re going to have to dig or in your case, Twin Twist, drill into the ice. Anyway, it’s winter time here so the night outside will last for several more weeks without any sun. That will work to our advantage and hopefully keep what we’re doing hidden from any prying eyes or optics. Plus, Cosmos is overhead keeping watch so we’ll know if something is coming our way. Of course, an endless night also means that it’s going to be very cold out there so make sure your thermal shields that I gave you are attached to your chassis and activated. Got it?”

Wheeljack paused for a moment to let his words sink in. “Okay, so if there aren’t any questions, let’s get to it shall we?” With those words spoken, the mechanical engineer approached the hatch and pulled the lever next to it. The door slid open as wind and snow immediately blew into the cabin. The ramp extended to the snow-covered surface as Wheeljack disembarked and descended the ramp.

Hot Rod unbuckled himself and got up from his seat. He checked to make sure his thermal shield was secured and operating correctly before following behind Wheeljack. The cavalier stopped at the threshold and glanced around at the icy surroundings. For a moment, a flash of one of his visions shot through his processor. This all looked just like the environments from those waking dreams. This couldn’t be a coincidence. There had to be something here more than just Ore-13. There had to be a reason why all of this was happening to him.

“Um, I don’t think some of us will be able to use our alt modes,” Hot Rod then pointed out as he stood steady at the top of the ramp. “That snow looks pretty deep. I doubt those of us with ground based vehicle forms will get very far unless you have tank treads like Twin Twist.”

“We’re just going to have to walk,” Wheeljack responded back as he stepped down into the deep snow that surrounded the shuttle.

“Yeah, guess so,” Hot Rod muttered, knowing that the engineer wouldn’t hear him. Wasting no further time, the cavalier stepped across the threshold and quickly descended the ramp. Somewhere out there in the darkness of Antarctica’s polar night the flame-covered Autobot would find the answers he sought.

Antarctica- Disembarking from the Shuttle

Blurr had become increasingly restless until the ship finally landed in the dark polar landscape. He’d come on this mission mostly to provide his dear friend Hot Rod some support, as things had been rough for him recently, having been possessed by the Fallen and all, and he wanted to make sure Roddy would be okay. Also, exploring was fun, especially when you could cover a lot of distance in little to no time like he could. Blurr was the fastest mech ever forged on Cybertron and he still prided himself on that.

When Wheeljack told them to make sure they had their thermal shields equipped and on, he did so, and said, “Thermalshield isgood!” It was clear from his speech that he was excited. From there, Wheeljack wanted to make sure if there were any questions they should be asked now, and then he went to open the hatch and put the ramp down.

The cold air blew in, and Blurr made sure he had his thermal shield switched on. He was at Hot Rod’s side in less than the blink of an eye, and told him, “Comeonbudeverything’sgonnabeaok! ComeontrytocatchmeI’mgonnaheadtothesource!”, he said to his friend. With a confident smirk on his face, the literal blue blurr zipped past Hot Rod, Wheeljack, and the others and happily raced out into the ice and snow. His streaking blue hue blending in with the darkness of the nearby glaciers.

He knew that the Ore-13 deposit was a little north of their location. He’d be there in just a nano-klik, but first….there was a group of interesting flightless birds nearby. He rushed over towards them to check them out, not getting too close so as not to frighten them. He watched the small black and white birds waddle about and belly flop down a slippery looking hill as if for fun.

‘Hmmmneatlittlefellas. I wannatrythat toolooksfun!!’, Blurr thought. He decided to join them on the slippery hill. He leapt forward onto his front and slid down the hill with ease. The nearby penguins squawked at him and soon surrounded him, pecking at his metal chassis, and jumping up on him as if he were a weird iceberg. They huddled on him and smooshed themselves together. That's when he realized that they must be feeling the warmth from his heat shield. More penguins arrived, surrounding him in a mass of black and white floof. It was very cozy and cuddly...but he realized he was trapped now. He didn't want to accidentally hurt these little guys.

>>”Guys….Ineedsomehelp. Burriedinlocalwildlife!”<<, he transmitted to the others, and waited in stillness surrounded by many new small friends.

Antarctica - Dig Site

With Wheeljack having landed the shuttle, Perceptor flashed his friend a reassuring smile while Hot Rod was cracking jokes in the back. Despite what they were saying, it seems the hot head was back to his normal self already. The red and blue scientist-turned-sniper then rose from his seat and gathered his equipment before heading out into the frozen wasteland. The wave of cold that hit him took him by surprise at first, but the heat shield rapidly flared to a comfortable temperature that counteracted the harsh windchill.

Railway lugged himself off the shuttle and felt his anxiety quickly easing away. The tight quarters had him bottling everything up and the rough riding didn’t help matters for him. Sighing with relief, the trainformer produced his hammer and slung it over his shoulder as he waited for Perceptor and Wheeljack to inform them of what’s next to do.

“If my scans and calculations are correct,” Perceptor began, his sight shifting from his equipment to the landscape and back again, “we should be just shy of the nearest deposit by just a couple dozen meters. I recommend we begin about... here.” Perceptor’s foot draw a small X in the snow, the metal carving into the ice a bit.

>>”Guys….Ineedsomehelp. Burriedinlocalwildlife!”<<

Not even several astrocycles into the task at hand and someone goes wandering off. Railway held up a hand towards Perceptor as the bulky Autobot approached the edge of the hill.

“Don’t worry Perce’, I got’im.” The Terror of the Tracks informed the scientist reassuringly. Railway then dropped his mouthplate revealing his scared faceplate to the icy winds of Antarctica. He brought his fingers to his mouth and proceeded to whistle, which in turn produced a high shriek similar to that of his train-mode’s own whistle. The penguins around Blurr became startled and waddled away from the blue mech. “C’mon Speedy, we got work to do!”

Cliffjumper laughed a little when he saw Blurr off in the distance having issues with the wildlife. It was kinda cute. But.. nah nah, Cliffjumper didn't know what cute meant. Nah nah, not at all. Instead, Cliff disguised it with a laugh at Blurr for his funny predicament.

"Ooh boy," Cliffjumper huffed, "If only I had snow tires and a better alt mode. Hmm.. I got some ideas.."

Cliffjumper suddenly felt excited about getting back to base after their mission to possibly get a new alt mode. OH if only he had gotten it before going on this mission. Alas.

"So 'Jacky and Percy, whatcha think a daredevil like myself would be useful for in this instance?"

[Skies Above Antarctica]

The weather surely was quite different on this side of the planet. Cosmos looked down as he saw the mining team below, scattering around. He raised and lowered his altitude to find a good spot where he could look over his fellow 'bots. Sigh. If only he could be down there too. He opened his comm to them.

>>"Hey guys! I've got a good view so I'll be watching from up here. There's not really much around though..."<<

Antarctica – Dig Site

Hot Rod couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the sight of Blurr sliding down the icy hill with the penguins before being attacked by the flightless birds. “Looks like Blurr’s gotten himself into a bit of a pickle,” the cavalier said, glancing over at Wheeljack.

“Yes, why don’t you go help him before he gets pecked into stasis,” Wheeljack joked, knowing full well those penguins couldn’t really do that kind of damage.

“Heh, yeah, I probably should,” Hot Rod commented back. However, before he could make a move towards Blurr’s position, Railway took charge of the situation and let out a high-pitched shriek that quickly scarred off the black and white birds. “That works! Thanks, Railway!”

Hot Rod then moved by the larger mech and approached the blue speedster’s position at the bottom of the icy hill. “Maybe next time you’ll think twice before playing with the local wildlife, huh, Blurr? Heh,” the flame-covered Autobot chuckled as he extended a hand down to help Blurr get back to his feet.

Meanwhile, Wheeljack just shook his head at the comedic display that had just transpired. “I suppose this is what we get for letting so many mechs just volunteer to come along,” the mad scientist said, looking over at Perceptor. “Could be worse, I suppose.” Wheeljack then looked down at the 'X' Perceptor had marked in the snow and ice, indicating the place where they should begin digging. The Autobot inventor checked his own scanners which confirmed what the scientist/sniper had said.

“Yeah, according to my readings, the deposit is just to the north and several meters down under the ice,” Wheeljack began to say as he looked up at Perceptor. “Starting to dig here and making a tunnel that gradually slopes down is a better option and safer than digging a hole straight down. Not to mention it will be easier to haul the ore out once we get to it.”

“So 'Jacky and Percy, whatcha think a daredevil like myself would be useful for in this instance?”

Wheeljack looked over at Cliffjumper and gave him a warm smile. “Help with the digging would be good, Cliff. But we need a certain former Wrecker to help expedite the process.” The white mech then turned back towards the shuttle. “Twin Twist! Where are you? We need your help out here!”

Cosmos wrote:>>"Hey guys! I've got a good view so I'll be watching from up here. There's not really much around though..."<<

>>”We read you, Cosmos! Just keep an optic out for human or Decepticon activity and let us know if you detect anything. Thanks, bud!”<< Wheeljack commed before returning his attention towards the shuttle.
_______________

Twin Twist had remained seated once the shuttle had landed and allowed everyone else to disembark before looking over at his idiot brother who had drug him along on this boring mining mission. “This is your fault, Topspin. This is all your fault. You are to blame for my boredom.”

The drill-former then unbuckled his safety harness and stood up to his full height, glancing back down at his brother with a scowl on his faceplate. “Well, I guess we should get going. The faster this mission ends the better it’ll be for you, brother. Heh.” Twin Twist then headed for the open hatchway, checking his thermal shield to make sure it was operating properly. Standing at the top of the ramp, he looked out to see Blurr and a couple of other mechs fooling around with some penguins. “Great. I thought this was a mining trip not play time at the zoo. Dumbafts.”

“Twin Twist! Where are you? We need your help out here!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming, Jackie!” Twin Twist shouted back as he stormed down the ramp and trudged out into the deep snow. “So, what do you scientist types need me to do?” The former Wrecker asked as he approached Wheeljack and Perceptor.

“We need you to dig a tunnel starting here,” the inventor replied, pointing down at the 'X' Percy had just made in the ice. “And aim it towards the north where the Ore-13 deposit is. It has to be a nice gradual slope downward. You think you can handle that?”

“Really? Can I handle it?” Twin Twist couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Of course, I can handle it! I’m a fraggin’ Wrecker for Primus’ sakes! I can destroy anything in anyway you need me to. This ice doesn’t stand a chance!”

“Well, just don’t destroy the ore! In it’s raw form it can be volatile which means we’ll all go BOOM if you drill into it,” Wheeljack warned the overly aggressive Autobot.

“Yeah, yeah, fine! I won’t blow us all up,” Twin Twist promised, crossing his fingers behind his back. “Although, that would be more exciting.” He smiled at the others, who did not return said smile. “But I promise to be careful! Sheesh, get a sense of humor you guys!”

Twin Twist then transformed into his drill tank alt mode and angled himself down slightly before drilling directly into the center of the 'X' Perceptor had made. The ice gave way around him with ease as the former Wrecker bore into it, creating a nice, sizable tunnel in his wake. “Follow me, everyone! Hahahah!!”

Once Twin Twist had disappeared into the ground, Wheeljack looked back at the other Autobots. “Okay, we’ll have to clear away the excess chunks of ice and reinforce the tunnel so that it doesn’t collapse in on us. We have some force field generators that should do the trick.” The mad scientist grabbed one from the equipment Perceptor was carrying and approached the entrance to the tunnel. “Let’s get to work.”

With that said, Wheeljack entered the tunnel and began moving ice chunks out of the opening as Twin Twist continued onward towards his destination.

Cliffjumper kinda spun on his heel a bit and kicked at the snow and ice as he waited for Twin Twist to come out. He was starting to question his purpose for being there. He supposed he could help carry things, but his more rightful job was fighting Decepticons. Then again, he could think of himself as on site patrol in case some did show up. Cliffjumper decided to think of that as the main reason to help himself feel better about it all.

“Yeah, yeah, fine! I won’t blow us all up. Although, that would be more exciting.”

Although nobody else thought Twin Twist's joke was funny, Cliffjumper smirked. "I like your thinking," joked Cliffjumper before laughing.

Cliffjumper then looked back at Blurr and said, "Hope Twin Twist isn't too slow for ya, speedo!" not realizing what a speedo actually was.

(OOC: Sorry for the long wait. I wasn't sure what to write. I'll get Blurr back up now so we can move along!)

IC:

Antarctica- Dig Site

Blurr hated being forced to stay still, but he guessed that's what he got by playing around with these little ice loving birds. He definitely was done messing around with them. The sooner he could get back to the task at hand the better! And it so happens the blue wonder didn't have to wait long before Railway came along and helped him out, scaring away the penguins. Finally with no small tuxedo birds on his chassis, Blurr could move! He unburied his head from the snow and unstiffened his servos, getting onto one knee.

Seeing his good old friend, Hot Rod extending a hand out to help him up, Blurr accepted his friend's helpful gesture, taking his hand and allowing Hot Rod to pull him back onto his feet. Blurr then stretched out the kinks. An athlete like him needed to always stay limber and ready to dash!

Hot Rod wrote:“Maybe next time you’ll think twice before playing with the local wildlife, huh, Blurr? Heh,”

"TotallyHotRod!I'mdoneplayingwiththebirds,that'sforthebirds. Say how'reyoudoing now? NotinanypainIhope?Icamealongmostlytohelpyouout.Igotyouok?Justlikeyougotme! Nowwhatcanwedotohelp?SeemslikeWheeljack'sgoteverythingpannedout hedoes, absolutelypositively!", he wondered. He watched with anxiousness as Twintwist had begun the drilling into the ice. The Ore-13 was within their grasp!

Others might have had some trouble on the smooth ice, but Cliffjumper was a mech of many climates and conditions. His footing was planted firmly with every step he took on the ice. Luckily it was cold enough for the ice to not be too slick for the others, but even then he had the right footing for it, even if the others slid all over the place.

Everything was going perfectly it seemed. Way way.. WAY too perfect. Cliffjumper was not only bored, but also wondering if his thoughts might've jinxed them a bit. He kind of hoped it did actually. At that he decided to be a spawn of a glitch and try and jinx them as much as possible.

"Sooooooo.. Yeaaaaaah, everything is going so so so so so well. Surely nothing will go wrong. What can possibly go wrong? I deeeefinitely am not hoping something crazy happens to complicate things and make them NOT boring, no sir-eeee. That would not be fun. At. All. At all."

Cliffjumper pulled out his weapon and spun it on his finger a bit as he walked. He had practiced a lot in his spare time, so he flipped his weapon smoothly from one hand to the other as it spun precisely and methodically, before holstering it smoothly and in an expertly fashion.

"Ha, gets better every time. Hey 'Jacky, what exactly is this Ore 13 stuff used for anyway other than exploding things? Hehe, explosions."

[Skies Above Antarctica]

Cosmos was bored. Looks like the mechs below had already gotten started on the mining, but it sure wasn’t gonna be finished anytime soon. Hovering above, he saw a very distant shimmer in the skies of Sol-3. What was that? He wondered. But he remembered, a while back he had read something about solar winds disturbing the magnetosphere which induce precipitation of charged particles of the magnetospheric plasma in the upper atmosphere. Perhaps this was one of those. An Aurora Australis, as the locals called it. It looked a little different from what he’d seen in databanks, but the flying saucer paid no further attention to it.

He commed down to the mining team below. >>”Can I get a progress update? There’s nothing around as far as I can see.”<<

Dig Site – Under the Ice

Blurr wrote:"TotallyHotRod!I'mdoneplayingwiththebirds,that'sforthebirds. Say how'reyoudoing now? NotinanypainIhope?Icamealongmostlytohelpyouout.Igotyouok?Justlikeyougotme! Nowwhatcanwedotohelp?SeemslikeWheeljack'sgoteverythingpannedout hedoes, absolutelypositively!"

“I’m okay, Blurr,” Hot Rod replied with a chuckle. It always amazed him how fast the blue speedster could talk, especially when he got really excited. Luckily for him, the cavalier could keep up with his quick speech. Barely. “And, yes, I got your back just like you’ve got mine. Don’t worry. I’ll let you know if I have another episode or whatever you want to call it.”

Hot Rod trudged over through the snow to the entrance of the newly dug tunnel that led on an angle down into the ice-covered ground. The flamed-adorned Autobot then quickly followed Wheeljack’s lead, entering the underground passageway where he began clearing the ice and debris left behind by Twin Twist’s drilling. “Come on, Blurr, give me a hand. With your super speed, I’m sure we’ll get the pathway cleared in no time. Heh.”

Cliffjumper wrote:"Ha, gets better every time. Hey 'Jacky, what exactly is this Ore 13 stuff used for anyway other than exploding things? Hehe, explosions."

As Wheeljack continued to set up force field generators inside the tunnel in order to stabilize it, he glanced over at the red mech who had asked about the Ore. “Well, Cliffjumper, Ore-13 is a very unstable form of energon. It could potentially be used as an incredible power source for us if we’re able to refine it to a point where it won’t explode if you look at it the wrong way. It looks like a purple crystal and there’s a pretty sizable deposit buried here under the ice. We’ll have to be careful once we reach it.”

Wheeljack then turned his attention back towards the blue and white drill tank that was still barreling through the ice a ways down the tunnel. “Hey, Twin Twist, how’s it going down there?!”

“No problems on my end, Jackie!” Twin Twist responded back matter-of-factly. “By the way, how am I supposed to know if I’m close to the ore? You still don’t want it blowing up I presume?”

“No, I don’t,” the inventor responded with a shake of his head as he finished with another force field generator. “Just keep your scanner attuned ahead for any sort of high energy readings. You should also notice a pretty intense purple glow through the ice. That’ll be a good indication to slow down and be careful moving forward.”

“Gotcha,” Twin Twist said as he continued onward.

Wheeljack then turned back and saw that Hot Rod was helping Blurr clear away the icy debris. “Hey, Roddy, why don’t you let Blurr and the others handle that. I could use your help with the force field generators.”

“Sure thing,” the cavalier replied with a smile as he moved a large chuck of ice out of the way. Looking back at Blurr, Hot Rod gave him a wave. “Wheeljack needs my help. I’ll be down the tunnel if you need anything.” The fiery-colored Autobot then walked towards the mad scientist where he was quickly handed a force field generator.

“Know what to do with that?” Wheeljack asked.

“Yeah, set it up along the edge of the tunnel and turn it on so the tunnel doesn’t collapse in on us. Am I pretty much on point?”

“Why yes, yes you are. Heh,” Wheeljack confirmed as he patted the cavalier on the shoulder plate and moved to the opposite side of the tunnel to set up another generator.

Cosmos wrote:>>”Can I get a progress update? There’s nothing around as far as I can see.”<<

The message came across everyone’s comm lines, but it was Wheeljack that decided to respond to their watcher in the skies.

>>”Glad to hear you haven’t seen any problems up there, Cosmos. As far as down here, we’re currently tunneling under the ice at a gentle angle towards the Ore-13 deposit. We should get there with a breem or two. We’ll let you know once we’ve reached our target. Wheeljack out.”<<

As Hot Rod and Wheeljack continued securing the tunnel, Twin Twist’s dual drill bits dug further and further into the ice. His sensors were beginning to pick up higher and higher energy readings directly ahead just as the Autobot inventor had said would happen. Heeding Wheeljack’s warning, Twin Twist slowed down some as a purplish glow began to fill his visual acuity.

“Um….hey, guys, I think we’re getting close!” The former Wrecker shouted back, hoping that both Wheeljack and Perceptor would hear him. This ore stuff was the scientist-types area of expertise, not his. So, they needed to know above anyone else present.

The purple light continued to grow brighter and brighter through the ice ahead until, suddenly, the blue and white drill tank broke through and tumbled down into a large cavern. “Fraggit all to the Pit!!!” Twin Twist shouted from inside the chamber as he quickly switched back to his robot mode and stood up to his full height. He took a brief look around the cavern, seeing a vast amount of glowing purple crystals. “Found it!”

Wheeljack rushed down the length of the tunnel and stopped at the threshold, a violet light filling his optics. “Yes, yes you did!” The inventor turned and shouted back behind him. “Perceptor! Get down here! We hit the jackpot!”

Dig Site – Under the Ice

Smokescreen85 wrote:
Wheeljack rushed down the length of the tunnel and stopped at the threshold, a violet light filling his optics. “Yes, yes you did!” The inventor turned and shouted back behind him. “Perceptor! Get down here! We hit the jackpot!”

"Excellent!" Perceptor shouted back to Wheeljack. "I am on my way!" He hirroed into the tunnel, making his way down to Wheeljack as quickly as he could.

He stopped next to the engineer and was silent a moment as he took in the site. "Fantastic..." He said softly. "Almost leaves one speechless, doesn't it?"

Cliffjumper sniggered as the digger fell down the hole he had just drilled. The small red minibot looked down the cavern and smiled at Twin Twist as he grumbled. That looked like fun! Cliffjumper then jumped off the ledge and rolled down the wall with the wheels on his feet, and let out a loud and hearty, "Woohoo!" Before slowing to a halt at the bottom.

Cliffjumper then looked at the glowing purple energon that jutted out every which direction. It was.. It was a candy store for demolition enthusiasts! Then again, the others would probably be very mad or very dead if he shot at any crystals. So with that in mind he didn't try anything... Even if it was very, VERY tempting. He kinda wanted to snag some crystals for himself, but figured it might get him put in a cell somewhere, so he decided to opt out of that idea.

"You know, this reminds me of some of those eh.. What are they called.. Move.. Movies? Those things that the humans watch? You know like there's the human and he goes into some place to find some ancient, valuable treasure, and then he always exits with the place collapsing or trying to kill him? Wouldn't that be just amazing? Haha!"

Cliffjumper then looked around at the others who weren't quite as amused as the daredevil. Cliff then said, "Oh well, I guess danger doesn't suite everyone."

The red minibot then turned around and looked towards the hole they had just come from and shouted, "Hey! For the fastest of us you seem to be reeally dragging your footing! You gotta get your aft down here, Blurr!"

Antarctica-Surface/Tunnel

Blurr had been concerned about Hot Rod, but it seemed like his flaming decorated red self was going to be just fine. The blue racer would just keep his optics on him in case things changed. The last few cycles on and around this planet called Earth had been erratic to say the least. A lot had happened in a very short time ( not that that aspect of it bothered the blue bot) but it wasn't much good that had come of it. Maybe now though, since they'd discovered this Ore, this super energon, things would be looking up for them.

'But how long until the Cons catch onto us.', he thought to himself. Since the others were headed into the tunnel after Twin Twist, Blurr sped around the surface vicinity of the dig site, just to make sure they were really alone. Sure, Cosmos was watching from his position in orbit like a green and yellow satellite, but Cons like Laserbeak and Ravage, and Shockwave were sneaky. Luckily, everything for miles around checked out as clear. Nothing and no one was around but their team and the funny flightless birds.

>>'Sorryteam Ifelt insecuresoIdida securitycheck aroundthevicinity and itall lookssecurefor milesandmiles, check,good,greenlight,roger? I'mcomin down now, GERONIMO!!'<<, Blurr shouted and in a flash he was done in the tunnels with the others, grinning from audio receptor to audio receptor. Then, he turned to little Cliffjumper and clapped him on the shoulder, "Whatwasthat aboutbeing slow?"

He then turned to Roddy and Wheeljack and asked them, "SowhatcanI dotohelp, huhhuh huh?" He then looked about at all the marvelous chunks of raw glowing energon. It had been forever since he'd seen energon that looked this rich. It reminded him of sites back on Cybertron he had seen, on viewscreens and in magazines of course. He'd never actually been to an energon mine. Back on Cybertron, the races had dominated his life for the most part. Alas, those days were long past. Being a courier and the fastest warrior the Autobots had, that was his new life.

Under the Ice – Cavern

Perceptor wrote:“Excellent! I am on my way! Fantastic… Almost leaves one speechless, doesn't it?"

“Yeah, Perceptor, almost,” Wheeljack replied, keeping his optics focused on all of the crystalized raw energon. It was a beautiful site to behold and it held untold potential when it came to finally refining it and utilizing it to power the Autobots and their war machine. Naturally, that’s what Prowl would want it for primarily and the inventor fully understood that. Of course, there were many other potential uses for the ore if they were able to stabilize it and there were no side effects in the short or long term. It wouldn’t do them any good if the ore helped them now but ended up hurting them in the long run.

“We still need to be careful with it,” Wheeljack added, patting Perceptor on the shoulder plate. “The ore is in a very raw and unstable form. One false move and…” Suddenly, Cliffjumper leapt into the cavern, sliding down the icy embankment to the bottom, yelling as he went. “…boom.” Sigh.

Hot Rod then came up behind Wheeljack and stood beside him and Perceptor, looking out at all of the energon crystals. “Well, frag, jackpot is right! We should probably get started, don’t you think, Jackie?” Before the scientist could respond, the cavalier leapt down into the cavern, as well, sliding down the embankment in a similar fashion to Cliffjumper. Once at the bottom, Roddy pushed away from the ice and approached the others.

Cliffjumper wrote:"You know, this reminds me of some of those eh.. What are they called.. Move.. Movies? Those things that the humans watch? You know like there's the human and he goes into some place to find some ancient, valuable treasure, and then he always exits with the place collapsing or trying to kill him? Wouldn't that be just amazing? Haha!"

“No, I don’t think they would like that, Cliff,” Twin Twist said with a snicker. “The bore bots up there already told me I couldn’t blow anything up, so the place collapsing or attempting to kill us wouldn’t go over well with them, either. Exciting, yes, but not favorable to those less inclined to have some fun. Heh.”

“Well, I’m all for a little fun, but I have to agree with the ‘bore bots’ on this one,” Hot Rod started to say as he leaned an elbow on Twin Twist’s shoulder. “I’d rather not get blown up or trapped under the ice. Can’t fight the ‘Cons again if that happens.”

“Hmmm, true,” Twin Twist replied as he removed the cavalier’s elbow from his shoulder. “Use someone else as a leaning post.”

“Ok, ok,” Hot Rod said, putting both hands into the air before walking away from the group to investigate the rest of the cavern.

Up above at the threshold of the cavern, Wheeljack looked down on all of them and watched the interactions. He then glanced over at Perceptor with a worried expression on his faceplate. “I think we should get down there before they get us all killed.” Wheeljack then winked at the scientist/sniper before carefully climbing down into the cavern. Once at the bottom, he moved over to the rest of the team.

Blurr wrote:"SowhatcanI dotohelp, huhhuh huh?”

“I was just getting to that, Blurr. Okay, everyone, let’s start extracting the ore…carefully! I’ve already contacted the Ark-22 and requested some additional Autotrooper help. The faster we can get all this mined the faster we can get out of this frozen wasteland,” Wheeljack said before turning and looking back up at Perceptor. “Hey, Percy, do me a favor and bring a couple of hover carts down with you. We’ll need them to transport the ore back to the shuttle. Once the Autotroopers get here they can bring down the rest of the carts. Thanks!”

Twin Twist scoffed at Wheeljack’s words. “Now the boring part begins. Come on, Cliffjumper, I guess we should get started.” The former Wrecker walked over to one of the larger batches of crystal ore and picked up a bunch in his arms before heading back towards the bottom of the icy embankment that lead back up to the cavern’s entrance. “Fun fun fun! Yippeee!” Twin Twist said sarcastically as he pushed by Wheeljack.
_______________

Meanwhile, Hot Rod was exploring the far side of the cavern. This place reminded him of his visions of ice and snow. The only things different were the presence of the Ore-13 and the lack of a ship of any kind. Still, this seemed like too much of a coincidence that the cavalier would have visions of an icy environment and now here he was in a very similar ice cave.

Rodimus...

Hot Rod stopped dead in his tracks and turned away from all of the ore. “What was that?”

“You okay over there, Roddy?” Wheeljack called out from the other side of the cavern.

“I think so!” Hot Rod called back as he moved away from the ore and over to where he thought he had just heard a voice. His scanners weren’t picking up anything unusual, but…

Rodimus. We’re here.

“What the….?!” Hot Rod said aloud, his voice echoing off the ice-covered walls. “Who are you? Where are you? What do you want from me?! Am I dreaming again?”

The confused cavalier took another step before he heard a loud cracking sound. He slowly glanced down around his feet and noticed that the ice beneath him was starting to break apart. “Oh, frag…” Hot Rod muttered just as the ice gave way under him. He had no time to react as he plummeted down a deep, dark hole.

“Fraaaaaaaaaagggggggg!!!!!!!”

“Hot Rod!” Wheeljack shouted as he sprinted over to where the cavalier had just been standing. When he arrived at the far side of the cavern, Wheeljack was careful as he approached the hole just in case the ice around it continued to crack. Thankfully, that did not happen, and it seemed to be stable enough for the inventor to walk on. The mad scientist knelt down at the edge of the hole and stared down into the dark, endless abyss. “Hot Rod! Can you hear me?! Are you okay!? HOT ROD!!!!!”

Under the Ice – Cavern

"Eh yeh whatever bro," said Cliffjumper in response to Blurr with an eye roll.

“Now the boring part begins. Come on, Cliffjumper, I guess we should get started.”

"My thoughts exactly, Twisty. But yano, sometimes we can't have eeeverything ya know?" Cliffjumper responded with a smirk.

As Cliffjumper carefully removed a chunk from the wall, he heard Roddy starting to talk to himself again. Aww great. Cliffjumper then set the piece on the cart and then walked over to Hot Rod's location.

"You okay bu.. Roddy? RODDY!"

Cliffjumper heard Hot Rod yelling as it sounded like he was falling down a pit. The red minibot then ran over to where Wheeljack was, albeit not as carefully as the mad scientist did.

"Roddy! Speak up! Are you still functioning?!"

For one of the first times in his life, Cliffjumper actually felt worried.

Cavern

Smokescreen85 wrote:“We still need to be careful with it,” Wheeljack added, patting Perceptor on the shoulder plate.

"Yes, yes, I do wholly agree with your precautionary assessment, WheelJack." Perceptor replied with a nod and a smile to his colleague as Wheeljack continued his cautionary warning to the assembled Autobots.

Smokescreen85 wrote:“The ore is in a very raw and unstable form. One false move and…” Suddenly, Cliffjumper leapt into the cavern, sliding down the icy embankment to the bottom, yelling as he went. “…boom.” Sigh.

"Oh dear..." He muttered as Cliffjumper started for the cavern. "Clif-" Perceptor began to say as Cliffjumper jumped down into the cavern followed not long after by Hot Rod. "Hot-" Again... Perceptor was a bit too late in his warnings.

"Please exercise great caution around the Ore-13!" He called down to those below. "It's highly unstable and could possi-... I don't think they can hear me..."

Smokescreen85 wrote:“I think we should get down there before they get us all killed.”

Wheeljack said exactly what was on Perceptor's processor. The scientist nodded in agreement as his colleague slid down into the cavern as well. Taking ahold of some hover carts, as per Wheeljack's request, he also made his way down into the cavern as Wheeljack offered Blurr instruction on what needed to be done. he resisted adding 'very carefully', he figured they didn't need to hear his worrying any more than they had.

Just as he got the awkward carts down to the cavern floor, a loud cracking drew his attention just in time to see Hot Rod fall through the ice. "Primus!" he shouted and carefully made his way to where Hot Rod had been.

[Skies over Antarctica]

It was getting fairly boring up here. Most of the crew seemed to have disappeared into the tunnel they were digging, and there didn’t seem to be anything particularly out of place, so Cosmos had a little thought pop into his mind. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to just fly around a bit?

>>”Hey, guys! I’m just gonna do a quick round around this continent. Hope everything’s going fine and dandy down there!”<<

Little did Cosmos know that everything was not going fine and dandy down there.

He boosted his thrusters and began floating around the various spots over Antarctica. Towards some of the edges, he spotted little huts and shacks, with some fleshies walking around. He’d never been too close to humans, but from far away, they seemed sorta funny.

A little while later, he stumbled across the Tuxedo-McBeak animals that Blurr had surrounded himself with earlier. They walked very strangely, but they looked fuzzy enough to be just as nice as the humans from earlier.

Seeing that there was not much else to explore other than whiteness and snow, Cosmos returned to his position. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a crack in the ice below. The entire crew had gone into the tunnel with the crack near it.

>>”Uh, guys? Wheeljack? Perceptor? What’s going on?”<<