Evelyn's p.o.v

As I stepped inside the groundbridge alongside my two mates, Jack and Raf, my world turned into a tunnel of green light. It reminded me of the aurora lights I heard about in the Arctic.

My heart was pounding against my chest like a savage starving tiger begging to be let out and I felt like I had an iron ball of a lump in my throat. I was terrified and at the same time, kinda excited. But I had to focus on the mission. Priorities Eve, priorities.

And right now, priority number one is to find my cousin, Miko and get the he!l out of there ASAP.

We hopped out of the groundbridge and the moment my feet were back on solid ground, I staggered a bit. My knees felt weak and I felt a small sense of nausea overcome me. Jack helped steady me.

"Yo-you ok?" he asked. I noticed that his body seemed to be a bit shaky too.

"D-do you guys feel your bones vibrating?" I asked them as I hugged myself and rubbed my arms to get more feeling back into them.

"Yeah, it'll...take some time to get used to." Raf said.

I blanched a bit and covered my mouth as I felt last night's dinner come up to my throat briefly before I managed to swallow it. "I feel like I might lose the dinner I had last night." My stomach released another growl. "And the night before." I added.

Once we all overcame the nausea, we gathered our bearings. I noticed we were in a narrow tunnel. The roof was just high enough for Jack and me to stand straight but it was still cramped and I felt a small sense of claustrophobia, I didn't have it per se but that didn't mean I like tight places.

"Wait, there's something on the gun." Jack said. I noticed he said 'the gun' rather than 'my gun'. Looks like he wasn't that assured even with a gun by his side. He wasn't exactly comfortable with being in possession of one either.

Jack took three pieces off the gun. They were tiny and circular and okay, is that a loose screw or something? We all leaned forward and squinted our eyes to get a better look. It was even tinier than the fingernail on my pinkie!

"Wait, do you lads hear that?" I asked noticing the slight sound of static.

"I think it's coming from these things." Jack said and brought the three small pieces to his ear. "Yup, definitely from these things."

"Earpieces! I've seen them before. Agent Fowler once showed me the schematics for something similar!" Raf said.

"You sure? They're awfully tiny." I asked.

"That's the point, it's harder for them to be caught that way." Raf said. He grabbed one from Jack's palm and put in inside his ear. Jack and I did the same, I felt so giddy and excited yet terrified at the same time, it felt like I was a secret spy, except this wasn't another one of my novels where there's plot armor.

"-ello? Hello? Jack, Rafael, Evelyn? Does anyone copy?" the doc's voice filled my ear.

"Loud and clear, Ratchet." Jack said.

"We're okay." Raf said.

"Hello, this is Domino's Pizza, can I take your order?" I said jokingly. It was to calm my own nerves down more than anything.

"Well, I guess all three of you are safe and sound then." Ratchet said. "It took you guys long enough."

"Maybe it would've helped if you told us about these things beforehand." I retorted.

"Enough, Ratchet, which way do we go?" Jack asked.

"Right right, listen, I will be here to guide you and if you have any questions, important questions, just ask me through this comm, ok?" he said.

"Copy." We all said.

"Good, now listen closely. Walk straight ahead for 5 meters. You'll reach a fork, take the right turn. After that you'll reach another fork and you'll have to take a left turn. You guys getting all this?" Ratchet asked as we mentally noted his directions down.

We nodded then remembered that he couldn't see us. "We got it, Ratchet." Jack said.

"Walk straight, turn right then turn left." Raf repeated.

"How far are we from the battlefield, exactly?" I asked. Then as though on cue we heard a vague sound of gunshots and the cave shook a bit. We yelped as our balance went off from the unexpected shake and some pebbles came down.

"Does that answer your question?" Ratchet asked.

"I think we know the answer to that." I said.

"We're wasting time, let's go." Jack said and jogged off.

As we turned left I noticed something......I blinked and sure enough I could see Jack's back clearly as he jogged and when I turned around I could see Raf clearly from his glasses to his shoes.

"Wait!" I called and Jack and Raf stopped jogging.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

I waved a hand around us. "How can we still see in here?" I asked.

No one's p.o.v

"How can we still see in here?" Evelyn asked. At that, Jack and Raf's eyes widened slightly as they realized that Evelyn was right.

They could still see each other clearly as though they were standing in broad daylight. They could make out one another's features precisely from their hair colour to their shoe colour. They looked around and saw no lights, no torches or any sign of source of light.

Evelyn reached a hand up and pressed a finger against her comm. "Hey, Ratchet?" she asked using his proper name. "How the he!l can we still see everything crystal clearly as though we're standing in broad daylight?"

On the other side back in base, Ratchet stroked his chin as he thought of an answer. "The light source must be coming from the energon surrounding you. You might not see it right now but I believe the mining activities the Decepticons are doing are causing them to react this way. Don't worry, it's natural and you won't be harmed." He said.

The three of them heaved a breath of relief. "Welp, at least we won't be running around blind." Evelyn said.

"How much further till we reach the mine, Ratchet?" Raf asked.

"You'll reach another fork. Take the left turn and you should be there in 3 minutes." Ratchet said.

The trio followed his directions and with each step they took, the sounds of gunshots and battle were becoming louder and louder. With each step they took, the ground shook harder and harder. With each step they took, they were getting closer to Miko and a warzone.

They saw a light up ahead and slowed down. Jack took the gun off his hip and released the safety pin. He crouched down a bit and Evelyn and Raf followed his lead. They slowly walked and stopped at the entrance.

Evelyn's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. She snapped a quick pic of the scene before her though it was unnecessary....because she doubts that she'll ever forget this.

The place was a warzone. Energon blasts flew through the air and explosions were going off at every corner. There wasn't a single spot that was unscathed from the battle ranging around it.

Evelyn saw a bunch of glowing blue crystals all over the place, which she assumed was the energon and giant mining drills. She could see a seat on them and deduced that they were most likely used for drilling through the hard rock and getting the energon that was within it.

She saw numerous bodies everywhere and even from a distance she recognized the vehicons distinctive bodies. Some were mangled and disfigured or lying limp everywhere as though some giant hand had simply scattered them like seeds while there were others taking cover and occasionally standing up to return fire.

Evelyn could see some of the Autobots firing back. She briefly saw Arcee stand up and release a couple of shots before diving back for cover. She also saw the bulky figure of Bulkhead and Bumblebee hiding behind crates filled with energon cubes.

She briefly wondered where her guardian was and mentally rebuked herself. 'Focus on finding Miko first, you idiot!' she scolded.

Jack, Raf and Evelyn's eyes darted around frantically for Miko and with each growing second, their panic levels rose higher than ever.

'Is she even alive? Did the cons get her already?' Jack asked himself. He bit his bottom lip nervously. 'C'mon, Miko. Where are you?'

It was a miracle that Evelyn's heart hadn't broken a rib at this point. She bit her lower lip so hard in worry that she tasted blood. 'Where are you Miko? C'mon, c'mon, think! If I were Miko, where would I be?' Evelyn asked herself.

Miko was many things and Evelyn knew that stupid wasn't one of them. There was no way she'd be standing somewhere where she could get caught in the crossfire.

"Maybe she's hiding with the Autobots?" Jack suggested.

"If that's the case, wouldn't they have called Ratchet and let him know about it?" Raf pointed out.

Evelyn looked at the area above the mine. Then her eyes caught something black and pink hiding behind a rock and a pair of brown eyes peeking out behind it.

Evelyn smiled and her heart leapt. She grabbed Jack's arm and pointed. "Look!" she said.

They followed her gaze and saw Miko. "Mi-" Evelyn stopped herself in time. If she called her cousin's name out like that, the cons might notice them. Thankfully the sounds of battle covered her slip up.

"We gotta get up there." Jack said. 'Question is, how?' he looked around and his eyes fell on something. It looked like a lift of sorts and this was proven right when it went up and came down moments later with cons inside it.

"Raf, think you can hack into that lift and make it carry us up?" Jack asked the young boy while pointing towards the lift.

"I-I can give it a shot." Raf said.

"We can go behind those rocks and crates. The rubble will give us some cover. But once we get to the lift, you're goanna have to hack fast because then we'll be out in the open." Evelyn said. Sure enough, the entrance to the lift and the console had no debris around it offering them zero cover.

They were taking a risk. A risk that could cost them their lives.........but there was another life at risk and that's why they're here anyways so.....

"Let's do this." Raf said determinedly and hitched his backpack up.

"Time for some bad@$$-ness." Evelyn said with a slightly nervous but fully determined smirk. She took her taser out and turned it on, electricity sparked between the two metallic points.

Jack held his gun up. "Then let's roll out!" he said.

Together, they sprinted out of the entrance and into the battlefield. They sprinted full speed ahead and didn't stop, they didn't look back and they ignored the sounds of gunfire around them as they focused on their objective. Jack, Raf and Evelyn ran for all they were worth and with each step they got closer and closer to their objective.

One of the vehicon's stray shots hit a crate full of raw energon and the shot created a massive explosion that shook the cave.

Raf stumbled as small rocks fell down. Evelyn stumbled but caught the debris beside her in time to steady herself. She looked up and it struck her that the crate and rocks won't be offering them any cover if the ceiling came down on them. A stalagmite half her size crashed 3 feet away from her as though to emphasize her point.

"Come on! We're almost there!" Jack said beckoning them to hurry up. They steadied themselves and together, the trio of humans sprinted out of the cover from the debris and towards the console.

Raf swung his backpack off in one fluid movement and took his laptop out. He turned it on and hooked it up to the console. His fingers flew all over the keyboard as he hacked away.

Jack and Evelyn stood guard. But as Evelyn stood with her taser ready, she realized how useless it might be against alien robots that were as big as a house! It was as though they had just entered the lion's den with nothing but a toothpick to defend themselves.

Jack's eyes darted from Raf taking down firewalls to the battlefield. He wanted to urge Raf to hurry up but held his tongue as he didn't want to distract Raf or stress him out. Then again, he was pretty stressed out as well. He expected a con to show up at any moment and squash them like a bug.

"Hey! What are you humans doing here?!" Jack and Evelyn whipped their heads around and saw a vehicon making his way towards them.

'I just had to jinx it didn't I?!' Jack scolded himself. He brought the gun up and aimed. He pulled the trigger and shot the con in the optic.

The shot hit its mark and the con's helm reared back at the impact of it. Dark pixels appeared around the vehicon's optics and its helm hurt. Then he shook it and growled. It made its way towards them intent on ignoring the pain in its helm and squashing these puny humans that messed with him.

"Raf, hurry!" Jack called over his shoulder. He turned around and fired another three shots at the con. He aimed for the chassis and the optic, the two most obvious weak spots.

Just as the con staggered and looked like it was finally giving up, it stood to its full height. "I'll squash you like a bug." It growled and readied his energon blaster on his servo.

Evelyn dashed forward and slammed her taser down on the con's pede at a chink where the wiring was exposed.

The con's metal body was apparently an amazing electricity conductor as the electricity from Evelyn's taser spread through its body and shocked him to his very core.

The vehicon released a cry of agony then dropped to his knees. It slumped onto the floor and its optics dimmed as it lost consciousness.

"What did you do?" Jack asked.

Evelyn looked at her taser then at the knocked out con. "Science fact 101, a few things can help electricity travel fast and metal *kicks vehicon* is one of them." She said with a proud smirk.

"Got it!" Raf cried triumphantly as the doors to the lift opened.

He stuffed his laptop back inside his bag and together, the trio left the unconscious vehicon behind and ascended towards Miko.

They were heading to a cliff of sorts inside the cave that was at least 20 stories tall. Evelyn briefly marveled at the size of the mine. The cliff overlooked the battle raging below it. In a way, it was a good spot to hide as it was away from the fight.

The doors opened and seeing the place with no cons and the only obstacles being a few crates filled with energon, the trio rushed out and ran over to where they saw their friend hiding.

"Miko!" they exclaimed as they found said girl. Miko jumped in shock but calmed down when she saw them. Then a delighted yet somewhat relieved smiled spread across her face.

"Took you guys long enough." She said.

Evelyn rushed forward and embraced her in a tight yet gentle hug. "Bloody he!l Miko, I thought you were dead! Thank god you're ok!" Evelyn said. Then she pulled away. The next thing Miko knew Evelyn's hand striked out like a snake and suddenly her cousin was painfully twisting her ear.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!" she cried.

"What in the name of Elizabeth's ghost were you thinking you idiot?! We thought you were dead! You scared the living he!l out of us! Will it kill you to step back and use that darn brain of yours for once?!" Evelyn roared.

Jack and Raf slowly took a few steps back to put some distance between themselves and the raging devil aka Evelyn.

"Guys, keep it down." Jack hissed worried that the shouting might attract another con's attention.

"Are you hurt, Miko?" Raf asked. Evelyn released Miko's ear and she rubbed it.

"I'm fine, except my ear no thanks to her." Miko said.

"Oh puh-leeze. It's a slap on the wrist compared to what could've happened had you gotten hurt in the crossfire!" Evelyn retorted. Then she hugged her cousin again. "But thank god, I'm glad you're safe."

Miko smiled and returned the hug. "Sorry for scaring you guys." Miko said.

"Sorry to interrupt the tender sibling moment but I think that's enough, guys. Right now, we have to get out of here." Jack said. "Ratchet, you copy? We've found Miko and need a bridge."

"Copy, I'm locking onto your coordi-" BOOM! Before Ratchet could do so a booming explosion went through the comms. He was so startled he jumped. He looked at the screen and the children's signals glitched.

"What in the AllSpark was that?" he asked himself. "Jack, Rafael, Evelyn do you copy?" he asked....only to hear nothing but static. "Jack! Raf! Evelyn!.....Miko! Does anyone copy?!" he asked one more time...only to hear static again. "Hello?! Jack! Raf! Evelyn! Does anyone copy?!" Ratchet asked more frantically this time.

He furiously typed away on the console. "Does anyone copy?!" he asked again. He gritted his dental plates and clenched his servos as he willed with all his might for someone, for anyone to answer.

"*koff koff* Ratchet? Can you *kzzt* hear me?" Raf's voice came. Ratchet heaved a huge breath of relief. The line was a bit gritty and filled with static but he could still hear them, he could still tell that they were alive.

"I hear you, Rafael. Where are the others?" he asked.

On the other end of the comm, in the energon mine, Raf adjusted his glasses and turned around. The explosion had been pretty big and it had shaken the entire mine. Some stalagmites from the ceiling dropped down on them. One of the stray shots had hit one of the crates filled with energon and set the explosions off.

Had it not been for Jack's quick warning to duck, Raf has a feeling he'd be dead by now.

His clothes were dirty and most likely torn in a few places but he wasn't hurt badly, the most he had was a bruise he could see slowly forming on his forearm from where one of the stones flying from the explosion had hit him while he'd ducked. Raf hissed and massaged his head. It felt like someone was playing the drums on there and his ears were ringing a bit due to being so close to the explosion, but they were at a safe distance away from getting actually hit by the aftershock. He heard a groan and saw Jack get up. There was some coughing and Evelyn propped up on her elbows. Beside her, Miko opened her mouth and coughed.

"Is everyone okay?" Raf asked running over and helping Jack up. He noticed a thin trail of blood coming down from a small cut on his forehead.

"Jack, you're hurt!" Raf said in alarm.

Jack brought his head up to the wound. "I'm fine. It's just a small cut." He said and wiped the blood away.

"*kzzt* Do *kzzt*-py. Does any- *kzzt* copy?" Ratchet's voice filled their ears. Jack coughed from the dust in his throat and pressed his finger against the comm in his ear.

"I'm fine." Jack croaked.

"I'm still alive and in one piece." Evelyn managed to say despite how hoarse her throat was.

"Present." Miko croaked out and coughed.

"Thank the AllSpark." Ratchet muttered.

"Ratchet, about that bridge?" Jack asked.

"On it." Ratchet said and typed away. Then he tried to lock onto their coordinates....but at that moment, in the energon mine however......

"Burn in the pits you Autobot scum!" Starscream screeched and aimed his missiles. Soundwave's optics widened behind his visor.

'Fool, if you hit one of the energon crates, we could end up losing more than just energon!' the silent con thought. He knew that if one of Starscream's was to hit one of the bigger crates, the whole mine might come crashing down on them and he wasn't taking any chances.

At the last minute, Soundwave used his tentacles to whip Starscream's servos upwards causing the missiles to shoot upwards......

Towards Jack, Miko, Raf and Evelyn.

"Incoming!" Evelyn yelled. They all jumped behind a boulder as the missiles exploded on the ceiling. More debris fell and Evelyn and Jack honest to god heard a stalagmite crash mere feet away from them.

They heard sharp rocks fly around them, cutting through the air and felt the pebbles scrape against their skin. Dust filled the air and their noses and throats became stuffy.

When the dust settled, Jack swallowed and mustered the courage to peek over. "It's safe now." He told the others.

"Damn it!" Ratchet cursed over the comms.

"What's wrong?" Raf asked.

"The explosions have interfered with the signals! I've lost access to the mine's signals!" Ratchet said as he typed away at the console so furiously he was afraid he might damage one of his own tech for once.

"So?!" Evelyn said.

"I can't bridge you back without your coordinates!" Ratchet said as he slammed a fist down beside the console in frustration. 'Come on you old rust bot, think!' he urged himself.

"Oh no, this is like the DINGUS all over again." Miko groaned as she tugged her pigtails, something Evelyn knew she only did when really stressed or nervous. 'Except this time, Optimus might not be able to save us.' She thought grimly.

'Well, crud.' Evelyn thought. Then an idea popped into her head. "If you can't activate a groundbridge at where we are now specifically, what about before? Can you use the coordinates from the previous bridge?" she asked.

"I can do that but the previous coordinates are back in the tunnels and I highly doubt you all are anywhere near there!" Ratchet said. "You'll have to retrace your steps."

"Ok, then let's head back to the tunnel. Raf, think you can still make that lift move?" he turned his head around and saw Raf leaning over the edge of the cliff.

"No." Raf said.

"But you could do it before, you can do it again!" Miko said.

"I can't if there isn't anything for me to hack into! Look!" Raf said pointing.

Jack, Miko and Evelyn leaned forward ever so slightly and their hearts dropped into their toes. "No....." Evelyn whispered.

"Please tell me I'm the only one seeing this." Miko pleaded.

Jack simply shook his head. He wished that was the case.

The lift and console were gone beyond repair, in its place was a contraption of broken fallen pieces of metal and twisted wire with sparks and fizzles from holo-screens.

"M-maybe there's a backup lift?" Miko said optimistically.

"I highly doubt it." Evelyn said quoting Ratchet unintentionally.

Jack looked around frantically for a way, for any way out of here. But the lift, the only way to get here and out, their only entry and exit point was gone.

This time, the quartet ducked as a few stray shots flew dangerously close to their hiding spot.

As Evelyn gathered her surroundings, it struck her like a slap that they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Literally.

When she first laid eyes on the cliff, she thought it was a good place to hide. That it was a good place to stay away from the crossfire and a perfect vantage point to boot.

Now she realized they were trapped here with their only way down having been blown to smithereens and a savage battle between machines raging below. Not to mention no one knew they were here, Ratchet hadn't told the others yet for fear he may distract them and on the battlefield, a distraction could cost one their lives. Neither did the cons know but that fact didn't make them any safer as a single stray shot could kill them or set off another explosion which would, could, do such thing. They were vulnerable and open to fire.

They thought they'd be safe up here. They thought they'd be out of the danger the moment they found Miko but they were wrong.

They just went out of the frying pan......

Bang! Another stray shot hit the stalagmite, causing it to drop a mere three feet away from Jack, Miko, Raf and Evelyn. This time, the rocks that flew from the impact as it shattered cut into Miko's hand and she hissed in pain.

They yelped and took cover behind the boulder once again as the sound of gunfire surrounded them.

....and into the fire.

BOOM! There was another explosion that shook the mine.

.....a very, very raging hot fire.