Chapter 1

"Look at you!" Hotshot exclaimed, grinning wide when his blue optics settled on the young mechs before him. He put his hands on his hips, "All grown up and ready for your first mission!"

Solaris grinned back, and Warhammer started, "You're gonna lead us to some 'cons, aren't you?"

The yellow mech laughed, "No, Optimus gave strict orders on that. This is just a test run, to see how you two do in a standard scouting situation. You're no where near ready to take on a 'con!"

The heavier of the two younglings frowned but didn't argue. Instead, he asked, "Where are we going, anyway?"

"To check out some caverns across the states," Hotshot answered, "Hound has already been all over them, and he said it's an awesome place to start you guys off. There's absolutely no signs of 'cons, and he said everything looks sturdy enough for some serious exploring. You two dweebs up for it?"

Solaris' grin grew, "I've never seen a 'cavern' before, but I've heard dad and some of the other mechs talk about them."

"They're pretty neat. There used to be some on Cybertron, but they looked nothing like the ones here on earth." Hotshot paused, then asked, "What's wrong, 'Hammer? Were you wanting to 'bust some 'cons'?"

"We've been training for years," Warhammer said, crossing his thick arms, "when do we fight?"

"When your creators think you're ready. Don't look at me like that, it's their choice."

"Who all is coming?" Solaris asked quickly, growing more excited by the minute.

"It's just us," Hotshot answered, "and we're leaving in ten minutes tops, so go do what you need to do then come back." He put his hands on his hips, watching as the two turned and hurried off, chuckling when Warhammer reached out to smack Solaris in the arm. The taller, scrawnier of the two just laughed it off, too happy to be offended. Both of them vanished around a corner to go do whatever they needed.

He straightened up and turned when he heard Optimus call his name. Hotshot focused on the tall mech and grinned, "Time sure does fly, huh, Optimus? Feels like it was just yesterday when those two were fresh in their second frames."

"It does," Optimus agreed. His optics were raised in the direction his creation had run off to as he approached, and only focused on the yellow mech when he stopped before him, "You think you can handle the both of them?"

"Yes sir," He said, "don't forget you put me in charge of Sideswipe when he was younger. If I could take care of him, then I know I can take care of these two."

Optimus nodded, "Prowl scanned the area this morning, and there was no signs of any decepticon activity."

Hotshot raised an optic ridge, "There hasn't been a decepticon around in years, Optimus. I doubt ones just going to pop up now. Don't worry about it."

"I always worry about the decepticons, Hotshot," Optimus said tonelessly.

Hotshot softened his grin to a reassuring smile, "I'll watch out for Solaris, Optimus. Nothings gonna happen to him while I'm around. 'Hammer, too. You can count on me, sir."

Optimus put on a smile, "I know I can, Hotshot." He remained beside the shorter mech, both waiting quietly for the two young mechs to hurry on back. They were rounding the corner again when Ironhide appeared in a different doorway, a standard rifle in his hands.

"If you had waited to have this thing cleaned any longer, it'd be scrap," Ironhide grumbled, handing the weapon to Hotshot.

Hotshot tested the weight of the firearm in his hand before raising it to rest the barrel against his shoulder. He shrugged, "It's just been sitting around collecting dust. No 'cons to blast."

All three of them looked at Warhammer when he called, "I thought you said we wouldn't be fighting!"

"You're not," Hotshot clarified, "but there's always a chance that we might stumble onto some trouble. I'm bringing it along in case we do find ourselves a surly 'con, although I highly doubt that will happen."

"Better safe than sorry," Solaris agreed with a slight nod.

"Exactly."

Hotshot glanced at Optimus when the tall mech stepped past him to approach Solaris, who was eye-level with his creator's shoulder. The youngling had practically shot up in size continuously as soon as he was in his third frame, and was still growing. If he kept going at this rate, Hotshot mused, he'd be taller than Grimlock and Jetfire before he reached adulthood. Though his armor was painted a vivid red, he was a near perfect clone of Optimus, even his voice was beginning to deepen to a rich baritone. Optimus clasped a hand on his son's shoulder and spoke to him quietly. Solaris focused on him and nodded.

Hotshot gazed at Warhammer next. Ironhide hadn't walked to him, preferring to stand on Hotshot's left with his burly arms crossed and cold optics fixed on the younger mech with a fierce fatherly pride that was almost scary. Warhammer waited in silence, standing with his back straight and arms calmly at his sides. The perfect image of a loyal soldier. His armor was thick and heavy like Ironhide's, and seemed almost baggy on his frame because he hadn't finished growing into it. His coloring was a dark blue that was just a shade shy of being jet black.

When Optimus stepped back from Solaris, he met Hotshot's optics. They nodded at each other, and Hotshot turned to the two, "Alright, mechs!" Both of them straightened, making him grin, "Listen to every word I say, and no slacking! It's a test run, but I want to see your best!" He made a motion with his arm, "Transform and roll out!"

They followed his order, shifting down into a pair of concept vehicles that hadn't even been released in the human world. Hot shot shifted down shortly after, and with a rev of his engine, took off. The two fell into place behind him.

The caverns were, in all honesty, awesome. Hotshot stood inside with his hands on his hips, bright blue optics scanning their surroundings, the stalactites hanging from the tall ceilings and the stalagmites protruding from the cool stone floor. In all his years as an autobot soldier, he'd seen several caverns on several different planets. But none were like Earth's.

"This is great," He said, grinning wide.

"It's...different," Warhammer said slowly, "there's not a lot of room, though."

"I've never seen anything like it," Solaris said, crouching down slightly so he didn't hit his head on the spears of limestone hanging overhead, "it's incredible."

"Yeah, these are the best caverns I've seen," Hotshot agreed.

"All this...wetness is going to rust my gears," Warhammer grumbled.

"You are just like your creators, you know that?" Hotshot glanced at him, "you're such a killjoy."

Solaris laughed, "He is, isn't he?"

"Don't even start," Warhammer growled, "what are we doing here?"

"Scouting," Hotshot said, starting forward.

"What are we scouting for?" Solaris asked, quickly following.

"Anything, really. There could be stores of energon in here that decepticons hid, there could be debris, a new secret weapon, whatever. You won't always be looking at caves, and eventually, if they ever come back and you gain enough experience, you'll be sent out to scout decepticon camps." He paused when Solaris hit his head on one of the stalactites. He rolled his optics when Warhammer stepped on one of the stalagmites. "You two are a mess. If you're the future generation, we're doomed stealth-wise."

"It's too small." Warhammer repeated defensively. He was ignored.

Solaris started, "Hotshot, do you think the decepticons will come back?"

"Honestly," Hotshot paused, raising a hand to rub at the back of his neck, "I don't know, Solaris. They haven't been around for a long time, but we never really caught Cyclonus or Shockwave, and they were both on earth last time they were sighted. There's no telling what's going to happen. We might never see another 'con again, or we might get jumped by a whole army of them that have just been hiding away underground until they could get enough followers."

"Does it ever worry you?"

"Sometimes, but I think it worries Optimus more than anyone else. Prowl, too."

"That mech has problems," Warhammer cut in. Hotshot shot him a grin over his shoulder.

"I've been saying that for years." Hotshot faced forward again, stopping when he spotted something on one of the cavern walls. Squinting, the older mech leaned between the structures in the cave to see better. Something dark but clear was splattered over the stone, and he tensed when he realized what it was.

Solaris and Warhammer packed themselves in around him, curious, "What is it?"

"...Energon." Hotshot answered quietly. He raised his optics up, seeing more streaks like someone had been slashed open inside. He grunted and leaned back to avoid falling over when Warhammer squeezed past to stumble further into the caverns.

"Some of the stone has been smashed down," He observed, pulling Hotshot from his thoughts. Backing up a step then straightening, the yellow mech followed him. Solaris was right behind them. When Hotshot finally got around Warhammer and was able to see, his optics widened again. More than 'some' of the stone had been smashed down. It looked like a couple of huge constructicons had a wrestling match here. More energon was on the limestone walls.

"There was a battle," Solaris said, sounding bewildered, "but I thought..."

Hotshot narrowed his optics, "This doesn't make sense. Hound said nothing was out of place here."

"The energon isn't that old," Warhammer observed, "this happened recently."

Hotshot thought to praise him for noticing this, but raised a hand to his helm instead to request a comm link with base. It was opened immediately, and he said, "...We're inside the caverns and it's pretty beat up inside. Someones fought here recently," he paused to glance back at the energon. It was dark, but not dark enough to be over a few days old. "like, within the last week kind of recently."

He waited for his orders while the two younger mechs carefully explored the area, optics bright with curiosity. He almost told them to be careful, but turned his back on them when Optimus himself responded, "Retreat and return to base. Jazz, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe are on their way to investigate."

Primus, you're sending those two into a cavern? We'll never hear the end of it. Hotshot nodded though, "Yes sir." He dropped the link and called, "Alright, mechs, it's time to head home-"

Solaris cut him off, crouching among the debris to pick something out of the shattered limestone, "There's something here."

"What'd you find?" Hotshot approached, standing behind him. He tensed slightly when Solaris lifted a splintered piece of thin armor, painted a venomous lime green.

Solaris tilted it, "What mech is painted this color?"

Warhammer scoffed, "What mech has such thin armor?"

"...I don't know," Hotshot answered slowly, "I haven't seen anyone that color before, not since the constructicons but I'm pretty sure Optimus offlined them after autobots started landing on earth. And you're right, that armor is thin, way too thin to protect anything."

Then, completely out of the blue, Solaris glanced up at him and said, "It's still warm."

Before Hotshot could register what he'd just said, his energon sensors pinged. Immediately, Hotshot raised an arm and managed to push both of the younglings behind him as he lifted his rifle from the holster and held it up. His attention snapped up on instinct, and he found himself staring into huge, round green optics.

A feminine voice hissed, making his energon run cold, "one, two, I see you."

Hotshot glared, "Who are you!"

The femme was tiny, probably smaller than Jazz, with a ridiculously thin body painted the same acid green on the armor in Solaris' hand. She was up high, wedged almost comfortably between the stalactites with her limbs spread in an 'X'. He took in her structure, her lean build and long, scrawny limbs. Her arms were so long he couldn't even see her hands, but her legs were proportionate to her body. As he studied her, she tilted her head down and smiled at him with black lip plates stretched taunt across a small, round face. The smile pulled all the way to her bright red cheek gears, and her mouth was full of layers of serrated teeth.

"It's a decepticon," Solaris whispered behind him.

"Three, four, death and gore," She sang quietly, twisting her head the other way, "five, six, you fell for my tricks."

Hotshot clenched his dentals, prepping his rifle with one swipe of his hand as he raised it to point straight between her optics, "I'm not going to ask again, 'con, who are you?"

"Seven, eight, I can't wait." She leaned down slowly, "nine, ten, now it begins."

"You've glitched one too many times," Warhammer muttered. Hotshot was completely focused on her as she began to shift, moving her body from side to side like he pictured a monkey would in a movie before he switched vines. He stepped back, forcing the other two to move back as well, and pulled the trigger.

The shot echoed through the caverns like a clash of thunder, but the shell bounced off the stone ceiling harmlessly. Hotshot blinked, realizing that she had moved. She had dodged the shot, even though there had only been a short distance between the nose of his weapon and the nose of the femme. "Sweet Primus," He breathed, straining his senses to find the femme. His optics darted over the cavern, but in here, there was a dozen places a femme her size could hide. "That's why her armors so thin," He muttered crossly, "this femme can move."

"Where is she?" Solaris asked, twisting sharply to look.

"I don't know," Warhammer said, voice just as quiet, "I can't sense or see her anywhere."

"Shhh," Hotshot hushed, hold tightening on his rifle. He went rigid when he felt a breath of air on his back, and a voice whispered in his audio;

"I'm heeeereeee."

He whirled, hooking his arm around Solaris' to jerk the younger mech behind him. Warhammer had already sprung back, leaving Hotshot face to face with the small femme, who was still grinning in a horrible way. Her arms, which he realized were stripped to the frame of her protoform, rose up on either side of her. Four foot long claws pressed to the sides of his helm, firm and cold. His optics widened, spark freezing in his chest with fear when she abruptly leaned forward and opened her mouth. She stopped a few inches away, then laughed. The sound came out loud and insane, a screech that had him wrenching away so hard her claws left tears in his armor. He lifted his rifle and brought it down towards her as hard as he could.

She was still laughing when she ducked and slid back out of reach in a motion so smooth and quick his optics couldn't catch it. A sharp pain exploded through his side. Hotshot pulled back but she followed, gliding forward silently with her curled claws raised to strike. Some part of him realized that they were already dripping with his energon.

"Hotshot!"

Hotshot reached back and fisted a hand against Warhammer's chest plates, pushing him back as much as he could. He hardened his voice, ordering, "Get the pit out!"

Warhammer swatted his hand away and snarled, "We're not going to leave you here to fight her alone!"

She kept coming, "You came into my cave, first," She laughed again, "My cave...one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine..." She shifted, and Hotshot forced himself to jump back, dragging the two mechs with him. His optics opened wide when her claws slashed through the air mere inches from his face, so close the energon on them splattered across his armor. She snarled, "Ten!"

She moved back then slid to the left before she vanished from sight, moving too fast for him to see. Hotshot took his chance, turning and grabbing both mechs by the shoulder armor. He started to run, pulling them along side him as he made his legs work. He clenched his dentals, trying to ignore the open wound on his side, which was now leaking in thick rivers. He could feel his own energon running down his body, and it sickened him.

"Hotshot! We have to stop!" Solaris called when he looked at the wound, "if you keep moving like this, you'll offline!"

"Don't worry about me, you two need to get your afts out, NOW!" Hotshot shouted, "if you stay here, you'll be slaughtered!"

"We can't just abandon you!" Warhammer snapped.

Hotshot tensed when he heard her laughter again. It echoed through the halls of the caverns, and pushed him to move faster. "Slaggit all, you two have no idea whats happening! This is no place for a couple of sparklings!"

"We're not sparklings!"

He vented loudly and opened his mouth to keep shouting at them. Claws appeared on either side of his face and closed around his head with surprising strength. He shouted in pain when his entire frame was slammed to a stop from the grab. Toe claws buried in his back, and he felt her slight weight against him as she leaned over. She repeated, "Ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten..."

He felt the scrape of her dentals against his helm like she was trying to bite him. His rifle flew up and he fired a blind shot, but the second she felt him move, she dropped down his back and shoved off with enough force to put Hotshot on his knees. He winced, baring his dentals when her claws pulled tight around his throat cables and forced him to tilt his head back. She leaned down, bringing her face close to his, and sniffed.

This femme is...insane. He blinked, limbs trembling as her sharp claws effortlessly sliced into his throat cables. Her entire body went rigid and a rolling growl left her. Her expression twisted from one of complete bliss to rage, "You are not my mech."

"Let him go!" Solaris ordered.

"Not my mech, not my mech, not my mech." She clenched her hands around his chest armor then, and with one heave, had him flat on his back. One of the two younglings fired a round of shots, but none of them even came close to her. She crouched down over him and hooked her claws around his armor to drag him back into the caverns. She kept moving faster and faster until everything around him was a blur, and he found himself asking just how the pit was she able to drag him in the first place?

Something snagged on his wound, snapping him from his trance. He curled tight then reached up and closed a hand around her wrist to crush. Razor like claws cut across the soft part of his arm and he immediately lost all control and feeling in his hand. Hotshot began to curse loudly, struggling harder. He could hear someone racing after them, pounding through the caverns. He shouted, "Get help!"

The steps paused, and he felt a sliver of relief, and continued, "Get the frag out of here and get Optimus! NOW!" Finally, they listened, and left the caverns in a hurry, shouting back and forth at each other. He vented, At least they're safe, I don't have to worry about them anymore...

He snarled when she abruptly threw him against a wall. He raised his last good hand and, realizing that he'd dropped his rifle somewhere in the caverns, pressed it to his side. He glared at the femme when she dropped down in front of him. Her optics burned into his and she stepped closer, getting right up in his space.

Hotshot held his breath, afraid for the first time in ages. She repeated irritably, "You are not my mech. You are not my beautiful mech. You are not him."

"I think I got that," He ground out. He pulled back his leg to kick her, but she popped up in the air to avoid the blow. He managed to get to his feet before she brought him back down again with a hard slap of her claws against the back of his knees. He fell into a groaning heap, "Who the pit are you?"

"You do not have his optics," She continued muttering, "You are not my mech." Her voice grew softer as she scuttled off, "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten..."

Hotshot snarled, "What are you going to do with me?" When she didn't answer, he tried to get up again...only to cringe back when a stabbing pain flared up in his knees. He added, breathless, "What the hell did you do to me!"

She stopped, her skeletal back to him. He froze when she slowly looked over her shoulder at him. Her bright green optics were still wide, bright with insanity. A visor slid down from her helm to cover them. She hissed, "I broke you, mech-that-is-not-my-mech." She hunched over and spat, "Ten!" Then vanished.

Hotshot held his breath for several minutes, his spark in a panic. He whispered, "What the pit just happened? What..." The femme, who was about half his size and nearly naked, had brought him down in a matter of minutes. And he had took on hundreds of powerful decepticons, from Starscream to Sideways to Megatron himself. He'd always lasted, if not through the battle then just long enough for back up to get there. He'd been fighting for ages, and was full of experience. He'd even been in charge of training other mechs.

How could she have done this? He shuddered, closing his optics when he pictured her hanging from the ceiling in his head. Insane 'cons were the worst kind. They were out of control and completely unpredictable and, in this case, slagging fast. How was it possible for one little femme to cause so much damage?

He was a good soldier, a good warrior. But she was way too quick. He vented sharply, just glad the other two got out. At least, he hoped they did. She hadn't acted like she wanted anything to do with them. Primus, I hurt. He raised his good arm to press his fingers over the long wound and glared into the darkness. After a few minutes, he tried to stand again.

He couldn't bend his knees without nearly passing out from the pain, so he gave up after the fourth or fifth try. He vented sharply, tilting his head back. "Primus, please don't let me offline here."

First chapter, as promised. sorry it came up an entire day late...some things happened this weekend and I needed time to deal with them.

I love Hotshot. I mentioned him in earlier stories, but I really wanted to give him a chapter or two to himself because I found some Armada clips on youtube. Good stuff, just like I remembered. Blur may or may not be making an appearance later on.

So, guys, how do you like my new crazy little villain? I'm really enjoying her character right now.

Thanks for reading! Much love to you all!

Solaris, Darkfire, and the mysterious"'con" and the story all belongs to me. Transformers does not.