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D-16 was deep in the mines, working alongside Orion Pax, the rhythmic hum of their drills blending with the heavy weight of their work. D-16's mind wandered, thoughts drifting, when his eyes caught a guard standing near Darkwing. There was something about the way they stood, calm yet commanding, their posture sharp and confident. For a moment, D-16 was distracted, his focus slipping. He hadn't meant to—he couldn't afford to—but there he was, caught in an unspoken moment of distraction.

A wrong movement. A miss. His drill tore into the wrong section of rock, and suddenly the air shifted. A strange, purple Energon flowed out, crackling and sparking. The cave trembled, and D-16's heart raced. The tunnel began to close in around him. Panicked, he scrambled, but it was too late.

"Hang on, D!" Orion’s voice rang out. Before D-16 could react, Orion reached out, pulling him from the collapsing tunnel, his grip tight and sure.

As they emerged, a soft thud echoed as another figure approached—one of Darkwing’s guards. D-16 barely registered their words. He was too focused on his own embarrassment. Trying to act unaffected, he shifted his stance, shrugging it off. "Nah, I'm fine."

But deep down, his spark raced for an entirely different reason than before.