Not really, no. [With a shake of his helm, there's not much more to do than agree; he can understand it, regardless of whether it makes him comfortable or not.]

Ah... true. [The question of "when were you a miner?" gets stuck in his vocal processors and stays there - differences between realities, though the idea is still... odd.]

It... [Jetfire's optics flicker briefly as he shifts his shoulders.] The pillar is absorbing or otherwise removing energy from the core, which might put us on a timetable in regards to the Badlands.

Either way, yes, there ought to be several ways to get down, if nothing else from the temples, but I doubt it would be easier to find those entrances than ones that might be out in the open.

[Anything else would be silly, and the temple entrances, if there are any, are probably all warded in some way, or at least locked.]