Meat and Greet

Hurt, lost, and pissed off. Not the best combination, especially not for anyone who runs into said person feeling that. This would explain the fate of the empty now pinned under the massive paw of Chimera's altmode, flexed claws digging in to hold the dead mech steady while she feasts around the less guarded areas of the scrap heaps.

  After much effort she was able to snap her dislocated jaw back into place, so eating is leagues easier. But she still has that large gash on her side, the concealed energon dulled and no longer flowing now that autorepair systems have stitched it up a little. But the beast still needs a medic, though that will have to come later. For now, Chimera tries to just regain lost energon, jaws parting to tear out another chunk of the corpse's spark casing and snap it down hungrily.

  It's a rather gruesome and by all accounts dangerous sight to come upon in the scrapyards, and one any workers have the sense to stay well clear of. The empties - carcass excluding - are mostly sensible enough to stay away as well, but there're always a few vultures.

  One in this case, and she doesn't quite have the Primus-given survival instinct to stay out of sight. Cresting a mound some distance away, the damaged and incomplete form of Spectrum comes into view having followed the scent of fresh food. Her optics settle on the beast responsible for it and she unceremoniously plops down onto her skidplate to wait out its meal. That's a little too fresh, she'll content herself with leftovers.

  So much for a peaceful meal. Audials twitch at the sound of someone approaching and massive head swings around to stare down Spectrum with those sharp jade optics. Energon coated jaws part to flash to show predatorial teeth surrounding the two prominant sabers, the heat from inner furnace almost making the air shudder as she growls lowly in warning.

  "Be gone, /vermin/." The monster snarls, tail twitch in annoyance while taking a step away from her meal. "Unless you wanna be dessert. Though it doesn't look like I'd get much off you." Empties really are horrible food substitutes, barely much energon in them and even less substance.

  The incomplete empty doesn't flinch and she meets the beast's demand with a calm neutrality. "I'm not worth the effort," she affirms while lifting her arm blade to show it, towards the sky rather than the beast before her. After allowing the suns to catch on its edge for a moment, she drops it back to her side and props her other arm idly on a raised knee.

  "I won't disrupt your meal, I'm just here for the leftovers when you're done."

  Chimera can only chuckle in dark amusement at the show of Spectrum's blade. "I don't think that'd be enough to save you." If she can handle a full on stab from a Dynobot sword then Spectrum's makeshift blade wouldn't be a challenge. At the mention of scavenging, Chimera tilts her head slightly and gives the impression of a smirk on animalistic face. "You would eat one of your own? You new Cybertroniansjust get curiouser and curiouser."

  That said, the beast bends down to tear off an arm, the sound of strained metal groaning and ripping alongside structural joints snd fuel lines sounding off, and tosses it a few feet away. "Go on then, eat. You're pretty brave, or very stupid, for even coming near me. I admire that, so I think you deserve a little treat." Making no move to eat her own meal, Chimera simply sits on her haunches and watches the shambling femme with the curiosity of a cat.

  "It doesn't save me, it just makes me more trouble than I'm worth," Spectrum responds cooly. At the offering of food (such as it is), she smiles politely and stands up. "Thank you," she intones as she steps off her perch and walks over to the discarded arm. Her pace is slow from old joints rather than fear, though her optics drift back to Chimera regularly as she approaches. Spectrum's gait is steady enough to suggest that she's either a recent arrival, or that she's been here long enough to learn which parts are important to maintain.

  Reaching the arm, she drops to a crouch and picks it up with her free hand before turning it to expose the severed fluid lines and clamping her mouth over the more important ones.

  Chimera doesn't move an inch, merely observing with a lax demeanor about her. Only when Spectrum begins to drink what energon remains in the lines of the arm does the beast hum in amusement, "It's funny. You mechs and femmes in this day and age try to look so civilized and proper, yet you're all far more barbaric then you let on."

  With a grunt the beast stands and begins to shift, transforming into her equally imposing base mode that still towers over the scrapped femme before her. "So you're what they call an empty, eh?" Lips curl into a deadly smile when slowly approaching Spectrum, her movements careful so as to show no motive of attacking. "What's your name then, brave little femme? I'm eager to know who I'm dining with today."

  Spectrum looks up while still sucking on the fuel line in her mouth like an oversized noodle - way up as she's still crouching. Up close it's apparent that one of her optics is cracked and it flickers as she watches the chimera transform. At the question, she tips the arm back over so it won't leak and takes her mouth off. There's a little left on her face but a quick swirl of her tongue cleans it off. "I don't have one, call me whatever you'd like," she answers in the same casual tone. The femme is either hard to ruffle or a few chips have been fried over the millenia. "But if you think care about civilized and proper your optics might need more repairs than mine," she adds, giving the larger robot a playful smile back.

  "Somehow I doubt that.." Chimera mutters, stepping up to the apparently fearless femme and looming above her, purely amazonian figure casting a long shadow with only her optics casting enough of a glow to light the sharp toothed smirk. "But if you really want me to think of a name for you.." She pauses and crouches before Spectrum, still taller, but close enough to get a good look at her. "I think I'd called you Scrapheap." Chim toys with her now and reaches out in an attempt to pinch damaged cheek.

  "You're a scruffy little thing, I'll admit. But I wonder why you're not afraid of me. Everyone so far has either run away or tried to fight me." Probably because no one's seen something like her in age. But still, so rude!

  "Flattering," Spectrum laughs as she's pinched. The empty's only got one cheek left. "Really I don't," she professes. With the primordial all but on top of her, she allows herself to be manipulated by the larger robot's whim but does reach up to brush the arm aside if it stays for too long.

  "And that's just because I don't have to be," she explains perhaps unhelpfully. "I'm safer next to you than three miles away."

  Chimera very much enjoys the allowance to poke and prod the run down femme until denied, though what makes her stop completely and gives her pause is Spectrum's admission of being safe around her. This is something that needs correcting..

  "You think so?" The femme mutters lowly with halfmast optics, voice smooth and sweet as honey with a drop of poison lingering on the edges. If Spectrum isn't quick enough she'll find a large hand snaking up quick around her throat and holding firmly. If successful the beast turned beauty will force her back and dig a knee hard into what's left of the empty's chest. "Just because I've decided not to kill you right now doesn't mean you're safe, dear.." Chimera almost purrs while leaning down closer to greet Spectrum with a sugar sweet smile tinged with deviousness. "You'd be wise to remember that."

  -Combat- Chimera hits Spectrum with a melee attack!

  Spectrum doesn't react to the hand until after it's caught a firm grip and pinned her to the scrap underfoot. The smaller femme's frame creaks in protest as Chimera puts weight into her knee. There's no paneling left over her stomach to soften the blow and her interior isn't meant for an intrusion like that. The trapped robot grabs the top of the primordial's wrist with her weapon hand and in the process levels her blade up the path of Chimera's arm and towards her neck. Her optics flicker in pain and a grunt comes out amidst the protest of her body, but Spectrum's face doesn't betray more than an uncomfortable grimace. She even back smiles a little despite herself.

  "Safe is relative here," she chokes out. That knee might be on a fuel line of her own. "You're far from harmless, I'm aware."

  Chimera's smile diminishes some at the lacking show of her company's discomfort. There's a little yes, but not enough to properly satisfy the beast. Why isn't she begging not to be killed? Or yelling out in pain? It's almost frustrating with for little of this she gets out of Spectrum. ..So much so that the beast utters a soft throat in the bottom of her throat.

  "Hn.. Again, you're either brave or stupid.." The giant mutters again under her vocals and leans down further, enough to allow the tip of the makeshift blade to touch her neck, taking a few sniffs of her. "...And you don't really smell like all the other Empties I've encountered. You're more intact than they are.." Pressure from hand and knee begins to lessen until Chimera releases Spectrum completely, sitting back and raising a brow at her. "Just pretending to be one?"

  "More like... very old," Spectrum responds as the added weight causes Chimera's knee to sink into parts that weren't intended to crumple. The pain is more evident in her voice than her expression. At least some of her sensors know what's going on and they're screaming it in the empty's mind.

  The loss of the primordial's weight is a welcome relief but Spectrum's insides expand only partway back to how they were; some damage has been done. Still the smaller femme sighs at the respite and takes a couple breaths before answering. "Ah... I'm not as ancient as you but by empty standards I might be. If you live on 'just enough' long enough, you learn what repairs to skip, and I've somehow managed to keep myself running - so far."

  "Someone like you fresh in the Dead End has a much better story to tell," she continues as she pushes herself up with her free hand and sits where she is. Her legs are splayed and the empty makes no move to regain her space, but her blade arm is left dangling in her lap; she's almost but not completely exposed. "But you can keep it to yourself. I said I wouldn't interrupt."

  "I was simply passing through and stopped to grab a bite." Chimera explains simply, still poised on the balls of her heeled feet with forearms dangling over knees. Long tail continues to sway endlessly at her backside while eyeing Spectrum, studying the bit of outward damage she managed to inflict with her knee with little remorse on her face.

  Eventually optics drift back and narrow some at the other femme, her expression inquisitive and slightly accusatory as head hunches a little closer. "I'd be surprised if you knew how old I really am. ..But that's irrelevant. If you're as old as you say, then perhaps you can offer a bit of information. I'd like to know just what's been happening on this little planet since my return. I've noticed talk of groups known as Autobots and Decepticons as well as hatred towards someone called Sentinel Prime. Know anything about any of this?"

  "I only know you're very, very old," Spectrum clarifies as she adopts a pattern of slow but reasonably comfortable breathing. Her speech pattern, casually sedate already, slows further to match it. At the same time, the empty's cracked and flickering optic goes out, leaving one blue lens to look back at the hunched chimera.

  "I only hear what passes through the open or through the alleys here, but I do know some things about that. Would you like a history lesson or just the status quo?"

  Chimera's audials twitch at Spectrum's slowing state as she eases up. It's almost hypnotic, in a way, and leaves the beast feeling a little more lax with tail swaying lazily and posture sinking somewhat. "..The status quo first. I'd like to get up to speed as fast as I can so I can decide what to do next." Because justgoing back to Harmonex and hanging on its perimeter isn't an option anymore, not with patrols increasing and Slag's presence. "..Then maybe the longer version after."

  Spectrum continues to breath in a slow rhythm. A pump in her chest, formerly humming in the background, begins keeping time, turning itself on and off as she processes that and chooses where to start. "Autobots are the government and Sentinel Prime leads the weapons that enforce their will. Decepticons are terrorists - rebels who want freedom - and will go to extreme lengths to get it. All of them are dangerous to people like us." Here the empty pauses while holding her gaze on the primordial. "Some Decepticons might appreciate your presence..."

  "Maybe mine too."

  In a calmer state of mind now, Chimera listens intently as Spectrum first gives her the short version, the femme sitting back on her backside and rubbing chin thoughtfully. "Extreme lengths, you say? I've been hearing bits and pieces of so called terrorist activity from them. I admit, I admit their spirit to strike back at those that keep them down.." Very much like she experienced so long ago.

  Then she catches the last bit of what the other femme says and views her with an evaluating expression. "Is that so.. And what could you offer them? You don't exactly look like fighting material. ..Maybe cannon fodder, at best." Typical Chimera, no filter.

  "Some of what you've heard may not be true," Spectrum notes in quiet defense of the ideal she doesn't hold. "The Autobot's control the official news." At Chimera's question she lets out an audible sigh, peaceful not tired, and her lips twitch upwards in the ghost of a grin that doesn't show itself. It's expressed instead in her tone.

  "You saw something worth more than food. I still have some skills left to lend and with some repairs I'd be much more useful."

  Speaking of Autobots, one of them is zooming around the scrapyard, a streak of blue and white motion against the dark streets. What is Blurr doing here? Spying? Sabotage? Setting some kind of trap? It could be any of the above. He stops in front of a particularly large pile of debris, as if searching for something.

  "Hm.. Then perhaps I should get the story straight from the source sometime." Chimera ponders on this, head turning away to stare at nothing while thinking. Optics only flick back when Spectrum speaks again, her statement earning her a defensive huff while looking away again. "Don't give yourself too much credit. I didn't eat you because there's not much left of you in the first place." Says the femme who just ate an empty who was worse off than Spec.

  With a grunt she then stands, stretching arms above her head before dropping them lazily at her side. "I think at least speaking to these Decepticons would be worth the effort though. ..If I find them before you I'll try and remember to mention you." Spectrum sems the smart sort. And daring enough to try and be civil to Chim, but the beast tries to keep any sort of favoritism out of her tone.

  "Barium, Chromium, Lead-206," Spectrum rattles off in reply after the primordial finishes. The empty sniffs audibly, a belated demonstration. "I could recognize you by the lead alone. I have some skills left."

  Fairly content where she is, she holds her seat. "I'll be in your debt if they help me."

  "Heh, so I guess you're not as useless as you look." Chimera lofts brows, impressed, before offering a small, genuine smirk. Being told someone would be in her debt, though... It feels strange. A foreign concept to the bloodthirsty femme. She keeps odd emotion in check, though flicking tail betrays her, and grumbles while collapsing down into her altmode once more. "Well, like I said, only if I remember. Anyway, I'd best keep moving if I'm to find.. whatever it is I'm supposed to find.

  Trotting off to the top of the small hill before them, the giant beast turns horned head to view Spectrum over a shoulder, pausing long enough to nod and speak up one final time, "Maybe we'll run into each other again soon and you can tell me the long version of that history lesson. Anyway.. you can have the rest of that body. Seeya later, Scrapheap." With that said, she moves off and disappears down the other side of the hill, slinking off towards the outskirts of the junkyard.

  At the compliment, Spectrum finally smiles in satisfaction. The primordial's departure at least is worth the energon it takes to look lively. "I'll return the favor if you find them second," she notes. As Chimera walks away, the empty raises her bladed arm again, letting the large piece of metal serve as a farewell.

  "Do I get a name for you?" She asks before the beast can slip quite out of sight. It's not a proper shout but she's betting on the larger femme's hearing.

  Chimera pauses on the hilltop before departing, hesitant to give out her name. ..But she supposes the femme has earned it. "Chimera." She states simply, loud enough for Spectrum to pick up, and swiftly moves off.

  Spectrum's arm drops again once the primordial leaves completely and she smiles a bit wider as she picks the discarded arm back up, then looks to its former owner. "Fitting," she muses before returning to her meal. It's not quite a free lunch, as the new pain in her chest is quick to remind her, but for the damaged empty it was a good trade.