red_diode_district | Everybody learns from *somebody*

Passing the doors into the library, Megatron was pleased he had gotten the schedule correct as he saw who was sitting at the desk. If it had been completely necessary due to his own schedule, he'd have come here when he could. But since he didn't have to...

Ignoring the faint itch interfacing hadn't properly gotten rid off, Megatron approached the librarian at a lazy, casual walk. It was a pity he hadn't seen any signs at all that the surprisingly fine-lined truck-alted mech had the inclination he was looking for. Things would have been a lot easier (and, really, pleasing) if he had.

As it was, since there was no one left in the current arena circuit that he trusted with what he had to hand over, perhaps he would have to avail himself of one of the clubs. It made an irritable twitch slither down the treads on his shoulders, the thought that he'd have to do that.

It was ages since he'd had to go to an open venue like that to simply get his needs properly taken care of.

And he really would have preferred the librarian. Orion Pax - it hadn't taken anything to find out the designation when to found the schedule - was witty, somehow diplomatically argumentative and didn't give in if he knew he was right or wanted to stand for his opinion, actually had some smarts to go with said use of words and Megatron wanted to know more.

More, and more personally (most of the earlier he'd simply learned over the few times he'd been in the library when the mech was, but hadn't actually approached him). So this time, he decided to actually use the librarian's assistance in what he was looking for... and perhaps get something more out of it.

"Excuse me?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

ichooseboth

"I'm afraid I can't really help there," Orion said, slowly approaching the giant statues. "One of them looks familiar - I've probably seen him somewhere before, in the archives - but I can't recall his name. And the other is even more of a mystery..."

Eying the statues and overcoming his awe, Orion made his way to the base of the nearest one, searching the pedestal for something that might actually tell them the name of the giants.

From:

lordmegatron

"Might not be important," Megatron said, clearly dismissive, after a moment. They probably were, but not in the sense the etchings Orion had been interpreted were. They'd been holding the item Megatron had removed and tucked elsewhere, after all.

"And I don't think there are any plaques or anything; didn't find any the first time I was here." But if Orin had sharper optics than he did, all the better, since with names they could go searching through the archives for any mention that hadn't been scraped out already.

Because Megatron was pretty sure it'd been. The age, if he could judge them, both alone and by the item they'd been 'guarding', implied pre-Golden Age, and their history did not stretch coherently further back.

Due to 'unprecedented catastrophe' his aft.

From:

ichooseboth

"'Might not be important'?!" Orion sputtered, turning back long enough to give Megatron a incredulous stare. "Don't be insulting. If someone bothered to make two giant fragging statues of these mechs, I highly doubt they are 'unimportant'!"

Shaking his helm, Orion approached properly, circling around the first statue.

"We'll find out who these mechs are, if I have to go back and search the entire archives for the matching image from my memory."

He could see any name plates at first glance, but that didn't mean anything. Dust and fine debris coated the pedestals and blurred the finely-crafted lines of the statues themselves - a name, date, or even maker's-mark could be hidden anywhere. Slowly, he ran his hands along the most likely edges, searching for precious information buried in the silt.

"Did you find anything else the last time you were here that might give us further clues?" he finally asked.

From:

lordmegatron

He shouldn't laugh at Orion's reaction, but that was what Megatron did, waving a placating hand in the air while Orion walked around the statues, trying, in vain, to find anything that would help identify them.

"If there's any scraps of data left of them, I'm sure you'll find it that way. You could also use your recorder to take additional images," Megatron pointed out, remembering the thing he'd used earlier on the wall.

The last question had Megatron pausing, leaning against the foot of the one with a more animal-like helmet design.

"No. I didn't. Though it seems to me as if they were holding something, once," Megatron said, offering up what he knew for a truth blandly, pointing up at the hands held aloft, that didn't quite touch.

From:

ichooseboth

"Of course I will," Orion murmured, already focused on his task.

"But I'll search around here before I have to resort to scans and a long archive-dive with only the picture of a rusting statue to work off of."

Orin paused, hands resting up against the pedestals, glancing up from between the statues.

"...Huh. Megatron, I think you're right." He glanced back down around his feet with a vaguely hopeful air, but it was quickly obvious even with the thick coating on the floor that whatever might have been up there wasn't lying where it might have fallen.

"Drat! Whatever it was must be long gone, if it existed at all.:

From:

lordmegatron

"Looks like that, yes," Megatron murmured, nodding seriously. He should know, after all. He'd removed the casing that had contained a golden data-repository disk inside, himself.

"Neither of these are particularly rusty, however, Orion," he said with a smirk, glancing up at the statues again; they were nearly pristine in both lines and colour, if not polished any longer.

When something that almosy seemed like an earlier echo but sounded just slightly off came on the tailend of the last echo, Megatron glanced towards the opening they'd come from and frowned.

... Was there something down here?

From:

ichooseboth

"Oh I know," he said flippantly, "But they might as well be. This grime is getting everywhere, but I think I found a spot where someone removed a name plate or plaque under it..."

He trailed off, noticing Megatron's tension at the same time he realized his larger partner was not the one making noises. Orion froze in place, audial nubs twitching as he cautiously turned his helm around toward different parts of the room.

"Megatron, what is that?"

From:

lordmegatron

Turning around, Megatron scowled, pulling his sword out of subspace.

"It seems that we aren't alone down here," he remarked even as he backed up slowly, gesturing for Orion to come over to him while his optics stayed locked on the trio of beings that shuffled in.

They looked... awkward, whatever they were. As much bare protoform as armour, everything seemed slightly off and twisted, their faces lopsided and jagged blades sticking out at both awkward and inconvenient places and angles.

"Back up slowly, towards the wall, but not into the doorway."

From:

ichooseboth

"What?"

Horrified, Orion voice cut out with a sharp burst of static when he caught sight of the- the horrors shambling through the entryway.

"...Primus. What happened to them?" He could barely look away - and yet kept flinching from the sight of their unfortunate faces. Because of it, he nearly tripped as he shuffled his way closer to the wall.

"How long have they been down here?"

Orion had no idea what they were, but it was fairly certain such pitiful beings wouldn't be in their right minds - if nothing else, the pain of being in such a state would have to be intense.

From:

lordmegatron

"I doubt..." studying the slow creatures, Megatron didn't take their current speed at face value, and kept his free arm out to shield Orion somewhat. He should have brought his shield as well. "... that they've ever been topside, Orion. I don't think they're lost and have mutated."

Something just didn't feel right about these; to Megatron, no matter what they (vaguely) looked like, they didn't read as Cybertronian. And thus, even if he wasn't exactly aware of it, they were only one thing; enemy.

"When I tell you to, turn on your headlights for a few seconds." It was brighter in here than the corridors outside, but the concentrated light from headlights like Orion's could still be startling and even blinding.

From:

ichooseboth

Orion's neck creaked when he turned from gawking at the horrors far too quickly, giving Megatron a look. Monsters and beings of the dark deeps were not part of Orion's expertise.

"But...what? They can't- People live down here?"

And were apparently so addled by injury or mutation that they gave no sign that they had heard Megatron's words, making no apparent attempts to block their optics.

::Er. Alright?:: He agreed, tensely readying himself.

From:

lordmegatron

"I doubt they count as people, Orion," Megatron said with a snort, slowly weaving his sword in front of him in warning, though the creatures didn't seem to take notice.

::I don't think we need to bother to talk over radio, Orion. While they probably understand speech, I'm wondering if they have a proper causal understanding and a sense of future events.::

It was, at least, Megatron's assumption. He raised his sword as he cast a glance behind him, noting how close they were to the wall.

::Now.::

From:

ichooseboth

::I'll stick with it just in case, thank you.::

Orion really wanted to argue the 'not people' part of the conversation, but this probably wasn't the time.

And he didn't want to distract Megatron from a fight, not even for the sake of (potentially) ill Cybertronians.

So he lit up his headlights on cue at their brightest setting, and was startled to see the visceral reaction the pitiful- people? creatures? - had at the light.

From:

lordmegatron

Someone else might have hesitated to strike down opponents who jerked and shied away from the light, twisting and then freezing in the same movement, clearly startled and blinded both.

Not Megatron.

He leaped forward, swinging his sword and cleanly chopping one of them in half and driving a deep groove in a second, kicking the third and sending it sprawling for a moment.

That was the only free action he got, however, as the injured one suddenly lunged with a speed completely contrary to the earlier shuffling, wielding its body like the weapon it was with all the odd blades and twisted angles.

Megatron ducked, kicked at its knees, and thrust his sword out at the thing he'd kicked to the ground earlier as it picked itself up and made to jump on Orion behind Megatron's back.

From:

ichooseboth

Orion flinched at Megatron's explosive reaction, ruthlessly taking advantage of the beings moment of weakness. He couldn't help but think that hacking one right in half was a bit much... But the creatures own surge of motion conflicted with their earlier shuffle, and Orion's moral dilemma was shunted to the back of his processor when his own survival was suddenly at stake.

Megatron's sword tore through the oncoming creature, but even with a chunk gouged out of it's side, it still had enough momentum to go colliding with the smaller mech. Orion didn't have much of anything in the way of in-built weaponry- but activating his hard-light energon display in a panic and shoving was enough to clothesline the being in the neck and send it tumbling back down, gagging. Orion nearly toppled over himself, but it was worth the sudden energy drain to avoid it's claws and armor.

From:

lordmegatron

Annoyed he'd only scraped its back as it managed to pass him to jump at Orion, at least Orion wasn't entirely useless and reacted commendably fast. Catching the wrist of the creature he was facing, Megatron didn't look back as he reached out and steadied Orion, then kicked the downed creature away, sending it clattering across the floor before it could get up again.

It'd come back, but this gave him a moment to twist out of the way as the one in front of him clawed after him, and then he thrust again, burying his sword in the thing's chest, watching a wavering white glare flare and fade.

Yanking his sword out, he moved to face the last one left - unless more joined them - casting a glance back at Orion.

"You're all right?"

From:

ichooseboth

Regaining his balance and staring between at the twitching corpses on the floor, Megatron, and the last advancing being, Orion burst into a quiet, brief bout of near-hysterical laughter. He checked over his limbs, and despite a tremble in them it was clear that he had managed to escape unscathed.

"Ah. Ha. Yes? I think so?"

He made a face as the creature lunged, relatively unconcerned with Megatron's protective bulk between them.

"That...was not an approved use of my holo-display," he said dryly, bursting into renewed chuckles that were a great deal more controlled than the last.

From:

lordmegatron

"Almost anything can be made into a weapon when the need strikes, Orion," Megatron said as he leaped forwards to meet the creature's lunge, swiping with his sword but allowing the thing to block it.

Allowing it to block it because he thrust his hand out, ignoring the spikes and blades along the creature's other arm and up on its shoulder, grabbed it by the faceplate and twisted.

It scrabbled against his arm and there was a loud crack of optic glass shattering right before it couldn't withstand his strength and he broke its neck.

Dropping the thing, Megatron stepped back, letting out a slow, hot vent. He felt good. Fighting in the arena was nothing like this, was nothing like killing something that was all wrong.

From:

ichooseboth

"So noted," Orion agreed dryly. His field fliched when Megatron started using his hands - the pop of shattering optics and helm casing making his shakes return with a vengeance.

"...urgh."

He turned away, tanks churning, optics dimming as he blocked out the view and tried not to be ill. The violence of the kill was bad enough; the strange satisfaction he suddenly felt at it's death repulsed him even more.

What sort of thought was that to have?

From:

lordmegatron

Distracted for several moments by his combat high and the threat assessment running through several scans and finding nothing, Megatron took a short while to notice Orion's reaction.

Glancing over, he grunted softly and kicked the creature at his feet, sending it clattering away to the base of one of the statues while he gathered the other two corpses and pulled all three of them behind one of the statues before he came back. He walked back while pulling out a mesh cloth out of his subspace that usually was for his sword, though using it for his hand now.

"Your instinct's good, by the way. If you'd frozen up it could've been worse," he said as he patted Orion's shoulder, then trailed his hands down Orion's sides to make sure he hadn't actually be injured.

He hadn't, which Megatron had already known, but something demanded he'd check.

From:

ichooseboth

"If you say so."

Orion jumped slightly at the unexpected pat-down, before immediately relaxing again. He shook his head slowly, trying to clear his processor. He was rather grateful that Megatron had removed the corpses.

"It was more of a...blind panic than anything else," he shrugged, eyeballing Megatron's own, somewhat splattered form in turn.

"You are well?"

From:

lordmegatron

"Of course I am," Megatron snorted, then shook his head, waving a hand in the air, "and 'blind panic' is precisely why I say your instinct's good, Orion. You didn't think, and you still acted in a way that got you a momentary respite."

Pausing, he tilted his helm and arched an optic ridge.

"If you'd frozen up, that thing would've gotten to you before I got there. It wouldn't have had any time to deal any real damage, but that's not the point," Megatron smirked and scraped off some liquid that had splashed on his forearm, "I'm impressed somebody who doesn't come configured with personal weapons has any such instinct at all... makes my job easier."

Since he was still fully intending on getting Orion well-acquainted with self-defense.

From:

ichooseboth

"I can want to make sure you're okay too, thank you very much," Orion huffed, swatting at Megatron's unsplattered side.

"Just because you're the umpteeth-time arena champion doesn't mean you can't be injured by...by whatever those things were."

It wasn't easy to admit, mostly because the idea was so horrific, but Orion had to agree that those beings had not been normal people. Not anymore, if they ever were at all.

"But ah. Thank you? For both saving us and, well..." He gestured vaguely with the arm he'd used to block the creature, oddly pleased that Megatron thought his flailing was worth compliment.

From:

lordmegatron

Megatron made no apologetic noises over his dismissal of Orion's concern, just smirked - though he did dip his helm briefly in what could be an acknowledgement.

"If I were, you would have noticed," he finally added before throwing a frown over at the statue he'd dumped the corpses behind, "it's curious, however, that for all the times I've been down here I haven't come across anything like this before..."

Looking back at Orion, Megatron arched an optic ridge.

"Either we were simply unlucky this time, or you and your poking around maybe triggered something." Megatron didn't really care; he'd get all he could out of this, but it was an interesting thought, that, maybe, the creatures had been called to them by Orion's presence.

He didn't think it was the scanning of the text or anything; he had done about as much elsewhere, if not here, exactly. And he was the one who'd taken the disc and not been stopped in any way.

From:

ichooseboth

Considering the amount of splatter, he might have missed something - but Orion didn't press the point. Instead, he winced guiltily, glancing back toward the statues in question.

"I certainly hope not... I didn't sense or feel any sort of pressure plates or booby traps, but there could be something beyond my ability to detect. This place was built so long ago..."

Well, if he'd already triggered it once...

He stepped toward the statues again, scanning far more intently and watching where he placed his feet. The dust and debris was so thick in place it could possibly be hiding a sensor on the ground somewhere perhaps?