Bolthex was a grounder and while he was not quite as tall as Megatron, he was definitely bulkier. He had more torso, less leg, and thicker limbs in general. His armor was painted with tans and browns with hints of green as if he wanted to blend into the arid landscape they found themselves in.
Char, on the other hand, was a flyer, but not capable of interstellar travel like Megatron. She was taller than Bolthex and possibly Megatron, but slimmer than both of them. Most of her plating was unpainted, just a dull grey metal, but there were a few places that looked like they were permanently charred black, hence her name.
They took shelter in a cave a few kilometers from the AllSpark. Bolthex often stayed inside, tinkering with the scrapes they pulled from the wreckage of their ship. Char liked to go out on recon flights to scout the area.
Scythe herself was small, only one fifth Megatron's height. Her outer plating was a silvery white, while the plating underneath was a darker gray. And she had bits of red mixed in on the outside. A visor hid her red optics, of which she had six: two smaller optics sandwiching one large optic on either side of her nasal guard.
The cyberleech hanging off her left shoulder looked like it was made of fine chainmail. At the end of both its tails was a circular mouth filled with hook-like teeth and needle-like tongue for extracting energon. Its yellow optics were set on eye stems (like a snail), and it spoke from a speaker at the base of the stems.
"You're not a Constructicon, are you?" Scythe asked one day while watching Bolthex put together a seemingly complex machine from a pile of unorganized scrap. Char was out on patrol.
"No, I'm not," Bolthex replied without looking up. "But because of my appearance, people have always confused me for one though. And I suppose I was probably meant to be one when I was created, but for some reason, I was also given the processor of an engineer. Unfortunately, my appearance made it hard for me to display my abilities. People would take one look and think I was dumb. When the war started, I had hoped that my abilities would get recognized if I joined the Decepticons. But it wasn't really that much different. I remained a simple soldier. When they asked for volunteers to go look for the AllSpark, I offered because I wanted to prove myself in some way and then maybe they would listen to me."
Scythe blinked and shared a glance with Leech. They had not heard so many words out of Bolthex in one go before. Granted, it had only been a few solar cycles short of an orbital cycle since they started staying with the two Cons.
"So, you found the AllSpark," Scythe said. "But have you contacted Cybertron yet?"
"No. Our ship was damaged by an asteroid on our way here and broke apart when we entered the atmosphere. The communications array was on the other half of the ship. We've been looking but we have yet to find it."
"How long have you been on this planet?"
"167 stellar cycles by my estimate," Char said as she walked in.
"Hey, Char. Welcome back," said Scythe.
"Anything new out there?" asked Bolthex.
"Nothing more than the movements of the native wildlife," Char replied.
"Actually, I have been meaning to ask, is there anything among the organic life on this planet that displays any intelligence?" Scythe wanted to know.
"It's highly primitive but yes there is," Char said, projecting an image of a flesh covered, bipedaled being with forward facing eyes. "The ones around here live in groups and move around often. There are others that gather in communities and build permanent dwellings to protect them from the elements. There are some more advanced than others who have learned how to build large structures of stone and create metal tools."
"Fascinating. Are there any close by?"
"There were some that used to come around, but Bolthex killed a few and scared the rest off."
"They are disgusting little creatures," Bolthex grumbled.
"If you follow the river in either direction," Char said, "you are likely to find them."
The first fleshling Scythe encountered was alone. They were taller than she expected. Apparently, the projection Char showed her was not to scale. This fleshling was almost as tall as she was, and she measured in at a little over two meters. They had reddish colored skin and coarse looking, black fibers coming off their head. Their eyes were dark colored and did not glow like a Cybertronian's optics. Their nether regions were covered by the skins of some type of fauna, and they carried what looked like a short spear made from the local flora, dried and sharpened to a point.
Scythe observed all this while moving at speed, which made it seem as if the fleshling was standing still. Not wanting to scare them, she moved away again to observe their movements. There was a tall rock formation nearby that gave her a good vantage point.
The fleshling was stalking a small creature with tall audio receptors on its head. They moved slowly and silently across the dusty ground. Once they were close enough, they raised the spear to throw it. The creature looked up at that moment. They threw the spear anyway. The creature had tried to leap away but the spear still caught it in the back leg and it fell to the ground.
The fleshling was on it immediately. They picked the struggling creature up and snapped its neck to finish it off. Now that the creature was dead, the fleshling pulled the spear out and held the creature upside down as they walked off in the direction they had come.
Scythe came down and followed them as they left the view from the rock. They walked a good distance until they came to another rock formation. She saw that there was a camp set up at the base of it. There were several more fleshlings there, gathered among little structures made of sticks and skins. There were small fires burning in shallow pits that they seemed to be using to heat bits of flesh.
The fleshling was greeted by a smaller fleshling, only half their height, as they entered the camp. Upon analysis, Scythe guessed the smaller one was probably a youngling. She climbed up the rock formation so she could observe the camp from above.
What do they intend to do with that creature they killed? Leech passed along to her via their processor link.
I don't know. But it looks like we're about to find out. Scythe replied.
The fleshling had sat on a mat in front of one of the little structures with the dead creature laid out before them. They picked up a stone that had sharpened into the shape of a knife and started cutting the creature open.
Oh, that is so gross! Leech looked away after the fleshling had drained all the blood out and was now removing all the guts.
How so? Scythe asked. She was glued to the scene below them, fascinated by everything that was going on.
Because it all looks so squishy, and slimy. I feel like if someone like Megatron stepped on one of those creatures, it would go splat! and they would be cleaning organic ooze out of their peds for solar cycles. Leech shivered.
Scythe laughed. Oh, probably. I'll be careful to watch where I step then. Since we've seen creatures that were small enough for me to step on. Interesting. She observed a new activity among the fleshlings. It looks like they are eating the flesh that they were heating over the fire.
They eat that?! Leech balked. Gross!
Says the one who sucks the energon from other Cybertronians. Scythe shot back.
Humph. Leech crossed his tails with a pout.