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Showing results for tags 'Manifest Destiny'.
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Chapter 1 Turaga Vakama’s eyes snapped open and his right hand instinctively shot for his Firestaff. It was still there; that was a good sign. He lit the end of his tool and checked the grey fieldstone-bricked walls of the room for anything out of place. Seeing nothing, he sat up in his bed and checked the wooden rafters above as well. After five minutes of searching had turned up no assassins, Vakama felt it was safe to get up and start the day. To the outsider, it might seem as though Vakama was paranoid, but you never can be too cautious– especially when you are at war. Vakama hobbled across the room using his Firestaff to support himself, unbarred the shutters on his window, and opened them so that he could watch the sun rise above the eastern horizon of the island of Mata Nui. The familiar scent of sea water and volcano smoke made the Turaga feel at ease. When the complete golden orb of the sun had become fully visible, he closed and barred the shutters and then left his chamber. It was at this time that the Ta-Matoran would awakening in their bunkers and then prepare themselves for their morning meal and begin either training or work in the forges. This was their daily schedule and had been this way for centuries. The only time it ever deviated from this was during an attack. There had not been an attack for several weeks so Vakama took this opportunity to get the troops ready. In any case, he was developing a military strategy that would certainly give them the upper hand. Even so, a little extra preparation could not hurt. Vakama made his way to Captain Jaller’s office so they could discuss the captain’s recent report. He arrived outside Jaller’s door and knocked on it. A sleepy groan from inside indicated that the door would be answered shortly. While waiting patiently, Vakama’s eyes wandered towards the sign above the door indicating that this was the office of Captain Jaller. The sign itself, although quite old, was still newer than the wall upon which it hung. This was because of the Naming Day ceremony in Jaller’s honour when he was promoted to captain not long after the beginning of the war. A new name meant a new sign and since Jaller was captain, he got one. Vakama’s train of thought was abruptly halted as the yawning figure of Jaller opened the door for him. Suddenly noticing who was at his door, Jaller leapt to attention. His right hand whizzed up to his yellow Great Hau and hit it with a soft ping. "At ease, Captain," said Vakama emotionlessly "What is this I hear of a rebellion?" "Well sir, I’ve hear rumours that a Ta-Matoran named Vohon may be trying to get the troops to desert." "Indeed..." said Vakama thoughtfully. "Order all the Ta-Matoran to assemble in the main courtyard. I have an announcement to make." "And what about Vohon, sir?" asked Jaller. "I will deal with him," said Vakama coldly "You are dismissed, Captain." Jaller gave a slight bow and left to gather the troops. While he did this, Vakama returned to his chamber. With a little difficulty, he pushed his bed aside and revealed a small trap door beneath it. Checking to see no one was watching, Vakama lifted the door and descended the stone steps which it concealed into darkness. He ignited his Firestaff for illumination and surveyed his secret chamber. The room was small with only three walls and the staircase which led back up to the trapdoor. It was completely bare except for a large dome which lay on the ground. It was roughly twice the size of Turaga Vakama and seemed to be made of a substance that was a like metallic form of sandstone. Into the dome’s gleaming, red edge, six life- sized faces were carved. Vakama knew that someday those faces would all hold masks of power– much like the way his own face held an orange Noble Huna. When that day came, he was certain that the war would end not long after. After running an aged hand over the dome’s smooth surface to see that it was still as perfect as the day he had carved it, Vakama turned to leave. "Soon" he muttered to himself as he extinguished his Firestaff and closed the trap door on the secret room. Once his bed had been pushed back in place, it seemed as though nothing had happened. Checking his room one last time for spies, Vakama left and headed towards the main courtyard. Turaga Vakama arrived to see well over one hundred Ta-Matoran assembled before a podium. He ascended three stairs to get to the stage upon which the podium sat. To his right stood Captain Jaller who was standing at attention with unnaturally straight posture. To Vakama’s left was the Le-Matoran ambassador, Tamaru, who gazed upon the crowd mildly. With a small tap of his Firestaff on the stage to indicate he was ready to speak, Vakama addressed the crowd. "Fellow Ta-Matoran, I have assembled you here to discuss a grave matter. It has come to my attention that one amongst you is a traitor. This individual seeks to destroy all we have fought for during these many years of war. This individual wishes to throw it all away for, as I suspect, personal gain. If any of you have any information about this particular Matoran, please come forward now." The crowd fell silent. "Of course," he continued in a gravely voice barely above a whisper "Not only would such a person be betraying Ta-Koro, but they would also be betraying the Great Spirit." Murmuring broke out in the crowd and Vakama began to speak a little louder. "For did not he grant us the three virtues long ago? Have you, perhaps, forgotten them? If you wish to win this war then you must follow them! Unity, duty, manifest destiny!" he cried boldly. "Unity, duty, manifest destiny!" the crowd echoed. Vakama stepped down from the podium and summoned Jaller close to his side to give him a quick command. "Double Vohon’s wood collection quota from the Charred Forest for today; if he protests, switch his food rations with the wood he collects." "Yes sir" said Jaller without hesitation. After saluting, Jaller went back to his office to plan the next battle strategy with Tamaru. As the crowd slowly dispersed with the Ta-Matoran setting off to do their duties, Vakama could not help smiling malevolently to himself. 1 000 years earlier... Whenua’s hands were shaking in excitement. All he needed to do was to win this disk flip and he would be one rich Matoran. If he lost, well, he would have to give up quite a bit of money he did not have which would result in quite a bit of trouble. In any case, Whenua was feeling confident tonight– he could not possibly lose. The Le-Matoran sitting opposite of him was named Tuuli and he was in charge of this secret gambling ring located near the Notch at the edge of Le-Metru. The game he and Whenua were playing was a very simple one– this was because Whenua was not very good at understanding Chutespeak so he could not understand the rules of the more complicated games. All Whenua had to do was to fire a modified Kanoka out of a modified disk launcher; if it landed with the side showing the symbol of Le-Metru on it facing up, he won. The Kanoka had been modified so that it was equally likely to land on either side and the launcher was modified to slow down the disk so it did not gain enough speed to unleash its power. Tuuli handed the disk and launcher to Whenua who took a deep breath and fired the disk. It bounced all around the small hut and then landed on the table and began to spin around so fast it appeared to have formed a sphere. Soon it lost momentum and slowly spun to a stop. When the ordeal was over, Whenua saw that it had landed blank side up. That meant he had lost. The Onu-Matoran tried to explain to Tuuli that he would pay him later, but Tuuli had learned from years of experience that ‘later’ often took quite a while. Whenua fell out of his chair and backed into a corner as Tuuli angrily demanded the money from him in rapid Chutespeak. Whenua tried explaining his situation one last time, but his pleas fell upon deaf ears. The last thing he remembered was a green fist coming uncomfortably close to his mask which was shortly followed by unconsciousness. Review Topic
