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IC [Agni - Ta-Koro gate]:

 

Okay, so she was in deep dung then. Why else pull a stunt like this?

 

Thing was, I was still blocking the way through the gate proper; and I wasn't about to move. After all, Tuara'd told us to stay where we are. 

 

"Are you sure you wanna play it like this?" I asked loudly.

 

"No idea who your friend is, but I know he's little protection if Dor wants to drop you both. And if you drop him instead there's nothing to bargain with. You've barely got anything now."

 

I looked straight at her, muscles tensed and ready for action. 

 

"I don't see an exit strategy here."

 

 

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IC: Tuara Drigton - Ta-Koro Gates

 

"If I drop him, you lose too."

 

I turned my head towards Agni, and said calmly, "I'm not the only one here bargaining." I nodded to my side before looking back up at Dorian, my eyes continuing to burn. "Move, Agni. Keep your distance. No mask."

Edited by Palm

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IC:

 

She's never coming back from this.

 

How could she? She's holding a hostage at the gates of Ta-Koro. Tuara Drigton was hedging her bets; Even if she got out of here, there would be no coming back to her home village. Her life was over. She wouldn't get the same chance I did; there wasn't enough left of her to reason with. 

 

...

 

If I said everything here, none of the others would forgive me. But if I didn't, she wouldn't budge.

 

...

 

You know who the grossest couple of all time was?

 

Joske and Cael. Sickeningly in love. To the point where it became unhealthy for each of them to be apart from one another, which led to codependency, which circled back around to unhealthy (on top of being disgusting enough to drive away everyone else on the planet.) Tuara and I weren't like that. We didn't live in our own world, away from everyone else.

 

Or, we didn't used to. 

 

Now Tuara was just in a world by herself.

 

This is the girl who physically set me on fire when we first met. 

 

That's not poetry, either.

 

"Echelon's about to open the Vault."

 

The words were sharp and to the point; in the momentary silence that kept falling after every one of Tuara's demands, they pierced the air like a second gunshot.

 

"Whatever you're into doesn't measure up against that, and whatever you've done can be forgiven if you help me right now. The only way you can this up is if you try and fight us - and without numbnuts here keeping these simps at bay, Pakari or no, you'd be cellbound in minutes. Unless you planned on killing this guy."

 

A small, catlike smile spread out languidly on my face. 

 

"But nah. That's not your style, is it, babe? Threatening innocents, dumping bodies...you stole those plays from my book."

 

The sniper rifle had been slung over my shoulder again, and I put one hand on my hip, cocking my head wearily at the girl I loved.

 

"That's my style."

 

The other hand reached out and grabbed Jaller by the back of the neck, hauling him in front of me. 

 

Things were moving too fast for the average civilian, now; most of them had either gone to hide or rushed forward to defend their Akiri, only to be cut off by a perimeter of Guards that held their backs to the crowd and encircled the gang around the gates. By now I had moved within a hop, skip, and a jump of Agni, Loren, and Tuara. Jaller was so small that I could heft him off the ground easily, one hand on his back.

 

"I'll listen to anything you have to say at HQ. You know that. But I'm not going to take your word for anything when we're standing at dueling distance. So you either stand down, drop that whiny brat that you've got in the chokehold, and come quietly with the people that love you, or I'm going to make sure I go down with you. I will kill him - right before your eyes, and the eyes of everyone within a five block radius. And you and I, together, will own everything that happens to us while Echelon opens the Vault and gets everything he's been after for years. It's not my fight anymore. You all made sure of that."

 

My hand tightened on the base of Jaller's neck, and my other moved to the base of his spine, bumping it slightly with my fist.

 

"Come quietly, babe. Or I will reach into your mentor's back and tug until I feel something important give way. Just like I did to Vakama."

 

-Tyler

SAY IT ONE MORE TIME 

TELL ME WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND

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IC:

Contrary to what some old sports rivals would've liked to say, Jaller was bright and he was quick.

 

The reality was that as soon as Dorian had a grip on him, he wasn't going to break it. The Ta-Matoran had a lot going for him, but the strength to overpower a Toa wasn't one of them. So when he felt the grip on the back of his neck and knew with certainty that he wasn't going to slip away, his hand went to one of the knives tucked somewhere inconspicuous at his waist. His chance wasn't now, not yet, but he'd get one. And he'd be ready for it. 

 

A snarl tugged faintly at the corners of his mouth, only a mouthed word keeping his guards from enacting a plan of their own immediately. 

 

This would need to be done at his pace, not sooner.

 

Inwardly he cursed himself for-

 

"Just like I did to Vakama."

 

The snarl died on his lips, though he kept the look of anger. It was a cue, a subtle cue. One very few people would know, and all of those people were already present. The irritation present on his face, though he kept a largely composed demeanor, really was genuine.

 

We're going to have words about timing, Shaddix.

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On this eve, the thirtieth anniversary of that first colony, many are left to wonder; is the world fast approaching a breaking point?

 

 

  Breaking Point: An OTC Mecha RPG

 

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Loren- Ta-koro- Koro Gates

 

IC: The Guard's newest Commander had been very close to making a move before Shaddix had spoken. As it was those first six words were enough make him pause. If it was true things on the island could be about to get extremely bad.

 

Then came the rest of one of the most bizzare 'Don't Make Me Do It' gambits he had ever heard. Even as he wondered how the karz Dorian expected to be let into the Guard HQ after this another part of his mind was coming up ways to deal with the current situation. The rogue Toa had already taken Vakama from them, there was not way that Loren was going to let him take Jaller as well.

 

He refrained from acting upon his Akiri's mouthed orders however. The former Captain may have been a hostage but that hardly took away his ability to form plans. And they would need all the coordination they could get when the time came.

"I serve the weak. I serve the helpless. I am their sword and their shield. If you want to strike at them, you must go through me, and I am not so easily moved."

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IC: Tuara Drigton - Ta-Koro Gates

 

Tuara stepped back. There was nothing to say. Nothing to be angry about. He might have been hanging Echelon over her head, but it was another bargaining chip. It was the same thing she was doing with Kitea's ruined shoulder and a knife to his neck. As far as Jaller went however she turned her eyes to him. "Jaller's too important to let you kill him to keep me here, and if he does, that's his mistake to make." Her gaze turned to Dorian before intensifying.
 

"And this is mine. Do you understand, Dorian?" Her eyes continued to burn, but now with cool flames instead. "I need you to understand." Her voice began to lose the calm composure it held just a moment before. "You have to trust me."

Edited by Palm

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IC [Agni - Ta-Koro gate]:

 

"Move, Agni. Keep your distance. No mask."

 
The last time I had seen Tuara was after the burial of Utu in a dead, forgotten village in the ice of Ko-Wahi. She'd left our group right after, to come back here. Presumably to get some distance from everything. It hadn't been the first time. Earlier memories popped up, of searching for the temples of principles with Joske. She had been there too - and then left us in Ko-Wahi for reasons I never fully understood.
 
And here she was, leaving again, more desperate than I'd ever seen her.
 
And I still didn't understand. I had just gotten back myself; mind still dwelling on Ko-Koro. I had no context, no warning - just confusion and terrible implications.
 
It's a loathsome feeling, to see an ally and friend struggle, with nothing on hand that could help. 
 
I was determined to help her this time. But in order to do that I needed answers. And to get answers this mess needed to be resolved first.
 
So I moved slowly backwards, kept my distance, didn't use my mask.
 
Behind me, the row of black pillars rising from the magma formed the bridge leading to the outer gate. Nobody was crossing at the moment and Tuara was focusing on Dorian. Around us, a bunch of Matoran guards were also standing by, with grim mouths and eyes glancing from Jaller to Dorian, to Tuara, to Loren, to me and back. One of them was watching from the window of the gatehouse, her face half obscured by shadow.
 
The next time she looked my way her eyes widened, noticing the gesture I was making, my hand held to my side as to not get unwanted attention, indicating behind me. Suddenly, her face vanished.
 
Shortly after, there was a rumbling sound, and the pillars sunk one by one into the magma.
Edited by Vezok's Friend

 

 

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IC (Merror, Ta-Koro gates)

 

I had hung back as the others approached Tuara and her hostage, watching as the situation went from bad to worse. One minute Dorian was shouting about Echelon and the Vault; the next he had Jaller by the throat. It didn't look like he was bluffing.

 

I wanted to step in and end this madness. I wanted to call their bluffs, or neutralise their threats, or shout them down and bring them to their senses. I wanted to act.

 

But I didn't. Something had woken in me, the same thing that had made me accept Utu's choice to let go of life, and it held me back. Again I felt old, almost physically weighed down by it, but I also felt the urge to intervene ebbing away. Replacing it was a calm detachment: a feeling of clarity, and of patience.

 

I stood, and I watched.

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IC: Tuara Drigton - Ta-Koro Gates

 

The pillars began to fall.

 

Tuara turned to make the jump, pulling Kitea along with her, knowing full well that anybody able would open fire or teleport to the bridge as it slowly collapsed. The first was nearly gone by now, about to sink into the magma. It was possible to make the jump with her Pakari, but she ran the risk of shattering her shins. Not to mention, making the jump with a full grown toa on her back would be difficult. They wouldn't make it. Tuara dug into the earth with her heels, kicking up rocks as she and Kitea skidded to a halt at the edge of the cliff. She stopped.

For a moment she stared, feeling the hot winds rising from below wash over her. Kitea who had transitioned from wails to groans, was on his knees, breathing heavily and gripping his arm. Nobody said anything.

 

The silence continued, even as Tuara turned around to face the others. Behind the tears ready to fall, her eyes burned on, hot fire roiling and roaring. She looked at Dorian one more time before looking to the others. Her face was ashen and red with anger. She said nothing as she tossed Kitea's knife to the ground alongside her hammer-staff before reaching her hands up to her mask. Tuara lifted it from her face, revealing the same sharp facial features beneath.

 

She tossed the pakari at her feet, into the dirt and ash.

"I surrender."

Edited by Palm

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IC [Agni - Ta-Koro Gate]:

 

I let out a deep breath as Tuara turned around and gave up her weapons and mask. As the Matoran guards formed a closer circle around us, I took a slow step forward and picked up her Pakari, holding it carefully. When I stood back up, I looked at her reassuringly and glad that the situation hadn't escalated further.

 

"Thanks, Tuara." I said quietly. "We'll help you figure this out, whatever it is."

 

Glancing at Loren, Merror, Dorian and Jaller, I gave them a brief nod.

 

 

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IC:

 

"Good teamwork, pint-size."

 

I dropped Jaller - gently, I'm not a prick - onto his feet and watched Agni secure Tuara's mask. I could read the emotion on her face from here; rage, defeat, and her old pride all mixed defiantly as she stared at the assortment of arresting officers.

 

I felt like my bones were made of lead. The effort to take one more step, let alone accompany them back to HQ, would have been supernatural.

 

But I wanted to talk to her.

 

-Tyler

SAY IT ONE MORE TIME 

TELL ME WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND

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IC: Tuara Drigton - Ta-Koro Gates
 

Tuara looked down at Kitea. At the very least, he came off as a victim. Unfortunately of course, once questions about his identity would be asked by medical professionals... Tuara simply hoped Kitea already had a lexicon of identities to select from, and if not, to be thinking about that this very minute.

 

She looked back up as the Guard surrounded her and came to Kitea's side. Over their heads Tuara said with a great sense of defeat and weariness to Agni, "You won't."

Edited by Palm

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IC:

"Thanks."

The reply lacked most of Jaller's usual energy. Even his irritation with Dorian for the suddenness of his bluff was lost in what had come over him since. He had been willing to go along with it because it seemed to be the best way to make her stand down. Her refusal to... Spoke volumes, and not volumes he particularly liked. Jaller hadn't been wrong; Tuara had changed.

 

It just went deeper than he thought.

 

"Bring them both to headquarters." He began again after a deep breath, steel backing his voice now. He didn't have time to be Jaller, it was time for him to be an Akiri. "Lock them in separate interrogation rooms. Two Guards stationed at each door. Send a medic to tend to his shoulder, after his Kanohi and any weapons have been confiscated."

"If he's innocent, he'll be free to go when we're done. I'm not taking any chances."

fK5oqYf.jpg

 

On this eve, the thirtieth anniversary of that first colony, many are left to wonder; is the world fast approaching a breaking point?

 

 

  Breaking Point: An OTC Mecha RPG

 

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IC:

 

The reports that the Captain had gotten from the gate of Ta-Koro were gutwrenching.

 

Tuara Drigton, just hours after departing Guard headquarters having accidentally left both Angel and Jaller very different - and very crucial - nuggets of info, had mounted an ill-fated flight from Ta-Koro with a hostage, physically assaulting him and threatening his person before being detained. Said detainment may not have even been successful had it not been for the arrival of his old friend Agni, his traveling companion Merror...and Dorian Shaddix, of all the people in the world, whose first act upon returning from Ta-Koro (without Joske?) had been to hold the Akiri hostage and threaten his life in an effort to make his lover back down.

 

She hadn't.

 

Angel wasn't sure which of the myriad implications in the situational report he found the most unsettling. It made him want plantain chips.

 

"When did they arrive at Headquarters?"

 

"Fifteen minutes ago, sir." His assistant was looking at him oddly. Cyare was a Ko-Toa refugee who had fled her home and a beat job as a Sanctum Guardsman to find help in Ta-Koro. She had risen fast through the ranks for her loyalty, honor, and determination to seize her home back, and Angel liked her well enough; she was a plump, friendly girl who had a good eye for case files and could be counted on for different perspectives when necessary. She just needed a confidence boost - a necessity that Angel had accidentally reinforced after the amount of weeks it took him to notice that the same person was handing him forms and case files regularly. "Akiri Jaller has directed Depu--Miss Drigton to Interrogation Room 4, and her prisoner--"

 

"Accomplice." Assuming, of course, that it was this mysterious Kitea she was leaving with. Besides, of all the things he'd heard of Tuara's behavior during the standoff, breaking her own partner's shoulder in a pinch sounded the most like her. It would have brought a wan smile to the young Captain of the Guard's face in most other circumstances.

 

"--of course, sir. In Interrogation Room 7. The Akiri, Detective Agni, Commander Loren, Toa Merror, and...the consultant are in Conference Room 1. Are you heading down?"

 

"Yeah. I want to be in the loop on this." He'd clenched one fist hard underneath his desk, and his once-naive blue eyes, even by their current-day standards, had grown stormy. "You can have the afternoon off, Cyare."

 

"With respect, Captain, I am assigned--"

 

"You don't want to be here for this. This has a lot of potential to get ugly." Angel left it at that and stood up, with only a wayward look at Cyare and then the sword still hanging on the wall behind him. He hoped she got his meaning. The Captain was well-respected by the Guard for his achievements - rising from an unkempt, goofy jungle dweller turned guide to an accomplished Mark Bearer hunter to one of the commanders at the successful defense at Kini-Nui - but his unluckiness in love was similarly fabled. With Kino Iho's murder still unsolved, the prospect of Tuara incarcerated - especially on charges as serious as these - was clearly bothering Angel.

 

"Now get outta here. I'll see you in the morning." He dismissed his reluctant assistant with a nod and made his way down to the conference room. The mood there was nothing less than morose.

 

Jaller and Loren, standing together at the front of the room, received a single fraternal salute. They were his superior and colleague, respectively, and he was in regular enough contact with them that they didn't require any special greeting. He'd never met Toa Merror, the only man seated at the conference table, but knew him by reputation; a renowned Toa on his own merits, his association with the heroic Toa Joske and service with a few of the Aggressors meant that he and the Captain ran in most of the same circles. Angelus gave him a respectful nod. Agni, standing by the door, was a personal friend and mentor who had traveled with Angel during Joske's journey and had helped him assert himself as a fledgling Captain of the Guard. The veteran Toa of Fire received a fistbump and a warm clap on the shoulder. Angel's eyes, wary from years of hunting predators of all stripes, started searching the room for the most infuriating prey of his life.

 

The sight of Dorian Shaddix, laying kicked back on the couch and staring up at the ceiling with unblinking eyes, had none of the schadenfreude he had hoped for at the humbled sight of the Toa of Iron. He looked as though his soul had just been collected on. Angel remembered grimly, with the faint stirrings of old jealousy, that he hadn't been the only person in this room that had loved Tuara Drigton, and it moved him to speak.

 

"Dor."

 

The Toa of Iron's head rolled to the right slightly to take in the Captain of the Guard. He looked as though he had reneged on his sleep cycle for weeks - and was now torn between the hellish choice to keep himself awake and miserable, or rest and risk whatever his subconscious had in store for him. 

 

"Hey," the assassin said simply. Angel waited a couple seconds for a hammer of a punchline that never fell.

 

"Hey."

 

The sight of the assassin, even sapped of his usual strength and charisma, was oddly comforting; on the one hand, there was nothing more Angel wanted to do than lay into him, cruelly remind him that Dorian had sworn an oath to him personally to bring Tuara back from her demons the way he swore up and down he had brought himself back. On the other, it was both unfair and unnecessary; Tuara had enough demons to crush any man even without the weight of his own, and to take one look at Dorian was to see that the incident had genuinely affected him. It was comforting to know that everyone in this room, either an old Guard colleague of Tuara's or a traveling companion of her's and Joske's, had nothing but her best interest at heart.

 

Although, that reminded him...

 

"You have an assignment to be on," he reminded the Toa of Iron. "Where's your supervisor?"

 

Dorian looked back to the ceiling, betraying none of his thoughts. Angel heaved a deep breath; it wouldn't be the first time that Joske had driven someone away, or that Dorian had flaked out on a job because of dissatisfaction with his own treatment.

 

"Tuara had a guy with her," the Toa of Iron diverted. "We've all been spitballing since we got here, but you know Tuara - she couldn't make a new friend out of a teddy bear unless it had a shot glass in its stuffing. Jaller says she talked to you first. Any ideas?"

 

Angel weighed that for a second.

 

"She said a name," the Toa of Fire remembered. "She walked into my office drunk, rambling about anything that came to her mind. Then she stormed out within a couple minutes, and the next day she went to see the Akir--"

 

"Jungle boy." Dor's face scrunched in impatience. "Name?"

 

Angel scowled at him slightly.

 

"Kitea."

 

Dorian, dead to the world moments before, lurched up in his seat.

 

-Tyler

Edited by April Schwarz
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SAY IT ONE MORE TIME 

TELL ME WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND

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IC [Agni - Guard HQ]:

 

There are a few lessons a member of the Ta-Koro guard needs to always keep in mind. Always be on the lookout for wayward Rahi. Learn how to spot the locals and how to tell them from traveling folks. Stuff like that.

 

I'd made a new addition to my personal list: When Shaddix sheds the 'too cool for school' act, there's a good chance of a Kane-Ra sized dung-load heading your way. Especially after today's events. I pushed off of the wall I'd been leaning against, head swiveling towards the Toa of iron. 

 

"You look like a man who had his bell rung."

 

 

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IC:

 

"O-kay, I'll bite too," said the Captain of the Guard after a surprised blink. Even after having been on the opposite side of Dorian's dangerously fluid reflexes in combat many a time over the years, it was still a bit startling to see someone so dead to the world firing on all cylinders again in the time it took to roll two syllables off the tongue. "Who or what is Kitea?"

 

Dorian's eyes were roving quickly over every man assembled in the conference room.

 

"Tuara's dead brother," Dorian said warily, as if Angel had laid some kind of trap for him and his incarcerated lover. "Like, dead dead. Longer than any of us have known her. For years. Centuries. What'd she say about him?"

 

Angel, somewhat flummoxed, shrugged. "She left right after she said it," he repeated. Dorian slumped back in the couch with an impatient huff - but he looked more pensive than irritated.

 

"I must have pored over the file half a hundred times when I was locked up," the assassin continued. "When I got out, I followed leads, retraced steps, even asked Tuara what she remembered about the case for something that the Guard missed. Each murder was colder than cold. For the whole family. There's no way..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

He trailed off.

 

"Let me talk to her."

 

-Tyler

Edited by April Schwarz

SAY IT ONE MORE TIME 

TELL ME WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND

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Loren- Ta-koro- Guard Headquarters

 

IC: "I'll help with Kitea." Said the grey Toa. Out of everybody there he probably had spent the least amount of time with Tuara. While something could be said about avoiding letting personal feelings effect an interrogation he felt that in this case it would be better to let those who might be able to read her take over.

 

On the other hand nobody here had any connection to Kitea. With so long between now and his supposed death he may as well have been a completely different person. Chances were good that he had something to do with Tuara's abrupt change of character. With that in mind, it might be a better choise to have him questioned by people less likely to remove organs to get him to talk.

Edited by Silvan Haven

"I serve the weak. I serve the helpless. I am their sword and their shield. If you want to strike at them, you must go through me, and I am not so easily moved."

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IC: 

There was a 'no' halfway to Jaller's mouth before he paused.

 

Letting Dorian take first crack at someone under criminal suspicion was breaking more than a few protocols, and against his better judgement. Tuara was a Guard, at least she used to be, and that made her one of his own. He wanted to help her, not shove her in a cell. Even if she wasn't giving him much choice anymore. Shaddix was good at what he did, but he and Tuara had been an explosive mix before.

 

But after the gate, he couldn't help but consider that maybe she was already beyond his help.

 

"Ten minutes, Shaddix." Jaller said finally, trying to keep the reservations out of his tone. "Ten minutes, and there will be two Guards right outside the door. If they hear anything they don't like, they're coming in and I don't give a what protests you've got about it."

"Find something of her left in there, would you? Tossing Drigton in a cell wouldn't be fun."

fK5oqYf.jpg

 

On this eve, the thirtieth anniversary of that first colony, many are left to wonder; is the world fast approaching a breaking point?

 

 

  Breaking Point: An OTC Mecha RPG

 

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IC:

 

Dorian's eyes fell, of all people, upon Angel. The Toa of Fire must have looked surprised; Dorian's irritatingly-normal cheeky smile fed off such emotions, and returned in force.

 

"Whaddaya say, jungle boy? You and me, good copping the bad cop? Putting our differences behind in the name of young love?"

 

Grrrr...

 

There wasn't an iota of Angel's body that trusted the mercenary in front of him, after all these years...but he knew depths of Tuara that no one had ever reached (ohhhh yeahhhh I do) and...after all these years of trying to be of assistance to them and getting nowhere...maybe this would be a good first step for Shaddix. Maybe there was something to be said for that kind of puppylike devotion, even in the face of all that doubt.

 

"Yeah, sure," he replied with a slow nod, "but I'll wait outside. You can be alone with her first."

 

Dor beamed.

 

"Ey-heyyy, works for me," he crowed, slinging his arm around the neck of his one-time rival and pulling him along as they marched out of the room. "Ko-Koro brothers, roll out!"

 

It wasn't a long walk to Tuara's interrogation room.

 

-Tyler

Edited by April Schwarz

SAY IT ONE MORE TIME 

TELL ME WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND

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IC (Merror, Guard HQ)

 

The veteran Toa couldn't help but crack a smile, accompanied though it was by a skyward roll of his eyes.

 

"Young people..." he muttered to Agni as they began to file out of the conference room. "Even with everything going to Karzahni...somehow they're both a bane and an inspiration."

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Loren- Ta-koro- Guard Headquarters

 

IC: "You should start." Came the reply. "I'll stay and watch, listen." A slight gesture towards an ear.

 

"If I pick anything up I'll feed it to you in a way that he won't notice. His painkillers must have kicked in by now so I doubt his poker face is what it normally would be."

Edited by Silvan Haven

"I serve the weak. I serve the helpless. I am their sword and their shield. If you want to strike at them, you must go through me, and I am not so easily moved."

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IC (Merror, Guard HQ)

 

There was no need for more than two men to an interview, so as Angel and Dorian walked to one room and Agni and Loren to the other, Merror stayed by the conference room. He and Jaller exchanged weary nods.

 

Merror had been a Toa-warrior on Mata Nui for a long time, and his travels had taken him to Ta-Koro many a time. In the days before Vakama's murder he had worked with Jaller (then-captain of the Guard) to defend the Village of Fire against more than a few threats, and the two had developed a mutual respect and rapport. Jaller had undoubtedly changed after accepting the mantle of Akiri (a responsibility that clearly weighed heavy on him), but Merror knew he was still the same soldier he'd fought alongside.

 

"Dark times, these," he remarked. "I have to keep reminding myself that we've lived through worse."

Edited by Ghosthands

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IC [Agni - Guard HQ]:

 

I nodded at Loren. "Good plan. Although I think having his file one hand would be to our advantage. Dorian mentioned he saw it."

 

I waved down a Matoran guard in passing, pulled rank and asked them to retrieve the file for me while we began the interrogation. 

 

We filed into the room. Tuara's supposedly-dead brother was sitting on what amounted to a cube of volcanic rock, with cutouts for links of chain restraining the Toa. The table in the middle was another slab of obsidian. I began introductions. 

 

"I am Warrant Officer Agni; this is Commander Loren. As you can imagine we have some questions for you,...actually, Tuara did not mention your name."

 

Of course we knew the name, but I wanted to know what name Kitea would give us. 

 

 

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IC: Tuara Drigton - Ta-Koro Interrogation Room

 

In the dimly lit interrogation room, Tuara sat quietly waiting. She was calm, quiet, and seemingly relaxed. There was a comfort Tuara felt, being here in a familiar room - despite being on the other side of the table.

 

Even when the door opened, and Dorian Shaddix stepped inside, she was unmoved. The toa if iron in front of her did not waver the steeling Tuara had done while walking to the Guard's HQ and to this room. Of course, inwardly she wanted to reach out to him. He had been an island in a life of tumultuous waves in the past, but even so. There was something that she wanted to say since their standoff at the gates. As the door shut behind him, nobody else following, Tuara finally spoke, "Did you forget?"

 

"If I could forget every ###### up thing that's ever happened between me and the people I love, we'd be doing body shots on the beach in Ga-Koro on top of a mountain of widgets. I never forget, babe," Dor said, sitting down in the chair slowly instead of his normal lazy slump. To add a sense of normalcy to his entrance he kicked up both of his feet onto the edge of the table like usual, "What do you think I forgot?"

 

Tuara only now looked away. "When I was... imprisoned. In my mind, with Iris..." She paused, briefly reliving that time. She shook her head to remove the images from her mind. "Day in, day out, I saw and experienced every ###### that Iris had witnessed. Lifetimes of pain, fear, anger, everything.  Including yours, Dorian."
 
She looked back up across the table. "When did you forget that?"
 
It was rhetorical, because before Dorian could conjure up an answer, Tuara continued onwards, her voice now more weary than before. "I won't blame you for this." She gestured to the room - to her new prison. "But that trust in you that I have had - that you always were... trying to change this world for the better - that trust few others had given you? That trust I gave you when I pleaded for you to understand?" The edge in her voice which was rising before, dropped off suddenly. Tuara seemed so calm in this room now. There was not a glimmer of anger on her face or in her eyes when she finished by saying, "You forgot."
 
"This isn't an interrogation, Tuara. I needed to see you." Dorian's eyes were avoiding her, gazing at the worn leather boots that rocked on the table. "Joske's dead."
 
Tuara stopped. She leaned back in her chair, and said absolutely nothing. The silence seemed especially quiet now, in the muffled room. She looked away, then back again, softly saying, "Nobody lives forever."
 
"Most people aren't murdered," Dorian replied. "And Utu? Is he just another name on the big cosmic casualty list?"
 
Tuara wanted to turn away at the mention of murder and of Utu, but she continued looking at him, steadfast. "I didn't say nobody mattered."
 
"And Kitea?" Dor continued as if he hadn't heard her. "How was he murdered? Do you remember?"
 
"How dare you use the death of my brother like that?" She asked, calmly, but not without some sense of vindication.
 
Dorian's chest rose and fell once, mouth tightening. "O-kay. Where were you and your wingman headed?"
 
"You said this wasn't an interrogation."
 
"You said once that neither of us were going to make it, too. Did you forget that?" Dorian asked quietly. "What do you know about Ko-Koro?"
 
"Of course I remember." She shook her head. "I'm not sure why you think I'd forgotten. Dor."
 
Silence.
 
"I know Echelon has a new inner circle, and they've taken hostages." Tuara would have crossed her arms if her wrists weren't cuffed to the table. "I've heard they're working with the Piraka at the vault too."
 
"Everyone knows that." Dor's fist had tightened in a ball, but his legs were still crossed at the ankle calmly. "Do you know what Joske was trying to do?"
 
"The last time I saw him was the last time I saw you."
 
"So you have nothing, or won't say anything, that could help me."
 
"I wish I did." Tuara looked away. "I'm sorry"
 
"Me too. I have to go. Change this world for the better. Whatever you're into, if you won't tell me anything..." Dor trailed off momentarily, then shrugged, kicking his feet off the table and standing casually. "I won't make it my problem."

Tuara looked up Dorian one last time. "One day, Dor." she paused, "Just... don't do anything stupid. I know how that sounds, but, you're important. Not just to me."
Edited by Palm
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  • 2 weeks later...

IC:

 

"Sometimes I wonder if we have." The Akiri of Fire poured a glass of water from a pitcher nearby, sipping it in silence while he set the container back down. Regarding the glass more than anyone in the room, he continued after a moment. "This was supposed to be the peace. We won, but somehow it feels like we're further from a peace than before."

 

"We'll endure, we always do. We always will, as long as I have breath left. But the cost just keeps getting higher."

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On this eve, the thirtieth anniversary of that first colony, many are left to wonder; is the world fast approaching a breaking point?

 

 

  Breaking Point: An OTC Mecha RPG

 

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IC: Kitea Drigton - Ta-Koro Interrogation Room

 

Kitea looked up from the table, still shook - after all he was high on pain-killers and still reeling from the fact his sister snapped his shoulder in a bid for escape. A lot of good that did them. Now here they were, and he was right. Kitea told Tuara they weren't gonna make it, and now they were both sitting in separate rooms, getting grilled by Ta-Koro's police-force.

 

There wasn't a lot of satisfaction in being right.

 

"Kitea Drigton," he said with a great weariness, hardly conscious. Kitea continued, feigned vindication on his tongue, "Tuara didn't want to tell you, did she."

Edited by Palm

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IC [Agni - Ta-Koro Guard HQ - Interrogation Room]:

 

"To protect you?" I asked in turn.

 

If there was one thing I found surprising was how resigned both Tuara and her returned-from-the-dead brother were. I had expected more defiance and snark - but maybe that was just the experience of being Dorian's handler for a time. On the upside, this was someone willing to talk. If they talked, we could worked with that. 

 

 

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IC [Agni - Ta-Koro Guard HQ - Interrogation room]:

 

"Fill you in on what? Why she tries to sneak her suddenly appeared brother out of the village under the nose of the guard after acting suspicious in front of the captain? 'Fraid i've got nothing there for you, friend."

 

Something was definitely off here. I used to know Tuara. Not too closely, but close enough to know when she acted unlike herself. This was pretty much as unlike herself as she could go without spontaneously turning into an actual Rahi. And the only thing that had changed as far as I was aware was the person sitting across from us. I changed tack. 

 

"So, how did you figure this was going to play out if you had managed to get out of the village? Where were you going to go?"

 

 

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IC:

 

I was just about out of the room when Tuara called out one final, worthless plea. It was long past the point where it would do either of us any good, but I stopped regardless, one hand resting on the frame of the door and posture stiff, locked tight in mid-step by her well-wishes.

 

"One day, Dor...Just...don't do anything stupid. I know how that sounds, but, you're important. Not just to me."

 

It wasn't like I'd never lied to the people I loved. But the fact that all the people who said they loved me and had given me for it over the years now seemed to have slipped right into moral (or existential) quagmires of their own...

 

It was just so rich; I had to grin a little, biting down on my lip to prevent myself from laughing harshly. I didn't turn to face Tuara.

 

"We should've stayed in that supply room," I told her softly. "In the hospital. We should've stayed at that temple in Po-Wahi. We could even have just stayed at home. I would have quit and settled down anywhere you told me to. But I'm beyond quitting now. Not while that evil goon is still alive and carrying Joske's tools."

 

I tilted my head over my shoulder to face her and winked.

 

"You earned a long, happy life, Tuara Drigton. Live it right, every single day that you can. Cause you really blow at trying to live mine."

 

I blew the Ta-Toa one final, doomed smooch before walking through the door and slamming it between us. The Captain of the Guard was propped against the wall, posture slightly slouched, watching me absently.

 

"She say anything?"

 

"C'mon, pretty boy. We're gonna go spin the bottle."

 

Angel yelled in protest as I grabbed him by the wrist and began dragging him down the hallway.

 

-Tyler

SAY IT ONE MORE TIME 

TELL ME WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND

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  • 3 weeks later...

IC [Agni - Ta-Koro Guard HQ - Interrogation room]:

 

"Fill you in on what? Why she tries to sneak her suddenly appeared brother out of the village under the nose of the guard after acting suspicious in front of the captain? 'Fraid i've got nothing there for you, friend."

 

Something was definitely off here. I used to know Tuara. Not too closely, but close enough to know when she acted unlike herself. This was pretty much as unlike herself as she could go without spontaneously turning into an actual Rahi. And the only thing that had changed as far as I was aware was the person sitting across from us. I changed tack. 

 

"So, how did you figure this was going to play out if you had managed to get out of the village? Where were you going to go?"

IC: Kitea Drigton - Ta-Koro Interrogation

 

Kitea paused for a moment, a somewhat suspicious look on his face. He scoffed. "Where we were going? #####, I have no idea. I figured you would have tracked us down and stopped her."

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IC [Agni - Ta-Koro Guard HQ - Interrogation room]:

 

What Kitea said didn't sit well with me. It was all just too darn vague in relation to how Tuara had acted. I felt my temper flare up at his words, but forced the emotion down immediately.

 

"So...you had nothing to do with this mad escape?" I asked, obviously not buying it. "Alright then..."

 

"And I suppose your appearance here in Ta-Koro was just a friendly visit from the long-lost brother?"

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

IC:

 

"Sometimes I wonder if we have." The Akiri of Fire poured a glass of water from a pitcher nearby, sipping it in silence while he set the container back down. Regarding the glass more than anyone in the room, he continued after a moment. "This was supposed to be the peace. We won, but somehow it feels like we're further from a peace than before."

 

"We'll endure, we always do. We always will, as long as I have breath left. But the cost just keeps getting higher."

 

IC (Merror, Guard HQ)

 

Merror lowered his head a little.

 

"The cost of holding to an ideal," he said. "Just...be careful that it's the right ideal, or the cost may become too great."

 

As it has for me.

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