BZPRPG - Po-Wahi

[Light]

IC: Night in Po-Koro.

The desert caused a stillness unlike any other. Ta-Koro's lava bubbled. Le-Koro's creatures called all through the night. Nowhere in Leah's domain could you get away from the sound of the surf. But here, on a cool, calm night on the outermost edge of Po-Koro, you could find complete and absolute silence. It was intoxicating. The stillness brought back surges of the time he had spent as the Wanderer, alone. Things came full circle, it seemed. At the beginning he had been set apart, chosen to receive the words of the Great Spirit himself, chosen to be Takua's successor. He had been alone.

 

And he was alone again. This time, not so honorably. He had become, in a way, a Master of Shadows himself. Never had he dreamed, never had he imagined, that he would have to resort to concealing secrets in the darkness from his brothers and sister in destiny. He was alone; not in any kind of noble knowledge, but separated from his brothers by a simple, small, powerful thing. He was cut off by a lie. Cut off when he decided to hide the truth in the crevices of his mind and hope that the problem would just vanish into the darkness, into the silence.

 

Into the silence...

 

Stannis adjusted his bite slightly and turned away from the pitch blackness punctured by the lights of stars that was the desert night, his gaze turning toward the illumination of Po-Koro.

Soon. Soon he'd have to face the truth. But not tonight.

OOC: Ladies and gentlemen... It is GOOD TO BE BACK. Authorized by the Toa Maru as per contest regulations.

[Timageness]

IC: Tenjin glanced around the street, preparing himself to drag his brother through another adjacent alleyway before a glance from Taranis told him not to, at least not yet. The duo stood up straight, powering down their weapons and taking notice of the group of crossbowmen surrounding the Vortixx training their own on them as they did so.

"Fine," the De-Skakdi eventually said, loud enough for the Toa to hear them. "We'll play ball."

"For now," his brother growled.

[Nato G]

IC: Kelz and Ryza.

 

Kelz relaxed. It seemed the two skakdi had seen sense. Their deaths would have been such a waste of talent and resources... 

 

Deciding that the threat was dealt with, he went back through the alleyway and returned to where Ryza and the other guards were waiting.

 

"See anything interesting?" she asked, recognising the thoughtful expression on his face.

 

"Just admiring the work of the local law enforcement," he said evasively. 

 

Ryza raised an eyeridge in a clear show of scepticism, but said nothing. 
 

[Isamu]

IC: Leron

 

"Oh," Leron replied. That was a lot of information he had to take in. "What is this, some kind of prophecy?" He stood up from his half-laying-half-sitting position and bushed himself off. "Well, I'm off to find someone, maybe they'll tie into this some how anyways. Sure, I'll come along."

[toa grimlock]

IC: Visalk

"Well I wouldn't call it a prophesy, per say. Anyways welcome...um what's your name?"

[IcarusBen]

IC Jorik:

Twice. Twice had these so-called "Toa" bested him. He wouldn't make that mistake again. He activated his mask and flew towards the ship, and began firing upon it with his Patero.

 

IC Tallix:

Tallix dragged himself out of the water. Seeing the strange flying object firing upon his old ship, he felt both a pang of sadness and a feeling of glee. Sadness towards his ship, but glee towards knowing that his enemies would be decimated.

 

IC Halyx:!

"Guys! We're getting shot at! It's the assassin! We're going have to save the introductions for later, just head to one of the disk launchers and start shooting!

[toa grimlock]

IC: Visalk

"I've got a better idea," Visalk said creating a ball of fire. He chucked the fireball as hard as he could at the assassin. He wouldn't get away again.

[IcarusBen]

IC Jorik:

Jorik summoned a windstorm that dissipated the fireball, then summoned another one that created a waterspout that began gravitating towards the ship. 

 

IC Halyx:

"Visalk, you were saying?" Halyx tried to conjure some fire, but the wet conditions made it difficult. "Guvla, can you get that waterspout out of here?" 

[Isamu]

IC: Leron

 

Leron saw the attacker and what deduced that air was involved. He then sent a gust of wind at the waterspout, contradicting the course of the pillar of wind and water. As the spout faltered, he sent another gust at the assassin, wishing he brought his crossbow with him. Unfortunately, he was told to pack lightly and the weapon and ammunition would add extra weight.

[toa grimlock]

IC:Guvla

"I can do better then that," Guvla said taking controll of the water spout and redirecting it at Jorik.

[IcarusBen]

IC Jorik:

Jorik was a little more than annoyed, but no matter. He sent a much larger gust of wind to not only summon more waterspouts to limit the firespitters' powers, but also to knock over the others. Halyx would die this day, and his friends too.

 

IC Halyx:

"Leron, Seneaux! Get those launchers prepped and start shooting! Leron, Guvla, stop those waterspouts!  Visalk and Lumira, pull us out! I REALLY don't want to stay here!"

[toa grimlock]

IC: Visalk

 

"On it!" yelled Visalk trying to pull the ship out of shore.

 

IC: Guvla

 

"Enough of this Bull !" Guvla yelled bringing up a massive wave behind Jorik.

[IcarusBen]

IC Jorik:

Jorik heard the wave behind. He used his Kadin to fly higher, though the cold waters had disoriented him. He tried to fire at Guvla with his Patero.

[toa grimlock]

IC: Guvla

 

The shot hit her in the shoulder. She was feed up and just smacked him down with a hand made of water.

[Isamu]

IC: Leron

 

Leron readied the disk launcher with difficulty. He wasn't used to this type of weaponry, but he had some basic training when he was a matoran. He aimed at Jorik and fired at him. A wave came up behind his target. "This is chaos! How are we supposed to be a team if we're all doing our own thing," he questioned to no one specific and kept on firing. A hand came up from the water.

[IcarusBen]

IC Halyx:

"Don't worry about what the others are doing, just focus on what you can do! Now, if you don't mind..." Halyx summoned all his strength into a single blast of fire and aimed it at Jorik.

 

IC Jorik:

The blast severely injured poor Jorik, who decided that it wasn't worth the fight. He'd deal with the group later. He flew away as fast as he could, then landed somewhere near the Po-Ko border.

 

IC Halyx:

"He's gone... Are we all here?"

[Light]

IC: Jokaro

 

The Po-Matoran chuckled. "A night in a cell's no problem for me, jut so long as I get to actually speak with Akiri - what's his name? Hewkii? - afterwards. I'm sure he'll be interested in what I have to offer."

 

Jokaro offered his wrists to the Sentinel. The Akiri would be getting something a bit more impressive.

 

"And, as for public experiments, I don't think you'll be seeing any more."

 

He thought for a moment.

 

"Well, not in Po-Koro, at least."

 

 

IC: "Not anywhere, I hope." Ronah clamped a pair of handcuffs on his outstretched wrists, smiling slightly. "No guarantees on when the Akiri will see you, but we'll do our best."

[Perp]

IC: Jokaro

"Ah, the plight of the inventor. Tinkering one moment, in handcuffs the next."

 

Then he remembered that his knapsack was still strapped to his back, containing the two extra Hikaki's Breath Canisters stored within mason jars.

 

"You know, once we get to... wherever you'll be holding me, you might want to be... gentle... with this bag. Got a couple more of those things in here. Might make for a nasty surprise if you mishandle them."

 

Hopefully they wouldn't go off, but he trusted his crasftsmanship well enough.

[Light]

IC: Ronah glanced apprehensively at the bag. "Are they sensitive to water?"

[Perp]

IC: Jokaro
 

His mouth twisted into a bit of a wry smile.

"Heh, probably not, but you never know. Haven't tested enough yet. I designed them to be pretty stable."

[Light]

IC: Ronah rubbed her left eye with one hand while she stretched out her other, the water surrounding the canisters but not quite making it to Jokaro's back. "Insurance. Gas can't leak through, unless you packed some really nasty explosives in there."

"If you don't walk I'll drag you, but otherwise I'm inclined to let you keep your dignity."

[Perp]

IC: Jokaro
 

What's she doing with that water- oh she better not- ...

 

He let out a sigh.

 

"You, uh, could've just filled the jars with water and screwed the caps back on, huh? My blueprints are probably all... soggy."

She was lucky he had committed most of them to memory.

"I'll walk. My dignity'll remain intact, but I don't think my property will."

[Lara White]

IC: Finally, they were ready. Sheaf upon sheaf of paper: pamphlets, posters, and a good many copies of the Populist's Manifesto, as Kotuku had taken to calling her handiwork. All that was left was distribution. One by one, quietly and discreetly, they began their work.

 

It was simple, really. A dropped book here, a poster on a board there, some graffiti in an alleyway, and soon their symbols began to leak out. Decrying Hewkii's crimes and incompetence, calling for his replacement. Kotuku was quite proud of her personal touch, lightly scattered invectives against Hewkii's secret police, the Sentinels.

 

"Hewkii has militarized the militia, turning it into something it should not be," one pamphlet declared, "He has made it his own private army and turned it on the people. When the people would not back him, he gave a badge to every thug and outlaw who would, and called them the Sentinels, as if they were some form of protectors! The only thing the Sentinels protect is Hewkii's iron grasp on power."

 

Such language had the intended effect. More than once, Kotuku had watched from the safety of a crowd as Sentinels demanded to know who had posted what they variously described as "drivel," "lies," or in one eloquent case, "libel."  More often than not, one villager or another would egg them on, and sooner or later the Sentienl would lose his temper.

 

Of course, there were plenty of cases in which such things did not happen, but when did something not happening get any attention? It was all about what the people saw, and what they saw was angry Sentinels trying to find the culprit for something relatively "harmless."

 

The snowball was rolling downhill. Now it was time to wait.

 

[Light]

IC: “Sorry… you’ll have to pardon the questions. We understand your situation, but men are dead and we’re fighting an unknown enemy that most likely outguns us. Once we get out of this, I assure you, all the warmth will be back.”

Tera didn’t respond to the compliment besides a slight, subconscious blush that barely reached her cheeks, mind consumed with alternatives and strategies.

[25K Now!]

IC: Lusgi and Jim

 

"Jim, keep it in yo' pants and stahp flirtin' wit' every gurl ya meet."

 

The aforementioned 'Jim' reluctantly pulled away from the group he had just allowed to enter their village, eyeing his companion for the duration of their time on gatekeeping. He was quite the handsome Matoran, and the way he glanced at you with his sad red eyes from behind his Rau was rather charming. Of course, that wasn't going to work on Lusgi. She didn't swing that way, and Jim knew that. Didn't stop him from trying though. The horndog.

 

"Well they are legitimately attractive," he said defensively, upon realising that Lusgi's glare was still directed at him. "What green-blooded man wouldn't praise a woman's beauty?"

 

"Somebody who ain't a horndog," snapped Lusgi, the pink and brown Sentinel turning back to the desert. No other groups coming in yet.

 

"You seem rather ill-tempered today. Although should I mention that you are especially attractive when you're ang-"

 

Blazing green eyes stared murderously at him.

 

"Jim, shut yo' trap."

 

He decided to listen.

 

And there was quiet.

 

"..."

 

"Your lack of people skills must be why you never get promoted."

 

"Imma kill you. So hard. That yo' guts be splattered 'cross this desert."

[Shadowhawk]

OOC:

Seeing as how Tabby's been inactive for months, I'll just... sort of smooth over this part of the action.

Last relevant IC post here.

IC: [ Rhea ] - Forsi / shipyards

rhea and zelvin went
and

did paperwork

actually rhea did the paperwork
because it was her money and
her business

but zelvin was there as well

and

rhea discussed the matter with the
shipyard manager who was
legally authorized to represent
the craftmen who had

built the vessel

and after all had been sealed

rhea and zelvin went back
quietly
to the docks

 

and the vessel was there

 

watching

[25K Now!]

IC: Prei

 

I lean down and pick up a pamphlet. Interesting.

 

Though I do take offense at being called a thug.

 

I had left the headquarters for a bit when I had found these things scattered all around. Somebody evidently dislikes the Akiri.

 

Interesting.

[Light]

IC: "Figured you'd rather have working versions, but..." Ronah's face flushed. "I apologize."

[Perp]

IC: Jokaro

"No permanent harm done. I can always... redraw... them..."

 

His head turned as they walked, a wall desecrated with graffiti catching his attention, decrying the Akiri.

[Light]

IC: "I've done some schematic type drawings in the past, so I could possibly help... Though most were maps-"

Ronah caught his glance and sighed. "I try to ignore it. It's intended to make us angry, to make us exacerbate the situation, as much as it is to incite rebellion. Better to just act like it doesn't bother me and actually do my job."

[Perp]

IC: Jokaro

Jokaro thought to his own posters for a moment, before considering the Sentinel's words.

"'Exacerbate the situation'? So there is a situation, then?"

Edited December 11, 2014 by Perpetual Darkness

[The UltimoScorp]

OOC: Andrex from Onu-Koro

 

In the vast wastes of the Po-Wahi desert, the enormous Ta-Toa trudged through the sands, growing more weary with each step. His weight made him sink with each step, and the shifting grains drained him of energy.

 

Almost completely exhausted, Andrex collapsed in the sands, too tired to move.

 

OOC: open for interaction. (Please someone save this poor man)

[Not Quite Dead]

OOC: Ultimo I read your post wrong and thought you collapsed, ie went unconsciousness. If you want me to edit my post please say.

 

IC Sade

 

Sunsets are beautiful and deadly in the high desert. The walls of innumerable canyons and craggy mountain faces painted blood red by the setting sun, soon to fall beneath the haze on the eastern horizon. The ever present storm clouds a product of the dry and cool desert air meeting with humid storm fronts sweeping in over Forsi and Ostia, from the tropical waters to the south and east. At least it was not quite so rough as Ga-Wahi, the storms passed over the tropic Koro at full force before coming to die in the north, producing naught but haze, spectacular sunsets and the occasional thunderstorm.

 

They were deadly because nightfall brought rapidly dropping temperatures, there was a misconception of deserts as karzahni-esque furnaces. A desert's temperature was a product of it's location, in the northern reaches around Po-Wahi and above Onu-Koro's sprawling caves systems, the land was at quite an elevation, the air thinning as the topography slowly built up to the central mountain range, crowned by Mt Ihu. So here in the high desert, as soon as the sun set, the land quickly cooled. Native rahi and matoran alike smart enough to move to shelter for the night. The gargantuan Ta-Toa was blessed with neither a native's knowledge or a rahi's instinct. Passed out in the sand as he was, he would quickly fall victim to the cold.

 

For an ice elemental, it was a non-issue. The fading light glinted off her white armor and the milky-pale protosteel weapons that hung at her (quite feminine) waist. As a matter of course, she produced handcuffs for the Ta-Toa, he was not her type so to say, but his reaction to waking and being restrained would be amusing. Her Calix glowed faintly, giving her the strength to lift him and deposit him on a crude ice-sled. Chain-whip buried in the end of the sled, she set off for Forsi. It was several hours away, dragging the burdensome Toa would put her back another hour or two. Her plans from there on out were hazy and undecided, she had come to Po-Wahi and now rescued this Ta-Toa on a whim. "What is my next move meant to be?"

Edited December 11, 2014 by Tiragath

[Geardirector]

IC: Elysi

 

Elysi placed the clean skewer back onto her plate. One down, two more (and a steak) to go.

 

"So what's your story," she asked, moving to pick up the next skewer, "Mr. Fisherman?"

 

IC: Mar (Roasted Ruki)

 

"Not very interesting or long" I responded, picking up my first skewer, "I don't care to spend a lot of time telling it"

 

I bit down on the skewer and tore off a piece. It was good, far better than what I could usually whip up on my own time with limited ingredients.

[25K Now!]

IC: Elysi

 

"Gotcha."

[Light]

IC: The power was gone, actually.

Stannis adjusted his mask as he walked toward the Koro, fingers running over the familiar lines of the cheek guards on what used to be the Hiripaki. It wasn’t though, not anymore. Now… Now it was…

The Warua. Standing maskless on a plane of dreams, Stannis saw the Kanohi Warua for the first time. He’d originally taken it for the Hiripaki, this dream just another metaphor for achievement of destiny. He walked toward the mask. No tentacles of shadow, nor servants of Makuta stopped him. The Kanohi felt warm in his fingers when he picked it up, taking a moment to appreciate the noble contours, the seemingly inherent wisdom in the mask. But then, he turned it over. On the back, slowly spreading like a plague across the back of the forehead, the word Hauwarea appeared, emblazoning itself where no one but the wearer could see.

Hauwarea. Coward.

His eyes had gone wide, even as he realized what this dream was about. He hadn’t faced destiny, and now…

This was his consequence.

[The UltimoScorp]

IC Andrex: the Ta-Toa remained unconscious.

 

OOC: feel free to bunny me along, just, you know, no killing or taking of stuff, please.

[sunflower]

IC: Dehkaz

 

Dehkaz felt the tone in Naona's voice more than he heard it, and the meaning was clear enough.  He'd been stalling, whether he consciously meant to or not, he'd been trying to stave off trying to explain what was to come.  His jaw set, Dehkaz turned his gaze up from the floor towards Kale, the look in his eyes unfamiliar and searching.  Indecisiveness was not something that he had much practice expressing.

 

“Stay if you want, Kale, but anything that follows does not leave this room under any circumstance,” Dehkaz stated to the toa of Iron, enunciating every syllable as if he were attempting to hammer in a particularly stubborn nail with them.

[Geardirector]

OOC: Character retcon

 

IC: Farzan (Po-Koro)

 

"Sure is a lot of people out today, eh Kreff?" I asked the Ussal clambering after me through town. Kreff didn't respond, apparently feeling more content hiding behind his cutesy demeanor as he doubtlessly expended his vast brainpower on answering the tremendous question: what was he going to have for supper tonight?

 

I, in the meantime, found myself in an unusual situation. Most of the time, when I'd moved through large crowds, it was because I was out looking for a few pockets to pilfer. It was what put food on the table and I certainly didn't see that as a bad thing. After all, we wouldn't want my genius to get impaired by malnourishment, would we?

 

Speaking of genius, that's what I had to put to the test as I moved through the crowd, this time actually calling attention to myself, because I had somewhere to get to and I didn't want to be late (except in the fashionable way. That's... that's what normal people do, right? Be fashionably late?)

 

Eventually, after a bit of trouble, I walked, with Kreff in dutiful tow, into a small scrap yard that I'd scoped out since I'd set up shop here. A tinkerer's paradise, it was, with the odds and ends of various scrapped weapons and household appliances  sticking out here and there like small plant growths of metal.

 

In charge of it all was the Po-Matoran who looked up from his book titled "The Six Mighty Heroes and all that" by someone named "Jonythahn Sevaft". I smiled inwardly at the image of a rather plump looking feller amusing himself with a book parodying a milennia of war and suffering against an evil overlord. You really gotta love the power of laughter.

 

Either way, he was looking up at me, as I was saying, and put the book away.

 

"Hey there, kiddo, what can I get you?"

 

"Well, I'm gonna need a whole bunch of parts, I'm fiddling on some prototypes." I said as I gestured to the large box Kreff was carrying on his back. The Scrapper nodded.

 

"Alright," I began, fidgeting through a mental list in my head, "two bulb-thrust rods and an angular shaft."

 

"So how's the business going?"

"Good enough considering my criminal background in another town. Two pairs of couplet plugs?"

 

"Male or female?"

 

"Male, this project doesn't need sensitivity. No, wait, one pair each."
 

"Do you want the male plugs standing proud?"

 

"No, embarassed I think"

 

"Alright, here's your females" the Scrapper said, putting down a small box, "and here's your embarassed males," he continued, putting down a smaller one next to it. I nodded and shuffled them over in Kreff's box.

 

"Twenty double-team matrixes and a jar of gear oil"

 

"'Fraid I've only got fifteen Double-matrixes left, as it happen"

 

"Huh" I mumbled, biting my lip. That was annoying.

 

"I've got some monkey fiddlers, though"

 

"Think they'll work?"

 

"Oh yeah. As long as you remember to use a lot of oil and keep your hands steady, shouldn't be a problem, just make sure you don't spill the oil all over the place. Premature oil spills are a to clean up"

 

"Tell me about it. Anyway, one more part: a full-sized mountie rack with segmented beam and spherical lightstone mounts."

 

That remark earned me a swift slap in the face. When I could no longer see stars, the Scrapper was tsking at me with his arms folded.

 

"Hehe, sorry, couldn't help myself" I mumbled as I gathered the components and hoisted the crate onto Kreff's back.

 

"There won't be any second-form toilet humor in my yard, get me?"

 

"Yeah yeah. See you later you ornery lug" I said and took off back to my workshop.

[Void Emissary]

"Our strategy's solid; this is just a tactical spot of bother." Gyn winked. "So, for the love of God, let's keep calm and follow Leli's lead."

 

IC:

 

To protect and serve.

 

My eyes had been glued to the hand that had poked my insignia.

 

Not my insignia. Something more than me.

 

Slowly, they traced a path up the arm, over the ridges of a Hau, until they met the grey eyes of Gyn Kirsug. Only they didn't quite meet. Where I come from, when two guys stare at each other, they're doing it as equals.

 

But I wasn't an equal to Kirsug. I knew that for sure now. He was a veteran soldier, a veteran hero, a veteran everything in my view; and what was I? A green who nearly got weepy at the sound of hollow walls? A boy who was playing at war but didn't know the first rule of the game?

 

I was nothing compared to him.

 

The insignia.

 

It's something more than me.

 

But he was here. Leli was here. Rungui was here. Komisk was here. We were all here, and we were all together in this mess. A tactical spot of bother. We were all soldiers, weren't we? We had all worn the words To Protect and Serve over our hearts. That was our common cause. That was our duty. That was what we lived for, what we would die for. Weren't those the words that had brought into the Ussalry? To keep civilians from arm, to make sure they would never have to fight a fight that wasn't theirs?

 

They're in a fight that's not theirs now, Dalrin. What do?

 

...

 

Yeah.

 

Well.

 

We'll just have to get 'em out of it, then.

 

"Sir," I said, a grin blossoming on my face, "yes sir. Orders, sir?"

 

OOC: Lumira post to come.

 

-Void