City in the Dark

[Some Random Phrase]

IC Ahktu:

Ahktu kept trying to dig his way out. His breathing container helped a little with the stuffy air, but he was still almost out of oxygen. It was too much. Ahktu blacked out.

[silo]

IC: (Karaihe)

 

Karaihe awoke, chocking and spluttering on dust. 

 

Trying to lift himself up, he realized that his shoulder was badly wounded. He cursed himself for his own stupidity - the days of mindless war-charges were over, he told himself.

 

By by Mata-Nui he had enjoyed it...

[The Lorax]

GM IC (Karoro): The dry, hoarse sound of Karaihe's coughing brought Karoro's attention, and within seconds the huge rock he was cowering under was lifted gently off him, held in the powerful grip of Karoro's kinetic emitter.

"Miraculous" he breathed, while squatting down to face the Skakdi. "Are you much injured? Can you stand or shall I send for a stretcher?"

 

GM IC (Tawhito and Co.): "We only saw one, and it was a small lab" Lariska answered, "but remember that Makuta are teleporters and could easily summon help if they chose to. You must choose quickly now, and send healers to get my hunters fit for battle again."

"Still your snake's tongue" Turano cut across her. "We know what you want, but we're not going to make the decision to free you in ten seconds flat, and certainly not because you say we must. Kama, take her out of here while we discuss this".

[silo]

IC: (Karaihe)

 

Karaihe grinned as if he thought that his rescuer was insane.

 

"Of course I can stand, I am...aaaarrgh"

The last part of the sentence was emitted when Karoro dropped him from his grip of kinetic energy and Karaihe legs collapsed under him.

He roared with rage. Again.

He cursed his body and then said " I don't need a stretcher... but if I could have a hand up, that would be much appreciated, mate,"

[The Lorax]

GM IC: Karoro knelt down and extended his armoured hand, gently helping the Skakdi to his feet, and continued to support him, should his legs fail him a second time.

"You're a lucky Skakdi, my friend" he told him. "To survive that collapse and the monster. Naki said you were charging at it. But he also said that there might have been someone else down here with you. We need to know - did you see them or know where they might have been when the roof came down? They might have gotten lucky as well."

[silo]

IC: (Karaihe)

 

"There was ...not sure what he was, but a shorty. Can't remember his name. Must  have taken shelter in that exit tunnel over their" said the Skakdi, pointing.

Everywhere he could see dead and wounded alike being carried away on stretchers over the rubble.

 

It looked like many layers of rock had fallen in from the roof - the cavern was at least a third smaller now.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Silo

[Some Random Phrase]

IC Ahktu:

Ahktu awoke with a start. The air felt heavy, and Ahktu could see little colored light dancing about his vision. HIs throat hurt. He tried to dig his way out, his claws weakly scratching the edges of his little air pocket. SUddenly he realized something. He could hear faint voices. With a sudden burst of energy he began to dig at the top, where the voices came from. Suddenly the dirt gave way, and a rush of fresh air flew in through the hole. He began to climb out, still weak.

[The Lorax]

GM IC: "And that would be him there." Karoro smiled. Again using his kinetic tool, he scooped up the Mimicran into the air and wafted him over to the two of them. "A second lucky survivor then. May I ask your names?"

[Some Random Phrase]

IC Ahktu:

"My name is Ahktu." Ahktu managed to cough out.

IC Arsenal:

As the Nuurahk's charging sequence finished and the Vahki lumbered out of his hut, he overheard two excited citizens talking about something. Arsenal caught something about a cave-in in the mines. This immedietly triggered a priority sequence calculation in the Vahki. The calculation took a total of ten seconds, but finally the core programming of a Vahki, prevent chaos and restore order, kicked in. Arsenal was going to go find out what was going on.

OOC: I hope I'm not powerplaying here, I just wanted to give Arsenal some action.

[silo]

IC: (Karaihe)

 

"My name's Karaihe...thats Ka-Rye-Ha..."

Looking at his shoulder, the Skakdi groaned.

"Get me to a hospital would you?"

 

OOC: I'm gonna be on holiday for the next 10 days so just say that Karaihe is resting in the hospital or something

[The Lorax]

OOC: I hope I'm not powerplaying here, I just wanted to give Arsenal some action.

 

OOC: I think the word you were looking for is "metagaming", when characters act on knowledge that they should not have. In this case though, I think you're in the clear. An unspecified amount of time passed while both PC characters were unconscious, time when word of the collapse would have been spreading, and could conceivably have reached the "surface".

 

GM IC: "Karoro" the Kodura said, taking the Skakdi's hand, then the Mimicran's. I'm on the mining council. Listen, I'm going to get stretchers for you both. You might be able to stagger to the surface, but that might just make your injuries worse. Adrenaline can allow you to do amazing things, but when you don't feel the pain of your wounds and power through, it could cost you many extra months of pain and rehabilitation. Sit tight, try not to move too much and I'll be back soon."

 

So saying , he disappeared back into the darkness, leaving the two alone. About a minute later, his voice could be heard in the distance and then finally he returned, clambering over the strewn boulders and bringing with him a Rori, a Tarore and a mechanical android, which was carrying two stretchers.

"We'll get you out of here safe" he promised them.

 

It was a long and uncomfortable journey back, but in all the stretcher bearers did their best to spare their patients the worst of the rough sub-terrain. Once they wre out of the collapsed area, a team of first-aiders in the mine met them and administered some short-term pain relief to last the patients the rest of their journey, which took place in a mining truck. Through all of it, Karoro stayed with them, using his influence and calming presence to organise the miners they met along the way and speed their progress back to Katipo.

[Some Random Phrase]

OOC: Oh.

IC Ahktu:

Being very tired, Ahktu just lied on the stretcher.

 

IC Arsenal:

The Vahki watched the injured miners. Nothing more could be done, so he just monitored them.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Ahktu

[Samus Aran-Bounty Hunter]

IC: Tarua (Meeting)

Having been quiet for much of the meeting, just taking things in, eyes widening at points as the shocking truths were revealed and narrowing her eyes are some of the Hunter's ploys. But now she spoke, quickly and quietly as usual, and got right to the point.

"I say we let some of them go, but not all. Certainly not Lariska, and it's debatable between the one who can turn into sand and the one who walks in shadows, but the brute who was guarding the prisoners would be quite easy to keep track of and seems combat-worthy enough."

Zakaro

[The Lorax]

OOC: August in moving on, so it's time for an infodump to speed things along. I had hoped to tell this part of the story over a longer time, with plenty of gaps for reactions, explorations, interations and people telling various bits, but time is making fools of us again. Oh well.

 

GM IC: "We're talking about a Makuta here!" Lariska yelled over her shoulder as she was dragged from the room. "It's all or nothing if you want to win!" Before she could say any more, she was through the door and out of sight as Kama's speed power activated and she was back in her cell.

 

"A Makuta." Turano kept muttering over and over as he paced the room. "A Makuta, plus whatever he is growing in that rahi lab. As proud as I am of this city's guard, I have to admit our chances of winning that fight aren't good. But we can't take help from the hunters, can we. They would backstab us the moment we uncuffed them." He threw up his hands in frustration. "We just don't know enough. Orde, there isn't some magical fix for all of this that you've been keeping back? Please?" The old warrior's eyes were almost begging.

 

"I wish" Orde replied, equally perturbed. "This is a whole new level on top of what I thought was going on, and we're all in way over our heads. This has become bigger than I ever imagined it would, and honestly, I'm floundering. All my plans and backups have fallen apart, so there's nothing left to do but tell you everything and hope you don't think too badly of me. I was doing the best i could with the situation I was thrown into, but I've still brought all of this down on our heads, and a lot of other people's as well it looks like. Maybe once you've seen and heard it, one of you will be able to see a solution I haven't, because I'm just lost by now."

 

The back wall of the interrogation room, the one Lariska had been chained to, shimmered into colour as Orde began to speak. He was projecting an illusion onto it, allowing the others present to see what he had seen as all of this had come to pass.

 

"This goes back, as you have probably guessed, to our trip to the surface three months ago" Orde told them as an image of the caravan appeared on the wall, showing himself, Turano, Tarua and many other guards and traders. "We were getting towards the end of our trip, moving towards the city of Otautahi in the eastern region of the continent. By prior arrangement, I left the others a day before we reached the city to visit a village of Bo-Matoran I had protected some time before coming to Katipo. I was to spend the day reuniting with my friends and doing what I could for them as a Toa before rejoining the main group in Otautahi the next day to begin trading. The visit went without a hitch. The problems started as I was on my way back to join the caravan again.

 

Now, Orde's illusion showed a rocky ravine, spotted with pillars, caves and overhangs of the rock. The Toa was soaring over it, using his mask to pass quickly over the difficult terrain. The sun was setting behind him, and much of the canyon was thrown into deep shadow. "Not the most accommodating place to be travelling through the wilderness with darkness coming on" he commented, "but nonetheless, I was hailed by a group of travelers walking through the bottom of the gorge. 'Toa, help us' they yelled. Naturally, I landed among them and offered whatever assistance I might be able to give. They were 12 Matoran, and in fact they already had a Toa with them, one of stone and wearing a ruru. Once I got close though, I could see why they wanted my help. He looked haggard, barely able to stay on his feet, and the Matoran weren't much better. They were the last of an unlucky village, he told me, and being pursued by Dark Hunters.

 

The Toa, who never told me his name, had been entrusted with the Nui Stone, and object of power, and had kept it safe for a long time. The Hunters had learned that he had it, however, and demanded it of him. When he refused, knowing the evil it could do in their hands, they began killing the Matoran of the village, trying to blackmail him. He attempted to use the stone's power to ward them off, but they struck from the shadows and quickly retreated, never allowing him a chance to engage and defeat them. Every day, more Matoran died, and as he used more and more of the stone's power to try to protect them, its reserves became dangerously low. Eventually, he knew that he would have to abandon the village, taking the Matoran with him and hope to find safety in a large city. He could then find another worthy bearer to keep the stone safe and so thwart the hunters' plans.

 

Anyway, it hadn't worked and the hunters had picked up their trail a few days outside of their village, and had been hounding them ever since. The Toa hadn't slept in a week, had next to no elemental energy left and had completely emptied the stone of all the power stored inside. It would eventually recharge with time, but not for decades or centuries. He begged me to take the cursed thing  and fly away with it while he and the Matoran hid in one of the caves and prayed the hunters wouldn't find them. I was about to agree, thinking that Katipo would be an excellent place to hide this evil thing away from the world and the greedy beings who would desire it. Nobody would ever know that I had taken it or to where. That was when the Dark Hunters caught up to us.

 

They were a different group to the ones who came here, except for that big one with the energy canon. the other three were different, but no less nasty." Their images flashed up on the wall, one by one.

 

 

Counting the thin one's pet bull, that made it five against two, and we had no chancee to prepare. They just dropped over a rock face and suddenly everything was chaos. I only had time to stow the stone inside a cleft in the rock before they were on top of me. That bull's horn gored my leg, and then the brown one threw me against the rock and I broke a few ribs. By the time I came to again, they had all of the Matoran rounded up in a group just inside the mouth of a cave, and the Toa too. The one we met was busy pointing the lethal-looking gun thing at the group of Matoran and explaining exactly what it could do. You could tell from the way he was talking that he was really proud of this new 'Pain Gun' he had been given to test out, and he was just itching to use it. He said that the game was up, and the toa hands over the stone right now or he tortures all of the Matoran out of their minds while the two us us watch.

 

The stone Toa tells him no, he won't give it up, which he couldn't really. He'd given it to me just before the fighting broke out, and hadn't seen where I'd put it. He says he'll fight down to his last pinch of elemental energy, and tries to wrestle the gun out of the hunter's hands, which was pretty gutsy too, with a broken arm. Somehow, he gets his fingers on the trigger and blasts the big guy, but then he doesn't even blink. It just bounces off him. He throws the Toa to the ground and explains that the gun won't work on any of the hunters, because they're protected by these little amulets that they are wearing on their necks. He just laughs at us both and fires this huge beam of energy, wide enough to catch all of the Matoran in one hit.

 

At that point, there wasn't much the poor guy could do. He had enough elemental energy left for maybe one action. He could create a stone shield to block the ray, but then what happens when the hunter fires again? He could try to seal the cave mouth up with him and the Matoran on one side, and me, the hunters and the stone on the other. He couldn't do that quick enough to block the ray though, so he'd be stuck with all of his Matoran in pain and unable to move away to safety before the hunters could break through the rock and catch them. Everything went into slow motion and I could see the horror on his face as he tried to make that decision. As the beam got closer and closer to those Matoran and he still hadn't made a decision, I made the choice for him.

 

That gun was shooting some kind of psionic energy, and even though I couldn't absorb or negate it in the time I had, I could at least redirect it. The hunters were immune, so the only place it could go was into my own mind. I shot myself with 12 doses of the pain gun. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open long enough to see the stone Toa closing up the cave entrance and disappearing down it with his Matoran in two. I hoped that they could eventually find another way out of the cave network there and get to safety.

 

After they escaped, the hunters were furious. They demanded the stone, over and over again, because thy had seen that the other group didn't have it when they escaped. I couldn't tell them. I just had to lie on top of the little curved hole I had put it into and tucked it out of sight, and scream my lungs out. It lasted for, for two whole days. They threw everything they could at me, but I had to keep my promise not to reveal it. The Toa had said that it could easily destroy whole islands if it fell into the wrong hands, so I held my tongue.

 

When they finally got tired of torturing me and I still hadn't given in their supplies were running low and they decided that I should be brought back to Odina, and that the other hunters there would be able to get the information out of me. I don't know what they had in mind, but I'm grateful to have never found out. So they packed me up and we began trekking towards the coast."

 

At this point, the images on the wall shut off, and even though Orde kept talking, they didn't reappear. He didn't have those memories to share.

 

"This is where the others come in, and all of those memories that I wiped out. After I didn't appear in Otautahi when I should have, Turano sent out people to look for me. They found out pretty quickly that I had, in fact, visited the Bo-Matoran and then left again, and eventually found the signs of our fight in the canyon, as well as the Dark Hunters' tracks leading away. They deduced that I had been kidnapped, and when Turano heard, he took the fastest, strongest guards he could and came after me. I can't tell you how thankful I am that you did that.

 

The Hunters had a head start, but it was a long way to the coast and they didn't know that the pursuit was coming. Even so, it wasn't until we were boarding the hunter's ship that the Katipo guard finally caught up. It was a frantic fight, because there weren't very many of us and one of the hunters there was controlling the ocean."

 

The images flickered back into life. Orde had witnessed this part. "He was the black and red, hunched one, seemingly made of nothing but armour. With the waves under his command, nobody could get to the ship where I was tied up. Turano was trading energy blasts with the black and silver hulk, the brown one had absorbed Takarok's powers and was dueling both him and Pukena at the same time, the one with the bull was fighting off Manurau and Parehua and the rest were being beaten away from the ship by the guy controlling the waves and sending out shadow blasts as well.

 

Anyway, up steps Tarua and goes straight for that guy. Never mind what she says about not being much for up-close fights, if there's one thing she can control perfectly, it's armour. All that time at the forge, and she knows exactly how to treat metal to make it strong, or, to make it brittle and weak. With precise shots of heating and cooling in certain spots around this guy's armour, it starts to crack up. The rest loses its strength and temper, and suddenly this thick steel is breaking up more and more. The hunter has some kind of fire power as well, so he drops everything else to try to weld himself back together. he can't do it though, and just ends up making a greater mess of things. It was like trying to cut and sew a garment with a blunt spear. He just didn't have the fine control, the degree of precision or the knowledge of where to apply the heat. By the time he finally beats a retreat onto the ship, he's breaking up like a cracker and losing big chunks into the ocean.

 

Without him commanding the terrain, the other hunters start losing ground. Parehua was able to get me off the deck and the bull goes down to Manurau. The hunters see how things are going and decide to just get out of there. The brown one lifts his comrades into the air and onto the ship, and then the whole thing starts moving off into the ocean supernaturally quickly. They got away, and we didn't have a boat to chase them. We, on the other hand, head back to meet up with the others in Otautahi, where they are finished trading. On the way back, we stop by that canyon and I take back the stone. In the city, we find a healer to remove the worst of our injuries and talk things over. We don't want to just leave the stone unguarded, and agree that Katipo would be an ideal place to keep it concealed from the world. Even though we couldn't wipe the hunter's memories of who were were, they didn't know any of our names or where we came from, they would have to go on physical appearances alone. We figured that would proabably be enough to keep us safe, but just as an extra precaution against the knowledge ever getting out, I wiped the healer's memory and everyone else's, so that not even a mind-reader could get it out, and replaced them with false memories of an uneventful but successful trading trip. My own mind is shielded, so I was the one to retain the story, in case it ever needed to come out again.

 

That's it really. We came back to Katipo, I hid the stone, and carried on trying to pretend that everything was normal. I guess I failed at that". He hung his head.

 

"He is telling the honest truth" Turaga Tawhito confirmed, breaking the long silence that followed. "It was indeed a difficult situation, and you showed extraordinary courage and fortitude to endure as you did. Still, while this explain the Dark Hunters' presence in our city, it does not shed any light on the presence of a Makuta on our very doorstep. More investigation into this is warranted, I think."

[(Daedalus)]

IC: Kware and Teota

 

Kware rubbed his chin. Orde's story certainly explained some things, but the Makuta was still a serious issue.

 

"I'm assuming, then, that this investigation will require finding the location of the Makuta, right? I suppose it could have some agents within the city, but how would we find them? Finding where the Makuta is, though, that might be simpler. If he is responsible for all these strange rahi, it could just be a matter of tracking one back to the Makuta."

 

Teota shot a sideways glance at Kware. "Maybe. But that would be assuming that they return to the Makuta. How do we know that he or she doesn't just let them loose?"

 

"What would be the point in that? I doubt that Makuta's being here when this... artifact is here is a coincidence. So if the Makuta is here doing experimental stuff with the rahi, it stands to reason that they are searching for the artifact. They have to go back to the Makuta."

[The Lorax]

GM IC: "The Dark Hunters know where he is" Turano offered. "Although, whether they would tell us without first being let free is another matter entirely. With the security of this city in mind, I'd very much rather not set them free."

 

"I agree" Tawhito put in. "'Better to keep a doom viper beside your bed than to let it wander free. At least then, you will know from which direction its strike will come'. Still, I think it is worth asking them. Mangaia is too large and too intricately tunneled to search every cave until we find this Makuta. And when we find him, it may not be wise to do as the huntress asks and attack him outright. There is much to be gained by asking first what he wants from us and what value he places on it. It may be that we can yet escape this predicament without drawing our swords."

 

"So we meet the hunters halfway" Orde mused. "We tell them that we're interested in getting rid of this Makuta, but we're not sure yet. We want to send a scouting party out to look around this Makuta's lair, and depending on what we find, we make decisions from there. We won't set them free just yet, but they will see it as a step in that direction, and will probably co-operate. It wouldn't hurt to send in healers to look them over as well, just to reinforce the message that we might want to release them later on. They would still be prisoners, but we'd get their hopes up and they would be happier to tell us what we want to know. If that doesn't work, we can always resort to tracking the rahi."

[silo]

IC: (Karaihe)

 

Karaihe had spent some time in the hospital recovering from his wound, and was now catching up on recent events.

Rumours had been going around that a makuta had been the cause of the strange rahi and some theorized that Turaga Tawhito would send soldiers to obliterate him. Karaihe was not big on tactics - he prefered to attack his foes and hope for the best - so he did not even consider that the authorities would send a scouting squad first, or even that the rumours could be untrue, but he had sent a message (he had to dictate it to a scribe- Karaihe could not read or write matoran, only hack at them with a broadsword) requesting a place in this squad.

It read as follows:

To the Turaga or whatever authority reading this: 

Many rumours have been circling that a Makuta is behind the Rahi activity and that a squad will be dispatched to eliminate this Makuta.

Hearing this, I put myself forwards as part of this squad - I was almost killed in a cave in caused by one of these rahi and would be happy to assist in destroying this being.

I am sure that I will be of use as, although I have limited experience of Makuta themselves, I have served in many a Skakdi Warlord's army and am a seasoned warrior.

Contact me about this with further information and I will be grateful to have a chance to eliminate this enemy of our city.

 

Karaihe's original dictation had included a lot more swearwords and had been a lot less well spoken and grammatically correct, but the scribe had thought that when addressing the government, it was best to replace phrases like "Son of a kavinika" with phrases like "being".

Now Karaihe waited in his humble hut for a reply.

 

OOC: Sorry that this is sorta metagaming - tell me if you want me to remove this post - but I just wanted to give Karaihe some action.

[Some Random Phrase]

IC Kama:

"I volunteer!" Kama shouted before he could stop himself from his hiding place he had gone back to after putting Lariska back in her cell.

[(Daedalus)]

IC: Kware

 

Kware snapped his head toward the door as the guard who had escorted Lariska to and from her cell jumped out from behind the door and shouted, "I volunteer!"

 

"As do I," Kware said, keeping his eyes on the guard.

 

IC: Teota

 

"I volunteer as well," Teota said, seemingly unperturbed by the guard's sudden appearance. "I do not look forward to reentering those caves, but I suppose it would be better than remaining inactive."

[The Lorax]

GM IC: "Great, you're going" Turano laughed. "I can't turn down that kind of enthusiasm and bravery in a guardsman. There's just the small catch that we haven't actually talked to the Dark Hunter yet, and she hasn't revealed your destination. You don't know you'll be going anywhere yet".

 

It turned out very quickly though, that Orde had been right. Lariska, normally so energetic and active, was finding being trapped up to her neck in a block of stone to be very confining. She didn't take much convincing to agree to a plan that might lead to her release coming sooner. She gave them directions, which Tawhito then transcribed onto a very old map of the outer caves around Mangaia. They had their destination. All that remained was to choose the team.

 

Tawhito wanted to lead it, but was eventually argued down by Tawhito. The captain had had barely one night of sedated rest to recover from his ordeal, and it was nonsense to expect him to be leading such an important expedition while in such poor condition. Better to give him more time to recover for later struggles, in the case that the Makuta proved a threat to the city. The same argument was applied to Teota, though Kware was happy to go.

 

Orde was to stay behind and go over the finer details of his story with Tawhito so that the two might come up with something like a plan for the various ways this scenario might play out and also to restore memories to those who had lost them. First among these was Tarua, because she was to be leading the scouting group. As a Toa, she would be the most powerful member of the group and it was hoped that her ways of manipulating armour might be able to get the group back to town safely if things turned nasty.

 

The final member of their group was to be a Skakdi who had recently applied to the Guard, asking for any position that would involve fighting mutant rahi, one of which had attacked him and caused a cave in. He had been lucky to survive, and was now determined to do what he could to find and eliminate the source of the mutants. More important than his motivation, however, was his ability to sense tiny earth tremors, and keep the group from any unpleasant surprises.

 

 

Armed with the map, their wits and almost no knowledge of what lay before them, the group ventured forth into the darkness, heading down a tunnel that sloped deeper into the earth.

 

 

OOC: Still rushing things I know, but September is almost upon us, and we've got a little over a month to go. I should be able to give things more space to develop naturally from here on in though, now that the PCs are out on their own, away from all of the GM-controlled officials. From here on out, they and they alone decide the fate of this game.

Edited August 26, 2014 by The Lorax

[Samus Aran-Bounty Hunter]

IC: Tarua (Scouting Party)

 

It was a.. say, different feeling to be apart of this group compared to the other one. There wasn't the clanking of a legion of feet, there wasn't a need for overwhelming light and taking a stand, but all the same there was a sense of companionship, being together to stand for the city they lived in.

 

At the least, what was how Tarua would best describe it, if she was one to talk. Not being so, she simply internalized this while remaining near the center of the group, staff softly glowing to allow for just enough light to see the path ahead. However, she had tuned it to a careful, comforting heat, so that perhaps one would be reminded of the last embers of a torch, recently put out in a snowy hillside to enter a hut after a long trip.

 

...maybe that was just herself.

 

Glancing to the being beside her, who held the map, she scanned it just to reaffirm this was still the course they should follow and continued forwards, trying not to notice or draw attention to the ever present shadows creeping ahead and behind. There was much to think about, too much, and that was not going to be something she wasted her time on.

Zakaro

[Some Random Phrase]

IC Kama:

Nervous in the dark, Kama reached into his pack and pulled out the VOrtixx-made flashlight. He opened the shutter halfway, letting enough light to see by out, but not enough to reveal their presence excessively.

[silo]

IC: (Karaihe-Scouting party)

 

Karaihe's request had been accepted and now the Crystal Skakdi was walking with the others down the dark subterranean tunnel.

Well, "walked" was hardly the word really. A more appropriate term might be "stomped". Or "crashed" perhaps.

 

He had been told multiple times to be more quiet, but this wasn't what he was built for. However, he was sure that his Tremor-Sensing power would come in handy.

 

This was only a scouting mission but it would have to do.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Silo

[(Daedalus)]

IC: Kware and Teota

 

"Tawhito was right, you know."

 

Teota shot a glance at Kware. "So you want me to stay, too? This is my decision, isn't it?"

 

Kware clenched his jaw and stared after the group as they continued onward. Finally, he called out to them, "I'll catch up with you guys in a bit!"

 

Teota followed his gaze, and then turned to look him in the eyes. "Kware, I can't stay here."

 

"Look, I know--"

 

"No, you don't know. You don't know what I went through." Teota lowered her head and turned away. "I've never been afraid of anything. At least, I thought I wasn't. But now... now I can barely stand to close my eyes. I can stand pain in a fight. But being restrained, not being able to escape it..."

 

Kware placed his hands on Teota's shoulders and turned her back around. He put his hand on her chin and lifted her face to look at him. "You're right, I don't know. But I do know that you can't recover from something like that overnight. I don't want to be away from you, but neither do I want to lose you. I'm afraid of what will happen if you go back out there."

 

And she saw that he meant it. She could see the fear and the pain in his eyes. He relied on her for strength, but he was willing to give that up to protect her.

 

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. His own arms enveloped her in a tight embrace, and she could almost feel the strength seeping into his limbs.

 

"I'll stay," she whispered.

 

"I'm coming back," he said.

 

Slowly pulling away, she said, "See that you do."

 

"I love you, Teota."

 

"I love you, Kware."

 

And then he left, rejoining the group.

Edited August 26, 2014 by (Daedalus)

[silo]

IC: (Karaihe)

 

Absent-mindedly crunching on a piece of rock from one of the walls with his diamond teeth, Karaihe reached out into the rock around the group with his mind to sense for the slightest tremor.

 

As the scouting party move further down the tunnel, he could sense large movements through the rock, but a long way off. Most likely just some drilling he thought as he obliterated a small boulder in his path using his Corruption Vision.

This was a mining city after all.

[The Lorax]

GM IC: It turned out that the tremor was only the activity of miners far below them, and the group moved on without incident, with some quietly discussing their progress while others kept their thoughts for their own. As they neared the supposed location of the Makuta's lair, their path opened out on their right-hand side, leaving only dark and empty space that their lights did not penetrate. They traveled along a ledge partway up the side of a massive sheer-walled fissure. The ceiling, floor and far wall were all so far away that they could not be seen, but occasionally sent strange and distorted echoes back at them. The group traveled on.

[silo]

IC: (Karaihe)

 

The Skakdi was a little more relaxed now that the tremors had died down. Still - a Makuta. Arguably the most powerful species in the Universe.

He had only ever seen a Makuta once, and that of course had been Spiriah.

 

"Ever met a Makuta before?" he casually asked the being behind him. 

[Some Random Phrase]

IC Kama:

"N-No. And I hope I don't have to." Kama replied nervously.

[Samus Aran-Bounty Hunter]

IC: Tarua (Scouting Party)

If Tarua had been one to talk, she would've questioned the reasoning behind even coming on this trip if you didn't really want to meet a Makuta. But she was not and so she did not speak, instead focusing on keeping the heat from her staff localized to just the group, not allowing much to escape and cause some wind currents or alert something that wasn't to be provoked. In the same sense she dimmed her fire from what once lit up the entire tunnel to just enough to see what was under their feet and the wall they kept near over getting too close to the edge.

Zakaro

[(Daedalus)]

IC: Kware (Scouting Party)

 

The headache was already beginning.

 

It was nothing major, just a dull ache. But it was annoying, and a constant reminder that he was far away from Teota.

 

He hated that he had left her behind. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to pack up and leave Katipo with Teota. He didn't owe anything to the city. However, he had gotten himself involved in this mess, and he seriously doubted he would be able to leave until this Makuta was out of the picture.

 

As for the scouting party... Kware was glad Tarua was leading. She didn't talk much, but she had been there throughout all of this, and he felt a strange connection to her for the role she'd played in helping him find Teota. He didn't know Kama quite as well, but he knew the Rori was with the guard, and he had saved Kware from getting impaled by Devastator. The Skakdi--Karaihe, was it?--put Kware on edge. He wasn't sure why, but the Skakdi seemed like a loose cannon. Kware had no idea if that was true, as he had only recently met Karaihe, but he still thought it best to keep an eye on him.

 

Making his way to the front of the group, Kware bent down toward Tarua and quietly asked, "How much farther?"

 

IC: Teota (Katipo Central Concourse)

 

Amidst the hubbub in the Central Concourse, Teota sat on a bench, staring at nothing and smoking her pipe. It wasn't as relaxing as it usually was, but it calmed her mind somewhat and kept it off... darker matters. She watched the residents of Katipo moving back and forth, some hurrying, some strolling. Some shopping, some looking. Some happy, some sad.

 

And all of it felt alien.

 

Why, Teota couldn't be sure. But after what she'd gone through, it seemed strange that normalcy still existed. It sure didn't for her. And the one thing that had helped keep her mind straight was traipsing about in the tunnels, looking for, of all things, a Makuta.

 

The sudden anger that rose up surprised Teota. Why did Kware have to leave? Since when did it matter that a Makuta was endangering this place? She and Kware had never gotten this involved in anything before. They moved around, not caring. Why did it matter now, when she needed him?

 

"No, no, no..." Teota muttered to herself, shaking her head. It's too late to back out now. We are involved, both of us.

 

Still, she couldn't quite shake that anger. And that worried her.

[Samus Aran-Bounty Hunter]

IC: Tarua (Caves)

"From what I can tell, we're here." 

Pointing at the map, she gestures to one side of a long fissure, tracing it back to a tunnel which leads back up to the City.

"Going forwards, we'll either find a bridge across, or in the case that's gone or unsafe, we can follow this ridge into another tunnel, then loop around to the other side and resume our course there."

Zakaro

[The Lorax]

GM IC: The bridge soon came into view, or at least what remained of it. The stone span had been shattered by some powerful force. Splintered fingers of stone clawed out into the blackness from either end, and small shards lay across their path. There was no way to tell how recent the damage was.

 

Nevertheless, they were certainly in the right place. Across the chasm, a faint green glow showed a group of black silhouettes. The light wavered occasionally, like a liquid sloshing slowly back and forth. There was not enough light to see any of the lab clearly, but it was clear that the vats were covered the the Makuta was elsewhere.

 

It took the group another quarter hour of cautious sneaking to move around the deep shaft and finally get close to the Makuta's base. They were within a hundred bio of it when Karaihe felt a vibration through the rock, like heavy footfalls coming down a side tunnel.

[silo]

IC: (Karaihe)

 

"Stop!" the skakdi hissed to the rest of his group.

"I can sense something, something big, coming towards us. I vote we charge at it, preferably shouting battle-cries, as soon as it's in sight to take it by surprise...what do you say?"

[(Daedalus)]

IC: Kware (Scouting Party)

 

Maybe it was the headache, but Kware felt uncharacteristically sarcastic.

 

"Oh, genius plan," he whispered back.  "Charge head-on at what is most likely a Makuta. I can't imagine how that could possibly go wrong."

[The Lorax]

GM IC: The noises were drawing closer, and quickly. Soon, they could all hear them. The only other noise in the darkness was the flowing of a small underground stream, coming from somewhere beyond the Makuta's lab. It plunged over the edge and into the chasm, but no sound reached them from where it hit the bottom. There was only the metallic clanking as the thing in the side tunnel came closer.

 

It was a rahi. A tarakava in fact, but that such a creature existed here, so far from the ocean, only made it clearer that it was one of the Makuta's creations. There was also the fact that it had wings. The creature peered slowly around the corner at the group, its yellow eyes blinking in the light of Tarua's flame. There was stillness for a moment between the party and the rahi, as each decided what do do about the appearance of the other. After a couple of seconds, the tarakava spread its wings and took off, heading down into the chasm. Presumably, it was looking for something more like its natural habitat.

[Samus Aran-Bounty Hunter]

IC: Tarua (Caves)

The Ta-Toa just blinked as the Tarakava disappeared into the darkness, eyes wide. 

Well, at least that cemented that it was a Makuta.

..she had to admit that was one of the stranger things she had seen in her life, and living on a mountain can actually be a pretty strange place at times.

Zakaro

[silo]

IC: (Karaihe)

 

The skakdi stamped his foot like a stroppy child. Well there goes my chance of killing something he thought.

 

Luckily for him, many more chances were soon to present themselves.

[The Lorax]

OOC: Now that is tempting fate. Alright then, you were asking for a fight...

 

 

GM IC: The darkness exploded. It devoured the flame that lit their way and forced itself upon them like a physical presence, pressing them up against the chasm wall and working its way beyond their eyes until their minds and hearts seemed smothered by the deep, impenetrable blackness that had no end. This lasted only a fraction of a second. There wasn't even time for a scream before the shadows gave way to the lesser, gentler blackness of unconscious oblivion.

 

 

Some time later...

 

 

The first thing that any of them would notice on waking up would be a remarkable lack of pain. One would expect a certain degree of discomfort after being ambushed by a Makuta, but none existed other than the slight pressure of the manacles on their hands and feet. There wasn't even a post-knocked-out headache. They had been put to sleep very gently, it seemed.

 

The second thing to notice as they lay chained against a tank of liquid protodermis was the strong green light that surrounded them. They were in the Makuta's lab now, and the vats were uncovered and active. Steam billowed from a large one on the far side of the lab as it bubbled vigorously. Their host, silhouetted against the green light, bent over it eagerly as he ladled in a deep purple substance that quivered slightly in its container.

 

The third thing as a bang. Clouds of acrid smoke issued from the vat and a third of its liquid contests sloshed out across the lab's stone floor. The Makuta straightened up, spitting angrily as he wiped the thick green goo from his kanohi jutlin. He kicked the vat savagely before stomping off to retrieve a bucket of water, which he threw over the spilled mutagen. It drained away to a small gutter at one side of the lab, taking the vile substance with it, presumably into the small stream that had heard earlier. By how the system was set up, it was apparent that this kind of thing had happened before.

 

Still muttering curses, the Makuta took the chance to look over the lab before starting over with his project, and noticed that his prisoners were beginning to stir. The fact seemed to surprise him, but, after a moment's consideration, he made his decision and the winged mass of metal stomped over to them and began tearing away their masks and weapons, tossing them away in a haphazard pile a few bio away. He was happy to let his captives wake up, it seemed, but wanted to preclude any attempts at escape.

Edited September 1, 2014 by The Lorax

[Ghidora131]

OOC: I really have no clue what's occurring topside, so let me know if I'm wrong.

 

IC Daltrahk:

Some time had passed since the little incident with the artificial room. "Now that guy's probably going to get fired," He thought. Peering out from behind the dumpster, he noticed the large formation of guards moving. The Gunmetal Skakdi eased around slowly, hoping to hear something. "Hm," Thought Daltrahk, "It's cruel, but I guess I could. Hehehe..."

 

A short while later, their "Captain" walked up, yet it was really just a realistic projection from Daltrahk's mind. Daltrahk faked his voice as best he could, yet the guards caught on to what it really was, and where it was coming from. "Sure glad I got those running lessons," Daltrahk half-joked as he began the second race of the day.

[silo]

IC: (Karaihe)

Karaihe growled angrily as his diamond-edged broadsword was ripped from it's belt around his waist, but went silent as soon as the Makuta looked at him.

Once the powerful being was a little way off, he rattled his chains, but to no avail.

 

He glared at the chains and could see instantly from their light silvery colour and smooth texture that they were a combination of metalic protodermis and protosteel, one of the strongest materials in the known universe.

Even so, he began to focus on one of the links in the chain binding his sword-arm with his vision power, which was almost identical to the power of the mask of their host.

 

It would take some time to break down the strong material, but it was the only means of escape Karaihe could see - he needed another skakdi to use his diamond powers, which would have cut through the chains a lot faster.