Geardirector

Speaking of stuff ongoing. @Mel@Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)@Keeper of Kraata lmk who is planning to post next in Ga because Mako has little to add at the moment.

IC: Salwa (Precipere) "Ferrum has overshadowed much else that's happening," I admitted as I thought for a moment about what I could pull from my most recent scouting trips, "but the Bone Hunters are also on the move in a way I haven't seen before. I think they captured a survivor from Ferrum. The tournament in Tajun is still on schedule, however." That much I had at least gathered. In the end, it was something to say. I wasn't feeling too comfortable about saying much more, however. OOC: @Nato G @Toru Nui

IC: Mar (Ko-Koro) I winced with pain as Siika roared at the top of her lungs. I remembered to mutter something foul under my breath as I grabbed my crossbow. The moment of silence after the table flipped was used well. I knew there would be more noise coming. I signaled to Karv, directing him to cover the counter and the bartender. The Matoran tending it would hear a growl at the back of the Rahi's throat as it stared him down with teeth bared. He wasn't going anywhere. Clutching my weapon, I closed my eyes, breathed and focused. All this noise. It had to go somewhere, and I had already figured out where. As Siika threw a pair of Matoran over her with her legs, I could feel the crossbow I was holding start to hum gently, vibrating, almost buzzing with power as I hefted it ready to fire. I slipped past Siika and found the closed door to the back room. The person inside had caught the noise, but didn't react notably. Bar fights were presumably to be expected. A few squeezes of the trigger, and the wooden frame of the door leading to the back splintered apart. That woke him up, and he was on the move, but I could see him the whole way. I had long since learned to focus on whatever I was fighting with as a totem. To siphon off some of the sound that came towards me and lessen its strength to spare my ears. The room at the back was larger than I expected, more like a complete living space nestled into a small area right up against the edge of the city wall. I stepped inside, fixing on the Matoran hiding behind an upturned table, holding something in their hand. "You know I can hear you, right?" I asked, sounding a bit self-satisfied. "I'm counting on it" they answered, and next thing I knew I staggered back as my sight and my vision were assaulted at once, a loud and blinding flash - Stralix Powder! The power stored in my crossbow dissipated as my focus snapped. Amateur! I blinked through the spots in my vision as I saw him lunging at me, something long and sharp brandished in his hand. I made a split-second decision and grabbed my pistol. A diskette whirred from the barrel and struck the floor in front of him. More stralix powder ignited as I played it simple and safe, just repulsing all noise away from me and sending it all in his general direction. It was more than enough to halt him, he mimicked me a moment before in staggering backwards and in that moment I reached for my own blade. Now it was gathering ambient noise, as I traded a few parries with him. I was finding my focus again, and I swiped the air ahead of him, a blade of compressed sound launching from the blade to strike him and send him against the table he'd been covering behind moments before. Bladepoint at his neck put him out of commission. I sent a whistle to Karv to tell him to reach me, and then I sent another message to Siika. "I've got him" OOC: @Rahisaurus

IC: Ferron (Onu-Koro) "Well, we won't be sitting down to eat inside there, actually. There are better places for that nowadays" Ferron surmised. Ferron's Forge was, indeed, not the most glamouros sight as the two of them approached the building. The front that faced outwards looked like quite a traditional Onu-Matoran domed hut, just significantly scaled up for someone quite a bit larger than Ferron himself to get through. Even though Ferron was no longer a bulky Toa, his customers could be. At least Oliphko didn't have to bend down to make it inside. The storefront space met them at first as they went inside. A pretty significant stretch stood between that and the actual smithing station that stood against one of the walls, the pipes seen sticking out of Ferron's roof were connected here. Chimneys did not exist in Onu-Koro, here there were pipes, pipes everywhere bundled together and snaked up along the sides of the giant "bubble" the underground city sat in, and went through the roof. Ferron went past both of these and headed further back. At the end of the hut there was a corridor with steps led towards a lower section not visible from the outside. Ferron disappeared down there, and came back up with a backpack, heading back out towards the exit. "This is all I need from here, let's go" OOC: @Daniel the Finlander

IC: Mar (Ko-Koro) I accepted the cheap swill that Siika had covered without a moment's hesitation. It was just the sort of thing that I was all too used to subsisting on. Didn't really even think about as I started gulping it down. I had a lot of other stuff on my mind. A Sonics Elemental was always able to hear, of course, but with my mask being an Akaku, I also had an unparalelled ability to see. Especially with the unique upgrade I'd picked up during the business Renegade Tactical had been hired to assist Shaddix with. If there was anywhere I had a good opportunity to use my infrared, it was here, in a place so defined by temperature on one side of the scale, I imagined Ta-Wahi might be similar. It wasn't difficult to find what I was looking for. There were visible heat profiles somewhere in a space behind the counter, one that moved like a living being, about the right size... I switched to my familiar X-Ray for a moment, looking again. Indeed, the room was very dark. It would have been especially difficult for me to spot anything like that, probably a precaution they had thought of. I turned to Siika. Karv was sitting next to us with his own face swiveling back and forth in calm vigilance. "Alright..." I spoke up, after making sure our conversation would remain private, "I've seen someone. There's a back room here, somebody's hiding in there, looks to be a Matoran. "Do you feel comfortable making a bit of noise?" OOC: @Rahisaurus

IC: Ageru Tamachan (Sado, Imperial Gardens) "Yes that's acceptable. I can meet you over at the exit to the main complex" Tama answered, and she turned to head in a different direction without another word. She did also have a few things to take care of, like seeing a crystalsmith if she could find the means to procure their services. Her last dragons had been spent a while ago- She stopped, turning to look at Hatchi over her shoulder, "I'm... I bid you fair travels till then" Then she actually left. OOC: @Mel

IC: Salwa (Precipere) They didn't have to wait long, as I had run across our village like the jaws of a Vorox was snapping at my heels to make it back across towards Somok's hut. If there was one thing people never failed to say about me, it's that I was often headed somewhere, seemingly always on the way somewhere. It was quite true in a sense, in the sense that I often told people exactly that to get out of a conversation. It had become even easier now, everybody just accepted that the tribe's new head scout would surely be very busy, and I was not at all interested in contradicting them. I suppressed a panting breath as I made it inside, and approached Somok and Xyde where they were seated. "Thank you," I wheezed, "got a little bit held up" OOC: @Nato G @Toru Nui

IC: Ageru Tamachan (Sado, Imperial Gardens) She cast a glance back over her shoulder, her gaze resting with some approval at seeing her steed get acquianted with one of Hatchi's herd. It was an attractive thing to see, and she did appreacite the relatively open welcome Sarala had gotten on her in-frequent visists to the new den of the creatures. "Indeed, she's nearly back to her best, pristine self. The environment here is doing her a world of good" The same couldn't really be said for the Ageru Soulsword who was speaking. Her appearance had never been particularly glamorous, one that spoke of rough strength and living, and of lesser means to provide for life. One of her crystalline shoulderplates bore a noticeable web of cracks that spread from a point of impact. "I'm just looking to get something to eat, would you... would you care to join me?" she asked, hesitation very evident in her voice. OOC: @Mel

IC: Ferron (Onu-Koro) "I'm sure we could. How about you come with me back home, and we get something to eat, then we can have a moment to share some of that?" Ferron answered. The Turaga sounded quite animated by the suggestion, and took a moment to look around as they entered the Koro itself. The Highway led directly onto walkways that would lead them further into the Koro itself. Ferron's personal business was in the Koro's middle ring, nearby to residential areas. On their way to it, some place to find an eating stand or diner would be very doable. Ferron was not much of a cook or a breadwinner himself, but as a citizen of Onu-Koro some basic amount of such was now guaranteed to him through Nuparu's recent reforms. Some businesses had sprung up among the ever-enterprising Onu-Koronans offering to take the basic foodstuffs given in allowance to people and turn them into something more flavorful and filling than mere sustenance. Ferron had become a patron of one such establishment not too far from his forge. OOC: @Daniel the Finlander

IC: Mar (Ko-Koro) I chuckled a little bit at the Skakdi's observation. It was pretty accurate, and being a little bit shady was... well, it was just who I was. Had never been much of a saint, but also, well, having a good, stiff drink was just fine in the way I used to live. I had some sense of the kind of places that you might want to head in order to avoid attention, and Ko-Koro was a place I knew well. It wasn't home, not quite, but I had been here many times. "If there's going to be any shaking, I'm happy to let you have the honor" I assured Siika as I found a place that seemed a decent place to start. A drinking stand that was not too far from an exit to the city. OOC: @Rahisaurus

IC: Salwa (Precipere) Gatog was not in a good mood when I came to see him. The Tribe's other Beast Minders had gotten tired of trying to keep some sort of peace between him and the rest of our mounts, so he was not getting much, if any company whenever he had to stay in his den. That, in turn, made him anxious and ornery whenever I wasn't around. I stood at the den's fence with him poking his head over it to be within reach. He was at least glad to see me, but the fact that I couldn't be everywhere at once was really becoming a liability. I just wished I could have had somebody else to talk to about how you took care of these creatures... I would have to consider taking him out for a ride just to give him some movement in a bit, but for now I could leave him calmed down with having gotten a visit. My equipment was in as good a condition as I could hope to make it. It was time to get back and discuss with Somok. I headed in that direction. OOC: @Nato G @Toru Nui

IC: Zelvin (Mangaia) "Much obliged" Zelvin answered, keeping her mask primed as she walked to pass the Matoran. She wasn't convinced that this Matoran was who she appeared to be, she had appeared from behind dark, impenetrable shadows that had given Zelvin nothing to go on before the Matoran suddenly appeared, quite visible. No Matoran possessed such powers. She had her weapon present in her mind if it was needed, that would have to do as she approached the den further in where someone had invited them. Here, in the sparse light of the fire her sight had enough to work with, and she saw the large Toa and his victim unconscious against the wall. Well, she knew who had been screaming earlier. Dead? No, just passed out from pain. Zelvin raised an eyebrow for just a moment, for her own benefit, and then she politely heeded Drakkar's invitation and sat down by the fire. Her scythe rested across her lep, most of her wrapped in her cloak as she ruffled it to sit down. "Most kind" she remarked politely. Nothing was spared on the victim or the grim location. OOC: @ARROW404 @Snelly

IC: Vilda Mako (Ga-Koro Docks) "It's a good point," I remarked with a smile, "I'm not so married to my freedom to be a walking disaster I can't put it aside for a little bit" I had a moment to think about what it would actually take to do this. What sort of protection would I be able to provide? I wasn't quite as good as I once was, I had to admit that. My Kanohi had stopped working, my body just wasn't what it used to be, even as I worked to stay in shape. It was a tricky proposition, of the sort that I had been trained to see danger in at every turn. Well, maybe walking disaster wasn't so far away after all? OOC: @Mel @Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)

IC: Krex (Fort Garsi Battle) It was at this point, that things changed a bit for the hopeful escapees. Krex didn't particularly appreciate the fact that her firepower had been blunted. She was running out of ways to be effective up on the wall. So it was to her eternal delight and to the presumed horror and dismay of the beaten enemy when they heard the whirr of an engine. Krex barreled out of the exit to the fort on two wheels, take a wide turn to avoid the torn-up and churned area of the battlefield that represented the successful defense. The speed of her bike would be more than enough to make up for that. "Get your scrawny asses out of here already, before I blast you all to the steps of Kino-Ur" she bellowed after skidding to a stop next to a mound, halfway obscured by it. She was weighing a grenade in her hand. OOC: @Smudge8 @Snelly @Mel @Visaru @ARROW404 @Techn0geist @Sparticus147 @Nato G Just an approach and a threat for now. Krex should be considered within reach, but slightly covered.

IC: Ferron (Onu-Koro Highway) The lights of Onu-Koro were plainly visible to them now, Ferron listening intently to Oliphko's account of how she had attained her powers and become a Toa in the first place. It was interesting; he had heard of a few examples of this before, of these abandoned Toa Stones that were occasionally just found out in remote, unexplored locations. He sometimes wondered about those. A lot of the island's early Toa had suffered grim fates as they tried to follow the mantle of the First Toa. Sometimes, things just got lost, or was left in hopes of being needed in better times. "I'm glad to hear that," Ferron answered gratefully, "I've been a little bit nervous about just how well I'm pulling off that whole 'Turaga' thing in the first place." "It's often pointless, in my opinion to speculate on why things happen. The question that matters is 'what are you going to do about it?'" "I had to answer that question many times," the Forgemaster muttered, his voice darkening, "I... I'm just glad I have made choices I can live with" OOC: @Daniel the Finlander