Nato G

IC: T'harrak - Fort Razorfish;Vaa 

"Oh... uh, you're welcome." That was not the reaction T'harrak had been expecting. Had she gotten herself worked up over nothing? "I just wanted to ask how you're going? After yesterday... I just... I'm sorry you almost got left behind." Once the words started tumbling out, there was no stopping them. "I didn't want to abandon you, or Ahuum, or anyone else, but I panicked... I didn't think anyone would even listen to me. It all just happened so fast."

@Smudge8

IC: T’harrak – Fort Razorfish;Vaa

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” she muttered as Sohmak disappeared down the stairs, his laughter lingering long after he’d left.

She’d already had more first-hand experience in a fight than she’d ever wanted. She was in no rush to go through that again, especially not for the sake of someone else’s entertainment. Sarke certainly seemed to work as stress relief for some Skakdi, but getting beaten to a pulp wasn’t going to do anything to improve T’harrak’s own mental state. Her preferred method of letting off steam was lighting fires or blowing things up, somewhere far away from everyone else. Destroying inanimate objects was healthier than hurting other people, wasn’t it?

Sighing wistfully, she bundled up her belongings and headed downstairs. A part of her just wanted to slink off straight back to her workshop and sleep off her stress. But she couldn’t just keep ignoring Jojax, and she’d just told Sohmak she’d talk to her. Going back on her word wouldn’t be of any benefit to the future of their working relationship.

Returning her belongings to her workshop, she set off into the Fort in search of Jojax. After coming up empty in the mess and the barracks, she tried the meagre medical area, swiftly spotting Jojax speaking with another Skakdi.

“Hey Jojax,” she cleared her throat. “Sorry to interrupt. Could we, uh… have a word? Somewhere away from everyone else?”

@Smudge8

IC: T'harrak - Fort Razorfish;Vaa

"An'... 'pologies for gettin' off on the wrong foot with you two. If I knew the mess we was fallin' into I may've held my tongue. May've. Guess we'll never know."

"It's fine. For what it's worth, I don't put much stock in first impressions," she said. "Out here, everyone always wants to prove that they're the biggest, the strongest, whatever... it's when people are comfortable enough to let me see the real them that I start paying attention. You've been quicker to do that than most." 

"Night's wearin' on, suppose we wind down work in a few and set up a watch?" 

"Sounds like a good idea," she nodded. "I'll add putting together proper work and watch schedules to my to-do list as well." 

It was already growing to be a long list. Longer than she'd anticipated when she'd first agreed to Sohmak's plan. She had more than a dozen points to cover written down in her notes, and dozens more possibilities bouncing around in her head. Hopefully she'd be keeping her head long enough to put them into action. The lingering worry that Fort Garsi might come looking for revenge refused to be banished from her mind.  

"Zanakra's boss digs! Where they at?"

"Inside," she said, Sohmak's shout pulling her back to reality. "Downstairs. The big door decorated with fishbones."

 

@Techn0geist

OOC: From what I can tell, Zanakra's room was ever actually described, so I just made that up. I'm happy to edit if necessary. 

19 minutes ago, VanMOCs said:

 

• Naho Bay: Named after Toa Naho, Toa Mangai of Water

• Motara Desert: Named after Toa Motara, Toa Mangai of Stone

• Marn Tunnel: Named after Toa Marn, Toa Mangai of Earth

• Lake Kanae: Named after Toa Kanae, Toa Mangai of Plantlife

I'm not sure where you pulled this info from, but to my knowledge, only Naho is canon. I've seen some of the other names used for fanon builds of the Mangai, but not necessarily for the elements you've listed here. I've also seen some of the other names from the map used for the Mangai instead. (Eg. the person who first suggested Naho as the Ga-Toa's name also suggested Tiro for the Po-Toa). 

Officially, none of the Mangai aside from Tuyet, Nidhiki, Lhikan, and Naho have been given names. It's also never been officially confirmed whether any of the other locations on Mata Nui were named after members of the Mangai. It's just as likely that they may have been named after friends of the Turaga Metru, or legendary figures from the Matoran Universe. (Eg. Mount Ihu is named after Nuju's mentor, and the Tren Krom break is named after an eldritch abomination). 

32 minutes ago, VanMOCs said:

Is there any specific reason why no location was named after Lhikan?

In the real world, it's because 2004 was a prequel and they hadn't invented the character when they made the map of Mata Nui years earlier.

In-story, it's because they made him a celebrity instead. Vakama and Nuju made up a story about a legendary lava surfer named Lhii as a way of commemorating him without giving away prequel plot points. 

IC: T'harrak - Fort Razorfish;Vaa

"I hope so," she said, nodding. "I'll uh... get to drawing up a proper plan to run by you for the whole... everything. And I'll talk to Jojax next time I see her." 

@Techn0geist

The Boxor and Exo-Toa used Bohrok parts and have punching arms. Is either one of those what you're talking about? 

(The Exo-Toa sounds like the closest match, as some promotional images for the set use pictures of the Toa with their golden masks). 

Chapter 25 – Symbols

From the notes of Chronicler Crisda.

It’s easy to dismiss the Rahkshi as mindless monsters or ravening rahi. But as they grow in age and power, they change in ways our scholars still don’t completely understand.

They’re cunning enough to ambush and strategise, intelligent enough to speak and have a presence in the council. They’re an enigma, I suspect, even to their creators.

Their wants and needs are certainly a riddle to us, though in this case their mysterious machinations were not entirely unwelcome.  

* * *

Pira

“It was the weirdest thing,” Pira groaned, dropping a large bundle on the floor beside her as she slumped down on a bench, “It walked right up to us, told us to follow it, and led us all the way through the tunnels up to the surface here.”

After having had his own injuries seen to, Vhalem had rushed off to check up on Savnu, with Icthilos following up with a guard who’d briefly tried to follow the Rahkshi that had brought the two Toa to the door. That left Pira to play twenty questions with Trina, Ilton, and Larone, who had ushered her into one of the workshops for some meagre privacy.

“I’d never even seen a Rahkshi before yesterday, let alone one that can talk. It didn’t seem to have much problem moving around in daylight, either. Is that normal?”

“Rare, but not unheard of,” Larone said. “To my knowledge, there are only three in this city capable of speech. What colour was it?”

“Black and purple. But… weird. All of the Rahkshi we saw last night were grey, with one or two other colours. But with this one, all of the parts that would normally be grey were black.”

“Sounds familiar,” Trina replied thoughtfully, “Same colour as the one people said came to fetch Bihriis and Orane.”

She’d donned a Mask Of Healing, and was working on tending Pira’s wounds while Ilton mended her armour.

“Perception, it calls itself,” Larone said, “A Rahkshi of Mind Reading, who loves to meddle. Their armour is a gift from Makuta Vhel, imbued with elemental Shadow to allow them to walk freely in the daylight. Makuta Teridax was attempting to manufacture such suits for his entire army before he was destroyed. Only a few prototypes survived.”

“But why would a Rahkshi help us?” Pira asked, wincing as Trina took her injured hand in her own, the broken bones popping painfully back into place as the Mask Of Healing did its work, “We tried asking it, but it didn’t answer.”

“Strange as it sounds, the three intelligent Rahkshi have a similar duty of care towards as their kin as you Toa do to the Matoran,” Larone said. “After the mess you made on the beach the other night, I imagine Perception weighed the odds and decided returning you here safely would reduce the risk of more Rahkshi being harmed.”

“Makes sense,” Ilton said, “Killing you or taking you prisoner wouldn’t have stopped more Toa from coming into the tunnels to look for you. This does.”

“Would you have actually come looking for us?” Pira asked, glancing at Trina.

“Officially, no. Sorry,” Trina said, releasing Pira’s now-healed hand and turned her attention to a gash across her side, inflicted by a Rahkshi staff. “Unofficially, there are some here who probably would have tried, and there are more who wouldn’t have tried to stop them.”

Out the corner of her eye, Pira noted a disgusted look on Larone’s face, as if the talk of rescue was somehow repulsive to him. She’d only briefly spoken to the strange Turaga once before, when he’d approached her at the Coliseum the previous day, but even then he’d come across as strangely blunt and dismissive. Something about his demeanour was unpleasantly reminiscent of the Vortixx.

“Tell me you guys at least got something useful out of Vhalem and I almost sacrificing ourselves?”

She flexed her fingers, feeling twinges of pain as the still-raw organics extended, then relaxed.

“Not exactly.”

“Good thing you asked them to bring the scavenger along, then,” Pira said, bending down to unwrap the bundle she’d brought back with her from the tunnels. She lifted up the scrap of cloth and carefully emptied out its contents, before folding it up and setting it aside.

The objects that clattered quietly onto the floor were an assortment of Kanoka of all different hues, each one emblazed with the shape of a Kanohi. Toa Disks. Though some from the vault had been lost in the fall or were still scattered in the corridor where she’d fought Widrek, a decent number had made the trip down with Pira, and she’d managed to gather them up before the Rahkshi had arrived.

“We went back and grabbed these from the vault before we left. The Rahkshi waited for us, weirdly enough. I won’t pretend to be an expert on Kanohi crafting, but I believe you can use these to make elemental masks, right?” Pira asked, looking to Ilton, “And don’t any of you give me any Karz about it being disrespectful to the heroes these used to belong to. Not using them is disrespectful to everything I went through to get them.”

“She’s right,” Larone said.

“Most of them look to be in decent condition,” Ilton said, kneeling down to inspect the Kanoka, “I can definitely make masks out of these.”

“Then get started,” Trina said, “Between the equipment in the building and the Toa outside, you should have everything you need to rig a basic forge.”

“Agreed. I’ll get to it,” Ilton gathered up the disks and set off back outside. 

“I will depart as well,” Larone said. “The city’s enforcers already suspect my involvement with the resistance. I should leave here before my absence is noticed. I’ll return before nightfall, and we can discuss this plan you mentioned.”

“I’ll see you then.”

Pira waited until he was gone before speaking up, “I’m still not sure how to feel about him.”

“Same,” Trina said. “The info he gave you about Shadow Sickness seems like it was spot-on, but I get the impression he doesn’t care much for the way we do things. Life has made him cold.”

Trina’s hands moved up towards the back of Pira’s neck, and she felt the scratches and bruises left by Widrek’s clawed hands begin to fade away. The memory of what those hands had nearly done to her wouldn’t disappear as easily.

“Can you blame him?” Pira asked, trying to focus on the conversation to distract herself from her thoughts, “I’m not the most sociable person, either. I imagine a tour of Karzahni could have easily turned someone like me into someone a lot like him.”

“I don’t blame him, but I don’t trust him either,” finishing her work, Trina switched back to her usual mask and sat down across from Pira, “Which is why I lied earlier when I said we didn’t get anything useful from the Archives.”

She reached for where her weapons were sheathed on her back and pulled out a cloth-wrapped bundle of her own. Unfurling it revealed a tool Pira didn’t recognise, an ornate golden staff.

“Icthilos claims this is the Staff Of Artakha,” she tapped the head of the staff against Pira’s shoulder, and a wave of restorative energy washed over her, repairing the lingering damage to her armour that Ilton hadn’t already seen to, “And it certainly seems to work as advertised.”

“Fancy. What about the Mask Of Time?”

“Icthilos said they didn’t find it, but not much else. He didn’t say how he got the staff, either. I think- I don’t know. Vhalem said Icthilos was separated from you guys for a while. I think something happened to him down there.”

“I wouldn’t know, sorry. I was alone with Widrek for most of that.”

“Widrek’s the one who hurt you?”

“Him and the Rahkshi. But… I expect Rahkshi to try to kill me, you know? With Widrek, I wasn’t ready for it. I mean, I always knew he didn’t like me, and that’s justified. And I know he’s not himself. But-”

“-but they’re no longer the Brothers we knew,” Trina nodded, “Icthilos and I are facing the same thing with Maliss. I can’t tell if he’s stopped caring, or cares too much.”

“Same with Widrek,” Pira said. “He was so angry, but I felt like it was about something bigger… like he was taking it all out on me because he couldn’t lash out at whatever was really making him mad.” 

“We’ll find a way to fix this, I promise.”

“Well, while you’re figuring that out, I should probably admit that I lied as well. Or omitted, I guess,” she said. “I trust you, but I’m not sold on Larone.”

“Omitted what?”

“Those Kanoka weren’t the only things I found in that tunnel,” she reached for the bundle of cloth she’d used to carry the Kanoka, and unfolded it again, revealing a second, smaller bundle hidden amidst its furls. It made a sound like scraping stone as she lifted it up and unwrapped it. Inside were six squarish pieces of carved protodermis, each emblazoned with a different symbol, each warm to the touch, as if the stones were ever-so-slightly alive.

Trina’s eyes widened in surprised recognition as soon as she saw them.

“How did you get these?”

“I don’t really know. I was running from the Rahkshi, before I found Vhalem, and I felt… I don’t know how to describe it. I thought it was just an air current at first, but it was more than that. It wasn’t just air, it was Air, you know? Elemental energy. I followed it, and found these boxed up in another vault.”

She reached out towards the stones, feeling the same strange eddy of Air even now. It was like a vacuum pull, gently tugging her hand towards one of the six objects. She let her hand rest upon it, curious and confused in equal measure by the sheer amount of power she could feel roiling within it. 

“Who else knows you have these?” Trina asked urgently.

“Just you. I didn’t even tell Vhalem. Although, I suppose that Mind Reading Rahkshi might know about it as well.”

“But it didn’t take them away from you?” Trina’s brow furrowed.

“What are these things? I can feel they’re powerful just from touching them, and from the way you’re looking at them I can see they’re important. Having them on me seemed to… boost my powers, somehow. I couldn’t have saved Vhalem from his fall without it.”

“What do you know of the Toa Nuva?” Trina asked.

“I know it’s rude to answer a question with a question,” Pira grumbled, “But okay. They were the super powerful Toa, right? The ones who were destined to reawaken the Great Spirit?”

“I never got to meet them myself, but I’ve heard a lot about them since I got to Metru Nui. They were exceptionally powerful, changed by energised protodermis. Their mutation gave them new powers, but also new weaknesses. Their Elemental Energies weren’t contained by their bodies like ours are. Instead, their powers were tied to objects that the Matoran called Nuva Symbols. These symbols.”

“But the Nuva are dead, aren’t they?”

“They never returned from Karda Nui,” Trina sighed, “And even if they survived the Makuta and the energy storms, from what I hear they would have been powerless for as long as these stones were in enemy hands.”

“So probably no chance of these super Toa coming back to save us?”

“Probably not.”

“But if these stones still have power, maybe there’s a way we can access them? It sounds like I was already able to, to some extent.”

Pira sat up straighter, suddenly reinvigorated. Small thought it was, this discovery felt like a vindication of everything she’d ever had to do to survive. She’d been belittled and vilified more times than she could account for scavenging, and now she was being told she’d incidentally picked up a game-changing power boost for six of their members.

Trina stared at her for a few moments, searching for something in Pira’s excited eyes. Seemingly satisfied, she pushed the cluster of stones back towards Pira.

“Keep them safe, and only tell people you trust. I’ll tell Icthilos, but no one else.”

“You’re leaving them with me? I’m not sure that I’m the right person for something this import-”

“I’ve had a hard time believing in Destiny lately, but I do believe there was a reason that you were the one to find these,” Trina said, standing up and stepping away, “You make it sound like they called to you, so keep listening. Maybe they have something else to say.”

It's great getting all of these insights into the development of sets and story. I've already seen a few of the talented 3D-modellers in the community replicating some of these prototype parts. 

IC: T'harrak - Fort Razorfish;Vaa 

She stayed silent throughout the story, growing a newfound appreciation for the level of trust he was putting in her, given what the last tinkerer he'd worked with had put him through. She didn't imagine this Syntax would enjoy a long, fruitful existence if Sohmak ever caught up with him again. 

"I'll need some time, but I should be able to help," she said, nodding. If the tools of the guy who'd made it weren't enough to take the device apart, she doubted her own would be able to do the job. But there were other methods she could employ: some kind of lubricant to loosen the bolts, or perhaps a mild chemical acid to eat through them... worse-case scenario, the application of some very small, precise explosives ought to do the job, though that was best left as a last resort. "Let me know when's a good time for you. It might take a while."

@Techn0geist

IC: T'harrak - Fort Razorfish;Vaa

"I think we're past the point of asking for favours," she laughed lightly. "We're in this together. What do you need?" 

@Techn0geist

IC: T’harrak – Fort Razorfish;Vaa

"'bout Jojax... you should check up on 'er. Weren't givin' anythin' away when we chatted earlier. Dunno if she 'members how she got back. I feel it though, she's hurtin' somewhere, 'er body or 'er pride. Call it fighter's...in-tu-i-tion. Guess all's a bit like that..."

T’harrak flinched at the mention of Jojax. The memory of calling the retreat, knowing she was leaving Jojax, Zanakra, Ahuum, and so many others behind was still fresh in her mind. A small, selfish part of her almost wished that Jojax hadn’t managed to catch up with them. Instead of the friend she should have been overjoyed to see alive, all T’harrak saw when she looked at Jojax was a reminder of her own shame.

Her gauntleted hands tightened around the weathered stone of the battlement before her, inadvertently leaving a fine crust of crystal on the stonework as her tension activated them. She pulled her hands back with a wince, letting them fall to her sides.

 "She ain't trust me easy, on 'count of the needlin'. Stakes were lower then, right? Now I'm boss, well, you're—anyway, we gotta get 'er on side. Say what ya gotta, she'll listen to ya." 

What did Sohmak think she could do that he couldn’t? He was a warrior. He understood these things better than T’harrak herself ever could. What was she supposed to-

"Our deal stays hush, 'course. Guess I'm a hypocrite like that."

“It’s uh… not as hush as you think,” T’harrak said, leaping at the chance to change the subject. “Gashril caught up with me earlier, said she overheard us.”

It wasn’t technically a lie, but it was far from the whole truth. Though Sohmak had given her no cause to distrust him, she was still unsure how much he could be trusted with. T’harrak didn’t want to burden him with grand ambitions she herself hadn’t yet decided whether or not to pursue.

The cancerous mass of disgust and guilt that was already gnawing at her grew hungrier.

She’d been “leader” for all of an hour and she was already making decisions about what secrets to keep from who.

“It seems like she agrees with our current… arrangement. She said that she’ll keep it to herself, at least for now.”

@Techn0geist

IC: T'harrak - Fort Razorfish;Vaa

“Obviously I’m not saying we should ban Sarke or anything like that,” T’harrak quickly amended, already imagining the rioting that would result from such an announcement. “But you haven’t seen the way these guys would fight when they had nothing better to do with their time. They’d leave the courtyard and each other completely wrecked. Before you got here yesterday, Jojax smashed a guy into the ground so hard that last I heard, he was still unconscious. I haven’t thought to check up on his condition today.”

She followed Sohmak to the other side, her gaze drifting down towards the courtyard, its cobblestones marred with the cracks and craters of countless “friendly” sparring sessions. “Stress relief… practice… it all has its place, but not when it leaves our own people unable to fight.”

At his last question, she just laughed. “I've done my share of training, but Sarke... willingly trapping myself in an enclosed space with muscle-bound brutes who like breaking each other's faces for fun? No thanks.”

@Techn0geist

IC: T'harrak - Fort Razorfish;Vaa

"Think about what happened back at Fort Garsi," T'harrak said, excitement creeping into her voice despite the grim subject matter. "They'd sculpted the terrain, turned the whole thing into a trap. We took the path of least resistance up to their doorstep, and they were able to drop the entire hillside on top of us." 

She gestured out towards the sea of greenery. "We can't do quite the same thing they did, but we can still use all of these resources to our advantage. Stone for barricades and fortifications, wood for ships and catapults... and getting our warriors out there mining rock and felling trees will leave them less inclined to sit around clobbering each other for fun." 

@Techn0geist

IC: T’harrak – Fort Razorfish;Vaa

Sohmak found T’harrak perched on the parapet, already in the midst of using a spyglass to peer out across the island. Her gaze wasn’t directed towards the shore or the sea, but inland, towards the foliage-shrouded peaks that dominated most of the landmass.

She let out a startled yelp at the sound of his voice, so engrossed in her investigation that she hadn’t heard his approach.

“Nothing that I didn’t already know about,” she replied, turning towards him. “But what happened yesterday got me thinking. Fort Garsi used the terrain to their advantage. We should be doing the same. There's so much on this island we can use." 

@Techn0geist

Chapter 24 – Reunion

From the notes of Chronicler Crisda.

Unity is an easy thing to hold up and talk about, but it’s a far harder thing to make manifest. The Matoran who now live in Metru Nui came from different lands, have endured different struggles, cling to different traditions, and are unified only by a common disdain for their oppressor.

But beneath the floor of that flimsy alliance are deep divides that I fear could reopen at any moment and swallow us all up.

Unified through their shared experiences on Xia, united in their cause to protect all Matoran, the Toa are free from these petty divisions.

But our Turaga are not.

* * *

Trina

“Icthilos, we’ve got-” Trina slowed her pace as she realised the stone cage now stood empty, “What happened? Where’s Mal?”

“He used his powers to get his Kanohi back,” Icthilos grumbled.

“No! I should’ve moved it further away. I’m sor-”

“It’s fine. If we left him there long enough he probably could’ve made himself a new mask anyway. It’s hard to keep a Fe-Toa contained.”

“Speaking of which, Ilton’s just arrived. With company.”

“Vhalem? Pira?”

The hope in his voice cut Trina to her heartstone.

“There’s still been no sign of them, I’m sorry. It’s a Turaga named Larone. Apparently he’s been leading something of a Matoran resistance.”

“Larone… he was something of a troublemaker, wasn’t he? Before we left, I mean.”

“He had a reputation for going against the grain. People liked to say he always disagreed with the rest of the council just for the sake of disagreeing.”

“If he was brave enough to keep being the voice of dissent after Vhel’s takeover, then he sounds like someone we’d want on our side. He might be able to help us with our Suva problem, too.” 

The problem he was referencing was that of the Suva that had once belonged to the Toa team of Xia, which the Vortixx had defaced and disabled sometime after killing its owners. The Toa army had recovered it relatively early on in the Xian campaign, but despite extensive efforts, they’d never been able to get it working again. Still, the Toa had taken it with them when they’d fled Xia; it was still in one of the ships on Le-Metru’s shore, being too big to easily relocate.

With the Suva in Ga-Metru’s Great Temple being firmly in enemy hands, the Xian Suva had suddenly become far more valuable.  

“Oh, I’d forgotten about that. Good idea.”

“Probably the only one I’ve had today,” he grumbled, gesturing for her to lead on.

As the two of them made their way across the Moto-Hub to the growing gathering of Toa and Turaga who had come to greet the newcomers, they were approached by a short female Onu-Toa clad in black and yellow. Behind her Mask Of Possibilities, her expression was a worried one, and the way she bee-lined straight for Icthilos made her intent all too clear.

“Sorry to bother you, I just… haven’t been able to get answers from anyone else.”

She was a Toa Trina recognised, though not one she knew personally. Still, she knew enough to guess what she was going to ask. She was Ithnen, another of the Xian Matoran transformed by Savnu’s scheming. More importantly, she was known to be a long-time friend of Vhalem’s, from well before they’d both been turned into Toa.

“I don’t know where he is, I’m sorry,” Icthilos said, reaching the same conclusion as Trina had. “Savnu was injured, and my focus was on getting her to the surface. Vhalem separated from us to search for Pira.”

“But you’re going back to look for him, right?” She said, though the question was scarcely asked before she hurriedly corrected her mistake. “Sorry, I mean look for them?”

“When we can, yes. Right now, Onu-Metru is crawling with Vahki and members of Vhel’s Hagah team. Going back there now will only end in violence.”

“I- very well,” she said, her expression settling into one of grim resolve as she started to turn away.

“Stop,” Icthilos said firmly, “I know that face. It’s the same expression Vhalem had when he decided to go after Pira.”

“Two missing Toa is two too many,” Trina said. “Please don’t become a third.”

For the first few seconds, Ithnen didn’t say anything. Her fists clenched at her sides, before gradually relaxing. “I understand.”

And then she continued on her way, leaving the two older Toa alone once more.

“She won’t be the only one,” Icthilos said, “And I’m not sure Savnu’s in any condition to talk down her brood if they try something stupid.”

“We weren’t all that different at their age,” Trina pointed out.

“But the universe is very different now. There’s no room for recklessness.”

“I’m going to pretend very hard that you of all people didn’t just say that.”

“I thought you two were coming to find me,” Ilton’s jovial voice cut into their conversation, “After how long you’ve already kept me waiting, it’s kind of rude to force me to come find you.”

“I’m sorry, Brother,” Icthilos bumped fists with him, “There’s been a lot going on.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“It’s great to see you, Ilton, but should you really be here?” Trina asked, giving voice to a question that was undoubtedly on the minds of many, “I’m sure you don’t need me to explain to you that Makuta and Fe-Toa haven’t historically had the best relationship.”

“And that makes me your best weapon to deal with this one, doesn’t it?”

“On the one hand, yes. On the other, your presence might… exacerbate things.”

“Inversely, he might make for an effective deterrent,” Icthilos said. “The enemy are obsessed with keeping the Matoran working, which means they might actually be even more reluctant to start a war than we are. Word of today’s fight probably never made it to the general populace, which means Rost and his cronies can get away with basically pretending it didn’t happen. I think they’ll wait to see what our next move is before they risk being publicly seen as the first to strike.”

He had a point, Trina realised. If Vhel and his followers were truly telling the truth about the importance of the Matoran’s work, stopping it could spell the end for everyone. They weren’t going to do anything to disrupt the workflow if they could avoid it. Of course, that then raised the troubling question of how much “liberating” the Toa could do. There was no disputing the fact that the Matoran were being overworked right now, but there was also no denying the fact that workers were needed to keep heat and electricity flowing through the city.

No matter how one looked at the situation, the Matoran were the key to their own freedom. In an ideal universe, a few simple worker strikes might have been enough to change things, but between the Vahki and Mesmers the occupying force had ample ways to force people to get back to work.

“We have to make sure that whatever we do next, we don’t miss,” Ilton said. “Do we have a plan?”

“I think I have part of an idea,” Trina spoke up. “We can discuss it later. I want to hear from this Turaga of yours.”

“And I’m eager to hear from all of you,” came a new, laboured voice, as the wizened figure of Turaga Larone approached them. “I take it that you two are the ones in charge?”

“We govern by consensus,” Trina answered quickly, cutting off what would likely have been a more lacklustre or uncertain response from her companions, “Though, yes, since most of our other elder Toa are incapacitated or absent, Icthilos and I are the main decision-makers.” 

“For better or worse,” Icthilos muttered.

“Incapacitated?” Larone asked. “I heard when I arrived that you attempted an incursion into Onu-Metru this morning. It didn’t go well?”

“One Toa injured, two missing,” Trina said, “But we have a prisoner.”

“Maliss, I was told,” Larone nodded approvingly, “A Doom Viper on two legs, that one. Best to dispose of him before he escapes.”

“He already did,” Trina replied, doing her best not to react to the Turaga’s unexpectedly grim suggestion, “Our prisoner is Bihriis, a Ce-Toa who switched sides.” 

“Dispose of him?” Icthilos didn’t share Trina’s reservations, raising his voice and taking a step towards the twisted Turaga, “Insult them all you wish, but you would be wise not to speak of murdering Toa in the presence of other Toa. They may have been led astray, but they are still our Brothers and Sisters.”

“Sentiment,” Larone scoffed, “But very well. I’m the one coming here to ask for your help, after all.”

“I’m told you’re the leader of a local resistance. What’s your group like?”

“A hundred or so Matoran who’ve evacuated from the city over the past few months. They’re living in caves on the Great Barrier. We have airships and weapons, but not enough numbers to make any meaningful impact.”

“I imagine you have sympathisers in the city as well?” Trina asked, “Forgive the insult, but in your condition I can’t picture you being personally involved in getting people out of the city.”

“Many are resentful of the Makuta’s rule. Less are willing to do something about it. Far too many Matoran have been willing to sit back and pray for someone else to come and save them… and now here you are.”

He sounded almost irritated.

Trina glanced at Ilton, trying to read his expression. He was usually a good judge of character, and he’d spent the most time with this Turaga. Right now, his face revealed only the barest hints of disapproval; his eyes slightly narrowed, his mouth curled into the beginnings of a frown.

“Yes, we are,” Icthilos stepped back, folding his arms across his chest, “You know more about the situation on the ground than we do, so what do we need to know?”

“As you’ve probably surmised by now, Makuta Vhel and his Odinans control the Coliseum and the generator beneath it. What you might not have realised yet is that Rost and the three Toa Hagah don’t operate out of the Coliseum most of the time. They serve as provincial governors of sorts, each controlling a Metru of their own.”

“Who oversees which Metru?”

“Dhozoh rules Onu-Metru, Turaga Rost Po-Metru, Tuxar Ga-Metru, and Maliss Ta-Metru. Each of them commands a protective force of Vahki, Odinans, and Matoran sympathisers.”

“They were working together this morning, but they had advance warning of our arrival,” Icthilos said thoughtfully, “Hypothetically, if we were to launch some kind of surprise attack in one Metru, how likely are we to face reinforcements from the others?”

“It depends on where you strike. Tuxar is overconfident and proud, and unlikely to call for aid. But Maliss is pragmatic and thorough; he wouldn’t hesitate to call in an overwhelming force of reinforcements just to be on the safe side.”

“That sounds like Mal,” disdain weighed down Icthilos’ words.

“What about Rost?” Trina asked.

The more she thought about the predicament of the Matoran, the more she came to feel that the key to victory was controlling the population. Of all the key resources the enemy was holding to ransom, workers were the one thing they needed above all else.

“The Regent is a Nui-Jaga among Bog Snakes. A formidable beast, to be sure, but one outnumbered by more like-minded predators. The Hagah may not all see eye-to-eye, but Rost is still an outsider amongst them. Though he rules over them, for now, they still view him as a lesser.”

“Good, we can use that.”

“You have a plan, Sister?”

“The beginnings of one. We can-” She broke off as cheers rose up from the group still gathered by the door.

She spotted a De-Toa running towards the door and waved him over, “What can you hear? What’s going on?”

“They’re back,” he said, beaming.

“Back? Who?”

“Pira and Vhalem.”

Some quick context: when Duckbricks recently visited Christian Faber, he received more than 200 GBs of preliminary documents about Bionicle, Hero Factory, and other Lego themes. There’s story outlines, prototype images, and a lot of other interesting stuff. From what he’s said on his Discord, there’s a lot of content in there that’s still confidential or sensitive, so he’s slowly working through it all to figure out what he’s allowed to share. He’s been releasing some select screenshots of the safe content on his Discord in the meantime, so I thought I’d compile some of the HF info that’s been revealed so far.

 

Rocka’s true role:

• At one point, the Breakout storyline was going to reveal that “Daniel Rocka” is actually an alias used by Hero Recon team leader Merrick Fortis to conceal his true identity when he goes out on missions.
• IMO, this would have worked so much better than the story we got, where it's randomly revealed that this nobody rookie was inducted into the black ops branch offscreen. Revealing that he was actually an experienced Hero operating undercover all along would have fixed so many of the problems I had with Rocka.

 

The Villain Factory:

There seem to be a lot of different variations of plans for an evil antithesis to the Hero Factory.

• One version features a villain named Kashtar/Kashtra Khan using a factory on his planet to create and send out “Villain Qores” embedded in jellyfish-like creatures. Upon landing on a planet, these creatures would incorporate surrounding materials from their environment to make bodies for themselves and gain elemental powers, in what appears to be a very early version of what would ultimately become Brain Attack. This storyline also includes a whole complex backstory revealing that Makuro (referred to interchangeably in the document as Makura and Makuta) was originally leader of the "shadow people", with Khan being his jealous brother who took over leadership and waged a war against the "light people". 
• Another concept reveals that Von Nebula was the one who received the Hero Factory plans after the Breakout, and used them to create a Villain Factory. He then manufactured battalions of “anti-heroes” who invade and destroy Makuhero City.
• My personal favourite, which would have tied Hero Factory directly to Bionicle, was the reveal that Mr Makuro was a/the Makuta, and secretly operated a Villain Factory beneath the Hero Factory. For every Hero that was produced, a villain was also made, giving Makuta total control of both supply and demand.

 

Other reveals:

• Mark Surge at one point had Daron as his first name.
• Similarly, Natalie Breeze was going to have Julie as her first name.
• At various points in development, Black Phantom was known as Warr Lord, Over-Lord, and Over-Lorde. This was changed to avoid being too similar to Fire Lord. 
• This is somewhat speculation on my part, but it looks like Fire Lord and Black Phantom may have originally been the same character at some point, or were at least based on the same initial design. A lot of the prototypes for the Warr Lord/Over-Lord characters show him with more red in his colourscheme, horns on his head, and similar jetpacks on his back as the Fire Lord set had. This might also explain why their builds are so similar.
• The Breakout storyline was originally going to have a more gritty, serious vibe to it, with the document directly comparing the cat-and-mouse game between Rocka and Black Phantom to Die Hard.
• A villain called Madminder would have featured in the Breakout storyline.
• Breakout would have featured two new heroes referred to as "Veteran" and "Razor". 
• Bulk was originally going to face a villain called Terra-Quaker during Breakout.
• Core Hunter was originally called Head-Hunter and had a very different colourscheme.
• Jawblade was originally called Depth-Charge and had a blue colourscheme with a much more humanoid design. One document says he would have had a power that allowed him to inject a virus into “both people and computers”.
• In different documents, Toxic Reapa is referred to as Plaque-Reaper and Plague Reaper. At one point, he too is stated to have a virus-related ability, with his effecting robots.
• Voltix was at one point called Kill-Switch.
• Thornraxx was originally hyphenated as Thorn-Raxx
• Splitface was originally called Brute-Force
• XT4 was originally called Breakdown.

One common detail that keeps cropping up is that HF was – similar to Bionicle – originally going to develop a darker tone and overarching storyline as it went on. Unfortunately, it looks like a lot of these interconnected concepts got dumbed down into standalone stories like Brain Attack and Invasion from Below.

This stuff appears to be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of lost HF content, so I’m excited to see what other reveals come out when Duckbricks finishes going through everything.

3 hours ago, Lenny7092 said:

As for Lego Customer Service, I think they can somehow understand what I’m talking about.

As Master Inika said, that is not what customer service is for. At best, you'll receive a copy-pasted "thank you for your message" response. If you want to put your feedback where it might get actionable results, try review sites or discussion forums. 

3 hours ago, Lenny7092 said:

I don’t know how else we can let Lego know what we want from Ninjago’s story. It’s not easy. If we don’t speak up, we can’t make things perfect for the story. 

I feel like I see this kind of attitude more and more often from people on the internet these days.

You can't make anything. You aren't part of the writer's room. You aren't a producer or executive whose word can effect things. You're a viewer. The only power you have is that you can choose whether you want to consume the content, or not.

The show is being made for you, yes, but only in the general sense. You are just one among thousands, maybe millions, of people viewing the show, each with their own hopes and opinions about where the story should go next. The people who make the decisions aren't going to bend over backwards to alter plans that were probably made years ago to cater to the whims of one random person on the internet. This sense of entitlement and ownership that many "fans" seem to have for their favourite franchises, this belief so many people have that their personal vision of what the story should be is "perfect" and that anything that doesn't cater to their exact specific theories or whims is a failure, is a big part of why so many fandoms are considered toxic these days. 

My advice? Just sit back and enjoy the show. It's meant to be entertainment, so let it entertain you. Let it excite you. Let it disappoint you. Let it surprise you. Nothing is ever going to be able to perfectly appeal to everyone who watches it. Twisting something away from its original vision to suit your own will just ruin it for others. 

5 minutes ago, Master Inika said:

I really am invested in this story, and it's impressive how consistently you've been updating it. This is really shaping up to be actual publishable book-level, in terms of both length and quality. It's always impressed me how much fanfiction authors are willing to go for projects they know they can't actually sell or fully claim as "theirs."

I've been wanting to become a proper published author since 2009. I've lost count of the number of manuscripts I've sent to publishers over the past fifteen years, and so far I haven't been successful. Suffice to say, that got pretty stressful and depressing after a while, especially when 2020 hit and compounded those feelings. I looked back on some old Bionicle RPGs, remembered how much fun I'd had when there were no serious expectations or financial pressures involved, and decided to put together some old character and story concepts to create this project.

The reason the releases have been so regular is because the whole thing (including the next five "books") are already completely written, edited, proofread, and revised. Something I'd noticed with other projects released here is that when the creators are writing as they go, there'll sometimes be big time gaps between chapters, or the author will go back and revise/rewrite everything that came before. I wanted to put in the time beforehand to be able to provide a more consistent experience. 

5 minutes ago, Master Inika said:

(A slight thing, is there any particular reason you capitalize "Of" in proper nouns? I've never heard that recommended before and I personally find it somewhat distracting, especially since everything else seems formatted properly. I only mention it now because there were so many proper nouns with "Of" in this chapter.)

I'm weird and dumb and don't like having a lowercase word in the middle of uppercase ones. It just looks wrong to me, somehow. (I'm well aware that this habit flies in the face of all conventional education).

5 minutes ago, Master Inika said:

Chapter 21 was powerful. Even though none of it is really "new" information to us longtime fans, we've gotten to know Ichthilos so well it feels like it's new information to us, framed as it is as unnatural instead of awe-inspiring like it is in canon. I am again perceiving the Lovecraftian influence of Greg's writing allowed to fully spread its depressing, existential wings.

This is still one of my favourite chapters of the entire story. I was always kind of disappointed by how characters in canon reacted to these huge reveals.

Obviously everyone was running for their lives and trying to stay free during Teridax's reign, and the 2010 storyline was rushed to reach the giant robot fight, but I always found it weird how everyone kind of just took the giant robot reveal in stride and didn't dwell on the world-changing existential implications of the whole thing. So I really wanted to explore that angle in this story. 

Chapter 23 – A Matter Of Perspective

From the notes of Chronicler Crisda.

While most of the Toa were gone, those that remained forced me to wait near Maliss, where his guard could easily keep an eye on me. Though I wasn’t made to stay in a cell as he was, we were both prisoners. If something went wrong for the Toa out in the field, suspicion and blame would undoubtedly fall on me, as the person who had pleaded for the Toa to act.

I sat there quietly for a time, updating my notes. It was Maliss who broke the silence.

“What happened to your vow of neutrality, Chronicler?” He asked, his tone accusatory. “The privileges you enjoy come with a price, or did you forget that?”

“I tell stories. That’s all I did. I guess they didn’t like what they heard.”

“Turaga Rost won’t like what I have to say, either.”

It wasn’t so much his words that gave me chills, but the confidence with which they were spoken. As if his escape was a certainty, beyond question or challenge.

“What do you have to say, then?” I asked him. “You and the rest of the Hagah have always refused my requests for interviews. Is there anything you want me to record for posterity?”

“No. You and your scribblings have no place in the world to come. None of us do.”

He didn’t say anything else, and I was glad of it.

* * *

Icthilos

“I’m fine,” Icthilos insisted, brushing off any attempts to assist him as he made his way back into the Moto-Hub. “See to Savnu.”

He spotted two Toa carrying Bihriis in on a stretcher, and waved for them to stop as he approached, “Tend to her wounds, but don’t give her a Kanohi. Secure her in one of the side rooms, with at least four guards at all times. I’m not sure if she still has the strength to try to mind control someone in her condition, and I’m in no hurry to find out.”

“We’re imprisoning our own?” Trina asked, joining him.

“Until we figure out what to do with her, yes,” he turned back to the stretcher-bearers, “Have the guards wear Suletus. Instruct them to bombard her with mental noise until her defences are drained, but make sure they don’t actually try to read her mind.”

“That’s… almost torture,” Trina protested.

“It’s necessary. Once her elemental reserves are exhausted she won’t be a threat.”

“You’re skirting a dangerous line, Brother.”

“I’m well aware,” he nodded for the stretcher-bearers to continue on their way, before he turned back to Trina, “Any word of Vhalem or Pira?”

“Not since the last time you asked, no. I’m sure there are plenty of Toa here who’d be willing to make a foray into the Archives if-”

“Now who’s being reckless?” Icthilos asked, sighing, “From what we saw on our first night, the Rahkshi aren’t in the habit of taking prisoners. If they haven’t been able to rescue themselves, then there’s nothing left of them to rescue.”

He hoped they were alive, more than he’d hoped for anything in a long time. But even if they were still alive against all odds, trying to get to them would put even more lives at risk.

“I’m sorry,” Trina said, gently putting her hand on his shoulder, “This is my fault. I was the one who suggested that you take Pira with you.”

“She would’ve volunteered if given the chance,” he said, shaking his head, “And from what Savnu says, if Pira hadn’t kept Widrek distracted for a while he might have just buried all of them.”

“Them? Not us?”

“I was… separated from them.”

“What happened to you down there?”

“I’ll tell you when I’m ready. For now, I want you to have this,” he handed her the golden staff that Makuta Vhel had allowed him to take, “I have reason to believe this is the Staff Of Artakha. It repaired my armour, see what else it can do.”

“At least you didn’t come back empty-handed,” Trina muttered, turning the tool around in her hands to inspect it from all angles, “What will you be doing?”

“Speaking with our Brother.”

* * *

Vhalem

“Hey. Hey!” Vhalem awoke to sharp whispers in his ear and a firm hand shaking his shoulder, “Come on, wake up, please!”

“Ungh…”

For the first few seconds, Vhalem wasn’t sure if he’d managed to open his eyes or not. What lay beyond his eyelids was every bit as dark as what was behind them. But a few small pinpricks of dim light filtered into view as his eyes adjusted; the greenish glow of Pira’s eyes and heartlight as she leaned over him, trying to shake him awake.

“I’m here,” he groaned, trying to sit up. “Wherever here is.” He could feel rock and dirt under his hands, and a curved wall at his back.

“Still in the Archives,” Pira whispered, sitting down beside him. Her voice was laboured, every word an effort, and she winced as she moved.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“Widrek. Then Rahkshi. Turns out they can see in the dark just fine.”

“You’re hurt?”

“A few burns and stab wounds… hard to tell how bad it is. And I think one of my hands is broken.”

“What happened?”

“To me or you?”

“Both, I guess.”

“Widrek pulled the earth out from under the room I was in, dropped me through… I don’t know how many levels. I got attacked by some Rahkshi, managed to get into the elevator shaft, and then you nearly fell on me. The Rahkshi were climbing up after me, so I opened the first door I found and here we are. Not sure what level we’re on now.”

“Karzahni… and here I was trying to rescue you.”

“You’ll have your chance,” she replied, “There’s Rahkshi in the levels below us, probably on this level as well. And I’m guessing the rest of team bad guy is upstairs waiting for us to come up?”

“Probably. Assuming they haven’t already written us off.” 

“Any chance of a rescue?”

“I doubt it. Savnu was hurt pretty bad. And I don’t really know what’s up with Icthilos. He looked… shaken. I’ve never seen him that way. Not even last night when he was talking about his Brother trying to kill him.”

“I’m getting the impression that we’re out of our league here,” Pira sighed.

“Seems that way,” Vhalem began carefully patting himself down, searching for any signs of damage or injury. Beyond his aching head from where Widrek had pummelled him, he felt fine. “Should we try to get out of here, then?”

“We should-”

Pira broke off at a sound from somewhere in the darkness. Heavy footfalls, accompanied by the clack of shifting faceplates and the slithery hiss of a Kraata.

Rahkshi.

* * *

Icthilos

Icthilos stood alone, just few bio across from the stone cell were Maliss was caged. He’d sent Crisda and the guards off to make themselves busy elsewhere, ensuring everyone else was out of earshot before he dared speak to his twisted sibling.

“I met your Makuta.”

“And he showed you the truth. I see it in your eyes, the burden of knowledge,” Maliss replied, “So why am I still caged?”

Icthilos blinked at him, incredulous. “Why would I let you out? Your new friends just tried to kill us today. You threatened to do the same.”

“Surely you understand why, now? You’re not still clinging to the Matoran’s petty plea for defiance, are you?”

“You think some insane slideshow of ancient history is going to make me abandon everything I stand for?”

Somehow, despite the borderline absurdity of the visions he’d been given, he couldn’t bring himself to doubt their veracity. The history he’d seen had been too detailed, too complete and complex, to be any mere illusion. He was willing to believe that some of it could have been embellished or misrepresented, but there was no pretending there wasn’t some truth to it. Makuta’s rage had been too real. But even now that he’d been shown the same things his fellow Toa had, Icthilos still couldn’t understand the choices they’d made in response to it.

“What you stand for is nothing,” Maliss hissed, “You are nothing. We are nothing.”

“Why? What does this change? We always knew we were made by a greater power. We always knew we had a Duty.”

“But we aren’t real. We’re just machines, maintaining an even larger machine.”

“Maybe we were, once. But clearly we’ve become more than that.”

“We’re less.” Maliss rose to his feet, snarling at Icthilos through the bars. “Mistakes. Malfunctions. Those real beings out there are the only ones who matter.”

“Oh, please!” Icthilos scoffed, “You don’t give a Karz about those creatures. You’re not doing this for some lofty higher purpose.”

“Then why am I doing it?”

“You abandoned your Duty for the same reason I cling so strongly to mine. Because it hurts. Everything we suffered, everyone we lost… but where I kept fighting, you sought an excuse to shut everyone out and pretend you don’t care.”

“I don’t.”

“I think you do, though. Vhel is using this vision to make you all believe that everything you’ve ever done is for nothing, and that sense of futility… I can’t begin to imagine how much that must hurt.”

“Why?” Maliss’ hand gripped tightly at the bars of the cage, ““How do you not feel the same way?”

“Because that’s the way I’ve lived my life, Brother. You know that. I can’t accept… I don’t know how to… it has to have meaning. Everything. Always.”

“But it doesn’t. It was all pointless, a distraction from our true purpose, from the true beings we’re supposed to save.”

“You honestly think our lives are worth less than those… stupid savages, squabbling in the sand? They fought each other to destroy their world, but we have always fought together to save ours. At least, we used to.”

“We’re just as savage. Did you not pay attention to the vision? Our species has spread through this universe like a plague, carving our mark into every corner of creation.”

“No,” Icthilos scoffed. “I know that part wasn’t real. Our people have always been everywhere. That’s why it’s called the Matoran Universe.”

“Says who? The Turaga? The Chroniclers?” Maliss sneered.

“Isn’t Vhel’s entire argument that Matoran were designed to be workers, to run this giant machine?”

“Exactly. So of course there’d be Matoran in the cities like Xia, Artakha, and Metru Nui. But what purpose do the settlements across the other continents serve? Where’s there’s nothing for them to build or maintain? The places where the Matoran just exist, like the villages we lived in?”

“I don’t claim to be all-knowing. But there has to be a purpose to-”

“There is no purpose. We made more of ourselves because we wanted to. We expanded for the sake of expanding.”

“So? It’s a big world. There’s room for-”

“This world doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me.”

“So, what? You’d abandon the Duty you were designed for because you think you’re better than our makers? When we find the Great Spirit and return him to power, you’ll see how he rewards those who stayed true to their Duties.”

“My Duty is to the Matoran. Theirs is to the Great Spirit. Repairing that shattered world is Mata Nui’s problem, not ours. But he’s gone, and he’s never coming back.”

“You can’t…” Maliss cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowing as he tried to make sense of Icthilos’ expression, “…you know something.”

“I know this world is enough for me. I know these people matter to me. I know-”

“-I’ve heard enough.”

Icthilos heard something splash behind him as Maliss made a beckoning gesture with his hand. As Icthilos whirled towards the noise, he saw a puddle of black protodermis slithering across the floor like a serpent, originating from one of the crates nearby. The liquid metal slipped into the cage and crawled up Maliss’ body before reshaping and solidifying onto his face in the familiar shape of his Kanohi.

“I’ll see you soon, Brother,” Maliss smiled, before vanishing into shadow.

“Don’t-”

He was already gone.

Maliss knew him too well.

But he didn’t know everything.

Icthilos needed to get back to Ko-Metru, to figure out for certain if his suspicion was correct.

IC: Avinus - Streets of Tajun

"No way to know for sure until the matches start," Avinus replied. "One thing's for sure: a lot of 'em are wonderin' the same thing as you right now." 

@Emzee

IC: T’harrak – Fort Razorfish;Vaa

“Thanks,” she said again, nodding at Gashril before turning away and continuing on towards the armoury.

Praise and promises pursued her the entire way, the whispered words of her newfound confidantes seeming to taunt her as they echoed endlessly inside her stunned skull.

The ambition and eagerness she’d felt earlier was fading fast, replaced by an overwhelming sense of panic and bewilderment. It was too much, too quickly. Yesterday, her biggest concern had been making sure the Najin dust she manufactured was stable and safe to handle. Now she had responsibilities and secrets, the future of the entire fort in her hands, and her own fate resting upon the whims of two far stronger Skakdi who undoubtedly had agendas of their own.

It felt like a dream. Or a nightmare. She kept expecting to wake up back outside Fort Garsi at any moment, drowning in the mud and blood. Her encounters with Sohmak and Gashril were surely nothing more than the deluded illusions of a dying mind, born from T’harrak’s own feelings of being powerless and unappreciated. But after pinching her arm several times as she walked, the world around her remained unchanged.

This was her new, ridiculous reality.

She entered the armoury and slammed the door behind her, firmly shutting out the rest of the world. She slumped against the coarse wood, her breaths coming short and shaky, her hands curled into white-knuckled fists. There was too much to think about: preparing to fend off a potential reprisal from Fort Garsi, coming up with a way to expand the Fort’s influence without getting Skakdi senselessly slaughtered, trying to help Gashril with her goals… where was she supposed to start?

Relax. Focus. She screwed her eyes shut, trying to steady herself. Short-term goals. Keep your mind busy.

“Take inventory,” she muttered, reminding herself why she’d come here in the first place. She opened her eyes, and looked around the room. “What do I have? What can I use?”

She didn’t need to make a full count to know the Fort still had plenty of Najin dust. Aside from some spare rockets for the Cordak launcher, Zanakra hadn’t taken anything from the supply of projectiles and powder. The launcher itself was gone, though, either destroyed or in Fort Garsi’s hands by now. Also lost was the Eccentric Rock that Ahuum had taken. The Firework Revolver was missing as well, but was hopefully still in Jojax’s possession. Only the Lightstone Rifle remained hanging on the wall. The other weapons arrayed around the room weren’t anything especially impressive, just simple blades and launchers, in varying states of disrepair. Most warriors kept their preferred tools on their person; these were just spares. Still, everything had its use…

She stepped back, replaying yesterday’s events in her mind. Firepower wasn’t their problem. It was the fact that no one had used it. Aside from the opening salvo from the Cordak launcher, Zanakra’s party had engaged almost exclusively in melee tactics and elemental feats against a group of fighters who’d specialised in traps, ranged attacks, and mounted combat.

The slaughter that had followed spoke for itself.

T’harrak turned away, brow furrowed in thought. It hadn’t been Fort Garsi’s weaponry that had so effectively routed their attackers. It had been their tactics, and their use of the terrain. There was plenty to be learned from that.

Perhaps… yes, that could work! She burst out of the armoury, excitedly hurrying towards the nearest staircase that would take her up to the battlements.

The terrain was the answer to all of her problems.

The island had everything she needed.

IC: T'harrak - Fort Razorfish;Vaa

"I'll give it some thought," she said. She started to walk away, but stopped and turned back. "I appreciate your honesty, and trust. I haven't gotten a lot of that in the past... and I wasn't expecting any after how yesterday went." 

@ARROW404

IC: T'harrak - Fort Razorfish;Vaa

"Best we part ways, then," she said, once the passing Skakdi had faded from earshot. "I'm sure we'll have plenty more to discuss in future."

@ARROW404

IC: T'harrak - Fort Razorfish;Vaa

"A... bold plan," she replied, caught off-guard not just by the significance of the scheme, but Gashril's confidence that T'harrak could somehow manufacture something to assist with it. Tinkerer though she was, her expertise extended mostly to najin powder, weaponry, and boats, the three technologies that mattered most to the denizens of the island fort. 

But already, she found herself contemplating the possibilities. Reaching the lake was a non-issue; it would be easy enough to sail upriver. Reaching deeper than anyone had managed before was where the difficulty lay. She'd heard that some divers used air bladders to stay underwater longer, but surely someone would have tried that by now? Maybe- 

She forced herself to stop. This was a puzzle for the future. 

"I might recommend focusing your research on finding out where other attempts went wrong," she suggested. "Or learning more about what the Vortixx did. Assuming you haven't pursued those avenues already."

@ARROW404 

IC: T’harrak – Fort Razorfish;Vaa

A part of her was eager to ask further about the piece of evidence Gashril had mentioned. But the fact that she’d simply mentioned it in passing and not offered to show it off suggested she didn’t have it on her person, or wasn’t willing to share it.

By her own admission, Gashril didn’t have all of the answers, and wasn’t yet ready to act on what she knew. So whatever it was, wherever it was… it could wait.

T’harrak had more pressing priorities than her curiosities.

“Perhaps we should bury this for now, then,” she said. “And... see what grows?”

Metaphors were good, she decided. Vague and mysterious (especially with dramatic pauses thrown in), but with an imposing edge to them. That was nice and leader-like, wasn’t it? Zanakra had dabbled in wordplay. Sohmak had already given himself a catchphrase. Maybe metaphors would be T’harrak’s leadery thing, at least when she was speaking with the few who knew about her real role. 

“I trust you’ll keep me informed if your research… bears fruit.”

@ARROW404