Sergei Rahkmaninoff

IC: Vlad / Gym Maze It turned out to be surprisingly hard to outdo a tight grip on a weapon designed to be held one-handed with your feet while practicing your trapeze skills. Vlad was able to wrench his axe out from between Liar's feet with relatively little concern. If not for that, the razor disk would have been damaging - he had no time to dodge it, and only avoided a nasty gash by batting wildly down at it with his axe, sending it skidding along the ground behind him. He began to shake at his whip, hoping to untangle it from Kri before advancing on this new foe - - but suddenly, neither was there. Icarax's voice rang out: their team, team nine, was done. Apparently Vlad himself had the honor of first blood. The rush of battle faded quickly in the quiet alleyway, and he was filled with emptiness not unrelated to the sudden cessation of Kri's energy flowing into him. He sank to one knee, breathing heavily, as the nature of his actions began fully to weigh on him. He'd completely savaged that poor Rahkshi, indulged his hunger, chopped at her arm - broken her back!? and in the name of what, Icarax' stupid game? It was for his friends' sake, he told himself. He was fighting for the safety of Helkyrie and Garrotte and Diode. He'd joined in to protect them from dangerous maniacs... ...ones like himself? He shuddered and shook his head. Now all he could do was make sure they were okay. He picked himself up and began to walk back to the area the fight had begun in, scanning the region for his valued comrades.

IC: Thurisaz / Gym Maze His group in tow, Thurisaz had glided onto the next building, sneaking catlike to the ledge until he caught a glimpse of Booger's group below. With a devilish grin he indicated their location to his team, and they began to move into position. Aerahk and Tube crept toward the edge of the building, ranged weapons at the ready. Thurisaz himself moved to the side of the building and dropped gracefully to the floor of the alleyway, with Paladin close behind. Weapons ready, they began to slink toward the corner around which Booger's group was camped, unsuspecting... Suddenly there came a shout, the same voice as before - 'ready to fight?' Someone had been spotted - he suspected Tube. No matter, he had anticipated this anyways - it was almost as good a distraction as any. The ruby warlord whirled around the corner, loosing a crossbow bolt at the carapace of the overly optimistic Luffy and springing at Booger, trident thrust at his midsection. "Excellent idea! They'll never know what hit them!" he laughed. As he did so, Aerahk fired a crossbow bolt at Torc from his position on the building, some distance from Tube - hopefully one unexpectedly, considering the dual distractions of Tube and Thurisaz. * * * IC: Vlad / Gym Maze Vlad was still expecting an attack, if not from that direction; he saw Liar out of the corner of his eye and was able to rotate, lowering himself to brace against the floor, before the kick caught him in the shoulder and knocked him a few staggering steps toward Kri. He retaliated immediately with a savage upward swing of his axe at the offender's airborne ankle. "Oh really? Ist zat vhy you fled at zer sight of us?" Then, swallowing his guilt over participating in this barbaric game and hoping to Mata Nui that Icarax would repair a damaged spinal cord, he stomped down hard on poor, prone Kri's upper back.

Awesome! I've gotten the post up. Let's have a fight!

Hmm. I didn't intend Thurisaz' group to be within sight of (or able to see) Booger's yet, but you have a point about the waiting. I'm excited to fight too. As a compromise, let me ask you, Click, Dane, and Onaku: might I outline in my next post that Thurisaz' group has already moved into position as Thurisaz described (he and Paladin in the streets, Tube and Aerahk above) when Booger saw Tube atop the nearest roof?

Onua

IC: Gaever / Forge Gaever nodded. Her friend seemed to be a less unsettled now... if only a little. "You wished to refine your powers, yes?" she began. She was not entirely sure how to go about teaching this... but for Phantom she would try. "Perhaps this should begin with you demonstrating what you currently can do."

IC: Gaever / Forge Gaever looked down. In her excitement, she had maybe glossed over how alarming that had probably been. "Apologies," she said. "I was not expecting it either. It may not be possible to predict. But if I can, you will be warned."

Raanu

IC: Gaever / Forge "Not likely an explosion, exactly," Gaever elaborated. "A brief sort of... burst of energy. For Weather Control, I would expect winds or fog. Less dangerous than startling." * * * IC: Thurisaz / Gym Maze As he crept catlike across the top a building Thurisaz heard a Booger's not distant call. If he had ears, they would have perked up. "Hear that? Quiet now, let's sneak up on them..." he whispered to his comrades. "When we find them, I want Aerahk and Tube to spread out along an adjacent roof while Paladin and I approach on the ground. When everyone's ready, you two open fire on the ones that look most formidable, and Paladin and I will charge in while they're all distracted. After that, we'll play it by ear... Sound good?"

IC: Gaever / Forge Of course, that had probably been alarming. "All is okay," Gaever reassured her. "I just leveled up. That is..." She would have to explain. "The extent of a Rahkshi's powers are determined by their level, which is between one and seven, inclusive. Rahkshi come into being at level one, and when they have gained a critical amount of experience, their level increases. This is often accompanied by a burst of energy associated with their power. My level just increased from two to three, and that brief ignition was the accompanying burst of energy."

IC: Gaever / Forge Gaever smiled a little as she stood. "Indeed," she said, "let us - " Suddenly she was struck with a wave of feverish nausea. She staggered backwards, trying to put a safe distance between Phantom and herself, as her armor ignited, wreathing her in emerald plasma that painted the room warm and green. She stood shuddering, hands held carefully out, as the sensation turned from vertigo to vigor. She felt like she could vaporize Protosteel or tunnel through a mountain now; an inner flame seemed to have intensified. Standing tall now, she threw her hands down her cloak of plasma dissipated. She breathed deeply, and an earnest grin crossed her face. "I am now level 3," she announced, breathless and jubilant. Truly, she was not a failure after all.

IC: Vlad / Gym Maze Something about Kri's reaction wasn't right. Was she... enjoying this? The thought somehow reminded Vlad how delicious the life energy flowing into him was... not something he wanted to focus on. He realized a ravenous grin was involuntary making its way over his face, and quickly banished it. He had to disable this Rahkshi as quickly as possible. And it looked like he was the only one still fighting on the ground, so the sniper would probably be aiming at him next... Continuing to drain Kri's energy for purely pragmatic reasons, he began to strafe around Kri, hoping to complicate aiming at him by putting her between himself and the sniper - A shot rang out! The Vampire dropped hastily down to one knee, and cried out in pain as he felt something tear a hole low in one of his battered spines. The sweet vitality flowing into him from Kri mitigated the pain somewhat, at least... Not wanting to wait around and further test his dodging skills, he swung his axe up at Kri's flailing arm again as he rose (hoping not as much to sever the hand as to knock the knife from it), then yanked hard on the whip so that Kri would fall over and he could retreat, dragging her, into the relative safety of the alleyway currently behind him. * * * IC: Gaever / Forge Gaever nodded. "Agreed," she said, mildly smiling. She was not sure what advice she would give a weather control Rahk about their powers, but for Phantom, she would try. In the meantime, an axe attachment. She first constructed the attaching portion, in much the same fashion as she had before for the connector: a shaft collar of sorts, with a latch to clamp firmly in the notches of the staff. The axe part itself was actually less complicated, although getting the metal to weapons grade would take a little effort. The scraps she had were not exactly raw material - the Ghosts, weaponsmiths, had seen to that - but she could still refine it, carefully heating and folding it. The axe blade was the first part shaped and added to the connector, then a spike on the top, and thorny hook in the back. Deliberate attention was paid to its size, to ensure it would be usable on both the longer staff as a halberd end and as a war axe on a shorter staff. Finally she was satisfied with the form, and dunked it in the cool water, producing a gush and hiss of steam. Of course, it still could be sharpened; flipping a file out of one finger, she spent a few minutes applying this finishing touch. Finally, she latched it onto the long staff. "It is complete, for now," she announced. She presented it to Phantom once more. "May it protect you well."

IC: Jayar / Forest of Kaam Jayar shrugged. "Perhaps," he conceded. "We have no way to know. We've never had much chance to compare ourselves with typical low-level Rahkshi." It was something some had been interested in, but never managed, if he recalled correctly.

Gallery This MOC was intended for the preliminary round of the 2017 Bio-Cup contest on Flickr, the prompt for which was to re-imagine a Lego set in Bionicle form. I've always thought some of the coolest System sets were from Mars Mission, and the Alien Infiltrator already has sort of a humanoid silhouette, so that was a natural choice for me. Unfortunately I was too busy to finish it in time for the contest, but I still definitely wanted to finish and post it at some point. Enjoy!

Milk is approved!

IC: Vlad / Gym The Illusion Rahk's attempt to grab Kri did not escape Vlad's notice. There were several possible explanations - possibly this group had schemed to fake a VIP, or the illusion Rahkshi was just trying to protect a personal friend. But considering how quickly Illusive gave up, the latter seemed unlikely; the heated debate Vlad's own group had walked into made the possibility of an agreed-upon deception dubious. In all, Vlad calculated, odds were decent that Kri was the VIP - and anyways, she seemed an easy target. As he hastily advanced, the Vorahk lashed out with his whip once more, this time sending it swiftly sweeping toward the shins of the stuck Kri such that it would wrap around them. If it touched her, his Hunger powers channeled through the whip would begin to siphon out her energy. Then as he stepped to just beyond Kri's flailing knife he brought his battleaxe crashing down toward the hand holding it.

IC: Thurisaz / Gym Maze "Careful," Thurisaz told Tube lightly. "Don't want to make too much noise, or fall into a building." He surveyed the area from this new vantage point, listening carefully for concealed footsteps. Not surprisingly, still nothing. He lead the team onto the next building to continue the search.

IC: Vlad / Gym Maze As soon as Diode had spoken - hopefully drawing their opponents' attention - Vlad leapt in, arbitrarily lashing his chain whip horizontally at the back of the nearest Rahkshi, who happened to be Illusive. As he did he heard the discharge of a projectile weapon from above, and noted that only three Rahkshi stood before them - the fourth had quickly taken up an elevated position, he realized with dismay. But there was no way to do anything about the sniper this instant; he could only hope Diode would note the same things, and react quickly enough to evade extensive damage. * * * IC: Gaever / Forge "Ah." That made sense - she was experimenting with her powers. "Your powers should come more easily with practice," she suggested. "You could step outside for a better place to practice them, if you wish." It might have been an arrogant assumption, Gaever was thinking, that Phantom would be interested in watching her work anyways.

IC: Thurisaz / Gym "Good to know," Thurisaz replied, giving Tube a hearty pat on the shoulder. The warrior Turahk took the crossbow from Paladin. "Thank you, loyal knight." Aerahk's report, unsurprisingly, was that there was nothing to report. They'd need to seek out other groups. "Let's go rooftop to rooftop in an inward spiral," the resplendent strategist told his team. "Look and listen carefully for any signs of others - not just in the streets, but in the sky, on adjacent buildings, or even inside them." Motioning for them to follow him, he leapt gracefully over the edge of the building, entering flight mode for only the brief second needed to slow and prolong his descent so he could land softly on the next building.

IC: Gaever / Forge As much as Gaever wanted to just sit down and get right back to work, she felt she had to speak to her downcast friend first. "The apology is unnecessary, but it is accepted," she told Phantom as she took the staff back reverently. "Do not be sad. I also am sorry for alarming you."

IC: Vlad / Gym Maze Garrotte's abrupt stop almost caught Vlad off guard; he skidded to a stop alongside her, hearing the same voices not too far away. He couldn't say anything, he realized; although this other team was arguing loudly, he suspected most of the Rahkshi in the assignment would be alert enough to have fair chances of catching an extraneous murmur. He nodded at Garrotte and made a pincer motion with his hands, clearly indicating surround them. Then he began to sneak quietly back around the building, one of four corners of the diamond Liar's team would be inscribed in.

IC: Thurisaz / Gym Maze He thought about it for a moment. They had three ranged weapons between them - Tube had brought Thornpierce, and Aerahk and Paladin a crossbow each. If Paladin didn't intend to take a ranged weapon, then Tube would have one. Considering Tube's nature, he would be best off with the simplest one to use: his own gauntlet. "Actually, knowing that Paladin doesn't need a ranged weapon, I'll take the crossbow he brought," the lordly Turahk decided. "Tube, keep your gauntlet. I trust your ability to use it well."

It's probably important to have a GM statement about this on record. Timageness is indeed no longer a GM of Corpus Rahkshi. As Timageness alludes, over time there have been several instances of disagreement between him and others over the fairness and realism of various issues, both in gameplay and character creation. When such disputes happen we always do what we can to offer reasonable recommendations and mutually satisfying outcomes, but unfortunately, these often ended with some bitterness. One such disagreement occurred yesterday, over whether or not it made sense that Liar found Illusive familiar, and this was the last straw. We all take take this game seriously (sometimes too much), and feel it's important that the GMs exemplify the standards of the game that all players are held to. Sadly Scorp and I, and it seems Timageness himself, are no longer confident he can. Timageness, thank you for accepting your dismissal with grace. I'm sorry you've found the RPG forum here discouraging. I know that was never our intention, but sometimes things don't work together like we hoped. I wish you good luck in finding a place to RP more suited to your creative style, should you endeavor to so. And your willingness to finish the assignment is appreciated - I look forward to some final interesting interactions.