Not Quite Dead

OOC: Altering/destroying weapons is basically an autohit m8...

IC Onamazu

The iron toa doesn't finish her offer, primarily because her mouth is filled by my closed fist.

IC Onamazu

"Disgusting."

It seems these villains have heavily misled the toa, perhaps some form of mental tampering or brainwashing has taken place. It is a new low, even for these shady types. "I am saddened to hear those words, it is clear to me these mongrels have afflicted your mind in some way." Grasping my sword in both hands, I step forward. "Since it has come to this, I'll save you by force, whether you realize it is necessary or not."

I leap forward to strike at the female toa, aiming for her temple with the flat of my blade. Once she is safely unconsciousness, I can handle the scum with Gram's killing edge.

What happens if someone decides not to pay the toll? 

They get sent a polite, but firmly worded letter. After that, we hope they have the kindness in their hearts to pay.

It's like hospital bills, kind of floating in the backdrop, but ultimately unimportant.

IC Onamazu

The Kualsi is a rather common mask, his jump next to me is sudden, but I am prepared. I activate my mask, shrinking to just under six inches. The Pehkui's power and usage is decidely less common, so the three kidnappers are caught unaware. I run between them to the other side of the alley before returning to normal size.

"Let's try this again; I instructed you to let this woman go," I gesture once more at the Fe-Toa, "I saw your abduction in the inn back there. Trickery does you no good." My elemental powers activate, the earthern road beneath the four turning into a muddy quicksand, deep enough to cover their shins.

"I shall only ask once more. You are no match for a hero and I would like not to bloody my sword."

IC Onamazu

"it's a long walk back to Ta-Wahi."

Coercion and abduction? The group was leaving the inn, victim in tow. I take action, payment left on my table I hurry out the door. The villains are rounding a corner into an alleyway, I run after them, the alleyway is silent and dark compared to the busy street. I unsheath Gram, leveling it at the back of the retreating group. Their victim is in their midst, surrounded on either side.

"HALT! Your plans end here scum, release her at once!" I shout, gesturing to the female toa.

IC Onamazu

My suspicions were being proven correct. The short skakdi and his toa cohorts were harassing the young female toa that had followed them in. I was elated, I finally had a chance to prove myself. I couldn't make out everything, so I waited. I'd follow them out of the inn and apprehend the scheming trio to save the toa as soon as possible.

IC: The Champion (Nuju-Marion Hospital)

 

We finally start moving. Looks like the civilians are outside, and that everything is ready. But something concerned me. I tapped Forger's shoulder lightly with my mace in order to get his attention, and ask him quietly "What about those two Toa who hired us? If they are still outside, they're not going to be too happy that we switched sides"

IC Forger

"Unfortunately for them, it would now be ten versus two. The most likely outcome is that we're put on their ****list. We never directly revealed our group identity or location to them, so we can assume it will take them time to discover those things, perhaps they never will. In the end, either we'll find them, or they'll find us. Ready and waiting."

IC Forger

The tension has drained from the air. Despite a final exchange of sharp words, I do not think more fighting is likely. The adrenaline rush from battle and tense negotiation leaves me, letting me feel the deep seated fatigue I have accumulated because of my wounds, the cold and extensive power usage.

"You want water? There's plenty of snow outside..."

The ice toa from earlier has returned, none the worse for the wear from our fight. "Future note; don't fight indigenous elementals in their element."

In most cases I would tell him our battle was a good one, but he does not seem the talkative type. I feel myself entering a taciturn mood anyways; the only clear goal on my mind is getting us out of here and back to our home.

IC Brontes

People seem to be getting the big picture, finally. "Run now, have petty arguments later." I toss the bull-like vortixx a waterskin from my belt. Hopefully my kindness to him and his one-eyed ally will prevent any further outbursts.

IC Onamazu

When I came to, I was in a burning field. There was fire, the familiar streets of Onu-Koro had turned to ashes and it looked like the remains of a battlefield, a corpse.

That didn't last long.

The fire died down by morning, the towering walls of flame had shortened and vanished, most of the buildings had fallen. It was a strange feeling, being the only thing that had kept it's original form. I was the only one still alive.

Was it luck? I do not remember the time immediately before the fire, maybe my house was in a lucky spot, maybe I had been running an errand, or visiting a friend. I don't know and never will, all that mattered was that I was alone.

I felt that since I had survived, I should live on. I began to walk, aimless and meandering. I thought it would be dangerous to stay were I had woken, I didn't want to burn up like the people that had surrounded me.

I had no hope. The fact I had survived this long was already a miracle. I couldn't expect to be saved too.

I won't survive. What happens, I won't be able to escape this red landscape. It was such absolute karz that even a small child could understand. This was a place reserved for the dead or dying. I walked a distance, then collapsed. Was it because there was no air? Or had my body just now realized it was dead?

Everything surrounding me is burned. The people have shrunken, their mechanical parts and armor molten slag, glowing a dull red. Their organic matter is shriveled and dark. It reminds me of the rahi one could find in the tar pits or buried beneath ancient sands. Dark clouds of smoke obscure the distant cave ceiling and walls.

I sigh deeply, saying to myself "it hurts." I say so on behalf of all the people that no longer can.

I wake up.

This dream has been repeating lately, the end of my childhood. The fire.

Tossing my bedding away, I stand. The inn's rooms are rather dank and badly lit, a difficult task in Ga-Koro, a city that abounds in natural beauty and light. To make such an unremarkable inn is almost a miracle unto itself. I retrieve Gram, currently in a plain black scabbard and buckle it onto my belt. I wear a brown overcloak, made of thick watershedding fabric with a leather underside, it provides a small amount of protection, and more importantly; concealment.

I head downstairs, taking a seat at a windowside table, observing the inn's patrons and the traffic outside.

Nothing.

Several hours pass, I read to occupy myself, it seems to be another uneventful day until a toa, of magnetics or iron by the looks of him, warps into the midst of the inn's ground floor. His Kualsi glows from the aftereffects of the jump. By itself, this wouldn't be too odd, but a white toa and a short, red skakdi soon follow him in. Another grey toa following them in.

My heart races, I stay in my corner, listening to their conversation. It is hard to make out over the growing business in the inn, but I hear the terms "recruit" and "veteran" used, are they soldiers?

IC Brontes

"Are all of you ****ing mad?!"

I can deal with people being stupid and rash, but only for so long. I'm through with this.

I point to the Fe-Toa leading the mercenaries, "your boss with the floaty swords just told you all that these things can be dealt with later, how about everyone drops their weapon?" I turn to the defenders, well, minus the crystal toa that just took off.

"These guys may be mercenaries hired to do great evil, but let's take a second to be logical. They had intent to do bad people things, but lets be honest, they're the ones worse for the wear right now. And time we spend bickering here, with people that already agreed to help us mind you." I take a moment to breath, the tension is thick here, if I weren't sure any sudden movements would lead to being sworded, shot, blasted or plantlife... attacked, I would've been running.

"...Any time we spend here, the real bad guys, the ones that have been killing, maiming and violating all day, get closer to here. A place still full of the sick and wounded. So, I think we need to be bygones be bygones. Any issues individuals have with each other could be settled literally anywhere else, but not here, and not now."

IC Forger

I follow the titan into the room, listening and watching to the situation. I curse a hundred times in my head, this is only getting more miserable. The titan tells Enforcer to lower his weapon, he does not seem apt to do so. "Zero is going to have my head for this mess." I understand Enforcer's anger, but I can't react in the same way. My first priority is leaving this frozen ****hole.

My Kakama gives me a passive speed boost, just enough for me to step in the middle of this mess, I forcefully lower Enforcer's rifle, swords materialize midair, aimed at the female toa and Enforcer.

"Enforcer, you should know by now that "justice" does not follow our clock. Fighting now accomplishes nothing more than sating bloodlust," I glance to the female toa. "She is just another on the long list of people we need to deal with." I turn to the Vo-Toa and Tracer, "help Judge up please." Next is the titan. "We need to get Judge medical care, perhaps a prosthetic of some sort, please, let's get him to the remaining hospital faculities."

I turn once again to Enforcer, "this is not your fault. The only one paying for this operation and it's failures will be me."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War

How about some emu representation?

IC Skoll

"To find a drink, that's the only reason I'm down in this Mata-Nui forsaken hole." I browse the shelves, everything is either empty, broken or old enough to have turned to vinegar. I approach the door to find it locked. "What the karz is this?"

IC Brontes

I raise my eyebrow, that sounded quite painful. Following Verulas, I enter the room. It's getting crowded quickly.

A toa, his mask in his lap is clutching his head. The crystal toa Kimala stands nearby. I'm not sure what happened, but the right side of his face is ruined looking. The vortixx mercenary isn't happy, Verulas makes a rather scathing remark. "Everyone around me is a god****ed fool." I think, seeing as how the titan is yet to enter.

I step near Verulas, the last thing we need is more fighting. "How about everyone calms down, let's get a story from these two." I say while grabbing medical supplies from busted cabinets and moving towards the injured toa.

I mean, if someone is inside a building, with armor and a backpack on, I assume I couldn't see their insides from outside the building and behind them.

So, Akaku seeing through walls, armour, containers and flesh (not all at once though) ; correct or incorrect?

Pehkui shrunken mode = full strength (not accounting for changed leverages) and durability; correct or incorrect?

Unrelated question time, my apologies.

What are the parameters for acceptable usage of the Akaku (x-ray vision) and Pehkui? (diminishment)

I have never seen them used in the BZPRPG, so I was curious. Could the Akaku see through people's bodies, armor, packs and what not? Revealing concealed weapons or equipment, maybe locating weak points in armor or something. How about walls and buildings?

As for the Pehkui, in canon it says you retain full strength/durability while mini, does this apply in our canon?

IC Skoll

"Ugh, I'm Reson. Who are you?"

The bound toa spoke roughly, clearly in discomfort. However, he did not strain against his bounds. The lack of a mask leaving him weak.

"The name is Skoll, I figure the she-vortixx that runs this place did you in? She is the shifty sort." I walk away, going back to my original intention of finding the drink in this dank celler.

IC Forger

I ground my teeth, I had come here to retrieve Enforcer and leave. Now he had went on to make a begging offer, asking for payment when he had three metaphorical blades to his neck, to which the Titan responded with his own?

Of course, as much as I hated the idea, a fight here was not likely to go well. Both toa looked ready to fight, and the Titan was a menacing presence. The most likely outcome was all of them dying. I was not yet so far gone to consider seven corpses a good outcome.

I look to the others, Tracer has shrugged, Enforcer looks on expectedly, Champion has nodded his approval. What use would there be in going against them? They are loyal, but I won't kid myself, they are all trained killers with their safety and survival foremost in their mind. I could easily be disposed of, an unneeded piece in the game they played...

So, I swallow any pride or doubts I have, killing those fleeting emotions to pursue a favorable outcome.

"I agree to your proposal."

I let my constructs disappate, recovering my elemental energies. I offered a hand to the Titan, an empty gesture. But one I assumed that was expected. "Before we continue, I would like to ask for one thing. We have another ally in his hospital, a gravity toa with a Kualsi. We would like to find him, he can help and we would like to ensure his safety as well."

IC Brontes

"Is everyone on this island stark raving mad?"

Air isn't a very effective conductor, you'd get less fried from hot air than hot other things, like liquid rock.

IC Skoll

Strange dreams, fighting, stabbing. Odd light patterns?

No matter, I notice a toa is bound nearby, maskless and gagged. I must be in the wine storage area, an obvious move as the front was dry. I stagger while getting up, walk to the toa and pull his gag out. Jostling him awake. "Who are you?"

IC Brontes

"You, however, I've had quite enough of. One of you two, do me a favor; knock him out."

The titan had given clear orders. He seemed more or less the defacto leader around here, so I figured I would oblige.

"And you don't get to kill anyone today either, unless you want to take it up with him," Verulas spoke up, he gestured at the titan while talking. "Which reminds me; do you think I can get that knife back? It kind of messes with me when I don't have a complete set. I'll let you knock out the new prisoner as a consolation prize..."

It is a nicely made knife, I'm reluctant to hand it back, despite only having had it seconds. Eventually I do so. Then, I turn to the pseduo-captured vortixx. "Well, boss man over there didn't agree with your philosophy, so it's lights out." I charge my palm with electricity, enough to stun him for an hour or so, and move to place it on his forearm...

IC Forger

They have encountered no one yet, the hospital has become eerily quiet. The only sounds are of battle, and distant. Many of the rooms they pass by have been hastily cleared. Beds wheeled out and cabinets of medicine and supplies thrown into bags or boxes for moving.

I haven't seen any maps yet, the walls have numbers or letters above doors, denoting offices or sickrooms, but not maps. I could've led our group into one of the main rooms, we had seen several off to the side of the corridor they were in, but he didn't want to encounter others, he wanted to find them first, prepare an ambush. He was determined not to let their next fight end like the last one. Letting a single ice toa hold both Champion and himself off was an embarassment, anger welled up.

"No. I must stay calm. Finish this quickly and cleanly, none of us die today."

I round another corner, this is the end of the corridor. A large lobby opens before me, the door is filled with snow from the earlier avalanche, before I move and make myself visable I hear voices, they are muffled, the snow flooding the front doors and windows absorbing many of the sounds.

"--do me a favor; knock him out."

"--unless you want to take it up with him... when I don't have a complete set. I'll let you knock out the new"

I peek my head around the corner, just enough to quickly take a look.

Two toa, one bronze and one darker. One huge figure, a hulking menace with numerous weapons, a staff and a Kualsi.

...and Enforcer, cornered, bleeding and badly burned, but alive.

I withdraw my head, I give Champion and Tracer the signs for "wait" and "comrade in danger." They should be able to guess as to the situation. I take a deep breath, attack or try to recover Enforcer peacefully? It was three versus three, and all of them looked battle ready. They only had the advantage for a brief moment, enough to launch one volley of attacks, would it be enough?

"Well, boss man over there didn't agree with your philosophy, so it's lights out." A loud sparking noise comes from the room, electrical energy. Do they mean to kill or incapacitate him? Either way, I need to act now. I sign to the others, "hold your fire." And step out into the doorway.

IC Brontes

A sharp crack and the sound of an arrow, instinctually I withdraw my hand and the arrow passes where it was, burying itself at the vortixx's feet.

"Arrow?" It is not an arrow, it is a sword. Fired as if out of a cannon, still quivering in the ground. I follow it's path, it came from the side of the room and three new visitors.

A vortixx with a brutal mace and bull-like armor, a skakdi with an oddly shaped nose, a bow and machete. And a toa with grey armor, five swords floating behind him.

The toa spoke, "That Vortixx there is our property and ally. Let him go and we shall leave."

Yeah that or you could

 

you know

 

roll with it

 

I ain't dropping Gev just because he lost

yeah but he is swole

swole never loses, it just waits for it's time.

OOC: I see, my bad.

IC Brontes

"Eh, fair enough." I took the knife he offered me, it fit into my sword's scabbard.

IC Forger

"There was a hole in the wall over here," I led them in a wide arc around the growing blizzard. They had to get inside before it got any worse, vision was already dropping.

We reached the wall and moved to the breach, I very carefully stuck my head around it to check things out.

"Clear."

I see the two swords I fired at the black skakdi still lay in the corner, I retrieve them. I now have five swords at the ready, that ought to be more than enough for whoever we encounter.

"Alright, the only layout I know is that this is the north wall, the main entrance is to the east," I pointed to the left, our room openned up to a seemingly empty corridor. "Enforcer was heading straight to the main entrance, so let's work our way there. Keep your eyes peeled, anyone we can ambush is as good as finished, but I don't want to get into another disadvantaged fight like back there."

OOC: I wasn't planning on it Nato.

Though I kind of assumed his titan is just thinking, "the **** are these guys talking about/doing" and shaking his head in disappointment.

 

No, she's an archaeologist, so mercenary work is out.

You have no idea how much self-control I am summoning right now

 

 

 

I passive-aggressive you too Silvan

 

too bad bone isn't an element