Vezok's Friend

OOC: Musical cue IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] The titan nodded in thanks and took the offered fruit as Viltia got ready to tackle the most tricky part of this whole plan. Too exhausted to feel anything else for the moment, Zataka just focused on savoring the taste of the fruit, and as promised, it did not take long for the weariness to fall off of her. In fact the first bite brought her back to full alertness. But as it did, so did her focus return to her, and with it the full gravity of the situation. She saw the bag disappear, saw the Nuva close her eyes and concentrate. The titan grew very still and knelt down, almost not daring to breathe as she observed Viltia at work, all the while glancing around the temple interior, to make sure nothing, absolutely nothing, was there that could even potentially threaten the Nuva’s concentration at this moment. In her mind, doubt and hope fought a relentless battle. Would it work? It had to! Her people depended on it. And yet, right now it all was in the hands of another. A former Matoran who had persisted, against any and all odds, acquired the skills and abilities and gear to get her to this point. There was no absolute guarantee she could pull this off, but Zataka, despite her usual convictions, found that she had faith. Even though it took some time, the intensity of the wait made the process feel even longer than it truly was. The titan forced herself to take slow, deep breaths to keep herself calm. And then, finally, it was over. Zataka saw the Toa Nuva get up and did the same. And then, before she could ask, Viltia stood before her, arm outstretched, presenting the finished product of her work to the titan, while averting her eyes. “Did it work? Does it work?” Zataka didn’t reply, unprepared for the sudden onslaught of emotion that overcame her after envisioning this moment for so long. She never realized how deep the trauma and despair of watching this lifeline to everything she cared about getting shattered in front of her, up until now, that it was made whole again in front of her as well. Hope was restored. She reached out with trembling hands, letting her finger tips brush over the surface of the Olmak, before gently lifting it out of the Toa’s hand. It was quiet again for a moment, and when Viltia looked to see if Zataka was going to use the mask, she instead saw the titan standing, head bowed and touching the forehead of the reforged mask with her own. “...thank you.” the titan whispered, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt something hot roll down her cheeks, concealed behind her own mask. “You have no idea how much this means.” Then, she slipped off her own Kanohi, carefully hooking it onto her thigh with her shadows, and then, with one more deep breath, she slipped on the Kanohi Olmak, mask of dimensional travel. The first thing that happened was that the mask took on her dark, iridescent color the moment it made proper contact. Zataka felt a soft ripple all across her body and then beyond. The sensation was...strange. It felt at once like a regular Kanohi, with all the usual experiences associated with that. But at the same time, there was an undercurrent to the feeling, the promise of limitless possibility. Virtually any time and place she could imagine was available. The power was staggering in just how casual it was in its availability. She concentrated and tapped into the power of the mask. Nothing fancy for this first attempt. She didn’t want to risk getting smeared across 5 parallel dimensions. So she opted to open a portal that would lead her to the other side of the room, facing back towards the Suva. The titan glanced at Viltia and echoed her words from earlier. “Okay, here we go.” She stepped into the portal, vanished - and then reemerged behind where Viltia was standing almost instantly. :”YES! IT WORKS!”: Zataka was elated, pumping her fist like a Kolhii player after scoring the final hit in the last second. It was hard to believe the titan could smile this genuinely. But the expression only lasted a moment. A crucial step of the journey was complete, perhaps the most important one so far, but it was not over yet. :”Alright Viltia, I don’t know if there’s anything else you need to do here at the Suva, I don’t want to rush you, but we should head back to Kini-Nui as soon as possible. Just let me know when you and the Muaka are ready to go.” OOC: @Kal the Guardian @BULiK

IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] The trio, led by the Nuva, made their way inside the sandstone temple. Normally when entering ancient ruins like this, there was a moment where one would just take in the space, just experience being in it, to let it make an impression before interacting with it and changing it. But there was none of that now. There was a task before them and Zataka was all business. She looked around briefly to get a read on the layout of the room, immediately focused on getting the Suva before her working again. When Viltia had last left this place, the Suva’s sphere had been hovering in midair, slowly spinning. Now it looked more like when she had first found it. It had lowered or fallen back into its original spot, half of it sticking out of the ground. The only difference was that back then, the sphere had been overgrown with vegetation, now it had only been inactive for a few hours at most. Although judging by the jungle noise coming in softly from beyond the entrance, she wouldn’t be surprised if it took the forest more than a day to reclaim the entire temple if nobody interfered. The Titan approached the sphere. Suva repair was not on Zataka’s primary list of skills, but similar devices existed back on the archipelago and she had interacted with those in her time, before their universe had lost its head. She had no real experience with the Zakaz variety of course, but she was confident she could fix it. After all, the underlying principles had to be similarly, so she felt it was safe enough to go off of a few assumptions: A Suva’s user was mentally linked, either temporarily or permanently, to the device. That meant there was an active connection. Viltia had winced when the Suva had gone offline earlier, so that connection was something one could feel, which matched her prior experience too. The Suva on this island were old, very old. They had been here so long before any of them arrived in fact, that Viltia and whoever else was connected to these devices at this point had not been invariably destined to become their users. They had gained access to them through exploration, something anyone could do who made the effort and figured out how the puzzles would unlock it. She could too, potentially. Meaning if this Suva was already unlocked, she should be able to feel something. She could feel the connection to her Zivon, the same way she could feel another’s presence when linked telepathically. She imagined the connection to this kind of Suva wouldn’t be much different. But she didn’t feel anything, beyond the soft breeze of hot and humid air. There was no connection here, this Suva was definitely offline. Why? She looked at Viltia. :”Has anything changed since the last time you were here, beyond the lost connection?” The Nuva shook her head. No reason to doubt her, she probably would have pointed out anything that was wrong out of her own volition. She was just as eager to get it back online as the titan was. If the failure was mechanical, it wasn’t obvious. There was no sign of tampering, sabotage or attack. Zataka turned towards the Suva again, placed her hands on the sphere and used her power over shadow to explore its structure. The starry night tendrils wormed their way into every tiny crevice and opening, slipping into the tiny gaps and spaces surrounding the concealed mechanisms to feel for anything that might be out of order, but there was nothing broken as far as she could tell. :”What, exactly happened when you lost the connection? You said it powered down, how did you know that was the case? Be specific, every detail might be important.”: Viltia shrugged. “Error, this Suva has experienced a sudden loss in power. This Suva will shut down until power can be restored. This is not a test.” she repeated verbatim. The titan paused, looking at the Toa Nuva. A funny look crept onto her face. Restore power? It couldn’t be that simple, could it? Zataka stepped forward once more, placed both her hands on the Suva’s sphere and began to funnel the raw energy from within herself into it. She couldn’t help but smile at the fortunate turn of events. She had approached the Toa reluctantly, desperate for help with the Olmak and not sure if and who to trust, besides herself. She’d always been self reliant and after her time on Zakaz she was even more paranoid. And now here she was, a living battery to power the Suva, helping the Nuva and everybody else in turn. She wasn’t a big believer in destiny, only in what fate people made for themselves, but this...this felt almost like it was meant to be. Her palms glowed brighter and brighter as she continued to pour her energy into the sphere. In turn, the sphere began to vibrate. Softly at first, then more and more, until she definitely felt it moving. And indeed it was. Viltia and Exuze could see dust getting kicked up and falling off of the sphere as it started to lift once more from it’s socket in the ground, slowly starting to spin again. Zataka lifted her palms a little off the surface as she noticed the motion, but continued to channel her power through them. The more she powered it, the more the sphere returned back to the way Viltia had seen it when unlocking the forge upgrade: it was now rotating steadily in mid-air, encased in a blue-green glow. And with the movement and glow, a certain electric feeling in the air returned, they could all sense it now. And then, inside their minds, all three heard a disembodied voice: Initializing… Running Diagnostic... Saving Crash Dump… Rebooting... Log Name: System Source: Power Failure at M1-K/R1 Date: 24/06/2021 02:12:43 Event ID: 8697 Task Category: (92) Level: Critical Keywords: (2) User: VILTIA.NUVA Computer: Le-Koro Suva Description: The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly. Continue or press F1 to start in safe mode. Welcome, forgemaster. Zataka took a step back and let out a deep breath. Simple as it turned out to be in the end, she had exerted herself quite a bit with this little stunt. But she’d done it, and that was all that mattered. She pulled out the satchel with the pieces of the Olmak once more and shot the Toa Nuva and Lesterin a grin. :”Looks like we’re back in business.”: She held the bag of mask fragments out for Viltia to take. The amount of trust that took on the titan’s part could not be understated. :”Time to work your magic.”: OOC: @Kal the Guardian @BULiK @Unreliable Narrator Took the liberty of a tiny bit of bunnying to keep things moving.

IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] The titan didn’t immediately respond to Viltia, her brow knitted in concentration. Scarrow and Weaver were calling her. They had just witnessed the execution of one of their kin. This was distressing to say the least, but they were safe - at least for now. They relayed the events to Zataka. She told them to stay put and keep watching. Then, she glanced at the Toa Nuva standing behind her chair. :“Those Skakdi you wanted to ask for help earlier? One of them just unlocked the bunker they were parked at, activated the mech inside, cut off its hand, regrew it and then used it to kill another Zivon and cut out its heart. That’s not the usual way to start one of these things up, is it?”: While she waited for a reply, Zataka looked ahead again and finally brought the airship even lower, according to the directions. Soon enough, she saw what the Toa Nuva had described. Spots of tan poking through the jungle canopy, too regular in shape and size to be anything else than the structure they were looking for. The Suva was in sight. Viltia had to steady herself (with ease, mind you) as Zataka flew the Tuyetmobile in a tight circle, very carefully looking out the window at the Suva temple and the surrounding trees. :“I can put her down here, but it’s going to be tight”: the titan announced a moment later. They did one more loop, then the titan brought the craft to a hovering stop before very carefully starting to lower it. Even though the ground was still a ways away, she popped the boarding ramp back open. The interior became filled with noise again, but Zataka needed the line of sight to make sure they had enough clearance to the front, back and sides to actually land. Exuze could hear the brushing of foliage and crackle of branches against the hull as the airship descended below the treetops. Rahi birds flew away, loudly cawing, upset at the intrusion by this large metal contraption. A few more tense moments passed, Zataka’s eyes kept darting to the display in front of her, where the remaining distance to the ground flashed in red numbers. 20...10...5...3...2...1 With a soft thump and a light bounce, the airship touched down, resting at a slight angle at first, before the landing legs sank into the soft forest floor a bit until the craft was sitting straight once more. More switches were flipped and the whine of the engines began to fade as they wound down. Zataka wound her way back out of the pilot seat, sacrificing a lot of her usual elegance for speed. Once again, nobody built airships with titan pilots in mind. The trio filed out of the airship, much to the joy of Viltia’s Muaka, apparently. Zataka took only a brief moment to look at the structure from the outside. Something about the architecture struck her as familiar - which was strange in this wasteland that was mostly Skakdi. She picked up from her time with Yumiwak that Matoran had once existed on this land. They must have built these places. Or at least they were involved in their construction in some capacity. But there was no time for a history lesson now. She felt another nudge from the Zivon. The Skakdi’s Kaita had gone berserk. She told the duo to be prepared. :“Lead the way, Viltia. The sooner we can fix this Suva, the better.”: OOC: @Kal the Guardian @Unreliable Narrator @BULiK I have to go sleep now but UN and I have this Suva situation covered, so feel free to take the Zataka inside, Kal. But she'll keep the mask concealed until the Suva can be fixed.

IC: [MI-8919-07] Mantax reeled, the artificial visual sensors throwing up artifacts and noise in their view as the Kaita’s head collided with theirs. Sparks and metal flew where they hit each other. One of the ocular casings cracked, sending spiderweb patterns across half the warlord’s field of view. The force of the impact sent the two massive machines spinning in the air, as they were still linked together by their hands. They began to tumble towards Mi-Kiri. Mantax felt the strain against the pincer jaws as the Kaita tried to make contact with the blade, but in turn the jaws just tightened, crushing down on the wrists with incredible force, the armor beginning to crack and give way. But the claymore was so close to touching now. Patiwairutiki could force the contact, but not without pain. Meanwhile, the taser cables had fully retracted. Mantax brought the weapon to bear once more and fired. Even without a clear view of the target, with such close proximity and the Kaita’s arms trapped it should guarantee at least one of the barbed tips would find their target. OOC: @pokemonlover360 @Tarn @Unreliable Narrator

IC: [MI-8919-07] The lines from the taser darted out, throwing blue sparks along their length and from the microjets powering their tips as they raced toward the illusory Kaita. They struck their target and went straight through the illusion before beginning to rewind. But as the real Patiwairutiki tried to use the distraction, the Kaita found its strike blocked by Mantax, who had been aware of the ruse all along and played along with it, using their full spectrum vision. Mantax twisted their body, let their levitation slip a bit as to not drift a bit lower and seized the Kaita’s hands around the haft with their own left as the claymore came down. The warlord immediately activated the hidden pincer jaws concealed in the left forearm armor, the mechanical jaws shooting out in a heartlight flash and slamming shut around the Kaita’s wrists. Inside the cockpit, Jutori and Kilo found themselves suddenly very face to face with the mechanical warrior. OOC: @pokemonlover360 @Tarn

IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - The Taku] “Yeah, sure, sure, let me just…” Vican, now flustered, turned around, looking at the panel he’d bumped into. He tried to figure out what all the buttons meant, then decided to push the most likely one. The music was momentarily replaced by static, then changed. “Nope, that wasn’t it!” Vican exclaimed. “...must be a local station.” OOC: @BULiK @Tarn @Toru Nui

IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - The Taku] Vican, not expecting to get yelled at, twitched as Arnex called out to him and took an involuntary step back. He felt his elbow bump into something. A signal sounded and then the intercom began playing some Metru-Nui top 40 pop song. Vican stood frozen for a moment, then: “...you startled me!” OOC: @BULiK

IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] With only the three of them aboard, Zataka closed the boarding ramp. It sealed shut with a hiss and suddenly the rush of air and hum of the engines became a quiet background noise. Just as the titan started to pull the airship into a climb, a chime signaled a proximity warning and she glanced down at the displays, noting that another airship was approaching. In fact she noticed there were several transponder signals from other airships in range. It was surprisingly crowded for a wasteland. She put the Tuyetmobile on a parallel trajectory to the incoming ship and as they passed each other, she noticed Stannis and another of the Toa Maru behind the viewport. Just landing in a regular airship seemed...well, ironically, pedestrian for the ‘wanderer’. She wondered what brought the duo to the great temple but she could already guess at the mystical explanation of fate and destiny. Stannis never dealt in anything less. Luckily she had Scarrow and Weaver beyond the veil, they’d be able to keep an eye on things. She briefly made eye contact with the two Maru, then the airships passed each other. Zataka banked away and throttled up. The trio of occupants was pressed into their seats by the acceleration and a moment later they’d cleared the Kini Nui valley. Ahead, they could see the reformed mountain range, the ocean that separated the south of the island. Dramatic clouds were piled up in the distance, looking majestic and ominous in the last rays of light, but between them, there was a clear corridor of air for now. Going via the airship cut the trip down from days down to a fraction of the time, and while they flew in silence for a while, it wasn’t too long before they had crossed the ocean and were above land once again. Soon after , the swamps below turned into thick jungle. Zataka angled the ship again and began to descend. She noticed several waterways below, small rivers and streams carving their way through the jungle. She picked out the largest of these and began loosely following that, since it made for a good point of reference. She felt they were getting close to the Suva, but with this kind of vegetation, - unless something was rising above the treetops or happened to be in a clearing - it was hard to spot anything, unless one already knew where to look. :”Alright Viltia, think you can point us in the right direction from here?”: OOC: @Kal the Guardian @BULiK @EmperorWhenua

IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] As soon as Viltia had taken her seat Zataka reached for the controls. Her hands came to an easy rest on the yoke and throttle. She increased the frequency of the levitation disks, their hum increasing until the airship gently began to rise. It lifted a few feet into the air and began turning on its vertical axis until the nose was pointed in a southerly direction. The titan did indeed know her way around an airship. The craft swayed minimally, but compared to Tuyet, Exuze found the takeoff to be an utterly smooth affair. The biggest indication that they had started to move was the rush of air being felt, thanks to the open boarding ramp, since the other Nuva was still aboard. She hadn’t even thought about the stone since arriving on Zakaz. :”If what you say is true, then there were only a dozen or so beings who were aware of it. Even fewer knew its true nature - and of those, only a fraction might have a guess as to what became of it. As far as me, you and the rest of the universe are concerned, it was destroyed alongside Dume’s corpse.”: :”And if an artifact like that still exists somewhere, imagine the damage it could do in the hands of a Nuva.”: Zataka glanced backwards over her shoulder at Atamai with a knowing look. :”Now, if we’re done debating hypotheticals, we’ve got somewhere to be and time is running out. Last chance to get off.”: OOC: @Kal the Guardian @~Xemnas~ @BULiK In the interest of time, Zataka will indeed start moving the ship with the next post, regardless of the Nui Stone conversation. And that post will also take the characters as close to the Air Suva destination as possible.

IC: Great Spirit Head Metal tore, screeching and cracking as Korio’s continued the assault. In spots, he could start to see the ruins of Metru-Nui peaking through gaps that had opened in the superstructure. His anger kept him in this spot, despite the tedious work of tearing down this thing, despite the fog evaporating off of the toxic silver sear below, even as his eyes, nostrils and throat began to itch in irritation. The head kept on cackling, undeterred. MORE! OOC: @Tarn

IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] Nui Stone...ah. She hadn’t thought about that particular memento in ages. :“Why do you have to know?”: she asked in return, neither confirming nor denying being in possession of the relic. OOC: @~Xemnas~

IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] The titan shrugged slightly at Atamai’s question. :“One went offline apparently - maybe they all did. So we’re gonna go to fix hers. Somehow. It’s part of the plan.”: she said, tilting her head towards Viltia briefly. Apparently the Toa of the Green had not been following behind her as closely as she thought, she’d suddenly teleported into the airship just before Atamai had arrived. What had that all been about? Must’ve been Kualsi based jumps then. Would explain why she can’t take us both straight there but the giant Kaita wasn’t a problem. Figures. But, the Toa had heard her request and just as quickly had teleported out again. A few moments later, something could be heard scraping against the hull, followed by a rush of liquid. Zataka watched as the gauge on the display in front of her steadily began to fill. They were refueling. That was good. It wouldn’t be long now before they could get going. She glanced out to the window, to see Viltia in the distance, at the edge of the lake, next to her...cactus hose? Neat. Beyond that, something else caught her eye though: There seemed to be more mountains in the distance again. Hopefully someone had actually figured out a way to bring those back, instead of this just being another strange unexplained phenomenon. She’d had enough of those. The cactus line did good work, it only took a few more minutes until the gauge was green. Zataka let Viltia know their tanks were full via brief telepathic message and to get back aboard soon, before turning to focus on the control panel once again. This time Atamai and Exuze could hear the titan quietly run through the checklist, which she seemed to know by heart. :“Auxiliary power on, generator on, thrust idle, mode select: ignition...”: The ship rumbled to life with a notable humming sound that grew steadily louder and external lights flickering on. Zataka watched the displays closely, checking pressure and fuel flow indicators. A moment later, satisfied that everything was working as intended, she reached to the overhead panel and flicked a pair of switches that were marked by a red outline and had additional protective covers to prevent accidental use. A second layer of noise was added to the hum, shortly after followed by a third as both the levitation engine and thrusters began to spool up, until all the different sounds merged into one steady background thrumming. The titan looked back at Atamai and Exuze again, while waiting for Viltia to jump back aboard. :”So, what’s it gonna be you two: Are you coming with or are you staying here?”: OOC: @Kal the Guardian @~Xemnas~ @BULiK IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - The Taku] Vican shook his head. “Never got around to it. Always wanted to though! This is pretty much a dream come true!” the Le-Matoran said, moving on from the flight computer to the engine controls, looking at the various settings available that the Taku could use for it’s vertical and horizontal movement. “Did this captain fellow of yours customize the ship much? That’s a lot of power for a hauler!” Akamu scoffed, looking at Navu. “Reason Vican here gets to be all hyped to see an actual airship is because most of us were stuck maintaining the city in one form or another. Lots of unseen and unappreciated work to keep that city shiny and nothing to show for it now…thanks, Mata Nui.” OOC: @Toru Nui IC: Great Spirit Head Korio landed upon the side of the massive skull. Mighty a dragon though he was, compared to the cranium of the Matoran’s great spirit, he felt like a tiny lizard on a hot rock. His claws left deep gashes in the metal, but even then it took a veritable onslaught before the incredibly thick plating began to yield to his strength. By the time he found purchase and could begin tearing away at the skull properly, he was enveloped by the fog rising from below, to the point where Yumiwak could no longer make out her pet dragon behind the mist. And still the skull stared out with dead eyes. And it began to laugh. A hoarse, deranged cackle that could have just as easily have sprung from the depths of the worst Irrnak’s nightmares had to offer. OOC: @Tarn @EmperorWhenua

IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - The Taku] “Huh...wha? No, I don’t need anything.” Vican replied, still completely absorbed. He flipped to the next menu page. “Wow, this thing has, like, maps and stuff for all of Metru-Nui and even beyond.” he said, excitedly. “I think it can even fly those by itself if you put in the right data! How cool is that?”

IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - The Taku] Behind Armex, Vhisola was looking out the window, still nuzzling the mug of coffee, while Akamu was wearily looking out the flight deck windows. Vican however, was still fascinated by the Taku’s instruments and controls, currently obliviously tapping away at the airship’s Flight Management Computer, flipping through its menus. OOC: @BULiK IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] :“Yes, something about getting home.”: Zataka said. :”And no, it does not involve time travel or nightmare deities, aspects, forsaken spirits or anything of that sort.” :“If you want to help, this bucket needs fuel to get airborne again, we’re just missing a hose.”: she continued, nodding towards the liquid protodermis lake surrounding the great temple, indicating the source of the required fuel. As she spoke, her hand hit more switches, one to pull up the fuel status on the display, while the other unlocked the refueling port on the outside of the ship. :”On a completely unrelated note: You wouldn’t happen to know anything about fixing a Suva?”: OOC: @Kal the Guardian @~Xemnas~

IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] The titan twisted in her seat at the sound of footsteps on the ramp as Atamai announced his presence. She was alarmed for a heartbeat, but relaxed as she saw the familiar Toa. Well, mostly familiar. :”Atamai. I could ask the same of you.”: she replied. :“You weren’t this shiny when Dume first transformed you.”: Of course, Viltia knew of her status as riteborn already and it was fortunate she took that revelation in stride, but that didn’t mean others would as well. So it was not something the titan was keen to share openly. She mentally reached out the Toa of the green and transmitted: :Please don’t mention the mask:, before answering Atamai’s other question: :”I’m working on a backup plan in case the world saving goes as well as defeating the Barraki did. So, where are Korruhn and the rest of your disk-hunting squad?”: While she spoke, she went over the control panel once again, using the multi-function displays to see where the refuelling port was on this particular model of airship. They'd need that in a minute. OOC: @Kal the Guardian@~Xemnas~

IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui - with Viltia] The titan stared off into the distance, as if to will the Suva closer. Three days’ walk to get there. And hoping nothing would delay them along the way. She was confident they would survive the trip intact. But who knew what could happen in that time? Getting sidetracked was just too risky right now. :I can do many things, Viltia Nuva.: the titan finally said, turning her attention back on the Toa. :...Teleporting is not one of them.: :What about you? You just said your Kaita is in your village, but you only just moved that a moment ago. That did take, what? Five to ten minutes tops?: She eyed Viltia quizzically for a moment, then: :...don’t tell me you kept all of that in the Suva too.: Zataka crossed her arms and scratched at her chin and began to slowly turn, letting her eyes wander about the landscape surrounding them. The little bit of shadow rolling off of her form rippled like wind over calm water as she thought - for about ten seconds, then she suddenly snapped her fingers. :Got it.: She motioned for the Toa Nuva to follow her and Zataka led the two of them back towards the great temple. As they approached, the titan noticed Mazor heading out. Axonn and Tuyet appeared to be gone. That left Atamai and the oversized Exuze remaining. Zataka was not looking for any of them, however. Her eyes were firmly on the softly lit metallic curve visible just behind them in the last rays of sunlight: Tuyet’s airship, sitting just beyond the edge of the clearing. :”Don’t mind us. We’re just passing through.”: the titan said to the other Toa Nuva and Lesterin as they noticed their approach. She moved past them and towards the craft. :”Looks like Tuyet’s done what she came to do, so I’m sure she won’t mind if we take her ride for a quick spin. We just have a little errand to run.”: Without breaking her stride, she climbed the access ramp and made her way into the ship, having to duck as she did so. Nobody ever designs with tall, dark and handsome in mind… She looked around, but the inside of the ship was empty. No sign of Tuyet, except for a jacket slung over the pilot’s seat. The titan crouched down further and adjusted the seat's distance from the controls, sliding it as far back as possible before squeezing her large frame into it. Viltia might have been surprised to see the dark warrior seemed to know her way around the cockpit quite well, seeing how confidently she began to flip switches. After a few seconds, she noticed the titan was also very quietly speaking, but not to her. She was going through a list. “...brake set....engine master off...thrust levers idle...batteries on…” The cockpit instrumentation lit up and screens and gauges began to display data. Zataka went over them quickly but carefully, then paused and tapped one of the gauges. She waited a moment, then tapped the gauge again, watching the needle closely before letting out a soft groan. “...she really landed this thing on fumes. Fool.” Then she turned in the seat and looked at Viltia again. :"Alright, there's good news and bad news: Good news is: this ship is airworthy. We can fly. Bad news is: It can only go up and down. Thrusters are reading zilch on fuel.": :Luckily, these things run on liquid protodermis. You’re of the Green, right? You got any vines or other thirsty plant you can sprout that we can use as an impromptu hose to get to that lake surrounding the temple?: OOC: @Kal the Guardian@~Xemnas~ @BULiK

IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - The Taku, Bridge] As people started to move around the Taku’s bridge, Vhisola pulled out the ‘N+K’ mug, wondering just who that referred to as she placed it below the coffee maker and hit the Chociatto button, watching excitedly as the machine worked its magic and the fresh smell of cocoa and coffee hit her nostrils. Akamu meanwhile was busy staring out the viewport of the airship, at the volcano that pretty much filled it. He leaned forward and craned his neck to get a better look at the fiery mountain’s peak, spewing ash and smoke into the late evening sky. “Well that’s not ominous at all…” he muttered. “Vis, Akamu! There you are!” another voice spoke up. As people began to leave, another Matoran pushed past them, making his way onto the bridge. Vhisola looked up and saw the Shelek-clad Vican enter. “Nixie was wondering where you’d gone off to.” “I found the best thing!” Vhisola said, retrieving the now-full mug and promptly taking a sip. She closed her eyes as blissful warmth ran down her throat. “Yeah that’s nice and all, but...whoa!” Vican started, then stopped, as he realized he was standing on the airship’s bridge. The Le-Matoran’s eyes started to rapidly scan left and right and all over as he took in the sight. “You did find the best thing!” he said, moving in for a closer look at the control panels and flight instruments. Akamu turned to look at him. “Didn’t you have these all over Le-Metru?” he asked, not quite getting what got Vican as excited as Vhisola and her drink. “I’ve only ever seen this in the manuals…” Vican muttered quietly, barely letting his fingers rest atop the yoke, making sure not to accidentally push any buttons. OOC: @BULiK@Tarn ------ IC: Great Spirit Head From inside the ruined city, explosions could be heard as the fire consumed the outlying Metru. Most of the structures that had survived the impact were now destroyed, unable to stand before the sheer heat of the inferno. But even as Zai spat fire directly into the ocular cavity, the eerie glow and manic expression didn’t disappear from the enormous visage. Half obscured by the vapor coming off the silver sea as it evaporated in the dragonfire’s blaze, the great spirit's head stared at its attackers and at Yumiwak and Ysocla aboard their ship. “MORE!” OOC: @EmperorWhenua ------ IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui - with Viltia] Zataka’s eyes narrowed as she spotted the Skakdi and their...building? No, not a building. Or at least more than just a building. She decided it’d be best to switch back to talking via her mask. The Skakdi had clearly noticed them. She didn’t want prying ears. :We can ask, but my experiences with Skakdi of this land so far have not gone well. At all. If they have a forge and we use it, they will likely learn of the mask. Even if they never know what it does...: she trailed off. If they were lucky, the Skakdi would be none the wiser, even if they saw the mask. If they were malicious however, they might try to steal it or use knowledge of the mask’s existence against them. And if that turned out to be the case, well...Zataka would do what she had to. She signaled Scarrow to stay close. :That might be dangerous for all involved.: She looked into the distance to where Viltia had turned earlier when she’d mentioned the Suva going offline. She’d had a hard enough time trusting the Toa with knowledge of the Olmak. :How far is this Suva of yours? I’m no expert, but I’d rather try and fix that before letting more people know about this Kanohi.: OOC: @Kal the Guardian

IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - The Taku] Vhisola and Akamu only half paid attention to the transmission coming over the radio. Something about falling spheres and flying robots. That did not mean much to the Matoran who’d hunkered down in Metru-Koro previously and then spent the last who knew how many days trapped as Protocairns. They had no frame of reference. Sounded business as usual enough. Besides, Vhisola was too busy examining the fabled coffee maker. She poked at its control interface, noting there were multiple versions of the same basic drink available. There was also something that looked like an arrow symbol pointing to the right on the screen. She pressed it and another page of drink options appeared. She exchanged a look with Akamu who was standing right beside her, brows knotted in trying to figure out why the scholar was so into this little contraption. But his thoughts were interrupted when Vhisola suddenly gasped. “This says Chociatto!” she explained excitedly, indicating one of the icons on the control display. Then she started to look puzzled and began to look around. “Where’s the mugs?” OOC: @BULiK IC: Great Spirit Head The fire washed over the titanic cranium, cleansing it in fire. Millennia of accumulated stardust and the grime and dirt that had settled atop the head from its impact were burned away, leaving only shiny metal that gleamed in the orange light. The bits of the abandoned and partially rebuilt and reinforced Metru that stuck out of the lower of the two eye sockets instantly were consumed in a firestorm. Glass shattered from the sudden difference in either temperature and pressure as the Kanohi dragon’s fury consumed them. Buildings began to groan in protest. The former subdivisions of Metru Nui would be the first things to melt to slag in this onslaught. Where the flames touched the liquid the head had halfway sunken into, it hissed and boiled, before beginning to evaporate into smoke. And still the glow in the dark eyes followed the dragon’s every turn as they attacked, staring at them, wide and unblinking. The jaw of the skull moved as it once again spoke: More! OOC: @EmperorWhenua@Tarn IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] If anything, Toa Viltia had pegged the titan right as far as her protectiveness towards the Olmak was concerned. The moment the Nuva mentioned something was wrong, Zataka recalled the shadow table while at the same time using the dark element to return the mask’s pieces back to the satchel they’d come from. At the mention of the volcano, her encounter with Irrnak flashed through her mind, as well as the sight of the rising Kanohi dragons and the images Scarrow had relayed of the other Zivon’s fight with the Kaita. The last thing she wanted to do was reveal one of their best backup options to the tooth’s primary occupant. “Being careful and going to Irrnak’s tooth are diametrically opposed concepts, young one. The volcano is extremely dangerous right now. It is hotly contested. One of the nearby Ziggurat temples has already been laid waste to.” she explained. Her voice sounded dark, influenced by the grim impressions the time in the tooth had made on her. Yet her inflection also carried a note of humor, as if to show even the dark memories that they held no power over the titan. Irrnak might have laid claim to everything she might own - if she survived that is - but he did not own her soul. That had not been part of their deal. “Even if we teleport in and bypass the fighting outside, the heart of the volcano is not much safer…are you sure the Suva is totally out of commission? Is it damaged? Can it be fixed? Maybe turn it off and back on again?” OOC: @Kal the Guardian

IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] Zataka’s initial impression of Viltia was that of a dreamer. Not in a negative way, but in the way that she always seemed to have something else going on in the back of her mind, which drew her attention elsewhere. It had made all of her responses thus far sound a tiny bit like she’d just woken up from a pleasant nap. Up until now. Now the Nuva before was nothing but pure focus as she went through the demonstration of her forging process. It was more than enough to convince the titan. “Yes...yes I think you can.” Zataka concurred. Her shadows became active once again and she used them to form a table between her and Viltia, as well as putting up a field of darkness around them that would prevent most prying eyes from seeing her carefully placing the contents of the satchel on the table. “We repair this mask and we can all go home...even if we can’t save Zakaz.” Zataka placed the pieces in the way she remembered they should go together. The mask was indeed in rough shape. As the shards were laid out before her, the Toa could clearly tell the pattern of the fractures and how they had spread through the mask from the point where Kalmah’s fist had impacted it. But she could also see the shape of the mask now. The wide bottom ending in a sharp point on either side, the crips lines around the opening in the mouth area and the accelerating curved ridges across the top. Zataka placed the last piece of the mask on her shadow table, then held out her hands with palms up and splayed fingers. “This is the Kanohi Olmak. Mask of dimensional travel,” she introduced the shattered mask, her voice sounding grave. “As far as I know...it is the only one in existence.” OOC: @Kal the Guardian ----- IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - The Taku] Akamu’s eyes widened at learning of their destination. Vhisola seemed unperturbed. The Onu-Matoran looked from Armex to her, then back to the fellow earth Matoran and then back to the scholar. “Hey, Vis...shouldn’t we be a bit more alarmed at the notion of flying towards a volcano that births monsters?” Vhisola glanced at him, then shrugged slightly. “Huh? Yeah, sure. Maybe.” She sniffed. “I wanna know where this coffee smell is coming from. Come on!” The Ga-Matoran proceeded to ascend one of the ladders leading to the upper decks. OOC: @BULiK

IC: Great Spirit Head As the monsters circled high above it, they found the disembodied head suddenly staring up at them out of the corner of one massive, dead eye. Despite the crumbling structure of what remained of the Metru protruding from the cavity, some sort of animus made itself known, as an eerie glow began to shine somewhere deep within the otherwise hollow eye. The lids widened, causing debris to fall like tears turned to dust and the malicious iris rolled in its socket as it scanned sky above, fixating on the two dragons with its unsettling glare. OOC: @EmperorWhenua @Tarn

IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - The Taku] Akamu scoffed at the Vahki’s explanation. Because less oversight was exactly what the overzealous machines needed. Vhisola elbowed him in the side and gave him a look. “Thanks for the info!” she said. “I’d heard there were new models but never met any...I guess that’s a good thing, actually? Means I didn’t break the law and...uh...yeah, we better get moving. Do I smell coffee?” She motioned for Akamu to follow and they filed back into the ship behind Rose. “Where are we going anyway?” OOC: @BULiK@Tarn@Toru Nui IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] The titan was silent for a moment, flashing back to when she’d first arrived, scouring the stained dirt and Kalmah’s remains for every little piece of the Kanohi she could find. She’d spent that entire first evening and night checking and checking again until her fingers were sore to make sure not even a sliver was missing. But even with all that, Viltia’s innocuous question sent a brief flash of panic through her. Just the remotest chance of the mask might be irreparable was a horrifying thought. “...yeah, I do. It’s all there.” she finally said. “That’s our ticket home.” She'd very much noticed the subtle widening of Viltia's eyes and the quickened pace of her breathing. The Toa was clearly excited - and she hadn't even told her what mask it was yet. But for that...she had to be absolutely sure Viltia knew her stuff first. She knew from the interaction with Axonn the Toa was honest, but that last bit of paranoia still kept holding the titan back from sharing all the information right here and now. “So...how do we fix it?” OOC: @Kal the Guardian

IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - The Taku] Akamu shook his head. “Nah. I’m a crafter. Worked on the molds for some of the body parts before shipping them off to Ta-Metru for forging.” he explained briefly, but Arnex could tell the other Onu-Matoran had not taken joy in his work. "You all know I can hear you, right?" "I can hear you as well." "I wish I couldn’t hear you..." Akamu glanced sideways at the Vahki, face drawn as if he’d just spotted a plate of spoiled food. “So?” he asked, his tone brazen. It wasn’t like there was a cell or place of work they could drag him back to in this wasteland. Vhisola rolled her eyes at Akamu's reaction and instead tried to be diplomatic. "You guys are fine, you're just not like the other Vahki...we were just wondering why." OOC: @BULiK@Tarn@Toru Nui

IC: [Unreliable Narrator] This had, in fact, been seen before: There was an enormous bipedal robot in the skies above Zakaz at all times, which could be observed almost half of each day’s duration, weather permitting. Although this one was flying far higher - and was missing its head. IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - The Taku] “These ain’t like any Vahki I’ve ever seen.” the Onu-Matoran that had come aboard with Nixie and the other former afflicted offered up as commentary. Vhisola nodded in agreement, sitting next to him on a crate near the ramp’s actuators. “Noticed that too, Akamu. Something’s up with the squad mother.” she concurred. Akamu scratched his chin. “Doesn’t seem like a hardware issue though. It - she’s - got personality.” “Huh? I thought all Vahki had those already? Y'know, Bordakh love the chase etc.” “Six different flavors of cop in a can aren’t personalities.” Akamu grumbled, remembering some rather unfortunate run-ins with Metru-Nui’s Dume’s law enforcers. OOC: @BULiK@Tarn IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] Scarrow nudged the titan, letting her know that they’d spotted the Toa Nuva reappear at her bunker, as promised, after bringing their Kaita out of harm’s way. Weaver also informed her that something was happening at one of the other shelters nearby. Neither of the Zivon however could prepare Zataka for the moment Mazor, Tuyet and Exuze decided Cowabunga it is. :”Oh for the love of -”: she hissed, her string of expletives ending abruptly as she became incorporeal once more, her solid form melting into living starry night that flowed rapidly into the middle of the erupting fight. The other Nuva seemed to be on top of the aggravated disk thrower. So she focused on the other three. :”Timeout!”: she shouted as she moved in-between the other titan and Lesterin, who’s uppercut passed through her ghostly form. And with that, Axonn froze mid-swing and Tuyet was suspended in her jump-launching pose, as both found themselves trapped in a temporary stasis field. Zataka let out a sigh and took the opportunity to look Axonn over from up close. :”World’s ending and this is what you do? You ought to help people. I don’t know what happened to you, big guy. Maybe you lost your head along with the great spirit up there. But this ain’t you.” She spun around to face Exuze, noting that they were now far more eye-level than before. :“Now, I’ve got places to be and there’s no time for this. So you all play nice.”: As she spoke, she glanced over towards Atamai. :”Please see to it that they do.”: Then, the misty form of the titan pulled back into itself, until she was back to her usual tall, sleekly armored form. She turned to leave, but paused once more next to Tuyet, looking the Toa in the eyes. The titan shrugged slightly. :”Sorry, babe.”: was all she said, playfully patting her cheek and giving it a slight pinch. She added a quick wink, before walking off. Her long, elegant stride carried her quickly across the temple grounds, heading towards the Kaita shelters. She did however make sure to leave Weaver to monitor the situation for her. ----- A few moments later, Viltia noticed the tall form of Zataka approaching once more. She’d reduced her shadowy display to a minimum and was therefore easy to spot. Not that the Nuva needed the visual cue, but it was a sign of trust on Zataka’s part. :”Apologies for the delay. I had to...curb someone’s enthusiasm.”: When she’d closed the distance between them, she paused, and looked up at the enormous bunker behind her. Whoa. She caught a hint of an uneasy feeling from Scarrow. She was still keeping an eye out for trouble of course, but the Nuva had been accommodating with their Kaita, so she focused on the matter at hand. Viltia couldn’t really see from where the titan produced the satchel she suddenly held in her hand, but she recognized the noise it made . She knew it well from her many early attempts at creating masks in her own forge, back in Le-Metru Nuva. There was a broken Kanohi inside the bag. ”This is what I wanted to talk to you about.” Zataka said, this time just physically, without the telepathic link. OOC: @~Xemnas~@Smudge8@Eyru@Unreliable Narrator@Kal the Guardian

IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] The titan nodded in agreement, then watched as the Toa seemed to...disappear or phase into the Muaka by her side, which in turn ran off towards one of the bunkers. She made a mental note of the structure as their meeting point. :Much appreciated. I shall remain for as long as possible.: The titan then focused back on the remaining people that were now facing Axxon. She studied the other titan more closely, matching the being before her with the warrior of old that she knew of. They had crossed paths in the past, it came with being a warlord. But this Axxon looked much, much worse for wear. The one she knew had been stern, lacking humor and thoroughly devoted to duty. But this one struck her as more of a zealot than anything else. :”Wait, Tuyet, even if you could just send him back, there’s something seriously wrong with him.”: OOC: @Unreliable Narrator@Kal the Guardian@Eyru@~Xemnas~

IC [Zataka - Kini-Nui] The titan’s attention was torn between those present and newly arrived around her. Axonn, Tuyet, Exude, Viltia, her sudden duplicates, Skyra’s arrival...and not just hers. She suddenly felt another mental nudge as Scarrow made their presence known to her. The Zivon felt...anxious. Besides her, Weaver felt similarly, both kaiju acutely aware of the presence of the nearby Kaita in their bunkers. How many of the blasted things were active here anyhow? She wasn’t entirely how she even knew of the danger they posed, it was more instinctual than anything else. Regardless, the riteborn titan would have to act soon. Multiple options had been presented to her: Tuyet’s goal was to return Axonn to his rightful time and place, Nuju wanted her to visit this mysterious Far Shore. Neither aligned with the path she’d elected already. To deviate now might doom them all if the worst came to pass. But in order to prevent that from happening she might be forced to abandon the great temple, in order to pacify the massive machine warriors hidden nearby - especially if this spunky Nuva newcomer was about to bring another one online. If they got loose and attacked her she would have no choice but to let her friends come out from beyond the veil to play. Either that, or she’d have to put the Kaita into stasis until this was over. She briefly entertained the idea to just lounge atop one of the immobilized Kaita’s bunkers and observe the end of the world. At least she’d look good while doing that. Stop it. You're neither that vain nor that fatalistic. Get with the program! No, continuing her quest was the best option. Axxon’s arrival at least had one positive effect, unintentional as it may have been: He’d confirmed that the Nuva here were speaking the truth. And that, combined with Atamai Nuva’s affirmation of Viltia’s forging skills, turned Zataka’s focus back to the other Toa: :Time is running short and it seems much of it will be wasted with fighting, especially if I linger here - unless we act fast and work together. If whatever’s consuming the island can not be fixed in time, we need a way out. I happen to know of one…: she suddenly paused, hesitant. The gravity of the situation was not lost on her. Zataka was not used to asking for help. She hated the feeling of vulnerability it created in her. But she forced that feeling back down. This was too important. :...but I require assistance. If you truly are as skilled at creating masks, take me to your forge and I will explain.: OOC: Not as polished as I'd like, but gotta keep things moving @Kal the Guardian @Unreliable Narrator+ IC: [Nixie, Vhisola & Co. - Aboard the Taku] Vhisola sat up in the seat she'd spent the airship journey in as she felt the shudder of the landing gear touching down. She ran a hand over the top of her mask and turned to Nixie and whoever else was nearby and proclaimed: "Another happy landing!" OOC: @BULiK