Vezok's Friend

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ Stables/ Skrall had watched the scene unfold from her spot behind and to the side of the confrontation, half obscured by the wagon she’d helped to load. When it became clear their cargo was committed to being unreasonable, she stepped away from the cart, just far enough to have a clear view and quietly waited for an opening. Trying to run the other legionnaire over with his shield provided one. As one more appeal to reason was being voiced, she widened her stance, lifted her arm and fired her grappling hook cable at the disgraced skrall’s legs, ready to yank him off his feet. Hopefully that’d put a quick, non-lethal end to this. He was gonna wind up tied up anyway. OOC: @BULiK @Burnmad @oncertainty @Toru Nui @Nato G @a goose

IC: [Kohra - Iron Mahi, First Passenger Car] She watched the Toa leave, quite literally gone with the wind to track down a weird noise, then she lowered herself back down to the train roof and rolled onto her back, laid down with arms spread wide, breathing heavily. She’d managed to do what she meant to, she’d found someone who could help. Without the adrenaline rush, the exertion of the past minutes instantly caught up with her. Everything ached. At least the wind tugging at her poncho was somewhat comforting under the circumstances. She squinted up at the sun overhead, burning angrily. What even is my life… Despite wanting to, she couldn’t stay up there forever. Datrox was probably wondering what happened to her. And the sentinel had asked her to go back down into the train too. So she had to figure out a way to get off the roof again. Initially she wanted to go to the engine, but that was at the far end and against the wind for her. So she decided to go back to the junction between the first and second carriage. They weren’t designed for people climbing all over them, but maintenance did require the occasional trip topside, so there were a few handles here and there for use by those with the proper know-how. Kohra wasn’t one of them, so it took her a bit to scout out the best route back down. She considered asking the sentinel for assistance, but he was standing on the roof of the second car, so an entire wagon down from her, she couldn’t tell what he was focused on, but he was clearly focused on something else. It was as she swung over the edge to lower herself down to the first set of handles, that her angle of view widened enough that she noticed the broad-shouldered nonsense talking Toa from before clinging to the outside of the second car’s far end from her position. Not a good place to be, she’d just learned that lesson. She had assumed he was with the mercs based on his interference, but she had been forced outside the train against her will and she couldn’t imagine he was doing it for fun either. She still figured him as a merc, but she also didn’t want to see anyone fall to their death from a train. So she called out to him, hoping he could hear her: “Hey! You alright?” OOC: @Krayzikk @oncertainty

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ Stables/ Skrall was about to get on with it, but she found herself glancing at their cargo once more. It wasn’t who he was that intrigued her - it was what he’d done, or failed to do. There were plenty of reasons to get exiled, she knew that all too well, but abandoning one’s post was not a common one. No time for that now. She chided herself, then turned towards the beastmaster again. “Two spikit.” She confirmed. She jerked her head towards the pens, indicating for him to get moving. She followed to assist. While skrall began loading the supplies and Skrall & Skrall got their cargo ready, the two of them brought one spikit at a time out of their enclosures and hitched them to the wagons. She focused more on the actual attaching of the harnesses and left the beastmaster to deal with the business end of the animals. If done properly, it wasn’t all that difficult - as long as the nature of the animals was kept in mind and the proper process followed. If not, the spikit would remind you. Not long after, both carriages were ready. The beastmaster was still grumpy, but slightly less so now that the potentially limb-intensive part of her job was done and went on to ready the rock steeds. Skrall shifted to giving Skrall a hand with loading up the supplies. OOC: @Toru Nui @skrall

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ Stables/ “Three shifts then: Driving and lookout while those in-between rest up and guard our delivery.” OOC: @a goose @skrall

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ Stables/ The stables were easy enough to find, even if one didn’t know their way around. They just had to follow the smell and sounds. Skrall did know the way well however. She also knew the first leg of their journey, having spent quite some time outside Roxtus herself. The scout wasn’t the only one used to solitude, something she suspected he wouldn’t recognize them having in common. She waved down one of the beastmasters on duty. His implants were extensive and showed the dangers of the profession. Spikit bit the hand that fed them. Often enough they did worse. He eyed her and the other skrall filtering in wearily, but still waited for them to speak and make their request. Hearing skrall ask about carriage drivers, she interjected: “We’ll need two.” Plus rock steeds and enough supplies for both beast and skrall to complete the journey. That’d be a lot. She figured five days worth, but it could easily be more. Though it was unlikely they’d be completely unable to resupply along the way. The plan definitely called for it it at the bone hunter’s and in Atero…but there was no guarantee. If all went flawless, they could probably reach the mesa within a day or two and Atero within a day after that. Then a few more from there to Tajun. The keyword being flawless. But things had a tendency to go south when going south. Better to have reserves. So she turned to the scout again. She wouldn’t put up with any nonsense, but deferring to expertise was the smart thing to do. They had a job to do, so she asked: “How many days‘ provisions for us and the beasts, plus contingency?” OOC: @a goose@Nato G@Toru Nui@Burnmad@oncertainty@BULiK

IC: [Kohra - Iron Mahi, First Passenger Car] Despite everything, the vortixx managed a pained chuckle. “Perfect. Barely worse than usual.” With a groan, she rolled over and pushed herself to her hands and knees. “But if you need, I’ll try and do my part.” She sounded serious, as far as possible, but the sentinel could see her limbs were shaking under the strain of just holding her own weight. OOC: @Krayzikk

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ War Room/ Skrall noticed the scout’s eyes lingering on her. The other common reaction to her presence. She smirked, ever so slightly. She brushed past him and started heading toward the stables. As she did, she flashed him a look that said it all: Too busy staring to count? Raising her right hand, she signaled the rest of the team her intent to move out. OOC: @a goose @skrall

IC: [Kohra - Iron Mahi, First Passenger Car] The vortixx was thankful to feel like she was sticking more to the train roof. She risked letting go with her claw, massaging her shoulder with her right hand. Hurt like karz, but didn’t seem to be actually damaged as far as she could tell. “Kohra…I think.” She said, eyes half closed as she concentrated on her pain. Through gritted teeth she continued: “Looks like a bunch of mercs: Big Skak, missing half his bits, tall Vortixx thinks he’s the conductor…and some wide purple-teal Toa, talks nonsense. Thought someone was hurt up front, tried to get help. Guess that’s you.” OOC: @Krayzikk

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ War Room/ Tajun. Interesting. She hadn’t expected to go that far south, but it ultimately made no difference to her. Follow the river, sell the exile to the bone hunters, resupply in Atero, then Tajun. Closest to the sea of liquid sand. She was curious to see it. It seemed straightforward enough for a plan. It most likely wouldn’t stay that way but they’d deal with it. Selling the disgraced skrall didn’t sit well with her. But she was skrall still, no matter how much Tirveus glared at her, so it had to be done. She didn’t say anything else, just slammed her right arm audibly across her chest, like a smaller version of the sword-against-shield salute, then turned to follow the others. Outside the war room, she went straight to the scout she’d seen waiting earlier. “We’re heading out. You ready?” She stated. OOC: @BULiK@a goose@Nato G@Toru Nui@Burnmad@oncertainty

IC: [Kohra - Iron Mahi, First Passenger Car] The Vortixx was half on her back, half on her side, clawed hand clinging to a vent of some kind to not slip off. It took her a moment to realize she wasn’t alone. The Toa standing over her appeared skewed and upside down from her position. Her response came as a strained groan: “Sitrep…what…who are you? You with those brakas back there?” She really didn’t need another one trying to get in her way. OOC: @Krayzikk

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ War Room/ Thankfully the discussion with Atakus didn’t last long, even with spec ops seizing the role of speaker and using ten words where one would do. Fortunately, the general was much more to the point. Seemingly unfazed by the ordeal of the warrior pinned to the wall, skrall spoke up: “We are ready to head to Iconox, Tesara or directly to Atero. Either as one, to make a statement, or in teams - one for each arena - to broaden our presence south. Where would you have us begin, to best serve your strategy?” OOC: @BULiK@Nato G@Toru Nui@Burnmad@a goose@oncertainty

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ Barracks/ She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Not at skrall though - but at skrall. The spec ops one, that is. The way he talked down to them told her much of what to expect from this one. She’d seen the cloak about before. Apparently there were multiple ways to be a loner amongst skrall: Through circumstance of birth - or by being insufferable. A thoroughly unimpressed sounding “Noted.” was her only reaction to his ‘lesson’. “It is about time we spoke to the general. Once we’ve got our orders you can ask him what he does and does not remember directly.” OOC: @Nato G@Toru Nui@Burnmad@BULiK

IC: [Agni - Cael’s house] Agni let out a slow breath he only now noticed he was holding. “Agreed. We’ll have to put the word out when we get back, or better yet start sending out messages to the other Koro when we speak to the marines. Although…Praggos, do you remember more details of the attacker? You said it looked infected. Or maybe Leah Maru is still closeby enough to talk to her, she must have seen them up close...” He could feel his thoughts starting to run away from him. So he forced himself to stop, holding up a hand to himself while his head was pointed momentarily at his feet with eyes squeezed shut. “Sorry. This is…a lot to take in. Like Tuara said…we came here to check in on the Dasaka situation and how that’s going…just an easy recon, nothing more. But, since we are here, we figured we’d stop by to see how you were doing, Cael. It’s…it’s been while since…” The Toa of fire trailed off, still struggling to find the best way to broach the subject. Then, resigned to the fact that he couldn’t bring himself to say the words, he simply asked: “How are you holding up? Besides all this, I mean.” OOC: @Eyru@Palm@otter

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ Barracks/ She studied the map and she listened to skrall. He had a point. However. “Unless those you speak of have a better suggestion, we should still take it. It’s the most direct path. Bone hunters would be foolish to attack skrall, their trade relies on non-aggression with us.” She considered the possibility. If the bone hunters attacked, it was all but a given they’d be wiped out in retaliation. Without the bone hunters, no more workers for Iconox, so no more exsidian for Bara Magna. She filed the thought away. “That mainly leaves wildlife and vorox. If we can’t handle them, we are not skrall.” “We could also make for the skrall river and follow it all the way to Atero directly.” She glanced over at the other male that seemed to be equally interested in the map. Even more so, as he was seemingly paying no attention to them whatsoever. She wondered if he would speak up or remain with his thoughts. OOC: @Nato G@Toru Nui

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ Outside Barracks/ She entered the barracks and made her way over to the ration point, followed by the collective side-eye of the warriors that knew her for what she was. The skrall behind the ration counter was a hulking spec-ops fighter. Food came very shortly behind exsidian on the list of valuables in a village, so there was plenty of focus on ensuring it did not go missing. Since the other skrall was still with her, she held up two fingers to the spec-ops, who produced two ration packs and put them on the counter in front of them. She picked up hers, then headed over to the rally point for patrols, where a large map had been mounted on the wall. “What do you know of the routes leading south?” she asked the other skrall, while unwrapping and breaking off a piece of something dry and spicy. Making it unperishable had made the texture vague, but she figured based on the taste that it had to be some kind of jerky. OOC: @Nato G

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ Outside Barracks/ She nodded, head tilted slightly. “It depends. If it can be taken: nothing at all.” She shrugged, turned and began to head towards the barracks. She was getting hungry. And there were preparations to be made. A map was needed. There were caravan routes to study and scout out. Check what transports could traverse them and what was available to begin with. Alternate paths if a passage was blocked. Knowledge was a weapon too. One she’d use if they tried to sideline her from going. It wouldn’t be the first time. Oh yes, she knew what she was fighting for. She glanced back to see if the other skrall was following or not. OOC: @Nato G

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ Outside Barracks/ She noticed the other skrall’s approach with her peripheral vision. First instinct was to expect a challenge or some other kind of confrontation. A challenge would’ve been a nice surprise. But he spoke instead. So he was going. Allies in cause then, but rivals in glory. “Probably not. But they might try.” She stepped over to where she’d put down her pack and other weapons, strapping the former to her belt again before retrieving the latter. Sword and shield returned to her back. Easier to carry and useful in an ambush. No one liked a thornax in the back. “They’re a free people still. Free to make such mistakes.” Returning to the training dummy, she stepped on the remains. The actuators in her crampons clamped down like a vice and she tossed what was left of the thing over to where one of the indentured was busy sorting supplies. It landed in a cloud of dust that engulfed the agori. “Get that fixed.” OOC: @Nato G

IC/ Skrall/ Roxtus/ Outside Barracks/ Thud Thud Thud Crack Thud Thud Crack Thud Thud Thud *Crack* Skrall stood frozen for a second, leg still raised, held right where the training dummy in front of her had crumpled under the sequence of blows and kicks. The only thing moving were rivulets of sweat. Then, deliberately slow and with great control, she assumed a ready stance again, before finally relaxing her shoulders. Without looking away from the ruined once-vaguely-glatorian-shaped heap at her feet, her hand found the canteen strapped to her belt and she took a swig. It was warm as usual. But it beat death by thirst. She preferred live training - to fight against someone who could react. But that was hard to come by - except as punishment. Sometimes for her - mostly for others that would rather avoid her. But not for much longer. Tirveus wanted skrall champions in the glatorian arenas, so he would send skrall to fight. She would be among them, no matter what. She would earn her place. OOC: Skrall open for interaction. @Nato G@BULiK@a goose (Think that's everyone with chars in Roxtus atm?)

What do you do when you’re born red? When you have the physique but lack the powers? You’re an outcast, for you were clearly not one of them. If you’re not one of them, you’re just skrall. Skrall hate and fear you - but not as much as the others hate skrall. Where else could you go? Nowhere else will have you. Your place is with skrall. They tend to forget that. So you remind them with scars: Your scars remind you of who you are not. Their scars remind them of who you are. Name: Skrall Tribe: Rock Species: Skrall Gender: Female Appearance: At first glance, a standard skrall warrior…perhaps a bit slimmer around the shoulders, balanced out by surprisingly strong legs. Beneath the black and red armor are chords of muscle akin to steel tension wires, covered in an above-average amount of scars for your typical skrall warrior - not gained in the arena. Equipment: Dual ‘skrallkri’ knives, one sheathed in each shoulder pauldron. They are equal parts tool and weapon; the hilt ends in a spike that aids in climbing. Thornax Glaive: Traditional Skrall Kopis on a longer staff that houses a thornax launcher Skutum: A circular buzzsaw shield, bearing the mazelike insignia of the Black Legion painted in blood. Cybernetics: Integrated grappling hook installed in left forearm: High tensile strength wire attached to a projectile hook that splits open once it hits its intended target. The wire comes from a small winch that has enough power to hold twice her owner’s weight, plus a little extra safety margin. Once again primarily intended for climbing, but long since repurposed for numerous other uses like hunting or a makeshift tripwire or garotte if need be. Rock steed crampons: A set of articulated metal claws attached to each foot. Mostly geared toward making traversal of harsh terrain easier - aka climbing - their ability to extend and to clamp down hard enough to find purchase in solid rock do give skrall’s kicks and stomps a nasty edge in combat. They also allow her to walk on walls and ceilings if those are structurally strong enough to hold the weight of someone hanging from them. Personality & Traits: Next to her actual armor, skrall puts on the additional emotional armor of giving off as many ‘do not mess with me’ vibes as possible. Whether she actually feels that way is hard to say, she mostly keeps her interactions with her peers to the minimum needed to get down to business. Weaknesses: Lone Iron Wolf: You can trust them not to trust you.

IC: [Kohra - Iron Mahi, First Passenger Car] One second she was reaching for the top of the window frame, the next her world became nothing but a blur of color and the noise of rushing air. All Baszlin heard was a small, surprised gasp. Arms flailed, fingers grasped at nothing - then she was gone. There was a moment of shocked silence - whatever passengers remained in the carriage had not expected to see someone defenestrated this day - then the shrieking sound of rending metal cut through the moment along with the claws tearing gashes, back and up through the carriage’s side about two windows further back down from where the Skakdi stood. Kohra almost didn’t feel the impact of her body slamming into the side of the carriage as she came to a sudden stop - the pain from her shoulder seemed to override everything else. She couldn’t tell if she was crying out or not, the slipstream that had kept her close to the train in the first place drowned out every other noise. Neither did she know what she had just done, what instinct had overcome her. All she knew was fury. Fury at the situation, these wannabe conductors - but mostly at herself for not being able to get a better handle on the situation. She had come here to see if someone needed help - now she was clinging to the side of the Iron Mahi for dear life. She began to pull herself up. Her left arm - black rot covered in tarred feathers, now truly exposed for the first time - felt like it was being yanked from its socket, whatever material holding it in place cracking under the stress after going unused for too long. And she found that in this instant - she didn’t care that it hurt. She had been stupid - she’d earned it. Use it. Move. Focus. A moment that seemed much longer than it actually was later, the fingers of her right found purchase on the edge of the roof again and she was finally able to pull her claws loose from the side of the carriage. By the time the people inside had processed what had happened and went to look, she had disappeared out of sight atop the roof. OOC: @Perp@Nato G@Tarn

IC: [Kohra - Iron Mahi, First Passenger Car] She froze. Eyed her opponent. The Skakdi was apparently as tired of her as she was of him. Served him right. Didn’t solve her problem though, she still needed a way forward. A sparkle caught her eye, light catching on the broken glass again - aha! She set her jaw, looked Baszlin in the eye and through gritted teeth - trying for snidely - said: “Please do; all I got right now is this useless talking pile of scrap in my way.” As soon as he moved, she moved, scrambling for the broken window. It wasn’t elegant, someone yelled as she stepped on their lap, but she didn’t faceplant either, now she just had to somehow climb out and up before the Skakdi could get to her. OOC: @Perp

IC: [Agni - Cael’s house] Truth be told, he’d dreaded this moment. There’d be no turning back after this, he’d have to talk to her about what had happened… But that tilt of the head, the look of surprise, the friendly smile… Oh karz it you literal ray of sunshine. Agni smiled back, genuine and bittersweet. It had been a while since the last time that had happened. And it stung to the core - but at the same time he couldn’t deny how honestly happy he felt to see the healer again. “Yeah, it has.” “Praggos mentioned a thing or two…sounds like you’re having a busy day.” The Ta-Toa looked around the hut, then glanced out the nearest window, hand absentmindedly rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, you and the whole of Ga-Koro, looks like.” IC: [Rhow - Inner Port] The Skakdi kept running, dragging the Menti along until she finally threw herself into cover behind yet another jagged rock. Her chest was heaving with ragged breaths and her eyes darted around, narrowed and alert, expecting for whoever was after her in her memory to emerge from the mist at any moment. It was only when the strange and by appearance completely out of place screen of petals appeared that she found some semblance of focus again. Both in the mindscape and on the bench across from Daijuno, she tried to steady her breathing. Yukie saw her slide down into a crouch, her back pressed against the rock, and she was clutching her blade. She risked a glance around the far side of the rock they were sheltering behind, before answering the Menti’s question, between tense breaths: “Hyrak;dii.” She grimaced, glanced around again with panicked eyes, as if just uttering the name would bring about catastrophe. “...he’s dead…he’s dead…” she muttered out loud, like a mantra, more to herself than anything else. “...he was dead…should be dead…but not in here…” OOC: @otter@Eyru@Mel@Palm and @Void Emissary because this is all still happening close to where you're talking to the journalist XD

IC: [Kohra - Iron Mahi, First Passenger Car] Kohra, more stumbling than jumping, made her way back into the aisle of the railcar, catching herself on the backrests of the row of seats in front of her. Her head snapped up, finding herself suddenly almost face to face with…it looked like a half assembled Skakdi. She took notice of the various injuries, just long enough to decide she’d try and bypass that one on the side with what she somehow figured to be the braced weaker leg. She mounted the seats again, trying for a repeat of her previous move - and this time, though again painfully protesting, her limbs cooperated*: Jumping up, her right grabbed onto the edge of the overhead luggage rack and she used the resulting momentum to swing her legs over the next two rows of seats, clearing them like hurdles before trying to get back to the aisle behind the Skakdi once again. Why is there glass all over the floor? OOC: @Perp@Nato G@Tarn *I am actually rolling dice for these posts to see how badly or not she does.

IC: [Leah - Ga-Koro harbor] The Toa looked a tad puzzled at first. “Sure…of course.” she replied, wondering about the mechanics of the exchange. Once shared with Yumiwa, how would she even prevent it automatically becoming a thought of hers in the process? Perhaps there would be time later to learn more. Right now… “As I understand, it was used to unlock something, a gate from which your 'Makuta' emerged from..." …right now she’d apparently struck the target of her investigation dead center. The odd parallel of the land of crystal having a metal sword while they had a crystalline one also stood out. Her eyes shone a bit brighter, but the effect was dimmed by the addition of learning that apparently executioner was a permanent position in the Dasakan court. But figuring out what exactly that entailed would also have to wait for now because the revelation all but confirmed her suspicions. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The crystal flamberge seems to have served an identical purpose here on our island. A key to…well, wherever Makuta was when we banished him. We simply called it the legend - for lack of a better term.” she said, giving the empress a moment to fully process that further connection between the two weapons. After the brief pause she asked: “Could you tell me more about where, how and by whom the sword was used when this happened? Were you there with your uncle - or did someone else have the blade at the time? The one who opened the gate on our end was not the flamberge’s original wielder, so knowing who was there could be important - in fact, any detail you can tell me will be helpful.” IC: [Rhow - Inner Port] The Skakdi had just steadied herself in the calmer water when the sudden gust of wind knocked her off and into the surf. She emerged a second again, rivulets of crimson water draining off of her. With a huff, she began to wade up the beach out of the thigh-high water. Yukie started to follow, then stopped when Rhow froze again. She certainly wasn’t alone. Behind the beach but before the cliffs in the distance, a lower rock shelf rose. And up on the rise, they saw a figure. At first it looked like another Skakdi to Yukie, but the longer he looked the more things became…wrong. Very wrong. Too many heads, too many eyes. Slowly, the figure raised an arm. As it did, guttural shouts and voices rose from the surrounding, audibly getting closer. Unnervingly their owners continued to be obfuscated by the mist. Or maybe that was for the best? Rhow’s eyes widened. Her breath quickened, almost hyperventilating. Without hesitation she grabbed Yukie’s hand and dragged him along mercilessly. They were still standing in the surf, and the incline of the beach was steep. Rhow struggled to find her footing as each receding wave washed out the sand around her feet, causing her to stumble - but she continued to struggle until her claws dug into more solid sand. The cries were still getting closer. She yanked on the Menti’s arm. “Go. Run!” OOC: @Mel@Umbraline Yumiwa@BULiK A bit of audio for mood.

IC: [Leah - Ga-Koro harbor] Leah turned as Zafin looked past her, face to face once again with the Dasakan empress. It seemed the Rora had changed outfits throughout the day. Leah did notice they shared somewhat similar colors now, between Yumiwa’s silks and her own armor and short red sash riding low on the Toa’s hips. She bowed her head in greeting again, acknowledging both the empress and Dihunai at once. She briefly wondered what a foreign ruler like her might consider as pleasantries to discuss. She also couldn’t quite shake the feeling that Zafin was checking her out behind her back, despite the Menti giving no outward indication to that effect. No time for that now. She immediately shoved the wayward thoughts aside again. “Yes. Zafin mentioned the Rahkshi - and what we must discuss does relate to them as well - but not as directly. It’s about what led up to the invasion, how our enemy - how Makuta - managed to return…that’s the mystery that needs solving.” The Toa Maru caught herself trying not to use Makuta’s name openly. How easy it was to fall into old habits. Old Matoran superstitions ingrained in many that had lived through the first darkness. Not this time. “But do that, we must go back to the very beginning: one of the links my allies and I have identified is something which long predates any of our people encountering each other - it existed here even long before the Piraka made landfall on these shores.” “Namely a sword - a crystal flamberge - once wielded by one of Makuta’s deadliest servants here. Because of this we originally thought it to be of the Makuta as well. But now it seems it was Dasakan all along.” Despite the serious nature of the discussion a hint of Le-Koronan humor managed to sneak into the Toa’s tone. “I’d quick-draw you a picture, but even having seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t know how to accurately capture its design. So now would be the time to read-peek my thoughts.” “The point is: if something Dasakan has been here all this time, the reverse is also extremely likely and may have been a part of the Makuta’s many contingencies all along. Do you know of anything from Mata-Nui that made its way to your shores before it should have, or can you think of anything odd that never quite seemed to fit in there, but has been around for so long it just was accepted?” OOC: @Umbraline Yumiwa @BULiK