Kalama and Ta Rahkshi

Helps cut down on the boredom when I don't have much to do. Also it lets me keep track of the ever changing hidden relationships people craft without knowing and how they may affect my gameplay. Something somebody does in Ko-Koro may cause a political shift in Po-Wahi which may cause a higher up in Ga-Koro Marines to order me from Le-Wahi into Ta-Koro to get information before heading to Onu-Wahi to deal with a conflict. Following that I may need to attend some kind of formal "Party" by certain select 'elites' with Nokama to gather insight on whatever the Makuta may be planning. Everything I do may affect someone else's gameplay similarly.

Well lets see, There's two pirate groups on the loose so you KNOW authorities will want them captured.There's an army currently sitting on the docks of Ga-Koro recruiting that's being led by Kuyre.There's another army of the coast of Le-Wahi about to invade and construct a new village.A bounty has been posted on Knidia though this has already been proven false and the Marines are on the hunt for whoever posted the flyers I'm sure there's a few that escaped their notice so the hunt for her is still on.Macku may have escaped and the Raiders protecting her have gone rogue so people might be interested in trying to hunt her down ether to assassinate her or protect her.If anybody thinks they can speak to the dead, there have been rumors of a rather ethereal presence in Ga-Koro.Take your pick guys. Plenty to do.

IC: The Marine (who wasn't Kalama, as he was outside a hut where Joske and his friend had taken cover and nowhere near where this was taking place) simply looked at Ramanox and said, "Who said anything about torture? We're just going to ask him a few questions." Catching the lie about his element the Marine commanded "Spin 'em."The second Marine removed the mask while an unseen Marine did something that caused the surface of whatever Argentum was attached to, to spin. Combined with the fact he'd been upside down causing the blood to rush to his head, and he was now maskless which intensified the dizzying sensations the spinning caused, the sudden stop didn't feel too good.Still upside down he didn't see the slap coming due to the darkness and the fact he now had a massive headache which was not helped by an annoying clicking sound coming from the device he was secured to that played directly in his ears."Let's try that again." The Marine said calmly. "For the record, Name and Element."

IC: As the Toa brought out Argentum, still bound to the chair, Lanora looked at one of the Marines. "This him Seawoman?""That's him Master Chief."CRACK!Lanora's quick strike to his jaw promptly put him back under. "That's for endangering my Marines you stupid Rahi." She told the unconscious Toa. Turning back to the Marines she said, "Get him out of my sight and ready for Nokama. Make sure he's prepped for her.""Aye-aye Master Chief!" The Matoran quickly carted away the Toa.Lanora watched Grurlen before snorting at his declaration and denouncement of the boat. "I don't think that one was cut out for military life anyway. The way he was acting you'd think he was a consort for someone like Yorlonda. Now THERE'S a Toa I'd like to run through with my blade!"She seemed to regard Kuyre for a minute before grunting. "I'm not the sort of person to be talkin' to for that sort of thing. You'll have to talk to Kotu and slash or Nokama for that." She glanced around at the soldiers milling around. "Just make sure your lot behaves themselves and we won't have any problems."OOC: Congratulations! You have earned: Lanora's Tolerance. While seemingly insignificant at first glance, having Lanora tolerate your presence means the entirety of the Marine Corps regardless of location on Mata-Nui will tolerate you and yours presence without issue... so long as you don't interfere with their operations of course. As a reward your character has gained insight into the general Hierarchy of the Ga-Koroan Marine Corps.Enlisted: The bulk of the Marine forces, these are the workhorse of the Marines. Nothing gets done without these ranks doing it. Generally comprised of young, idealistic, Ga-Matoran.Non-Commissioned Officers(NCO's): The backbone of Marine forces, NCO's are generally in charge of groups of Enlisted providing the necessary leadership to direct and drive the lower ranked Matoran to completing tasks needing done by the Marines. Generally comprised of older Ga-Matoran tempered by combat and hard earned experience.Midshipwomen: These commissioned officers generally specialize in one aspect of the Marines fighting force and provide sectional leadership to groups of enlisted and NCOs. Aspects include but are not limited to, Ship operations, Communications, Rahi training, Marine Operations, Medicine, and Search and Rescue. They have the same age demographic as NCO'sCommissioned Officers: The nerve and brains of the Marine Corps, these officers provide leadership and direction for those under them. The lower ranking officers are usually older then their Enlisted counterparts while the higher ranking ones are vastly older and more experienced then their NCO and Midshipwoman counter parts with few exceptions.Extra note: Like all Ga-Koroans, the Marines are entirely female. There is only one male in the Marines(Kalama) and although his coloring doesn't match those around him, he is still considered Ga-Koroan for lack of any other labels. Kalama holds the rank of Commander which is three ranks down from Chief Head Commandant, and commands a small Ghekula Raider unit.-------IC: A cold wet flash startled Argentum into wakefulness.He awoke to find himself firmly secured with non-metalic bindings, he'd been stripped of armor, weapons, and mask, a powerless Rau fitted to his face to keep him conscious."Wakey wakey Toa..."Confused he found himself secured upside down to something. It was dark and all he could make out were two shadowy figures about Matoran size. Their yellow eyes gleaming in the dark."Seeing as how Nokama is a little busy, we thought we'd get started on your interrogation. For the record we'd like to know your name and element power."

OOC: Simple, you posted handmade flyers without being spotted.Keep in mind the political atmosphere when you try things like that, especially when it comes to skirting law enforcement. Knidia has been living in Ga-Koro for some time now. If a Turaga from another village wanted her brought in he would have contacted the local law enforcement (in this case, the Marines) to let them know he wanted her brought in. While the Marines go searching he then probably would have commissioned your flyers for Bounty Hunters.Flyers posted by Marines would have drawn far less attention then just suddenly showing up and no one saw who did it. (Which you did.)If you had been more ambiguous as to who ordered the hit, they might have raised an eyebrow at it but probably have just brushed it off as a private matter and not paid any attention to it. The name of an official would set off some alarms if there wasn't any contact before hand.Also, now that you've vanished from where they were looking for you, they now know something is defiantly wrong. There's no doubt in my mind you wouldn't let yourself get taken without a fight but why fight when you can bluff your way out? If you had stayed put and expressed some confusion, you probably could have sent them on a wild goose chase while you could have walked out of town with no trouble and came back in a few weeks after the confusion had died down and cooled off with nobody the wiser.Remember the common sense guide guys. NPC's aren't stupid lumps of meat with signs saying "Kill me" taped to them. They're fully capable of being active and suspicious of you. However you have a human conscious so the best way to beat them in acts of subterfuge is to outsmart them. By flashing your powers and going "RARGH! I SMASH!" that's like putting a neon arrow over your head pointing directly at you. When was the last time you saw a spy panic and pull out his gun and start shooting at authorities just because they got suspicious but didn't have anything to really connect him to the crime that he could easily explain away and bluff his way out without a firefight?IC: After awhile, the Marines exited The Dripper and dispersed not finding anyone to talk to. Now however they had someone to watch for.-------Lanora frowned, "No, our assassin was a Toa of Magnetism. I haven't heard anything relating to a Toa of Stone. I only came your way because my source said he saw that Toa..." She pointed at Keinju, "...scoop him up and bring him here. If you'd like I can have someone look into that once I see your prisoner."OOC: Now you seem to be making some progress.

IC: Lanora burst out laughing at the Vortixx's gall. "I think I will take that as a compliment seeing as how many of your kind I've pulled from the Ga-Wahi wilderness as well as from the waters surrounding our island lately." The Master Chief Petty Officer glanced at Kuyre. "Bit of advice for you. Keep this one's face pressed hard to the grindstone and don't let him be your liaison to ether the Ta-Koro Guard or Rockwall. Jaller's liable to have him dumped in the Mangai for that kind of attitude and Thessa is likely to have whatever ride he's on slagged when he tries to leave Rockwall. I should know, I'd do the same thing if I were Thessa and she's my daughter."

IC: "Thank you Toa. We appreciate your assistance." The Marines walked to another patrol which was busy taking down another one of those flyers.After some conversing the small group headed for The Dripper.

IC: The two Marines looked at each other before looking back at Dorian."And what exactly is it you know? We would appreciate the information you could give us." The first one asked.

OOC: Ah, perfect example of how those under you can influence how others view you. Nice save though with the tough commander act. Lanora is now intrigued but Grurlen is quickly loosing favor.IC: Lanora's eyes flashed at Grurlen. "I'd drop the fancy pretty boy act if I were you ya bloody searag. If you were a Marine I'd have you scrubbing both the top AND underside of EVERY LAST LILY PLATFORM IN THE KORO. You attempted to interrupt me while I was discussing matters you seem to be ignorant of regarding an incident that not only left a giant mess in front of the Turaga's hut but caused a Special Forces unit to go rogue. I don't like when SpecFor go rogue as they have a rather nasty tendency to add to the growing body count of my Marines if they get too close to their objective. Rogue SpecFors aren't picky about who dies. Their commander is the only person they won't attack on sight just long enough for him to bring them back under control. The more information I can squeeze out of those involved in this incident will better prepare him for when he finally does track down his unit. I was also referring to your friend to put his weapon away because I don't want another fight to break out so soon or I may be dealing with a riot on my hands. Ga-Matoran are already muttering about how useless you newcomers are and this may cause civil unrest if another fight breaks out. Thank you for complying by the way." She said to Yovtann as he sheathed his weapon.Glancing back at Grurlen she said, "A lot of this runs deeper then you can imagine seeing as how new you are here and have no idea just what in Gali's name is going on. If you want to survive the first few minutes outside the safety of my village I suggest you stuff that attitude and use the eyes and head the Great Spirits gave you. Mata-Nui knows I wish I had the first time I ventured out as a Marine. If it weren't for Kalama showing up when he did in Le-Wahi I wouldn't even be standing here yelling at you."Turning back to Kuyre she said, "Lead on highspeed. Let's see if this assassin you have is the one I'm looking for."-------OOC: ...You're not giving me much to go on here Tyler. *scratches head before winging it*IC: "Pardon me Toa. Have you seen who put up these flyers?"The Marine showed Dorian the same kind of flyer he'd answered to."We found them all over Ga-Koro. While we're not certain who put them up we are quite sure Turaga Matau HAS NOT issued a bounty on Toa Knidia or we would have been aware of such a thing. While putting up ads is not a crime in and of itself, we feel that the spreading of disinformation is amoral as it confused people and right now the Toa do not have the greatest of reputations due to the commotion that just happened outside the Turaga's hut as well as word spreading that a Toa just killed a Matoran in Le-Koro."

OOC: Ouch. You got some points for attempted intimidation as well as being honest but that last crack at Kotu's gender didn't help. She might feign some ignorance just to see what you know to see if your story matches up.IC: Lanora didn't seem too impressed at the show of force in his look but seemed to loosen up. "There is only one male in the Marines and he is nowhere near the position of my supervisor. I suggest you check your map before you start flinging gender identifier around with wild abandon."Lanora turned to the commotion behind her. "If both of you don't shut your gaping gasping air suckers I'll have you turned inside out for interfering with official Marine matters! Now put that weapon away before I have you taken in for disturbing the peace!" She snapped. "I've already had two fights break out in front of the Turaga's hut which is two too many! I do NOT want a fight on my docks!" Turning back to Kuyre she commented, "If these are the kind of knuckleheads you've got in your command structure I sure hope you really break them down and good because the rest of these buggers are too well behaved to be led by like the likes of these two."OOC: Congratulations Kuyre, you just scored sympathy points! Lanora feels your pain at having to put up with idealistic rookie commanders. Take care though, these two are now considered part of your image and they can easily hurt your reputation just as much as they can help.IC: Taking a moment to settle herself from shouting at somebody, which felt really good considering the day she was having, Lanora continued."There is a darkness that's settled over the whole island. I'm aware of this threat as it keeps sending things I have to send my Marines to fight, and yes, DIE for in order to keep Ga-Koro and her Matoran safe." She tilted her head. "I'm fully aware of the fact that we are the most popular dock seeing as how we are only one of two commercial docks. Being the legit ones compared to that pirate infested scumhole in the Kumu Islets. Next time an advance warning of some kind that you're landing here would be appreciated so we don't blow you out of the water when you approach.""Now you said you had an assassin you thought I'd be interested in? Hurry up and finish your business with these two and then lets take a walk and see if I'm interested in buying in whatever you're selling." Nodding at her entourage, the Marines moved out of the way.

Hungryyyyyyyyyy... Brian... BRIAN! I want Brian... Oh wait... I mean brains. ....moaning... MOANING.... Yeah I'm up late and I have no idea what to do. I'm hungry but there's no food and no place to go get food from for like... 3 hours. Seriously. So hungry... Maybe I should just sleep. I don't normally sleep this early in the day since I work overnight so I stay awake all night even on my days off to keep my schedule constant. Anyone else here a night owl?

IC: The other five Marines looked startled. The lead one simply narrowed her eyes."I asked what you were doing here. I didn't ask for you to lick my boots. They don't refer to me as "The Merciless" because I enjoy kiss ups. I'm also not so sure I like the sound of your 'vested interest' in the troublemakers in my Koro. And how do you have a prisoner you think I'd be interested in talking to and why would you want to give full access to the Marines? What's the catch?"OOC: Lanora is a very direct no-nonsense NCO. She talks straight and honest and has no patience for politicking. As far as she's concerned that's Kotu's job. You'll have a much easier time gaining her trust if you answer the questions as they're phrased. There's no hidden traps in them. Example: She wants to know why you're here the correct answer is "I'm here to recruit people for my army." Nothing more, nothing less. It's that simple. Let her come at you with all her questions before you start making offers so she can see if this is really who she wants her beloved Ga-Koroan Marine Corps to be associated with. Save the fancy talk for Kotu. That's when you'll need it.

IC: "Oi! Highspeed!"A sharp voice cut through Kuyre's thoughts.An Akaku Ga-Matoran stood there with five others, all six of them bearing the bandoleers of the Ga-Koroan Marines.The Akaku seemed to speak for all of them as she spoke up again."This rabble you got running amok on my docks claims you're the big lynchpin behind this convention. Unless you care to elaborate more on just what by Lewa's useless feet you're trying to accomplish here, Kotu wants you evicted from the Koro immediately."

Lovely... JUST LOVELY. So there I was minding my own business waiting for Mother to finish her interviews with the two Toa that had shown up so I could relate to her what Tanuka and I found as well as figure out what this crystal was. Then all Karz breaks loose. Out of nowhere, Mother got a message that spooked her, I didn't have a chance to find out what it was as she immediately ordered me to seize one of the Toa. Well he turned out to be a Toa of Magnetism. Though his efforts to resist were valiant, his power must have went to his head because he got tunnel vision and by the time he realized I was on his back, I was already slowly killing him. During the entire fight he revealed he was looking for Macku because he was trying to assassinate her. Yeah declaring that to the entire Koro makes you public enemy number one and it's my job to see to it you don't live long enough to accomplish tasks like that. Mother finally summoned her Tarakava to KO him and we dragged him in for questioning. She mandated my Raiders to take Macku to safety. While I had Lei organize the group and Hotu to lead Macku away, I stopped by to help two Matoran who weren't from our village who'd gotten caught up in the mess. Lei's brief appearance revealed the Ta-Matoran to be Joske Nimil. The Ta-Koroan Kohlii Captain. I didn't get to find out who his Onu-Koroan companion was because as soon as Lei got her autograph from Joske, the commotion got started up again. I sent Lei to tell Kali to take Macku and go. I'd catch up. They've effectively gone rogue until I can find them. I told a Marine to get Joske and his friend to safety while I went to deal with this mess. Somehow that same assassin was up and moving around despite not having his mask and an openly bleeding chest wound. Back into the dung eh? I organized the Marines and we were about to take him back down when wouldn't you know it? Outside interference. Three Toa attacked. They must have been sent to spring the assassin. After a battle in which the assassin used some... I have to say it was a rather disturbing sight... weird abilities I'd never seen a creature with magnetism powers use. If I had to describe them I'd say it looked more like power over Iron then Magnetism. Yet another outside party interfered. This time on our behalf. They captured the assassin while we ran off the assassin's cohorts. I informed Lanora about the situation and she's gone to relay it to Kotu and to go see if they can get custody if not at least question the assassin as to who ordered the hit and why. Poor Tanuka... she broke down right after the fight in shock at a near miss I took with a plasma shot. I think I'll take her with me when I go to find my girls. She could probably use a happy ending to all this. I went to find Joske and his friend. The Onu-Matoran looked as if he could use the same kind of attention Tanuka needs. I'd better make sure to be on my best behavior for Mother. She may not start raging but she can defiantly seethe with quiet fury. This seems like one of those times she's sure to be upset. It's best to make sure she doesn't have a reason to be upset with me.

IC: Watching the small group take off, Kalama sighed in relief before barking out, "STAND DOWN!" He turned to Tanuka. "Glad that's over.""WHAT IN GALI'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE?!?!"Kalama whirled see the the form of Master Chief Petty Officer of the Marines Lanora "The Merciless" standing there. She saluted him. "Commander you have some explaining to do."Kalama returned the salute to the highest ranking NCO of the Marines. While not his superior in any way, Lanora could easily make life difficult for anyone except the Chief Head Commandant of the Marines Kotu, whom she reported to. "Master Chief. Good to see you."The other commissioned officers Lanora had brought with her took over operations getting Ga-Koro back to normal A.S.A.P. Dropping their salutes Lanora said, "I'm still waiting to hear your explanation as to why my Koro is in such a state Commander.""Attempted Assassination on a Ga-Koro citizen. He resisted and then tried to break free of confinement when Nokama was preparing to question him. We fought back when three Toa interfered with his recapture. The private army currently residing in your docks has custody of him now. Another Toa and what I think was a mutated Skakdi interfered and all five of them fled. That's it."Lanora snorted. "I hate it when third parties enter into a fray without declaring intent. Well I suppose I'll have to go reclaim our would be assassin. Who was the target?""Macku.""Macku? Why her?""I think that's what Nokama was trying to figure out.""In that case I definitely will be insisting they hand over our assassin or at the very least let our people question him. Where's Macku now?""Gone. I was preparing to leave with her when the fighting broke out a second time. My Raiders have her. I came back to finish the fight and ordered them to go rogue.""YOU WHAAAAT?!?!!""I'm not comfortable with the idea ether Lanora but it was a Trident Directive that Macku survive. When I'm done here I intend to track down my girls and bring them home.""I should hope so Commander! I do NOT want a repeat with what happened to Eynia's Raiders!""I'm currently in good health and have no intention of dying before ordering my Raiders to at least get Macku to one of the Rocks.""You do that. I'll bring Kotu up to speed and go request custody of that assassin." She saluted, "Kote ra Kyr'am Commander.""Kote ra Kyr'am Master Chief." Kalama returned the salute and Ga-Koroan Marine Motto.Finally getting a chance to examine the mess, Kalama shook his head. "Mother is not going to be pleased. She is not going to be pleased at all."Tanuka had sunk to the ground shaking with fatigue and fear. She was sure she was going to be killed the entire time and yet somehow came away from it all unscathed. Kalama noticed this. "Hey, get up. We've got work to do.""H-h-h-how c-c-c-can you be s-s-s-so calm wh-wh-when you were nearly k-k-k-killed?" She stuttered referring to the near miss of when the invisible Toa of Plasma had tried for a point blank head shot.Kalama shrugged. "He missed. That's all I care about. No use dwelling on what might have been since I ether would have lived to continue on to my natural end or would have died and been dead."Tanuka was silent.Leaving a Marine to keep an eye on the Toa, Kalama sought out Joske and his Onu-Matoran friend now that the commotion had died down. Find them he said, "I am really REALLY sorry about all this. I promise you it's not normally this crazy. It must be a full moon or something. I'll have to ask Nixie. Anything I can do for you gentlematoran?"

OOC: You never thew me SPECIFICALLY off. Ever. Not once did I see my name in there until I was already firmly attached to the point where dislodging me would have taken more concentration.And how the devil did you suddenly acquire the powers of a Toa of Iron midway through a fight? I can see using what little weaponry that was made of metal around along with the Marines as shields but remolding them into a thick blast wall and then re-enforcing your armor? No. Absolutely not. Not as a Toa of Magnetism. Especially with as little metal as their was in the area for you to work with.Reguardless, I'm willing to pretty much call that fight off. Now to deal with these other interlopers.IC: Watching the Toa of Sonic's carry off the would be assassin. Sighing he turned to deal with the interlopers.By now heavy support Tarakavas (it just HAD to be Tarakavas Kalama groaned to himself) and their riders had shown up to the fight.Tanuka had taken up a position at Kalama's side. "Isn't it over? They got the assassin.""I'm not calling ANYTHING off until I'm sure EVERY LAST COMBATANT is neutralized. While I appreciate the assistance, they could have at least finished the job. Bloody rooks. Looking to get stabbed in the back if they think the fight's over just because they got one opponent and they start celebrating. I've still got Marines bleeding here!"Despite the skill with which the newcomers were 'dispatching' (in a very loose interpretation as so far only three Marines had succumbed to injury and perished) the aquatic soldiers, they were slowly being driven to the edge of Ga-Koro."Once we have them on an expendable platform we'll bring them all down into the water if they don't surrender. I've yet to meet an opponent who could take a Marine in a true amphibious fight." Kalama said to Tanuka as the two of them went back into the fray.

OOC: I see someone's been reading my profiles. Be warned. Content may be subject to change later.Simple, the knife isn't metal. You were using gravity to affect it. As close as it was to your throat when you forced it downward it went blade first since Kalama was holding the handle resisting the effects so it slid down between your neck and armor and then proceeded to bury itself in your chest. Once that happened you attempted to use gravity to drop me. Since I was pretty much stuck to you at that point you would have come down with me but your powers were stronger than your mask power so we kept aloft. The force on me however caused the knife to dig deep making the once shallow cut a mortal wound as it started cutting through various arteries and the like. I know how to kill people and how to patch them up. I've done it for a living however briefly.Also when Toa don't have their masks their powers are vastly weakened, they become dizzy and disoriented. The most you probably could have moved was a paperclip.Also you failed to react to the plasma bolt that was pretty much in your face when it was launched at me while I was again attached to you. I think you're dead at this point.IC: Kalama lifted a shield warding off the worst of the concussion from the explosive projectiles. Helping another Marine to her feet he barked, "IGNORE IT! FOCUS ON THE CURRENT TARGETS!" to keep the soldiers focused as they attempted to locate the source of the explosion."BEHIND YOU!"Survival instincts flared as a second Marine's warning rang out. In the precious few seconds it took to hear the splash of water as the Toa walked up behind him, Kalama pushed off the Marine sending them both flying sideways. The plasma arrow ricocheting off the heavy shield in a very near mess.Tanuka reacted to seeing the floating plasma arrow pointed at Kalama by launching a torrent of water at it's location before it fired hoping to nail the Toa that had just tried to kill the Matoran.

So I had quite a week. Firstly I just had the most lethal spit take in my life. I was discussing with a client employee the difference between tap water and mineral water(most likely just tap water with minerals added) when the question of why there's sugar content in water. Or even why there's a Nutritional Facts label on bottled water. So the manager comes up and gets involved and just while I'm taking a drink of soda he goes onto this tirade about how the store brand water looks dirty compared to Fiji brand water and how the store brand water was probably someone doing laundry and squeezing the dirty water in a bottle and selling it. Cue spit take. While I'm continuing to hack and laugh for the next 30 minutes he keeps going even going so far as to bring out the two bottles and show us what he's talking about even going so far as to pretend to spot a black thing in the water and say it's from someone's socks. Yeah I almost didn't make it home alive that night. Following night we had quite a commotion. Being the day after paychecks clear all sorts of people come out of the woodwork to stock up on things. Granted remember that I work past 10 at night until 6 in the morning. I don't get 'normal' people. They're too scared to come out when the lights go out. Granted I don't blame them but remember that I'm crazy enough to not feel fear when confronted by the weird. So anyway a couple of kids think it's funny to run around and set off alarms near the liquor cabinet. Needless to say, being the Security element for the store, I was not amused. Alarms mean different things depending on where they get set off and being security, I have to react to all of them. Any other time and place, I might have shot the cool dude. There you go kids. Don't mess around with the alarm systems. EVER. You don't know what kind of response you're going to get. It could be a kindly adult who checks by to make sure everything's okay and remind you it's not a toy or you could provoke an armed response who's job when that alarm goes off is to shoot first to make sure everything in the area is dead and ask questions never. Safety is a very serious concern for me and those in my profession. We'd much prefer to have a quiet night where we can smile at people and bid them a good day then react with lethal force. We don't make the rules on what happens when an alarm goes off. The client does. And we're not at liberty to discuss those rules ether. Anyway the night rolled on. I ran off about 3 or 4 people begging for money outside the store (client doesn't want them pestering customers). Strange people in all manner of dress show up. And we get people that stand around asking questions that don't pertain to anything the store does. (Like the price of lighters at a Shell Gas Station.) Red vs Blue continues. Still. Season 9 seems to be devoting to filling a lot of holes in the Blood Gulch series revolving Project Freelancer. Go check it out. They're continuing to use the enhanced actions scenes that debuted in Season 8 Episode 3 where Grif tries to run over Agent Washington with the Warthog. My eyes about popped out of my head when THAT happened. Assassin's Creed comes out soon (Yay!) which will be my birthday present to me as I turn 22 soon. In the meantime I eagerly await 2012 for the movie Red Tails and the game of Mass Effect 3. Hey if the world is going to end next year at least we'll get to see what happens in ME3 before then. Hopefully AC3 will be hot on it's heels so we can learn what to do to survive it.

OOC: Friendly fire incident! Check your backstops Darkon! Also a lot of those weapons aren't metal! Nothing for your magnetism to affect!IC: Feeling the heat blast, Kalama and the Marines scattered abandoning their target. One Marine wasn't so lucky and her leg got hit. She went screaming into the water vanishing.The deadly plasma was now about to hit Argentum.The Marines quickly recovered from the second onslaught barely having wound down from Argentum's earlier escapades.Rolling to his feet, Kalama turned to assess the situation in an eye blink. Known adversaries: Two Toa of Magantism, One wounded, one fresh. Moderate threat. Toa of Stone, Kanohi Faxon. Minimal threat. Knock him into water. Heat blast, doesn't fit profile of known targets, ether Toa of Plasma or Fire. Can't see them. Must be using ether Huna or Volitak."Focus on the Toa of Magnetism! Knock that Toa of Stone underwater and check your corners! We got a heat using invisible Toa on the loose!" Kalama barked organizing the Marines.Tanuka's earlier attack, having been preceded two others, simply just floated there as Tanuka had no target and was unsure what to do with it."Tanuka! Drop that water on the platform and flood it!" Kalama ordered arming himself with his shields and knife."Are you crazy?! I'll bring down the who-""Don't bring it down! Flood it! Cover it with water!" Kalama snapped as his mind whirred thinking about how to reveal the invisible Toa.Tanuka dropped the water creating puddles all over the platform followed by dragging a thin sheet of water across it. Once she had accomplished this she looked for Kalama who was scanning for the hidden Toa."Now what?""Arm yourself and fight! Geeze Tanuka it's not Gukko science!"By now the Marines were swarming Armoan and Lucan bringing the non-metallic weapons they'd had on standby for Argentum into the fray.

OOC: Okay, JL3221 X. You're missing your mask. Your powers are vastly weakened meaning you can't pull off half the stuff you're doing right now. Also you admitted to putting yourself into a position where you COULDN'T use your powers to move so how are you doing that? (Not to mention moving yourself around would take a level of power you don't have without your mask.) You really shouldn't even be coherent without it.Not to mention how are you still standing without medical attention? The level of movement you're displaying with someone who has a gaping bloody hole in his chest that hasn't even been looked at because you haven't given the medics time to get there and look at it, is way too much. Any quick patch job done would have been ripped clean open by now and you're loosing more blood. I'm surprised he's not dead yet.The Marines might be NPC's but they're ALERT NPC's. Not to mention there's a few Toa who AREN'T NPC's nearby.IC: Despite being scared, unsure, and inexperienced, Tanuka was running on instinct at this point.And instinct said Argentum DID NOT LEAVE THIS HUT.Another torrent of water launched itself from the bay at Argentum with Tanuka's intention of pushing Argentum back into the hut.Kalama heard the commotion that was roaring water NOT acting naturally and noticed the commotion. "Ah Maha Dung." He swore. Turning to Lei who bounced for joy at getting her autograph from Joske he said, "Get to the boat. Don't wait up for me. I'll find you." Nodding, still happy, Lei was off like a shot as she reattached her sleeve. Deciding to bypass the commotion she dove gracefully head first into the water and was gone.Kalama snagged a passing Marine. "Seawoman get these two to safety." He commanded gesturing at Joske and his Onu-Matoran companion. The NCO nodded, and gestured at the two to follow her.Kalama ran back toward Nokama's hut. "Look like someone wants a round 2." He said noticing the Toa trying escape. He shook his head at the amount of blood flowing from the Toa's chest. "Tunnel vision to the extreme."This time Kalama AND several Marines all pounced on the Toa intent on bringing him back down and keeping him there.-------"Look Helm Major, I've got a patrol to run and I'm not going to stay here forever just because...""You WILL stay here until ordered Captain!""Major I know you're a Ghekula Raider and all but a time table is a time table and there are innocent people out there relying on me to fulfill my duty!""And you are by obeying Nokama's orders!"Just as Kali was starting to get a major headache trying to delay the patrol, Lei suddenly exploded from the water latching onto the Gunwale next to Kali slightly out of breath."Kalama. Go. Now. Find us." She gasped.Kali grabbed the Marine and pulled her on deck. "What happened? Where's Kalama?""Commotion. Turaga's hut. Said to leave. He'd find us." Lei managed as she started to catch her breath.Kali wanted to stay and wait but she knew better then to countermand that type of order in a situation like this."Captain you are free to get underway. You are authorized to use any means to clear port quickly.""Finally." The Captain grumbled. "ALL HANDS TO STATIONS! CAST OFF IMMEDIATELY!" She barked. Her orders being echoed and carried out.Kali helped Lei below decks to where Kalama's Raiders were hidden. With them Macku vanished from public eyes never to be seen until called for.OOC: Macku and Kalama's Raiders to an undisclosed location.

OOC: Consider it done Tuck. *salutes*IC: "I'm fine, I'm fine." Kalama brushed off the Marines that tried to help him up. Shaking off the sudden landing he took a breath to settle down from the combat high before directing Marines to fulfill Nokama's directive. The Toa was heavily bound and disarmed before being carted off. His mask being put under heavy guard just outside of Nokama's hut in case she needed it.At first the Toa's residue magnetic field made it difficult to cart him around until Tanuka got the bright idea of suspending him in a bubble of floating water which made it far easier for transport into the Turaga's hut. From there Marines bound him down for the Turaga to question at her leisure.Spotting two of his Raiders Kalama ordered them to stand front and center which they obeyed."Hotu tak- are you two drunk?!?!""Yu-hic!-up SIR!" Lei announced.Kalama shook his head. "Sober up! Hotu, grab five or six Marines and take Macku to the docks, find a group about to go on patrol and hold them up until we can get ready. Tell them it's imperative that they don't leave without us and that it's a Trident Directive."The two Corporals eye's widened."Sanctioned Black Op?" Lei said."Discretion is your second top priority. Your objective is to protect Macku at all costs. Failure-""-Is not an option and not in our vocabulary sir!" The two Raiders chorused."Hotu move now, Lei tell the rest of the Raiders to gear up. This is a Long Walk Detail and until I hear from Nokama, we officially no longer exist. Period. Time is of the essence Marines! Move out!"Hotu turned, "You five! With me!" She barked at two Lance Corporals, two Private First Classes, and a Private. Macku vanished into the protective cordon of the six Marines, Hotu on point forcing her way through the commotion. Lei bounded off quickly vanishing into the throng."Kalama!"Kalama turned to see Kali pushing her way through the crowd."Kalama what's going on?""We've been activated.""Activated?""Trident Directive, we make Macku vanish."Kali snapped to attention. "Orders sir?"Hotu is already taking Macku to the docks and Lei is rounding up the Raiders. This is a Long Walk Detail so grab whatever you think you need because we aren't coming back for awhile.Kali nodded before asking, "Are you okay?" giving him a worried look."I'm fine. He didn't even notice me and I wasn't even trying to evade detection. Talk about tunnel vision. I'm going to go bind a few things up with Mother before we ship out. Make sure the Raiders are ready on my arrival.""Aye Sir." Kali went off.Kalama approached the hut skirting the Tarakava. It gave him an impassive look but ignored him. He shuddered before muttering, "Guugh... I don't know why Mother even keeps it around... she knows I hate them..."Beckoning to Nokama the two exchanged whispers quickly, Kalama asking if she wanted him to try and get Macku to tell them what had happened at the Battle of the Kini-Nui as if more people knew, the less danger she would be in. He also inquired if they were to be gone for a specific time or 'Until sent for.' Then they quickly exchanged mother/son plenaries with Nokama ruffling his bandana and telling him to keep safe which Kalama took offense to the ruffling of the head gear and promising he'd stay alive.As he exited the hut, again skirting the Tarakava, he noticed a Ta-Matoran and an Onu-Matoran sitting dazed in the middle of the mess while the Marines and Ga-Koroans worked quickly to restore order.Walking over he reached out with both hands and easily pulled the two up to their feet. Both were a little shaken, the Onu-Matoran more than the Ta-Matoran but nether seemed wounded other than mental shock. "Never seen you two here before. First time visiting? Sorry about the commotion. That doesn't happen too often. Welcome to Ga-Koro and on behalf of Turaga Nokama, I apologize for the mess."With a THUMP! Lei seemed to drop out of mid-air right next to Kalama. She bounced excitedly on her toes clapping her hands, "MatanuiMatanui! It's really Joske! Joske Nimil the famous Ta-Koroan Kohii Team Captain!"She quickly tore the Marine Bandoleer sleeve from her right shoulder and flipped it inside out. Inside were autographs of other famous Matoran Lei had met over the years. "Sign my bandoleer?" She offered the article of clothing to Joske hopefully.-------Nala smiled. "It's all in your perspective my dear Alrin. Art is often the subconscious communicating in a format you and others can consciously understand. If you let it, it can tell you more about yourself then you would ever know." Nala replaced Alrin's work with one of her own. "This is one I did, try to look at it from different perspectives and see if you can tell me what you see my subconscious reveals about me."After Alrin had done so, there was a knock on her door. Lei stood there. "Trident Directive. VIP needs to poof." Before dashing off without another word.Nala sighed. "Well Alrin it seems as through duty calls." She gave him a smile. "Maybe we can do this again sometime." She said with a suggestive wink before shooing him out of the house.

OOC: Kalama's been attached to your back since Nokama yelled for you to be seized. He's had the knife at your throat since you walked into the center of town. Not once did you acknowledge he was there despite his talking to you directly in your ear so you never threw him off. That means he's still on your back even when you levitated up with the knife still pressed to your throat. Situational awareness! IC: As the knife had been pressed against his throat, the sudden shift in gravity had forced it downward... into his chest. Kalama felt the tug of gravity try to wrench him downwards. Thankfully the death grip he'd had on Argentum's armor along with the magnetic field keeping him attached since the Toa had made his mad dash to the center of town worked against Argentum as it allowed him to maintain his position on the Toa's back. Trying to force Kalama down to the ground now would only have had him bring Argentum with him. However since Argentum's magnetic field that was keeping him aloft was stronger it only served to inconvenience the Toa making his flight more unwieldy. What pressure there was was causing the knife to dig deeper. The added bonus was that Argentum had to choose between getting the single Matoran off him to keep Kalama from killing him and sacrifice keeping everyone else at bay or continue to hold off the overwhelming forces but it would allow Kalama to continue to slowly kill him. The pressure of this choice came to bear when Tanuka figured it was about time she did something Toa-like and summoned up a torrent of water from the bay Ga-Koro floated in and sent it roaring at floating Toa.

OOC: Ignored at your own peril! IC: Why do they always pick the option that involves me me cutting them open? Kalama thought as the Toa started to levitate. "You could have made this easy on yourself but NOOOOO... why do they never pick the easy way? Do they seriously think I'm bluffing when I say I'm going to cut them open?" In one swift moment he raked the blade across the Toa's throat followed by jerking it upward to pop the Toa's mask off. ------- Nala looked at Alrin's painting, one hand on her chin thinking, the other across her chest supporting the elbow of the first arm. Her eyes roving slowly over the painting. Then she reached up and flipped it sideways. "It's all a matter in which you want it perceived. Observe, the first way in which you painted it, was that of a place of great significance but it was associated with something you fear. Something happened to you at that place, something you do not want to revisit. It haunts you in a way that chills you like something from a nightmare. This way..." she gestured to the painting, "I see someone, split down the center. You are at war with yourself. Whatever happened at that place is causing some internal strife within you. You believe that until you can conqueror your fears, you are forever fractured. Never to be whole again." She rotated it again a full 180 degrees so that it was lying on it's other side. "This way I see two people. They are close but there is something keeping them from each other. Recently you lost someone of great significance to you. You are unsure if you will see this person again but if you do, you're not sure if things will ever be the same between you two." Finally she turned it so it was upside down. "This way I see a profile. It's blurred but enough to make out that you took care with the details. It's someone you desire to be close to but you haven't realized it yet which is why you can't see who it is." She gave him a wry smile. "Perhaps it's a future companion."

It amazes me how much we really don't know about the mind despite all these advances in 'therapy'. I say this because of the stigma surrounding people who've seen a therapist. I've seen a couple myself due to my parents being worried about me when my school performance suffered. Long story short, I was treated differently and people thought I was one of those raving drooling vegetables you see in the Asylums in movies. Nothing is farther from the truth. There's a lot in this world that can traumatize an individual. A sudden radical change such as graduating elementary school and going to middle school for the first time was the catalyst in my case. Social rules changed suddenly and without warning over the summer. People I knew and had been friends with in the 5th grade now shunned me in favor of forming the well known social cliques. Needless to say the shock of loosing all my friends in one swoop kind of threw me for a loop. And I didn't have many friends to begin with. You could almost equate a school to a prison if you think about it. For the most part you toss in a bunch of people trying to figure out their way in life, stick a couple of authority members in there to watch over them, and hope they learn something. Left alone it mutates into it's own little city. If you were weird you didn't fit in and unless they thought you were a psycho liable to attack someone and considered dangerous, you got picked on. This of course was if you were small and helpless. I was considered a part of the psycho category and mostly left to my own devices. Mostly because I was still in shock at the culture change and tended to ramble out loud or do the occasional wild stunt, "just because." I was only mildly tolerated within lunch groups simply because even through they told me to leave, I held my ground. I was pretty scary when I was stubborn as people tended to back off when I wouldn't back down. Bullies are indeed cowards. I've found this to be true even in the workplace. Supervisors would sometimes tell me to something I didn't agree with and I'd let them know. They'd challenge me and when I stood my ground they cowered behind their position of authority wielding it like a weapon against me. This only served to aggravate me even more. Now I don't have a problem with authority. I have a problem with people I personally believe are MISUSING their authority, AKA bullying. I never could stand bullies. One tiny part of why I joined the US Army. To be a part of the <1% to stand up and defend those that wouldn't.defend themselves. I do believe there might come a time where we get invaded. They've made plenty of movies about it and if someone can dream it up, someone can make it a reality. That said when that time comes I'm taking up arms a part of the military or no since I think half the population that's all up in arms about being Anti-military is going to go looking for the nearest American Soldier to hide behind when it does happen. It takes a special kind of crazy to do that job and I happen to be that kind of crazy. And no it's not the kind of crazy that you give a fancy title that breaks down into an acronym and has a Latin name. It's the kind of crazy that develops at an early age when someone can't stand being bullied.