Kalama and Ta Rahkshi

Too late for that. Tuck has already acknowledged them as a legitimate force when a bunch of drunken Marines crashed into Joske in Ga-Koro back in October of last year. They're here to stay....And I think my radio just picked up an alien transmission.Or someone's playing a joke.*shrugs* Not much you can do for that one other than play it straight. That's why projectile weapons exist.

The same way you survive a frag grenade. You can't hit what isn't in your blast radius and get behind cover. If all else fails... HIT THE DECK!

"Mmmmpph..." Dren flipped his trident points down before resting on the butt watching the entrance to the main gate once again.The large Matoran hadn't been there more than five minutes before more figures arrived on the horizon."More newcomers I see." Dren commented more to himself. "Just no end to 'em." He chuckled. "At this rate if they ever got themselves organized, Makuta would have more than he could handle."

Oh no, I'd gladly take them One on One. Or even Two on One with the One being me. I'm not so sure those that have had me targeted are going to enjoy what I have in store for them however.

"Mmmm?" Nala leaned over and listened. Valria was muttering something.Nala's eyes moved as she listened to what the Toa was muttering.

"Ye bee almoast at the bordar ye daft lad. Mata-Nooie ye moost bee complatlay slooshed ye wandared theese far froom dey Koro." Yuni said. "Iz a woondar ye taint been ate yet."

"Hmmmm..." Nala said standing in front of Valria as she just sat there on her knees almost as if in a trance.Nala then poked Valria in the forehead with a finger and gave a gentle push. "Booonnnnggg!" She said in a sing-song tone.Valria fell backwards to the ground."Oooooooh! Now there's a tone I haven't heard before!" Nala said curiously as Valria hit the dirt. She walked around to the Toa's head and gently pried open her jaw before peering with one eye into her open mouth. "Helloooooooooooooo..." She called still peering into her mouth.Standing up she dusted her hands off. "It appears she has fallen into some kind of spell that requires the kiss of a mighty hero to break. Therefore you must all organize yourselves and fight to the death in a tournament. Whoever wins must be the mighty hero of legend who's kiss will break the spell. BUT! After they win the tournament they must seek out the fabled Sword of the Heroes and slay the King of the Netherworld to free the Angel of Grace and win her blessing so as to purify himself so that the seven Elders may deem him worthy of the necklace that will weaken this spell so that he may shatter it."Seeing the looks she got she shrugged."Or the shock of seeing two of her friends she thought long dead may have been too much for her and she got sensory overload from all her beliefs being shattered. Once her brain has processed this new information and is in a better position to actually comprehend what her eyes see. She'll wake up."

"Dunno what you're griping about." Tawk said."Yeah! Having a second is awesome!" Mawl said. "It's having a pair of eyes on the back of your head! I don't need to look for Rahi cuz that's his job!" He thumbed at Xavier."Not once have I ever been grounded thanks to Mistress Kylina here!" Tawk grabbed the Ga-Matoran in a one armed hug. "The Mighty Tawk is all that you see here thanks to the fabulous Kylina!""GAH! GET OFF ME!" Kylina struggled rather uselessly to get the stronger Onu-Matoran off her but she did it anyway."GROUP HUUUUGG!" Mawl said latching on."XAVIER GET THEM OFF ME!""I think I'll get the drawing pad instead.""TRAITOR! I'LL SEE YOU HANG FOR THIS!"

OOC: Considering how drunk you are Kal, I'd say you wandered quite a ways from Ko-Koro since Xibre is almost completely on the other side of the Wahi from Ko-Koro.IC: Tanuka shrugged in response to Thama's musings. "Gradual Language Evolution. Happens as more words are added to the dictionary. That and most of what we know of Old Matoran comes from writings from before Mata-Nui brought us to this paradise. Nobody remembers what it was like before we were brought here other than we used another language altogether than the one we're currently speaking. It's still Matoran but not the same Matoran we used before. Some words were replaced because they were lost with time and pronunciation of others has changed. It's almost as if we were rediscovering our culture all over again. Or maybe another culture entirely that we evolved from!""Alright teach! No need to get all-OOOMPH! HEY! WATCH IT PAL!" Nuraka snapped as she turned to bludgeon the Matoran who'd wandered into her. Xibre quickly pulled Nuraka away. The Midshipwoman snarled at Xibre pulling herself free before continuing to walk forward grumbling."Wow. This one wandered quite a ways." Hotu said before backing off quickly. "Phew! No wonder! He's got enough alcohol in him to blow out a wall if you lit him up!"

"None of your business Airman." The Petty Officer said. "We do what we do for a reason and it's way above your pay grade. And don't call me Ma'am. I work for a living." She turned back to the ranks. "MOVE OUT!" She barked. The Marines turned smartly and marched on their way."She's right." Kylina said approaching Lans. "We're a part of the Gukko Force. Whatever the Marines do is up to the High Command of the Gukko Force and the Marines. It doesn't concern us. We should be more concerned by what the Gukko Force has for us to do. As if there wasn't enough for us to be worried about already. If I'm gonna splatter I'd prefer for it to be in service to Le-Koro."She turned back to Verdi. "You have a bird or are you a second?" She asked. "We don't get birds unless there's one the Regulars can't use so you'd have to be Lans' second if you don't."

"What's up?" Kalama said looked back over his shoulder at Sisk.

Found it. Appreciate it guys. Now I can play it straight.2,000? I'm insulted. Retaliation is going to be FUN...

You're welcome. You need anything translated I can do it on the weekends when I have access to the computer with the complete downloaded lexicon.If you watch closely you might see some other translated stuff. Some of it I may have altered (on purpose) to suit my needs but it largely remains the same.So Mef, where did that bounty on my head come from? I looked in Po-Wahi but there's no reference anywhere.

"I am where I wish to be." Nala said suddenly from her new position on Alrin's shoulders. "And right now I wish to be here.""Perhaps later I wish to be here." She said now hanging off Valria's side.

The Matoran laughed. "Well versed indeed Agni. However that's not quite what I mean. Names do not have to be spoken. I am what I appear to be. A lone Matoran enjoying herself in the company and conversation of other people. If I was not what I appear to be now then I would appear to be doing something else."She gave Mef a hard look. "Put the safety on before you jar that and shoot your own foot." She said firmly. "There's nothing here that will do you harm within shooting range... yet."Turning back to Agni she said. "I see that you are Toa but that is not what you are. You appear to be something and that is what I wish to know just as you wished to know what I was. However if you wish to know what it is that I am called just as you are called Agni. Then you may call me Nala."

The Matoran seemed to float in mid air for a fraction of a second before dropping gracefully to her feet to the ground. She tsked. "You really shouldn't point that at things you don't intend to shoot." She said off offhandedly to Mef. "As for who I am. I am what I look like." She said resting one hand on her hip."So I'd point that somewhere more useful then at me because it's not me you have to worry about." She tapped a foot. "It what lies down here you should be aiming for." Turning back to Agni who reappeared she said, "Now that you know what I am perhaps you'd like to tell me what you are."

As the Fourth Irregular's made their way out of the bar Xavier made a rather obvious observation."What's with all the Marines?"Indeed, it seemed as if every Marine in the Liaison in Le-Koro had assembled and they were going somewhere."Hey you're a girl." Mawl said to Kylina. "What are they doing?"She shrugged. "I guess they're going somewhere with heavy fighting. The Liaison normally doesn't leave unless something big is happening."Tawk and Mawk fell to the ground grabbing Kylina's legs."Don't leave us Mistress Kylina!" They chorused with big puppy dog eyes."GET OFF ME!" Kylina said shaking them off. "I'm not going anywhere! I'm a Gukko Irregular not a Marine!""So... do we gear up?" Xavier asked."No." Kylina said. "Let's keep our ears open and our noses in the wind. It may be nothing but if one force is mobilizing it may not be long before we do." She glanced at Verdi. "Always pay attention to strange things. They are rarely pleasant surprises and if you're watching it, you're less likely to get splattered."

"Too late for that, you've been jumped." A Ga-Matoran said from where she sat on Agni's shoulders. She grinned. "And what pray tell is this merry band of Toa I see below me?"

OOC: Yes actually. It's a literal direct translation as Maya said. I've been using Mandalorian as an Old Matoran substitute similar to our English and Latin based stuff.I manged to get the entire lexicon from Traviss's website dedicated to the translations before she trashed it after her fallout with LucasFilms following how the Mandiorian culture was twisted with the new Clone Wars Cartoon in season 3. It's why she quit writing the Imperial Commando series after the first few books.Ah, thanks Gravity, I haven't been writing from the computer with the lexicon and forgot where the apostrophe went.But enough of that.IC: Kalama had only been half paying attention to the discussion. His view was on a higher ledge where he saw something moving.A Ga-Matoran's head looked over the edge down at him. She waved."Kote ra Ky'ram!" she yelled down. "What unit you from?""Kalama's Raiders, 17th Ghekula!" He yelled back."Gunnery Sergent Utiff! 3rd Seaborn! You headed back?""Aye Gunny!""See you at home!" She rejoined the mass of Marines marching back above them."Better pick up the pace Com." Nuraka said.

The Marines burst out laughing."No Xibre. Kote ra Ky'ram." Maya said. "It's Old Matoran. Translated directly it says Glory or Death.""It's the motto of the Marines." Hotu said turning her right arm so Xibre could get a good look at the Marine Corps insignia patch on her sleeve. On the lower part of the ships wheel between the pommels of the crossed blades it read Kote ra Ky'ram."No retreat, no surrender. We fight for glory or we die." Hotu said. "It is the motto we live by and the call used among the sisterhood that is the Ga-Koroan Marine Corps. Using it means you will always know who is your Sister-Marine among the chaos of battle or anytime really."

OOC: The storyline of 2001 Quest for the Masks played out as it did in canon. Our playground is an alternate timeline where instead of the Toa defeating Makuta, Makuta has captured them. Until otherwise, everything leading up to the Battle of the Kini-Nui as it happened officially is true.YES, EVERYTHING.Therefore most of the knowledge you seek is common. Complete knowledge of the Rahkshi is a little on the hazy side however but most of the inhabitants are fairly familiar with them.IC: Dren left the Mark Bearers at the gate. "This is as far as I go." He said.A group of Ga-Matoran bearing the Marine Bandoleer suddenly ran past."That's odd." Dren said. "That's the local liaison. They never abandon their posts except for... Something must be wrong in Ga-Koro." He turned back to Tank. "I'd hurry if I were you. If the Liaison is leaving their posts then you don't have much time. Like I said if you have trouble then speak to Lanora and tell her Dren sent you."

"Oh? Big words considering your predicament." The yellow eyes glinted from behind the Kanohi. "As it stands I have business with you."A light touch brushed over his neck almost tenderly but with the same authority as a predator that had caught it's prey."And Vortixx are all about business are they not? In that case you would be a fool to ignore your nature because it's the only reason you still yet live."

"We do the best we can with what we have, where we are." Kali replied. "It's impossible to not allow him such things. It makes sense to withdraw what forces we can to defend our village, nobody else is going to help us. They all have their own problems. However it will weaken our presence abroad and force the other villages to pick up the slack we left behind. Shouldn't be a problem since they're mostly bigger than we are but Naval-wise, we're the only force, similar to how the Gukko Force is the only air to air force we have. Withdrawing our Naval support for too long and we risk losing the waterways to pirates. We'll have to fight our way back in control.""Ga-Wahi is also our home region." Juno continued climbing over a rock. "The other forces maintain a lighter presence there like we do elsewhere, strictly for their home Koro's interests. Trade routes and the like. We're primarily responsible for everything that happens there. Nobody will act without prior agreements. It's considered rude. When go-aheads are confirmed, that means both forces will work together which makes for a greater force overall.""But back to Makuta..." Kali said. "He's demonstrated clear logical tactical thinking. This could be a feint simply to shift the Corps' attention elsewhere. Or as soon as Kotu blinks, he'll attack, it takes time to organize a large force and if we're scrambling to return to Ga-Koro after starting to fall back he could cut us to pieces.""Apparently a chance Kotu is willing to take." Juno said."Can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." Kali agreed."I for one see this as a good sign." Kalama said."How can this be good?" Kali asked in disbelief."Because if he's starting to get smart about toying with us, it means he's acknowledging us as a legitimate threat. The stories go Matoran fought to the death to protect the Chronicler's Company and the Kini-Nui. Isn't that right Juno?""..." Juno glanced away."The way I see it," Kalama continued. "We got his attention. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason it's been quiet is because he's been steadily probing at us to reevaluate the situation. We got close with the Toa Mata. Nobody can deny that. He's been shown he CAN bleed. He'll be doing what it takes to secure his flanks and that means it's no longer fun and games."Kali's head bowed. She started shaking."...Kali?" Maya asked."Lass, ye alroight?" Yuni said.A positively demonic grin crossed her face as the shaking revealed to be laughter."Hehehehehe..." She glanced with with a positively wild look in her eye."Kote ra Ky'ram Kal.""Indeed Kali. Glory, or Death indeed."

OOC: I'll do you one better Skarloth.IC: "My, My, what do we have here?" A female voice purred from just over the lost Vortixx's shoulder. "A lost little Maha without his flock or herder to protect him?"

"It was also acting alone and at a lower level." Kalama said. "If they have a task you'll see them working in teams of 3 up to 8 and their power level is equivalent to the difficulty they may face. Those that go after soft targets..." He grunted as he started scaling a cliffside with the Marines following. "Often... are... weaker..." He looked down at the Toa. "Than those that go after harder targets like Military instillation." He finished climbing and along with Lei who'd been watching from the top helped the rest of the group over the edge."Typically the highest that are tasked with hitting trade caravans and the like max out at level 4. Those that go after military patrols and bases have a minimum level of 3. Any that go after Toa, and I've seen them go after newcomers before, are 5 and 6. Anything Makuta seems to value as well as those that guard the depths of the Mangaia are sixes. No lower."He paused looking around before whispering. "So help anyone who crosses a level 7.""You've seen one?" Kali asked."No, but if what mother says is true then thank Mata-Nui I haven't and I pray it stays that way. Nobody has reported a Level 7 yet but mother is convinced they exist and she hasn't steered us wrong yet."