Kalama and Ta Rahkshi

Search me. To me honestly recalling the Rahkshi after revealing them is... moronic.The Rahkshi are essentially Bioweapons. The armor is nothing more than extra protection and mobility for the Kraata who at lower levels are compelled to seek out and infect Kanohi. That's their base purpose. Any Kraata at any level that comes in physical contact with a Kanohi will infect it. Levels 1-3 are little more than animals and can't really comprehend orders Makuta gives them. They are simply driven by an instinct to infect Kanohi. They get smarter though as the levels increase. Level 4-6 ARE capable of comprehending and carrying out Makuta's wishes. A Rahkshi is only as smart as the Kraata piloting it. The extra powers given to each Rahkshi via breed is simply an extra protection factor but could also be considered a second bioweapon option.Level 7's obviously are exceptionally intelligent and can infect Kanohi from a distance. However they are incredibly rare.History teaches us we can't really control bioweapons. Once unleashed, the only way to stop it, is to destroy it. So Makuta can't really 'recall' the Rahkshi, especially those piloted by level 1 Kraata. He might be able to nudge them in a direction but stop them?Not even Makuta can do that. They can't understand him and won't obey.Since they're unleashed he may as well use them as extra pressure and fear factors in his campaign of terror.As for foils, understand they're woven into the plot to buy time as layers but a dedicated force constantly working to seriously mess them up won't be stopped by one foil. They'll keep digging and sabotaging until he's down for good.

"Oh you are SO DEAD!" Hotu snarled charging JL."Don't break too many limbs." Maya called back to her."Hotu or JL?" Lei asked."Hotu. It's not her I'm worried about. She breaks too many of his limbs and we really will get slowed down.""HUP!" Lei slid underneath Xiber's attack before flipping over JL's. "Nyaaaa! Can't touch me!" She fastballed another snowball at JL.

True Onarax. That doesn't mean he can't use his agents, the Rahi, and the Rahkshi as he did during the Quest for the Masks. Also Mask of Light shows us that he doesn't have to leave his lair to put in "appearances" so to speak. While physically he would be incapable of moving, he has shown mental capabilities that allow him to do such things.Thus the question of why he hasn't moved yet is still unanswered. It can't be to take over a giant robot so obviously he's going for a bloodless victory. However that would still require utilizing terror tactics to keep people away from his master plans so as to prevent disruption. Otherwise someone is going to get curious enough to dig through the layers. That's bad as that would throw a monkey wrench in the works. Feints and misleading others is all well and good but such plans are simply to buy more time to allow the true plot to come to fruition.If we do want to use the Sherlock Homes and Professor Moriarty comparison. Most of the time, Homes was able to foil Moriarty's plots. However Homes was never able to link Moriarty to the crime. THAT'S what made him a mastermind. With no evidence to build a case against Moriarty himself, he could never prove his guilt which is why Moriarty was able to walk away free every time.Foils are plots designed to be discovered quickly to send someone in the wrong direction. However it's meant to buy seconds, not years as by the time the foil is found out, it's only seconds before it's discovered as false and the detective is able to back track and find the true path. Foils work best when executed just seconds before your true plan comes to light. If executed too early, chances are high your actual plan will get found out before it's ready and it's thwarted. The direct approach is often how plans actually achieve their end goal. The layers are just to buy time.

"Nope! I am one hundred percent pure blue Ga-Matoran!" She twirled before Sisk which served three main purposes. The first of which was to show off for Sisk again. The second was an evasive measure against Xibre's wildly thrown snowball (intended for Kalama who simply leaned out of the way). The third of which allowed for Lei to scoop up yet another snowball while evading Xiber's and counterattacking.Kalama simply leaned the other way as the snowball bypassed his face and went hurtling towards Xiber.

OOC: Kalama knows this. He's mocking the situation.IC: Lei paused before grinning. "I'm Santa Matoran!" She said cheerily before shaking the snow off. She quickly scraped up another snowball and ran towards the two before running up the rock wall and hurling a snowball at Sisk before leaping off and tumbling in front of them quickly hurling a second toward Sisk.

I assume the reason your characters aren't dying is the fact that the staff plot has been delayed until Tuck returns.

Well there is that but considering I know the location of two surviving members of the company I'm surprised Emzee hasn't seen fit to descend on my head yet as he's already offed Hafu (sort of) and Tamaru, Kapura and Taipu are missing until Tuck gets back, leaving him with the goal of silencing Macku and Kopeke. By now it's known the Raiders know where they are and that makes me the primary target.I crafted the characters to be a threat to Makuta's plans fully prepared for a gauntlet of death and so far I am... underwhelmed. The declaration of increased mortality rate by Tuck is comparable to that really awesome movie trailer and you're really excited about the movie but like the game play I've experience so far...I was much better off saving the 8 bucks I paid for the movie and just watching the trailer online for free again.Consequently, the most challenging fights I've had were the ones I set up for myself. Makes me wonder if I should follow suite and get a refund on this game.We'll see. I'll run the Tarakava Raid first.

"We've been steadily walking for the last several minutes. You didn't notice?" Kalama said. "Ah well that tends to happen when one is having fun."PIFF! A snowball flew from behind Sisk catching him in the back. Lei fell over laughing.

Vakama had not taken his eyes from the Mark even as he listened to Tank.As the Toa finished, the Turaga drummed his fingers on the fire staff he carried thoughtfully."What do you think Dren?""Me sir?""You've been here listening to their tale. Same as I have. Surely you have an opinion.""I'm just a Guardsman.""An ELITE Guardsman no less. You were chosen for that because your superiors trusted your judgment. I placed your superiors in the position they are now because I trust their judgment. In a round about way you could say I must then trust YOUR judgment."Dren nodded his head. "Then I am honored you feel that way. As for my opinion, I'm skeptical of the whole thing but if it really is true then it could be a danger if there are more and they have no control. Still, arcane marks? This would be something I would rather have the Academy in Ga-Koro study, it's more of their area anyway. I did however see SOMETHING that warrants examination that could give some hint of truth to their words when they were apprehended.""Indeed?" The elder of Ta-Koro turned back to Tank. "If what the Guardsman says is true and I BELIEVE him to speak not lies then before I render my judgment, I have a simple question for you Toa." He fixed the Toa with a stare that bore into the Toa's eyes as if searching for deceit in the Toa's next words."Should I release you. What will your plans be?"

Tanuka cocked her head. "So you were scared but were you worried you wouldn't live?" She asked."Anybody else get the feeling most of our comrades are barely older than Lei?" Kali asked."Little bit." Hotu said. "They do act like a bunch of teenagers gossiping about who likes who.""Psst. Don't tell anyone but I think Cyrax has competition from Ara'kas for JL." Kalama mock whispered to Kali who promptly whacked him upside the head. "Don't encourage them!"Kalama shoved her and Kali ended up in the path of Nen's snowball. She was promptly rolled up in it much to the enjoyment of the Marines.Nen's large snowball sprouted blades before disintegrating as Kali cut her way out. She leveled a blade at Kalama."You'll pay for that one Commander.""I'm shaking in terror. No wait, that's just the wind chill."

While a genius explanation to explain the absence of the staff, it doesn't fit the whole "Terror Campaign" psychological standpoint.Makuta uses fear to keep the populace in line, similar to how many tyrannical dictators keep power. The most basic and effective is a show of force. Usually marching troops around or razing villages and the like. A lazy Makuta your theorizing wouldn't bother to react to anything short of his plans being truly threatened and if he has layered them so he always wins, there wouldn't be a need to ever react at all.That would make him non-existent. He just sit around waiting for a bunch of Toa to descend into the Mangaia to try their luck at actually threatening his existence. To me this is another plot error. Both the inhabitants and Makuta are wide open for an attack from ether side and for some reason nether one is budging.It's understandable why the Matoran aren't budging. If Makuta really is this unkillable force, they need his Achilles Heel. From the canon story it's ether the right person or overwhelming force. We've got the latter so why are we waiting?As for Makuta, well he's not budging because... well he's got the numbers for a clean sweep. Why hasn't he made a move yet? There's no 'real threat' since apparently you all believe he doesn't feel threatened. The only reason I can't seen him making a move yet is because the Matoran will resist. He hasn't broken their will yet and he can only do that through pressure and fear. If he's being lazy he's not doing ether.To be honest. I don't feel threatened ether. I keep hearing promises of character death from the staff and the closest any of my characters have come was minor injuries from friendly fire incidents. Some band aids and time away from action and they'll be fit again. I'm not really feeling the 'Fear' here and I'm getting the sense that Makuta is rapidly becoming nothing more then a bad tale. So ether the Toa Mata have succeeded becoming martyrs in the process and we've spend the last 100 years doing clean up work or this game is really broken.

"Laaaaa dadadadeeeeeeee! Ladedadaedaeadedadadoooooooo-OW!""I said no theme songs Tawk.""Mew?"Kylina sighed shaking her head. "Don't. Start.""Mew? MEW! Mewmewmewmewmew!""You did not forget to learn how to talk Tawk. Now knock it off and land this bird. Maybe they've at least transferred the good stuff somewhere else...""They never make it good anywhere else..." Tawk said sadly."Hey Kylina!""What Mawl?""NOTIT!""NOTIT!""NOTIT!""NOT-" Kylina face palmed."First round is on you!" Xavier laughed."Fine but I'M picking!"

"Um... Thank you." Tanuka said smiled somewhat embarrassed unused to the praise. "You did well yourself."Silence."Agarin I have to ask you something... were you... nervous at all with that Rahkshi bearing down on you?"

"ENOUGH!" Nala snapped with such a ferocity both Toa jumped.She fixed them both with a predatory glare and a snarl to match that of a Muaka."We've already made enough forward progress. Let's not go backwards! For now there will be no apologizes but you two need to quit with the accusations! You succeed as a team and yes, YOU FAILED AS A TEAM." She let these words echo before continuing."In order for you to get past this, you will need to learn to recover AS. A. TEAM. Everybody is at fault, everybody shares the same blame. This means you need to accept the fault you recognize as yours and not stack more blame on anyone else. If you two need to fight to get this stacked up Maha Dung off your chests to make yourselves feel better then quit snarling like two chained hounds and tear each others' throats out already!" Nala removed herself from around Alrin's shoulders and dropped off the Toa landing on the dirt."And you call yourselves teammates. Pathetic. I've met Sanctum Guard more friendly to Marines then you two are to each other and that's saying something! If you really want to move past this then no. No more IF's AND's or BUT's. If you want to move on then you need to accept what has happened and face forward. One cannot see what is coming if one is continually facing backwards dwelling on what she has seen. Trust me, what's coming is far more interesting than what lies behind."

"Not at." She winked at him. "I did zip away rather suddenly didn't I? Ah well, as such is life. So what is this sob story that has you fighting personal demons and the like?"

Nala gave him a flat look. "Careful Alrin..." she said in a warning tone. "Being the one to personally extinguish the life of another is one thing. Letting emotions in like that is... dangerous. While I do not feel remorse for taking another's life, I take no solace in such things as 'seeing the fear in their eyes fade'. It's that very line that borders on 'Monster'. You and I both agree that's not a path we should take. It's one I do not walk and one you want to stop walking down. It's the same Path the Makuta has already walked down."Nala started tracing line down the side of Alrin's mask. "It's a pity others don't want to understand just how dark the shadows really are. They cling to ignorance just hoping it will all go away. It won't Alrin but I don't need to tell you that. You're just starting to understand our plight and your own. Makuta will strike again soon. He never waits too long. He needs to keep the fear in the populace and he can't do that by letting us get too comfortable. We're already used to the cycles that come and go. At this point we've just about had enough. The breaking point is coming soon Alrin, his power will be fading. Nothing lasts forever."She tapped his mask twice. "Nether will this grief. It will pass one way or another and leave you feeling directionless. Which way you choose will depend on your perspective. As you get older you learn as I have, the best things in life, find you."

"We'll keep going once Nuraka finishes taking that thing apart.""Done!" The shipwright said as the armor fell apart. She grinned. "Construction is hard. DEstuction is easy. A 4-year-old could have done this.""Why would I want a child when I have a perfectly good Nuraka?" Kalama asked."Search me sir." She said grinning. "I'd have to question your command skills if you requisitioned THAT.""Good thing you don't have to then. Can you keep going Kali?""Yeah." She said standing up. "Still a little numb here and there but I'm good to fight.""Let's keep going to Rock Frost then." Kalama shouldered his shields and lead the way into the pass."Good fight." Juno complimented Tanuka as she went past."Er... thanks." Tanuka said unsure of what to make of the compliment.

"So?" Lei said. "We've eaten Kraata before and haven't suffered. Yuni here make a mean Boiled Kraata Stew.""Iz all inna spoicies." The cook said. " 'course iz loike Splattarfeesh. Ye don'a preepare eet proparlay an' eet can keel ye."

OOC: I don't do it unless I have an OOC to post. Ruins the story look for me.IC: "Well that sounds terrible dear." Nala said. "But if he was already dead then what would it matter for you? Whoever this Telric was would have gotten what he deserved and you wouldn't have to worry. Or is this more you need to watch the light drain from his eyes personally? Know that he has paid for his crimes?"

"And what particular closure would that be?" Nala asked poking at his Kanohi absentmindedly.

Dren shrugged. "Has it's moments." Someone knocked on the door.Dren went to investigate before he turned."You boys have a visitor."The steady THUNK of a staff echoed in the block as the Turaga of Ta-Koro entered.He glanced at Utu before turning to Tank."These are the ones you say claim to have something of importance with which they claim make it necessary to free them from incarceration?" He asked Dren."Indeed Turaga Vakama.""One of them is a killer with no remorse. That much I know. But I have not seen the other one here before... Speak child and tell me why you thought it necessary to free such a criminal and why I should have you released." Vakama said turning to Tank.

The Marines stared at Ussalaius."You sure about that?" Kalama said waving the dead Kraata in the Toa's face. "I don't know about you but I feel fine.""...I vote we eat it!" Lei announced. "We killed it therefore we eat it!"Kalama shrugged. "Have at it." He tossed it at JL. "But I think Thama may want her arrow back.""Hey Commander!" Kalama caught the heatstone tossed at him by Hotu. "What do we do about this thing?" She kicked the Rahkshi armor which fell over."Have Nuraka dismantle it." Kalama said thawing out his frozen arm. "There's plenty of wild Kraata on the loose. One might find it's way into that armor if it's still in one piece and cause trouble for someone else.""Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to work I gooooo!" Nuraka sang as she fired up the wielding laser grinning as she started pulling the Entorahk apart.

"Burdens should never be carried on one shoulder alone." To demonstrate this, Nala leaned over so her weight was spread evenly across both of the Toa's shoulders. "This is the reason you were given two shoulders with which to carry your loads. Even so some shoulders were not meant to carry such heavy burdens like the one you burden yourself with." She picked at her teeth cleaning them before running her tongue across them. "Maybe it's time you stopped trying to carry that guilt alone and helped Kuyre carry his. Strength in numbers after all." She giggled. "You can tell I'm Ga-Koroan since I'm talking about Unity all the time can't you?"

OOC: AGAIN with the lack of attention to detail! You're killing me Smalls! You're ing killing me!Taken from the back story found on page 1 of the discussion topic:

The land and beasts were once again his. The rahi of the island, from the flying Nui-Rama to the crawling Mana were enslaved to Makuta's will by infected masks. But Makuta awakened even darker things to serve his will, as well. Terrifying and demonic creatures known as Rahkshi, spawn of the Master of Shadows himself, appeared, possessing the same qualities and powers of their creator - including his characteristic lack of mercy.This was over a hundred years ago.

Rahkshi breeds have been running loose over the island for over a hundred years if I'm interpreting this correctly. They're just a rare elite enemy.You're ing killing me Smalls.IC: The Entorahk scratched madly at it's eye trying to get the arrow out.Spotting his chance, Xibre leaped up and smashed the arrow further in with the flat of his blade.The Rahkshi shuddered and went still before collasping as the controlling Kraata died.Yuni pried open the faceplate and dragged the dead Kraata out. "Aye, inssseckut cun'troll."The Glass Trappers seemed to pause for a minute as they were released from the Rahkshi's control. Scenting the smell of thousands of their dead brethren they screeched and retreated from the area in mass exodus.The now purple colored Marines wandered up to Yuni and Lei."You get it?" Kalama asked."Aye lad, iz deed. Saw ye get cught inna nuzer blast. Ye aight?""Deep chilled but we'll thaw out. I'm more worried about Kali.""Mmmalright." Kali said still supported by Maya. "I can at lease feel cold again so that's something." She shivered before erupting into a coughing fit."Take it easy." Maya said letting her down gently. "You're lucky that blast didn't fry you like those spiders.""Mmm surprised I survived myself." Kali grinned. "Kote ra Ky'ram Shipper.""Kote ra Ky'ram indeed Ma'am." Maya returned the grin before looking at Lei and Yuni. "You two alright? Nobody infected?""It was only a level 4." Kalama said taking the dead Kraata from Yuni. "I don't think anyone got close enough.""Can we eat it?" Lei asked curiously.

Nala clapped happily from her treetop. "Now we're getting somewhere!" She crowed.THUMP! The Ga-Matoran flew from her perch landing somewhat heavily enough on Alrin's shoulder to make the landing audible and felt but strangely light enough that Alrin wasn't jostled."Anger is a perfectly natural and normal emotional response to stress." She said. "Demonstrating anger should not be an embarrassment. A line was crossed that should not have been and you reacted accordingly. Perfectly acceptable."Nala took a thoughtful pose. "Come to think of it. I don't know what I'm doing out here ether." She looked back at Alrin. "Strange world. Don't you think? You're just... compelled to certain locations and the next thing you know you're involved in some complex problem resolution." She put a hand on his head. "What you said needed to be said, at the very least out loud so you can admit it to yourself if not those you believe responsible. You're grieving sweetheart. That much is clear to me."Nala drummed her fingers on Alrin's skull silent for a moment. "So, what do your instincts tell you? Are you compelled to stay here or go off to seek something else?"

I used to have that problem too.Then I had enough and punched life in the face.We still don't get along that well so I have to beat it down every so often.