Corpus Rahkshi

IC Kat:

"Oh man."

Quickly as I could with a broken hand, I swung around to the side, letting the queen smash it's head against what ever it well pleased, mostly sheltered. 

Even so, I was whipped by a multitude of branches and vines that threatened to rip me free from the relative safety of my perch.

Speaking of....

I looked over.

My my, what a lovely leg joint you have there. Be a shame if I were to say, axe kick it.

...

Oops.

IC: Mortsia

Mortsia heard the quite rude remark made by Xara. Speaking, he said:

"Yet he still is one of us.

Whether he be of shadow or light

Over his powers you should not fuss;

Rather, treat him as a Rahk with delight."

IC Vaalku

No, that one didn't sound right.

Vaalku untied the twelfth string for the fourth time to tighten it even further, tune it right and tie it. This had been his most successful project yet. No half-minded maniac had attacked him.

Soon, though, he would have to learn what songs he could play with it. And then, maybe he would be proving the Makuta and Matoran wrong. Not all Rahkshi are heartless killing machines, only most.

IC: Vlad / Infirmary

Vlad defiantly resisted the urge to cringe under Xara's skeptical glare. Not that he wasn't used to skeptical glares, but coming from Xara they tended to be quite a bit more intimidating.

"I understand." he said sadly, somewhat hesitantly. "I am used to other Rahkshi lookink at me vith disgust unt hatred, for I valk in zer light, unt they in zer darkness. But in goink against zer Makuta as ve have chosen, is not my aberrance a virtue?" His voice and stance had grown confident now, despite the nagging fear he felt at contradicting Xara. "For it is plain to see zat I haf already rejected their vays for zer vays of light, zer vays followed by zer Matoran. For zis reason, I vould think my 'creepiness' makes me more trustvorthy, not less."

A moment and his caution caught up with his daring. Meek once more he added, "...Vith all due respect towards your judgement, of course."

IC: Venom - Hallways

Venom twirled her weapon around, bringing the blunt end of her polearm upwards in a strike aimed directly towards the bottom of her opponent's jaw, a blow that should have caused him to lose his balance once again.

"My younger brother, Rail, is a Rahkshi of Magnetism, and I can kick the Karz out of him any day of the week," she hissed. "Needless to say, I'm quite used to fighting those physically tougher than myself, so you might as well just give up and take your beating like a good little Kraata before I actually start trying."

IC: Xara - Infirmary. 

"Are you even speaking my language?" some of the words the creep had said sounded vaguely familiar, but so twisted and distorted that they were barely recognisable. I turned back to Palma, "No offence, but I don't know, trust or understand this guy. If you think so highly of him, perhaps you should just get him to do it by himself."

IC: Alpha/Village

I gave Sanu one of the three booster shots I brought with me.

"Here. Inject this. We need to move."

IC: Punch/Village

Stronghold would live. But someone else would have to grab his suit while he gently brought his Kraata back..

IC: Mortsia

Mortsia was about to volunteer for the job, before he realized he had no idea what said job was.

IC: Sidonas - Visorak

Sidonas kept following Fang. What was that-

Something terrifying loomed out in the trees, something Sidonas suspected.

"Giant Visorak of death. Just my luck..." He muttered. Sidonas exited out of flight mode, landing on the ground. Sidonas, with his good arm, unsheathed Hook and grappled up into a branch. Upon reaching his vantage point, Sidonas sheathed Hook and grabbed one of the few remaining bolts in his bag, and put it in his left hand, which was sticking out of his sling. Sidonas loaded the bolt into the gauntlet on his right hand and fired a bolt straight at the creature. "Might need someone firing from a distance, luckily I was brought here." Sidonas muttered. He continued to load and fire at the Kahgarak, aiming for its' legs.

IC: Eps

Eps was again knocked to the ground. He decided to pretend to be defeated, and didn't fight back. He had a plan.

IC: Sanu

"Ok." He said, taking the Shot and injecting it.

IC: Alpha/Village >>> Forest

"Now hurry! Exxan says we leave now!"

I looked at Punch, who I didn't see earlier, walking with a very large Kraata. Upon quick inspection of the suit, I discovered that it was Stronghold's. I asked for him to carry the suit while I took the Kraata. He smiled and did so saying that he didn't want to cause another death. I frowned. I still didn't know exactly what was wrong with him. Earlier he was apologetic, then berserk, and now this?

"You realize that you'll still be punished? Regardless of whether you're extremely stressed or not."

He nodded.

"I know."

IC: Nymph

are you going to try and make some coherent comment about this place

maaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeeeee

I cough up a slight giggle, which ends up sounding more unhinged than relaxed, and say nervously, "With my current life plan, hopefully I'll... I'll..." 

what did i tell you?

"Um. Forget I said that."

*muffled screaming*

Why are you talking about muffled screaming?

just don't. 

don't ask.

not at all.

IC: Venom - Hallways

Seeing that her opponent had gone back to lying on the ground, Venom casually made her way over towards the side that his previously injured hand was located on, sliding the launcher even further out of his reach with her foot.

"Welcome to Corpus Rahkshi," she sneered, stomping her heel down towards his knuckles as she did so. "Hopefully, you'll find your time here just as pleasant as I do."

IC: Eps

Eps moved his hand away from the stomp, his other hand going straight towards her calf, with his sharpened claws outstretched.

IC: Fang - Visorak Jungle (Team Backstab)

Fang circled far above the battle uncertainly. He could only watch as the monstrosity pounded Kat through the treeline. What could he do against the Kahgarak. Far below, Sidonas was launching his pitiful little shots. Fang just shook his head. Something so small wouldn't even make the Kahgarak flinch.

Then... he noticed Kat swinging out at the joints. Of course, break its joints, and the Kahgarak couldn't move. It seemed so simple, and Fang didn't even have to get close. 

He blasted a searing stream of plasma towards the opposite limb's joint, careful to keep it far away from Kat.

IC: Hoto - Malebranche

Hoto tilted her head curiously. "B-bribe? What are you... getting at?"

IC: Vlad / Infirmary

Couldn't understand him? That was a new one. Many had complained about his accent, sure, but he'd never encountered anyone who claimed to be utterly incapable of comprehension. Sigh. She obviously hated him quite intensely, and probably couldn't understand him because she didn't want to. Or maybe fate was simply being cruel.

Maybe he should just back off and leave her to do this alone? She was a much better fighter than him, to be sure. The Matoran would be safer in her hands - assuming she cared enough to even try protect them. And could he be sure she did?

No. The only person he could fully trust to defend them was himself.

Trying to properly balance defiance and fearful respect he responded, "Vell vith all due respect, if you cannot understand me, perhaps you have not tried hard enough. Vhat sort of grounds for distrust is an accent, anyvay? I am just as trustvorthy as anyvun else. More so, I vould think, as I just explained..." Oh no, had he been too bold there? Too late now... He shrank back slightly from Xara's inevitable angry, perhaps electric, response.

IC: Xara - Infirmary.

It took a lot of effort and self-control not to just lash out at the creep then and there. I could count on one hand how many of the Rahkshi in this school I genuinely trusted, and this wacko wasn't one of them.

But Palma was.... karz.... 

IC: Sidonas - Visorak

Sidonas grabbed a bolt loaded it, but before firing, he paid attention to the fact that Kat was hacking at its' joints. "Guess she's got the right idea." Sidonas muttered. He aimed for the joints, this time not firing quickly and taking time to make his shots as accurate and as painful and piercing as he could.

IC: Mortsia

Mortsia took a step forward. True, he was generally on guard due to the nature of the school, but lashing out because of an accent? You simply had to look at the speech patterns.

"A distrust over a way of speech?

To distrust one due to their culture

Then you prey on them like a culture.

A point of acceptance we should reach.

Why criticize their tounge

Rather than who they are?

From acceptance you are far.

Trust have you flung."

IC: Nightmare

Nightmare was juggling rocks again, Pondering whether or not Rocks would taste good.

IC: Raith - Near Infirmary

What?...How can I forget he said that? I am unable to simply edit memories out of my brain...Panic begins to rise once more...what does he mean?

"Ah...what will you do with your life plan?" I ask, pretending not to have heard the second statement. Pretending not to hear things is a Conversation Tactic I have seen employed many times. "It's alright, you can tell me." What was that? Once again, I've seemingly said something completely on impulse, without thinking it through...strange...

IC: Torch - Nynrah

Minutes later, a second wooden hut disintegrates. I have a dent in my shoulder armour where a matoran fired what I assume was a low-level weakens disc at me. You can relax, though, that matoran is no more. You're all safe!

IC: Shock

A disk was heading at Shock. Unfortunately, it was too close for him to dodge it effectively. Shock felt the numbing effects of weakness, around mid-level, hit his left arm. "Wow. Rude." He said, left arm numbing. Well, looks like he would have to fight one handed. Looking around, Shock glanced at the dead matoran. He ran over, and decapitated him. Taking off the mask, he chucked the head with his right hand at the matoran. It did not hit the target he was hoping, but the matoran paused for a moment, looking with horror and revulsion at what had once been his friend. Shock took this moment to pick up his sword, rush the matoran, slicing his sword with his right arm. The matoran was left with a large gash on his chest, electric burns surrounding it. Shock then raced back for cover, dodging another disk. He then heard a Zamor sphere launch. Quickly, Shock ducked, watching it sail over him. He continued running, where he reached a building.

IC: Nymph 

I shake my head emphatically. "N-nonoNOnoNOnoNOnOnONONONONONONO!"

nice work

I tear off, density powers flickering, clenched fists becoming heavy, light, heavy, light as I make my way back towards the Library.

i approve

IC Vaalku

Now... that sounded better.

A bunch of jumbled notes came from the library as Vaalku strummed away, trying to think of a tune which he didn't know.

IC: Deadeye

Deadeye had followed him, debating whether to kill him or leave him be.

IC: Venom - Hallways

Venom hissed in pain as the claws tore into her leg, causing her to stumble back a few feet and fall to her knees. The time it took for her to force herself back to her feet was likely long enough for her opponent to return to his own, but she cared little for that at the moment, for the Rahkshi of Density Control had just made a very big mistake.

He had succeeded in ticking her off.

Using her own wrath to add fuel to the fire, she began focusing all of the anger she could muster at him, intending to catch him off guard long enough in order to club him upside the head with the flat of her polearm's blade. If carving into his hide still wasn't an option, then she would just have to resort to inflicting blunt force trauma, and even if her physical blow were to miss, continuing to hammer away at him with her powers could possibly cause him to slip up, which she would then immediately take advantage of.

In other words, there was no possible way for her to lose.

IC: Eps
Eps chuckled. He laughed more and more as the Anger poured into him. "I HAVE ONE SIMILARITY WITH MY BROTHER, ######. AND THAT IS THAT I'M ALWAYS ANGRY." Eps yelled, and charged forward, edging past the polearm and swinging his fist straight for Venom's face.

IC: Illusive.

Still I didn't interfere. I wanted to see how she handled the increasingly-dangerous situation. 

IC: The chime of Palma's staff being thumped against the floor rang out, the single clear note cutting through the bickering.

"I am not sure how much or how little time we have, but this debate is wasting it all the same. Vlad brought this Matoran here when he had no need to, getting solely involved solely to help, and so I trust him. If you are not willing to do the same, Xara, then you can just walk away now and forget we ever had this conversation, forget you were ever here. But this Matoran is getting to safety whether it takes one, two or all three of you."

IC: When she'd been striking at the great queen with gravity-assisted might Kat had been unable to do much damage. True she was striking at weaker points this time, but she was hindered by her own position. Dangling from someone's eyebrow was not the best place to be making kicks, the awkwardness of it decreased how much force Kat could put behind her blow. Her blows were dull thuds on the spider's hide rather than the amputating strikes she intended them to be.

On the plus side she had given the idea to Sidonas and Fang. 

The former's bolts struck fast and true, sinking into the more vulnerable fleshy muscles around the Kahgarak's 'shoulder'. Fang was right, alone the quarrels were too small to really trouble the queen, mere thorns to a stone ape...but they weren't alone. Fang's level three plasma jets were only slowly burning through the beast's tough hide, but it was when their heat reached the metal heads of Sidonas' bolts that teamwork decided to help the pair out.

The metal heads expanded with the temperature, cutting and slicing deeper into the Kahgarak's flesh. And with the extra space they cleaved, Fang's plasma was able to burn further and further in, bypassing the tougher exterior and roasting the joint from the inside.

There was a sizzling crack, like a whip in slow motion, and the queen's leg was severed entirely, its end and the stump it was rapidly falling from smoking and glowing. Already unbalanced by Kat swinging on one side of its face and Exxan buffeting the other, the queen staggered once and collapsed, its mighty form smashing a swathe through the trees and scrub. Its remaining legs skittered and swung trying to gain enough purchase to hoist it back upright...

IC: Exxan - Backstab.

"Can we please get out of here now?" I snapped, flying down to help Kat, "We're here to rescue the other students, not beat up the Visorak." 

_________________________________________________________________

IC: Xara - Infirmary. 

I hesitated, torn. 

Palma was risking everything by asking us to betray Tridax, and we were risking everything in agreeing to do so.... but was I willing to increase that risk by trusting a clearly demented rahk who I didn't even know? 

Was I willing to throw my life on the line based solely on Palma's word that I could trust him? Perhaps she genuinely knew him to be trustworthy.... or maybe she was just grasping at straws out of sheer desperation....

In the end, the choice was surprisingly easy.

Either Palma was right, and this rahk was reliable, or she was wrong, and he would try to betray her to Tridax. If she was right, I had nothing to worry about. If she was wrong, someone had to make sure word of this never got to Tridax.

Someone like me.....

"Alright, I'll do it...." I told Palma, before leaning in close to creepy, light-obsessed rahk with the wacky voice, "But let me be clear," my voice was a low, venomous hiss, "if you betray us, I swear to karz that you will not live to regret it." 

IC: Sidonas - Visorak

Sidonas fired an extra bolt, just to be assured the thing was down. He used Hook to lower himself down to the ground, sheathing it after detaching it from the tree. Sidonas approached Kat and Exxan "We need to hurry. Fang and I have a plan for getting us all out alive, but we need to round up all those we can find quickly and get the Karz out of here. As for the Visorak? I have a plan for dealing with any that follow us. If that plan fails.." Sidonas turned to Exxan. "...I cannot believe I am saying this, but I'm going to need your help if a backup plan needs to commence."

IC: Exxan.

I frowned at the rahk - what was his name? - then looked back to the scattering horde of Oohnorak. "Here's a plan: we get everyone, we fly to the Crawler, and we leave. Simple as that." 

IC: Mortsia

So that was the job. Take the matoran to safety, and hide them from Tridax. Betray a Makuta? That is practically unheard of. And yet, they were dying, alone, and scared. Tridax wouldn't know, not ever. So why the chills? Speaking regularly, he said, "I suppose I could help. But would three need to go?"

IC Vaalku

As he tried to avoid eye contact with Deadeye, he heard loud noises coming from the hall outside. He quickly adjusted his seating so he wasn't so close to the door in case someone rampaged in with a flamethrower.

IC: Deadeye

*NO WAIT* FRESH "MEEAAATT!" Deadeye yellled

IC Kat:

I stumbled off, turning quickly, "not until the other leg is gone! I'd rather this one not get in the way of an escape! What's the status of the hostages?"

I was already moving to the next leg, moving to the joint.

Blunt force just wasn't working.

But we've all got claws.

So I tried digging them into the softer flesh of the Joint.

If I could find purchase, I could probably tear chunks outta this thing.

IC: Nightmare

Nightmare was crawling around on the ceiling of the cave.

IC: Blade

"SINCE WHEN WAS THE LIBRARY A MUSIC ROOM!" He Shouted, the harp, he could work around, but harp and Guitar? He really just wanted to read "try a Dorm, or the courtyard, or even the refectory! Just Please, not, Here."

Go stab them!

No.

Slice their Instruments in half?

NO!

IC: Fang - Visorak Jungle (Team Backstab)

The Kahgarak fell, and the Rahkshi were gathering nearby. Fang dropped in beside them, keeping a wary eye on the Visorak. His suspicious glare soon shifted to Exxan. "There's no time to get everyone into the Crawler," he snapped. "The longer we wait here, the closer the Visorak get. We need to get to the tunnels and seal them after us. If we don't, we could easily be overwhelmed."

Despite the danger, a hint of a grin came to his face. It was good to prove Exxan wrong.