Giving a helping hand.

[Kopaka]

Officially resuming EPD quest.

Don't look at them.

That was what Kopaka had to keep telling himself as he strode back into the bustling hallways of the EPD. He didn't have to use his Kanohi Akaku to know that their faces were sneering. He didn't need to adjust the gain on his audio receptors to know that they were whispering behind his back. Kopaka just couldn't look at them, and therefore did not need to acknowledge their spurn. They didn't know what it was like, to be pitted against one's peers. To suffer through filth and blades. He wasn't a coward. There just hadn't been any point. It served no purpose for Duty, Unity, or Destiny. Well...

Kopaka couldn't be entirely sure about that last one. Perhaps he had shrank away from his Destiny when he had forfeited that fight in the Colosseum. Perhaps he had been reluctant to try and test his true mettle. No. No that wasn't it. The tournament had just been senseless violence to appease a slavering populace of dullards and bigots. It was not worthy of his blade. The storm troopers and dispatchers who even now jeered at him from all directions were the fools. They were the cowards. They were the weak ones. All Kopaka had to do was to slay this pitiable excuse for a Prime, Michael Valentine Smith, and he would know his superiority.

As the Toa turned the corner into Lieutenant Brath's office, the Imperial officer was tapping away at one of his dataverse interfaces. More busywork. More red tape. Kopaka was ready for action. Brath sensed this, even before the Toa spoke.

"Ready to get back on the job Kopaka?" Brath said in a voice that offered both challenge and encouragement. Kopaka cocked his head the side slightly; it was odd that Brath would be so genuine with him after almost every other EPD officer considered him a laughingstock. It was suspicious.

"You do not mock me?" Kopaka said with a notable dose of venom in his synthesized voice. Brath shook his head and chuckled.

"Kopaka. Your participation in the tournament was hardly official EPD business, and completely voluntary to boot. If you felt you had no business there after winning a fight or two, it was entirely your prerogative to leave. A missed opportunity for PsyOps, perhaps, but it's nothing I'm going to hold against you. Strictly business in my office." Brath said, gesturing around at the distinct lack of recreational or personal affects in the room. There wasn't even a single plastic plant. Obviously this was a cultural reference that went over Kopaka's head, but the sentiment was not lost on the Toa.

"Strictly business then." Kopaka responded. It was really very refreshing. "Are we going to apprehend Smith at the gate?"

"I'm glad you asked." Brath said, turning around in his swiveling chair. He gestured at the window behind him, which abruptly went dark. A network of rigid lines and points of light began to scrawl across the tinted pane. It was a map of the transit district around the Endless Dunes gate. "That was our original plan, but then we determined that if we can trace Smith back to his hideout, we can take out the entire cult in a single raid. Therefore, it will be your job to tag Smith and follow him. The man is no fool; I'm sure he'll recognize another Prime following him, but I trust that you'll be able tail him just fine." Brath said. Michael Valentine Smith's face and personal details expanded on the right side of the window screen, and Kopaka took a moment to save the image of the target's face.

"If your intelligence is good, Smith will be due at the gate tomorrow. I would advise heading over there now so you can set up an adequate stake out position." Brath said, swiping the map and data off of the computerized window with a wave of his gloved hand. Kopaka nodded to himself, and began to exit the room, when Brath called out to him.

"Kopaka."

Brath's voice was suddenly quite serious. The Toa turned slowly to regard the Lieutenant's stoney features.

"No mistakes." Brath said in a low voice. Kopaka was momentarily taken aback by the sudden understated ferocity. Perhaps his display at the Colosseum had made more of an impression on the Lieutenant than the EPD supervisor was willing to admit. Frost began to creep across the door frame where the Toa clutched it with his metallic hand. The two maintained a cold stare with one another before Kopaka simply nodded and strode out of the room...