03-02-2017, 09:55 AM
Kopaka shuddered involuntarily as he passed through the cold gate to Coruscant. Thought the air of Tier 1 may have been pleasant and breezy, the stagnant, unnatural nature of it did not sit well with this creature of natural power. On top of that, the infamy that Kopaka carried within the Empire made each passing glance feel like a rahi's bite. Murmurs and idle conversation drifted all around him, and he could hear the ridicule in the voices of the security line, just waiting to be unleashed. Cold, protosteel fists balled tightly, and a passing urge to show these filth the nature of their idiocy washed over his normally placid emotions.
"Stop it..." he breathed to himself, forcefully willing his hands to uncurl. The time came for Kopaka to be checked, and naturally when he did, the Stormtroopers were upon him in an instant.
"Weelll...if it isn't the prodigal son." one EPD trooper said, passing a scanner over the Toa's body in a cursory fashion. Was he barely perceived as a potential threat anymore? The scanning officer's partner looked up from his data terminal and offered a harsh, barking laugh through the vocalizer in his helmet.
"Whatever. You're clear to proceed. Third time's the charm, right?" the terminal trooper said after briskly registering the Toa's presence in Coruscant. Kopaka said nothing as he proceeded from the security checkpoint. The sooner he could get this over with, the better. Stepping out from under the orange, transparent awning, Kopaka indulged in allowing the majesty of the city wash over him for a brief moment. As unnatural and uncomfortable as it was, Coruscant would always be a sight to behold. The Toa hailed one of the flying yellow cabs before arriving at his dreaded mecca of shame: The EPD Tier 1 Precinct Headquarters.
The monolithic black building loomed before him like a solid thunderstorm, but unlike a roiling cloud, Kopaka could not banish the looming dread with a gust of icy wind. The Toa proceeded up the granite steps with heavy metallic footfalls, trying his best not to make eye-contact with any of the the EPD personnel flitting about the threshold. As the Toa trudged through the silently opening doors, the officer on duty at the front desk rolled his eyes. He jabbed an intercom button with a black-gloved finger and spoke softly into the microphone, though Kopaka could still hear him quite clearly.
"Uh, Lieutenant? Kopaka is here." the officer said, saying Kopaka's name in the same tone one might use address the village idiot. The Bionicle's pride seethed. The calm yet biting voice of Lieutenant Brath came crawling back through the comms interface.
"You handle it Desh, I'm too busy for try-hard Prime garbage right now."
The air around Kopaka became achingly frigid as the Toa's anger boiled over for but a fleeting moment. The Captain looked on dubiously as the icy biomech stalked up to the EPD officer, holding a dark chip in front of him. Desh glanced at it once then actually cracked a smile.
"Well, it would seem as though you've made yourself useful for once, Kopaka." Desh said, going back to idly prodding the screen of his work station. Kopaka waited for further insult, but none came. Neither did any clarification. The EPD officer was doing this on purpose, and the Toa would have none of it.
"What. Is it." Kopaka breathed. Desh glanced up at the Bionicle with a wry glint in his eye.
"I dunno. Dark Chip or something. Dr. Regal is collecting them."
"...Who?"
Desh rolled his eyes.
"Listen, Kopaka. As much as the Empire values your...earnest nature to be of assistance, you've kind of blown it with us. We are not a resource for you, so just find the damn guy yourself." Desh said. The Captain hadn't even bothered to look up from his computer. Kopaka had already suspected this was the case, but to hear it coming from the EPD themselves burned like nothing the Toa had ever felt before. The biomech stood in place for a moment, resisting the urge to freeze the EPD Captain into chilly brick, before turning on his heel and silently walking out of the precinct.
Fine. Fine! He would find this Dr. Regal himself, and he would discover the nature of these 'Dark Chips' on his own.
...
By the time the Toa did finally locate the lab of Dr. Regal on Tier 2, hours had passed. As loathe as he was to admit it, the Toa was still not entirely proficient in navigating the data structure of Coruscant's directory system. An EPD uplink would have been marvelously handy in that regard, but...
Kopaka breathed deeply for a moment, his respirators whirring rapidly for a moment as the Toa took a moment to calm himself. It wouldn't be productive to be in the middle of a silent temper tantrum when dealing with a new person of significance in Coruscant. If he was ever going to save face in this Verse, and indeed, the Omniverse as a whole, he was going to execute this investigation of his flawlessly.
Stepping into the cool and quaint lobby of Dr. Regal's lab, Kopaka took note of a few other interesting figures which had already been assembled. The Toa couldn't be sure, but based on their general appearance and equal desire to size him up, Kopaka assumed that they were Primes as well. It was funny; Kopaka had felt for a long time that being a Prime made him something of a rarity in the Omniverse, but he was beginning to discover that this closed-off dimension was practically choked with beings like himself.
"Hello Sir, how may I be of assistance?" came a chiming, pleasant voice from his left. Kopaka turned his head to see a short automaton of the same general configuration as the beings he had dispatched in the Nexus. Curious. The Dark Chip was held out wordlessly, and the navi seemed taken aback.
"Oh my! How did you come by such a thing? Hmmm..." the Navi said, delicately plucking the chip from Kopaka's fingers.
"I found it."
The navi must have been running some sort of internal analysis because a moment later he piped up in an excited tone.
"You don't appear to be on Dr. Regal's list of Primes to contact, but it is quite fortuitous you found your way here! Yes, Dr. Regal will certainly want to have a word with you! Please, do take a seat. He is almost finished making preparations for debriefing you and your teammates." the navi said before scuttling into a closed-off room towards the back of the reception area.
"Wait, teammates?" Kopaka breathed, glancing again at the other Primes seated around him. Things were moving very fast now, and the Toa didn't like it....
"Stop it..." he breathed to himself, forcefully willing his hands to uncurl. The time came for Kopaka to be checked, and naturally when he did, the Stormtroopers were upon him in an instant.
"Weelll...if it isn't the prodigal son." one EPD trooper said, passing a scanner over the Toa's body in a cursory fashion. Was he barely perceived as a potential threat anymore? The scanning officer's partner looked up from his data terminal and offered a harsh, barking laugh through the vocalizer in his helmet.
"Whatever. You're clear to proceed. Third time's the charm, right?" the terminal trooper said after briskly registering the Toa's presence in Coruscant. Kopaka said nothing as he proceeded from the security checkpoint. The sooner he could get this over with, the better. Stepping out from under the orange, transparent awning, Kopaka indulged in allowing the majesty of the city wash over him for a brief moment. As unnatural and uncomfortable as it was, Coruscant would always be a sight to behold. The Toa hailed one of the flying yellow cabs before arriving at his dreaded mecca of shame: The EPD Tier 1 Precinct Headquarters.
The monolithic black building loomed before him like a solid thunderstorm, but unlike a roiling cloud, Kopaka could not banish the looming dread with a gust of icy wind. The Toa proceeded up the granite steps with heavy metallic footfalls, trying his best not to make eye-contact with any of the the EPD personnel flitting about the threshold. As the Toa trudged through the silently opening doors, the officer on duty at the front desk rolled his eyes. He jabbed an intercom button with a black-gloved finger and spoke softly into the microphone, though Kopaka could still hear him quite clearly.
"Uh, Lieutenant? Kopaka is here." the officer said, saying Kopaka's name in the same tone one might use address the village idiot. The Bionicle's pride seethed. The calm yet biting voice of Lieutenant Brath came crawling back through the comms interface.
"You handle it Desh, I'm too busy for try-hard Prime garbage right now."
The air around Kopaka became achingly frigid as the Toa's anger boiled over for but a fleeting moment. The Captain looked on dubiously as the icy biomech stalked up to the EPD officer, holding a dark chip in front of him. Desh glanced at it once then actually cracked a smile.
"Well, it would seem as though you've made yourself useful for once, Kopaka." Desh said, going back to idly prodding the screen of his work station. Kopaka waited for further insult, but none came. Neither did any clarification. The EPD officer was doing this on purpose, and the Toa would have none of it.
"What. Is it." Kopaka breathed. Desh glanced up at the Bionicle with a wry glint in his eye.
"I dunno. Dark Chip or something. Dr. Regal is collecting them."
"...Who?"
Desh rolled his eyes.
"Listen, Kopaka. As much as the Empire values your...earnest nature to be of assistance, you've kind of blown it with us. We are not a resource for you, so just find the damn guy yourself." Desh said. The Captain hadn't even bothered to look up from his computer. Kopaka had already suspected this was the case, but to hear it coming from the EPD themselves burned like nothing the Toa had ever felt before. The biomech stood in place for a moment, resisting the urge to freeze the EPD Captain into chilly brick, before turning on his heel and silently walking out of the precinct.
Fine. Fine! He would find this Dr. Regal himself, and he would discover the nature of these 'Dark Chips' on his own.
...
By the time the Toa did finally locate the lab of Dr. Regal on Tier 2, hours had passed. As loathe as he was to admit it, the Toa was still not entirely proficient in navigating the data structure of Coruscant's directory system. An EPD uplink would have been marvelously handy in that regard, but...
Kopaka breathed deeply for a moment, his respirators whirring rapidly for a moment as the Toa took a moment to calm himself. It wouldn't be productive to be in the middle of a silent temper tantrum when dealing with a new person of significance in Coruscant. If he was ever going to save face in this Verse, and indeed, the Omniverse as a whole, he was going to execute this investigation of his flawlessly.
Stepping into the cool and quaint lobby of Dr. Regal's lab, Kopaka took note of a few other interesting figures which had already been assembled. The Toa couldn't be sure, but based on their general appearance and equal desire to size him up, Kopaka assumed that they were Primes as well. It was funny; Kopaka had felt for a long time that being a Prime made him something of a rarity in the Omniverse, but he was beginning to discover that this closed-off dimension was practically choked with beings like himself.
"Hello Sir, how may I be of assistance?" came a chiming, pleasant voice from his left. Kopaka turned his head to see a short automaton of the same general configuration as the beings he had dispatched in the Nexus. Curious. The Dark Chip was held out wordlessly, and the navi seemed taken aback.
"Oh my! How did you come by such a thing? Hmmm..." the Navi said, delicately plucking the chip from Kopaka's fingers.
"I found it."
The navi must have been running some sort of internal analysis because a moment later he piped up in an excited tone.
"You don't appear to be on Dr. Regal's list of Primes to contact, but it is quite fortuitous you found your way here! Yes, Dr. Regal will certainly want to have a word with you! Please, do take a seat. He is almost finished making preparations for debriefing you and your teammates." the navi said before scuttling into a closed-off room towards the back of the reception area.
"Wait, teammates?" Kopaka breathed, glancing again at the other Primes seated around him. Things were moving very fast now, and the Toa didn't like it....
C O L D