05-12-2017, 08:33 PM
The blue warlock was still nowhere to be seen. Kopaka shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was. During their travels from Coruscant, the other Prime had seemed at least enthusiastic, if not zealous about their potential mission. There was a possibility that Keldor’s absence had something to do with the fell energy he had absorbed from the entombed oddity at the south end of these drifts. In that case, at least the sorcerer had served one purpose before abandoning their assignment.
Kopaka chose not to dwell on it any longer. He has been prepared to see to this duty by himself, and he would proceed without hesitation. The biomech stood up from his crouched position, allowing his outline to become plain against the lily sky. A warning klaxon went up almost immediately as he did so, and a controlled rush of adrenaline surged through his whirring muscles. With a subconscious flourish, Kopaka shed his heavy brown poncho and drew his sword and shield.
He was literally in his element.
…
“Easy boys, one Prime won’t best us!” the Darkling captain called, waving the rest of his soldiers behind the cover of their uplink station. It wasn’t really standard procedure to take cover behind such critical equipment, but operating within the Frozen Fields usually mandated improvisation. On top of that, most of his soldier’s minds were half consumed by darkness; it wasn’t like they were going to tattle. He himself was a veteran of the Frozen Fields, anyway; a dwarven colonist of the ice fields.
...he didn’t remember much more than that, but his name was Olaf and he had people with guns. Speaking of which, Henson, their ex-imperial snowtrooper marksman, settled his rifle against a cargo crate and screwed his optics into focus.
“Range, two hundred meters, southwest cross breeze at...fifteen…” Henson’s calculations drifted off as his body and mind shuddered. A gurgling growl crawled out of his throat as he suddenly slapped a Darkchip into the modular slot of his beam rifle.
“Fuck it. GET NO-SCOPED, BEEYOTCH!” he cackled, holding his precision energy weapon at his waist and pulling the trigger. He was pushed back a few feet as a thick lance of bruised, black energy exploded from the muzzle. The lance of dark destruction cruised off over the white dunes, missing Kopaka by several hundred feet. The Darkling captain sighed.
“Open fire.” Olaf muttered.
A storm of metal and noise erupted from the open face of the Nebula camp. Bullets of every caliber snapped through the air around the Toa. Many of them plinked harmlessly off of his shining torso, but a few of the larger rounds slammed into him, causing painful dents. Unfortunately, a frontal assault was necessary for his plan, so in a burst of arcing energy, Kopaka donned the Kanohi Hau. The great mask of shielding immediately coated the Prime’s body in a veil of electric blue energy. Now even the larger shells bounced angrily off into the icy sky, and the Toa hastened his advance. Kopaka chanced a look up at the heavy roof of snow and ice hanging heavily over the camp. It looked even more unstable than he had anticipated.
Good.
Meanwhile, Olaf was beginning to panic.
“Uh. Uh. Blow him up!” the demented dwarf barked, pointing at a nearby tundra goblin holding an RPG.
“But baws, youz told me notta shoot dis unless-”
“TAKE HIM OUT!” Olaf roared, picking the small, blue wretch up by the scruff of his stylish Nebula parka and setting him on top of a stack of Darkchip hoppers. The tundra goblin hoisted the huge weapon onto his shoulder and aimed at an area that was vaguely near Kopaka.
Click.
“Uh…”
Click.
“Baws, I fink da missile is all froze in da toob.” the tiny humanoid whined, looking down the barrel of the launcher.
“Well figure it-” Olaf was cut off as he watched the goblin’s head get taken off by the launching rocket. The camp commander watched in dismay that turned to glee as the errant rocket snaked through the air and slammed straight down on Kopaka’s position. Even for the kanohi Hau, this was a bit much, and Kopaka coughed out a breathless scream as the warhead slammed into him. A massive plume if ice crystals and smoke burst high into the air.
Once they were finished laughing at the decapitated tundra goblin, the assorted darklings cheered in unison as the explosion shook the landscape. Bits of snow plopped down from the glacial overhang, but that was fine. It happened all the time. Unfortunately, their mirth was dampened when not one, but three figures emerged from the haze of the explosion. Olaf spat angrily. It was possible that, once, Olaf may have been able to guess that the two new enemies were illusory copies, but that kind of intuitive thought had been replaced by a brooding love of black rage.
“Primes and their dirty tricks! Just go kill him already!” the captain snapped, flinging an angry hand gesture in Kopaka’s general direction. The gathered darklings, from the Kodans to the Talz and even one ice-wraith, grabbed an assortment of icepicks and other wicked tools to go smash the Prime’s head in.
Kopaka’s blue eyes gleamed hungrily as the distance between him and the charging darklings narrowed. Pale light bloomed from the Ice Sword as he dashed forwards, and he sent a pointed streak of raw elemental force towards the darklings. A jagged patch of ice spread itself out in front of the centermost warriors, several of whom toppled instantly. Naturally, the illusory copies simply passed through their blockers. It finally dawned on Olaf that they might be in serious trouble when the robotic Prime leaped clear over his head into the center of the camp.
“Quick, quick! Someone get the truck outta here-by Moradin!” Olaf swore, covering his beady eyes with an arm as a freak blizzard immediately kicked up in the middle of the base. He could scarcely see three feet in front of him, and the idiots in his command predictably started firing haphazardly in all directions.
“Cease fire, stop! Stoppit ya damn smegs!”
Meanwhile, at the epicenter of his conjured blizzard, Kopaka was examining the interior structure of the glacier with the help of the Kanohi Akaku. As he had predicted, the shelter had been carved into the mountainous wall of ice with little regard for the shearing forces at work. There was a potential faultine just overhead; he just needed a way to reach it. Kopaka focused his thoughts on the icy ceiling, and a moment later, a prong of thick ice pierced its way out of the hewn overhang. The Toa swiftly switched his mask to the Miru, and used the mask of levitation to propel him up to the improvised handhold. Kopaka jammed the Oce Sword into the ice next to him and dismissed the swirling cloud of ice below, bracing himself.
“Up there, there he is!” came one voice.
“Kill him! Kill!” echoed a second. Immediately, gunfire and other thrown weapons slammed into the frozen ceiling structure. Kopaka simply had to twist the ice sword to cause a long, thick crack to start spreading in the ice, and the darklings did the rest. By the time poor Olaf realized what was going on, it was too late.
“Stop! Stop shoot-run! Run away, runnn!” he shouted, nearly frothing at the mouth as he shoved lesser darklings out of his path. The deep bangs and rumblings increased in pitch, swelling overtime as the entire world seemed to start turning inside out…
…
Some time later, a single, robotic hand pushed a boulder of ice and snow down the pile that covred the remains of the darkling camp. Kopaka slowly and delicately extracted himself from the mess he had caused. Oncr again, the Kanohi Hau had saved his life, but it hadn’t been able to fully protect him from the chaos of a glacial avalanche. Still, he wasn’t sure he would have sustained any less damage through conventional means. The Fields were eerily silent.
Kopaka retrieved his sword and shield, let out a long, synthesized breath, and glanced down at his scanner...
Kopaka chose not to dwell on it any longer. He has been prepared to see to this duty by himself, and he would proceed without hesitation. The biomech stood up from his crouched position, allowing his outline to become plain against the lily sky. A warning klaxon went up almost immediately as he did so, and a controlled rush of adrenaline surged through his whirring muscles. With a subconscious flourish, Kopaka shed his heavy brown poncho and drew his sword and shield.
He was literally in his element.
…
“Easy boys, one Prime won’t best us!” the Darkling captain called, waving the rest of his soldiers behind the cover of their uplink station. It wasn’t really standard procedure to take cover behind such critical equipment, but operating within the Frozen Fields usually mandated improvisation. On top of that, most of his soldier’s minds were half consumed by darkness; it wasn’t like they were going to tattle. He himself was a veteran of the Frozen Fields, anyway; a dwarven colonist of the ice fields.
...he didn’t remember much more than that, but his name was Olaf and he had people with guns. Speaking of which, Henson, their ex-imperial snowtrooper marksman, settled his rifle against a cargo crate and screwed his optics into focus.
“Range, two hundred meters, southwest cross breeze at...fifteen…” Henson’s calculations drifted off as his body and mind shuddered. A gurgling growl crawled out of his throat as he suddenly slapped a Darkchip into the modular slot of his beam rifle.
“Fuck it. GET NO-SCOPED, BEEYOTCH!” he cackled, holding his precision energy weapon at his waist and pulling the trigger. He was pushed back a few feet as a thick lance of bruised, black energy exploded from the muzzle. The lance of dark destruction cruised off over the white dunes, missing Kopaka by several hundred feet. The Darkling captain sighed.
“Open fire.” Olaf muttered.
A storm of metal and noise erupted from the open face of the Nebula camp. Bullets of every caliber snapped through the air around the Toa. Many of them plinked harmlessly off of his shining torso, but a few of the larger rounds slammed into him, causing painful dents. Unfortunately, a frontal assault was necessary for his plan, so in a burst of arcing energy, Kopaka donned the Kanohi Hau. The great mask of shielding immediately coated the Prime’s body in a veil of electric blue energy. Now even the larger shells bounced angrily off into the icy sky, and the Toa hastened his advance. Kopaka chanced a look up at the heavy roof of snow and ice hanging heavily over the camp. It looked even more unstable than he had anticipated.
Good.
Meanwhile, Olaf was beginning to panic.
“Uh. Uh. Blow him up!” the demented dwarf barked, pointing at a nearby tundra goblin holding an RPG.
“But baws, youz told me notta shoot dis unless-”
“TAKE HIM OUT!” Olaf roared, picking the small, blue wretch up by the scruff of his stylish Nebula parka and setting him on top of a stack of Darkchip hoppers. The tundra goblin hoisted the huge weapon onto his shoulder and aimed at an area that was vaguely near Kopaka.
Click.
“Uh…”
Click.
“Baws, I fink da missile is all froze in da toob.” the tiny humanoid whined, looking down the barrel of the launcher.
“Well figure it-” Olaf was cut off as he watched the goblin’s head get taken off by the launching rocket. The camp commander watched in dismay that turned to glee as the errant rocket snaked through the air and slammed straight down on Kopaka’s position. Even for the kanohi Hau, this was a bit much, and Kopaka coughed out a breathless scream as the warhead slammed into him. A massive plume if ice crystals and smoke burst high into the air.
Once they were finished laughing at the decapitated tundra goblin, the assorted darklings cheered in unison as the explosion shook the landscape. Bits of snow plopped down from the glacial overhang, but that was fine. It happened all the time. Unfortunately, their mirth was dampened when not one, but three figures emerged from the haze of the explosion. Olaf spat angrily. It was possible that, once, Olaf may have been able to guess that the two new enemies were illusory copies, but that kind of intuitive thought had been replaced by a brooding love of black rage.
“Primes and their dirty tricks! Just go kill him already!” the captain snapped, flinging an angry hand gesture in Kopaka’s general direction. The gathered darklings, from the Kodans to the Talz and even one ice-wraith, grabbed an assortment of icepicks and other wicked tools to go smash the Prime’s head in.
Kopaka’s blue eyes gleamed hungrily as the distance between him and the charging darklings narrowed. Pale light bloomed from the Ice Sword as he dashed forwards, and he sent a pointed streak of raw elemental force towards the darklings. A jagged patch of ice spread itself out in front of the centermost warriors, several of whom toppled instantly. Naturally, the illusory copies simply passed through their blockers. It finally dawned on Olaf that they might be in serious trouble when the robotic Prime leaped clear over his head into the center of the camp.
“Quick, quick! Someone get the truck outta here-by Moradin!” Olaf swore, covering his beady eyes with an arm as a freak blizzard immediately kicked up in the middle of the base. He could scarcely see three feet in front of him, and the idiots in his command predictably started firing haphazardly in all directions.
“Cease fire, stop! Stoppit ya damn smegs!”
Meanwhile, at the epicenter of his conjured blizzard, Kopaka was examining the interior structure of the glacier with the help of the Kanohi Akaku. As he had predicted, the shelter had been carved into the mountainous wall of ice with little regard for the shearing forces at work. There was a potential faultine just overhead; he just needed a way to reach it. Kopaka focused his thoughts on the icy ceiling, and a moment later, a prong of thick ice pierced its way out of the hewn overhang. The Toa swiftly switched his mask to the Miru, and used the mask of levitation to propel him up to the improvised handhold. Kopaka jammed the Oce Sword into the ice next to him and dismissed the swirling cloud of ice below, bracing himself.
“Up there, there he is!” came one voice.
“Kill him! Kill!” echoed a second. Immediately, gunfire and other thrown weapons slammed into the frozen ceiling structure. Kopaka simply had to twist the ice sword to cause a long, thick crack to start spreading in the ice, and the darklings did the rest. By the time poor Olaf realized what was going on, it was too late.
“Stop! Stop shoot-run! Run away, runnn!” he shouted, nearly frothing at the mouth as he shoved lesser darklings out of his path. The deep bangs and rumblings increased in pitch, swelling overtime as the entire world seemed to start turning inside out…
…
Some time later, a single, robotic hand pushed a boulder of ice and snow down the pile that covred the remains of the darkling camp. Kopaka slowly and delicately extracted himself from the mess he had caused. Oncr again, the Kanohi Hau had saved his life, but it hadn’t been able to fully protect him from the chaos of a glacial avalanche. Still, he wasn’t sure he would have sustained any less damage through conventional means. The Fields were eerily silent.
Kopaka retrieved his sword and shield, let out a long, synthesized breath, and glanced down at his scanner...
C O L D