Callik - Toa of Air G1 Toa Community Project

Name: Callik
Toa Team: Toa Takenga (originally), Makuta Ornek‘s Toa Hagah team
Element: Air
Weapons: Storm Lance, shield
Mask: Akaku, Great Mask of X-Ray Vision

Originally this MOC was just intended to serve as material for Makuta Ornek‘s backstory (I haven‘t posted him yet because I lack the parts for the weapon I intend to give him). Though since the G1-Toa Team project by @TheMoltenKing started the same day, I thought it couldn‘t hurt to enter Callik here into it. Yes, he‘s basically an Inika build, but my resources just don‘t have much more to offer in terms of parts right now. In the end he just is supposed to look like a Toa, perhaps even as a Toa Hagah on first glance – and I think I succeeded there.
As to the build: I used “Hagah-style” arms for a little bit of individuality and tried to make the torso not too simple. In the end he‘s nothing special, but also no bad MOC, in my opinion.
You‘ll also see Makuta Ornek on a few pics - and since I‘m still working on him, feel free to mention stuff that I could improve.

And for anyone who cares: Here‘s a little bit of Callik‘s story (not the full thing, since the Toa project apparently isn’t aiming at story stuff too much and spending 5 hours on this seemed sufficient :stuck_out_tongue:):


Callik’s footsteps rang loudly on the dark stone floor. At the other end of the columned corridor loomed the reinforced protosteel door that lead to Ornek’s office. His heartlight was blinking rapidly. Desperately he tried to calm down. If the Makuta noticed any hint of betrayal, all would have been for nothing.

“You can’t be serious!” Callik had glanced from one of his teammates to the other. Only Escias met his eyes. “That’s madness!”
“It’s necessary”, the Toa of Iron said gravely, “I’ve seen the messenger, if we don’t act now, we’ll be all dead within the hour.”
“Then let’s run! Steal a ship and make for somewhere safe! Brothers, we -”
“Wherever we go, they’d follow us.” Masir stood at the window of their tower, watching a Rahkshi patrol down below. “We would endanger every innocent being near us.”
“Then let’s at least fight!”, Callik begged.
“No use. We’re in the middle of an army, remember? Makuta doesn’t even have to bother with us personally.” These words came from Palatus, Toa of Stone, famous
for fearlessly rushing his enemies and cutting them down with his great battle axe by the dozens. Hearing this from him was like being hit by his axe oneself. He shrugged. “I would prefer dying on someone’s blade, but without a cause to die for it’s kinda pointless.”
“And you, Jaras?” Callik asked. The Toa of Fire hadn’t said a word.
“I - I’m not sure, Callik. I don’t want to die, but it seems inevitable, doesn’t it? Maybe – Maybe this is the best way. I’m sorry.”
Escias placed a reassuring hand on Jaras’ shoulder. “We’re all sorry, that it comes down to this.”, he said, “It was a hard decision to make, but it will be harder still for you, Callik.”
“How am I supposed to do anything without you? And why me? I’m neither the best fighter nor the brightest mind! Escias, I can’t do this!”
“You can. You must. Ornek trusts you. You have to keep the Matoran safe, wherever the armies of the Brotherhood march.”
“Weye wouldn’t have come up with something like this. I can’t do it, Escias!”
“Weye died because she believed in what she did. We do the same. Go now, it’s time. It was an honor to serve with you.” Escias squeezed the Toa of Fire’s shoulder and Jaras began to glow.
“No! There must be a way! Jaras, stop!”
Masir turned away from the window, his Matatu glowing. Callik felt himself being lifted from the floor, carried toward the opening with rising speed, all his struggles to no avail.
The last thing he saw before he was launched out of the tower was Escias reaching out with his elemental powers, crushing Jaras’ heartlight. Then the top of the tower vanished in an inferno of flames, as Jaras lost control over the halfway charged Nova blast.

He reached the door and paused. How many times had he stood guard here with one of his brothers, doing his duty without realizing that he was betraying Mata Nui and the Matoran. And still he wished he could be ignorant once again. He took a deep breath and briefly used his Akaku to check if Ornek was alone. Then he knocked.
“What is it?” The voice was dulled by the thick door, but still Callik shivered at the thought of the conversation he needed to have with the being it belonged to.
“Toa Callik, Makuta. May I come in?” After a few heartbeats the door opened accompanied by a vicious screeching.
The room on the other side was brightly lit through a window that took up most of the opposite wall. Big stone tablets, each depicting an island or a part of a continent, lined the walls. In the center of the room stood a giant table surrounded by two dozen chairs that had been carved out of the same black stone the floor was made of. Behind it stood the black and silver armored form of Makuta Ornek, General of the North, Supreme Field Marshal of the Brotherhood of Makuta’s forces, The Conqueror, The Fist of Destral. A sword, nearly the size of Callik’s lance hung at his side.
Callik had to force himself to walk inside and kneel. The moment he was through the door it banged shut again. Callik couldn’t help but feel trapped.
“Perhaps you will enlighten me, what happened in the Hagah tower.” It was more of an order than a question. Everything Ornek said sounded like an order. And as usual the Makuta didn’t bother with formalities.
“I -” Callik had to force himself to say it, “Toa Escias, Toa Palatus and Toa Masir were trying to make Toa Jaras and me support them in betraying you, Makuta. We had no other choice but to … eliminate them. Unfortunately Toa Jaras died in the explosion that took their lives, as well. I’m here to inform you that I am the last living member of your Toa Hagah, and will stay loyal.”
He waited. It seemed like an eternity until Ornek showed a reaction. Slowly the Makuta nodded.
“Well done, Callik. Excellent timing. Did you know, that I just received a message from Destral regarding you?” He took a small stone tablet from the table and tossed it to Callik.
Confused, Callik caught it. It were just a few words.

Toa can’t be trusted any longer.
Dispatch of all Toa Hagah.

Below was the seal of the Brotherhood of Makuta.
Callik glanced up from the tablet. Ornek had walked around the table, watching him expectantly.
“M-Makuta, why am you showing me this?” He couldn’t quite stop his voice from quivering. There was a strong impulse to simply run, but the door behind him was closed and Ornek stood between him and the window.
“This, Callik, is an order”, the Makuta said, stopping just a few steps in front of him,“Orders for me. I regret the need for this, since you’ve always served me loyally, but as a soldier I have no vote in what my superior decides.” He drew his sword.
In a single heartbeat Callik felt everything his friends had died for dissolve into nothingness. He backed away, until his back hit the the closed door.

Ornek’s glowing orange eyes showed not a hint of emotion, as he said: “Kneel and die quickly. Or fight and die like a true warrior." He stepped forward.
“B-but M-Makuta!”
Callik managed to rise his shield just in time to block Ornek’s first swing. It was dealt with such force, that it drove him to one knee. Instinctively he summoned a strong wind that forced the Makuta a step back, then managed to align his lance and stabbed for the Makuta’s chest.
All he had to do as reach the window and get out of Ornek’s reach, he tried to tell himself, and not everything would be lost.
Ornek shifted his body and Callik’s lance point uselessly slid off his protosteel breastplate. But he was prepared for it and followed up with a punch of his shield that would have made a Skakdi see stars. The Makuta took the hit in the stomach, were it dented his armor, but it wasn’t nearly enough to have a big effect on him.
When Callik tried to stab at the damaged section, Ornek caught his lance with one hand and pulled him off balance, right into a blow with the pommel of his sword, that sent Callik’s head spinning. Then the Makuta swung the lance around and slammed Callik right through the stone tablet depicting Metru Nui into the wall.
But Callik hadn’t survived so many battlefields as a Toa Hagah, because he couldn’t take some hits. He let go of his lance, reached for his elemental powers and slammed
Ornek into the map of Stelt on the opposite side of the room with a blast of air.
While stone fragments where still falling he made for the window, jumped on the windowsill - and suddenly found himself stuck to it by Ornek’s magnetic powers,
unable to move his feet. And he knew in that instant – mere inches from escape - that he had failed. Failed himself, failed his friends, failed the Universe.
He felt the oncoming blow more than he saw it, twisted his body aside as best he could and raised his shield arm, but Ornek knew how to handle a sword, battered away his shield and swung again, cutting at Callik’s neck. He raised his arm on instinct and felt how the protosteel blade cut through his elbow and along his breastplate.
Heavily he landed on the floor, just a handspan from Ornek’s protosteel-clad feet.
A hand grabbed him at the throat and he was lifted into the air, until Ornek’s eyes were filling his vision. Merciless, orange eyes.

“Well fought, Toa Callik, but not well enough, I fear. Your mask will make a valuable addition to my collection.”
Then Ornek’s sword entered Callik’s chest and everything went black.


You’re free to criticize everything I wrote here (In case you read it at all :wink:) And of course the MOCs, too.

22 Likes

Kinda has clown shoes, I think metru feet would look better.

.From what I see, the inika build works well on him. The upper arms are well done, and so are the lower legs, albeit both are quite simple. If this was built as a knight, you succeeded.

2 Likes

@Payinku

Huh, I guess I’m probably too brainwashed by most of the Inikabuild sets to notice that. Although it was hard to avoid using those feet when I had the parts of 2 Kongu Inika lying around :stuck_out_tongue:

@SwagMeister

I guess Toa Hagah and knight go in the same direction.

Great MOC, but the story seems very unnecessary.

Oh, you know, I like writing and had nothing else to do. (Also I had to make the MOC special in some way)

1 Like

I don’t think a story is what is required to make a MOC special. To me, that usually lies in the creativity of the concept.

Well, I think every MOC needs a good backstory. And if I have an idea …? But sure, usally I keep it a litte shorter. This one probably was a little extreme in its length.
And of course most people appreciate a creative MOC more than a creative story - simply because it’s less “work” to look at a picture instead of reading a text.

Hm, I do wonder how many people will read it at all … Perhaps I could’ve spent the time it took to write it a better way. On the other hand it was so fun to write, that I didn’t care at all that the hours went by.

2 Likes

I don’t think that’s why. Creative MOCs are harder to do (and as a result, more impressive) than a creative story.

Yeah, a backstory to me is usually “origin, relationships, current situation.”

I can’t fully agree with that. Yes, a MOC is more impressive at first, but a really good story beats everything - or why are people still discussing about the story of a toyline that’s over a decade old and (in some way) ended half a decade ago?

And yes, I’m one of those guys that prefer the book over the movies at all times.:stuck_out_tongue:

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With a MOC, you are using predetermined shapes to create something that those shapes are not intended for. The creativity lies in what you can make with a limited selection of non-generic pieces.

That is more difficult to do well than writing a story with no limits.

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I still think it’s harder to write a good story than build a good MOC, but you have a point there.

I often have wondered what I could do in terms of MOCing, if I had unlimited parts.

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Here’s the thing. In MOCing, you have limited parts of a designated shape.

In a story, you have unlimited parts you can shape to your desire.

By that difference, I think MOCing is more of a challenge.

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Oh, I dunno. Writing starts as fun but often turns into work, MOCing stays fun - but then I’m not one of those people that tend towards planning everything through before they take the actual pieces into their hands. I usually just start experimenting and when something sticks I keep building around it.

And this isn’t as easy as you would think, if you’re really aiming at something great. Have you ever written something that’s longer than 20 pages? I think my record is close to 200 and most of it still needs a lot of work.

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I don’t plan, and it’s usually work for me the entire way. I usually find it fun once the MOC is at least half-complete.

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The story gave me some serious feels, the MOC’s pretty good too.

nice work

This is pretty…
Oh.
He died…

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The interesting thing is, a year ago I would never have let one of my characters die. The Brotherhood project apparently changed that - I mean, I’m constantly making up scenarios that could kill a Makuta in a somewhat epic way - seems like it influences all of my MOCs now …
The next Toa I’ll be posting is also dead …

1 Like