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'Tapio Ca' (タピオ・カー Tapio Kaa) was the Chief Operator of Luxiole before becoming its second-in-command underneath Coco's leadership. He is notably of Val-Fasq origin.

Appearance[]

Tapio is a dark skinned man with a dark grey hair in a bowl-cut hairstyle that reaches his neck. Tapio wears the standard military uniform of the UPW, only with the gold and black patterns running down the bottom of his jacket. Tapio normally keeps his eyes closed, only opening them in moments of surprise, determination, anger, or when he utilizes his Val-Fasq abilities. When this happens, a symmetric purple mark appears on his face as he exerts control over machinery. The more control he exerts, the more intricate the patterns become.

History[]

Early Life[]

Not much his known of Tapio's early life but he joined the EDEN military after witnessing the defeat of his race's grand fleet by the power of the Emblem Frames and the Elsior. It was not by vengeance that caused him to enter the military life but the wish to witness the power the Moon Angel Wing utilized to defeat the Val-Fasq. By Tact's personal recommendation, Tapio was transferred from the EDEN military to the UPW and was assigned to the Luxiole as its new Chief Operator.

Mugen Kairo no Kagi[]

Tapio arrives on board the Luxiole early on in MK and his stern demeanor intimidates the Rune Angel Wing and Coco who, for the past few months after the events of Verel's Insurrection, had kept a casual work environment. While the Rune Angel Wing express their dislike towards his attitude when they returned to the Central Globe, Tact reassures them that while Tapio is extremely strict and tough to get used to, he is not a bad person. Tapio is accompanied by Roselle Mateus, the 2nd male to join the Angel Wing, as the duo are formally assigned to the Luxiole as the rest of the crew are transferred to the ranks of the UPW. Tapio reveals his heritage of being a Val-Fasq when Coco's hesitance against the Arms Alliance fleet leads to him manually piloting the Luxiole to safety.  

Tapio's high expectations on Coco continues to increase the latter's self doubt and the crew begin to worry of the future leadership of the Luxiole as they become trapped and embroiled in the conflict between the Arms Alliance and the Seldar Alliance. Tapio's personality unexpectedly changes after Coco regains her confidence during the advance toward Calvado's fleet and he expresses a desire to be noticed by her and asks her that he be called by his first name. After this showing of slight "vulnerability", he becomes more approachable by the rest of the crew members while still remaining the strict officer on board.  

Screenshot (824)

When Noa joins the crew to investigate the Infinite Corridor, Kazuya may visit the Bridge in the final free roam segment to learn the history of the Val-Fasq with Noa as well. He describes their past as the race that entered ABSOLUTE and worked alongside its native inhabitants and how the technology of the V-Chip that allows the Val-Fasq to interface with machinery originated there. Some time after, the Val-Fasq decided to utilize ABSOLUTE for themselves and waged war against the administrant race but the takeover was unsuccessful and they were defeated, exiled to the universe of EDEN. The Val-Fasq's answer to their defeat was the Chrono Quake Bomb and its activation caused the native race's abandonment of ABSOLUTE. Tapio's admiration for Coco is amplified during the first battle between Will's vanguard, Parfait. He became demoralized at his inability to navigate the ship correctly in Parfait's first test and Coco reignites his original intent of seeing the power of emotion that defeated his race as she states that the power that he wishes to see is right in front of him. Even with reignited hope, the task proved difficult enough for even Noa to have difficulty in assisting. Eventually, Noa remembers Rico's analytical skills and merges the Emblem Frame's H.A.L.O Systems with the V-Chip, allowing Tapio an unprecedented amount of control and foresight of the outlying areas bombarded by blackholes and he leads the ship to safety.

Eigou Kaiki no Toki[]

3 months after the encounter with Parfait, Tapio and the rest of the Luxiole's crew arrived on Juno to celebrate the 5th year anniversary of Eden's liberation from the Val-Fasq. With Coco being an original member of the Elsior, she reunited with it's crew to temporarily reprise her old role as Chief Operator as the Elsior planned for a commemorative flight. After chastising Anise to help the Elsior prepare instead of eating during the celebration, Kazuya witnesses a child asking Tapio how the Val-Fasq were like and Kazuya is surprised to hear Tapio's genuinely answer to the child of his people's dark deeds. With the Elsior's flight, Tapio is given command of the Luxiole in Coco's absence and hands the officially inducted Natsume a hefty manual, listing her duties as a lieutenant. She later mused at how the two of them have become allies as both of them were at one point, considered as enemies by their respective circumstances. The Luxiole is contacted by Tact soon after and Tapio is told that the Val-Rundal will soon come under attack from the Will. Noa appears to confirm and explain the situation as the Luxiole made way to Val-Vaross with the Elsior soon to join them.

The Elsior and the Moon Angel Wings' assistance is successful in driving the Will fleet away from the Val-Fasq homeworld but as Sorbet retreats, he mentions that he left a gift waiting for them. This turned out to be a massive singularity that would eventually form into a blackhole and Noa runs through logistics in counteracting it while Tapio tries to contact the planet for a desperate evacuation. Eventually, Noa returns with her calculations and explains that a considerable Chrono String explosion will be able to stop it. Noa asks Tact and Coco to discuss among themselves whether to sacrifice the Elsior or the Luxiole and he makes the decision, with Coco agreeing with him, that the Elsior will undertake its final order to save the Val-Fasq one last time. As the crews transfer over to the Luxiole, Tact and his chosen Angel are given the honors to detonate the Elsior and Tapio watches in tears at the symbol of Eden that defeated his people become a sacrifice to save them.

Val-Fasq Marks

As the Moon Angel Wing, Almo, Lester, and Tact leave to oversee the fight against the Will, Tapio remains onboard the Luxiole throughout the game alongside Coco on the bridge. He continues his role as the Luxiole's designated helmsman during combat and also briefs the Rune Angel Wing before combat. Around the half-way point of the game, the crew notice Tapio's serious demeanor be contrasted with increasingly frequent occurrences of him making jokes and laughing, much to the confusion and horror of his subordinates.

After the Arms Alliance are treated by the combined efforts of the Luxiole's crew and the fairies from Sprite, the Luxiole was suddenly confronted with the Astral Sorbet. Tapio immediately takes control of the ship and Coco orders for a retreat, which was possible, as they were in realspace compared to their situation with Parfait within the Infinite Corridor. Coco and Tapio quickly enter the cloudy nebula permeating the Arms Alliance territory where the cloud shielded them from attacks while the Luxiole was left unable to attack or perform long distance communications. Coco decides to test the Astral Sorbet's shields and orders for the Luxiole to prep for cannon fire as soon as they exited the cloud. The Luxiole exits the cloud and Tapio maneuvers the ship a full 180 degrees to retrieve the Angel Wing who were previously following the ship through the cloud and preps the Dual Chrono Break Cannon. As the Astral Sorbet comes out of the cloud, the Dual Chrono Break Cannon is fired but the shields are able to withstand it. Sorbet makes his counter-attack but Tapio separates the Luxiole and Chrono Break cannons and reassembles it behind the Astral Sorbet and retreats back inside the cloud. When the Astral Sorbet catches up, it is met by two angled attacks from the separated Luxiole armed with an individual Chrono Break Cannon which proved effective in not only breaking past the shields but destroying the vessel.

According to the remote data scan, Coco saw that the shield generator, where the shield's strength was at its strongest, was placed at the front of the Astral Sorbet. Thus, their first shot aimed at the center was futile, but if enough attacks were to come from its outer angles, it would break apart. The Astral Sorbet is destroyed but a smaller ship emerges from its wreckage and the Angel Wing are deployed to deal with Sorbet once and for all. When Sorbet is finally defeated, he decides to take Tapio with him and fires the main cannon of his ship to propel his exploding vessel toward the lower half of the Luxiole. Tapio moves the Luxiole out of the way but is caught in the explosion. Tapio was however successful in saving the rest of the crew from the Luxiole's bottom half as he was able to move the ship out of the way with only minor injuries.

He is present during the final acts of the series where Kazuya's chosen Angel is taken away by the Will and the Luxiole confronts the Will leader Herea in the form of the resurrected Roselle. After Soldum Seldar arrives to assist them, the Luxiole is called back to ABSOLUTE where they find the Central Globe dismantled and attempts to stop the Will's Big Crunch by detonating the Master Core. Before Kazuya leaves for his last assignment, Tapio has a misplaced laugh after Coco's praise leaves Kazuya silent for a few seconds. Tapio corrects himself that it wasn't the correct time for "hearty laughter" and returns to say that he finds the image of an "angel" to Kazuya as "fitting". Kazuya is not sure how to take that comment but Tapio states that if a single miracle were to occur, he would be expecting Kazuya to be at its source, as a "fleeting angel". Tapio is not shown after news of Kazuya's apparent death but he is seen again as the Angel Wing scrambles into action to puncture through the armored Master Core. He alongside Noa and Coco see the Master Core detonate but instead find the Angel Wing and Kazuya alive inside the Master Core platform and Tapio screams that it is a miracle as he starts crying.

Personality[]

Being a Val-Fasq, Tapio has an air around him that does not feel completely natural and this is felt by Anise, Kahlua, and Lily upon his introduction. Tapio is first and foremost a very militant individual and much like his technical counterpart, Lester, keeps a no-nonsense policy and expects obedience from all personnel onboard. Such is his adherence to order, he put himself in the detention barracks after he took manual control of the ship when he disregarded orders. His demanding by-the-books attitude at first hindered Coco's command but after her shift in attitudes, he began to seen as a much more approachable person after he showed his interest in human emotions. While the crew seem to have accepted him, his stern attitude and high expectations still intimidate and unnerves the team. However, some seem more used to him than others as Coco and Rico have previously impersonated his speech patterns and his perpetually closed eyes as a joke on several occasions, although this is never done in front of him.

Tapio exhibits keen interest in human nature and at some point in EK, began studying its facets. Even before he joined the Luxiole, his purpose in joining the EDEN military was to observe the human behavior and how it led to the defeat of his kind. He takes notice of his subordinate's actions and more often than not, mistakes people's intentions. For example, he praised Kazuya as a generous individual when the latter asked to learn the 3 Bridge hand's names while in truth, he only asked to get their names down for a game. Around the middle of EK, Tapio apparently started studying human comedy and began practicing, much to the horror of his subordinates who are at first puzzled by his attempts at joking.

Tapio also exhibits a sensible nature that Kazuya witnessed first hand during the celebration of the 5th anniversary of the liberation of EDEN on Juno. Tapio was approached by a child who asked him how evil the Val-Fasq were and Kazuya did not know what to expect from his commanding officer to respond but was surprised to hear Tapio positively answering the child and agreeing at how the Val-Fasq were villainous warmongers. Tapio's most notable quirk other than his unexpected eccentricity is his one-sided affection towards Coco. While the two started their relationship in a very shaky foundation, the two have become a formidable pair, rivaling the previous commanding duo of Tact and Lester. Coupling the accumulated experience on Coco's end as well as her experience with radar with Tapio's strict disciplines and Val-Fasq abilities. Tapio became infatuated with Coco after her newfound determination and has since requested that she refer to him by his first name rather than his rank, incidentally, Coco has only referred to him by name around 3-4 times during moments of action. He was also slightly disturbed at how she mention to praise him after she complimented the rest of the Bridge team.

Behind-the-scenes[]

  • Tapio's name comes from tapioca, a widely-used starch ingredient.
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