Reign of Shadows: The Untold Stories
Chapter 2: Struggle in Po-Metru
Written by Nicrophorus
From a rocky crag, six Matoran looked out on the wide plains of the southern continent. A small swarm of Visorak was crawling to the east, blotting out the grass and dirt. Darkness hung over the great wilds, seemingly billowing from the spire of Mount Valmai. On the horizon, points of light showed the nearest Matoran cities; above them flew the sinister shapes of Rahkshi.
“This is bad,” said Piruk, scraping his claws against one another. “This is very, very bad.”
“Is it any worse than the Piraka?” asked Balta, holding Dalu close to him.
Kazi snorted. “I don’t think anything could be worse than the Piraka.”
“To the protodite, the pebble and the boulder are of equal weight,” said Velika.
Garan turned to stop Kazi from lashing out at the esoteric Po-Matoran, and noticed something highly interesting. While the other five Matoran looked out at the darkened cities, Velika, from his perch atop a skinny boulder, was staring in a separate direction entirely: towards the Green Belt, where the Toa Inika and Piraka had sought the Mask of Life. “Velika,” he said, “do you know something?”
Velika kept his gaze trained on the Green Belt, but Garan saw a small smile creep across the Matoran’s face. He knew that smile. It was Velika’s age-old signal for “wait and see”.
“We can’t fight them. Not this time,” said Dalu. “There are just too many.”
“What do we do?” Balta said softly.
Garan put a comforting hand on the Ta-Matoran’s shoulder. “We do what we do best,” he said. “Survive… and wait.”
✴ ✴ ✴
Nektann trudged through the desert of Po-Metru, and hated it. As a creature of water, he didn’t take well to dry heat, and he hated sand. Better to have something firm to stand on, something you could plant your feet in and stand steady. But he didn’t have much of a choice. Makuta had ordered him to find the Toa Mahri, and all evidence showed they were here, in the miserable desert. At least that’s one good thing about today, thought Nektann. I get to fight some Toa.
He could feel the eyes of the Rahkshi troops on him. They wore gleaming yellow armor, the color of Heat Vision Rahkshi… Makuta’s personal favorite. Nektann had been told they were just ordinary troops sent to follow his command, but he knew better than that. These Rahkshi were here to keep an eye on him, and to kill him if he ever betrayed Makuta.
They had reached a village. Throughout the scattered expanse of huts, Po-Matoran were hard at work, diligently carving slabs of rock into statues and sculptures. Nektann caught a glimpse of Makuta’s mask here, and “Turaga Ahkmou” there. Most of the Po-Matoran kept their heads down; they had learned to stay focused on their work. But he noticed one carver pause and stare up at Nektann. Was this an act of resistance, or was he simply shocked by the sight of a Skakdi? Nektann didn’t care. Either way, he would make excellent bait.
“You there!” Nektann barked, pointing to the carver. “You should keep your eyes on your work, Matoran.”
“I - I’m sorry, sir,” said the carver, “it won’t happen again.”
“It certainly won’t,” said Nektann, and grabbed the carver by his neck, lifting him from his work bench. “Listen up, you little runts! This one dared to look me in the eye, instead of concentrating on his work.” He waited for his words to echo through the canyon. “For this, he will be put to death!”
Some of the Po-Matoran flinched. The rest simply stared ahead, not looking at the panicking carver. “No, wait!” he squealed. “I, I’ll do my best from now on, sir! It won’t-”
“Silence, whelp!” Nektann roared, and threw the carver down onto the rocky ground. He stepped forwards, raising his Crescent Scythe to strike. “The rest of you - take this as a lesson!”
A cordak missile whistled through the air, striking Nektann’s scythe and blasting it from his grasp. The carver gasped in relief and scurried away, towards the being who had fired it. “Toa Hewkii!”
“Get behind me, Kamen,” said Hewkii, keeping his blaster trained on Nektann. “I didn’t know there was another Piraka in town. Get out of my metru… before I make you.”
Nektann grinned, and picked up his scythe. “One move, and my Rahkshi will melt you to slag. Unless you have teammates here to help you, there’s no way you’ll make it out of here alive.”
“As a matter of fact…” said Hewkii. An earth tremor rippled through the ground, knocking Nektann’s Rahkshi to the ground. Nektann turned to see a Toa of Earth moving towards him, bearing a blaster and shield. “Give up, Skakdi, and leave these Matoran in peace.”
“No, thanks,” said Nektann, and swung his Crescent Scythe. From its blade, water sliced through the air towards the Toa, leaving him no room to dodge. Nektann watched as the water moved closer… and then abruptly changed course, falling and splashing on the parched ground. Nektann looked to see a Toa of Water hovering in the air, evidently under her mask’s power. “Make one move against these Matoran, Skakdi, and you’ll wish I’d killed you.”
“Is this it?” said Nektann. “Or are there more of you, lying in wait?”
“We don’t need more Toa to beat you, Skakdi,” said Nuparu. “Frankly, even three is overkill.”
Nektann grinned. “Overkill? You don't know the meaning of the word.”
His Rahkshi’s eyes flashed red, and Hahli cried out in pain. Nektann ducked towards her, dodging Nuparu and Hewkii’s missiles, and leapt onto a metallic shelter hanging over the village. Below him, his Rahkshi rose from the ground and charged the Toa, firing heat beams. “Go, go!” Hewkii yelled, raising walls of stone to cover the Matoran’s escape. Once they had gone, he raised his warblade and grimaced at the Rahkshi. “Okay, who wants to play?”
Hahli cleared her head, and looked up to see a Rahkshi’s heat beams headed for her. A splash of water took care of that, and her protosteel talons made short work of its armor. She spotted Nektann watching from above, and fluttered her fins. She had borrowed the power of the Shore Turtle, and she intended to use it. “I’m going up there. Cover me!”
Mask glowing, she rose into the sky and rocketed towards Nektann… followed by several Rahkshi. “Oh, no you don’t,” said Hewkii. His mask gleamed with power, and the Rahkshi plummeted to the ground, shattering their armor against the ground. “Come on, Nuparu,” he called. “Can’t let Hahli have all the fun, can we?”
“Way ahead of you, brother,” said Nuparu, and vanished from sight. The Rahkshi attacking him paused, then turned and flew towards Hahli. Before they could reach her, Hewkii had leapt onto the overhang, and tossed a mess of chains at the both of them. Tangled together, they tried to free themselves… until the chains erupted with lightning, frying the kraata within.
Nektann turned to his right. “Nice try, Toa,” he said, as Nuparu faded into view, “but it’s going to take more than that to sneak up on me.” He snapped his fingers, and two Rahkshi landed in front of him, glaring at Nuparu. “Call me when you’re done with those two.”
Nearby, Hewkii broke a Rahkshi’s staff in two and hurled it from the overhang. Nektann prepared to strike him from behind, but heard cordak missiles whistling towards him. He ducked to the left, and Hahli’s barrage struck the metal behind him, shaking the entire structure.
“Careful where you’re pointing that, Toa,” said Nektann. “I’d hate to see your friends come crashing down with my Rahkshi.”
“Too late for that; they’re already gone,” said Hewkii, tossing a Rahkshi off of the overhang. To the right, Nuparu staggered his opponents with a shockwave, then sliced through their armor with his protosteel-tipped shield. All three Toa aimed their blasters at Nektann. “Get out of my district, Piraka.”
“Watch your language,” Nektann snapped. “I am not some mere criminal. I am Lord Nektann. You should learn some respect for your betters.”
“You, better than us? Please,” said Hewkii. “You couldn’t even defeat three of us. Try five!”
“I may not have subdued you,” said Nektann, “but your eagerness has drawn you out of hiding - which is all Makuta asked of me. I have already summoned reinforcements, so my work here is done. More important duties await me on Zakaz.”
Hahli glared down at Nektann. “Go to Karzahni.”
“I’ve already been,” said Nektann. “It was quite dull.”
The Toa fired their missiles. Nektann grinned, and leapt backwards off of the overhang. When the Toa rushed forward and looked over the edge, they saw only an empty village below.
“I’m going after him,” Hewkii growled, but Hahli held him back.
“We don’t know what powers he has,” she said. “He could have turned invisible, or shapeshifted, or teleported halfway across the island. What we need to do is get out of here, and warn Jaller and Kongu that Makuta is looking for us.”
Hewkii stared at the deserted village. “What about the Matoran? We have to protect them from the Rahkshi!”
“I don’t think we can,” Hahli said. “Nektann only came here because of us. Wherever we are, we’re a danger to the Matoran nearby.”
“What are you suggesting?” asked Nuparu.
“I’m ‘suggesting’ that we get out of Metru Nui,” said Hahli. “And hopefully, Jaller will understand why.”
The three Toa looked sadly over the village. Hewkii lowered the stone walls, and the Matoran began to return to their stations. Then the Toa Mahri leapt from the overhang, and hurried to get out of Po-Metru.