Chapter Nine: Raid on Odina

It should be understood that it goes against a Toa’s nature to sneak. Toa, by tradition, operate in broad daylight, so that the Matoran they protect can see us defending them and trust in them. Beacons, it has been observed, are useless when hidden.

So it was more than a little uncomfortable for the Toa Nuva to be sneaking onto the shoreline of the island of Odina.

Not that they had much choice. Odina is the home base of the Dark Hunters, heavily defended and notoriously difficult to invade. Even six Toa Nuva could not count on victory on these shores.

They had approached from the north, intending to go over the mountains and attack the fortress by surprise. There were fewer guards in this region, since the natural barriers made it difficult to pass. They hadn’t gotten far, however, when they encountered the first visible sentry.

“His name is ‘Minion,’ I think,” Tahu said. “And remind me to thank the Rahaga later for giving me a rundown on Dark Hunters weeks ago. He has impenetrable armor and razor-sharp claws, so we’ll have to–”

Before he could finish, there was a flash of white, a couple brief crunching noises, and then silence. A glance at Minion revealed Kopaka had flash frozen him in mid-step.

“Now we’re on a deadline,” joked Onua. “We have to finish our mission before the spring thaw.”

Pohatu took the lead, sensing what he could through the stone as they navigated the mountains. No one spoke. Their minds were on the job that still lay ahead – invading a massive fortress filled with the universe’s greatest criminals to retrieve the Staff of Artakha.

Impatient, Lewa climbed up on a rock, leapt off, and used his Mask of Levitation to hover in the air and scout. Gali was just about to warn him about being spotted when an energy web dropped from the sky and entangled him. It was rapidly followed by a stream of acid that just barely missed the falling Toa.

They glanced up. A winged creature was swooping down toward the Toa, more energy webs already flying from his chest-mounted launcher. Tahu threw a shield around them and the webs bounced off. Kopaka iced the creature’s wings and Onua threw his Mask of Strength behind a blow that knocked it out.

“Two down,” smiled Lewa. “And only 200 to go!”

Nobody laughed.