Chapter 3

Skating through the Drifts on the outskirts of Ko-Koro, Toa Kopaka did not share Pohatu’s optimism.

Dark streaks of Plasma now scarred Mount Ihu, bubbling away at the exposed rock and sending entire rivers of glacial runoff cascading down into the North March. Amidst the churning chaos of meltwater, crumbling ice, and super-heated rock, Ko-Matoran could be seen scurrying for shelter as the avalanche neared their village. He had only one window of opportunity to divert the flow and save Ko-Koro, and it was vanishing rapidly.

Building up velocity, the Toa of Ice locked his gaze on the surging mass of detritus that had once been the summit of Mount Ihu, calculating the trajectory and point of impact to the best of his ability. Swerving towards a natural ramp in the ice, Kopaka rocketed ahead of the avalanche then called upon his Hau Nuva, conjuring a forcefield that halted the largest boulder in its path. Losing momentum, the cascading snowslide buckled under the weight of itself and diverted its path, falling short of the village and spilling instead into the plateau below. For a moment, the Toa thought he could hear the sound of Matoran cheering over the rumble of the ice.

Such occurrences had become all too frequent in the weeks since the Bohrok-Kal had appeared. Turaga Nuju believed that the attempted Tahnok Invasion had destabilized the strata of the region, resulting in frequent rock avalanches and earthquakes. While the Pahrak-Kal was the slowest of this elite new breed of Bohrok, the effects of its Plasma Shields were altering the landscape of Ko-Wahi more rapidly than the Toa of Ice could keep pace with.

Gliding up onto the valley, Kopaka shot off again, skating uphill in the direction of the Three Brother’s Bridge. As he waded his way up the slope, he watched as the final sheets of the southern glacier collapsed, utterly powerless to prevent the destruction.

Reaching the summit of the scorched ridge, Kopaka headed towards the sheer ledge where Nuju had last been sighted. Exhausted from the climb, he searched around desperately but saw no sign of the village elder or his Matoran aide. He instead found himself facing the metallic faceplate of the Pahrak-Kal.

“Get off my mountain,” he challenged, readying his Ice Blade.

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In another world entirely, Toa Gali swam against the current as fast as her legs could kick. Her strokes were wild and frantic as she struggled to anticipate the direction of the waterway. Thrashing about, she willed her Mizuni Rotors to press her further, but she knew already it was no use. The stranded Matoran she had been sent to rescue were too far inland for her to reach.

Surgewaters from Mount Ihu were rapidly flooding the plains of Ga-Wahi, which were already congested with unprecedented volcanic runoff from an eruption of the Mangai Volcano earlier that week. Much to her dismay, the Hura-Mafa River had now ruptured its banks, flooding large swathes of open grassland and much of the Ga-Wahi basin with the volcanic toxins. Natural disasters of this scale were being triggered all over the island and the Toa Nuva were scattered to the wind.

A powerful electrical charge surged through the water, catching the Toa of Water’s leg and sending a wave of pain up her thigh. Turning to locate the source, her eyes came to rest on the scarlet silhouette of Tahnok-Kal lurking in the sulfurous depths.

Gali gazed longingly at her destination further upstream, hoping the Matoran could hold out long enough for her to distract the Bohrok-Kal. When it finally dawned on her that there was no other choice, she unclipped her Aqua Axes from her feet and readied herself for battle.

The Tahnok-Kal fired a second wave from its Electric Shields, which Gali evaded with careful use of her Kakama Nuva, though the maneuver cost her a lungful of contaminated water. It seemed the mechanical casing of the Bohrok-Kal would allow her adversary to brave the river depths far longer than she could.

“Is there not a place on this island where the Bohrok can reside?” she snapped, attempting to restrain the Bohrok-Kal’s arms with her Aqua Axes while treading water. “Would you deny the Matoran of Mata Nui peace?”

“It is no use, Toa,” retorted the Tahnok-Kal, zapping her with a powerful bolt of electricity that tore through her shoulder and left the armor blackened. “The Bohrok are here to cleanse this land, not share it. You will not deter Tahnok-Kal!”

Gali felt her joints lock in place as paralysis gripped her. The intensity of the attack left her senses fried and a dizzying space in her mind. Willing herself to persevere, the Toa of Water took a swing, only for her Aqua Axe to glance off the Tahnok-Kal’s smooth armor and a second jolt of staggering voltage to strike her in retaliation.

A warm, nurturing darkness prevailed as the Toa of Water began to drift off into unconsciousness…

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Deep in the caverns of Onu-Wahi, Toa Onua plummeted into the darkness of the Great Mine. Ancient air whipped past the Toa Nuva of Earth as he struggled to activate his Miru Nuva. Mining equipment and rock debris sailed past him as he managed to reverse his descent. Shaking off the effects of whiplash, he pushed off back towards the ledge he had been knocked from.

Returning to Onu-Koro with a new Kanohi Nuva in his possession, Onua’s thoughts of fragile optimism had been dashed when Turaga Whenua warned him of a spate of recent Bohrok-Kal attacks in his absence. The activities of Lehvak-Kal on the island’s surface coupled with some manner of geothermal event on the slopes of Mount Ihu had caused cooling temperatures across Onu-Wahi. A large glacier had begun to form, adding tremendous weight to land already riddled with tunnel networks and an intricate lattice of tectonic anomalies. To make matters worse, Kohrak-Kal had appeared, attacking Onu-Matoran engineers as they attempted to drain the Great Mine.

As portions of the ceiling continued to crumble, Onua ran to cover the fleeing engineers. With a well-timed swing of his mighty arms, he managed to deflect a falling stalactite, shielding Taipu from a grizzly fate in the process.

“Well met!” proclaimed the Onu-Matoran in gratitude. “Even without your powers, you remain the Spirit of Earth!”

Grunting in acknowledgement, Onua unlimbered his Quake Breakers and advanced closer on the Bohrok-Kal, knowing that the Matoran’s words could not be further from the truth.

In his experience, Kohrak were confident and careless by nature, often working alone to complete their objectives and engaging only when forced to. The Kohrak-Kal was solitary as well, but it appeared far more calculating than its Kohrak kin and had no hesitation unleashing the full extent of its power.

“Why do you destroy all that the Matoran have built?” he demanded, readying his Quake Breakers for combat.

To his surprise, the Kohrak-Kal lowered its Sonic Shields and rotated its head, the tips of its cold eyes focusing on him.

“All that does not belong will be removed,” it grated, echoing the words of Cahdok and Gahdok. “This island must be cleaned.”

“But if you continue, there will be no island left for the Bahrag Queens to conquer,” insisted the Toa Nuva of Earth, taking advantage of the rare opportunity to reason with a Bohrok-Kal. “What purpose could that serve?”

Slowly, the Kohrak-Kal turned its body to address Onua with something close to curiosity. For a tantalizing moment, he wondered if perhaps his words had broken through to the Bohrok-Kal. Perhaps there was intelligence behind that metallic faceplate that could be swayed.

WHACK!

The Kohrak-Kal’s head snapped forward, knocking the Pakari Nuva clean from the Toa of Earth’s face. Winded, Onua staggered back as his Kanohi skittered out of reach before coming to a precarious rest on the ledge. All strength seemed to escape him in that vulnerable moment as he fell to one knee.

“The Bohrok-Kal do not seek to conquer,” replied the Kohrak-Kal, shattering the final support with a Sonic blast. “Had the Toa Nuva not gotten in our way, perhaps you would have lived to understand why.”

Not for the first time, Onua found himself wishing he had kept the Exo-Toa armor he had so carelessly left in the Bohrok Hive…