CHAPTER 14 METRU NUI - TA-METRU - GA-METRU LAND CROSSING - TA-METRU SIDE
THE SEARCH (2)
35 MINUTES AFTER RECOVERY OF TA-METRU MAKOKI STONE
"That's the bridge?"
The 'bridge' in question was a collection of debris assembled in a semi-straight line, held together with Visorak webbing. "I didn't even see this when I was flying above it with the Pelican! Look at it! One good storm and this will be washed out to sea! I can't drive the 'Hog over this!"
Vakama was the first one off, followed by Matau. "Then we'll walk from here." Nokama was also disembarking as well. The sound of Visorak screeches echoed close behind them- the Sentinel factory had evidently fallen to the spiders. Clarke got halfway out of the Warthog, then stopped. "Wait up one moment!" Vakama was already starting to run across, but Matau and Nokama stopped, and turned to face him. "I'm going to need some assistance before we cross."
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SEVEN MINUTES LATER
The M12 LAV sat empty on the bridge, seemingly stuck, positioned sideways- almost as if it were a barrier preventing passage.
The Visorak barely stopped moving as they poured out from multiple streets, converging on the bridge. There was no counterattack from anything, no beams of white fire that cut through them. The last of the metal Rahi had been dealt with. In the distance, four beings were sighted on the crossing, in a near flat-out sprint. The Visorak needed no other obligation to pursue, and began flowing across the bridge, smashing into the vehicle that was pathetically blocking their path- and pulling the trip-wire that was connected to the grenade placed on top of forty pounds of 102mm rockets located beneath the Warthog. The 'Hog was near-instantly obliterated- and so was every Visorak within five meters of the explosion. The bridge didn't fair much better, either, as the webbing holding up that section snapped, allowing the rubble to slide into the water beneath.
The SIV was definitely impressed at this point. Vakama didn't even seem to notice the Gauss cannon he had slung over his shoulder- as if it were no big weight. Clarke himself was carrying the ammunition - and power cables - needed for said big gun- and while they were barely slowing him down, their combined weight was nothing compared to the electromagnetic coil-gun itself. Matau was the biggest surprise- the Spartan had expected a Toa of 'Air' to be a lightweight- instead he was lugging around the power source for the Gauss cannon with about the same amount of ease as Vakama was with the weapon itself.
As they got within fifty meters of the other side, they felt the bridge start to lose consistency beneath them, as the webbing holding it began to come loose. Nokama was the first one across, her not being burdened with anything - then Matau and Vakama. The webbing separated completely, and the Spartan felt himself starting to sink- he triggered his jetpack, giving him a good degree of height above the surface of the water as the rubble sank to the bottom. The jetpack couldn't hold him up forever, the added weight of the M68 ammunition bringing him down... and then an air-spinner hit the water beneath him, giving him an extra burst of height.
It took two more air-spinners for Clarke to make it safely over land and come down. By that point, the blue spiders- Boggarak- had begun to swim across. "Thanks, Matau. Would've sank like a stone if you hadn't done that."
The Toa of Air's response was cut off by Vakama. "Spartan. I would say it is time to run, not stand around and talk."
With that, Group Two sprinted away from the now destroyed crossing, and into Ga-Metru proper.
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METRU NUI - ONU-METRU DISTRICT
35 MINUTES AFTER ESCAPE FROM KNOWLEDGE TOWER
Group One had reached a storage hall- and at the far end, a vault had been opened up. There were Visorak patrols present, though most of them had charged off in pursuit of a two-headed Tarakava- one of the exhibits in the Archives that had been set free by the massive bioquake triggered by the Great Cataclysm. Whenua hoped the creature would escape- but had the suspicion that the Visorak would prove too much for it. Yet another Rahi that would fall to the scourge.
The group moved quickly throughout the chamber, evading the majority of the spiders that had remained. They were almost to the hole when something emerged from it- a familiar Kahgarak, now blinded on one side. Due to it's blind spot, the Toa were able to get back into cover before it could notice them.
Four of the strange foreign constructs - this time equipped with golden armor - barreled into the storage hall, catching the nearest Visorak off-guard before cutting it apart with harsh blue light. A Vohtarak managed to fire off a spinner, impacting one of the Sentinels- and instead of being destroyed as expected, a shimmering blue energy field intercepted the spinner, protecting the Sentinel underneath. The Vohtarak wasn't so lucky.
The Kahgarak shifted it's attention to the quartet of Sentinel Majors, walking past the three Hordika. It's Rhotuka launcher charged up with energy and fired- and the Sentinels immediately swept their beams to intercept the blast. With the Visorak otherwise occupied, Group One was able to sneak inside the hole, and into the chamber on the other side. A fifth Sentinel - having entered after the rest of the Forerunner synthetic forces, albeit more stealthily - snuck past the Kahgarak as well, and followed the Toa through the hole.
As it came out on the other side, a club came down- hard- on the Sentinel, damaging it's shield and causing it to collide with the floor, which knocked the energy barrier out completely. It started to twist around, to bring it's weapon to bear on the aggressor. Another impact on it's rear- and ice formed around it, containing it in a stalagmite of frozen liquid.
"There. That's done- are you happy now, Onewa?"
The Toa of Stone only snorted, continuing to watch the fallen Sentinel. Nuju took up position near the door, watching the battle outside- two of the golden constructs had fallen, another one had disappeared, and the final one was zipping around the room, trying to get a clear shot on the Kahgarak. The other Visorak were all dead, cut apart by the Sentinels' weapons.
Whenua had walked to the pedestal in the center of the room, reached forward, and grabbed the stone. There was a click, and the stand dropped down.
A stone hammer descended from the ceiling on an arc that took it straight towards Whenua, who barely managed to duck out of it's way. It hit the opposite wall with a loud 'smack'- and a spiderweb of cracks appeared, water starting to leak from them. Group One started to walk backwards, towards the tunnel that they came from- and the wall gave way. The three Toa Hordika, the Sentinel, and the Kahgarak in the other room were all swept away by the torrent of water that poured through.
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UNKNOWN LOCATION
UNSC GA-TL1 LONGSWORD DELTA-11
The red emergency lighting clicked off, replaced by the white light of the heavy fighter-bomber's standard interior illumination. Daimia Blake rose up from where she was lying, holding her head in her hands as the brightness stabbed at her eyes. "Wazzup?"
"Main power's back online. We're ready to move- everything's up and running again." Nate said as he walked by, smiling widely.
"Where-goin'?"
"Local UNSC firebase- the wing of a Forerunner dreadnought." Nate sat down in the pilot's chair, pressing a few buttons, then chuckling. "You'll never guess what it's call-"
"Wherer-we?"
"No idea. Just stay lying there- I don't think we're going to need to shoot anything on the way."
"Mmmkay." Cpl. Blake laid her head back down on the cot. "Ya-know, I had the strangest dream..."
The Longsword rose up into the air, it's landing gear retracting into the underside of the craft. It accelerated, heading for the structure that had been designated 'Wingbase'. Two F-41 Broadswords did the same.
Thirty seconds after they had taken off and left, the ground that they once rested on collapsed, and writhing darkness flowed out, looking for the source of energy that had attracted them. The jet-black eels found nothing- and retreated back down. A flash of energy later, and the hole was covered up, as if it had never been there.
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METRU NUI - ONU-METRU DISTRICT
15 MINUTES AFTER RECOVERY OF ONU-METRU STONE FRAGMENT
The tunnel that Group One and the Kahgarak had been washed down had connected with a pipe. None of the three Toa knew where they were going anymore- other than in the general direction of Po-Metru. They turned a corner, and saw the Kahgarak up ahead right itself, floating on it's belly. It's Rhotuka launcher began to crackle with energy- and then it fell out of sight. It didn't take long for the Toa to clue in as to why that was, and they began to attempt to swim up-current, away from the sudden drop. Nuju fired his Rhotuka spinner, creating a wall of ice which temporarily cut off the water flow- but the water pressure started to crack the ice almost immediately. The frozen Sentinel suddenly bumped up against the wall, cracking it further- and Nuju fired yet another ice spinner to fortify the wall. "That won't hold it for long! Let's get out of here!"
They ran to the edge of the pipe, and looked around. It was evidently part of some ancient chute system, built underneath the ground- but the Great Cataclysm had caused a chasm to open up, creating a gap in the system. Looking up, Nuju could see the sky far above- even if they got out of the chute, they would have quite a long way to climb. 'Better than falling to our death,' Nuju thought, before firing his ice spinner to mark a spot on the cave wall next to him. "Onewa, Whenua. See if you can't make a bridge. I'll hold it together with ice.
The next fifteen seconds was filled with intensity, as the three Hordika staggered their Rhotuka fire, constantly reinforcing the bridge that they were making. It was no use- the second it reached a certain length, it collapsed into the chasm. The cracking sound from the wall of ice in the pipe didn't help, either. Finally, they got the idea to simply lift themselves out of the chute- one Toa had to act as a stepping platform for the other one, in order to grasp the edge of the damaged section and leverage themselves to the top of the hole.
"I wish we had Matau with us, it would have made this so much easier." Onewa was the last one out- and not a moment to soon- the second he was halfway out of the hole, the ice wall shattered. His feet were almost caught by the subsequent torrent of water, which stretched almost all the way across the chasm before slowly winding down to it's previous flow.
"Now where do we go?"
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METRU NUI - GA-METRU DISTRICT
45 MINUTES AFTER CROSSING OVER TO GA-METRU
Group Two knew that stopping for long periods of time meant that they would be overwhelmed. The local spider garrisons had been alerted as to the presence of the four individuals- and this time, there was no Warthog that could outrace the Visorak to use.
Clarke was almost constantly on his interface device, attempting to connect to Wingbase's systems, but constantly kept getting an 'Out of Range' error. He wished that Aeona were still around- she could have taken control of one of the Hornets and came to get them. Nokama had the Le-Metru and Ta-Metru pieces, along with the datapad. Clarke was sure that the datapad was waterproof, but didn't know the technical specs for certain. It was able to be used in space just fine, and in deserts...
They had to take shelter in buildings often, as Visorak patrols passed by. One of the buildings was the same place where the Spartan had come across his supply of Kanoka- now depleted. Nokama had been disturbed by the revelation of the previous inhabitant of the building- apparently it was one of her friends, a Ga-Matoran by the name of Macku. Vakama had found another shelf with Kanoka on it- nothing above level 5, and nobody had any bags for carrying the disks- though Clarke had taken one, 'just in case'. The Toa of Fire had been able to tell who made the majority of the Kanoka, though- a prospective carver named Tuvan, who had been touring the different Metru, experimenting with the creation of new disks.
Finally, Clarke had a name to go on. "Now I'm definitely locked into helping you rescue the Matoran," he had stated, a grin on his face. "After all, I had said that the individual who made these disks was going to get a lifetime supply of drinks, all on Fireteam Apex's tab."
The Toa had looked at him oddly at that statement. "Drinks are not free where you come from?"
"More or less. And I don't mean just water; I mean the top shelf stuff- if he would even enjoy that. Hope he doesn't, otherwise Apex is going to be hemorrhaging credits- and Samuels isn't going to like that."
After that, they had moved on, pressing as straight as possible towards Wingbase. He had picked up on the distress signal- but after hearing that it was just a pre-recorded message, his heart sank. The Sentinels near Wingbase had been hard-coded to not launch attacks past a certain point. Once they got inside that DMZ, though... the Visorak pursuing them were in for a world of hurt. It wasn't just standard Aggressors and the odd Enforcer out there- there were also Sentinel Majors on the prowl. He hoped that Aeona had added the Toa to the 'Do Not Shoot' list for Wingbase, otherwise this would end badly for everybody involved. Once he got closer to the DMZ, he could check.
They finally got to the stone's location- it was just plain luck that it happened to be on the way to the UNSC base. They had set up the Gauss cannon near the hole that Nokama was to dive down. Once she secured the final stone, Clarke suggested her to go full speed to either Wingbase or the Ga-Metru Great Temple, and lie low until they could regroup. That idea was nixed by Vakama, who got irritated at the Spartan for 'attempting to order his team around'. Nokama had snapped at the both of them, telling them to behave- as if they were naught but miscreants in a classroom. After that, the two of them had stalked away from each other, and the Toa of Water submerged herself.
Now the two were sitting on opposite sides of the mutated Toa of Air. Matau could feel the anger coming off of Vakama, and the passive irritation from the Lieutenant. He sighed- which drew a look from both of them. Vakama's was judgmental, as if interrupting his brooding was some unspeakable crime. For a second, the Spartan's eyes were full of fire- then they let up, the partial irritation disappearing from the gaze. He looked forward again. 'It's not Matau's fault- and it's not Vakama's either. That's what happens when you put two leaders in an equal command role- either they have synergy, or they don't.' He let out a breath. "After this operation, I'll relegate myself to running support roles only. That way there's no real conflict between us, and also that way you don't have to hoof it across the entire city if you want to get somewhere."
Both Matau and Vakama's heads rose in unison, though not in the Spartan's direction. They had heard something. Clicking. "We have been discovered." Clarke moved to be on the right side of Vakama, already grabbing a shell from his pack and loading it into the Gauss cannon's firing chamber. Matau flipped the activation switch- after poking around the generator a bit, trying to find it- and the cannon began to hum with power as the coils charged up. The Spartan took over operation of the weapon from the Toa of Fire.
A Boggarak came into view, crawling over the wall of the building. Nobody breathed- nobody moved. The blue spider looked around, then turned to leave- and Nokama chose this moment to come to the surface with a light splash. That was enough for the Visorak to turn it's attention back, noticing the Hordika in the center of the pool, it's eyes tracking over Matau, then Vakama, and finally-
A brilliant blue-white pulse flew across the span, smashing straight into the Visorak's head crest- and out the other side. The body fell from the wall, landing with a smack in the street outside. "Time to go!" The cords were untied, both cannon and power source were stowed away again, and Nokama came out of the water in full. The group barely ex-filtrated from the open-roof structure before the Visorak arrived in force. It was only a matter of time before the spiders found out where they went.
They were so close to the DMZ- just seven more kilometers. It felt like seven hundred- nigh-on constant evasion was the only way to survive. At one point, Clarke considered using the disk- but didn't know if it would work on a group, nor where it would place them. At every stop inside a building, waiting for a patrol to pass by, the Spartan checked the ID- he at least was able to check the targeting ledgers, and confirmed that the Toa- and the Rahaga- were on Wingbase's 'Friendlies' tab. If Nokama wished to, she could have gone ahead and waited for them at the base. Once again, after the suggestion, Vakama had snarled at him. Matau explained that Toa stuck together, and did not abandon others when the situation got tough. That struck a nerve, and Clarke had spent the next thirty seconds arguing with both the Toa of Fire and of Air about what he meant by his suggestion.
Finally, when they moved out again, Clarke was the one carrying the Gauss cannon. The rest of Group Two quickly left him behind- all except Nokama, who was traveling in the middle, between the Spartan and the other two Toa. At least he hadn't completely alienated the team.
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METRU NUI - PO-METRU DISTRICT
Turaga Dume peered out of his sphere. The floor was covered with some sort of Rahi- none of them moving. He briefly contemplated staying in the protosteel ball, but dismissed the idea. His city needed a leader- though, he had to confess, he had feelings of trepidation as to what had happened in his absence. Moving carefully, he stepped clear of the sphere, and started to walk as close to the side of the cave as possible- far away from the unknown creatures.
They looked like small Kraata- though he had no doubt that they were dangerous. The number continued to go on and on.
Turaga Dume hoped he was heading the right way, and not further into the caves- though there was no way to be sure.
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METRU NUI - ONU-METRU DISTRICT
UNDERGROUND CHUTE CHASM
20 MINUTES AFTER LEAVING CHUTE
Whenua was busy digging a tunnel, putting a decent slant to it- not enough that they would slide to the bottom if they fell, but enough that they would eventually make it to the surface. Eventually.
Nuju and Onewa both noticed the solitary Sentinel on the other side of the chasm- and it noticed them. It was also staying well out of effective Rhotuka range. Onewa was getting more and more frustrated with every minute that passed- had they not been turned into Hordika, they would have been out of the chasm before now, and would be well on their way to Po-Metru.
Now they were stuck on a ledge above a chasm, with only one of them able to do anything to get them out of it. Using their Rhotuka was right out- the spinners were not suited for careful work such as this, and were more likely to cause the whole ledge to collapse. And the golden construct's staring was starting to get to the Toa of Stone- his Hordika side felt like he was naught but a stone rat in a cage, placed in a Ga-Metru laboratory for some sort of observation experiment.
Nuju had tried to use his ice spinner to write out a message on the opposite side of the chasm, but had given up on it due to it being a waste of energy. The Sentinel hadn't acknowledged the effort, either.
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METRU NUI - GA-METRU DISTRICT
ONE KILOMETER FROM DMZ
19 MINUTES AFTER RECOVERING GA-METRU MAKOKI STONE
Clarke could no longer see Matau or Vakama in the distance- and Nokama had vanished from view too. He could, however, hear the Visorak behind him closing in. At certain points, he turned around, hefting the Gauss cannon, using the interface device to run power from his GEN2 armor to the weapon, and gave his pursuers a reason to stay back. That had stopped more than two minutes ago, due to the six-shot chamber running out of loaded projectiles to fire- and his entire left side burned with pain as well.
The SIV had no idea how close he was to the DMZ's edge. The pursuing spiders had begun to shoot at him, forcing him to randomly weave around, lest his movement become too predictable. He wished that his visor was still intact- the rear-view camera mounted on the back of his helmet would have been very useful here. He triggered his back-mounted magnetic clamps, allowing the Gauss cannon to fall to the ground, and pulled the ammo bag off as well. If he couldn't make it to the DMZ, he wouldn't need the mounted weapon anyway. And if he did, he could send Sentinels out to retrieve it later.
A spinner landed. His shields flared, taking the brunt of it. He still felt the burning sensation on his back, even through the energy barrier and the armor. The Vohtarak spinner had also imported a small amount of kinetic force- the Lieutenant stumbled, righted himself using his thruster pack- and kept running. The next spinner that hit took him off of his feet- an energy web snapped into place around him, preventing movement inside. He still tried to crawl forward, straining against the electricity, his shields failing and collapsing completely- and titanium-A made for a good conductor. Were it not for the undersuit, the Spartan would have been exposed to a near-fatal shock, the armor's reactor losing containment shortly afterwards and detonating with enough energy to carbonize everything within fifteen meters of the blast. Clarke noticed his vision begin to tunnel inwards, and saw the spiders approaching- and then a red streak tore into them from the right side, setting fire to two of the spiders.
One of the buildings- covered by webs, and large sections of its overall structure missing- collapsed into the street, crushing a large portion of the center of the pursuing force beneath it. The conscious part of Clarke's mind 'smiled'. Group Two hadn't abandoned him after all- they had set a trap for his pursuers, and waited until he had lured them into a position that would allow for maximum disruption. The field faded away- and the Lieutenant began crawling again, his legs still numb and unresponsive. Two feet came down a meter in front of his face. "Some mighty-strong warrior you are, stranger! Slow-crawling around like a worm-Rahi..."
A pair of hands reached down, grabbing onto his shoulders and lifting him up, before letting go- and the Spartan immediately collapsed again, his face distorting into various expressions of pain. "What's wrong-bad with your legs? Can you not stand-walk?"
"Spinner. Legs are numb. No feeling."
Matau picked up the SIV again, this time supporting him. The mutated Toa of Air started to walk forward- still holding the Spartan up. The movement quickly dissipated the numbness, replacing it with pain. The Spartan let out a hiss- and the Hordika let go, putting some distance between him and the SIV. Clarke fell over again, but this time got up on his own, albeit unsteadily. A red shape shot past him, closely followed by a blue one. It clicked in the Lieutenant's mind that if the Toa were flat-out sprinting away from the combat zone, that perhaps he should do the same. Shoving the pain to the side, he began to run again, with the Toa of Air keeping pace next to him. The spiders behind them began to fire again, and the screeching noises that they uttered were far too close for comfort.
The interface device issued a triple-note chime. A grin spread over Clarke's face as he continued to run, triggering his thruster pack at certain intervals, shoving him to either the left or the right, hoping to throw off the Visorak's aim. Matau suddenly grabbed onto his arm and pulled him into a building. The Spartan lost his balance- being yanked off one's feet at full sprint will do that- and activated his thruster pack in an effort to keep himself standing up. Instead he ended up planting himself front-first into the nearest wall- and the material did not yield under the impact. Matau couldn't help it- he had to chuckle at that, memories of his misadventures on the Le-Metru Moto Hub test track coming to the fore of his mind.
The other two Hordika, having also taken cover in the structure, had mixed reactions. Nokama moved forward to check on the Spartan, which, by the time that the Toa of Water got to him, had fallen backwards to land on the ground. Vakama simply snorted and turned to look out of the closest window as a large force of gold-armored metal bird-like constructs came flying from a side street to pierce deep into the Visorak formation from the right- and as the spiders started to realign themselves to defend against the aggressors, another group of robots cut into their now-exposed former left, catching the Visorak between hammer and anvil and splitting their group in two. A third flight of automatons - heavier rectangular units - hovered up the street, already bombarding the cut-off group with explosive projectiles.
Clarke's eyes slowly opened. "Thanks for not leaving me behind," he said, a respectful tone in his voice. He raised his hand, to which the Toa of Water took it and helped him to his feet. "We're in the DVZ, right?"
Vakama's voice came from the other side of the room. "See for yourself."
The Lieutenant unsteadily walked to the window- assisted by the Toa of Water, who knew what it was like to be hit by a Suukorak spinner. The Spartan looked outside, watching the battle. The Visorak started to retreat from the Sentinels, as part of some sort of organized rout- they apparently knew that they had been beaten, but also knew from previous experience that the Sentinels wouldn't press their apparent advantage over a certain boundary. Only a few of the encircled spiders managed to break out, at a heavy cost to the rest. Those that managed to get over the line were unhindered, even after the surrounded group had been eradicated.
Clarke's attention was drawn to a single Suukorak- missing one of it's legs, it's crest slagged by Sentinel beams - as it turned around and stared with it's single eye at where Group Two had vanished. It was standing over the spot where he had taken that direct hit and had been brought down. It clicked it's mandibles together, fired a single shot at the Sentinels- which easily evaded it- and walked off. The Spartan ran the numbers in his head, calculating just how far away he had been from the edge of the 'Dead Visorak Zone'. Thirty meters. Well within weapons range of the Sentinels.
And they wouldn't have been able to save him- their protocols only allowed them to engage targets within the DVZ. 'There but for the grace of God...' He turned around, walking away from the window, before leaning against the wall again. His head moved to the left, looking at the three Toa. "Thank you for saving my life. I'll have to thank Norik for preventing me from going out here myself as well- I would have been either run down at the bridge, drowned, or overrun a minute after entering Ga-Metru without local knowledge of the area." He sighed. "I owe you one." There was no way around that- she had acted as arbitrator and mediator far too many times for it to not be official.
A smile crossed Nokama's face- which disappeared due to Matau's next comment. "Well, we would have quick-left you far-behind, had our water-sister not hard-commanded that we guard-safe you."
Clarke blinked, then grinned. "Then it seems I owe you yet another debt of gratitude, ma'am."
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ONU-METRU DISTRICT
ONE HOUR 12 MINUTES AFTER LEAVING CHUTE
Group One's escape tunnel was far more beneficial than expected. After thirty minutes of digging, it had connected with an Archives sub-level tunnel, which the three Hordika followed until they entered an area that Whenua remembered. From there it was easy enough to get back up to the main levels, and then back up to the surface. The Sentinel had followed them for the majority of the journey, but they had temporarily split up in order to confuse it, and then watched as it went in the wrong direction down another tunnel.
Once they got up to the city proper, they quickly made up for the time that they had lost in the Archives. They had emerged near the border between the metrus- and evaded Visorak patrols as they crossed over. Po-Metru was something different, though- there was a lot of spider activity - and fortifications - around the edges, but as they traveled inwards, there was almost no contact, with the exception of the odd Kavinika or Kikanalo.
The atmosphere was different too. There was the base undercurrent of revulsion and primordial fear that the Hordika had grown accustomed to in terms of being in a Visorak-occupied area, but there was something else as well. Something... more. Almost as if they were naught but unarmed Ko-Matoran wandering into the Zivon's land of darkness, or a stone rat sneaking into a Muaka's lair. As if they were being watched- being sized-up by some malevolent force.
It took a great act of will to keep one foot moving in front of the other, as the mutated Toa's Hordika nature hissed and spat at them, trying to gain control, to turn around and gallop at full speed away from the maw of some deadly predator that had staked out the area as it's own.