Chapter 13

Huaju sped his Hover-Bike across the Po-Metru landscape. He was flying as fast as his Hover-Bike could manage, but he was also keeping low to the ground, forcing him to weave around various rock formations and through canyons. But Huaju knew the area well, and didn't let up on his acceleration until they crossed the border into Ta-Metru in the south.

Kulagi was still recovering from the battle he had just survived. Despite everything, he had nearly gotten himself captured again, and it had only been Huaju's timely arrival that had saved him. However, that led him to a whole lot of further questions.

"What just happened back there?" Kulagi asked, as Huaju finally slowed the Hover-Bike down. "How did you manage to find us?"

"How did you learn how to fly so quick-fast?" Triki asked, a big grin on his mask. "That was awesome-able! Everything was all a blur and I didn't even head-hit on rock to see it!"

"I've raced across the desert a few times before," Huaju said. "And I knew the route to take that would get us out of Dark hunter territory the fastest, so I just took it at top speed."

"Well, why didn't you do that when I asked you to join us earlier?" Kulagi demanded. "Back then you were all concerned about Dark Hunter ambushes."

"Because this time I've surveyed the land and figured out that there weren't any Dark Hunters hiding along this route," Huaju replied.

"Answer my first question now," Kulagi said. "How did you manage to fly in at the nick of time and save us?"

"Well, after you left on your crazy mission two days ago, I got in touch with the guard," Huaju said. "And I helped push for a rescue mission. Toa Gambar eventually headed out with a small team, aiming to get the Matoran out under the nose of the Dark Hunters."

Kulagi nodded. "I know, we crossed paths earlier."

"Well, then you'll be happy to know that he got them all out last night," Huaju said. "He found them in the protodermis pipe, and then dug through the cave in that was blocking them, and walked the rest of the way to the Great Temple. All the Matoran are safe in Ta-Metru now, including Sufina."

"That's good, but how does that explain how you got out here?" Kulagi asked.

"I helped Gambar plot a route through the area before he left, so he would know the safest paths to use," Huaju continued. "And in doing so, I had access to the Toa's intel on the Dark Hunter's latest movements. When Gambar returned, he said that you had gone off on another mission, so I decided it was time to fly in. I spent most of last night flying around quietly, hoping to find you. And then I spotted you this morning, heading towards that small Dark Hunter prison."

"Then why didn't you fly in sooner and help us?" Kulagi asked.

"Because I saw two more Dark Hunters heading your direction," Huaju said. "I figured that to escape from them, we'd need a good distraction, and I happened to know about a Kirikori Nui colony located nearby. So a few well-placed disc shots got them riled up, and they flew off to intercept your skirmish with the Dark Hunters." Huaju grinned. "And then you know the rest."

"Ooh, you know where Kirikori Nui nest is?" Triki asked. "Can you ever-show it to me sometime? They look fun to wrangle-ride."

"That was quite bold of you," Kulagi said.

"Well, it required a lot of planning," Huaju said. "Which is something you should've done in the first place."

"Perhaps you're right," Kulagi said glumly. "After all, if I hadn't shown up, then Sufina wouldn't have gone looking for her secret device, and we wouldn't have led the Dark Hunters right to it. Now, partially thanks to me, the Dark Hunters have what they're after."

"Maybe not quite," Huaju said. "I'll let the team leader explain when we land."

Huaju had now entered the industrial distract of Ta-Metru. Normally, the Matoran were hard at work at their various forges, building materials for use in Metru-Nui. But currently all available forges were working at maximum capacity to aid the Toa in the war, and the streets were unusually full of Matoran refugees from other parts of the city. Huaju headed towards one particular building and went to land his Hover-Bike on the roof.

Kulagi, however, recognized the facility. "Don't land here!" he exclaimed. "This is the Nuurakh Central Hive facility!" It was a building Kulagi had done his best to avoid at all costs, and even as they dropped down, he could see four Nuurakh Vahki eyeing the Hover-Bike.

"Don't worry," Huaju said. "The Vahki forces are spread very thin right now, to protect the borders. This building is now a major communication center for the Toa."

Indeed, the Nuurakh made no move to attack as they landed. Furthermore, the roof access door burst opened and Sufina came running out to greet them. "You're alive!" she cried out. "You're both alive!"

Kulagi embraced with Sufina. "Are you okay?" he asked. "When I left you, you'd been hurt pretty badly."

"I've managed to recover, thanks to Toa Lanili," Sufina said.

"That's great," Kulagi said. "And I guess now we'll have some time to relax, now that we're out of Dark Hunter territory."

"I wouldn't say that," said a Ta-Matoran with a great Huna, also walking up through the roof access door. "Good to see you in one piece, Kanoka Maker."

Kulagi narrowed his eyes. "Vakama the Mask Maker?"

Kulagi had once regarded Vakama with disdain, because Vakama would often take Kulagi's beloved Kanoka discs and forge them into mask, thus ruining them in Kulagi's opinion. But after the two had been involved in the Gang Matoran incident, Kulagi had grown to respect the Ta-Matoran's ingenuity and was on friendlier terms with him. Still, Vakama was unquestionably loyal to the Turaga, and sometimes rubbed Kulagi the wrong way.

"Hey, fire mask guy, it's you!" Triki exclaimed, leaping off the Hover-Bike. Unlike Kulagi, Triki was very much impressed by Vakama's profession, being an amateur Mask Maker himself. He swung up his hand, saying, "We need to do friend-cool greet!"

"Not now, Triki," Vakama said. "We have some business to discuss. Please follow me inside."

"What business?" Kulagi asked. "Is this because I shot down those Vahki when I flew out of Onu-Metru?"

"No, this is because of that secret project that Sufina was working on," Vakama said offhandedly.

"You know about that?" Kulagi asked.

"Actually, he's apparently on the team leading it," Sufina said. "I didn't even know that until this morning."

Vakama led them down into the building and into an unused office, with a complete model of Metru-Nui on a table in the center of the room. Kulagi glanced at it, and saw that there were markings on it to indicate the current movements of the Toa and Dark Hunters.

As they all entered, Vakama closed the door and turned to them. "You are all aware of portions of this project," he said. "But now I want to let you in on the whole thing. Up until now, this has been a top secret project, but the Dark Hunters' recent movements have compromised it, and I would like your help to fix things up."

"If you're asking us to go and steal the power source back, think again," Kulagi said. "Even I know that's something we can't realistically pull off, even with the full backing of the Toa."

"That's not what I'll need you for," Vakama said. "Let me start from the beginning. Turaga Dume and Toa Lhikan originally envisioned a project that would require a particular engine, based off concept designs from the Nynrah Ghosts. This required a two part design process; we needed both a power source and a mechanical converter to tap into it. While it would be greatly beneficial, it was also highly dangerous. The Nynrah Ghosts design allowed for high compatibility with many things, including uses for the Dark Hunters. It would be devastating if they got both parts, and so we did our best to make sure that our development of the devices was kept a secret."

"And to help keep this secret, everything was compartmentalized," Sufina put in. "I was on the small team in Ga-Metru, where we tried to find the exact chemical components to use to make the power source function. Meanwhile, another team worked on the mechanical converter, but we didn't know who they were or where they were working on it."

"That team was in Le-Metru," Vakama said. "They were working out of a mechanics shop north of the Moto Hub."

"Wait a moment," Kulagi said. "But that region also got attacked. That's why Triki had to evacuate."

Huaju nodded. "The Dark Hunters had a two part invasion planned. They hoped to claim both devices at once."

"We still don't know how they got wind of the plans," Vakama said. "It's possible that they somehow intercepted our communications about it. But while they knew which region the labs were in, they didn't know exactly where they were located."

Kulagi nodded. "We've encountered Dark Hunters who have excellent hearing and who can imitate Matoran, so they could've overheard something and pieced things together." He frowned. "We made the mistake of trusting the Ko-Matoran courier Glax, and he turned out to be a Dark Hunter in disguise."

"Right, Sufina has told me about that," Vakama said. "We hadn't anticipated that level of espionage on their part. And now the Dark Hunters have the power source. But we don't believe that they have the mechanical converter yet."

"So the Le-Matoran team got it out in time?" Kulagi asked.

"No, but they tried," Vakama said. "They were attempting to make it back to their mechanics shop, but got injured by the Dark Hunters. Luckily, there were a few Toa in the area, and they managed to rescue all the Matoran and get them evacuated in time, but they couldn't retrieve the device, specifically because they didn't know about it." Vakama paused. "And based on the movements of the Dark Hunters in that region, they also haven't found the device yet."

"Wait, so you want us to go and get it?" Kulagi asked.

Vakama shrugged. "You already found the power source, so you're capable of it. Besides, I know that you're particularly good at sneaking into places and making off with protodermis. I think you're qualified."

"Well, at least somebody finds that bit impressive, for once," Kulagi grumbled.

"Why do you need us to retrieve it?" Huaju asked. "I mean, I know that it's important to keep it out of the hands of the Dark Hunters, but couldn't you just send in a Toa team and incinerate the mechanics shop, destroying it completely? Because even if you have it, it's worthless without the power source."

"Not quite," Sufina said. "I did manage to save my notes from my lab, and we can use them to create a second power source. We have all the materials down here, pending some purified protodermis, but we can still get that imported from Ga-Metru. We were planning to start mass producing it down here soon anyway."

"Correct," Vakama said. "We're already starting to recreate the power source here. The Le-Matoran team did not retrieve their notes, but based on their last communications before the attack, they do have a working prototype. If we can get that here, then we could still use it against the Dark Hunters."

"Coolio!" Triki said. "One question; what does machine-stuff do again?"

"That's actually a fair question," Kulagi said.

"I don't even know what the end product is supposed to be," Sufina admitted.

"That's another secret I'm letting you in on," Vakama said, pulling out a tablet with technical drawings on it. Kulagi couldn't make out what half of it was, but the main image seemed to be a Matoran with external armor on.

"This is a design for tactical Exo-Matoran armor," Vakama explained. "It would allow the Matoran to participate on the battlefield beside the Toa. The armor plating would offer ample protection against moderate attacks, and it could be equipped with various weaponry. This means that the Matoran guard could directly aid the Toa against the Dark Hunters and other threats too. It's based on a design concept written up by the Onu-Matoran Engineer Nuparu."

"Nuparu?" Kulagi repeated, frowning. "That's the guy who invented the Vahki. I don't like him."

"Well, his earlier design was faulty," Vakama admitted. "I've since worked on modifying it, but the main flaw is how to power it. The suit needs to be properly powered for the armor to function. Most of our standard power sources, like heat stones or Kanoka discs, are simply too weak to pull this off. That's why we needed the Nynrah Ghosts power source; that seems to be the only way to get the Exo-Matoran suits to operate."

"So Turaga Dume wants to put Matoran on the front lines?" Kulagi asked. "That doesn't seem like him; he's the Turaga who keeps insisting that the Vahki are the best enforcement for this city, despite them all being stupid, merciless robots."

"Turaga Dume is not the one who pushed for this idea." Kulagi spun around at the voice, and spotted a red and gold Toa of Fire enter the room. Kulagi instantly recognized his golden Hau. It was Toa Lhikan.

"Since arriving in this city, I have marveled at the resourcefulness of its Matoran," Lhikan said. "I am here to protect them, but not to keep them from reaching their full potential. If properly armed, Matoran can defend themselves against Dark Hunters. Isn't that right, Kanoka Maker?" he asked, focusing on Kulagi. "You've been one of the few Matoran to charge straight into a fight with the Dark Hunters, and you're still alive. That alone is remarkable."

Kulagi forced a smile, but he was taken aback from the compliment from the leader of the Toa armies in Metru-Nui. "I guess you could say that," he said.

"Finding this device in Le-Metru is of the utmost importance," Lhikan continued. "Not just to keep it out of the hands of the Dark Hunters, but also to empower the Matoran. So, will you accept this mission, Kanoka Maker?"

Kulagi hesitated. He had no desire to rush back into Dark Hunter territory, since all of his friends were currently safe and at his side. But he remembered back to what Triglax had said to him, about how he would only go out of his way to achieve his own ends. He now realized the truth to those words. He had done his best to help out the other Matoran, but that had never been what motivated him to push forward. He had never been out to end this war on Metru-Nui, but rather make sure he and his friends made it through it. Yet now, he had a chance to really make a difference.

"I accept," he said. "If this will help out the Matoran... then I will do my best to see it through."

"I'll go too," Huaju put in.

"Ooh, another fun trip?" Triki asked. "In-count me too!"

Vakama grinned. "Perfect, just the team we need!"

Toa Lhikan pointed down to the map of Metru-Nui. "The mechanics shop where the device was located was in the top levels of this structure here. But the buildings in the region were heavily damaged in the attack, and the Dark Hunters are still searching through the area. You will have to proceed with caution."

"Understood," Sufina said.

Kulagi glanced over at her. "Wait, you're coming too? But don't you need to rebuild the power source device?"

Sufina grinned. "Like he said, Vakama already had Matoran working on that. Besides, I'm the only one of you who knows what the device we're searching for even looks like."

"Fine," he conceded. "When do we leave?"

"You will disembark at nightfall," Lhikan said. "That is when it will be safest to infiltrate the Dark Hunter held portions of Le-Metru. Until then, you can rest and restock."

"You can make some Kanoka too," Vakama added. "Your portable forge was recovered from Ga-Metru, and is in one of the rooms downstairs. We can also provide you some Ta-Metru protodermis to work with."

"Wait, when you say protodermis, do you mean..." Kulagi started.

Vakama nodded. "Yes, fresh protodermis straight out of the Great Furnace. It should be enough to make some powerful Kanoka."

Kulagi broke out into a grin. "Well, why didn't you lead with that? Let's get these preparations started!"