Chapter 5
The city of BZ-Koro was awake with the sounds of guards and patrols changing their shifts for some much-wanted sleep. It had been three days since the former captain Beisbeis and his partner Také had disappeared; and so far nothing had been heard of from the search parties, which didn't please the Council very much.
High on the gray walls of BZ-Koro the guards stood, watching the surrounding area to the South. After a few moments of silence, one turned to the other and whispered in his ear, glancing around to see if any officers were nearby.
"Y'know, I'm starting to get rather sick standing watch here, and in fact of this whole 'rogue Matoran' business." He yawned deeply and continued, "I mean, I've had maybe twelve hours of sleep since this whole business got started. What does the Council want with them anyway?"
The other sentry shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "I dunno. All I've heard from everyone else is he's done something with the Bohrok."
The first guard's eyes widened from this news. "About the Bohrok?"
His partner shook his head gently. "But that's only a rumor, and no one 'cept the Council is exactly sure of what's going on. Besides, when we find 'em, we'll get the sleep we deserve from watching." The first guard sighed.
"I'm just hoping it won't be too long…"
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The trees swayed viciously from the violent wind as the straggled group of Matoran slowly made their way north, through the Pöuri forest. Beisbeis' cloak whipped around in the breeze, much to his irritation. Yet he was not alone; the other members of the band were quickly blown around from the gusts. After arriving at some small caves near the site of their original fight – they could see the flames from the Tahnok were almost dead after a few hours of burning - it was heartily agreed to rest until the winds subsided.
Také fell onto the smooth and cool soil, exhausted by the fierce breeze, when he noticed Beisbeis near the entrance, staring into the forest. He stood up and sat on a nearby boulder, still sheltered by the breeze.
"What's wrong, sir?" Beisbeis glared into the harsh wind, shifting his focus through his mask every couple seconds.
"Well, I've been looking for more Bohrok swarms after our skirmish with the rest of them… but I haven't seen anything ever since we left there." Také sat next to Beisbeis, looking to the outside. "It's – well - unsettling… I know there would be more Bohrok coming after us; that's the only way the Bohrok fight." Beisbeis sighed, exhausted. "It would be nice to know what they planning now." Také stared at Beisbeis for a few quiet moments. Také opened his mouth hesitantly.
"Don't worry about it, sir. You'll figure it out. I know you will." The soldier turned slightly pink, as he said, "Just don't be so reserved. Holding stuff inside isn't good for you."
Beisbeis watched Také with a small smile on his face as he nodded quietly, although he didn't look at the soldier's eyes. After a few seconds, he sighed quietly and turned to face the Matoran.
"I'm glad don't have to worry with you, Také. You're one of the only men I can truly trust here. You're a good soldier." Také's eyes averted to the ground, cheeks turning red from the praise.
"Thank you, sir."
A few more seconds passed.
"Speaking of men - " The captain shuffled his feet nervously, "Have you heard any… talk from them about me?" Také shook his head curiously.
"They're still faithful to you, sir, if that's what you mean." Beisbeis nodded, his fear alleviated.
"Thank you, Také. That's what I wanted to hear. Go get some rest before we set off again."
"Yes sir." The soldier began turning around, satisfied with Beisbeis' command.
"Také."
"Yes, sir?" Beisbeis raised his eyebrows.
"Don't call me sir." Také gave a wide grin.
"Of course… sir."
Beisbeis was glad that Také had not lost his sense of humor.
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The guard stood on the battlement, finally getting a chance to put his cape back on to keep him warm. The winds almost blew it off last time. He shivered grudgingly. His shift ended at sundown, and that fiery ball surely had never taken so long to go down behind the mountain. He gave a quick yawn as he glanced out over the forest.
Suddenly, he looked back over the landscape. Was that what he thought he saw? He watched the area carefully until he saw them. He gasped, turned around, and cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Hurry, get a squad out here! They're coming!"
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Fifteen minutes later, the Council of BZ-Koro sat in silence as a lieutenant stood at attention, awaiting their command for information. The doors screeched open as Niwan walked briskly to his seat.
"Was the capture quiet and without disruption, lieutenant?" He asked sharply as he continued walking. The officer nodded.
"Yes, sir. The captain and others that were with him came without resistance. None of the civilians saw him brought in."
The Main Matoran furrowed his eyebrows. "There were more than just the renegade and the other Matoran?"
"Yes, sir. There were nine of them altogether, including some officers. The seven others with him are believed to be members of Sori's hunting group that set out a week ago."
The Main Matoran sighed frustratingly. "Great. He's convinced others to join his cause," he muttered under his breath. He nodded to the officer.
"Any items?"
"Just there, sir." The lieutenant signaled to a Matoran off to the side. He brought forward Beisbeis' mace, his pack, and the other various weapons the Matoran carried. One of the Council Matoran pointed to the pack.
"What's in that?"
The lieutenant hesitated for a moment, then took the pack, turned it over, and opened the flap. The Krana came sliding out and onto the floor.
A large collective gasp came from everyone in the room. Fear entered into everyone's eyes. There was a long silence before people began chattering, everyone with their own opinions.
"Mata Nui! Did you see how big that was?"
"How did that show up?"
"What does this all mean?"
"Could he have been telling the truth?"
"No, he can't have been telling the truth. There's no reasonable explanation for his disappearance." Everyone suddenly became silent as the Main Matoran began stating his thoughts out loud. "He could not have come to Mata Nui and back that fast; and besides there's the fact that he surrendered willingly and kept this Krana and the Bohrok a secret to himself and his comrade until now." The Matoran next to him folded his arms disbelievingly.
"So you're saying he and the group he was with joined the Bohrok?" Niwan's head rose grimly up and down.
"It's the perfect opportunity. He's the only captain in the city at the moment right now; he knows everything about this city… It's disappointing that after so much he has done for this city he would choose such a path, but, yes, that is what he must be doing." His neighbor Council member still had something on his mind, though.
"But where could he have gotten the Krana? You said yourself he could not have traveled to Mata Nui so fast…"
Another Matoran jumped in the debate before individual voices overcame the discussion.
"I hate to say this, but it's possible that the Bohrok are actually here on the island - the only part of the story he might have been telling the truth on. He could easily have taken a Krana, planning to infect one or more of our Matoran, until he could start to take over the city."
"So what do we do now?"
The Main Matoran thought silently for a moment, his face covered by one of his heads, and slowly began speaking.
"For now, fellow Matoran, I believe we should keep full watch on Beisbeis and his comrades. Something's going on, and they're in the middle of all of this. Meanwhile, we will watch for the Bohrok – but something still tells me they are here, regardless of the Krana we have. Meanwhile, this will remain confidential. Not a word about this will be spoken to the civilians of BZ-Koro. I don't want panic spreading through the city." Niwan glanced somberly around the domed room, and then nodded.
"Council adjourned."
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Silence fell over the city. A foreboding gloom settled over everyone. A guard next to four other stood over the west side, overlooking the fields stretching forever until Mount Rûn came in view, beginning to cover the sun. The Matoran squinted. He thought he had seen an explosion - but it must have been from the sun. It always did things like that.
Suddenly, a louder blast from the south threw the Matoran off his feet. It deafened his ears, but he quickly regained his composure.
"What in the world was that?" he shouted over the roar. Someone else bellowed, "Get some men over here!"
Two of the Matoran nodded and began the steps down. The other soldiers gripped their weapons, wondering what going on.
"Look, there's another one!"
Another blast came from Mount Rûn, much larger than the first one. A soldier pointed back to the forest, however, shock spreading over his body.
"Look… look…"
The edge of the forest began overflowing with Bohrok heading straight towards the city. The guard looked back urgently.
"Get the men up now! There's no time!"
Within a few minutes, the Bohrok had reached the walls. A Lehvak leapt onto the battlement, and before one of the Matoran could react, a claw zipped through the air and through the stomach. The soldier gasped for air, and for a few seconds stared at his red wound. His eyes glazed over, his legs gave way, and the Matoran swayed backwards into air. His body collided with the solid wall and the Council building's roof three times while falling before a sickening crack rent the air, with the corpse lying over the splintered remains of a crate.
One of the Matoran shouted while unsheathing his sword and slicing an arm off of the attacker. The beast shrieked as it succumbed to the soldier; but as its strength left it, another Bohrok leapt onto the wall and claimed revenge for the fallen, but now forgotten. The next Matoran fell to the ground, a thin line of blood on his neck.
The remaining guard stood frozen, dropping his spear, terrified to move. He was fortunate, however; the reinforcements had finally arrived, shouting their own cries. However, as they came climbing up the steps, more Bohrok flew onto the top, while a Tahnok quickly ignited his claws - and the Matoran along with it. The remaining soldier's ears were quickly deafened by the noise from the Bohrok, his heart pounding horribly.
Suddenly, a Bohrok glanced at this odd creature surrounded by his kind. The Matoran's heart went into his throat as the Bohrok charged and shoved him out of the way and off the top. After a few seconds of screaming and clawing into nothing but air, the body hit the swerving mass of teeth, claw and Krana, and was quickly ravaged by the Bohrok swarms, never to be seen whole again.
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The captain leapt from his laying position, shock overflowing his face. "They're here," he hissed. In the adjacent cell, Také ran to the front, turning his head to the side.
"Someone's coming!"
The Matoran watching the prison ran up the stairs. A slight scuffle was heard. The guard fell down the steps, his head rolling to the side, dead. Beisbeis stood up, gripping the bars firmly. A Tahnok stepped over the body and, glancing over the anxious prisoners, shrieked and turned back again.
Beisbeis couldn't lose this chance; he had to get out and defend the city. The captain started rattling the bars and started shouting as loud as he could. The noise echoed through the cell, and the Bohrok stopped, confused by the sound. It stepped back into the prison, trying to decipher where it came from. Beisbeis stopped for a moment as the noise dispersed, and then kicked the door one last time.
The Bohrok's body whipped around again, finally knowing the source of its uncertainty. It strode over to Beisbeis' cell, and with a "Chikt!" it tried to grab him and instead grabbed onto the bars, which immediately began to turn bright red.
The captain felt the heat flow through the air, until at last the bars began to melt into its liquid state, and a large hole began to form. As carefully as he could, Beisbeis swung his foot into the Bohrok's belly, and as the artificial creature bent down, out of breath, the Matoran clasped his hands and swung as hard as he could onto the large head. The impact stunned the Bohrok, who fell to the ground as its Krana slid partially out of the shattered head plate, trying to escape.
Beisbeis stepped back, sucking his hand and waving it around. The hit he gave stung his head, and he had forgotten his enemy was too hot to touch. After a few seconds of lessening the pain, Beisbeis stepped through the hole and out of his cell. He ran to the still guard and felt around for the keys. After fumbling for the correct one, Beisbeis unlocked Také's cell and handed him the rest of the untried keys, along with a dirk.
"Where'd you hide this?" Také asked, as he twirled the small knife in amazement. Beisbeis shook his head urgently.
"You don't want to know, and now's not the time. Get the rest of these guys out first," he pointed around. "I need to get up and start fighting. Follow up once you are ready and everyone is out." Také nodded, and Beisbeis sprinted out and grabbed the dead Matoran's sword. He tried gripping it uncomfortably; he never really was accustomed to fighting with anything beyond his mace – one of his weaknesses. He shook his head after a few seconds and leaped onto the stairs and into the fight.
When Beisbeis reached the top, it was a scene of horror. Bodies of Matoran lay strewn across the city ground, as the civilians ran screaming into the Lower Level, accompanied by the occasional sensible soldier who wasn't panicking like the rest of them. The Bohrok continued to ravage the Upper Level, and were quickly moving to come down to spread their havoc.
The captain sprinted to a nearby Pahrak that was busy fighting another Matoran and pierced its backside. The monster let out a scream before falling to the earth, its Krana sliding out before being sliced in half. Beisbeis lifted the sword up while patting the young soldier on the back.
"You ready to fight?" He nodded, despite all the rumors about this rumored 'madman'. "Good. Stay near me, we're going to regroup everybody now." Beisbeis acknowledged his nod and hurried towards he gate.
As the Matoran approached the gates, he encountered a horrible situation. The Bohrok began both ramming the flaming door and tunneling with the Pahrak; apparently the Nuhvok were not the only Bohrok who could dig underground to some degree. As soon as Beisbeis was close enough to see he knew immediately it was lost - the Bohrok would break through the gates and overwhelm the city through their numbers, no matter what he did. He spotted a Lehvak's claw poking through the wood, trying to claw the wood away. Without a second glance the swung his weapon and detached the claw, and the creature shrieked, barely heard over the tumult and destruction that was taking place. Even if they were going to lose, this Matoran was not going to give up without a fight. He turned to one of the Matoran and shouted to him.
"Hold this as long as you can. When they break through, get to the Lower Level. We'll decide to do there!" The Matoran nodded, but immediately afterward the gate shook violently from the ramming. A loud groaning noise could be heard as Beisbeis watched the top of the wood begin to totter over them. The captain stepped backwards as he barked his orders.
"Get back!"
Most of the Matoran were only too happy to comply; however, the few that were preoccupied in a fight met their doom, as the gate finally broke away and crashed over the bodies, condemning them to death. Bohrok quickly began to trample over the gates – and beneath them, the corpses – and flood the entrance to the Koro's courtyard.
"Ah - " Beisbeis had not realized there were still so many out there. It was time to give up, no matter how much he hated those words.
"Retreat! Get to the Lower Level! Retreat!" Even though the Matoran began to run for their lives, Beisbeis knew from the advancing swarm they might not survive.
Suddenly, another call rang out –
"Death! Death to the Bohrok!"
Také threw the dirk into the crowd as the remaining prisoners threw a volley of arrows along with him at the attacking nightmares. The front line fell to the ground, and gave the straggling Matoran on the steps barely enough time to escape. Those unfortunate few still alive on the battlements were quickly outnumbered and given a horrible end.
Beisbeis was the last to descend. The city began to explode from the fires as the Bohrok leaped for the hole. The captain quickly snapped the supports, and rolled onto the staircase as the slab of protodermis above him thudded over the hole.
As Beisbeis rose up himself from the collision, he suddenly realized the fatal flaw in his plan. He had just sealed the only escape route they had even a minute chance to get out of.
They were trapped.
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Cahdok and Gahdok laid in their enormous cavern, surrounded by protodermis that increased their elemental powers. A small Lehvak Va entered the room and began reciting what he had been told to say. None of the Bohrok questioned why they had to report to the Bahrag when they could simply use their minds to see, mainly because they couldn't reason themselves. It had just been that way forever, and they could not question the minds of their Mothers.
Cahdok nodded after the Lehvak Va finished.
'Thank you for your work. You may leave.'
After the scout left, Cahdok grinned.
'The Bohrok carry out their tasks well.' Gahdok gazed into nothingness.
'Yes… soon our mission will be complete, and we may rest again.' The sound of this made Cahdok smile even more maliciously.
'Mata Nui will be as it was in the Before-Time. Mata Nui will be restored at last.' Gahdok shook her head out of her dream.
'Many Kohrak and Pahrak have lost Krana that must be replaced,' she replied. 'Accidents. Errors. Is the mission endangered?'
Cahdok shook her head, determined.
'Nothing exits on Mata Nui to interfere with our work.' With a touch of her mind she saw the destruction that awaited BZ-Koro.
'Nothing at all.'