Still hiding unnoticed behind the broken stone wall, Clera watched the battle unfold with a grim sense of responsibility. Radiak continued to throw himself about wildly, driving Hewkii and Neton into the range of either Defilak or Garan, meanwhile their counterattacks were reduced to glancing blows at best. The two warriors were holding their own, but she knew they couldn't keep this up forever. Clera gazed into the crystal head of her rod. An empty dullness stared back.
"It's really a shame you turned against us, Hewkii," Garan said as he clashed with the Toa of Stone. "I was looking forward to playing in the upcoming kolhii tournament with you."
Hewkii perked up. "A tournament? This is the first I'm hearing of it."
Garan drew his swords apart as he leapt back, firing a bolt that narrowly missed. "Well, it's a moot point."
Hewkii was about to pursue when he suddenly felt lighter. Leaping high, he avoided a strike from Radiak, nodding his thanks to Neton before launching a Rhotuka at the Toa of Fire. Radiak gnashed his teeth.
"Darn it! Just hold still!"
Defilak teleported around Neton, swinging and missing. "Take it easy, Radiak! Since when do you give up so easily?"
"I'm not giving up!"
A fireball shot from Radiak's mouth, sailing right past Hewkii as he landed. He took another Rhotuka but charged forward nonetheless, catching Hewkii by surprise and knocking his legs out from under him before slamming an arm down onto his chest, the increased weight now working to his advantage. Garan ran right past them as Neton barely evaded a razor-sharp wave of air. The Gravity Rahkshi saw him coming, but Defilak forced him to guard against another sword strike, leaving him vulnerable as Garan fractured the ground beneath him.
Clera's heart leapt into her throat. As she stared wide-eyed at the Toa advancing upon her brother, a small glimmer of green light finally tore her away-it was the head of her rod, lighting faintly for only a brief moment before fading out again. Clera paused, and then, with a heavy sigh, tightened her grip on her weapon. The faint light began to return.
Defilak kept his sword pressed against Neton's neck, not looking up as he asked, "What should we do, Turaga?"
Garan ground his teeth. "...It's the enemy's Rahkshi. We need to dispatch it."
The light intensified. Looking back to the battle, Clera focused on Radiak-Hewkii was doing his best to throw the Toa off, but to no avail. At Clera's command, a gust of wind blindsided him, and then she crouched down as fatigue filled her. Radiak held firm but instantly bristled at the strike, turning to look at Defilak with a rising growl. With a ferocious roar, he leapt towards Defilak, knocking the Toa of Air off of Neton and pinning him to the ground.
"Woah, woah! What's wrong with you, Radiak?!"
Radiak only snarled wordlessly. Not wasting a second, Neton reduced Garan's gravity and struck him with his hammer, sending him flying off into the wall of a nearby building. Hewkii reached up and willed the stone walls to grow out around Garan, trapping him there, and then rushed to Neton's side as he flipped Radiak onto his back with another hammer swing. Defilak teleported clear, keeping his eyes on the Rahkshi. One of Hewkii's Rhotuka caught him off-guard, striking his Kanohi-stumbling under the increased weight, Defilak was too unbalanced to defend himself as Neton reached out and ripped the mask from his face. Hewkii restrained the other Toa in the same way he had Garan, and then he let out a long breath.
"A bit close for comfort," Hewkii said. "I'll wager that breeze was your doing, Clera? Much appreciated."
Stepping out onto the street, Clera nodded slightly. Neton set a hand on her shoulder and hissed.
"Hewkii," Garan said. "Think about what you're doing. If you think you can get away with turning your back on Atero like this, you're sorely mistaken."
Hewkii delayed his reply as a curious sound reached his ears. Something between footsteps and falling raindrops, it echoed out from an alleyway, heralding the arrival of a strange being now making their entry into the square. Standing before Hewkii was a constantly-churning mass of water in the shape of a broad-shouldered Glatorian, with golden branches of coral forming ridges along its limbs, reaching out in uneven spikes from its shoulders, and forming a crest atop its head that reached down over the front of its face to divide the icy blue eyes that shimmered in its depths. Hewkii went totally stiff at the sight.
"General Tarix!" Garan said. "Regrettably, we've hit a snag in our mission…"
"I see," the newcomer said. "Hewkii, isn't it? You've sided with the enemy?"
"...Not as such, General," Hewkii said. "I merely saw these forces targeting civilians, destroying their homes and whatnot, and thought I should protect them."
"Hm...I suppose you didn't exactly have a chance to be briefed on our current objectives."
"Is that...really you, General? You, ah, look a bit different from the last time I saw you."
"Lord Velika has given us the power necessary to stop Zaekura. Tell me, Hewkii: will you return with us? This misunderstanding can be overlooked."
Hewkii shook his head. "I may not have the whole story, but I'm not liking what I'm seeing. Think I'd rather continue to misunderstand."
"I see," Tarix said, voice dripping with disappointment. "I've yet to master these new powers, and so I do not know if I can subdue you three without killing you." He took a very long pause. "I will be honest with you: I take no joy in our current duty. If you leave now, I will not pursue."
Hewkii glanced at the two Rahkshi, who each nodded. "Yeah...I think we'll take that deal. Thank you, General."
"Make it count, Hewkii. I will not offer again."
The three of them left the square in a hurry as Tarix set about freeing Garan and the others. Once they had put a few streets between them and their foes, Hewkii said, "Well, this is bad. General Tarix was deadly enough without powers. I wonder if General Vastus has done the same thing?"
They slipped into the square at the center of the city, next to Antroz's tower. Neton hissed something.
"The Makuta's armory might be our best bet. Shy of that...hard to say how exactly we're going to hold out."
Clera looked up suddenly. Turning to Neton, she hissed excitedly and ran for the tower's door; Neton seemed to perk up as well, and beckoned Hewkii to come along. Curious, the Toa followed. The door was already open when Clera got to it, but she charged in without any worry, and Hewkii quickly saw why.
"Oh, Clera!" Charla said, jumping slightly as her sister threw her arms around her. "Are you alright? I'm sorry, we came back as soon as we heard what was going on!"
From the other side of the room, Zaekura looked up. At her foot was a small box of equipment, but whatever was inside was forgotten for the moment. "Glad to see you still in one piece. I shouldn't have been so lax-of course Atero was already working on a plan…"
"What's done is done," Hewkii said. "The question is, what now?"
Zaekura nodded, crossing the room and counting something on her fingers. "So what've we got, Velika and these new drones? Now that Krika and Fangs are here they can help clean up, though I'll probably need to get some more details on what Velika's doing…"
"There's more: we just bumped into Tarix, one of Atero's Four Generals, and it looks like he's been turned into a new Water Lord."
Zaekura's eyes went wide.
"And, uh, there's also a chance General Vastus could be here too...I haven't seen him, but those two are pretty inseparable."
After a few long moments of silence, Zaekura surprised everyone by smiling. "Huh. Actually, I have something for that. Charla, would you mind getting in touch with Krika? I need him to stay close-ish and put this thing to use once I finish it."
"Oh, um, yes!" Charla said, gently sitting Clera down. "Right away, Lady Zaekura!"
Turning to Neton and Hewkii, Zaekura said, "If you're up for it, I could use eyes and ears on Velika. Don't want to completely ignore him, as if he'd let us."
Neton nodded. Hewkii said, "You got it. Just have Charla focus on us once she's done with Krika."
"Thank you!" Zaekura took off up the stairs.
"Hold on: do you really have something that can beat an Element Lord just lying around?"
Pausing, Zaekura leaned out from the staircase with a big grin. "Nah. But give me ten minutes."
Emsar stayed low as another explosion went off, trying to keep herself still so as not to agitate her broken leg. Ehrye lay unconscious next to her, badly wounded but still alive, meaning it was entirely up to her to make sure the broken metal plate protecting them held.
"Such an assortment of Rahkshi, and this is what we're stuck with," she mused.
Out in the street, the combined drone faced off against a large, hunched-over Rahkshi Kaita with enormous purely mechanical arms-a Rau-wearing Toa who fled earlier had called them Haydroma, if Emsar recalled correctly. Their armor had all the colors of Cyclone, Regeneration, and Heat Resistance Rahkshi, but while Emsar was skeptical about each of these powers individually going against this machine, it was the Kaita's unique ability that made them both a boon and a danger.
The drone fusion energized its claws as it charged once more. Haydroma raised one arm as if to block, but the weapons shredded through it with little resistance. Before the drone could retreat, however, Hayrdroma's wounded arm exploded, hurling it down the street and burying a few bits of shrapnel inside its scorched shell. Slowly advancing, Haydroma held what remained of their arm off to the side: a glow surrounded it, and in seconds a new arm identical to the last had grown.
There hasn't been much collateral damage, all things considered, Emsar thought. I suppose it should be fine if we simply keep our distance for now.
The drone stood up. Making a quick scan of the area, it blasted a balcony hanging over the street-Haydroma raised an arm to shield themself from the rubble. The drone rushed in, but at the last second, Haydroma threw a punch. With no space left to dodge the colossal fist, the drone was caught, pushed back, and blasted away by another explosion, only to be picked up by a cyclone and slammed into the wall over and over. Haydroma leapt forward to slam both fists onto the drone as it landed, detonating them both and breaking their foe in half.
Oh...seems I worried for nothing.
Haydroma turned towards their allies' hiding place. They went stiff as they spotted Vastus appearing around a corner.
...Then again.
Vastus paused to take in the scene. Then, as he held one hand out, branches grew from his palm and twisted into a thorned glaive. "Stand down, creature."
Narrowing their eyes, Haydroma summoned a cyclone around Vastus. Roots extended from the Element Lord's feet, digging into the pavement to anchor him; Haydroma advanced, thinking they had their foe pinned down, only for the ends of the roots to emerge right before them, wrapping around their torso and slamming them into the ground. With the twister gone, Vastus pulled himself free and came closer.
"Very well."
Haydroma blew up one of their arms to free themself from the vines. They dashed to one side, raising their remaining arm to block as Vastus thrust his glaive at them, but a single vine pulled their limb back at the last second. The weapon dug into Haydroma's shoulder-instantly the wound burned, causing the Kaita to shriek in pain. Vastus spun the weapon around, growing a massive Thornax on the opposite end, and bludgeoned Haydroma before encasing them in more vines. He reared back to deliver a fatal blow when suddenly, he fell over backwards. Seeing their chance, Haydroma detonated both arms, and then scrambled to a safer distance as they regrew.
Vastus slowly sat up. "Show yourself."
A long spike shot out from a nearby window. Vastus threw himself just out of the way before returning fire with his Thornax. As the fruit blew apart the surrounding wall, Krika came charging out of the explosion, trying again to skewer Vastus only to barely miss once again. Vastus thrust his glaive, but Krika held both hands out-the Element-Lord stopped short.
"Seems I'll be delayed a bit, Charla," Krika mumbled.
"We meet at last, Makuta Krika," Vastus said. "I will take great pleasure in being the one to finally end you."
"Bold words, for a being made of plants facing someone with Plant Control."
Vastus smirked. "It will certainly be a challenge...but if you had the will to completely overpower me, you would have done so already."
He pushed forward, his glaive slowly but steadily inching closer to Krika. Haydroma, meanwhile, clutched their wound as they waited for the world to stop spinning. A jolt of pain brought things back into focus: a shining dagger had hit the same shoulder Vastus had attacked, and not far away, they could see Emsar edging back behind her cover. Haydroma growled, but then realized the burning pain had subsided.
"It's a Remove Poison Kanoka Blade," Emsar told them. "Try not to get stabbed again, if that's not too much to ask? I only have the one."
Nodding their thanks, Haydroma then turned and ran at Vastus, punching him into the nearby pile of rubble his Thornax had created. Krika said, "I suppose that makes us even. Now, the good news is that Zaekura has prepared a countermeasure for this foe, but I don't think either of us would do especially well in this fight alone if the other went to retrieve it. I'm willing to hold out until it's delivered if you are."
Haydroma hissed in affirmation. Vastus was back on his feet now: he threw his glaive at Haydroma, Krika able to use his power to shred it just before it made contact. Having anticipated this, Vastus rushed Krika, his fists becoming the tough, spiky hide of Thornax as he punched the Makuta back. Haydroma's swipe missed, but they were able to pick Vastus up in a cyclone before he could find proper footing. A half-dozen thorns were shot out at Haydroma, but Krika was able to halt those as well, and Haydroma directed their whirlwind to bash Vastus back into the ground. Vastus lay prone as his foes watched carefully for any sign of movement. A burning sensation in their feet informed them of their mistake, and they leaped clear of the newly-grown patch of acid grass fast as they could. A cage of vines sprang up around Vastus, who now stood and returned his foes' watchful gaze, the acid grass slowly spreading at his command.
"He knows that I can easily dismantle that defense," Krika said. "Seems he's trying to bait me...which means we need a way to outmaneuver him."
Haydroma conjured another cyclone, ripping up a huge swath of acid grass as it bore down on Vastus. The acidic whirlwind melted clean through the Element Lord's barrier, forcing him to focus his power on transforming the deadly vegetation into harmless flower petals-seeing his chance, Krika threw all the focus he could muster upon Vastus, whose plant body quickly began to rot. Vastus switched focus to restoring himself as Haydroma closed the gap to deliver an explosive punch. When the smoke cleared, however, Vastus still stood, looking more angry than damaged.
"Meddlesome creature…"
Wooden spikes rose from the ground beneath Haydroma. Krika was able to divert them enough to avoid the Kaita's vital areas, but that was the best he could do. Before the Makuta could offer any more assistance, an exploding Thornax was hurled directly at him, and the next thing he knew he was at the far end of the street. As he picked himself up, however, he noticed a Lerahk running towards him.
"Ah, you must be Nora," Krika said as he picked himself up. "Charla said to expect you. I take it you have the weapon?"
The Lerahk nodded-xe stopped next to Krika and offered a thin dagger, before turning and seeing the predicament Haydroma was in. Xyr body froze.
"Hm, no time...I'll draw his attention, you see if you can put that to use."
Krika launched himself forward without waiting for a response. Haydroma was doing their best, but Vastus was able to evade their every strike, countering each one with a punch of his own. As Krika drew near, Vastus finally knocked the Rahkshi Kaita flat, conjured a sickle, and hooked the blade around Haydroma's neck. Krika slowed to a halt.
"Do you really care so much about this Rahkshi?" Vastus asked. "It isn't even one of yours, according to what I've been told."
"Bitil would be quite cross with me if I let anything happen to his children, and I have enough people cross with me already."
Vastus shook his head. Meanwhile, Nora carefully crept closer, sticking to the shadowy piles of rubble to avoid being seen. This didn't stop xem from catching Emsar's eye, however-the Vortixx beckoned, and Nora ducked into her hiding place, holding up the blade with a long string of hisses.
"Dear, I don't understand a word you're saying," Emsar said. "If this lovely dagger is important somehow, you need to find another way to tell me."
Nora huffed. Xe pointed at Vastus, imitated a stabbing motion, and then gestured broadly at the plant life scattered about before making a final slash with her arm.
"...Alright, that gives me an inkling. If sticking that irritating shrub with this blade is what we need to do, I might be able to help you with that."
Nodding furiously, Nora pushed the dagger into Emsar's hands. Her leg protested as she repositioned herself, but Emsar ignored it, peeking out from her cover to get a better visual on her target.
""Let's not be rash here, General," Krika said. "Surely we can agree that avoiding unnecessary loss of life would be preferable, can we not?"
"Even if we could," Vastus said, tightening his grip on his weapon, "I fail to see how a Rahkshi counts."
Nora nudged Emsar, who replied, "Yes, I know! But I only have one shot."
Krika said, "Listen to me, Vastus. If you let them go right now, I'll return the favor. Otherwise...I personally guarantee you won't make it back to Atero."
Vastus smiled. "Hm. I suppose we'll just have to see."
Suddenly, light engulfed Haydroma. Vastus moved to finish them off, but his sickle passed through empty space as the Kaita separated back into three Rahkshi once more. Krika seized hold of Vastus with his Plant Control powers, and that was when Emsar threw the dagger. The blade buried itself in Vastus, who screamed as sparks of green burst all over his body; Krika glanced to Emsar and Nora, and once the sparks dispersed, he walked closer to Vastus. He no longer felt any resistance to his hold.
Vastus groaned. He tried to speak, but Krika kept his mouth shut.
"What a useful little device," Krika said, extending his arm to retrieve the dagger. "I wonder: will your powers return in time, or have they been shut off permanently? Curious as I am...I don't think now's the time to find out."
"Not so fast, Makuta."
Krika looked up. Perched atop a nearby building was Tarix, sunlight glinting off his watery form. As he glided down the wall, Krika said, "I imagine this will work on you too. Are you sure what you're doing is wise?"
"You won't be able to surprise me with it. And, unlike with Vastus, you don't have any powers able to puppeteer me, now do you?"
Krika said nothing. Behind Tarix, Haydroma reformed, keeping their distance but not wandering too far.
"We could certainly fight each other and see who comes out on top. But even if you were to defeat me, I think you know that not all of your allies would survive." Tarix stepped up beside Vastus. "I will take Vastus and leave in peace. Your forces have done well defending this city, and I feel it necessary to regroup with Lord Velika for new orders."
"Interesting. Then I shouldn't let you go, either."
"The decision is yours to make, Makuta. Just know that my mercy does have a limit."
Krika locked eyes with Tarix. Eventually, with a sigh, he released his hold on Vastus.
"Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse us."
Taking Vastus by the shoulder, Tarix left in a hurry. Krika made his way over to Emsar and Nora, saying, "My gratitude for the help...even if I wasn't able to capitalize on it."
"It sounded to me like you bought my survival, so I've no intent to complain," Emsar said. "However, there is something bothering me...the direction General Vastus came from seems to be the same direction Ackar went in earlier. He's not exactly an ally, but losing him would make things a bit more difficult for no good reason."
Krika nodded. Turning to Nora, he said, "If it's not too much to ask, would you and Haydroma go search for our fiery companion? I think I should get these two some medical attention, as well as inform Zaekura of how our predicament has developed."
Nora hissed and went to join Haydroma. Emsar said, "Much obliged, Makuta. I think I've done all that I can do at the moment."
"With luck, it will be enough. Can you stand?"
"Not a chance."
"Hm, then this will take some doing…"
ADDENDUM:
-*crawling back in* ...Not...done...yet...
-Since the Principles are tied so heavily to the Elements, I thought it would be neat for one who has mastered a Principle (such as a Rahkshi who wields it) to gain a limited power over that associated Element, similar to how we've seen characters tap into their inner darkness to fire Shadow bolts. As such, Clera's potent Faith abilities have given her a small degree of Air powers…however, if she loses faith in what she's doing, she becomes unable to use them. And since Elements and Principle relationships and Rahkshi colors don't all match up, we've got someone with brown armor using Air and that's driving a small part of my brain nuts.
-A while back I randomized the Kraata powers a few times to get ideas for new Kaita, and Haydroma is one I really liked from that bunch. With the component powers of Cyclone, Regeneration, and Fire Resistance, I thought a logical mix of those would be an explode-and-regenerate ability, though it'd probably be better to focus it rather than having the whole Kaita blow up. The Rahkshi Kaita with large arms mentioned at Virban's funeral was a design I hadn't done anything with, so I decided to use that, with the arms being made fully mechanical so that they can explode and regenerate without causing any harm to Haydroma themself. Oh, and "Haydroma" is a mix of "haymaker" (a type of punch) and "hydrogen" (as in hydrogen bomb).
-As a bonus, here are the individual Rahkshi who combine to form Haydroma: Bess (she/her, Cyclone, bigger and physically stronger than your average Rahkshi; name meant to evoke the idea of a cow, because of the now-stock "cow in tornado" joke), Sweeha (they/them, Regeneration, possess a staff but any item they regenerate can be used as a focal point; name derived from "Swiss army knife"), and Mursob (they/them, Heat Resistance, carries explosives they use at close-range because they're largely immune to their effects; name comes from "burst" and "bomb").
-Then we have Nora: Lerahk are Rahkshi of Purity in the Melding Universe, and xyr focal point is a box able to store the toxins xe removes with xyr power to later turn against the enemy. Might seem an odd choice, but xyr name is derived from "Pandora", so that should explain it.
-I'm officially done with my BA program (and I'm taking a break before I even consider a Master's), so I'm going to do my best to focus more on moving this story along. I expected to be done by now, or at least a lot farther...well, the good thing is that I have a pretty solid outline, so that gives me hope.
