Chapter 4
Whakaragi was battered and laying on the cold metal floor while coughing out blood, his armor eroded and looking like it had seen better days. A voice from the darkness, far from the spotlight which shined on the green warrior echoed within the large chamber “When will you learn to not talk on the job!” The green warrior’s body began to levitate up in the air as his armor started to crumble in on itself slowly. Whakaragi proceeded to scream in pain as the mysterious figure spoke “You were doing good for these few years, but now because of the prophecy you think you can go back to your old habits?! What the hell were you thinking?!?!”
Speaking through his teeth Whakaragi replied with bloodshot eyes “I thought s-she was grrr…a civilian. So I-”
A shard of metal shot out of the green warrior’s armor. Wizzing in the air before making its mark into the back of his knee. He screamed in response to the pain. The mysterious figure spoke in an outrage “So you thought you could get away with the habit?! This was the most important job For US! We! The Skaraka! Our ancestors were the greatest hunters that ever lived, and they would kill those that were not the strongest, smartest, or most skilled without a second thought. I saved you from NOTHING! WHEN YOU WERE ONLY A CHILD! And now I have to make an example out of you boy…”
The armor around Whakaragi’s body stopped crumbling in on itself as the deep angered breaths could be heard behind him. For the silence began to swallow him whole in the back of his mind he knew he was going to die. The hunter’s mind began to race only to be interrupted by a sickly laugh.
“I am not going to kill you son” he spoke sarcastically. “But to ensure that my organization doesn’t think I am going soft on you, I will tear you piece by piece and put you back together again” he continued coldly.
Whakaragi’s heart sunk as he nervously spoke “Y-you can’t do this, I have valuable intel”
“Oh…but I will. There is more value in what I could gain out of you from the V.O.V than a small fragment of information you could possibly give. She is either on Voodoo Island or in home realm. And once the procedure is done, I will assign 5 more hunters with you down to the other realms. Only come back home to me when you have one of the proclaimed heroes in your possession. If you fail, well there is nothing else I can take since your body would have been sacrificed for your shortcomings”
“Who will you be assigning to me?”
Without even getting an answer, the light above him turned off as he was then lifted up off the ground and hurled through the darkness. In a split second he crashed through a pair of doors and into a curving hallway. The fluorescent lights shining down upon his mangled damaged body. He could barely move as a being in robes walked up to him quietly. Looking up from the ground with the only functional eye he had, he saw the scholar dawned gray robes with green highlights, gleeful eyes shining from under their hood. He then said “Walk with me hunter…quickly”. Whakaragi knew that no sign of weakness was allowed in the guild, and reluctantly complied. He tried moving his right arm but his shoulder was locked due to how his armor was crumbled. Pushing off the ground with his left he ended up putting pressure on his damaged knee as blood spattered all over the ground. He wanted to scream in pain due to the shard of rusted metal grinding between his bones. The Scholar stepped back as he stated with distaste “Don’t get any of your blood on me will you. Now hurry up, we are on a tight schedule”.
Screaming internally with every step he took, he followed as best he could after the robed being. Unfortunately for Whakaragi,the scholar walked briskly out of eagerness for the procedure. And thus, he had to limp after him just to keep up. “I swear, once this is over I am going to kill that boastful idiot of a boss. I would rather he cut off my other arm than get rid of my body all together. Why am I kidding myself? I wouldn’t be able to survive without The Boss, he has blessed all of us in glory. Bathed in riches of blood coated gold. Only through his shadow are we allowed to thrive unlike the barbarians that feed off scraps beneath us…”
A dream, a life of what was or what could be. Being in stasis for so long he can almost sense the rinse cycle within his seed. Then again, it all could be his imagination. Yet the cycle of dreams had come to an end. As a blaring orange light greeted him. Slowly opening his optics he wiped his hand across his faceplate. Though his movements were short lived upon bumping his body against the hatch door. Frowning, he barely made out the manual lever and rotated it. Feeling cold to the touch and internal mechanisms stiff, the door still wouldn’t budge. Forcing it, he eventually freed the internal lock. Kicking the door repeatedly he bellowed, “Open up you blasted door!”
Upon his out pour the door conceded with an un-resounding thump. Light floods in as it is almost blinding with hues of blue and white making way to his optics. It was almost like he did not wake up, in a dream that wasn’t his own yet longed for it. The very snowy plains he stood in seemed to glow as far as the eye could see. With the sky shifting and curving in the gasses the atmosphere comprised. Yet it wasn’t long before he realized there was not a single structure in his area. Opening his com-link he called “AT1, come in. AT1 this is UH1 do you copy”.
“This is UH1 calling HQ, can anyone hear me?”
Static began to crawl from his ear to his mind with the great burden of loneliness. Looking back at his seed he noticed it was mostly submerged in the ground. Looking so battered and old that many probably mistaken it for a rock. If there was a living soul. There certainly were some in the past he recalled, a very barbaric civilization. Yet based on the age of the vessel he emerged from, that was well over 3,000 years ago. During his contemplation a whistle or howl could be heard not far above. His eyes widened thinking the enemy had found him and proceeded to bolt for it. The very earth itself shook as he went flying across the terrain into a tumble. Looking back, a silhouette began to make way from within the veil of white dust. A Triangular missile that began to sprout legs from its central body. Like a terrifying yet delicate dance it began to crawl out from its own crater and approach UH1. Reaching for his back quickly he realized his gun was missing. Yet more importantly his helmet. Going into a full run he grabbed a nearby rock from the debris and charged at the creature. It pounced at him with its legs with membranes laced between outstretched, only for the turtle sized beast to be knocked swiftly to the ground. UH1 went for another swing only to miss. He was surprised by its quick recovery. Not only that but it had a thick carapace. It began to move towards him with legs moving at frightening speed. He recoiled into a back-flip as it continued its pursuit. Upon seeing it was about to make a leap by the crawling missile creature’s sudden stance, he readied the rock in his hand. Upon it leaping he lugged the rock square into its underbelly. It made a sickly screech that not even a mother could love. If it even had one. Though in pain as it was, it still landed on him, causing him to fall back. Wrestling with the stubborn beast as it drool ran down its feelers, UH1 grabbed a hold of the crack in its underbelly. It made a blood curdling screech as he ripped it open with as much strength he could muster before it died from pure intensity and shock. It laid limp. UH1 took a deep breath in relief. Though his break was short lived as he heard a whistle and several black dots appearing in the skies above.
“Oh yeah sure, It just had to be today huh” UH1 moped as he shoved whatever that bug thing was and ran to his seed for cover.
As the ground shook with every impact while he stood before the hatch he looked back at the world has now become. These flying crustaceans with octopod membranes tearing through the snow towards him. Looking back at the door he sighed,
“I may have either woken too late or too early, I don’t even know this time period…but if you want to take a piece out of my time, then I might as well take a number from your lifespan you blasted beasts”.
UH1 grabbed the hatch as he ripped it from its hinges and swatted the hatch door at a lunging beast. The horde froze as it saw one of its own disintegrate in the air from the impact. UH1 attached the hatch on his arm like a shield as he leaned forward into a charge. The swarm began to counteract by avoiding him yet one paid the price by being split in twain by a quick pounce and puncture of the shield. The warrior out of time then got a beast latching its membranes around his head trying to suffocate him. Yet with his free hand he shoved his arm inside of the membranes and grabbed its inner shell while more of them crawled all over him. Tearing off a fragment of its shell it collapsed leaking a strange fluid into the snow. Before proceeding to shove the shell fragment into the eye of a beast crawling on his back. He swung his shield, knocking more away as it created a spark with something causing the liquid to light and explode. UH1 was flown from the large white cloud and into a tumble. Getting up to his feet he looked down at his shield. Not a single scratch from the explosion. Hearing a whistle coming from behind him, he turned with a shield facing towards the incoming beast. Upon impact the creature shattered as the liquid sprayed everywhere but no explosion.
“Odd, what did I scrape?” he asked himself while roundhouse kicking a leaping beast. Looking up at the sky he didn’t see any more dots in the sky. After a quick bisect with the aid of his shield another explosion occurred yet this time a spark happened again causing the ground from under him to explode. Bits of his armor began to fragment off his chassis when taking to the air. Up several meters he noticed a hint of green to the south of his location. Landing hard on his back into the receded snow bowl, he groaned
“If I see The Foundation again, I'm telling them I'm retiring”.
A beast charged at him while he was on the ground. Quickly rolling he put his own weight on the crustacean and used it to help him up before stepping on it and crushing its legs with his shield. “Thanks.” He said walking away from the screaming beast. Ahead of him he saw only a dozen left with body parts strewn around him. Running at the creatures, they proceeded to run the other way and leaping off the mountain ridges into a glide. Chasing after one up a snowy cliff side he leaped off the edge and landed on top of one. Unable to handle his weight, it started to decline rapidly down the mountain side southward. As the white terrain blurred past them, so did the change of incline of the mountain slopes. Seeing how close to the ground they were getting he readied his shield and slammed down on the beast, causing it to crash. With him transitioning his shield into a board. Coasting gracefully down the snowy slopes. “Thanks for the lift.”
He sledded down the slope with the sun hitting his left side. Armor though needing repair glinting in the now exposed alloy under his coat of paint. Heading down towards the green lands below, all he could think of is where AT1, JED4, and the others of his team were. Did they wait for him, get mauled by the beasts, or completed their mission? The once ever expansive world now back to a primal state, or perhaps the world never changed. All UH1 knew was to find advanced enough sentient life that could give him word about this glowing gem of a planet. Yet more importantly, why everything is glowing softly.
Huzu and Onua which now stood outside of the large cave entrance. Surrounded by the green lush environment as the tall grass brushed against their legs with the wind. The green being was the first to speak “Now that we are alone, what do you remember from your past”.
Onua replied hesitantly “I guess I could tell you since you got me out of there, but please keep the questions to a minimum. You have no idea how many questions those people asked me, I had to convince them that I had to meditate for them to stop”
Huzu nodded as he stated “That is rather unfortunate to hear, though the astroliks in Onu City take a great fascination to every factoid. Even if it is small, sadly.”
Onua looked up to the Shidaki with an un-resounding expression of disinterest as he continued “I remember being in some kind of battle, beings of the elements yet everything happened so fast it was all a blur. When I was starting to become aware, garbage clung onto my body as I was thrown into a seed. From there I saw nothing but blackness…then well I woke up”. With a frown he looked up to the Seeker and asked “What about you? You look like you have seen a ghost?”
Huzu shook his head as he replied “I am fine. Though what you spoke of, it sounded like you were in the presence of the gods. We have a story that many of the realms tell to their children, each having different variations. But at its core it is about 6 heroes with great elemental powers and their battle against an evil shadow being. Some believe the story is true due to the magic masks that the Scholars have conjuered, and how your people are the direct descendants of such heroes. I would suggest you be careful about who you say your name around”.
Onua scoffed “Why?...”. After some silence Onua’s face grew serious as he then replied “oh no…don’t tell me”
Huzu began to nod slowly as he replied “You are named after one of the gods”
Onua kicked the earth as he whined “I told you not to tell me!”
The green Shidaki rested his hand on Onua’s shoulder to give comfort with a slight smile as the yellow Astrolik then asked “was he yellow?”.
Huzu shook his head as Onua sighed in relief,
“Oh thank goodness and I thought I had to paint myself black and-”.
They both grew silent when they heard a ruffle in the bushes from within the treeline. Onua leaned over to Huzu as he whispered “Do you think it might be something cuddly?”
“SSH!” Huzu replied only to be interrupted by a low growl.
In a blink of an eye an olive green four legged beast with quills leaped out of the brush. Onua then panicked “Not Cuddly!”
It leaped onto Onua and knocked him into the ground as its feathered wolf head with no eyes sprawled open like a cuttlefish. Huzu grabbed the beast from its back and threw it into a neighboring tree before it could take a bite out of Onua. It squealed upon impact with the tree. As it layed on the ground the Astrolik asked the Shidaki “What is that thing?!
Huzu hushed him and replied quietly “Be quiet, the Kohnodo responds by sound and smell. They are quite dangerous, however that is a juvenile we should break away quietly since there might be more”
Onua got up to his feet as did the young Kohnodo as he brushed his shoulder “No way, it wanted a fight with me. I’ll give it a fight, I could really blow off some steam”.
Onua cracked his knuckles as he then pointed at the beast “Hey ugly! You wanted a fight with the chosen one? Well I’m here so bring it on!”
Huzu jumped up on a tree, with his tail hooked onto a branch as he dangled upside down. Onua looked up to him and said “Hey are you going to join me, Seeker?”
“I’d rather see how history plays out before saving you again, and I suggest you keep an eye on your beast”
“Oh please I can handle the ugly blind dog that is about my height-”, before Onua could continue the creature extended its neck in a lunging manner while its body still stood by the tree. With its neck fully extended, its maw outstretched, the yellow being quickly jumped out of the way as he replied “Bloody scrap it almost grabbed me whole!”
As it retracted its neck, Onua charged at it with his fists at the ready. With the twitch of its feathered ears it leaped out of the way of his punch. The Kohnodo raised its quills before leaping at Onua. Their barbed ends dug into his armor as he held it back by the pits of the beast. The breath from its mouth was quite fowl as it opened once more revealing a beak at its very center. Grabbing firmly by its front legs, utilizing his innate raw strength, Onua kicked the creature in the chest hard. As the beast flew off into a tumble, its front legs remained in the yellow being’s hands. He quickly dropped the legs as he shook his hands. “Why with the quills?! These things suck even when you knock them down, also thanks for the help Huzu”
“You fool! You were only to hone your skills, not dismember the beast! Now, look”.
The seeker spoke as he gestured his head towards the disabled Kohnodo on the ground.
As Onua turned to look, the beast began making a sickly scream. With a popping sound coming from its throat embedded in its call. When it finally stopped screaming and relaxed its head on the ground, more screams could be heard deep in the trees.
“They travel in packs?!Oh come on, I don’t want to be pricked to death by those things!” Onua whined.
Huzu shook his head “Not in packs, what you attacked was a juvenile. And when you get in the way of a youngly…”
Onua’s eyes widened “...you mess with the mother…by the ancients…”
Huzu pulled himself up on the branch he dangled from, now standing on it as he said “Get on your bike, we are leaving, the mother should be able to repair her young. The uh…amputations are still fresh”.
The Astrolik quickly ran to his hoverbike and drove off with it. Weaving between the trees and the fauna, Huzu stayed close to his side up in the trees as he said “So how do you feel about attacking wildlife, chosen one?”
“Uh I prefer not to make any comments at this time. Though a small question, how big are adult Kohnodo?”
Huzu scoffed to himself while his companion spoke bluntly,
“That’s not helpful”
Onua began putting the pedal to the metal as he zoomed ahead of Huzu. The green shidaki sighed as he mumbled to himself “Why did I do that? Now I have to use my power just to keep up with him”.
An aura of electricity began coursing through his armor as he started building up speed. Before long he was able to catch up with Onua. As they traveled further away from their battle at the deep holes, so did the calls of the kohnodo grew fainter.
Blurred was his vision as he heard muffled voices, his body felt empty. No, he couldn’t feel at all. He tried to close his eyes temporarily to focus but he could not. Furious, Whakaragi said “What have you done to me! Answer-”.
His voice no longer had their softer tones. They were all synthesized with the simulation of breathing when there was none. Everyone around him went quiet and took a step away. He repeated himself yet again for an answer until finally a familiar voice spoke “Becoming a shell huh? The boss must be skeptical if it is your mind or your body that’s stronger”
“If it isn’t the one and only Mythic Ra I despise more, Dekamitus. Have you come to clean up the bodies that I’ve laid?”
“You boast greatly Whakaragi, word spread fast of an empty seed below the City of Vo. If I had to guess, whoever slipped through your fingers must be a true adversary. Why else would the Boss need multiple Mythics from the higher ranks of Skaraka. Oh how it makes my hooves and horns itch with anticipation…”
Whakaragi’s heart sank. If they found out that he was defeated by a mere fluke he would lose credibility in these false rumors. Shooting him down he said “Overconfidence is a sign of weakness Dekamitus, pray the boss doesn’t shun you for doing so”.
“My friend, you should be more worried about your stake in this” Dekamitus spoke with a machiavellian expression. “For the greatest trial has begun for your very existence. The once feared enforcer Whakaragi has tripped and now must be tested. And if the City of Vo loses fear of him…well, there are others who can usurp him…”
His vision cleared fully with the adjustments of his new optics. They were in the heart of the Visionaries of Virtue. Surrounding the two of them as he laid on the medical bed were beings in white robes; with each regulating all the equipment that was aiding in his revival, in this rather sterile metallic room. “And I suppose that would be you?”
“You flatter me, but that would be too easy. I am here to help you succeed. While we hunt for the awakened one, we can get payback on those who dare to claim your title. As we then take down this mysterious warrior that defeated you in single hand combat together…”
“I don’t need your help,” Whakaragi growled. “If you think I am that foolish you are mistaken Dekamitus. If all my updates were installed and running, I would cut all the circulation from that mind of yours”
The biomechanical Centar laughed “Oh how I missed working with you.” His expression then stiffens continuing “But you should heed my warning, my offer will be open until you decide to take it. Yet don’t expect me to save your ‘current’ Atolian hide from the Awakened one”.
Dekamitus then proceeded to trot out of the lab with distaste on his face. Though if it was an act or genuine Whakaragi did not know. Ever since he was adopted into the guild he had known Dekamitus to be truthful yet deceitful. Weaving a web of events that are false yet when questioned can perfectly line up with their outcome. Sometimes he doesn’t even lie at all. “Could he truly be telling the truth this time?” he thought to himself. “The bit about word spreading fast would be true, though if it was the boss who spread the word or Dekamitus upon my upload, I have no Idea”.
At the end it would answer the lingering query as to why he was now an android. Forever cursed to control the element of air yet forever disconnected from the feeling of it. Or to ever breathe it. Rage, it was the only thing that could run through his circuits now. Clutching his claws tightly the bonds that held him began to strain while papers began to go aloft. The whole room began to choke on their own air as the metal that held him made a sharp jaggering snap. Bodies began to fall one by one during his own levitation off the table. The hovering 7 foot warrior drifted his way towards the one who escorted him to the V.O.V. to begin with. Bodies now laid to waste behind him as he slowly clasped his claw around the scholar in robes of gray and green. Strangling the life out of him with his bare hands as he spoke
“If anything happens to my old body while I'm gone, pray that you aren’t the first I see”.
His mask stopped glowing as he lowered himself back to the ground. Tossing the scholar to the waste side he marched out of the door. The scholar coughed while crawling on all fours off of one the bodies he landed on. Tearing several layers of cloth around his neck he continued to gasp in the new air. Going up on his knees he looked around him and saw his fellow team either slouched over desks or sprawled across the ground in some way. Upon getting up on his feet he stumbled and fell on the ground again when he tried to go towards one of his closest members. He crawled over to one wearing a gray and orange robe. Cradling them in his arms he whispered
“I will bring you back, I promise…”