Fog of War

Fog of War is a story set within the Dark War Universe, and is the first story in the Dark War storyline.

Chapter 1 - a routine patrol
Metru Nui, Le-Metru.

The Toa of Fire trod carefully through the shadows of what was once Le-Metru, every footfall accompanied by the crunching of glass. It was an odd sight, standing here in the shadow of the Moto Hub. Where the light caught what remained of the infrastructure, it sparkled magnificently. But this once beautiful sight was spoiled by the deep shadows of gaping holes, souvenirs of countless battles that had taken place in this, the nearest Metru to the Sea Gate.

The Toa was only in this district, which had long since been abandoned, as part of a routine patrol. However, he had grown to learn that nothing was routine these days. Despite the unlikelihood that the Dark Hunters, Brotherhood of Makuta, or another unsavoury bunch had managed to enter the city unnoticed, it was not impossible.

His first clue was the silence. Sure, you’d expect an abandoned district to be silent. But there was just something… wrong with the lack of noise. Perhaps he was just paranoid, but he’d learned not to disregard his instincts a long time ago. It was what had kept him alive. That or luck. The second, much more plausible clue, was the fact that he had not heard from or seen any of the other members of the patrol in at least twenty minutes.

He moved on, out of the shadows and then, a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye. As was now second nature to him, he whirled around, drawing his blade from where it hung at his hip. Nothing. The Toa didn’t move, he didn’t even breathe. His entire body was trembling with anxiety, but he remained still. He knew he was being watched, the way anyone can tell when they’re being watched. That voice, that whispering, right in the darkest corners of your mind. That voice that says you are not alone.

A near silent hissing found its way to his audio receptors and he ducked as the red cylinder flew past, mere inches from his head. The explosion nearly knocked him of his feet, but he managed to remain upright, bolting towards the nearest source of cover.

A second Cordak struck the ground, only a few bios to his right, and this time he did fall. Pain flared up in his shoulder, like a flame springing to life on a match. The Toa gritted his teeth and leapt to his feet, running into the narrow space between two buildings. With every step he took he could feel blood oozing from the shrapnel wound in his back, but now was not the time to worry about such small things.

Another explosion, right at the mouth of the alley, brought him back to the present and he flew onto the ledge of a shattered window. Drawing his Disk Launcher from his back, he loaded the first disk he could find in his pack, and aimed at the opening of the alleyway. A lone Skakdi stepped into the shadows, holding a Cordak Blaster in one hand and a brutally blunt looking dagger in the other. The Skakdi had barely taken its first step forward when the disk struck, coating it in a thick layer of ice. The Toa of Fire just had time to take a relieved breath before a second figure rounded the corner, aiming his weapon at where the Toa crouched.

The Toa barely had time to role backwards before what remained of the window frame was splintered as a volley of long, metal, rods smashed into it. Unfortunately for the Toa, the building was in as bad a shape on the inside as it was on the out, and in his haste to get away from the window, he fell through a hole in the floor, sprawling painfully onto a table in the room below.

The Toa groaned and got to his feet, just as his second attacker ‘opened’ the door. The Toa of Fire was showered with rubble as the Dark Hunter made itself an entrance. He hurled a fireball at the creature standing in the doorway, then rolled to the opposite side of the table. The Dark Hunter merely ducked out of the way as the ball of flames flew by. The brute then continued its approach, dropping the Cordak Blaster (seemingly deciding it wouldn’t be a good idea to blow up a building while he was still inside of it) and brought up his weapon from earlier. He grinned at the cowering Toa and pulled the trigger, sending metal bolts thudding into the wall. The Toa, however, had vanished.

The Toa of Fire stood at the entrance to the tattered remains of what had once been the home of a Le-Matoran, once more grateful of his Kanohi power. Stepping outside, as the Dark Hunter turned his head frantically, searching for his prey, the Toa unclasped a small cylinder from his belt. The Nynrah Ghosts had boasted that this prototype weapon was charged with the combined elemental powers of a Toa of Fire, and a Toa of Earth. Vakama just hoped it’d work.

He knelt down in the entrance, careful not to alert the Dark Hunter to his presence, and twisted the top of the cylinder. Next he tossed it over to the discarded Cordak Blaster, and ran as if all the horrors of Karzahni lay behind him. The Dark Hunter heard the clanking of something metal dropping to the ground, and went to investigate. A few seconds later, he found that the saw of the noise was a small cylinder, lying by his comrade’s Cordak Blaster. He just had time to register this before an explosion with the heat of the Ta-Metru furnaces, and the force of a Bio-Quake, scattered him, his Skakdi companion and the entire building throughout the ruined District. The force of the blast sent Vakama crashing to the ground once more. When the rubble and… his enemies, had stopped raining from the sky, Vakama got to his feet and brushed of his armor. Trying not to think about what he had just done, he began struggling his way forwards, back towards the Coliseum.

A tattered poster fell from the wall of a nearby building and drifted to his feet. The poster showed a Kanohi Hau lying on the ground, with a blade wielding Dark Hunter walking away behind it, and a caption saying “Morals cost lives!” written along the bottom. These posters could be found scattered throughout the universe. It had been decided right at the start that the Toa Code simply could not be obeyed during this war, there was no way the Great Spirit’s Army could win if they didn’t kill their opponents.

Knowing this did nothing to rid Vakama of the guilt he felt for what he had just done. He was no leader, he shouldn’t even be a soldier. He was a mask maker. That was all he truly was beneath the layers of armor. Vakama’s thoughts were cut short by an impact against his back. He fell to the ground as metallic tendrils wrapped themselves around him, squeezing the air from his lungs.

Barely able to move, Vakama turned to see his attacker. A tall, black armored Hunter stood behind him, already with a second Rhotuka in his launcher. Vakama had never seen him before, but knew just by sight that this was the infamous Dark Hunter Dresdas. This Dark Hunter was feared throughout the universe for his seemingly supernatural powers.

“Toa Vakama,” the Dark Hunter said in an unnervingly gentle voice. “You know my mission was a simple hit and run. There was no need for anyone to get hurt, well, nobody who wasn’t meant to be. Your fellow Toa are fine, merely unconscious. But you… you have been quite a pain, killing my two colleagues, and now that is what I will cause you.”

Dresdas removed a small, barbed, dagger from its sheath at the top of his strangely shaped legs. The blade was black and white in colour, and was the source of many Matoran ghost stories. Vakama had no intention to find out just what it was that that blade could do, but when he tried to melt the Rhotuka binding him, he found himself unable to access his elemental powers.

“Oh, maybe I forgot to mention, I can drain the elemental power of any being at close range,” said Dresdas, chuckling.

Vakama’s blood ran cold at the sound of those words. How was it even possible for his powers to be drained without use? More importantly, how could his powers be drained by another being? He was powerless to do anything as the Dark Hunter slowly and deliberately made his way towards him. Maybe this was how it was meant to be. Maybe, after whatever horrors lay before him, he would soon find peace…

“Hey, big guy,” called a female voice from above.

Vakama and Dresdas both turned their heads to find the source of the voice. A slender, green and blue armored, being was standing at the top of one of the many supports that had once held up the chute system, and was holding a large blaster in her hands.

Dresdas dived for cover, or the closest thing to diving that a giant can achieve, as orbs of pure light rained down from above, cascading against the ground in a brilliant display of sparks and rubble. The female, whoever she was, attached a coil to the support and swung down to the ground below, landing behind Vakama.

She stood, completely un-phased by the jump she had just made, and dropped the blaster to the ground. Now that she was closer, Vakama could make out that she was tall, taller than most Toa, and bore close resemblance to a Vortixx. Her hands were tipped with claws and she appeared to be wearing actual Rahkshi heads as armor.

“Why don’t you pick on someone who can actually fight?” She said, finishing the sentence she had started atop the support.

Dresdas placed his dagger back in its sheath and drew a sword from his back. The newcomer matched this action by unsheathing a blade of her own. Dresdas looked at his opponent, she looked back, and Vakama looked at them both, wishing he wasn’t lying between them. Then Dresdas lowered his blade, only to send a Rhotuka rocketing towards the female. Vakama watched it spin through the air, certain that it would hit his new ally. But the Rhotuka travelled on, past the spot where she’d been, and hit the support behind it.

The Vortixx-like being was leaning against a wall to the left of where the Rhotuka had hit, inspecting her claws. She looked up when she realised that both Vakama and Dresdas were staring at her.

“What’s next?” She asked.

The words had barely left her lips when a pulse of… blackness, shot forth from the Dark Hunter’s blade. As it passed over Vakama, he felt an odd dullness, like his very soul were being drained away by the lack of light passing by above him. The female barely had time to duck before the blast hit the wall, dissipating on contact.

“Wow, easy big fella,” she gasped.

A second blast flew towards her and she leapt to the side. Another blast followed that, then another, then another. Vakama watched as she dodged, flipped and rolled out of the way of the blasts, knowing one would soon find its mark.

Now occupied by his new target, Dresdas was no longer focusing on controlling the Rhotuka binding Vakama, and so it had begun to loosen. Fuelled by the realisation that he now had a chance to break free, Vakama struggled against the metallic tendrils, slowly easing his way out of their embrace.

Behind him, the newcomer had finally been given the chance to return a shot, firing a bolt of electricity from her claws. The bolt struck Dresdas square in the chest, knocking him back.

“But… how?” He asked.

“Oh this ain’t elemental power,” she said, firing again.

But this time Dresdas was expecting it, and he fired a shot of his own, cancelling out the blast.

“Hm, so you can create some sort of… what, Anti-energy?” She asked, while a few paces in front of her Vakama continued to struggle free.

“If you like,” Dresdas replied. “That is a fitting term.”

Vakama had finally broken free of his bonds, but remained on the ground, trying, as discretely as possible, to reach for his disk launcher.

“Which is how you drain elemental power?”

“Yes, that and other powers. Though new things take longer, I have to get… the feel of them first.”

“Interesting... so what would happen if one of your blasts hit me?”

Dresdas answered with a smile, before firing another blast straight at her. She dived aside and Vakama sat up, loading a weaken disk into his launcher and firing it right into his opponent’s side. Dresdas gasped, and Vakama felt his elemental power returning. The Dark Hunter pointed his blade at Vakama, but the Toa of Fire had already formed a ball of fire in his hand, which he threw at Dresdas, hitting him in the shoulder. Dresdas took a step back, and the female being fired another bolt of electricity at him. Being beaten back by both beings, Dresdas finally gave in. Growling, he fired of another volley of shots, enough to make both of them dive for cover, and lumbered away into the shadows of the city.

Vakama’s rescuer fired of one last shot, for good measure, and turned to him.

“Are you alright?” She asked.

“I think so,” he replied.

“Should we go after him?”

“No, he’s long gone. And, if not, the Vahki can makes sure he does leave later,” sighed Vakama. “Anyway, who’re you?”

“Kinalu, pleased to make your acquaintance.”

She reached out, clasping his hand in hers, and helped him up.

“Can you stand?” Kinalu asked.

“Yes,” he said, before falling to the ground. “No.”

Kinalu helped him to his feet and draped his arm around her shoulders. Then, between them, they started hobbling of towards the heart of Metru Nui.