Fate of the Skrall: Baterra Lair

FATE OF THE SKRALL: BATERRA LAIR...

PART 1

Tuma’s vision of the past:

''Tuma slashed at Mata Nui, but his assailant slipped under the strike and elbowed the weak spot in the leader class Skrall’s armor. Tuma staggered back, roared, and swung again. He obviously hadn’t learned his lesson the first time, because the gold-armored glatorian simply repeated the process.''

''Tuma let out a grunt of pain and fury, partly because he was actually losing, and partly because Mata Nui’s attacks were hitting home and starting to hurt. Tuma suddenly changed tactics, bringing his saw blade shield up and knocking his challenger’s sword away. The Skrall chieftain swung down for a final blow, but his opponent dodged and leaped straight up in the air, landing behind him. He couldn’t turn fast enough, and Mata Nui slammed Tuma one more time. The warrior collapsed into the sand, going instantly unconscious.''

Tuma woke with a start. His first thought was that it was just a dream; he hadn’t just lost to a single glatorian; he hadn’t just been humiliated in front of the entire rock tribe. He was wrong. Tuma tried to rise, but his back felt like it had been smashed multiple times by a Baterra. Baterra. The very word sent a chill up Tuma’s spine. Baterra were ruthless mechanical shapeshifters that carried long, lethal blades and were practically bristling with artillery, including two shoulder-mounted force cannons and a row of guided missiles.

The last sight of many a Skrall had been that gleaming silver armor. Around him, his fellow Skrall and Bone Hunters were in similar situations: Stronius lying stunned in a ditch, Fero trapped beneath a pile of boulders, Branar knocked senseless on the ground, one of Mata Nui’s many victims. Despite the cramping pain, Tuma staggered, swerved, moaned, and rose. How long had he been unconscious, lying motionless in the sand… hours, days, weeks? Judging by the debris around him, it had been possibly even longer.

Tuma roused Stronius, and then they struggled to free Fero, who was still muttering half-hearted battle cries. Branar took a bit longer, but the trio finally managed to convince the elite fighter that yes, he was still alive and that yes, the glatorian army was gone. Branar seemed to come to his senses once he saw his fellow warriors in the same worse-for-wear condition.

Suddenly Fero let out a startled cry and pointed up toward the sky. Off in the distance, two impossibly huge metal warriors were engaged in combat over the desert. The larger robot, which his opponent referred to as Makuta, was clearly winning. From his vantage point, Stronius could see a hatch open on Makuta’s metal form, and an army of small serpentine warriors spilled out, swarming the glatorian below. A thought crossed Stronius’ mind. Where were the other Skrall? Then he saw them. Smaller and in green armor, the Skrall army raised their blades and fired blasts of shadow into the crowd. “RETREAT!” Tuma yelled. The survivors broke ranks and fled for the desert. Once they had mounted their respective beasts, Fero on his rock steed Skirmix, Tuma, Stronius, and Branar on spikits.

They had been riding for some time when they reached Sandray Canyon.

They encountered a massive pile of rocks in the middle, barring their way. They were not the only ones there… The form of the Skopio XV-1 was visible by the stone barrier. Telluris jumped down from the cockpit, landing gracefully on the sand. The foursome drew their thornax launchers and surrounded Telluris. “What do you want?” he snarled. “The same thing you do,” said Branar coolly. “How do you get around this?” “Why should I share that so obviously vital information with you for free?” Telluris shot back. Stronius menaced him with his thorned club. “That’s why.” Telluris drew his blowgun. The air tensed. A showdown was inevitable…

Fero fired a volley of thornax, which the iron glatorian deflected. Telluris jumped backward and landed in the cockpit of his vehicle. The Skrall squad fired back, and Telluris spun himself around, launched off, and hit the ground. Skopio XV-1 crashed in rapid succession, its leg taken out by the exploding fruit. Telluris plunged the blade attached to the front of his weapon into the sand and vaulted up onto the rocks. He pressed his blowgun to his mouth and fired. “YAH!!!!” Fero shrieked as the small dart pierced his sword arm. They had clearly underestimated their foe. Telluris shot down and knocked Fero aside with the hilt of his blowgun. He slipped behind Stronius and struck him from behind. Another poison dart sent Tuma’s thornax launcher flying. Telluris grabbed Branar and slammed him against the rocks. “You…you don’t survive out here for so long without being weak…and stupid,” he hissed. Branar gulped in fear. Tuma stomped up, tearing Telluris away and slashing him with his sword. “Listen here, you plagued pile of spikit droppings, we may be doomed out here, but we are going to find the Baterra first, and take them with us. If the Skrall fall, I will make sure the Baterra are not left here victorious. If the Skrall fall, then the Baterra will as well!”

“Baterra, huh?” asked Telluris. “I know of them… I’ve crushed slayed, obliterated, and pulverized my share of Baterra.” Tuma snorted, “Impossible!” “Not really,” Telluris replied, “There’s not a single thing in these wastelands I haven’t encountered and destroyed. I can take you to their central hive… for a price.” Tuma bellowed and placed his blade at Telluris’ throat. “YOU’LL DO IT IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!!” Tuma roared. Telluris grinned, “If you kill me, who will be your guide, Skrall?” “Name your price,” Tuma sighed. “1,000 pounds of exsidian,” Telluris readily responded. “You’ll also need the power to destroy the Baterra army; however, my powerful vehicle seems to be slightly damaged.”

So the five warriors worked day and night, using the Skopio as shelter whenever they heard a potential predator. Several times they had to fight off vorox, but Telluris was handy with his blowgun and they weren’t a problem. Once, a vorox sprang out of the sand with a screech. Stronius whacked it with his club, and down it went. As the elite Skrall stared down at his victim, he noticed something peculiar. The vorox had no barb on the end of its stinger tail. By morning, they were ready to go. The three spikit had all fallen to vorox, but Skirmix was okay. Telluris slid into the cockpit, followed by Fero, then Branar, then Stronius, and then Tuma. Fero was unable to part with Skirmix, so they attached a covered cargo hold to the back of the Skopio XV-1. Telluris handed out wired headsets so they could breathe, and then he powered up Skopio and dove beneath the sands. Beneath the sands, it was indescribable! The sand swirled by their face and around them. Luckily, their wired headsets supplied them with oxygen. They emerged on the other side of the barrier, safe and unscathed.

What they failed to see was their enemy, high above them. A Baterra sat in the rocks, completely hidden by its camo armor. It trained its artillery on its victims, but its logic sensors told it otherwise. Its commlink sent out a signal to other Baterra in the area, saying: ''“Five armed warriors are heading north past the blockage at Sandray Canyon, and they are speaking words of war. They must be destroyed. Assist me. There are two reasons to exterminate them. They will not get far.”''

The Baterra shifted off its camo armor, revealing a fearsome robotic form. Changing to flight mode, it activated the thrusters built into its feet long ago.

If there had been anyone around to see, they would have seen a terrifying sight that they never would forget. A sight that would have made them run home and dispose of all their weapons; a deadly squad of heavily armed Baterra flaming through the skies to intercept their victims. However, the only witness was a simple scarabax beetle named Click. Click had nothing to fear from the Baterra, but he did recognize the powerful robotic shapeshifters that had attacked Mata Nui in the mountains when he was searching for the energy source to power the giant robot. He also recognized their next victim, the Skrall leader named Tuma.

Click chattered loudly, summoning other scarabax. He would finish a fight that was his, and help his master at the same time….

Telluris took back the wired headsets from the passengers riding with him. “Where do the Baterra live, exactly?” said Tuma. “You should know they live in the heart of the mountains,” Telluris answered. “Their base is well defended. We’ll have to take them by surprise.” There was a strange noise above them, like fire. “I don’t think finding them is going to be a problem!” said Branar. “They seem to have found us!”

Metus grumbled a curse under his breath. He couldn’t believe his rotten luck. Not only had he been discovered as a traitor, he had been transformed into a hideous serpent! Against his will, Metus’ mind flashed back in time…

Metus’ vision of the past:

''Metus saw Mata Nui heading for him. The traitor ran as fast as his legs could carry him toward his Thornatus V9. He stood atop the cockpit, Stronius and another Skrall guarding him as he prepared to flee. Mata Nui charged toward him, landing a devastating kick that sent the first Skrall flying. Mata Nui’s shield locked with Stronius’ club. His sword slapped Stronius aside, and he tumbled down the ditch, where he lay stunned and dazed. Metus took off, but a pair of vorox blocked his path and toppled his vehicle. Mata Nui grabbed him by the throat, growled, and touched the Ignika to Metus’ face. There was a blinding flash of light, and when it subsided, Metus had turn into a hissing serpent. “Now everyone will see you for what you truly are!” said Mata Nui. Metus hissed and slithered off, saying: “Youuu may have deeefeated MEE!!! But you’ll never deeefeat my united arrrrmyyyyyyy…” Metus stared at his body with horror and disgust. He would get revenge. On Mata Nui. On Click, because Mata Nui would not have been able to get past the Skrall guards without his shield, which was actually Click, transformed by the Ignika. Surprisingly, he also felt a hint of jealousy at Click, since he could switch back and forth from his upgraded form while Metus could not. That gave him an idea, but no matter how he tried, he stayed in his serpentine form. Metus did get new powers, though.''

''His rattling tail could drill through anything, and he was stronger and faster. Mata Nui had made a big mistake.''

Metus snapped back to reality. He would never forget what had happened to

him. Nor would he forget his desire for revenge.

PART 2

Branar saw the Baterra coming fast. They slammed into Skopio XV-1, knocking it down again. Telluris landed gracefully. “I just fixed that thing!!”

He snarled. “Forget it,” whispered Tuma. “Just drop your weapons and they won’t hurt you.” As one, the group’s weapons hit the soft sand. The Baterra looked at each other. “Should we destroy them?” “They have no weapons.”

''“They still challenged us with their words of war.” “Logic computes. Commence destruction.” ''The Baterra unfolded their artillery one by one, revealing shoulder-mounted cannons and long arrays of heat-seeking missiles. The five warriors evaded the first wave of firing, but they couldn’t last forever… Suddenly, hope arrived! Click and an army of beetles emerged from the sand, snapping their pincers angrily. The first Baterra was sucked into a vortex of bugs, which shredded the robot as it went down the deadly tunnel. The Baterra fought back, but the insects were too small to target. The scarabax stacked to form two legs, a body, a head, and arms and hands.

Click crawled down into the hand, transforming into a shield. The scarabax warrior swung the shield and cut down the rest of the Baterra with one stroke. One got back up and fled. Before the baffled eyes of the five, their savior vanished into the ground. “What the…” said Fero.

They boarded Skopio and took off as fast as they could. Only this time, Fero was on Skirmix. Eventually, they reached the mountains…