Into the Hive

Security Notice
As written by Turaga Vakama of the Turaga High Council, Toa Confederacy, coding signature: "In fire and flames".

''Foreword: This document is to be contained within the Nuva Chamber in Ta-Koro at all times, and not to be taken out by anyone not authorized by Turaga Vakama or Toa Nuva Tahu. The information contained within is highly sensitive, and destruction or loss of this document would be to the detriment of the entire Toa Confederacy and beyond. It is by the insight gained within that we can stave off the hordes of the Hive Tyrant. End of notice.''

Research Notes: Cycle 6651.56-Covert-1
"This is research member Mavrah of the Onu-Matoran Expeditionary Research Forces, beginning documentation of an organism which has been deemed the Hive Tyrant. We have a Toa of Psionics with us in order to establish mental connections with any organisms we come across, and, supposedly, who can translate the language of them as well. As of yet, information has proved inconclusive as to whether the organisms-dubbed "Gauntlings"-are sentient at all.

Now the official crap is out of the way, let's get down to business-the Hive Tyrant was seen attacking worlds just off our top most systems within our space, and we were sent here to track it. Apparently, we'll be seeing some gnarly things out here, but it can't be much worse than what Teridax threw at us. So far as our founds record show, this thing's method of operation is to swarm positions with his tides of those little pink creatures. We haven't gotten a close look yet, but we dissected a dead organism we came across and it looks like these things operate out of a 'hive mind' deal, with synapse creatures who have mental abilities leading the swarms. The Toa of Psionics-Nerrya-managed to replicate the synapse brainwave and we're hoping it'll give us some immunity to these swarms. Either way, we've got this virus adapted from a Teridax creation which'll repel them, at least long enough to fall back, if necessary.

The prize fish here, though, isn't the creatures, but the Hive Tyrant. If we wanted an easy look at some of these things, we'd go off to one of their hive worlds. By jumping onto the head of their swarms, we'll hopefully get some documentation of the Tyrant himself. Well, amend that, actually-we're not sure if it's a male, and I've got to keep things at least partially professional for an accurate record. Who knows-Vakama might be looking this over in a few cycles, with myself sitting comfortably in one of those mansion huts they reserve for the really useful Matoran. I can see the sights now... Addendum on that, shouldn't talk about my ambitions in these. Anyway-We've set up camp near a small mountain pass we think will give us a good enough view of their swarm without getting too close.

Nerrya has been training the other Matoran in the research group to follow her uniformly so that the other creatures don't sense us if we decide to get up close and personal. Personally-I'll be fine observing from afar. Tomorrow, we'll be hitting the dusty trail and working our way up to set up the equipment. We've got about eight or nine cycles before they get here, and I'll probably skip recording on those ones, as I doubt much of interest will happen. Anything else interest I'll note down at the end of here. End of record."

Addendum A Cycle 6651.58: "We found a bunch of dead villagers on the way to our setup spot. No idea what killed them, but analysis showed it wasn't one of those creatures probably. Actually, the eggheads are pretty good at their job, so I'm not going to second guess it. I'm a camera man and a scribe, not a researcher."

Addendum B Cycle 6651.62: "We set up the equipment, and some weird green clouds started coming in at the end of the sixth cycle. Narrya can sense some mental whatnots, so I reckon these clouds are from the swarm. We've hightailed it back to our mountain crevice and our recording equipment is set up."

Addendum C Cycle 6651.64: "The swarm has started to come in sight of the recording equipment, but I can't view the footage until after they've passed. I've got nothing to record until I've got footage and information from the lab Matoran, so I'll be quiet here for a few cycles."

Intersection: Vakama's Notes, 1
''So far as I can see, this Mavrah fellow isn't quite accustomed to the serious recording styles, but nevertheless, his insight is fascinating. He was right about my examining of this document. Perhaps not so much about his accommodation. I looked forward to reading about the rest of his record, although the group of dead villagers perplexes me. I shall have to consult Whenua and Nuju as to their thoughts on the matter. ''

Research Notes: Cycle 6651.69-Covert-2
"This is research member Mavrah of the Onu-Matoran Expeditionary Research Forces, continuing documentation of an organism which has been deemed the Hive Tyrant. We have recovered footage regarding the modus operandi of the swarm and have begun an in-depth analysis. Information has begun to arise about the neurochemistry of the Gauntlings, as well as the swarm itself.

Alright. Now-this footage is something to behold, by Mata Nui. Our recording equipment is top of the line, but even then it couldn't pick out individual creatures in this Tyrant's swarms. They were literally without number, but Narrya and the other lab Matoran managed to pick out several key organisms who were larger than the rest-the synapse creatures they'd predicted. I've got to say, I shivered whilst watching the tape, and I would've shivered more to see them in person. Sadly, our vision was blocked by the green clouds, and our mountain lookout point turned out to be not so good after all.

However, the best part about the recording was a brief look at who we believe to be the Hive Tyrant. The footage becomes filled with static when he waltzes in, but we still saw him in a fairly good view. The researchers have been going nuts over seeing him and coming up with all sorts of theories. They reckon his armor is made of chitin and bone or something-he looked like a colossal bug, if you ask me, so I reckon some kind of exoskeleton is probably the correct assumption.

But hey, I'm a camera man and scribe. Back to the record-we got a good view at one other creature that we've dubbed the "brute" for now, as he's a chunky block of something who was the size of a tank. Narrya said she didn't think he was a synapse monster, though-the researchers suggested they're a sort of entourage for that Hive Tyrant fella damn it. Not a male.

Tomorrow we're going to go collect some soil samples, then use our ship to catch up with them. We've got a beacon in the planet's atmosphere which is tracking the movements of their transportation creatures (so far as we can tell, they are alive) so that we'll know when it's time to mosey on over to the next planet on their hit list. It'll probably take us a few cycles to get soil samples and, let's face it, it won't be very interesting. I'll add edits to the end of this part as we find things like last time, and I'll record another entry once we're set up elsewhere. End of record."

Addendum A Cycle 6651.70: "We got some soil samples and apparently these gauntlings sweat slime wherever they go. It's disgusting how intrigued the eggheads are in it, but who cares-at least I don't have to touch it."

Addendum B Cycle 6651.72: "This slime is a sort of digestive juice, apparently, but why these creatures are sweating it everywhere the lab techs have no idea. They're putting it together with some other information we have on it, and hopefully they'll have something worth mentioning out of it."

Addendum C Cycle 6651.73: "Goddamn. They compared it with samples found on planets these things have been on before and it turns out their hive fleet kind of 'devours' the planet once the swarm is done with it. By that, they seem to mean all organic matter, water and valuable elements are completely absorbed, leaving the rocky husk behind. Well-this is all theory, of course, but the researchers want to hang around after the swarm is set to leave, now, to try and record some of this. Guess I'll be the first camera man to record a dead planet."

Intersection: Vakama's Notes, 2
''What occurs throughout most of this article is intriguing indeed, but the last point in particular is a cause for concern, especially given how close they managed to get to Spherus Magna before they were halted. I must talk to Nokama regarding this-she should hopefully have some method of neutralizing this digestive substance for if the swarms ever awoke again. I must remain vigilant in my notes, and I shall continue grimly onward to observe what Mavrah has seen.''