Spotlight: Helryx

Spotlight: Helryx is a Spotlight short story following Toa Helryx as she hunts down a powerful object and an interloper. It is the third story of the Spotlight series.

Dramatis Personae

 * Helryx, Female Ga-Toa
 * Echo, Male Operations Coordinator

Story
The deep blue eyes of Toa Helryx scanned the spacious cavern through the window of her office. Splashes of color bustled about, the varied armors of her agents going about their training. The cavern had been designated as the primary training center for their main Order of Mata Nui base, low walls sectioning off different areas for sparring rings, shooting ranges, vehicle simulations, and more. Everything her Order agents needed to ensure they could make it out in the field. Watching her agents train from her office relaxed Helryx. It let her know her agents were prepared. She could accept casualties. But she preferred to avoid them. The door to the office opened behind her and subsequently closed. Helryx sighed silently. “Echo,” Helryx greeted. “Director,” Echo returned. Helryx turned toward Echo, the Order’s Operations Coordinator, and looked up at his black Kanohi Pakari. Echo stood nearly a head taller than Helryx herself, clad in grey, blue, and black. Though he had a slight build, he was an imposing figure to those who knew his power. “Agent Johmak has returned from Metru Nui with a report,” Echo informed her. Helryx nodded and sat behind her desk, gesturing to the chairs on the other side for Echo to sit. “Continue.” Echo remained standing. “Agent Johmak was shadowing a Cy-Matoran who seemed suspicious to her. The Matoran approached a group of Po-Matoran with the claim that he had found an artifact and needed help excavating it. “The Cy-Matoran claimed that Onu-Matoran had already declined his request. When the Po-Matoran declined his request, the Cy-Matoran left for Ga-Metru for diving equipment. Agent Johmak returned here immediately after to report this.” Helryx tapped her finger on the chin of her azure mask in thought. “Did Agent Johmak overhear what artifact this Cy-Matoran supposedly knew of?” she asked slowly. Echo nodded. “He claimed it was one of the Elemental Codexes.” Helryx stood up from her chair, leaning on her desk. “We’ve been searching for more Elemental Codexes for years now. Every time we’ve found one, it’s slipped away.” Echo nodded. “Indeed. I knew that you would consider this to be of the utmost importance, and as such I have taken the liberty of requisitioning one of our faster transports for you and having it loaded with supplies.” “Thank you, Echo,” Helryx replied quickly. She walked over to one of the walls of her office and grabbed her mace and shield from their racks, affixing her shield to her back and her mace to her hip. “Which hangar?” Helryx asked as she approached her door. “Hangar N1,” Echo answered as he followed her out. “They’ll be expecting you.” “Thank you, Echo.” Helryx picked up a light jog down the hallway to the nearest elevator. A short ride on the elevator brought her to a chute station, a compact transportation system the Order had installed based on unused specifications from earlier in history.

Helryx walked into the sprawling hangar, a cavern at the northern point of Daxia. Immediately a brown-clad Kromivian wielding a clipboard moved up to her. “Director,” the Kromivian began as he led Helryx across the hangar. “I’ve prepped one of our fastest craft for your mission. Supplies are on board, systems checks have been run, all fueled up. “We’ve also quick-installed a small cot for Agent Johmak, who will be riding back with you. She’s already under orders to sleep the whole trip, since she’s running on no rest, and should return to her post by the time you’ve finished your mission.” “Thank you, Agent,” Helryx responded as the pair arrived at the transport. The Kromivian waved her up before beginning to write on his clipboard. “Mata Nui be with you, Director.” Helryx nodded and walked up the ramp at the rear of the ship, hitting a button at the top to close the hatch. The ship was small, a few bags stacked against the walls. On one wall a small frame was welded on with a cot on top, the sleeping purple and ebon form of Johmak on top. Proceeding to the cockpit, Helryx sat in the pilot’s chair and belted herself in as her hands ghosted over the controls, activating buttons and displays. The craft thrummed to life and Helryx settled her hands onto the steering control. A panel on the control console crackled. “Opening primary hangar door,” Flight Control spoke through the panel. The cavern wall directly in front of Helryx’s craft opened up slowly to reveal the glimmering ocean outside, allowing in fresh air which many Order agents got only just so often. “You’re clear for takeoff,” Flight Control crackled. “Good luck, Director.” The comm panel fell silent. Helryx eased the ship out of the hangar, making certain she had properly cleared the island before pushing the engines to maximum. The ship climbed in altitude before settling within the clouds. None would see her from below or above. The flight was rather uneventful. Though Johmak stirred throughout the journey, she never awoke. There were no run-ins with any other craft and they were not detected. The craft was able to slip past Metru Nui’s detection systems, as they were not made to detect aerial contacts. Helryx made a slow approach to Ga-Metru, moving the ship towards an uninhabited sector and setting down. Helryx ran through the shutdown procedures for the ship before unbelting herself from the pilot’s seat. She moved to the rear of the ship and opened the exit hatch, moving down it and using a keypad set into the belly of the ship to close it again. Looking around, Helryx spotted the closest inhabited area of Ga-Metru and set off on a jog towards it, hoping she could find information on the Cy-Matoran.

After what Helryx believed to be roughly a half hour of jogging, she arrived at the outskirts of the city. Evening had fallen, and as such there were not many Matoran out and about. She stopped one Ga-Matoran to question her, but she knew nothing of her quarry. However, she was, at least, able to direct Helryx toward a store which sold diving equipment close to the channel which separated Ga-Metru from Po-Metru. Helryx wove her way through quiet streets and alleys, coming across only a handful of Ga-Matoran going about business and a flustered pair of a Ga- and Ba-Matoran. Passing an alley near the shop Helryx heard what sounded to her like a pained grunt. She crept down the alley, staying low as she moved closer to where the sound had been. A Ta-Matoran, laying against the wall. His mask was broken, and he was breathing heavily. He looked weakly up toward Helryx as she approached. “Toa?” he breathed. “What happened?” Helryx asked hurriedly as she knelt beside him. The Matoran, who informed his name was Jaller, recounted what happened as best he could. He spoke of how he was delivering tools to various Matoran in Ga-Metru when he had seen a Cy-Matoran acting suspiciously, leaving the diving equipment store and looking about cautiously. Jaller followed him through the alley but was caught off guard when the Matoran abruptly threw a punch at Jaller’s face, breaking his mask and sending him to the ground. “I heard a splash, so I guess he dived,” Jaller finished. “Few minutes later a Ga-Matoran found me, and she’s gone to get help.” “Good,” Helryx replied. She had not wanted to delay following the Cy-Matoran to get a mask for Jaller. Every second counted. “Going after him, Toa?” Jaller asked slowly, a pained grin forming on his face. Helryx nodded. “I am. Thank you for the information, Jaller. I’ll put it to good use.” “Mata Nui be with you, Toa,” Jaller called out as Helryx sprinted towards the channel. Arriving at the edge of the water a short way from Jaller, Helryx immediately jumped in and dived to the bottom. She stretched out her senses, using her elemental control of water to feel the flow, to feel the water passing over rocks, through holes, under overhangs. Helryx looked up towards the stone wall that was part of Po-Metru, where she could detect a cavern. She blasted through the water, using her elemental energy to propel her into a tunnel that twisted and turned until going straight up. Helryx arrived within a small cave. The cave was dark and damp, the sound of dripping water and her own breathing were all that could be heard. As she walked further in her footsteps echoed throughout. She grabbed her mace. Another minute of walking brought Helryx into light coming from torches and candles. She stepped into what appeared to be an entrance chamber, statues lining the walls with a large stone door emblazoned with a symbol of a flame set into the wall opposite of where she entered. Helryx didn’t stop to stare at the statues, instead dashing up to the door and trying to open it. As soon as she set her hand upon it, the door began to slide up. The door led to a large stone chamber. In the center was a stone stairway leading up to a platform set against the far wall. On either side of the stairway were two doors set into the bottom of the platform. Helryx moved up the stairs as quick as she could, and found two more doors set into the side walls. Above the door on her left was a small rectangular symbol, and so she chose this door. This door led out into a chamber filled with lava, stone platforms placed intermittently within. The chamber was smaller than the last. Helryx jumped across to a platform in the center of the room, and then immediately to one on the wall opposite of where she entered. An ornate door awaited her here, chains and a lock lying in front of it. Helryx pushed it open. A large circular chamber, again filled with lava. The heat in this room was far more intense, the smell of sulfur suffocating. In the center of the room was a round cratered platform, while at the far wall was a higher platform. This far platform housed both a yellow and white-clad Cy-Matoran and what looked to be the Elemental Codex they both had come for. The Matoran turned at the sound of her entrance. “‘Ello, love!” the Matoran called out to her. “Lost, dear? I’d be delighted to help you find your way back to the Ga-Metru schools!” Helryx tightened her grip on her mace and grabbed her shield from her back. She jumped down onto the center platform. “Step away from the Elemental Codex and come down here,” she called back to him, stopping in the middle of the platform. “Deary me, is that what this is?” the Matoran asked in mock incredulity. “No wonder that weird monster was in here! I knew he probably couldn’t even read.” Helryx raised a hand to fire a spout of water at the Matoran, but produced only steam from her hand. “What’s wrong, love? Too hot? Surely the great Toa Helryx can’t be beaten by broken air conditioning.” Helryx gritted her teeth. If he knew who she was already, he was someone important. “Come down here and tell me who you are, Matoran,” Helryx commanded. “I won’t ask again.” The Matoran chortled. “Or what? You’ll beat me with your stick? Just because you’re willing to kill, Toa, doesn’t mean you can. Many have tried to fell Marducae, and many have met their end.” The Matoran, Marducae, grabbed the Codex from its pedestal and put it into a small backpack he was wearing. A ghostly green claw of energy sparked to life on his right hand. “Care to be next?” Helryx fell into a combat stance as Marducae approached her and jumped onto the round platform, the scope of his mask adjusting rapidly as he seemingly sized her up. Marducae held up his hand and suddenly a stream of fire lept out toward Helryx, impacting her shield as she raised it. “Well, whaddya know,” Marducae laughed. “The Codex really does work! Brilliant!” Helryx slowly fought against the flame to move toward Marducae, but fell forward as the force suddenly dissipated. Marducae chortled and walked across her back before diving into a roll as she made to stand. Helryx turned and brought her mace into the rock, smashing it as Marducae dodged. Marducae swiped with his energy claw, only just missing the handle of the mace. Helryx made to ram him with her shield, but he dodged and shot a ball of fire at her back, burning her. She bit back the pain, throwing her shield at him. The shield embedded into the stone as he jumped backwards. She drove him to the ground, sitting atop him. A punch in his chest. A fist driven into the stone by his head. A claw swiping at a silver chestplate. A cry of mixed pain and anger. A burst of flame and a mass of armor blasted backwards. “I’ve fought worse than you, love,” Marducae spoke. “Imbibers, Aurosians, Visorak.” He pressed his foot onto her scratched and scorched chest plate. “And those were without a Codex.” He pressed his foot harder onto her, causing her to grunt in pain. Her hand suddenly snapped to his wrist, forcing his claws onto himself. He stumbled backwards, snarling in pain. An unexpected uppercut from a mace, striking right on the chin. A clang as a body hit the floor. A hand clutching at a scorched and bleeding chest. Pained breathing. Helryx walked over to Marducae, stooping to check him. Unconscious. Helryx sighed. She had not expected such feats from a Matoran. She had been sloppy. She should have known to never underestimate a foe. She made a note in her mind to go out into the field more. Sitting in her office was doing nothing for her skills. Helryx affixed her mace to her hip and retrieved her shield from the stone. Digging into Marducae’s backpack, she retrieved the Elemental Codex of Fire and a first aid kit. She bandaged her own wounds, wincing as they came into full focus. Luckily her only open wound was on her chest and her armor had reduced the severity of her burns, but everything else still hurt. She bandaged Marducae’s wounds as well. She wanted him alive. There were questions to be asked. She slung him over her shoulder, wincing from the act, and started the arduous trek back to her transport.

A mere three days later Helryx and Echo exited the chute station and found the guard who had called for them waiting. They were at one of Daxia’s prison blocks, set into the ground beneath the seafloor off the coast. A suggestion from Echo. If there were a breakout, the facility could be flooded. Whatever it takes. Helryx and Echo followed the green-clad Aquavian, the smell of seaweed filling them. They passed many cells as they moved deeper into the facility, their occupants as varied as the agents of the Order. They stopped at last at an open cell, and the Aquavian gestured within. “When?” Helryx asked. “We found him like this only just this morning, Director,” the guard answered. “But security footage shows it happened last night just after we changed the guard.” Echo stalked into the cell to examine the body of Marducae. His hands ran over the body, moving limbs, head, and mask. “Other than his wounds from your fight, no physical evidence to explain his death,” Echo announced. “Footage doesn’t show much either,” the guard replied somberly. “One moment he appears to be sleeping, the next he’s convulsing.” “Did he ever talk?” Helryx asked. “No.” Helryx sighed. The Codex was locked away safely, but there was still doubtless some unknown enemy out there who had helped Marducae and was waiting for the Order even now. “I will order a full examination of the body,” Echo announced to Helryx. “We will find out how he killed himself and make sure to integrate the information into our prisoner processing protocol.” “Very well,” Helryx responded. She took one final look at the body before turning to leave, trying as much as she could to blot the image from her memory to go get more rest. An exercise in futility.

Characters
In order of appearance:
 * Helryx
 * Echo
 * Johmak
 * Kadalys
 * Ga-Matoran
 * Ba-Matoran
 * Jaller
 * Marducae
 * Aquavian prison guard