After having to go through many twists, turns and backtracking from dead-ends, Santis and Calgia finally found their way into the Bohrok nest. According to the Toa of Lightning, they still were under Mt. Valmai - for some reason, the Great Beings had decided that connecting the 777 stairs with the hive would be a good idea.
Santis was starting to like Caliga. The female Toa was confident in herself and surprisingly, she hadn't lost her sanity after a millennia trapped underwater, something that showed just how mentally strong she was. For once, the Toa of Fire had found someone with a willpower and determination that surpassed his own.
Somewhere in the back of his mind there was something nudging him. He hated to admit it, but that was guilt for Krennato's death. It was a very small annoyance, though, and Santis easily overcame it. He was pragmatic and he knew that he had replaced a decrepit old Matoran with a powerful Toa.
Eventually the pair saw the tunnel they were in widen, until it became a full-fledged cavern. The floor also changed from rough rock to polished circular tiles. They tried to continue walking in a strict straight line, to avoid walking in circles.
It didn’t take long for them to find some company in the lonely cavern. Orange dots, hovering at about what would be their waist level, started approaching the Toa. As they came closer, Santis started seeing that the dots were triangular, that they light was reflected on impossibly white teeth, and that accompanying them was a light blue headplate with a sicly orange Krana inside.
Gahlok.
Santis signaled Caliga to close her eyes and cover her heartlight. The Toa of Fire did the same, while also powering off his fire sword. The Danju wearer knew that was a bold move to make, but Bohrok were not especially feared for their wits. Avoiding confrontation would save them some precious time, so they had to take the risk.
The mechanical sound of gears spinning and ungreased joints screeching came closer and closer. Santis heard motion to his side – Caliga was getting nervous. Although he wouldn’t admit it, he was also getting worried. The Gahlok were walking right up to them. Santis was about to pull Caliga by the arm to move when suddenly a jet of water struck at full force, sending him flying backwards. Another Gahlok shot at him, making him spin until he finally met the ground, crashing hard.
The Toa of Fire instinctively threw a ball of flames at the source of the water, only to find it turned into steam. He ignited his fire sword, and stared at the attackers, counting eight of them.
Caliga charged headfirst into battle, followed by Santis. The Fa-Toa smashed the outer shells of two Gahlok, and then proceeded to slice the Krana inside with her spear. Santis threw a wave of plasma, which melted the three Bohrok trying to stop it with more water.
A curtain of steam, almost solid-looking in the light of Santis’ sword, engulfed the Toa. Santis felt a sharp pain in the back as he was head butted by one of the robots. Trying to keep on his feet, he spun around and shot beams of laser vision of the Bohrok, one luckily striking at the eyes of the machine, sending the Krana flying to the floor, where it was mercilessly stomped by Caliga.
Only two Gahlok were left standing. Santis took of his Danju, taunting the Bohrok. The insect-like being didn’t think twice, and it launched its Krana at the Toa of Fire, who sliced it in two midair.
Caliga threw a bolt of electricity at the last Gahlok, but the Bohrok fought back with a water blast, electrocuting the Toa of Lightning. Furious, she rose from the floor and ripped open the robot with her bare hands.
Moving on from the incident they walked for minutes, silent as they swam in the oppressively dense darkness. Santis sword was barely enough to light a few steps in front of them. Something in this place was clearly off. The atmosphere was heavy and Santis was starting to feel weak, even though that could be attributed to the long hours walking through tunnels with very few stops to eat in-between.
"What’s that?" yelled Caliga, pointing to three green dots floating a dozen of meters in front of them. Both knew what that meant - It was the triangle of eyes and heartlight.
The three orbs of light were fixed in the black firmament, like a ternary star system frozen in place and time, condemned to hover in the black void of space for eternity. Whatever those eyes belonged to, they weren't moving.
Sanits scratched his head. "Bohrok are not that tall. Possessed Matoran neither."
As the sphere of light of his sword engulfed more and more of the seemingly impenetrable darkness the Toa finally met a solid structure, above which hovered the eyes, sill out of reach. It was a platform of some sort, with some kind of strange machinery, wires crisscrossing from various connection ports and ending in a central connection… where the mysterious figure was.
Creeping closer, Santis observed how badly rusted most of the machinery was, and realized that it must be a command centre of some sort. There was screen showing the depiction of Krana, some levers and buttons, as well as various smaller screens with coordinates. Santis touched one of the buttons, and the Krana Yo in one of the screens turned into a Krana Vu.
Santis decided that this must be the way that the Bohrok Va know which Kanohi they have to change, and probably it also served as means for the Bohrok squad leaders to communicate with one of various command centres without having to overload the Bahrag queens themselves. But the most important piece was still missing – the person behind that had to manipulate all the controls.
The Toa of Fire was expecting anything - Skakdi, Rahkshi, Makuta or even Krennato's ghost coming to kill him for saving her murderer. Therefore, what he felt when his fire sword finally illuminated the figure could only be described as disappointment.
Just another Toa.
Only that this one wasn’t moving at all, like if he was a statue. It was sitting on a chair, hands attached to wires, circled by more of the machinery that Santis had examined.
The Danju wearer started examining the immobile Toa's armour, trying to determine its element. A pair of armored feet were connected to a pair of equally armored legs. On the Toa's back, a huge and at the same time gracile shield was attached. The whole figure was coloured in shades of grey and silver. That meant Sonics.
All of it was monotone, until he reached the face. A disgustingly black Krana Za was attached to the Toa's face, like a charcoal leech sucking out his sanity.
"What should we do with him?" Asked Santis as he examined further the parasite. It was warm on the touch.
"I say you get out of my way and I just zap him. I've lost enough time enclosed; I shall waste no more of my life. Not for a Toa."
"Hey, why all this violence and extremism? I think we should just free him from the Krana. I'm offering him the same thing I offered you."
"I didn't ask to be saved. I already told you that I owe you nothing. I'm not following you because of a life debt, but because of convenience."
Santis turned his back to argue when suddenly the Toa of Sonics sprung to life and slammed the Danju wearer hard with his shield. Then The De-Toa turned on Caliga, sending a wave of piercing sound at her.
"The enemies of the Brotherhood will be executed", said the grey Toa in a serene voice.
Santis groaned as he got back to his feet. "Hey there, don't get out of character. You're supposed to be aone of the clean freaks of the Swarm, not a Rahkshi lover."
The Za wearer hesitated for a moment, then showed no emotions as he charged into battle. Santis tried to bring him down with his sword, only to meet with a loud screech that hammered his audio receptors, loosing grip on the weapon. The dark servant kicked it away, leaving them in complete darkness.
Caliga formed a lighting arc between her hands, and Santis ignited the air around his right fist. The next thing they knew, they were a blur trying to kick, slash and punch an opponent who blended too well in the shadows and moved in absolute silence.
Santis tried to shout some tactics at Caliga, only to find that his words carried no sound.
He was starting to really hate this Sonics-guy.
The possessed Toa jumped out of the shadows and smashed Santis' head onto his shield. Caliga then knew exactly what to do next. That guy was a Takea, and Takea always strike...
"From the back!" shouted the Fa-Toa as she turned around and sent a surge of hundreds of volts at the silent attacker.
The grey being fell to his knees and then raised up his shield, emitting a high-pitched frequency. In response to that, one of every three tiles sunk. From the newly opened holes came out a horde of Matoran, all of them with a Krana attached to their faces.
Caliga helped Santis out the hole in his own tile, and then started to fight off the incoming mass of possessed Matoran. The female Toa sent a wave of lightning that fused the Matoran's armoured feet to the ground, immobilizing them.
The upcoming crazed mass came to a halt abruptly. At first they didn't know what to do, but after a moment, a possessed Le-Matoran decided to tear his legs off his feet. The rest followed suit and, one by one, the mass of Krana slaves started crawling, feetless, at an amazing speed.
They are already dead, thought Santis. No life, no remorse.
A pair of Matoran lunged at the Toa of Fire, trying to take away his Danju. Santis tried to calm down, knowing what was about to happen.
The Toa gave in to his pyromaniac instincts and set himself on fire. The Matoran lost their grip on him, their hands scorched.
He was starting to imagine what would come next - armor melted, flesh burned, and protodermic bone blackened.
No! His inner self shouted. He couldn't give in. He remembered the lesson he had taught Torlo, back on the surface.
Santis calmed down, and the flames died down.
When the dimensionally-displaced Toa turned his head, he saw that Caliga hadn't resisted. In that moment she was no Toa, but rather a maddened animal.
The Toa of Lightning was electrocuting the Matoran, one after another, making their whole body shake in a sickening dance, and cutting off their hands with her spear, as if wanting to confirm her body count. But the worst part of it - she was wide grinning.
Determined to end the carnage, Santis started shooting balls of plasma at each of the Matoran, finishing them off quickly.
Caliga at first looked mad at Santis, he having ended her fun, but then something - maybe the stench of burnt corpses, or the pile of bodies in front of her - made the Toa realise the horror she had just made.
None of the two Toa dared to speak for a minute, until Santis decided to break the silence.
"If you use their methods, you become them."
Silence.
"I hope you learnt the lesson, because this is the last time we are going to speak of this."
Silence.
Santis then walked to where the Toa of Sonics laid, weak, trying to get up but finding his legs failing him. With beams of heat-vision Santis destroyed the Krana Za, freeing the Toa's mind.
The confused Toa looked at his surroundings in surprise, ignoring Santis and Caliga at first. He tried to scratch his Kanohi, finding that it was no longer there. Cursed under his breath, he then looked at the two Toa in front of him.
"What is this place supposed to be? And what did you do with my Kanohi? Are you heading south too?"
Silence.
The Toa of Sonics, seeing that the two strangers were as clueless as him, decided to present himself, expecting -almost demanding- to receive their identifications in return.
"I'm Sonitous, sergeant of the 56th division of the Metru Nui army, heading south to aid in the Final Push".