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This article was written by Toa Makao. Please do not add to it without the writer's permission.
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It is a story serial featuring Turaga Othosak's adventures in the Universe Core.
Day 1: Disastrous Dreams[]
A short, green and blue Turaga with a double bladed staff was sitting in an underground bunker. His name was Othosak, and he wasn't the only one there. Several Av-Matoran sat on beds of their own around the bunker. He knew they would be safe down here, in an underground bunker which had it's entrance hidden by a grove of skeletal trees, and that grove surrounded by a ring of lightvine. But it was hard to just sit here and rest knowing that devastation was going on above ground. He understood the Matoran were probably feeling the same way, but the Toa Nuva had said it was for the best. But for some reason Othosak still did not know, Solek, Tanma and Photok had been able to go. Why couldn't all these others? Murmurs of unease came from the Matoran who were gathering in groups of four or five around the beds. The Turaga stood up and walked toward a wooden platform in the centre of the rectangular room.
"Matoran," he said, with surprising volume for a Turaga. The room immediately cleared of sound, "let us put these worries, these doubts, behind us for now. Sleep Matoran, rest. Tommorow we have a big journey ahead of us." The Matoran obediently clambered into their beds. Then, after he had doused the lightstones, he too, fell into bed, and drifted into a sleep as disturbed dreams filled his tired mind. But one nightmare seemed to repeat itself again and again in his dormant head. Makuta Krika, the pale, phantom like white and red Makuta, in Othosak's nightmare, he and Kirop stole back all of the keystones from the Toa Nuva, plus killed Gali and Pohatu doing so, he then broke into the Codrex, destroyed everything in it and then the Codrex itself. Then worst of all, the dream always ended the same way, Mata Nui died and the uniiverse along with him. But even in his dreams, Othosak knew these nightmares were the least of his trouble.
To be continued
Day 2: The Journey[]
Turaga Othosak suddenly jolted awake in the middle of a dream. He saw an Av-Matoran disguised as a Onu-Matoran, Andorid, standing over him. "What happened?" asked Othosak. "You were sort of moaning in your sleep, and you suddenly went rigid and started twitching," said Andorid, a look of shock on his Kanohi Rau. Othosak clambered out of bed and headed above ground. He looked around, it was still dark, not that it made much difference around here. He could still here blasts in the distance, telling him that the battle near the Codrex still raged on. He looked behind him to see that Andorid had followed him up. "Andorid, awaken the Matoran," he said, "the journey starts now."
Day 3: The Swamp Strider[]
Turaga Othosak was in a garage the size of a cathedral, near the shelter the Av-Matoran and himself had recently left. He looked through the piles of empty oilcans and other worthless objects, before he discovered what he was looking for. A Swamp Strider, given to him by Toa Helryx when he had been a Matoran and had first came to Karda Nui. He had not seen it, let alone use it, since he had became a Toa several months before. He then addressed Andorid:
"Have the Midak Skyblaster loaded, the entire vehicle dusted, and the joints oiled," he ordered.
"Very well Turaga," Andorid nodded, "but why will we need it?"
"Because," the Turaga answered softly, "I'm not as young as I used to be, and I don't want to slow down the journey."
45 minutes later"'
"Your Swamp Strider has been through all of the maintenance jobs you ordered, Turaga," Andorid reported.
"Good," smiled Othosak, "we're ready to leave." Othosak laid his staff gently onto the ground, and mounted the Swamp Strider. He swerved it through the mountains of broken items, and beckoned the Matoran to follow him.
Meanwhile Two Makuta, Krika and Vamprah, had managed to slink out of a battle near the Codrex and had fled deep into the Swamp of Secrets. They had stumbled across the underground refuge of the Av-Matoran, and had watched the Turaga and black/beige Av-Matoran leave the refuge from the thick undergrowth. They had then watched the Matoran disappear underground again and return with about twenty other Av-Matoran, and the group had then left for a a sort of underground garage. The Matoran had come out again, being lead by the Turaga still, but the Turaga was now riding a quadrupedal, spider-like vehicle. Now the two Makuta were each thinking about when they should attack them. After a long silence, they both spoke. "With your tactics of hunting, my brain and both of our silence," whispered Krika, "we could set up the perfect ambush for the travelers." Vamprah, as usual, didn't give his opinion or his own suggestion through speech. He instead simply nodded.
- "I know the Matoran are heading for their fortress," said Krika, "Teridax once told me about a robot his Matoran made, named the Keerakh. It was a law enforcer, but instead of chasing it's prey, the thing was intelligent enough to know that chasing your prey isn't necessary. It's simply necessary to be waiting at your prey's destination. And are we going to have a surprise for the Matoran when they get to the fortress." Krika smiled maliciously, and by the time he had finished his speech, so was Vamprah. Then, unseen by the Matoran, the menacing pair slunk away, further into the undergrowth.
Day 4: The Battle of Karda Nui[]
The Matoran, lead by Turaga Othosak, headed up a path up a stalactite the Matoran had carved centuries ago. Bouvri, an Av-Matoran disguised as a Ga-Matoran, looked up, seeing only the roof of the cave and the top of the stalactite. There was still at least 150 meters more to climb before the Matoran reached the top. She lurched onwards, moving slowly like the other Matoran.
Meanwhile
Krika and Vamprah glided up towards the roof of Karda Nui, where they could better see the Matoran. They saw them moving up from the mist up a spiraling path carved into a stalactite. Their targets were coming, but the two Makuta were not alone. They, along with Antroz, Chirox, Gorast and Bitil had slunk away from battle.
"Come on," Antroz said to the other five, "we need to move on before the Toa find us." No sooner had the words escaped Antroz's mouth, a blast of light came from somewhere below, barely missing Gorast's head. The six Toa Nuva, along with Mazeka, three Av-Matoran and the strange Toa wearing the Mask of life, emerged from the mist. Each went to battle immediately, Gali and Pohatu taking off after Gorast and Krika, Lewa and Tahu zooming after Chirox and Bitil, Kopaka and Onua advancing on Antroz and Vamprah, the strange Toa Ignika launching an attack on the Shadow Matoran. but then, the tables turned on the Toa, the appearance of Icarax, Mutran, Vican and Vultraz completely took the Toa by surprise, but the sudden appearance of Takanuva sent the masters of Shadow back to the swamp. The Toa and their allies followed, hoping still to launch a final attack that would send the Makuta packing for good.
Day 5: The Ice Temple[]
Andorid spoke again to Othosak.
"Turaga," he asked "will we be taking a rest soon?"
"When we reach the top of the stalactite," the Turaga replied, "there will be a place better than among the rocks to rest."
"What is it?" asked the Matoran.
"The Ice Temple," said Othosak, when Andorid scratched his head, looking puzzled, the Turaga explained, "is a temple made of stalactite ice I carved myself, when I first came here."
"Um, ok," said Andorid, looking at the Turaga as if he had grown a tail. The Matoran reached the top, finding themselves in one of many stalactite snowfields, which form because the top of the stalactites are so high up, the air is colder than Toa Kopaka, and because it is so damp up there, snow and ice form. Then, the Matoran saw it, a huge, purely white temple, looking a lot like the Taj Mahal. The Matoran hurried inside it to avoid being frozen solid. Inside, there was a fireplace, with a pot over it, and there were inscriptions all over the wall. Turaga Othosak lit the fire, and the Matoran studied the inscriptions curiously. They turned out to be carvings of the entire history of Karda Nui, and the rest, near a throne of ice, as Bouvri realized, was a carving of Othosak's whole life story. Both of which were very interesting to read. Then they found something else on a wall, prophecies.....
Elsewhere
The Makuta were assembled at Krika's base camp.
"We can't just let them win like this!" Antroz was bellowing at his teammates, "we're Makuta! Not little tamed Rahi or whining Matoran! We can't just keep retreating like this!"
"Says the one who thought we should move on before the Toa spotted us," muttered Bitil. Krika, Gorast and Vamprah nodded their agreement.
"We've got to set up a distraction," said Antroz, appearing not to have heard them, "that's where our tactical masters Krika and Chirox can help."
Day 6: The Fortress[]
"Our plan is," explained Chirox, smiling. It was the only expression more hideous than any expression a Skakdi could have made, "Mutran and our five favourite Shadow Matoran," he continued, he said gesturing towards Vican, Vultraz, Gavla, Kirop and Radiak, "will distract the Toa by attacking a group of Av-Matoran, or by doing some such thing. While the Toa are distracted by them, we will launch our little surprise attack. But even ambushed, Takanuva will be a problem, so Icarax can deal with him." Chirox looked around. Gorast looked satisfied, Antroz looked proud/insane/like a small child presented with a lollipop. Bitil nodded and hummed his approval.
"A bit simple," said Bitil, "but destructive just the same." Chirox gestured the others to come in closer to him.
"Now let's discuss positions...." Chirox whispered.
Meanwhile
The Av-Matoran had left the Ice Fortress, shaken as they were by the prophecy on the wall there. They had reached the edge of the stalactite and crossed a natural stone bridge, formed by two stalactites growing too close together. They crossed and headed down a vertical tunnel that lead to the village and fortress. The Matoran used their weapons to climb down, the Turaga using the Swamp Strider's razor blades to get a firm grip. After coming down a few hundred meters or so, they saw the way out to the village, but kept going further down to the fortress. After another ninety foot drop, they arrived at the fortress at the bottom of the tunnel. Andorid volunteered to find the way inside the fortress. He ended up climbing the wall to get to the control box that opened the gate. The gate opened, but the Matoran couldn't help feeling something was wrong. The air grew very cold, and the Matoran heard someone or something skittering along the ceilings and walls. Then they heard it, a soft, ghost-like laugh. Makuta Krika had infiltrated the fortress. If the Matoran were to capture him before he hurt or captured anyone, they would need help. Fast.