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SPRAT


Irrie

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~~~

 

Generalissimo Takanuva folded his arms as he stood on the top of his transportation craft as it crawled over one of the ridgelines of the Black Spike Mountains. Included in his company were several guard crafts as well as a storage vehicle that was attached to the back of the main one. 

On this day it had been exactly one year since the demise of Teridax, and two years since the Toa Mata had first landed in the sea around Mata Nui. Since the arrival of the Matoran, the Agori had joined them and formed the United Village of Spherus Magna. 

However this came with a costly price. As of two weeks ago, a portion of the Great Beings had declared open war on the United Village and on the remaining Great Beings. Little was publicly known about the reason for this, but many speculate it is because they wanted a direct say in the operations of the United Village. Others think that it was a delayed punishment for the Core War. However only a select group of individuals, Generalissimo Takanuva included, know of their true nature. 

They didn’t trust the inhabitants of the Matoran Universe. Or at least the ones that served no good other than being worker drones. 

“They see us as toys,” Takanuva muttered to himself. “As robots programmed to perform tasks for their gratification. The sad thing is they’re willing to attack a village that’s equally populated by Agori just to take us out. In fact, I think that-”

His musings were interrupted when he heard an explosion on the side of the ridge. He looked around and saw artillery shells flying through air. 

“The Tsundari!” he shouted as he leapt off the side of the transport and onto the ground. Tsundari was a combination of the Agori word for similar, “Tsda”, and the Matoran word for fake, “Unri”. They were entirely mechanical robots created by the breakaway Great Beings that resembled most Matoran, only they were hunched over and all the same color, a dull black. 

Takanuva drew his twin light staffs from the sheaths mounted on his back as he landed on the rocky ground. He saw a hatch opening in the side of the transport and a gangway was thrown down. Several Agori grenadiers sprang out with their launchers in hand. 

“Generalissimo, get back in the transport, we’ll hold off the Tsundari from out here,” said one of them as she trained her weapon down the mountain’s slope. 

“I didn’t become a Toa to be an armchair commander,” replied Takanuva. He leapt into the air with amazing finesse and landed at an angle on the mountainside. The momentum caused him to slide down, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. 

He saw another shell fly overhead, but it was aimed at the transport, not him. He summoned a ball of radiant energy between his two light staffs. He charged it for second or two and sent it soaring through the air, landing square on the shell, exploding it prematurely. 

Takanuva turned around and continued sliding down the mountain. He saw more and more shells being fired upward, and he had to continue destroying them before they got too close to the transport. He eventually came to a point where he could see what was at the bottom of the valley without having the fog obscuring it.

There were two rocket artillery launchers among a crowd of Tsundari and a few Sand Stalkers. He charged up another ball of light, this time a larger one than what he had before. He held it over his head, but just before he fired it, he felt a strike to his back. This sent him off balance and rolling down the mountainside, the light ball dissipating. He landed on a small crag that jutted out from the rest of the hill. He immediately flipped himself over onto his back and saw an enormous silhouette standing over him. 

“You should have stayed inside, Generalissimo,” it sneered as it delivered a powerful blow to his forehead, knocking him out cold. 

 

 

***

 

 

Mirche crouched down as he peered out from behind a rock, his great mask of concealment activated. Beside him, standing as still as a statue, was a Le-Matoran named Piruk. 

He narrowed his eyes. There he was, his prize. Nektann, an escaped war criminal had busted out of prison approximately three months ago. It was Mirche’s task, assigned by the House of Leaders themselves, to hunt him down.

   Piruk tagged along with him because he always enjoyed the company of a Matoran on his missions, and Piruk was one of his closest friends. They met each other when Piruk got separated from his fellow Voya Nui Matoran during the exodus from the Matoran Universe. Mirche was the only one willing to help him find his friends, partially because Mirche didn’t have a group to keep up with in the first place. 

“Do you see him?” whispered Piruk.

“Yup,” said Mirche as he ducked back down below the rock, deactivating his great Huna. 

“Luckily his scythe was broken during the great battle, otherwise we’d have to deal with him using the element of Water against us. That leaves his physical prowess, his impact vision, and his corrosion ability. I’m not like most Toa of Fire, I don’t wear a whole bunch of armor. So that eliminates his corrosion.”

“This one looks comparatively easy.”

“Lets hope so,” said Mirche as he leapt out from behind the rock, his spear in hand. He fired twin jets of white hot flames from his feet which sent him rocketing into the air. Nektann immediately heard this and spun around, shock and fear in his eyes. 

“A Toa,” he seethed as he saw the flying figure of Mirche. He sent twin beams of impact vision at him, however they missed by a long shot. Mirce raised his pointed his spear toward the ground and cut off his propulsion. This sent him flying downward, landing weapon first. He then mentally connected to the blade of the weapon, sending an incredible amount of heat through the ground, melting it into lava. 

However Nektann saw this and he barely escaped the circle of liquid rock as it formed. He picked up a small boulder and hurled it at Mirche, however the Toa of Fire created a mental link with the rock and caused it to incinerate on the spot.

Mirche had discovered how to mentally connect with inanimate objects while he was back in the Matoran Universe. He became a Toa approximately 35,000 years after the Core War, however he was never part of a Toa team. He spent his days wandering a vast plainsland on the Northern Continent, hunting Rahi with his primitive spear. The first time he had spoken to anyone in 65,000 years was Piruk during the evacuation of the universe. This prolonged isolation allowed him to build up a mental fortitude unmatched by any other being, an accomplishment that he was rather proud of.

Now Mirche concentrated on Nektann’s armor. He heated it up to a temperature that would severely burn his skin, but not harm his muscular tissue. He smiled as he heard the Skakdi screech in pain. He used this moment to spring forward and tackle the former warlord. He pulled out a syringe that had a strange purple liquid within from his knapsack and injected it into Nektann’s ear. Almost as soon as he did so, the blue Skakdi fell limp.

“Lights out, buddy,” said Mirche as he hauled him over his shoulder and walked back over to Piruk. 

“How long do we have to get back to Mordak Makhmud before he wakes up?”

“I’d say about a week. That juice induces a real powerful coma, I doubt even this guy would shake it off before at least eight days.”

Mordak Makhmud was the capital city of the United Village. 

They had traveled for four days before they began to arrive in the outskirts of Mordak Makhmud. Here there were many stretches of farmland, accompanied by the occasional farm shack. They would pass by and greet an occasional farmer who was taking the road to visit one of their neighbors or check on a different section of their land. Another day passed and they entered the furthest wall of the city. They got on the monorail line, which took them to the central district, where the were escorted to the village prison. They deposited the comatose Nektann there, and they then made there way for the House of Leaders. 

“You’ll have to wait outside,” said Mirche as he entered the building. 

“Yes yes, I know the procedure,” said Piruk. 

“Although you might get in if you really wanted to. Don’t you know one of the members of the House?”

“Who, Garan? Ah, that’ll just be a big bother. No need to have to carve my way through all that red tape just to pop in and say hello.”

“Well, if you say so. Stay out of trouble.” 

Mirche entered into the lobby, where he was greeted by an Agori at the entrance desk.

“Mister Mirche?”

“That’s me.”

“Yes, you’re requested in Colonel Norik’s office.”

“It’ll have to wait, I need to speak with the House first.”

“He said that you should do it as soon as you arrived. And the House is currently debating a resolution, so you couldn’t go in anyway.”

“Oh. Well, alright then. Thanks for the notice.”

“No problem, sir.” 

Mirche ascended the stairs to the third floor, where he knocked at Colonel Norik’s door.

“Knock knock, anybody home?” 

“Come in.”

“Hey there sweetheart,” said Mirche sarcastically. “How’s dinner cookin’, papa bear is hungry after a long day of work.”

“Honestly Specialist Mirche, you have got to learn to be more respectful of your commanding officers,” sighed Norik. “You’re lucky that I’m the one that was put in charge of you, Colonel Bomonga or Lieutenant Colonel Kongu wouldn’t put up with your shenanigans for a day.”

“Yes yes, I know. But in reality I must be doing you a great service, I doubt that any of your peers give you anything to laugh about.” Miche sat down in a chair and propped his feet up onto Norik’s desk.

“Take your feet down.”

“What’s the magic word?”

“I said take your feet down, Specialist!” 

“Alright, alright. So the doorman said that you needed me, what’s going down today, b0ss?” 

“Yes, I have just received word from higher up.”

“Oh boy, have the clouds started talking to you, because last I checked you didn’t own a Rau.” 

“This is actually a personal request from General Gali. Generalissimo Takanuva has gone missing. His caravan was attacked while he was traversing over the Black Spike Mountains, and we believe that it was the work of the Tsundari.”

“Who else would do it?”

“The Dark Hunters and the Skrall are possibilities.”

“Bah, the Dark Hunters wouldn’t attack us unless they planned on using Takanuva as a bargaining chip for something bigger, and I’m sure that the Skrall have other things to worry about.”

“As I was saying, General Gali wants myself, Gresh, Tarix, and Kualus to assemble a small team of soldiers specifically for retrieving persons.”

“Well that’s my specialty.”

“Exactly, and you’re the most talented one I have employed in said specialty. That’s why I’m asking you to join this team. Right now it’s named SPRAT, or Specialized Personnel Retrieval and Tracking.”

“Bonus points for a snazzy name. Alright, where do I sign up?” 

“I’ve taken care of the paperwork already, don’t worry. All I need to tell you is that you’ll be packing your bags for tomorrow.”

“Oh, and what is this for?”

“You and the three other SPRAT members will report to Lieutenant Colonel Hewkii’s outpost positioned on the border lands.”

“What good will us being on the border lands be?”

“That’s where we believe that the breakaway Great Beings are operating from. We also suspect that Takanuva has been transported there.”

“Wonderful, being thrown away from civilization is what I do best. Now if you excuse me Norik, I’ve got to go show the geasers in the House that I know how to go on a proper Skakdi hunt.”

Edited by The Irrational Rock
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“...and in conclusion, I would like to confirm to you all that I have recaptured the escaped criminal, Nektann.”

He was answered by a mundane round of applause. 

“Thank you, Specialist Mirche,” said the House chair, Raanu. “Your reward will be discussed at the next meeting. Meeting adjourned,” he said. The leaders began placing their papers into their cases and talking among themselves. Mirche got up and left. 

He found Piruk sitting outside on one of the steps.

“Entertaining out here?”

“Moderately. I saw something that looked like an Archives Mole that had a bushy tail sticking out of its forehead crawl by me.”

“We’ve been here over a year and I don’t think any of us have fully adjusted to the Spherus Magna fauna.” 

“How’d it go?”

“Oh, fine. Norik wanted to talk to me too.”

“About what?”

“I’ve been assigned to a project that General Gali dreamt up called SPRAT.”

“SPRAT?”

“It stands for something. Basically I’ll be retrieving people from custody, which is something that I’ve already been doing.”

“Then what’s the point of it?”

“I have no idea. But the big deal here is that I’m being relocated out to the wilderness. To an outpost run by Lt. Colonel Hewkii.”

“Oh really?”

“Yep. You want to come?”

“I’m not enlisted.”

“Then enlist now, Norik’s in his office. Go in and ask him if you can enlist so you can come with me.” 

“But...I don’t want to be in the military.”

“Neither do I, but Toa don’t exactly grow from trees.” 

“I’m not a Toa.”

“No, you’re Piruk, and Piruk wants to follow me, right?”

“Well, yeah. But I’ve got other friends here that I can’t just run off without saying goodbye to.”

“Then after you enlist, you go and say goodbye to your friends.”

“I don’t think that I want to.”

“Oh come on, Piruk, it’ll be fun! We’ll get to meet some other enlistees as well as a few officers, and it’ll all turn out peachy. We could even film a soap opera from there or something.”

“My life is traumatic enough as is.”

“How so?”

“Well I sneak off to accompany you.”

“It won’t be any different.”

“But it’ll be at a military outpost.”

“How does that affect the situation?” 

“Well. Okay. Alright, I guess I’ll enlist.”

“Atta boy. Norik’s office is on the third floor, you’ll know it by the scratches around the doorknob.”

“How’d he get his door scratched?”

“Nobody knows, but rumor has it that it was from one of his late night raves with the other Haguah. Kualus probably had something to do with it.”

“Oh. Well, okay then, I guess I’ll just have to go enlist.”

They stood there for a moment.

“You’re not going to enlist, are you?”

“Nyet.”

“You’re going to sneak into my travel bag, aren’t you.”

“Да.”

“Alright, let’s get back to the apartment. I might have to bring an extra golf bag and tell everyone to ignore the Matoran-shaped lump in it.” 

“Security’s been lacking recently, we should make it through.”

Early the next morning, Mirche met his ride near the outer gate of Mordak Makhmud. Their transport arrived a few minutes late in a strange, but powerful looking vehicle. A red and silver armored Glatorian emerged from the cockpit. 

“Greetings, Specialist Mirche is it?”

“The one and only unless I’ve a doppleganger running about.” 

“Excellent. I am Sergeant Major Perditus. You can put your stuff in the trunk and hop on the side when you’re ready.”

Mirche deposited his luggage and the suspiciously shaped golf bag into a small compartment that was built into the rear of the vehicle.

“What type of machine is this, Sarge?”

“A contraption of my own, Specialist. Call it the Thornatus V10.”

“What were the 9 other Vs?”

“1 through 7 were prototypes that exploded in various ways, except for 6, which was eaten by an animal the size of a mountain. Version 8 ran out of fuel in the middle of the desert, so I had to leave it there. When I came back, it was already taken by Bone Hunters. Version 9 lasted the longest, and is the only one that ever saw the arena. It became Version 10 when I welded on that trunk to the back.”

“Could’ve been helpful to include a passenger’s seat,” said Mirche as he grabbed on to the side of the cockpit. 

“Too expensive, my only source of money is from our Friday night gambling.”

“What about your armed services paycheck?”

“Typically whoever brings those to the outpost from Mordak Makhmud gets attacked by Bone Hunters. The last time I got paid for sitting around at that outpost and doing nothing was about seven months ago.”

“Oh boy, I’m itching with excitement to get there.”

Perditus started the engine and began to drive down the road that cut through the farmlands.

“Well it’s not as bad as it might seem.”

“Before you tell me the perks about it, how badly has anyone tried to escape the outpost?”

“Um. Well, one of the Agori did try to convince Colonel Hewkii that his uncle had become pregnant, so he needed to go see him.”

“His uncle?”

“He thought up the plan when he was on night duty, so he must have been so exhausted that he couldn’t think straight. Anyway, when the Colonel didn’t allow him to leave, he got his revenge by sending all the chairs in Hewkii’s office for a train ride.”

“A train ride?”

“He found some used mining carts in the hills nearby the camp, so he snuck out with all of Hewkii’s chairs and put them in the carts and sent them rolling.”

“Rolling to where?”

“On a track into the abandoned mine. Rumor has it that a few of the Agori that had gotten trapped down there when the mine was still running are still alive, and interpreted the chairs as a gift from their deity. We suspect that Hewkii is now revered and worshipped by the mine people.” 

“In that case, I might as well jump off this vehicle and run screaming into the fields while I still have a chance.”

“My vehicle also features a Thornax Launcher and four Force Blasters.”

“Suddenly I feel compelled to stay in your company.”

“I’ve always been told that I have an intoxicating personality.” 

They continued on the road. By noon, the fields around them had thinned to a coarse and low-growing prairie grass. The landscape began to become a little more hilly, but nothing else noteworthy. 

However Piruk was having a horrible time. He was hot, sweaty, and had to sit in an extremely uncomfortable position for a very long time. He needed fresh air. He tried unzipping the bag from the inside, but there was no handle for him to pull. He then tried to use his claws to tear through the golf bag. It didn’t work at first, but after giving them a good sharpening, he was able to puncture it and open a hole. 

He poked his head out. All seemed good as he took a deep breathe of air. 

“Smells nice out here, huh?” asked Perditus. Piruk froze and his eyes snapped shut. 

“Did I mention that that golf bag was actually my gym bag? Sorry about that,” said Mirche. 

“Well that explains why it was so musty,” sighed Piruk. 

“Musty? I prefer the term flavorful.” 

They arrived at the outpost by dusk. It was hardly anything to be proud of. A collection of thirty or so buildings surrounded by a razor protosteel fence. All the buildings looked the same with the exception of a guard tower in the middle. 

“What a charming little village,” remarked Mirche. “I hope that the house I land in is purple with white daisies in the front lawn.”

They entered through a gate in the fence and parked next to a building with a garage on the side. After they exited their vehicle, they walked to a large building near the center of the encampment. In fact, the watchtower was connected to it via the ceiling. Standing guard was an Agori who was lazily slouched against the door. 

“Top of the afternoon, Kyry,” said Perditus.

“Ey, b0ss,” mumbled Kyry, casting a short glance at Perditus and the two strangers. 

After they entered the building, they knocked on one of the doors in the lobby. 

“That was Kyry, he’s head of security here.”

“Is there anything that’s worth keeping secure in this place?”

“Valid point.” 

“Come in,” said a voice inside the room. Perditus opened the door and lead in Mirche and Piruk. Inside of the room was a desk that was cluttered with papers strown everywhere. There were a few filing cabinets behind it as well as a window. Sitting at it was a yellow and black Toa with a Great Garai. 

“Ah, welcome. Please, take a seat.”

“There’s nowhere to sit,” said Mirche.

“That’s because my chairs are currently being worshipped by the people of the underground. The floor will have to do.”

The Toa and Matoran sat uncomfortably on the ground while Hewkii dismissed Perditus. 

“Now before I give you a formal welcoming to my forsaken excuse of an outpost, may I ask why on earth you are here, Piruk?”

“You know each other?” asked Mirche.

“It was only for a brief time, but yeah,” replied Piruk.

“It’s okay, not all relationships are meant to be. You’ll find true love someday Piruk, but maybe not as a Toa of Stone.”

“What? No, I...nevermind. Anyway Colonel Hewkii, I’m here because I wanted to stay with my friend here.”

“Hm. Have you enlisted?”

“No.”

“Then I’m technically obliged to eject you from the premises. But since laws mean nothing in this dingy outpost, I’ll let you sign up.” 

“How do I do so?”

“I’ll have your paperwork sent to you tomorrow. Anyway, mister Mirche, right?”

“Unless the dozens of slips of paper you’ve received so far have had false names on them, yes that is my name.” 

“Yeah, you’re the new SPRAT member.”

“I would have never guessed.”

“Currently there is one other SPRAT member here, the other two have yet to arrive. His name is Amel, an ice Glatorian. Wonderful fellow, he’s in the SPRAT bunker.”

“Gee, thanks. It’s not like I don’t know my way around this camp or something.”

Hewkii narrowed his eyes.

“Listen up specialist, I don’t care how bad of a day you had, I want you to cut out the sarcasm.”

“You and every fauna on this planet both.”

“Adress me as Colonel.”

“Whatever you say. Lieutenant Colonel.”

“Out.”

“What’s that?”

“Get out. Find your own way to the SPRAT bunker.”

“Whatever you say, honey,” he said as he got up and headed for the door. Piruk was about to follow him, but Hewkii motioned for him to stop. 

After Mirche left the room, he addressed him.

“How exactly are you friends with him?”

“Well, he can get really sarcastic sometimes. Especially with higher authority.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”
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