The Burdened Sentinel, The Tragedy of Toa Cinoh Options

[Cederak]

The Burdened Sentinel

It was difficult to comprehend how long Leader Draxil had been in command of Planet Cilreta. From the capital island of Vashe, Draxil ran the grand Vashe within the confines of his castle. Eons had passed since the beginning of his corrupt reign, but a single individual intended to put an end to all that. From the tunnels beneath the city, a lone Toa of stone by the name of Cinoh contemplated the possibility of storming Vashe Castle by himself. Before Draxil, the planet had a total eight Toa to act as guardians. That number was now reduced to five. Cytriv and Erinoh were facing life sentences in the frigid Phyon Prison to the north, and Zanok and Lacei had disappeared on Vashe some time ago. In Draxil’s twisted new world, Toa were wanted criminals and Cinoh had no one to turn to. At last, the time to ponder had reached a sudden end and the Toa of stone was prepared to destroy the face of darkness that shrouded Vashe.

Gently, Toa Cinoh ascended into the streets and squinted in the brightness of daylight. On the crowded city sidewalks, passersby looked on in shock to get their first glimpse of a Toa in millennia. Cinoh’s topaz and silver armor glistened like jewels in the sunlight; his pitch black Mask of Echoes focused on the castle that stood before him. Without hesitation, Cinoh marched bitterly across the street and stomped up the stairs of the palace. Unleashing a barrage of stone attacks to batter the doors apart, Cinoh stepped inside the structure and examined the foyer with a sense of hatred.

A pair of staircases descended from the left and right of the upper level, and Leader Draxil stood overlooking the balcony. An expression of malice met with Cinoh’s determined spirit and the two stared at one another for the longest time. Draxil finally broke the silence by setting his glass on the edge of the balcony and slowly hovering down to greet his guest.

“The illustrious Toa Cinoh!” Draxil laughed in a mocking tone.

“You have no right to speak to me, monster. Nothing quite as demonic and chaotic as you deserves to verbalize a sound to a protector who devoted his life to fulfilling an elevated duty!” Cinoh hollered in a rage.

“You’re a Toa, Cinoh, I understand that much. Toa never arrive at my door with positive news. Of course, they typically don’t leave to give news to anyone ever again,” Draxil spat, his threatening tone making Cinoh glare even harder.

Unable to hold himself back any longer, Toa Cinoh forced a boulder to shatter through the floor of the castle and send Leader Draxil barreling into the wall. Draxil destroyed the massive rock with his laser vision and swiftly teleported behind Cinoh to deliver an incredibly painful kick into the Toa’s back. Cinoh cringed, but the pain was nothing compared to the agonizing force of Draxil’s claws ripping through Cinoh’s muscle tissue.

Instinctively, Cinoh punched Draxil across the face and darted backward to gain some ground between himself and his foe. Draxil teleported up to the chandelier this time and fired his laser vision down on Cinoh, but the Toa was ready. Another boulder was sent flying out of the earth and met the lasers with a stable force. Cinoh couldn’t keep the defensive move up forever, but Draxil’s sheer focus on the boulder left him open from behind. Too quick for Draxil to react, the boulder split in two chunks and the second fraction zoomed around Draxil and rammed his back. Mercilessly, Cinoh crushed the pair of rocks together and watched a battered Draxil fall to the floor in defeat.

Barely clutching consciousness at this point, Draxil called in a team of Drezan Drones and glanced in their direction. Drezan Drones were the machine guardians Draxil had sent into mass production after Toa were no longer required for the job. The mechanisms stood at the same height as Toa and had a similar appearance. The main difference was that Drezans wielded a pair of deadly blasters.

Right before fainting, Draxil had enough strength to whisper the order, “Kill Toa Cinoh.”

The Drezan Drones turned to examine Toa Cinoh and opened fire on him. Cinoh promptly evaded the attack and dashed outside. Fleeing down the stairs, Cinoh halted once he was standing in the center of the street. The Drezan Drones were closing in, but Cinoh intended to stand his ground.

“You can’t rule me with fear like you have done to this planet!” Cinoh told the machines.

“Halt in the name of Draxil! If you choose to remain calm, you face the possibility of prison rather than destruction. Make your choice, Toa,” the drone leader spoke.

Cinoh clenched his fists and smirked at the machines. “If you expect me to halt in Draxil’s name…you can burn in eternity with his soul,” Cinoh snapped, rushing the Drezan Drones with several boulders to chuck their way.

The machines evaded many of the projectiles, and more drones had arrived to resolve the conflict. Cinoh was now desperately attempting to stay alive as energy bullets zapped the ground around him. Looking up at the castle, Cinoh could see an exhausted Leader Draxil hunched over in pain as he observed the scene.

“Any last words, Toa?” the drone leader asked as nearly two-hundred Drezans locked on their target and loaded their weapons.

“Yeah,” Cinoh smiled. “Enjoy cleaning up.”

In that moment, the Drezan Drones opened fire once more as Toa Cinoh sent numerous boulders flying through Draxil’s castle and out through the other side. The integrity of the building was now compromised, and the idea had left the Toa with a sense of accomplishment. Gaping holes now dotted the structure on all floors, but the tactic had left Cinoh defenseless against the assault of energy bullets that had been shot through his body.

Cinoh’s vision had become hazy, but he could make out Leader Draxil holding one of the Drezan Drone weapons and taking aim with it. Before he knew what was happening, Cinoh heard the sound of his Heartlight casing shatter and he tumbled to the concrete. His vision returned for a second or two, and Cinoh caught sight of a Matoran-sized figure standing on the sidewalk. Covered in tones of cerulean and silver, Cinoh felt dismayed by the figure’s expression of fear and sadness.

You feel pity for my death little one…yet it is you who must endure Draxil’s rule beyond me.

With that, Toa Cinoh perished underneath the sunlit skies of Vashe City.