Opposite Extremes

[Rakoua]

Opposite Extremes

"A stranger visiting Daxia would probably not agree that it is an attractive place to settle...but for those who get to know the island well, there are treasures to be found."
— Unknown


«Everything all right there? » Asked Atriya, checking with the controller of the factory's main reactor. It was a new kind of reactor, working on protodermis fusion and it gave enough power to power the massive complex. Atriya, however, was not interested in the reactor. She walked to a control panel and pressed some buttons. The room darkened, and all features on the walls disappeared. They were mere projections. An invisible door opened and Atriya walked inside. She ran trough the hallway to a room with a large round table in the middle of which was some kind of a weapon. She took it and used to rupture a protodermis tube, cutting power to the reactor. But something was wrong. The weapon had caused a power surge inside it, and the reactor started getting superheated...

And it would destroy the weapon, her and everybody who knows off the project. It was then that she noticed a message.
«Show me the weapon or your friends will suffer. »
That was when she changed her mind. The reactor explosion couldn't be prevented, but she could escape... At least warn someone.

Atriya ran from the exploding factory, just barely avoiding the falling roof supports and sparks. She escaped seconds before the force field contained the explosion that obliterated anything, and anyone inside the factory. She looked back, terrified. She had killed so many innocent... well, mostly innocent lives for nothing. She would have to deliver the weapon in time... But now it was a pile of dust in another pile of dust.

The first thing Atriya always did after something tragic happened to her was to go home, jump into her bed and wait for the news. She didn't want to make any moves without knowing what was known. Seven hours later se checked the newest news tablet.
«Yet another factory had been destroyed by a reactor explosion. It is thought that the rebel movement ruptured the protodermis coils on level 1, section 31. »

She had to tell nothing. Even better, she was thought to be dead. She could start again... For once she could do what she wanted, not what she was forced to do.
She also forgot about the weapon...

Atriya went to the employment agency, and described her name as Kera. She also said she wanted to find a trading agency... To lead her as far away from Xia, the place she knew would not let her sleep if she stayed.

Two years later…

Atriya went on one of her voyages over the sea. But this was different. Her destination was unknown, she only knew that the ship’s sails would bring her there, perhaps even in one piece of she was lucky.

The sound of an object breaking the sound barrier is, even in the Matoran Universe, very loud. Of course, that depends if you can hear it or not.
But Atriya knew the sound well. It often followed her on her voyages from dome to dome, from island to island. She didn’t know who created the sound, only that the person isn’t really friendly… that should explain that she is in her seventh boat since she got this job.

There it was, just as described on the tablet she got. A large, creepy island which was always under the cover of darkness. There was a single dock on it, barely large enough for her boat. When her boat finally stopped, she disappeared and found herself on a new island.

She didn’t hear anyone, or anything for that matter, until a white Toa with some kind of a fusion between a Kakama and a Hau on his face came.
“Remember, you do not ask questions. You answer them. And my only truth and clarity come out of your mouth, if you wish to continue having one. I have an extra large pet Anaka fish that is quite hungry. Now, follow me.� The Toa said. Atriya had no other choice but to follow him.

The fortress of Daxia was a large complex made on a mountain. It didn’t look like a nice place at all, to most visitors at least.
Atriya found the architecture interesting however too colorless.

The Toa took led her into a large spherical structure.
From two speakers came a female voice. It was Helryx, the leader of the OoMN.
“Normally I’d execute you on the spot, as you know too much. Xians don’t usually reveal secrets when they are dead. But I will not kill you, for now at least. You may still be useful to us. Now, I am giving you a choice. Speak the truth and you live. Lie… and well, I don’t want to tell it in front of the guards. They are newer members you know.�

The Toa Atriya saw earlier came in.
“Just throw her in one of the Muaka pits and hope she tells the truth. She is unimportant.� He said.
“Rakoua, Rakoua… Don’t be so impatient…�
“Impatient? Me?� Rakoua replied, somewhat… angry.
“Ah, we’ll settle this later. Now, could you leave us for a second? I have… a conversation with our little friend to get to.� Said Helryx and Rakoua retreated. He had a little… talk of his own to do with Krakua.
“Now… Your name is Atriya. And you know the specs of something with unimaginable power. And you destroyed it. So I’m giving you an offer. Build the weapon and give it to us, or you’ll spend the rest of your days on Artidax, no matter how short they might be there.� Helryx smiled.
“Artidax?� Asked Atriya, confused. None of her travels led her there.
“Let’s just say that it’s not a particularly… happy place to be.� Said Helryx, and looked at Atriya in a way that she confirmed her claims.

“You don’t even know if the weapon is real. The reactor… accident destroyed everything.� Atriya answered.
“Oh, but I do…You see, you are in the great chamber on the fortress of Daxia! Would you be standing here alive if I didn’t know I could use you?� Helryx got a little angry by now.
“Oh, and by the way, remember that you could also die a horrible death here. And nobody would really care.� She continued.

Atriya looked around. Above her, two Toa of Sonics, one of them familiar, arrived at the observation balconies. Behind her were two large guards that she recognized to be able to teleport. In front of her was someone who seemed to be a Toa of Water. Considering her options, she decided she didn’t have any options. So she agreed and one of the guards escorted her to a workshop.
“I’ll need a frame, three lightstones, two batteries, lots of wiring and a couple of disks.� She said, and the guard simply teleported to a few places and got back to her with the materials.
“What I was building was a supercharged version of the Lightstone rifle. I was to sell it to the Dark Hunters so they could win their war against the brotherhood of Makuta. Now… I only sell to people wh…� Atriya was stopped by a hand that threw her into a wall.
“We aren’t buying. We are taking.� Said the guard. Atriya returned to building the rifle quietly.

It took a while for the rifle to be finished. But when it was, the guard threw Atriya out of the fortress and into her boat.
Meanwhile, in the Great Hall, Helryx destroyed the lightstones that were loaded into the rifle. She replaced them with something else that looked similar, but certainly didn’t have the same effect, and radiated shadow. Well, mostly... She then ordered it shipped to a… friend of hers, or at least her worst enemy. But that’s probably the closest to a friend she had.

A week or so later, an agent arrived at Destral. He gave the rifle to a certain Rahkshi, who carried it into the fortress of Destral and gave it to Teridax. He was pleased… His worst enemy was naïve enough to send him the most powerful weapon it had. He looked it, examined it. It fell from his hands, and a flash illuminated Destral, weakening the Makuta on it…
Out of the water an invasion force went and captured the weakened island.