The Toa Code

Chapter I

Banished

Disclaimer: All copyrighted material used in accordance with Fair Use, Mass Effect is property of Bioware, Bionicle is property of the Lego Group.

Varros breathed deeply as the waves broke upon the harbour wall far below.

A Skakdi mercenary had shown up some hours earlier on a boat that had definitely seen better days. He'd managed to talk the mercenary out of terrorising the villagers for repairs, but then he'd been forced into an argument with the 'leader' of his team, Toa Mazni.

This wasn't new. They often argued. Mazni would argue with anything Varros said.

That didn't make it any less tiresome.

"Brooding again, Brother?"

Varros turned from his contemplation of the harbour to see Toa Talina rounding the suva.

"More like resisting the urge to pitch our fearless leader into the harbour, Sister." He replied, standing from where he'd been sitting on the edge of the overlook.

"Another argument?" She asked, concern entering her stance.

"He's of the opinion our guest with the damaged boat is a Dark Hunter, or something." Varros replied.

"And he wasn't prepared to take your word she wasn't." Talina finished. "Varros-"

"-Don't." Varros held his hand up to pre-empt the Toa of Water's attempt to make peace. "Mazni may be this team's leader, but he wasn't at Metru Nui. He wasn't even a Toa at that point." He sighed. "Skakdi might be quick tempered, vicious fighters and warlike to a one, but turning away a traveller with a damaged boat…"

He regarded the Toa of Water, armoured in midnight blue with a resigned look in his eyes, then looked away towards the statues ringing the small open-walled shrine.

"The Code might be a hindrance more often than not, but it's meant to guide our actions as protectors of the Matoran. Damning a stranger to die at sea through omission is just as bad as doing the deed ourselves."

"And Mazni only sees a potential danger." Talina said, letting her hands fall to her sides.

Varros turned away and returned to his perch on the overlook, joined shortly by Talina.

"That's not actually why I came to find you, Brother." Talina said after a pause, interrupted only by the sound of the waves on the harbour wall. "Mazni's suspicions or not, the sooner this Skakdi's boat is fixed and she's gone again, the better it is for everyone." She explained. "I've already asked Hakon and Ralia to assist in the repairs, but I'd appreciate your assistance as well, Brother."

Varros gave Talina a long look.

Of all the Toa on the team, he liked Talina the most. Niktul, Raoul and Krou were alright, if somewhat wary, which was understandable, given his frequent clashes with Mazni and the sheer destructive power he wielded as a Toa of Plasma, but it was good to be in the company of another Toa that trusted him without reservation.

"Do you ask out of a desire for back up if things go poorly, or for my company?" He asked after a moment.

"Your company." Talina replied. "The fact you managed to actually talk to our guest without things devolving might be a contributing factor as well." She added dryly.

On the Island of Destral, Makuta Mutran was talking to a shadow.

This wasn't unusual, when one remembered that Makuta had control over Shadows and could use them to communicate across great distances.

What made this noteworthy, was that the Makuta being spoken to had specifically ordered he was not to be contacted unless absolutely necessary.

"Your counsel with Tren Krom has broken your mind, Mutran." Makuta Teridax rumbled.

He was busy waging a proxy war against the ex-Toa, now Turaga that had thwarted his attempt to take over from the Great Spirit, using the Rahi that had fled beyond the Great Barrier following the Great Cataclysm.

To make matters worse, Toa had just appeared, which infinitely complicated matters.

He could ill-afford the distraction of Mutran's insane ramblings.

"Ah, but they didn't!" Mutran replied. "Tren Krom read me, but it could not hide its own mind in return. I saw fragments of time long past, places nowhere in the universe." The Makuta's voice became manic. "What a conundrum; How can a being remember a place that does not exist, but clearly was not imagined?" He asked rhetorically.

"So, I used the Olmak, to see if those places were madness or fact."

That revelation caught Teridax's attention.

"And?" The leader of the Makuta prompted.

"Those places exist. They are not within the universe. They exist beyond the Great Barrier." Mutran replied. "So very many ideas for new Rahi I gained from the experience…" He added. "I discovered so much."

"Your discoveries do not interest me, Mutran." Teridax warned. "What value is this information to me?"

"The nature of the universe aside, there were a great many cultures and species I observed." Mutran continued. "There's also a race that make the Zyglak look quaint currently exterminating them." He added. "Why let so many potential vassals die for no purpose?"

"That is no concern for Makuta." Teridax replied, growing tired of Mutran's ramblings once more.

"I know." Mutran said simply. "I just felt it prudent to inform you I'm going to get the Toa to deal with it before it becomes our problem. If these machines find us, they'll become more of a thorn in our side than the Dark Hunters and Toa combined."

If Teridax needed any more proof that Mutran had gone insane after his exposure to Tren Krom, this was it.

At the same time, it made a twisted sort of sense:

Toa were the heroic warriors of Mata Nui, the guardians of peace and all that romantic nonsense.

They were a constant problem for the Brotherhood of Makuta, which meant they could be an equally painful one for this new potential threat.

"So be it." Makuta Teridax replied. "Now, go."

Hekra was all smiles as two of the Toa from when she'd arrived approached down the cobbled path from the island's suva to the harbour dock.

Of course, this was more to do with being a Skakdi, rather than any genuine happiness at the sight of the Toa.

The two Matoran conferring by the dry dock her boat had been transferred to seemed to relax slightly at their approach.

"Hmph. Two Toa and a pair of Matoran just to fix a boat for little old me." She said, her grin growing marginally at the shiver that ran down the Ta-Matoran's spine from the grating sound of her voice. "Must be my lucky day."

"You're a lot more pleasant to look at and talk to than Mazni." The Toa of Plasma replied, apparently unfazed. "I don't believe I caught your name either." He added.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." She replied.

"Very well; I am Varros." The red and white Toa said with a curt bow.

"Hekra." She replied. "Your friend have a name or is she just here to look pretty?"

"Talina." The Toa of Water said, as curt as the Plasma Toa's bow. "You've no doubt already met Hakon and Ralia."

Hekra nodded. "I have. Ta-Matoran are funny when they realise bravado isn't a smart idea." She added, noting how the Ta-Matoran in question suddenly found something very interesting on the cobbles to examine.

Varros filed that statement away for later, making a note to talk to the forgemaster and part time wanderer and get the story from him.

"Ralia is the ship builder here. She'll know how to fix your boat, provided you don't scare her to death." He said, nodding to the Ga-Matoran.

"Good to know." Hekra said, growing bored with making small talk. "Now we all know what to call each other when we're being polite, can we get on with it?" She asked.

This story hit me a few weeks back around the time I saw the leaks for the 2016 sets and was playing ME3's multiplayer and snowballed from there.

Likely, it would've been mothballed for further development at a later date, but once I mentioned the idea to artark, they were inspired to do character portraits. So, go check those out on their Deviant Art account, Bronzlelight.

So thank you, artark for both being an absolutely awesome artist and giving me motive to actually write this story rather than treat it as an interesting plot bunny to pursue at a later date.