HOME | DD

Description
The Toa of the Earth

Part Three. Mad Science.

Flash! A wave of nausea hit Peters like a brick, and apparently hit Derian and Lairika as well. Peters briefly looked to see if Private Branson was going to vomit again, but realized sadly, Private Branson was dead. He wasn't going home like Peters was.
"That was, unpleasant," Lairika said with a green look on her mask.
Peters nodded, and walked over to the comm. station, punched a few buttons, and spoke into a screen, "Sir, we have the aliens you requested."
"Excellent! We can now experiment on them," the Director responded. "That's a negative sir. These aren't robots, they're living cyborgs."
"Semi-Biological!" Derian shouted walking into view.
The Director paled at the size of the Toa of Earth.
"Erm, yes of course. Sorry, I assumed you were completely inorganic. Please, come to the surface, we would love to have you."
Derian was about to make a sarcastic reply when Lairika stepped up and said,
"Of course! We would love to visit your planet, thank you for your hospitality."
The Director nodded and said, "Yes well, it's the least we can do. Lieutenant Peters?" He asked.
"Yes sir?"
"Why is there only one shuttle on the radar?"
Peters grimaced and said, "There was an engagement with a hostile race, we also had a misunderstanding with the Toa here."
"Toa?"
Derian nodded and said, "Yes, Toa. I'm a Toa. Lairika is a Toa." The Director shook his head and said, "Well, I apologize in advance for Lieutenant Peters' incompetence that caused this incident."
Peters' face reddened as he clenched his fists and said in a furious tone,
"Sir, with all due respect, my Marines fought and died so that you could satisfy your experiments. You sent us there, not a diplomatic team. So if anything, the deaths of my Marines are your fault, SIR."
The Director paused at this and after a minute said,
"You Americans, so easy to tick off. Now as I was saying to our guests before I was interrupted, I apologize for any deaths or injuries that could have occurred at the hands of Lieutenant Peters and his blundering troop of idiots-"
Peters lost it at this point and raising his Kevlar-armored fist, punched a hole in the screen, killing the signal. His clenched fists visibly shook with rage, and the Toa worried if it was directed at them. He sighed and said,
"My apologies for my rash behavior."
Lairika nodded understandingly while Derian said,
"Son of a Brakas had it coming."
Lairika punched his shoulder and whispered in his ear that they were guests, and that he should act like it. Peters turned and said to them and said,
"Two more questions before we land, one, why do you wear masks, and two, why were you trying to touch her?"
Peters said pointing to Catherine's still form, now hooked up to an IV tube and an oxygen mask.
"Simple," Lairika said, "We were trying to heal her."
Peters shot them a quizzical look. "And to answer your second question, the masks give us powers."
"As if controlling the elements wasn't enough,"
The Corpsman muttered now 100% jealous. Peters motioned for him to shut up, and gestured for the Toa to continue.
"As I was saying," Lairika continued, "Our masks give us powers. Mine is the Kanohi Rau, mask of translation. And to be honest, it allowed me to understand everything you were saying from the start. Derian here wears the Kanohi Elda, mask of Detection, which was how he was able to locate your fallen female."
Peters nodded, now beginning to understand. "Now when we get on the planet, you won't immediately receive your weapons, they'll be researched for their technological advancements. Once the guys in the lab are done, you'll get them back. Oh and one more thing, can I trust you enough to remove your handcuffs?"
Derian perked up at this and said in a hyper voice,
"Yes! Please take these bindings off of me!"
Peters nodded and removed them. The Toa flexed their hands and rolled their wrists, shaking off the stiffness from wearing handcuffs.
"Here we go guys, hitting the landing pad in 3, 2, 1, touchdown."
A small impact was felt, signaling to the occupants of the shuttle that they had landed. The door hissed, and then opened to reveal the Director and Dr. Wetherbey waiting for them.
The Director smiled and said,
"Welcome to earth! We hope you enjoy your stay." Lairika smiled, nodded, and said, "Thank you for your hospitality, where shall we go?"
"Perhaps we shall find your quarters for now, I'm sure we can arrange something, suitable for your stature."
Lairika nodded and followed politely. Derian followed as well, but with a grunt a sour look on his face.
"There's something not right about this human," he said under his breath as he walked after them.
At this time, a team of medics walked into the shuttle with a stretcher intended for Catherine. Peters shoved them out of his way and proceeded to place her still, unmoving form on the stretcher himself. He looked at the medics with a stern expression and said, "I will accompany Lieutenant McClain to the medical facilities."
The medics nodded and moved the stretcher into the building, with Peters following. The other Marines had worried looks on their faces, but not for the same reasons as Peters. They simply had lost too many comrades, and didn't want to lose another.
That night was tough on everyone. Peters didn't sleep at all, whenever he tried; he got flashbacks of the previous firefight with the Bone Hunters, heard alien screams, and sometimes even thought he saw the shadow of one. The other Marines seemed to be having similar issues, tossing and turning in their bunks.
"PTSD,"
He muttered, "Took me this long to get it."
He forced himself to focus on sleep, he needed it desperately. He rolled over in his bunk, and had a different nightmare. Screaming, so much screaming. A plea for help, shouts of anger, sounds of torture. He jolted upright in a cold sweat, his fists tightly clenched, and bracing for the fear of the nightmare. But yet, it was still going on. The screams were still going on. Peters immediately got up and got dressed in his camouflage fatigues.
He advanced to the door and noticed something through the window, two armed EU guards.
Why are they armed? Why guard a barracks in an underground facility? Unless, he mused, unless they want us to stay in.
With the screams and armed guards, it didn't ease Peters' mind, so he did the natural thing in that situation. He silently slid the door open, and bashed the two guards' heads together, knocking them unconscious. He quickly relieved them of their weapons which consisted of an F-79/A-2 assault rifle, a Ryder M-87 pistol, and two combat knives. He strapped the weapons onto himself, and securing the guards in his locker, stalked further into the building.
The way was long, and treacherous, with many armed guards that Peters either avoided, or quietly dispatched. He was now right outside of a door, behind which, he could clearly hear screams and shouts of rage.
This door was not guarded, but he could see a camera right outside of it. He quietly tiptoed up to the camera, just outside of its field of vision, and cut the cables with the knives. With that out of the way, he peered into the window to see what was going on in the room. What he saw made him inhale sharply in dismay.
Lairika was in chains, as was Derian. There were men in lab coats, one of them clearly the Director. He had some device hooked up to Derian, it was shocking him, causing a fist of earth to beat, strangle, and crush Lairika.
"Hey!"
A guard shouted down the hallway, raising his pistol. Peters tackled him, broke the wrist holding the gun, and stabbed him quickly with the knife. But the sounds of the struggle had put the scientists on the alert, and maxed the voltage on the device, causing the fist of earth to squeeze tighter and tighter on Lairika until a cracking noise was heard, and she screamed no more. Peters kicked the door in and waved his assault rifle around from scientist to scientist.
"Move and I'll blow you away!" He shouted.
Derian was staring at Lairika's limp form with a horrified look on his face. Peters dashed over and ripped the device off of Derian, threw it on the floor, and stomped it with his combat boot. He took one look at Lairika, and that was all he needed to know she was dead. He turned to Derian with a look of sympathy, and shook his head.
"No…" The Toa whispered.
*BANG*, came a gunshot from one of the scientists, catching Peters in the shoulder, he cried out in pain and sprayed horizontally on the scientists. They all fell, except for the Director, who used a scientist as a human shield. Throwing down the body of his shield, he fired again at Peters, this time shooting him in the stomach. A noise that sounded like a cross of a wheeze and a cough, escaped Peters' lips as he fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. The Director walked up to him leisurely and held the pistol to his head. "Goodbye, Mr. Peters. Perhaps next time, you'll bring help. Ah yes, there won't be a next time."
*BANG* the Director reeled, clutching his bloody hand in agony. Peters looked up and saw the other surviving Marines, armed with pistols acquired from fallen guards. The Director ran for a fire exit, and made it. The Marines wasted no time in chasing him, instead went straight to Peters and Derian.
"You okay, boss?" Said Sergeant Davis, still as gruff as ever.
"I'm fine," Peters growled.
He got up, took a few steps, and then coughed up blood.
"Sure you are," Said Masterson sarcastically.
"Catherine," he wheezed.
"What?"
Peters shook his head and said in a clear tone,
"We need to get to Lieutenant McClain. They're probably holding her hostage, and we need to get her out."
The Marines nodded, and the Corpsman filled the wounds in Peters with a self-sealing sterile Bio-gel. The loss of blood now stemmed, Peters walked with a bit more confidence to the medical facilities. Thankfully, he knew where they were because he had escorted Catherine to the said facilities.
He led the Marines and Derian to it, and noticed two more armed guards. Before Peters had the chance to fire on them, Derian raised his fist and made a punching motion in the air. A column of earth erupted from the ground and knocked out the two guards. Peters nodded to Derian, and kicked the door in. Thankfully, the medics were in no mood to fight, and they retrieved Catherine with no further delay.
"Now what?" Asked Corporal Masterson.
"Now we find a way to the other planet, what did you call it Derian?"
Peters asked.
"Spherus Magna," Was the reply.
Peters nodded and dashed to the launch pad, where apparently, they were preparing another launch. Peters slid the pod door open to reveal several scientists and a guard. They all looked shocked to see a bloody, bruised, gun-toting American Marine and a Toa at the doors.
"Two words," Peters said. "Get. Out."
The occupants swiftly obliged, leaving Peters with an empty shuttle set to launch in one minute. Peters realized they couldn't all fit, so they did the right thing. They put Catherine on her stretcher and Derian in. Peters leaned in and said to Derian,
"We can't all fit, get her out, keep her safe."
Derian nodded and held his fist out. Peters was initially confused, but then bumped his fist against it.
"Until we meet again, human," Derian rumbled.
Peters sighed sadly and closed the door.
"Shuttle launch in T minus 10, 9, 8," Came the monotone voice over the speakers.
"Clear the blast zone!"
Peters shouted. The Marines sprinted for the safety of the facility, only to be met by armed guards. The guards shouted for them to put their hands up and drop their weapons. With no choice, the Marines obliged, and were handcuffed. The Director strolled up and said,
"I'm not sure what you were trying to accomplish, Mr. Peters. After all, our launch is taking off in 3 seconds."
Then he noticed the team of scientists that were kicked out of the shuttle seconds before. "NO!"
He shrieked to the launch crew, but he was too late. The portal opened, and then closed, leaving Peters grinning and the Director fuming.

Description
The Toa of the Earth

Part Three. Mad Science.

Flash! A wave of nausea hit Peters like a brick, and apparently hit Derian and Lairika as well. Peters briefly looked to see if Private Branson was going to vomit again, but realized sadly, Private Branson was dead. He wasn't going home like Peters was.
"That was, unpleasant," Lairika said with a green look on her mask.
Peters nodded, and walked over to the comm. station, punched a few buttons, and spoke into a screen, "Sir, we have the aliens you requested."
"Excellent! We can now experiment on them," the Director responded. "That's a negative sir. These aren't robots, they're living cyborgs."
"Semi-Biological!" Derian shouted walking into view.
The Director paled at the size of the Toa of Earth.
"Erm, yes of course. Sorry, I assumed you were completely inorganic. Please, come to the surface, we would love to have you."
Derian was about to make a sarcastic reply when Lairika stepped up and said,
"Of course! We would love to visit your planet, thank you for your hospitality."
The Director nodded and said, "Yes well, it's the least we can do. Lieutenant Peters?" He asked.
"Yes sir?"
"Why is there only one shuttle on the radar?"
Peters grimaced and said, "There was an engagement with a hostile race, we also had a misunderstanding with the Toa here."
"Toa?"
Derian nodded and said, "Yes, Toa. I'm a Toa. Lairika is a Toa." The Director shook his head and said, "Well, I apologize in advance for Lieutenant Peters' incompetence that caused this incident."
Peters' face reddened as he clenched his fists and said in a furious tone,
"Sir, with all due respect, my Marines fought and died so that you could satisfy your experiments. You sent us there, not a diplomatic team. So if anything, the deaths of my Marines are your fault, SIR."
The Director paused at this and after a minute said,
"You Americans, so easy to tick off. Now as I was saying to our guests before I was interrupted, I apologize for any deaths or injuries that could have occurred at the hands of Lieutenant Peters and his blundering troop of idiots-"
Peters lost it at this point and raising his Kevlar-armored fist, punched a hole in the screen, killing the signal. His clenched fists visibly shook with rage, and the Toa worried if it was directed at them. He sighed and said,
"My apologies for my rash behavior."
Lairika nodded understandingly while Derian said,
"Son of a Brakas had it coming."
Lairika punched his shoulder and whispered in his ear that they were guests, and that he should act like it. Peters turned and said to them and said,
"Two more questions before we land, one, why do you wear masks, and two, why were you trying to touch her?"
Peters said pointing to Catherine's still form, now hooked up to an IV tube and an oxygen mask.
"Simple," Lairika said, "We were trying to heal her."
Peters shot them a quizzical look. "And to answer your second question, the masks give us powers."
"As if controlling the elements wasn't enough,"
The Corpsman muttered now 100% jealous. Peters motioned for him to shut up, and gestured for the Toa to continue.
"As I was saying," Lairika continued, "Our masks give us powers. Mine is the Kanohi Rau, mask of translation. And to be honest, it allowed me to understand everything you were saying from the start. Derian here wears the Kanohi Elda, mask of Detection, which was how he was able to locate your fallen female."
Peters nodded, now beginning to understand. "Now when we get on the planet, you won't immediately receive your weapons, they'll be researched for their technological advancements. Once the guys in the lab are done, you'll get them back. Oh and one more thing, can I trust you enough to remove your handcuffs?"
Derian perked up at this and said in a hyper voice,
"Yes! Please take these bindings off of me!"
Peters nodded and removed them. The Toa flexed their hands and rolled their wrists, shaking off the stiffness from wearing handcuffs.
"Here we go guys, hitting the landing pad in 3, 2, 1, touchdown."
A small impact was felt, signaling to the occupants of the shuttle that they had landed. The door hissed, and then opened to reveal the Director and Dr. Wetherbey waiting for them.
The Director smiled and said,
"Welcome to earth! We hope you enjoy your stay." Lairika smiled, nodded, and said, "Thank you for your hospitality, where shall we go?"
"Perhaps we shall find your quarters for now, I'm sure we can arrange something, suitable for your stature."
Lairika nodded and followed politely. Derian followed as well, but with a grunt a sour look on his face.
"There's something not right about this human," he said under his breath as he walked after them.
At this time, a team of medics walked into the shuttle with a stretcher intended for Catherine. Peters shoved them out of his way and proceeded to place her still, unmoving form on the stretcher himself. He looked at the medics with a stern expression and said, "I will accompany Lieutenant McClain to the medical facilities."
The medics nodded and moved the stretcher into the building, with Peters following. The other Marines had worried looks on their faces, but not for the same reasons as Peters. They simply had lost too many comrades, and didn't want to lose another.
That night was tough on everyone. Peters didn't sleep at all, whenever he tried; he got flashbacks of the previous firefight with the Bone Hunters, heard alien screams, and sometimes even thought he saw the shadow of one. The other Marines seemed to be having similar issues, tossing and turning in their bunks.
"PTSD,"
He muttered, "Took me this long to get it."
He forced himself to focus on sleep, he needed it desperately. He rolled over in his bunk, and had a different nightmare. Screaming, so much screaming. A plea for help, shouts of anger, sounds of torture. He jolted upright in a cold sweat, his fists tightly clenched, and bracing for the fear of the nightmare. But yet, it was still going on. The screams were still going on. Peters immediately got up and got dressed in his camouflage fatigues.
He advanced to the door and noticed something through the window, two armed EU guards.
Why are they armed? Why guard a barracks in an underground facility? Unless, he mused, unless they want us to stay in.
With the screams and armed guards, it didn't ease Peters' mind, so he did the natural thing in that situation. He silently slid the door open, and bashed the two guards' heads together, knocking them unconscious. He quickly relieved them of their weapons which consisted of an F-79/A-2 assault rifle, a Ryder M-87 pistol, and two combat knives. He strapped the weapons onto himself, and securing the guards in his locker, stalked further into the building.
The way was long, and treacherous, with many armed guards that Peters either avoided, or quietly dispatched. He was now right outside of a door, behind which, he could clearly hear screams and shouts of rage.
This door was not guarded, but he could see a camera right outside of it. He quietly tiptoed up to the camera, just outside of its field of vision, and cut the cables with the knives. With that out of the way, he peered into the window to see what was going on in the room. What he saw made him inhale sharply in dismay.
Lairika was in chains, as was Derian. There were men in lab coats, one of them clearly the Director. He had some device hooked up to Derian, it was shocking him, causing a fist of earth to beat, strangle, and crush Lairika.
"Hey!"
A guard shouted down the hallway, raising his pistol. Peters tackled him, broke the wrist holding the gun, and stabbed him quickly with the knife. But the sounds of the struggle had put the scientists on the alert, and maxed the voltage on the device, causing the fist of earth to squeeze tighter and tighter on Lairika until a cracking noise was heard, and she screamed no more. Peters kicked the door in and waved his assault rifle around from scientist to scientist.
"Move and I'll blow you away!" He shouted.
Derian was staring at Lairika's limp form with a horrified look on his face. Peters dashed over and ripped the device off of Derian, threw it on the floor, and stomped it with his combat boot. He took one look at Lairika, and that was all he needed to know she was dead. He turned to Derian with a look of sympathy, and shook his head.
"No…" The Toa whispered.
*BANG*, came a gunshot from one of the scientists, catching Peters in the shoulder, he cried out in pain and sprayed horizontally on the scientists. They all fell, except for the Director, who used a scientist as a human shield. Throwing down the body of his shield, he fired again at Peters, this time shooting him in the stomach. A noise that sounded like a cross of a wheeze and a cough, escaped Peters' lips as he fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. The Director walked up to him leisurely and held the pistol to his head. "Goodbye, Mr. Peters. Perhaps next time, you'll bring help. Ah yes, there won't be a next time."
*BANG* the Director reeled, clutching his bloody hand in agony. Peters looked up and saw the other surviving Marines, armed with pistols acquired from fallen guards. The Director ran for a fire exit, and made it. The Marines wasted no time in chasing him, instead went straight to Peters and Derian.
"You okay, boss?" Said Sergeant Davis, still as gruff as ever.
"I'm fine," Peters growled.
He got up, took a few steps, and then coughed up blood.
"Sure you are," Said Masterson sarcastically.
"Catherine," he wheezed.
"What?"
Peters shook his head and said in a clear tone,
"We need to get to Lieutenant McClain. They're probably holding her hostage, and we need to get her out."
The Marines nodded, and the Corpsman filled the wounds in Peters with a self-sealing sterile Bio-gel. The loss of blood now stemmed, Peters walked with a bit more confidence to the medical facilities. Thankfully, he knew where they were because he had escorted Catherine to the said facilities.
He led the Marines and Derian to it, and noticed two more armed guards. Before Peters had the chance to fire on them, Derian raised his fist and made a punching motion in the air. A column of earth erupted from the ground and knocked out the two guards. Peters nodded to Derian, and kicked the door in. Thankfully, the medics were in no mood to fight, and they retrieved Catherine with no further delay.
"Now what?" Asked Corporal Masterson.
"Now we find a way to the other planet, what did you call it Derian?"
Peters asked.
"Spherus Magna," Was the reply.
Peters nodded and dashed to the launch pad, where apparently, they were preparing another launch. Peters slid the pod door open to reveal several scientists and a guard. They all looked shocked to see a bloody, bruised, gun-toting American Marine and a Toa at the doors.
"Two words," Peters said. "Get. Out."
The occupants swiftly obliged, leaving Peters with an empty shuttle set to launch in one minute. Peters realized they couldn't all fit, so they did the right thing. They put Catherine on her stretcher and Derian in. Peters leaned in and said to Derian,
"We can't all fit, get her out, keep her safe."
Derian nodded and held his fist out. Peters was initially confused, but then bumped his fist against it.
"Until we meet again, human," Derian rumbled.
Peters sighed sadly and closed the door.
"Shuttle launch in T minus 10, 9, 8," Came the monotone voice over the speakers.
"Clear the blast zone!"
Peters shouted. The Marines sprinted for the safety of the facility, only to be met by armed guards. The guards shouted for them to put their hands up and drop their weapons. With no choice, the Marines obliged, and were handcuffed. The Director strolled up and said,
"I'm not sure what you were trying to accomplish, Mr. Peters. After all, our launch is taking off in 3 seconds."
Then he noticed the team of scientists that were kicked out of the shuttle seconds before. "NO!"
He shrieked to the launch crew, but he was too late. The portal opened, and then closed, leaving Peters grinning and the Director fuming.