Toa Pahru, Disgraced Scavenger
Entry for Duckbrick’s Red Star Zombie Contest
The Encounter
(a Red Star Story some short time after the events of The Powers That Be)
“Leave?” Mavrah began, “not an option, sorry."
“We just need to get out of here. I don’t care how,” said Kopaka, “We’ve seen enough of this place for now.”
"You can’t leave the Red Star. Not anymore. The only way out is well, death. No revival. Lights out. I’m real sorry but you’re stuck here.”
“There’s gotta be another way,” said Pohatu, “you don’t suppose anyone here can teleport us out?”
“Of course not,” said Mavrah, “they either left once they got their repairs or were mutilated by the Kestora.”
“Great.” exclaimed Pohatu.
“What about the vacuum?” Kopaka asked.
Mavrah shot him a confused look. “The vacuum of space?”
Kopaka nodded.
“Ha, yeah. That’s one way to die,” said Mavrah.
“We’ll survive,” said Kopaka, “We wear adaptive armor. It’ll keep us alive long enough to return to Sphereus Magna.”
“Adaptive armor huh? You’re sure that’ll keep you alive out there?"
“Sure,” said Kopaka
"It’ll be a hot fall,” said Mavrah.
“We’ll figure it out,” said Pohatu.
“Well, there’s plenty of airlocks here. Most were shut down by the Kestora, but there’s an old abandoned warehouse a few levels down. No creeps in the way, and I’m sure there’s an airlock there. If it still works."
“I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle,” Pohatu said.
The group moved to the warehouse Mavrah described. The level it was located on was desolate and silent, the halls dirtier and the darker. The cargo hold was even worse. It was dark, lit only by a faint red glow, and reeked of rotting meat. The group could just make out the corpses littered on the ground, they were ghastly and deformed, missing limbs or entire chunks of their bodies. Most were maskless, their Kanohi likely scavenged by the Kestora.
“Ah, yeah. Like I thought. Mostly Fa-Toa and Fe-Toa. Plenty of those around here,” said Mavrah, as he examined a pile of bodies.
“What happened to them?” Pohatu asked. “Why didn’t the Kestora repair them?” asked Pohatu.
“We’ve got enough of those guys around," said Mavrah. Kestora get sick of the same groups."
“It’s like a massacre…”
“Quiet,” Kopaka announced, “there’s something moving.”
In the distance, the group saw a faded pale blue light emerge from the scrap. It elevated a few meters off the ground until settling at an uncomfortably tall height. The group could make out a faint silhouette around the light. It was a monstrous Rahi-like figure, like nothing the group had seen before. It seemed to stare at them for a prolonged time before slowly beginning to approach. As it stomped its way towards the group the ground shook from the weight of its limbs. As it walked the sounds of scraping metal shells and faulty hydraulic joints filled the air in a screeching painful percussion. Pohatu and Kopaka raised their defenses, while Mavrah stood behind them, dumbfounded by the alien creature. Kopaka pointed his blaster in the air as the creature came closer, tensing in anticipation.
“Stop now and lower your defenses,” growled Kopaka, “we come in peace.”
The creature stood still at Kopaka’s request. It was still obscured by the darkness, yet the faded blue light became clearly three separate lights in the closer proximity. Perhaps it was its eyes and heartlight. If it had a heart.
“You… are Toa,” said the creature in a raspy, quiet, yet contemplative voice.
“It speaks,” Pohatu whispered to his brother.
“Quiet," Kopaka quietly responded.
“How did… you die?” the creature asked innocently.
“We’re not dead, we’re visiting. And the visit’s over. We need access to the airlock here,” said Kopaka.
“I am Pahru. You are Toa. I was once… a Toa.” The creature calmly stepped closer into the light. Pahru’s claim was proven by the dim red glow. He appeared to have the mangled decrepit body of a Toa of Stone. He even wore a Kanohi. Yet the faint light also revealed the horror of Pahru’s figure. He was atop a messy amalgamation of dead bodies. The Toa could clearly see the skulls of Matoran, Toa, Skakdi and more, with lifeless limbs wrapping around the hollowed out remains of former bodies. “How did you die, brothers?”
“Kopaka, his… his legs…” whispered Mavrah, stepping aside from the Toa, “forget this, we gotta get outta here. There’s other options."
“Not yet.” whispered Kopaka, “he knows the place, maybe he can help us out. Pahru!” he exclaimed, “we need to find an airlock. Is there one in this warehouse? Can you show us where it is?”
“No.” Pahru asserted stubbornly. He lunged quickly forwards, shoving the Toa to the side with his massive limb of corpses. He piled on top of Mavrah, putting the full force of his body on the matoran as he screamed in shock and agony.
“Kestora. My brothers brought me Kestora. I must… KILL Kestora. must KILL Kestora. KILL.”
“Wait!” Pohatu yelled, springing into action and racing quickly in front of the mangled undead Toa. “He’s an Onu-Matoran. Look! Not a Kestora. Look at his eyes! We don’t need to kill anyone here.”
Pahru paused, then looked closer at his prey. Confused by the dim lighting and similar colors of Mavrah’s armor, he realized his mistake. Pahru leaped backwards, shocked by the discovery. He stood still for a moment before hanging his head and falling limp, his body dropping from his undead monstrosity of a mech, and it falling to the ground with him immediately after. Pohatu and Kopaka looked at each other, then to Mavrah. Before saying anything, they again raised their defenses, and approached Pahru slowly, as not to alarm him.
“killer of matoran. a killer of Matoran. a false. a failure. monster. a killer of Matoran,” Pahru whispered to himself as he laid defeated on the ground.
Pohatu looked at Kopaka and whispered, “what’s he saying?”
Kopaka ignored the question. “Pahru?” He asked softly.
“failure, a failure. a killer. a monster. a killer of Matoran,” He continued, “killer. a killer. Did it again. Did it again… Not a hero, a monster. killer. a killer of Matoran.”
“Pahru?”
“Three hundred and fifty seven dead. Three hundred and fifty eight dead. The most. ww…orst. the… killer.”
“Pahru?”
“Brother,” Said Pahru abruptly as he paused his miserable chant. “Is the Matoran dead? Did… I do it? Is the Matoran dead?”
“No, he’s alright. It’s okay Pahru.” Pohatu said gently.
“I’m fine,” grunted Mavrah, “a little scratched up, but I’ll be fine. Simple misunderstanding.”
Pahru laid still in silence. His body relaxed, and he let out what sounded like a sigh of relief. Suddenly the corpses behind him began to animate, piling over themselves to form the mechanical limbs he wore before. They leaned down, picking Pahru up, and raised him back into the air. Pahru looked back at Mavrah, then quickly looked back at the Toa once the Matoran met his gaze.
“The airlock,” he announced, completely emotionless, “I will show my brothers my airlock.”
While now a mangled abomination with an disturbed scrambled mind, Pahru was once a proud Toa hero of a small island. He and a Toa of water were the sole guardians of the tightly wound community of Matoran. Centuries of peace and mundanity softened Pahru and his sister, which made the island susceptible to attack.
The Island was eventually ravaged by a flock of Zyglak, which decimated the Matoran population, and destroyed everything they had built. Pahru’s teammate mysteriously disappeared during the attack, presumably killed, leaving Pahru to fight alone to his last breath, defending what remained of the Island. He of course failed, dying tragically to the Zyglak.
Pahru was revived on the Red Star. Upon revival he was disheartened and distressed, blaming himself for the countless dead Matoran. The Kestora found him too miserable and too damaged to bother with, and planned to kill him permanently. Pahru discovered this and used his Mask of Biomechanics on the nearest biomechanical corpse to escape. He fled to the Scrap Pile, a dark uninhabited warehouse where the Kestora stored their “useless” remains of the dead. He remained there for centuries, eventually losing his mind in his lonely despair.
Studio Links
A Stud.io link can be found here.
As a disclaimer, I haven’t yet built the model IRL and cannot make any claims on its stability. Updates will come eventually if physical tests prove their necessity.
Here is a parts list for Bricklink. The estimated cost is around $70-$120 USD.
The only custom part is the Noble Mask of Biomechanics by Galva. A 3D model can be found here, and it can be imported into Studio here.
Be sure to use the latest versions of the Biopack and Sidopack when handling this MOC in studio. I use parts from both.
Good luck to all my fellow entrants, and remember,
