The Skakdi stared out over the rocks. All that was visible was sand. Miles upon miles of dunes. A vastness of dry dust. He smiled, thinking of it.
“Would be really easy to kill somebody out there,” he said. “No water, and they’re gone.”
He stood up, and shook the dust off his cloak. In the light he looked shiny, but with many visible scratches upon his armor. He started off down the slope, rocks crunching under his feet.
Nidhiki put down his binoculars. Beside him, Gurney Halleck was adjusting something on a scope.
“There’s something coming,” he said.
Nidhiki nodded.
“A Skakdi,” he replied.
Gurney looked at him.
“A what?”
“A Skakdi,” the Toa said. “They’re strong fighters, with powerful weapons in their eyes and a face that makes a sandworm look real friendly.”
“Ah,” Gurney said. He drew a lasgun from his belt. It was a smuggling blaster, made from a conglomeration of components attached to the handle of a standard pistol. He hefted it, and aimed it.
Nidhiki continued looking through his binoculars. The Skakdi was approaching, and his features were now visible. The Toa tacked his brains, but couldn’t think what a Skakdi would be doing in the desert. Then he saw it: a momentary aberration in the figure’s appearance. The Skakdi had stumbled over a rock, and seemed to glitch through a bush in front of him. Then there was a purple blaze, and he reappeared a few feet back, now standing.
Nidhiki gaped. How? How did a mere Skakdi have an Olmak? He had heard of such masks, powerful creations of Artakha himself, but surely he hadn’t entrusted one to a mere gladiator, a brute?
A shot rang out. Well, it was more of an unsettling buzz, as a beam of purple energy smashed the rock behind Vezon into dust. He looked up and saw someone moving behind cover on the rocks. Vezon smiled, his expression becoming positively horrifying. He stepped forwards, and emerged behind the person. It was a human, face hidden behind a hood. Before Vezon could strike, something caught his neck and yanked. He fell backwards, landing in a heap. A shadow fell over him, and he stared up into a green mask. A Volitak.
“Well, what are you? A cheap bruiser sent by Artakha to drag me back to his island to take my powers? A bounty hunter?”
The masked person didn’t reply, instead grabbing the Skakdi and throwing him into a wall. The rock cracked from the impact, chips and dust flying.
“Hold on, Toa!”
The human was standing, a glowing knife in hand, aiming his blaster at the Toa.
“If he’s a danger, tell that to Muad’Dib when we bring him in. Else face me, your commander.”
The Toa turned.
“You would fight me?! Ha! You couldn’t fight me even with a lasgun.”
Vezon glanced between the two.
“If you want a fight, I don’t mind watching,” he said. “I’ve got nothing better to do. Besides, you’ve got it coming, Toa. You pretty near broke your little Code there a minute ago.”
Nidhiki glared at him, his eyes narrowing.
“We’ll speak of that later, Skak!”
Vezon grinned.
“I like your spirit, Toa. A guy like you would make a perfect Dark Hunter.”
He hadn’t counted on the reaction his statement caused. Nidhiki drew his scythe, and swung at Vezon. As he did, the human fired, a blast of energy exploding off of the Toa’s armor. Nidhiki retaliated with a cyclone of wind. Sand began swirling, and the pressure made the human stagger.
“You do not know what you mean, Skak! I was a Dark Hunter, I’ve seen your kind! You pitiful fools got me killed… or so you thought! You’ve heard of Nidhiki, or the Hunter known as Traitor, right? I am that Traitor!!”
Vezon’s eyes widened. He had heard talk of Traitor. A Toa, Traitor had betrayed the Mangai, and had died by the hand of the Makuta of Metru Nui. But this guy?
“What’s it matter now? You’re dead!”
Nidhiki laughed.
“You say that. Can you prove– AAAgh!!”
A blade appeared in his side. The human stood over the pair.
“Well, I guess that’s the end,” he said. He withdrew the blade, wiping the protodermis from it.
“Come on, Skakdi. I’ll introduce myself later. We’d best get to Muad’Dib to have that guy arrested.”
Vezon nodded. He picked up Nidhiki’s scythe, then Nidhiki himself.
“Let’s go, then. I’m dying out here. ‘Course, I was dying in there as well… Never mind. I’m ready to go.”