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IC Kilo-M9 - the Taku: From the main cargo hold, the mechanical enforcer sat alone as the others gathered in the main cockpit to experience the memory crystal. The machine would have joined the others, but its power cord only reached so far, so it instead sat and listened. New information received. Analyzing... Device appears to transfer kanoka disks powers into living organisms. Duration of powers is unknown, but memory crystal indicates permanent transfer. Design of device suggests multiple discs can be used at once. The Creator died regretting his involvement in creating this device, possibly the Usurpers as well. Queries: Why does Turaga Dume need great discs? Did Dume know specifics of great disc powers before machine was created? Did the Creator regret making this unit? Analysis: Onu-metru great disc was hidden by Toa Nidhiki. Other discs were likely hidden by other Toa Mangai. Disc was hidden at least 3 months ago. Construction by The Creator on disc power device was a little over 2 weeks ago. Timetable does not match. Unknown how long Turaga Dume knew about device. More information needed. Further analysis: Great disc powers for Onu-metru and Po-metru are unsuited for combatants. Reconstitute at random is unreliable. Weakness is risky for allies. Other great discs may be similarly unsuited for direct combat. Searching databanks for information on Kanoka... Kanoka are discs made from liquid protodermis. Discs can be forged into Kanohi of various powers. For Kanohi outside of main 8 Kanoka powers, combinations of discs are used to create an appropriate disc to be forged into a mask. Disc power device has 6 slots. No known combinations of mask powers requiring 6 discs known. Simulating hypothetical combination of 6 great discs... Working... FATAL ERROR. Citizen Pacification Unit OS Ver. 1.2 has encountered a problem and needs to restart. As the crew of the Taku rushed to tend to Arkius’s injuries, the mechanical enforcer continued standing off to the side unmoving. The sounds of clockwork gears whirring at an increasing pace let anyone observing know that the machine was hard at work. Soon enough, the whirring increased in volume and the sentinel’s cranial unit began to shake. The pattern was broken by a short popping noise, followed by the machine’s glowing eyes dimming immediately, followed by the limbs and body collapsing onto the floor. A small plume of smoke began to billow from the fallen construct’s head. A short time later, the eyes on the machine began to glow once more, and the protodermis protector slowly lifted itself off the floor. It turned to glance at Stannis. “Toa Stannis, when convenient this unit needs to speak with you.”

I've never heard anything to this effect myself. The early Boneheads protos are kind of all over the place and its hard to get a grasp of how many of them they were thinking of producing, but once things were focused down we only see evidence of six. The RoboRiders set a precedent for a collection of six as well.

A couple people showed interest on Discord so here's your info for the species I made up in case anybody wants to be a deer-person who bleeds acid. Kekamaire (kee-kuh-my-ray) The Kekamaire are an odd-looking and hardy species from somewhere in the Southern Continents. Very little is known of their society, but it is believed by some that they are on the brink of extinction due to their rarity in other parts of the Matoran Universe. Despite this belief, they seem to be cropping up in larger numbers now, meaning they are either bouncing back...or have been in hiding. The basic features of a Kekamaire that separate them from other species in the MU are their distinctive antlers and heads resembling the skulls of real-life cervids, along with four forward-facing red eyes. They also have three-fingered hands (two digits and a thumb) and digitigrade legs with two-toed, hoof-like feet. Colors and body types vary, but their armor always appears iridescent in sunlight. They are also considerably tall, although exact height varies. A more strange feature of the Kekamaire is their acidic blood. Their bodies are designed to carry it, but if injured and it is spilled, the blood will begin eating through any nearby objects. This seems to serve a purpose as a form of self-defense, but it is unknown whether the species came about it naturally or were tampered with by other forces. Rumors abound that Kekamaire enjoy feasting on MU residents, and perhaps their own, but it is merely an urban legend created to frighten young Matoran. (...or is it?)

IC: Reliable Narrator | Po-Metru to Coliseum When Waveahk succumbed to the vahki they locked him up on a vahki transport and took him to one of the secured gates of the Coliseum. When Waveahk finally saw where he was again it was because he was being pushed into a cell. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of white washed protodermis, and a strange energy crackled along the open side facing the hallway. "Ah, company," said an older man's voice after a few minutes from across the hall. He was small, with red and gold armor. "What you in for?" Elsewhere on the outside of the Coliseum at the closed Po-Metru entry gate, the Revenant was bound and transported to a similar cell on the same floor of the prisons a few cells down from Waveahk. The elderly voice continued; "Oh my, I don't think I have enough tea for this much company. It's getting bad up there isn't it." IC: Reliable Narrator | Ko-Metru As Leonn inserted the crystal into the terminal near the mural gateway the whole surface of the interior of the triangular machine flickered. The discs activated in tandem, and Leonn felt the cold air below the surface of Ko-Metru become a warm sea breeze. He heard gulls, and felt a salty splash of seawater. "Well done," Nidhiki said, patting Leonn on the arm. "congratulations on starting the fastest free public transit system in the matoran universe." "We need them in here, now," Nuju said nervously. "the discs run out of charge in an hour. I don't want the power to cut with them still in transit. I don't know where they go if that happens." On the streets of Ko-Metru, the matoran Mantrak stopped stared at him confused. He wore a noble mahiki, and had a thick fur collar on his pale white and blue robes. "The geo-what now? Everything is good. We're safe here in Metru- Nui from the war."

Speaking of new eyes, it looks like Nuju and Nidhiki have an interesting perspective on the nature of the universe. I wonder how they figured that out, and who else knows about it?

IC: Nidhiki | Ko-Metru Nidhiki paused as he sized up the skakdi. It gave Leonn the perfect opportunity to do the same. The turaga of air wore a noble mask of silence, dark green and black armor with small hints of lime color dashed in as accent around the hands and joints. A silver scar ran across his neck from one side of the jaw to the other. “I thought your employer would have done a better job teaching you about talking in public. Follow me, I’ll take you to Project Freedom.” Nidhiki scoffed, coughed, and then began walking down the alleyway towards a door leading into the knowledge tower on the left. Leonn followed the turaga, who seemed much more agile than his posture hinted, through a small crowd of Ko-Matoran scholars. Walking on floors of ice posed the combined problem of being cold and needing to move quickly for fear of being frozen in place. It explained why the scholars in the towers shuffled about without stopping to chat. They took a nearby chute, slipping quietly through the public transit system, then ascended several elevators until they reached a knowledge tower near the outskirts of Ko-Metru. After speaking to a receptionist very quietly, they waited a few minutes in pleasant silence to uncomfortable lobby music. Finally, a Ko-Matoran with icy blue eyes and wearing a mask of telepathy appeared and shook Nidhiki’s hand. “Hello stranger, I’m Nuju,” the matoran said. “I heard you have some friends looking to book a vacation. Follow me.” The three made their way to an elevator inside the knowledge tower. Nuju swiped a badge on an access terminal and beckoned Nidhiki and Leonn to follow him into the freight elevator. The doors closed and they began to descend… And descend… And descend… And then they arrived in a place Leonn never would have expected to exist underneath the streets of Ko-Metru: a triangular shaped warehouse that stretched almost too far, long rows of red lights casting a bloody hue across the space, with a mural on the far back wall that looked eerily like the docks outside the Barraki Fortress. Blinking and getting a better look Leonn wasn’t so sure it was a mural. Surrounding the mural was a strange triangular gate of some kind stuffed full of teleportation type kanoka discs. “Well now,” Nidhiki said with a low whistle, “you’ve really outdone yourself.” “It was nothing really,” Nuju replied. “But it should be ready to go once you install the memory crystal.” “Ah, yes, that,” Nidhiki said as he rummaged through one of the folds of his cloak, finally producing a cyan gemstone that looked like a sprouting potato. “Here you go. Coordinates for the habitable zone.” “Maintaining a portal from the head to the chest isn’t going to be easy. The armies are only going to have a few minutes to cross the boundary once it’s live.” Nuju stated and Nidhiki nodded. “I understand, but this is a large enough space. I’m sure we can move most of the army’s forces, if not all. Leonn, would you like to do the honors? I’m sure Takadox would appreciate having something to claim as his doing.” Nidhiki offered Leonn the memory crystal. The skakdi could see at the far end near the rippling waves of the possibly not a mural wall was a terminal for the strange triangle gateway of discs.

Untitled spider tank Untitled rover for Febrovery Matilda (of Robot Wars fame) Gallery VIC-R 'The Officiator' (part of a collab with some other hot boys & gamer girls here's the gallery) (yo is there a way to centre-align images in blogs)

Stoic and brave, Toa Atla prefers to let his actions speak for themselves. More photos I haven't built a neo toa for quite a long time. In fact, this was initially made for the bionicastle contest as a non-toa humanoid. Once I decided to use Modalt's Art Deco Hau the MOC found it's own identity. I can't believe I posted three new MOCs in one week...

IC: Reliable Narrator | Ga-Metru Nixie nodded at Taja's comment. "We can find our way back to the Great Temple. Great Spirit guide your journey. I'd say to stay in the light too, but it looks like you have someone who can control that factor." She gave Taja an uncharacteristic hug and then started walking off in the direction of the Great Temple. Vhisola looked over at Okuo and at the Great Disc, and then he sighed. "I thought finding the Great Disc would give me the power to feel safe and protect myself, but now that we have it I realize becoming a toa would only make me even more alone. You three should take it to the Coliseum. You all rightfully earned it, and I swam away. Well, you four if Patchy follows along. Maybe take him to the noodle bar in the event center? Anyways, well, bye... And stay safe." She waved shyly and jogged away to catch up with Nixie. The two of them continued silently down the street until out of sight.

Wow, I made the top comment on page 40. What would be a particularly fun spoiler for the next game? Oh! How about the parameters for which game is next?

IC Stannis | Taku, en route to the Coliseum Theme music: Lunar Lullaby "He went off to fight the abomination of a Hunter. Clearly such unnatural foes are not to be underestimated," Stannis said as he carried his torn and battered companion easily as if he were a bundle of wheat. Someone else brought a set of crates over to a corner of the hold, creating, in the absence of a sick bay, a makeshift cot on which to place the body. Stannis gently laid his friend down and took stock of his injuries, then glanced at Nale studiously. "I will try." His body was ravaged by trauma, bloodied both by his own and Vyarik's, and the damages dealt to his body were further helped by the enfeeblement the lack of his kanohi caused. The Mask of Kinetics itself had seemed to betray its user, and shards of it were embedded as shrapnel on Arkius' face as a painful reminder of what even the most familiar masks of power could do if pressed too far. Beyond that, however, Stannis could feel something else killing the earth toa from inside, a wound in pride, perhaps, or more likely something much darker, a poison in his soul that caused him to have such volatility beneath his bravado. The Wanderer sighed deeply and stifled a tear, but soon closed his eyes and began to pray. "Mata Nui, grant me the power..." he started, and then paused. It grieved him; not the sight of injury or blood, nor even that it was his friend who had been nearly destroyed, but that he could not do as much as he wanted. Or needed. Toa Arkius' sufferings were a thing he could give some relief from, but he had no cures. It was a pattern he tried to subvert time and time again across the known universe, and despite his firm belief that he went where Mata Nui gently guided him like a boat along the sea's many currents he always sought to make a difference, to improve others, to fix their problems. He could not fix Arkius just as he could not fix Metru Nui, or the war, or much of anything. Still, he reminded himself, things would be worse had he not done what he could. Knichou was testament of that, the other Ghosts, even just the friends he had somehow become surrounded by again on the Taku. Surrender was not an option, not to enemies he could fight and not to feelings that clawed at his will. He would try, even when he felt he could not, else he did not have the Faith to truly be called a prophet. "... Grant me the power to save life. Grant me the ability to heal bodily injuries, mend broken bones, seal armor breaks, and extract from the body the things that caused such harms. May I be able to do such healing insofar as the body will allow, and that I cannot restore what is incomplete. May the Great Spirit grant me this request. Amen." Input: ... Accepted. He exhaled and in the same turn gave new life into Arkius. His Kanohi glowed, dimly at first, and then brightly, pulsating with each breath he took as he touched the many tears, wounds, gaps, and dislocations all over the toa's body, leaving behind mended armor and sealed scars. Of the shards on his face, he plucked them one by one, and with a wave of his hand he bound those cuts as well. After what seemed to take forever, but was truly only the span of ten minutes, he was finished. Arkius was whole again, mostly. At least in body. Stannis had done what he could. And then he wordlessly got up and walked to the cockpit. "It will not be convenient," he somberly replied to the Kralhi's statement, "but you may ask me what you wish after I rest, machine." Time would be short, but despite his dislike of automatons he knew this machine was deserving of some trust.

IC: Vyarik/Revenant - Coliseum Cells The Revenant had little regard for the other beings in the cells. It was not here to converse, it was here to serve its purpose. It was close now, so close...

IC [Dume - Coliseum, ???]: “Well then…” Dume started, somewhat eagerly before stopping himself and turning back to the Po-Matoran. “I’m sorry, I did not catch your name.” “J-Jabali.” “Jarbali?” “No, Jabali.” “Ah. Well then, Jabali, this has all been very amusing, but there is work to be done.” the Turaga said, slapping his thighs before standing up. For someone who’d just avoided an attempt on his life, he was rather unperturbed. He reached into his robes and pulled out a pair of spectacles that were custom-fitted to his Kiril. He glanced down at his left wrist and fiddled with a bracelet that was so nondescript, the Matoran hadn’t even noticed it before. After a moment, his arm dropped and he returned the glasses back into their pocket. He turned to the closet door and, quietly, carefully, opened it just enough to make sure they weren’t walking into more surprises. Satisfied, he pushed the door fully open and the two exited into a corridor that followed the curve of the Coliseum’s architecture, it’s ends obscured from view. “Hrmm…” Dume turned right and began to walk, eyes slowly scanning the walls, clearly looking for something. Before Jabali could ask, he gave a quiet “Ah!” exclamation and moved toward a panel in the wall. He studied it for a moment, before tapping one of the corners with his staff, which caused the panel to pop open. Behind it were fuse boxes and other features that periodically needed accessing by maintenance, but they were not what the Turaga was interested in. The label on the fuse box however, was, as it indicated its location and finally gave him a point of reference. “Quite lucky your disk wasn’t stronger, Jabali.” he explained. “Climbing all the way up from the basement would have been rather inconvenient. But three floors are quite manageable. Come along. We mustn’t linger.” He pushed the panel close again and began walking at a brisk pace. ----- On the collective plane, an alert was received. The Boss acknowledged and sent a message out through the appropriate channels. “Confirm priority beacon activation. HVT protection units converge on signal source. Secure perimeter, assign six frames for escort.” Status indicators blinked green as the orders were processed.

Something about making of Vahki CGI animation http://thomasbanner.blogspot.com/2012/01/making-of-bionicle-vakhi-printed-in-3d.html

From my vague memories of regularly visiting Ghost's website back in the day, I believe they made the animations in Maya.

I thought that way too until one day I just buckled and now I have ten different Kaukau (six main colors, gold, silver, yellow, and sky blue). No regerts.

I thought Makuta had to appear to be fighting the Toa at every turn, regardless if it made sense, to conceal The Plan. Because if the Toa figured out the Plan, they could have moved forces in place to stop him. Makuta was betting on the Toa's victory at Voya Nui, but he had to appear like he wasn't. Hence the Piraka and the whole taking over Maxilos thing. Also, the Piraka were Dark Hunters who were famously at war with the Brotherhood, so they weren't exactly cool with whatever the Makuta had planned. They were trying to stop him, regardless of whether that made sense either. They were just trying to steal the mask for profit and to take over the universe. Teridax didn't "need" the Piraka. The Piraka inserted themselves into the story on their own - he just used them to further his illusion since they were available.