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How effective were the Vahki at fighting the Visorak


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How well organized and effective were the remaining vahki at fighting the visorak? Was there any form of remaining command structure left or were they just focused on killing everything? Did they have any success fighting the visorak? Did the Rahaga try to use them in their fight against the visorak or have any opinion on them?

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From Adventures 8: Challenge of the Hordika:

 

Four Vahki Zadakh moved cautiously through the streets of Ta-Metru. They were far from the canyons of Po-Metru they normally patrolled, but the changes in Metru Nui meant every Vahki enforcer
had to do its part to preserve order.
Their goal was the Coliseum. Metru Nui’s tallest building soared high into the sky before them,
though it lacked the grand appearance it once had. Now the facade was cracked and the entire structure
was shrouded in webs. High levels of Visorak activity had been registered here. The Vahki’s mission was
to eliminate these creatures of disorder as a first step toward pacifying the entire city.
The patrol leader signaled for the rest to spread out. It had no doubt that these Rahi would fall
easily to the power of the Vahki, but tactical programming suggested that approaching from multiple angles
was practical. Once all four were in their proper position, the march resumed.
The Vahki on the far left flank was the first to encounter the target. A Visorak Boggarak crawled
along a web leading from the Coliseum to one of the empty Ta-Metru forges. The Vahki raised its staff
and unleashed a blast which knocked the Visorak off the web. The Boggarak scrambled to its feet and
glared at the Vahki. A low hum filled the air.
The Vahki took another step and stumbled. It looked down and noted that its right leg was no
longer functioning properly. Somehow, what had been a solid limb a moment before was now a rapidly
dispersing gas. Worse, the effect was spreading across the Vahki’s form. In a matter of seconds, it was no
more than wisp of silvery gas floating in the air, its awareness dispersed over millions of molecules.
The Vahki on the right dropped down into four-legged mode, scaled a small building, and then
climbed out on to a Visorak web. A quick scan revealed that there were no Visorak on this section.
Traveling along the web would bring the Vahki right to what appeared to be a largely unguarded entrance
to the Coliseum. Using its tools as forelegs, it began to crawl.
It had gone only a short distance when it realized that the amount of effort required to make it
across the web seemed to be increasing. Energy use was up, mass had increased dramatically, and strangest
of all, audio receptors were picking up a hum that had not been there before. The Vahki did a visual
inspection of its structure, only to discover its outer surface was no longer gleaming metallic protodermis
but solid stone.
The Po-Metru enforcer was pondering what could cause a Vahki to turn to rock when the webbing
tore beneath it. The Zadakh plunged through the hole and hit the ground, smashing into hundreds of stony
fragments. A Boggarak approached, kicked at the rubble that had been a Vahki moments before, and then
crawled away.
The Vahki patrol leader paused. Several Visorak were on the move between it and the nearest
Coliseum entrance. The Zadakh turned to tell its second in command to wait until the creatures had
passed before proceeding. But its lieutenant was not there.
Puzzled, the Vahki did a visual scan to all four points of the compass. There was no sign of any of
the other three patrol units. The Zadakh took a step and then paused at a strange rustling sound from 
overhead. A glance up revealed its source: a Vahki cocooned in webbing, being carried across the webs
toward the Coliseum by a pair of Visorak.
The patrol leader did a quick calculation. Four Vahki departed on this mission. One remains, it said to
itself. This will need to be reported. While success in this mission is vital, order can only be maintained if a strict
accounting of the whereabouts of all Vahki is kept. New priority: prompt return to central hive.
Naturally, it would not run. Vahki never ran unless in pursuit of a lawbreaker. Faced with the
disappearance of three of its kind in a matter of seconds, though, the Zadakh was perfectly willing to walk
very, very fast.
It glanced behind. No Visorak were following. That would look good in the report. The patrol had
obviously scared the Visorak into staying out of Ta-Metru. That accomplishment might even mean
elevation from patrol leader to squad leader.
Pale sunlight suddenly gave way to shadow. The ground shook. Believing it to be another
earthquake, the Vahki searched for cover. It raced toward a large green and brown structure nearby.
A second tremor struck, then a third. The building rocked so hard it almost appeared to be
moving. It was only after the Vahki was safely underneath the structure that it remembered there were
no green and brown buildings in Ta-Metru.
The Vahki looked up, just in time to see the massive, clawed foot of the Tahtorak descending
upon it. Then it didn’t see anything else, ever again.

I think that's the only time we see the Vahki fighting the Visorak? It might be touched on in Adventures 7, but I couldn't really find anything after skimming through it.

Edited by Bambi
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Given how successfully the Visorak conquered so many places beforehand, and were a very efficient army with multiple powers, I'd say the Vahki didn't stand very much of a chance overall, more of an annoyance than any real threat. Most of the Vahki were destroyed in the power surge that Makuta caused when he absorbed the energy of Metru Nui, which left the surviving Vahki slim in numbers. The Visorak horde definitely had strength in numbers and abilities.

 

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I agree. What we saw in story, they got decimated pretty easy. I also like the comparison of the visorak horde to an army that has conquered multiple continents. The vahki were basically a single city police force (that couldnt even catch a few untrained, toa who had no idea how to use their powers) and already had most of its cops beaten. The few cops left were hyped on the surge. So the remnants of a police force on a sugar high vs a large scale, well trained army doesnt seem like much of a fight.

Edited by ToaDume
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Couldn't the Vahki in 2005 also shoot disinegrator blasts from their staffs because of the power surge, and also talk? That was a really underexplored element of 2005.

"You are an absolute in these uncertain times. Your past is forgotten, and your
future is an empty book. You must find your own destiny, my brave adventurer.
"
-- Turaga Nokama

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9 minutes ago, Master Inika said:

Couldn't the Vahki in 2005 also shoot disinegrator blasts from their staffs because of the power surge, and also talk? That was a really underexplored element of 2005.

Theyve always been able to talk they just spoke way too fast to listen to. The power surge fried their brains and slowed down their speech. I think the disintegration blasts were also explained as their safety switches being fried and turned off also. In other words, I think they always had the ability to use full power disintegration blasts, they were just programmed not to. So I'd say the vahkis reasoning skills and tactics were probably fried with the rest of their brains. So I'd say they really weren't a threat since they were just gun happy idiots facing an army (in my opinion).

Edited by ToaDume
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2 minutes ago, ToaDume said:

Theyve always been able to talk they just spoke way too fast to listen to. The power surge fried their brains and slowed down their speech. I think the disintegration blasts were also explained as their safety switches being fried and turned off also. So I'd say the vahkis reasoning skills and tactics were probably fried with the rest of their brains. So I'd say they really weren't a threat

On the other hand, the internal narration from the Zadakh in the quoted portion isn't lacking in any way. That Vahki seems to be acting reasonably enough given the circumstances, even recognizing to retreat from a dangerous situation. They just got handed an unwinnable position, and were probably only included to make the Visorak look even cooler and more dangerous (not unlike the Exo-Toa in 2003 or Toa Nuva in 2006 being easily defeated).

"You are an absolute in these uncertain times. Your past is forgotten, and your
future is an empty book. You must find your own destiny, my brave adventurer.
"
-- Turaga Nokama

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Click here to visit my library!

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9 minutes ago, Master Inika said:

On the other hand, the internal narration from the Zadakh in the quoted portion isn't lacking in any way. That Vahki seems to be acting reasonably enough given the circumstances, even recognizing to retreat from a dangerous situation. They just got handed an unwinnable position, and were probably only included to make the Visorak look even cooler and more dangerous (not unlike the Exo-Toa in 2003 or Toa Nuva in 2006 being easily defeated).

True, ultimately you’re probably right. They were likely written to purposefully lose to make the visorak seem more impressive by completely one siding the vahki. I’ll have to re-read the story since it’s been a while, but I don’t remember the vahki being particularly strategic there, mostly “we’ll just kill anything that gets in our way”, then when they were losing “retreat!”. That sounds like a normal response, especially for gun happy ex-cops on a power craze, but not a particularly intelligent conversation. This again goes to the comparisons between a local police station trying to take on an army. The visorak just had bigger numbers, more intelligence, better training, and better weapons. Either way, I think we agree that the vahki had no chance and were completely dominated by the visorak.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Let’s put it this way. Vahki were very, very good at doing what they were meant to do: subdue and neutralize Matoran criminals. Anything beyond that, well...they never had much success. The Toa Metru acknowledged that they were a threat, but they were still able to escape them almost every time, even without Mask or Elemental powers.

As for the Vahki-Visorak battle we saw, I see this as Greg world-building by including some past characters, plus relieving some frustration he had over the Vahki, which he has stated are his least favorite characters in the franchise due to their simple, pre-programmed personalities. He showed them getting their butts handed to them because he didn’t like them, but also tried to rectify their “uninterestingness” by making them more complex, via the peek into their (albeit surge-corrupted) minds and revealing their previously-unknown speech capability (also partially caused by the surge, as mentioned a few posts up). 

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