Maganar

I don't know much anything about gambling either, but the concept was that this set of tables was designed to take reward minimum payouts for predictable victories and entice people with hugely multiplied returns on unwise bets. The actual number of people making bets on one versus another was not supposed to affect their return. This might be unrealistic, but it was supposed to be a system that backfired horribly when Guftivei just started more or less making bets at random. He's been a rogue saboteur for decades - I doubt he really cares about cash much since he can steal just about anything he needs during the raids he's been making. He just wanted to mess with the heads of the gamblers... but he messed up the whole operation!Let me help you out here with our friends Semitra and Divrok... I'm grabbing some excerpts from the text of Lightfall.Part 3, Entr'acte - [From Helryx's private log...] Considering the hiatus in assassinations, I am temporarily reassigning agent code-named Viper to study the Ravager team. A stealth commando like her should have no problem following the wake of destruction this group seems to leave behind everywhere they go. Meanwhile, I will consult with codename Primordial on this matter to see what his opinion is.Part 4, Intro - [From Helryx's private log...] True…but my most recent conversation with codename Primordial put things in a new light. Oh, light. No pun intended.Part 4, Chap. 40 - “You seem to be waiting for something to happen. Perhaps you could tell an old Primordial warrior what that may be?” / Her voice rasped “You should know better than to disturb a resting Viper, stranger.” / “So it is you, Semitra. Can’t be too careful these days.” / “No, you can’t. What’s Helryx want, Divrok?”Part 4, Chap. 45 - [Person matching this "Semitra" figure comes to Guftivei's aid. Looks strangely like Vortixx, but is not. Has been watching team; refuses to talk about the details.]Do you see now?Anyway... I will uncover her as-of-yet unknown species in the sequel (when the sequel happens, if you saw my PM... but it will happen.). And just let me tell you that there is a very specific reason we have never met her species before.

Chapter 44 Stelt, 999 years after the Great Cataclysm “All my money. Shadow Assassin.” “Do you have any common sense!” “No. Now take the money. Or are you just scared I might win?” Of course, that was the truth, wasn’t it? What if this newbie really did defeat Rogog? It would be a disaster for the gambling tables. Even those that had originally been skeptics of Guftivei now followed in his footsteps, placing their bets on what was clearly the least likely to survive of the two finalists. The payback would be huge if the bet was legitimate. Back in the prep room, Emeder was coming to terms with the upcoming battle. Looks like it’s coming down to just you and the big guy now. Yeah. …Emeder? What? I’m not sure I can save you if he gets an advantage. You might just get flattened. Don’t fail me now. Sure. I won’t let you down. Not on my life. That’s what worries me… Emeder… Don’t worry. After this, we’re going straight for that stupid Light Ravager that started all this. Then we’re leaving this chapter of our lives behind. Maybe we can find some semblance of peace. Leave all the hate and evil of this world behind. Just get away from it all. You and Guftivei and I: just finding somewhere…quiet, if nothing else. I’ll believe in that. If I don’t believe in a better tomorrow, I don’t know what to believe in. Yeah. Emeder felt the ground shake. The gate opened. Destiny awaited. He ran out to meet it. Rogog stood tall, in all his twisted majesty. He seemed half-machine now. He let loose a roar that shook the stadium. Did he recognize Emeder? No. Emeder’s appearance was too greatly changed. A titanic fist came raining down from above. Emeder barely leapt clear in time, an infinitesimal distance separating him from the fist that could spell instant death. Picking himself up off of the ground, Emeder did the unthinkable. You’re insane! Wouldn’t have it any other way. Rogog couldn’t see anything on the ground when he raised his fist. Rogog could only think of one possible explanation: he had simply flattened his puny opponent into oblivion with one blow. He raised his fist in triumph. The crowds cheered on the triumphant victor… Guftivei gasped in horror… The gambling table tenders breathed a sigh of relief… And then everyone except Rogog saw it. Emeder, desperately hanging on to Rogog’s fingers. He had grabbed hold before Rogog had lifted his fist back up off the ground and was now clutching the side of Rogog’s raised fist. Rogog, with his hand far over his head, was oblivious. “Woah…that whole thing I just saw was an illusion, right?” No, it was far more brilliant than any clever illusion. And Emeder masterminded the entire thing. I had nothing to do with it. As the crowd ceased to cheer, Rogog glanced up at his fist, too late. Emeder released his grip and fell downwards, directly onto Rogog’s face and blasting shadow energy into it. Rogog slapped his face, but Emeder had already scrambled over his head and was now hanging off the back of Rogog’s neck. As Emeder rappelled down electrical cables that ran from one robotic portion of Rogog to another, he reached a spot on Rogog’s back that Rogog was unable to reach. In frustration, the colossus shook himself violently. He didn’t dare to fall flat on his back in an attempt to crush Emeder, lest he also crush any vital robotic components keeping him alive. At first, Emeder was too preoccupied with hanging on to do anything else. Eventually a tiny window of opportunity opened up as Rogog stilled for an instant. It was all Emeder needed to regrip his glaive and use it to slice several of the cables. Rogog wailed and shook with a renewed energy. Emeder was unable to hold on. He was launched through the air and violently crashed into the ground. Emeder blacked out for a second as his mask became skewed, the eye-holes in the wrong locations. He quickly realigned it and stared to see Rogog towering over him…and then falling. Rogog toppled over, too weak to fight. He could not survive unless the cables Emeder had cut were repaired. The audience frenzied yet again. This was precisely what they had come to see: Entertainment. At its very, very best. Chapter 45 Stelt, 999 years after the Great Cataclysm A repair crew rushed out to Rogog’s aid as soon as Emeder had left the scene of the fight. Rogog was a crowd pleaser, and it wouldn’t pay well to have his fans stop coming. The cold calculus of gladiatorial profiteering involved allowing just enough death to please the crowd as well as allowing just enough survivors to cause crazed fans to return every time their favorite warrior reentered the ring. “This is a general announcement:” the table tender began. “Due to recent…uh, difficulties, we are reducing return rates.” “Mata Nui above and Karzahni below, what are you saying?” a disgruntled gambler inquired. “Uh…we’re out of cash. You will be compensated for your victories as soon as we are able to do so -” He suddenly found a knife held against his throat. “You’re trying to swindle me, swamp scum?” “Hey, get yer hands offa’im!” “I’m making the demands no-” the gambler took a blow to the side of the head. This act catalyzed a full-scale riot. Everyone in the gambling booth removed any weapons they possessed and began to attack anything that moved. Alright, you’ve had your fun. Before things over there turn any uglier, you need to get out. Meet us in the exterior plaza. “Good call!” Guftivei acknowledged as he dodged a serrated blade that had been aimed at his neck. He vaulted over an upended table and towards the door, stumbling over two entangled brawlers on the floor. For a moment he thought he was clear, and then he saw someone blocking the door and loading a projectile weapon. Guftivei raised his already-loaded Cordak blaster at the enemy and screamed over the din. “Put that thing down!” The opponent glanced up to see he’d been beaten to the trigger and threw the armament down. Hardly a second later, a club struck the surrendered being in the head. The new foe ran on, ignoring Guftivei and striking blows at random. Guftivei stepped over the unconscious body and ran for the plaza, but he was cut off. Hands reached out of an alley and threw Guftivei to the ground. He turned to see a figure rising over him, preparing to plunge his sword into Guftivei. There wasn’t much Guftivei could do to protect himself. Suddenly, he saw two metallic points pierce his opponent’s torso. Someone had just stabbed Guftivei’s attacker from behind with a brutal pointed weapon. Guftivei jumped to his feet and looked at the fallen foe. Then his eyes traced their way from the dead body… to the weapon that taken the enemy down… to the face of his savior. To most she would have seemed to have been a Vortixx, but Guftivei could tell otherwise. “Who are you? …and what? You’re not like me, not Vortixx, are you?” “No. And that’s none of your business. Now get out of here,” she said with the slight rasp that was indicative of her speech. “But you still haven’t –” “I said get out of here. And unless I ever tell you that you can say otherwise, we’ve never met. Try to avoid causing so much trouble next time; I think your friends would rather you didn’t get yourself killed.” “OK, I’m going! But how you do know all this?” “That’s my job right now, Guftivei, until I am assigned to another task. Like I said, we’ve never met. Now, for crying out loud –” she added. “Get out of here already!” With a last backward glance at the unfathomable female, Guftivei bolted onward. On the way, he saw an entire squadron of armed guards sprinting in the direction he’d just come from. Next time you join in on the local festivities, try not to start a city-wide crisis. Guftivei looked ahead to see a cloaked figure waiting on him and standing by the gladiatorial competitor everyone knew as Shadow Assassin. “What can I say? That’s just how I roll. Plus, I didn't even get paid in the end.” “Come on,” Emeder said. “We’re ready to do this. To the Rift?” “To the Rift!” To the Rift! No more trials. No more diversions. Just one team... and their ancient enemy.

Ok, let's do this!Three weeks ago, I finished reading Tale of Yrenta. Due to reasons I will outline in a PM coming your way very soon, I was unable to give my promised holistic review until now.This epic opens with a wonderfully chosen starting point, the middle of the League of Six Kingdoms. This gives a climactic opening point and introduces a large host of characters quickly, allowing us to rapidly acquaint ourselves with some of what will become major characters. The opening chapters detail the explorations of Matoran adventurers, which gives a very enjoyable MNOG feel. A believable mix of familiar and invented Rahi appear in this portion, the Jivri Nui being one of the best-imagined, and it's name stays true to the tradition of naming more fearsome versions of familiar Rahi with a 'Nui' suffix that we see in Bionicle nomenclature. Subtle things like that to hold continuity can go a long ways. Characters with behaviors similar to their elemental alignments bring back an old and largely dead tradition as well. I suppose I am helping kill that old concept with my writings ( ), but, hey, I really liked it in here. It worked really well. Oh, and of course that goes for the villages themselves and the customs of those villages. Poor Morok - even after admitting his guilt openly, getting beat up by Gareki, and going out cold, he has to wake up to an uncomfortable Po-Matoran excuse for a bed! Alas! The Gravity village was the best example of this: it's an element we haven't seen a Koro for in canon, but you made the elemental tie-ins in a logical fashion - an even greater challenge when considering it's a rather abstract element.Now, Teskor's appearance marks a transition in the story. Teskor made for a decent Makuta; the minotaur-like build isn't something we've seen before in Makuta and since they all seem to have unique appearances, it works for me. Nothing to spectacular with his introduction, he's a Makuta who's trying to make a good impression on the Matoran and who just ends up being a bit creepy instead. The Ni-Koro makes for another well-imagined environ with its lightning harvesters and electrical devices. The surroundings on Mount Tasle are what truly sell it, though. The overlapping thunderclaps and perpetual lightning striking the rocky crags - now I know I'm just beyond the Lightning Village! The creation of a Matoran Nui was another great reappearance of an infrequently-used canon concept. This is where I will make one criticism, however. As far as word choice goes, I see the word "amalgam" show up time and time again in continual succession. For such a specific word, it is normally considered to loose some of its effectiveness when used so many times in a row. This would be a good point to use pronouns (if you can avoid ambiguity with the word "it") or find synonymous words. Pretty minor complaint though, and it's difficult to avoid with a strange entity such as a Matoran Nui.Oh yay! Toa rise to the challenges of the universe!The new Toa behave just as you would expect new Toa to behave. Eagerness for action, an inability to control their powers, a little bit of generic and inadvertent mayhem (it going to take the Po-Matoran repair crew weeks to get the Ce-Kini back in working order) - you captured it all. "Pebbles, raindrops, hot gas, electric tingles, weeds, and falling" - Now we're talking! Some of these battle techniques were great - I especially like ionized gas combo for plasma and electricity. It seems so logical in retrospect, but I'm not sure I've seen anyone use it before in a battle sequence. You'll have to tell me if you saw that in some other fanfic first, but it was a good touch to include it whether it was fully the product of your own creativity or a borrowed concept - it doesn't matter. The battle to reach Teskor was also well done, a valiant but inevitably doomed assualt that ended leaving us readers nicely confused. Teskor's answers... answered nothing! It's fun to be confused!Ok, let's run through everything else rather quickly - this review is turning out to be gargantuan in proportions, even if I expected this to be the case given that it is a review of a full 32-chapter epic. I like the Hand of Artahka dude speaking in early contemporary English, it sets him apart and makes emphasizes his lengthy wait and noble purpose, even if he does get a little overly-zealous in his insistence on taking out the even the Toa! I get the feeling he's a proponent of the "shoot-first-ask-questions-later" approach. I assume that was Ancient at the end - nice little cameo and a hilarious moment as Gareki and Morok confusedly go "Um... what just happened?" Not literally, but you know what I mean. The Lightning Village evacuation succeeds in being panic-inducing and horrifying we realize just how outmatched the Ni-Matoran are. Ilikia's desperate defense gives us a sense of her courage just as we earlier got a sense of Morok's belief in justice as he travelled to Po-Koro to apologize for Pakkum's death (something I failed to mention earlier). The actions you portray in these characters are great as far as characterization and making the characters believable beings we can sympathize and - in Ilikia's case here, after the destruction of her village - lament alongside. Nice usage of the word "Piraka" once again - that being yet another story concept brought up and forgotten (I'm just referring to the fact GregF said "Piraka" meant "thief" or "murderer," yet we never once saw it used except to refer to the Skakdi of '06). A pseudo-mystery with Siok mixed things up a bit and a nice display of unintended consequences with the Vesai-centric segment - I'll skim over these. They were also well-done and consistent with the rest, but I don't feel I need to elaborate further.One thing that didn't fit in earlier as I made my chronological progession: Varlokka's prediction as to her defeat. I seemed like she knew too much about it just from prophecies coming from the stars. I just feel that it was always a bit more cryptic when it was Vakama or Nokama or one of our good old '01 Turaga making those prophecies, which was back when it was plot-important. (The Matoran in the Knowledge Towers in '04 did the same, I know, but we never really got any insight into what sort of information they were able to record from the stars. We just knew they did it. I take it you were basing this off of the '01-style prophetic star readings anyway.) I didn't really like the level of detail she got: she knew she would fall, she knew she would survive - just barely, she knew six Matoran would come, and she knew she was to imbue them with Toa power! That's quite a bit to glean from prophetic stars! Anyway, that entire thing got, what? - like a sentence? - of attention, so it didn't detract much. Just something I noticed.And of course, our finale. A call to arms to what we know will be one of the pivotal conflicts of the MU and Toa Yrenta will be there. I like it, I like it. And the final admission of exactly what Teskor had been planning (and was up to) the entire time. Yes, his plan is totally in the style of the plans of the Makuta and it is devious in the extreme! Finally the puzzle pieces fall into place and the conundrum begins to explain itself...All in all I loved it and I hope this in-depth analysis did some level of good! I'll catch up with your further writing in the future. Thanks for writing the epic and I'll see you around!EDIT: OH! I almost forgot. (Well, actually I did, but then I remembered it later.) I looked at your Yrentan MOCs. While it doesn't directly pertain to the writing, I figured I might as well say it here. The MOCs were pretty cool in general, but the mind-blowing one was the Matoran Nui. That was amazing! I was quite simply dumbfounded by the fact that you had used every piece, save a few masks, in it just to stay true to the spirit of the Matoran Nui concept. Bonus points have been awarded!

Chapter 42 Stelt, 999 years after the Great Cataclysm The Gorrelian Hounds were quite a bit larger than Emeder. As the distance between the Hounds and Emeder closed, Emeder began to charge up a field of shadow energy around him. Just as the Rahi were nearly on top of him, he released it in a blast that threw back the unsuspecting foes. They were launched in different directions. The crowds screamed with exhilaration. That’s it! Take advantage of the simple-mindedness the starvation caused. One of the Hounds had already recovered from the blast. It had landed on its back, but it now twisted back onto all fours with a lithe maneuver. Yet again, it came pounding at Emeder. Before he could react, it slammed into him, casting his glaive aside and flinging him aground. A flurry of claws raked over his body and slavering jaws opened up in front of his face. Get out from under it! It’ll savage you from on top! I’m working on it! Emeder thought back, while trying to wrest the jaws away from his face. He had planted his hands inside its mouth, and was frantically trying to keep its jaws pried open. If his strength gave out, its jaws would snap shut over his head. He suddenly jerked to the right, pulling on the teeth he was holding. The starved Hound was only concerned with pushing downwards on the resisting force and was unprepared for the sideways tug. The downward force was now applied at a slant and the creature’s head smacked into the ground. Consequently, this impact cause it to lose its footing and it slipped off of Emeder just long enough for him to jump back to his feet. Emeder backed away, snatching up his glaive in the process. The Hound’s gaze snapped back to Emeder as soon as it had recovered. It unleashed a feral snarl. Debilitate it. It pounced. Emeder charged a blast of pure shadow energy over his fist. He discharged the blast directly at the creature’s face. In mid-leap, it was unable to dodge it. The creature took the blow and landed at Emeder feet, temporarily stunned. Emeder then slit its throat with his glaive. Perfectly executed. Now watch out for the other two! Emeder had nearly forgotten he was facing three of these Gorrelian Hounds. He whipped around to face the other two, both of which were pacing and snarling as they slowly circled him. Having seen the other one fall in its hungry zeal, these two had let their self-preservation win out over their frenzy of starvation. They’re working together. They’re going to go for you…now! The two leapt forward simultaneously, but from opposite directions, attempting to offer no escape route for Emeder. So what did Emeder do? He leapt straight at one of the Hounds. Well, straight at the Hound, but lower. As the one Hound sailed clean over him, the pair found themselves on a trajectory directly facing one another. They collided headfirst and Emeder turned around to see the backside of the Hound he had just leapt under. He swung a wide arc with his glaive, striking its left hind leg. As the blade hit its mark, the animal let loose a pitiful whine. The creature would now possess a limp for the remainder of the battle. Duck! Emeder did as he had been commanded, placing all his trust in Imegna. She was all the help he had in getting through this. He immediately saw why she had given the order. The second, uninjured Gorrelian Hound had been too impatient to wait for the other one to get out of the way…so, it simply chose to pounce straight overtop of the other one and directly at Emeder. Lethally-long claws struck the arena floor just in front of Emeder. They would have struck him in the middle of the chest had he not ducked as per Imegna’s instruction. With the other Hound obstructing his view, he wouldn’t have known the attack was coming without her help. Emeder saw his opening. Having over-jumped Emeder, the uninjured Hound now had its back to him. He clambered atop the animal. The creature began to writhe and thrash in an attempt to dislodge him. He was straddling its back now, trying to both prepare his glaive for an attack and remain on top of the bucking animal at the same time. The crowd was in an absolute frenzy by now. As far as they were concerned, this was entertainment at its best. Finally, Emeder managed to get a proper grip on his glaive. Go for it. Emeder unleashed a torrent of stabs to the top of the Hound’s head. It began to wail and moan in agony as its head became repetitively perforated. When it finally lacked the strength to make any further attempts to dislodge Emeder from its back, Emeder lifted the glaive high above him and drove it deep into the creature’s head. It fell, dead, and Emeder tumbled off. Just one more remaining and you’re clear of the qualifiers. The last Rahi, salivating and mouth agape, charged Emeder, ready to consume him. As it approached, Emeder raised his glaive and drove it down the creature’s open mouth and into its throat, killing it. He had passed the qualifiers. - - - “Alright, I’m not saying it again. Pay up,” Guftivei commanded. He collected his now-tremendous winnings. “Now, who’s up for the next round of bets?” Chapter 43 Stelt, 999 years after the Great Cataclysm In the semi-finals, the gambling tables’ rules dictated that all bets must be placed in advance. Despite the very low return ratio, many gamblers put their money on Rogog. It was essentially a guarantee that Rogog would defeat the Terror-bird that would now replace Carnus after his failure in the qualifiers. Most gamblers held onto most of their money, though. They wanted to see where Guftivei placed his money, considering Guftivei had placed every bet correctly in the qualifiers. Arena fights were notoriously unpredictable, and even the ratings rarely gave a perfect reflection of the outcomes. Yet, this Guftivei always hit it right on. Some gamblers went so far as to claim Guftivei was psychic. When Guftivei placed all his money on “Shadow Assassin,” numerous others followed suit. You appear to have started a cult of followers. “So it seems.” There was little surprise as Rogog devastated the hapless Terror-bird. As the tables distributed the winnings accordingly, a rumor began that the tables would be in danger of running out of money if the newcomer Shadow Assassin really did defeat the veteran Exo-Killer. The return ratios for a correct bet on Shadow Assassin were very high due to low predicted probability of a newcomer defeating a veteran. Emeder arced his glaive around the prep room, practicing before he was admitted to face Exo-Killer. Imegna once again provided him with telepathic aid. Exo-killer demolished the mutant mauka he faced in the qualifiers. He has more projectile weapons than I could ever hope to count. There wouldn’t really be a point in trying to disarm him, he’ll just fire at you with different weapon. If you can find a way to disable the suit, the battle’s over, but good luck with that. How many different types of weapons does he have? Think of how many projectile weapons you’ve seen during you raids on Xia. That’s a lot. He had that many? Hah…no such luck. Double the previous figure. The gate opened, and Emeder stepped into the arena again. He immediately spied Exo-killer. It was difficult to miss someone with the appearance of a walking weapons platform. Emeder noticed something straight away: there were absolutely no melee weapons to balance the endless ranged weapons. Even the suit’s arms ended in Cordak blasters. If he could just get in close…That would be a good idea, Imegna confirmed. The Cordak blasters he had taken note of opened fire, but they were far deadlier than even Guftivei’s custom creation. These were fed by one long belt each and capable of a very high rate of fully automatic fire. Emeder ducked and rolled; there were no other options if he planned on avoiding instant defeat. Cordak ammunition zipped over his head and peppered the arena floor behind him. He ran towards his opponent and did so as erratically as possible. Due to the incredibly high rate of fire and an inability to reload from within the massive suit, Exo-killer ran out of Cordak ammunition. It was time to use a different approach. Exo-killer began to fire from some Xian weapon while simultaneously launching Rhotuka spinners. Emeder zigzagged past the first volley of shots from the Xian weapon with…relative…ease, when compared to what was next. As the Rhotuka spinners struck the ground, it became apparent that Exo-killer’s Rhotuka power was something along the lines of “cause giant explosions.” One struck close to Emeder and threw him off of his feet. Fortunately, the dust clouds the explosions kicked up made it difficult for Exo-killer to make accurate shots with the Xian weapon. Even worse for Exo-killer, Emeder used his shadow powers to exaggerate the dimming of the light caused by the dust in the air. Emeder picked himself back up and continued to run forward. Exo-killer, taking full advantage of the armory at its hands, changed tactics once again. Exo-killer began to fire explosive shells while lacing the area with blasts from a weapon that released pulses of energy. The energy pulses let off bright flashes and this gave Emeder the impression it might be light-based. He flexed out with his mind to negate the weapons mechanics with his elemental abilities over shadow. It suddenly ceased to fire. He dodged the last few explosive shells that were raining down from above. Exo-killer had run out of chances. Emeder was standing directly in front now. As a last-ditch defense, Exo-killer swept an arm through the air, releasing a jet of fire from a flamethrower. At this point, it was a futile gesture. Emeder flanked around the suit of armor and began to jab it in the back. He hit something critical, and the suit slumped over. He had won. Emeder pumped his fists to the energetic crowd. He turned around to were Exo-killer was hobbling off, and thought he saw a glimpse of its pilot for a fraction of a second. No, that couldn’t be right. The pilot couldn’t be – Yep, that’s right. Under that suit of armor, Exo-killer is actually nothing more than a Ni-Matoran. And a very disgruntled one at that. Be glad you can’t hear the onslaught of profanities against you that are running through her head. That’s not possible, though! Plus, you said Exo-killer was a “he.” I must have been mistaken right there. I’m telling you, you weren’t. It’s a sad thing to see just how far some innocents can fall. I called Exo-killer a “he” to save you the embarrassment in case you got defeated. Are you kidding me? How would I ever get defeated by a little girl! I don’t know, but I just about saw it happen right now. …point taken. Emeder ruefully admitted. In the meantime, Guftivei and the gamblers that had chosen to follow in his footsteps were collecting their earnings. So far, the gambling table staff hadn’t run out of money…but they were exchanged some worried looks. Perhaps there was some substance to the rumor that Guftivei had caused a chain of events that was running the tables dry. Everyone began to get ready for the final round. The championship was about to be concluded.

Agh... yeah, last-minute save with the perception distortion sequence that I threw on after you brought up the point about Imegna being an entirely different height from the other audience members. Hence, I only proofread that once - while I had it open in the posting box. I rewrote that sentence three times and left behind an arbitrary "not" from a previous version of the sentence; thus, I reversed the meaning. Time to use the edit function...Other than that, thanks for the continued feedback. Wait, that sounds different from how I meant it. In addition to that, thanks for the continued feedback. There, that makes more sense.EDIT: Fixed those typos. And I completely forgot to address a couple other points that I had meant to. The Steltian was supposed to be a member of Krekka's species. And the other thing: yeah, have to feel sorry for that poor guy. The gladiatorial segment (which runs for most of Part 4, ironically) was not initially in the script until I decided that the shadow-reversion thing was not going to be some massive segment. Then Part 4 needed more stuff, I decided on this whole thing, I outlined the three challenges I wanted to include, and... BOOM! Suddenly I saw how the same character could make a suprising reappearance. It also brought up a fair point about unintended consequence from a thematic viewpoint. So I ended up with him returning to the plot in the end right here.Oh, and lastly, Imegna sure isn't going to be able to move around right now. If it hadn't been for the fact that I didn't need her moving around, I would have still had plot holes. Once in a while you just get lucky.

With this huge, comprehensive analysis above me, I'd be a fool not to use it to my advantage. No, seriously, though, let me point out how my opinions on it compare to Jedi's. OK, these were the comments that struck me the most. As Jedi said, the argument with the scientists and his reaction in the aftermath of his loss of control - great execution. I like what I see there.Matoran language was definitely a high point in thinking creatively. How do you portray something that isn't English that we've only seen in English in canon? But what you have works nicely. Good job.I could have forgiven the "stuffy British accent" to some degree (but really, few people speak that way), if it hadn't been for the fact that he's still so much of a... newborn, so to speak. Sure he was created fully developed, but I don't think he was blessed on birth with the ability to launch into dramatic literary soliloquy! Learning to command such an air is never really instinctual, and it doesn't fit with such undeveloped characteristics in other fields (e.g. motor skills - barely being able to walk even after practice).Now, about the rainfall scene. Maybe it comes down to opinion... but I liked it. So Jedi did and I didn't. Take that for what it's worth.And Jedi's final analysis was a great summary. So nothing to say about that.Now, for something I personally noticed. DNA. While I have often been annoyed by GregF's response whenever he is afraid he might have broken the rules of physics... It still now firmly lies in the Bionicle fan paradigm that we do not fully understand the science of the Bionicle universe - and deoxyribonucleic acid is a very specific chemical for a universe that is apparently entirely constructed out of something called protodermis. A Toa is apparently 100% protodermis, just varying different types. Now, Zyents might very well be composed of substances similar to those of our world; that 100% protodermis thing only goes for inside the Mata Nui robot, but it's a safe bet that our protagonist does not possess DNA. But just so you know, I've never been a fan of that particular call that Bionicle universe science can work however GregF feels it should. But that's how it is these days apparently. I'd just go for the more inocuous terms "genetic code" or whatever. Easy escape path. Don't worry, it didn't detract from my experience whatsoever. I still loved this short.Oh, and last thing: I caught on to the "second trial" foreshadowing after you mentioned it for the second or third time. Jedi said it was only at the last moment he caught on, so I figured I'd bring up the fact that I caught on a little bit earlier so that you would know that you didn't do too good of a job at hiding your foreshadowing. I am big on science, too, and as I started to think about what my "second trials" involve relative to the "first trial," I suddenly just went Oh gee, this could get ugly... And it did. Nice job a dropping those subtle hints.Ok, hope that helps.

Chapter 40 Stelt, 999 years after the Great Cataclysm A purple-armored hulk lumbered through the crowds near the top of the stadium. He stood half-again as tall as most in the audience and his face was obscured underneath a helmet. Matter of fact, most of his body was buried under armor. A large modified Rhotuka spinner was strapped to his left forearm. He picked his way through the masses, working his way to a balcony with a cloth canopy. As he made it to the corner, he found a female of some unidentified species leaning over the railing. She didn’t look entirely dissimilar from a Vortixx, but drabber in coloration than the typical Xian. She seemed to be a shade of tan-gray. Additionally, her face was a little flatter than a native Xian’s, but she had the same snake-like eyes. Two needle-like blades, if you could call them blades considering they were more like shards of metal, were strapped to her back in an assemblage that qualified as her weapon. The two-bio-long shards were spaced apart a hands-breadth by a skeletal-looking structure. The lumbering hulk addressed her. “You seem to be waiting for something to happen. Perhaps you could tell an old Primordial warrior what that may be?” Her voice rasped “You should know better than to disturb a resting Viper, stranger.” “So it is you, Semitra. Can’t be too careful these days.” “No, you can’t. What’s Helryx want, Divrok?” “Just more of the same. Keep an eye on the gambling table. The Xian target is running the tables there.” She shook her head. “Does he want to end up broke? Those tables are rigged, everyone knows that. Of course, the compulsives always return…” “Off the record, what’s your impression of the team? Helryx doesn’t need to hear your opinion unless you want her to. I know how to keep a secret.” “Honestly, they’re not naïve. They know what they’re facing. I hope they make it through. Then again, Helryx has plans for them doesn’t she? I say leave them alone once they’ve played their part, but that’s not my call to make. Not even my place to say, but you asked and I trust you. We go back a long ways, right?” “Long enough. Like I promised, no one will hear what you said. I can play the silent game.” “I appreciate it.” She pushed away from the railing she’d been leaning on and rolled her shoulders. “I guess I better get back to work. See you on Daxia sometime soon.” - - - “‘Rogog,’ huh?” Guftivei said, glancing over the tournament bracket at the gambling tables. “Cool name. I think I’ll put all my money I got right now on him.” The staff member at the gambling table gave him an incredulous look, but still made sure to rapidly dump the money Guftivei had put on the table into the reserve. “You’re placing all your money on a bet on what is going to be the tensest fight of this entire tournament short of the final round based on…how impressive the competitor’s name is? You’re crazy.” “Well, this guy is ranked as the favorite, with…uh, Exo-killer coming in second according to this chart, right?” “Well, if he makes it out of the qualifier intact. He’s up against a giant chimera. It's going to be a battle of the titans. If the chimera wins this battle, it will replace him as the favorite. Until we see the end of the qualifiers, only non-Rahi competitors can be ranked. So, I guess you could say Exo-killer is ranked third. Either way, what you’re saying is that it’s because he’s the favorite that you put your money on him? That makes sense, just know the ratings aren’t foolproof. The competitors in this tournament are some of the best.” “Nope…I really did put my money on him because of that epic name. Rogog!” Guftivei exclaimed, gesticulating wildly. “You’re crazy.” He’s right you know. Guftivei looked out from under the cloth canopy above the gambling tables and across the stadium to where Imegna was standing. “Looking good out there. I’m digging that gold trim you got going,” he said aloud, still not accustomed to speaking in thoughts. Just because I’m disguised as one of these elitist buffoons does not mean I must play the part without style. I'm trying my best, considering that I'm trying to simultaneously hold an air of dignity while projecting a perception filter around the box I'm standing on. Otherwise I'd clearly be shorter... and I wouldn't be able to watch due to all these tall Steltians. I need to be able to keep an eye on Emeder. Guftivei tried to look at her feet, but he kept finding himself looking away. The perception filter forced his mind to reject the possibility of looking at that point in space. Normally, performing such an act in the middle of a crowd would require tremendous elemental reserves, but Imegna's extensive time on the Mental Rift had made her capable of accomplishing the task. Finally, Guftivei got annoyed. “Ah…stop it already. Keep outta my head.” The same gambling table staff member gave an unusual stare to Guftivei. “Are you talking to yourself?” “Uh yeah,” Guftivei lied rather than explain the truth. It was unlikely he would have been believed anyway. “Helps me pass the time.” “…psycho.” Touché. “Shut it, I said.” Suddenly, the massive main gate to the arena opened. The crowd when ballistic. Then the entire stadium began to shake. A massive entity pounded into arena on all fours. Rogog. “No way…” Guftivei trailed. It wasn’t possible! Don’t tell me you recognize this thing! “No way…” Guftivei repeated. Memories. Now. I need to know what you know. Guftivei obliged. He called upon a memory from a long time back. A memory of a raid on Xia that he and Emeder had performed. Once again, he could see that Steltian slave take the blow from the enlargement disk; once again it grew incredibly; once again it careened over the edge of the rail transport and fell that presumably fatal distance. Presumably fatal. “But it can’t be! That thing died.” Apparently not.There it was, all over again, but now covered in robotic additions. Obviously, the fall had gravely wounded it and it now needed these robotic parts to keep it alive. Guftivei was unfamiliar with Kanoka technology, but for some reason the effects of the enlargement disk had never worn off or been countered. Instead, they had been exaggerated in time. Horrifically, Rogog was even larger than the last time Guftivei had seen him last. His gorilla-like form was now as large as a four-story building. It was only due to the massive proportions of the arena that this monstrosity was even able to fit. Actually, it had quite a bit of room to maneuver regardless of its incredible stature.I’ll warn Emeder. I’m sure he’ll be able to handle it. Or not. But I’ll make sure to stage a believable defeat if he ends up in trouble. He won’t be fighting it on the back of a rail transport this time, though, so he might be fine. Cheer up, big guy. I got it under control!Well, Guftivei thought. At least Imegna's optimistic. She's good to have around.Of course I am! The foreign thought barged into his head.Guftivei's only response was one world, growled out and barely audible: "Imegna..."He was sure she was smirking under that hood. He was absolutely certain of the fact.Chapter 41Stelt, 999 years after the Great Cataclysm So this Rogog character was really the enemy he had faced on Xia and supposedly killed over a decade ago? Strange, Emeder thought. As the battle between Rogog and the Rahi chimera raged in the arena, Emeder could feel all his surroundings shake with every blow. These two were the competition’s heavyweights. Outside, Guftivei watched the skirmish. With a vicious jab from Rogog, the chimera fell to its back. Its multiple heads flailed as it tried to right itself, but Rogog straddled the titan of a chimera and pummeled each head into oblivion…one by one. When it ceased to thrash, he backed off and pumped his fist to the crazed crowd in the stadium. A work crew came in and began to haul the giant corpse from the arena. Cheers rang out as Rogog leapt around the arena in celebration of his success. These people are sick in the head. That Rahi suffered so much it almost physically hurt me…and I was trying to block its mental pain out! “Yeah, well, some people are intrinsically evil. Or just really, really psycho.” The word choice of ‘psycho’ was poorly-planned, considering he had already been called precisely that once today. Guftivei immediately heard the gambling table staff member murmur something about hypocrisy. Heh, heh. Need I say something about a “touché” again? “No.” Then Guftivei addressed the gambling table once more. “So I guess I won big on that ‘psycho’ bid, right?” Behind the table, they ruefully acknowledged that such was the case and then gave him his winnings. “All right! That’s more like it! Carnus versus a Terror-bird next…I’ll put all my winnings on the Terror-bird. I saw one of those Rahi once. Nasty thing.” As the table tender once again rapidly scooped in the cash, he warned Guftivei “You know that the Rahi are supposed to lose, right? They take out competitors once in a while, but that’s pretty rare. I’d say you just lost all those winnings you just made. Carnus isn’t a newbie like that ‘Shadow Assassin’ guy.” Shadow Assassin…that was Emeder’s alias for the arena. Guftivei was unpertubed. “Whatever. Those Terror-birds are pretty mean things.” He started to gesture crazily, moving his hands as if they were the bird’s beak devouring some hapless being. The table tender just shook his head. It was lunatics like this guy that made the gambling tables the biggest profits, but that didn’t make it any less pathetic to watch. To everyone’s shock, the Terror-bird came out on top. It spat its normally-harmless but mildy toxic spittle directly into Carnus’ eyes early in the fight. It was a one in a million occurrence. Carnus held out for a while despite this handicap, but it couldn’t last. Finally the Terror-bird took him down. A work crew came in to wrangle the bird with shock-poles and remove Carnus’ injured form. It was uncertain if he would survive to reenter the arena. “Pay up.” The tender reluctantly obeyed. Hey, you are pretty lucky at this. I take back the whole psycho thing I’d agreed with. “Not luck. Skill.” Gambling and skill have no correlation. But I still have to admit you sure are a lucky one. Now that you have secured a small fortune, it might be wisest to take the money and just walk away. “No chance.” He looked at the next competition. Exo-killer versus a mutant mauka. He put all the money on Exo-killer. It was a low payback bet because Exo-killer was expected to win, but due to the massive payback from the previous round it would still be a lot of money. Even a small percentage increase in the sum he had accumulated so far was a sizable reward. A lumbering suit of armor, decked out in a plethora of projectile weapons and piloted by a being that was invisible in the depths of the suit, constituted the warrior Exo-killer. As expected, Exo-killer riddled the mauka with holes and Guftivei swept in his latest earnings. “Shadow Assassin versus the Gorrelian Hounds? It’d be unsporting to bet against our friend…Hey, tender! Put all my money back down. Yeah, on Shadow Assassin. What do you mean he’s the least favorite and we’ve already seen one competitor fall in the qualifiers? I don’t care, Shadow Assassin is probably better than that Carnus guy anyway!” You sure are making a sensation at the gambling tables. Hold on, I need to give Emeder a couple of telepathic tips. Those Hounds look pretty brutal. He needs to know what he’s fighting. Meanwhile, Emeder was tossing his glaive from one hand to the other, getting a feel for it. He was about to be admitted to his first round. This was it. Emeder. What? There are three of these Gorrelian Hounds. I’ve never seen anything like them before, so they might be mutants- Like me? Emeder joked, trying to lighten things up and keep his head on straight. Not so much. As far as mutants go, you’re mostly recovered and you’re definitely a lot friendlier than these things. Continue. They look very fast and very agile. Try to debilitate them as much as possible so that they lose that advantage. You won’t be able to go for a killing blow right off the start, they’ll dodge it. As I said, try to debilitate them first. Also, expect them to charge you rather than hold back: they look like they’ve been starved for this occasion. Thanks plenty. Next, the gate leading into the arena lifted and Emeder stepped forward. As the crowd roared, the gate on the opposite end of the arena began lift…and out stormed the Hounds.

Steltian amputees... now there's something I'd rather not think about! Just kidding.Oh yeah, he was, wasn't he? Don't know why that always escapes my mind... everytime someone brings that up for whatever reason I go "Oh yeah, I knew that!" and promptly fail to remember when it actually becomes relevant again.

Ah yes, those pesky Hounds. The MOC was a 15 min build because I was just going for "ugly canine." I introduced them in here as a completely arbitrary addition, but later on I ended up with them being integral to the plot of The Sordid Shafts. You'll see why by the time that epic is over. Just... don't dismiss the Hounds when you read Shafts. I'm biding my time a little bit before I start posting it, but it will start up soon.Ah yes, 'amoral' isn't the inverse of 'moral.' Yeah, those were (obviously) inverses. Might go back and fix that. Probably when I put up the next chapters. Nice catch. Tricky word families messed me up.No criticism is fine as long as you haven't found anything worth noting. I mean, I doubt I'm a perfect writer and you have a knack for smoking out nasty little issues that hid themselves away from other prying eyes, but if there nothing there to smoke out... what are you supposed to criticize! That actually leaves me very relieved; as you might have been able to tell from my PM, I was very wary about this last posting because of stuff like the sonics weirdness you mentioned and whatnot. Yay for things working out in the end! :biggrin:Hm... may add a couple sentences to some of the chapters further on to deal with Imegna's height. I was kinda going on the fact we haven't gotten any decent canon descriptions of the Steltian species other than the lower class, but it's logical to assume, given Krekka's size, that probably the other classes didn't have minimalist statures either. Wouldn't be the first late addition. I introduce a couple characters that were only going to be in the sequel during part 4 once I realized a way to sneak them in early and smooth out the transition from Lightfall to :censored: , the sequel. Yeah, I'm censoring the title until release. I guess. I don't care much right now, but all I know is that you can't unrelease a title if you decide you really do want to put an air of mystery around it later on. I released the name of Shafts immediately only because it directly spins off right in the middle of the action.Finished Part 1 of :censored: . Will also be four parts, but the first part of the sequel will be crazy longer than any other part in either epic. So finishing part 1 was a milestone. Glad to be clear of that. Also drafting my next big project that I plan on starting after the Lightfall, The Sordid Shafts, etc. project is complete. All I'll say is that it will be set on Bara Magna and it may have an alternate universe spin-off. I can't make things simple ever, can I?

Chapter 37 Northern Continent, 998 years after the Great Cataclysm Darkness. It was everywhere. Hope and heroism, morality and friendship, humanity and tranquility – where they had once been was now consumed by darkness. Oppression and villainy, amorality and hatred, inhumanity and cacophony – those were the gifts of the darkness. He had memories of another time, a time when he had had a name, a time where he had teammates and a quest, and even further back, a time where he had a team of friends and a village to defend. But that had all ended in failure and it no longer mattered. That life had ended and it had ended in failure. All that mattered…was the darkness. And then he heard it. It was a pure sound and it began to fluctuate in pitch. That was not in accordance with the darkness. The darkness represented corruption and cacophony, not purity and unity. His primal mind fought against this foreign thing. At some pitches, the darkness masked it and destroyed it; at other pitches, the sound pierced through the darkness, uncovering a part of his that had remained dormant since the darkness had first arrived. Initially, his mind seemed to be largely successful in locking out this clean and untainted sound. Then, something changed. Someone was invading his head and forcing him to become attuned to the sound. He had known this person once. She had had a name in that time on the edge of his mind - that time when he, too, had had a name. She sifted through his thoughts, finding the precise pitch at which the sound most successfully penetrated the darkness that lied within him. Then she withdrew. Had the darkness driven her out, was it victorious? No, she had withdrawn simply because she had found all that she had needed. The sound centered on a single pitch. It was the one pitch that nearly eradicated the darkness. For a short while, the darkness still seemed to be victorious. Then, the balance shifted. The darkness still fought back, but now his mind was actually hoping it would lose. The darkness and his mind were now fighting each other, not cooperating. And then it was over. The darkness was gone. Suddenly, he had a name again. He was Emeder and he had friends. His friends’ names were Guftivei and Imegna. The darkness no longer mattered. Guftivei and Imegna were what mattered. They were his friends and he could always trust them. No, nothing else mattered. Then Imegna’s mind came back. He felt her realize she had been successful. A wave of joy shot through her, and, as a consequence of the psychic link, through Emeder as well. I knew I could trust you. Don’t ever do that to me again. It took almost two years for me to get you back. …Imegna? What? It’s good to be back. Thanks for everything. Don’t worry, it’s good to have you back, too. Look, I need to tell Guftivei. OK. Wake me up soon. Oh…just one last thing before I get Guftivei. What’s that? Let me make it official: Welcome back to the land of the living! With that, Emeder’s mind joined his body in sleep. Chapter 38 At sea, en route from the Northern Continent to Stelt, 999 years after the Great Cataclysm A return to Stelt. That’s what was in order, Emeder thought as he watched the ocean’s salty spray blast over the bow of the boat. Its tang hung in the air that was rushing by. After he’d awoken as the Toa Emeder for the first time in almost two years, rather than some nameless Shadow Toa, Imegna and Guftivei explained what they had done to resurrect him. After numerous fruitless attempts by Imegna to locate his former mind under the shadows that had obscured it, they took an alternate approach. It occurred to her that this Order of Mata Nui, fighting Makuta and all, might know a way to revert the process. So, she tried to hail the only Order member she knew that was both aware of their quest and liable to be sympathetic: Axxon. This would have still been pointless, considering she had been unable to break Axxon’s mental shield in the past, if it were not for a lucky break. Apparently, Axxon’s superiors had been spying on the team and they were aware of the current plight the team was facing. After much deliberation, their leader had decided to divulge the findings of the Order’s most recent findings related to the subject. Axxon had been informed and had been asked to keep a mental eye out for Imegna’s psychic signature. Should he sense it, he had been ordered to inform the team. What did he have to say? Sonics. Sonics were the key, but the Order had yet to master the process. She would need to do some experimentation of her own if she planned to succeed. She had then sent Guftivei on a wild adventure to track down a sonic device that could be used for the purpose. He eventually tracked down a fierce Dark Hunter known by a multisyllabic name that translated to “He-Who-Makes-Others-Feel-Miserable” in his native tongue. He eventually defeated said Dark Hunter and stole its weapon, a customized sonic device known as a Sonic Piledriver. That was what Emeder heard in his head. The Sonic Piledriver had produced the pure sound that had eventually freed him when paired with Imegna’s analysis of its effect on his mind. His actual awakening had been less of a socially uncomfortable incident than anyone could have expected. Emeder was not surprised his new form, as he had been self-aware during his waking fits, just unable to overcome the darkness and insanity. The other two had also come to terms with his new appearance. It was simply an occasion of rejoicing as Emeder was finally reunited with Guftivei and Imegna. Then, the moment of truth. Had Emeder’s plan been successful? He had been bitten by the leech, he had been partially infected with shadow energy, his mind had been reverted, but had this granted him the elemental control over shadow that Shadow Toa were rumored to possess? In the cave, he called upon his elemental powers, not entirely sure what to expect. This is what transpired. “Alright, I’m going to give it a go.” “Right, bring on the shadow!” Guftivei jokingly taunted. Emeder seemed to concentrate for a second. Then his power swept through the room. “Nice!” Imegna called out, reaching out directionlessly. “You blinded me. You’re a natural at mastering newfound powers! Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever fully mastered my psionic abilities.” Then she wistfully admitted "Of course, the Rift might have had something to do with that..." “Yeah, good job. I can’t see anything either,” Guftivei added. “Um…is it bad that I also blinded myself?” “Oh…yeah, you might want to work on that,” Guftivei suggested. Then he continued “So, can you let us have our eyes back now?” Emeder tried to undo his actions, but instead released a series of shadow bolts that threw everyone off of their feet. Needless to say, he was having some difficulties. “I have no idea what I’m doing!” Emeder admitted as he and Imegna crashed headfirst into each other while blindly stumbling around. Over time, he became accustomed to his new abilities. That was why they were headed to Stelt. They were about to enter him as a guest competitor in the gladiatorial arenas that provided entertainment for the high society of Stelt. It would be a little “test-run” of his elemental control before he took to the Rift and battled the Light Ravager. Just one last trial, and then they were going to finish this. The Ravager would fall soon now. Chapter 39 Stelt, 999 years after the Great Cataclysm “Alright, this is where we split up,” Guftivei announced. Members of Stelt’s elite were swarming around them in the open plaza, most of them hurriedly rushing to the arena stadium for the upcoming event. “Emeder, you head to the preparation room before your first event of the day. You’ve got three rounds overall, remember?” “Right.” Then Guftivei turned to address the hooded figure to their right. “You should probably start - ” Don’t worry, I’ll be in the stands soon enough. Imegna had decided to wear an ornate black cloak made of an expensive textile in order to fit in better among the audience. The crowds in the arena were only comprised of society’s elitist tiers. A lone Toa of Psionics would draw attention, but with her mask concealed beneath the gold-trimmed hood that accented her armor, she could pass as a regal member of the upper class. It had been easy enough to steal the cloak. Guftivei had haggled over the price of something irrelevant and eventually stormed out, apparently discontent. Meanwhile, Imegna had simply walked in while using her elemental abilities to keep the owner fully focused on its conversation with Guftivei. Things rarely got much easier. Just one question: where are you headed, Guftivei? “Oh, I got business to take care of. You know, I think I’ll hit the gambling table. Place some choice bets on the outcomes of the arena battles. I lifted a little bit of money off of that shop owner while I was haggling. Took advantage of your little ‘focusing spell’ that kept the fool interested in the argument.” Try not to come back empty-handed. “What, don’t trust my arena combat skills? All he’s got to do is bet on me, right?” Emeder asked. Frankly, no. That’s part of the reason I’ll be watching: to project an illusion that you are horribly mangled if things turn against you, giving you a chance to slip out of the arena. Should work, those arena guards that are supposed to prevent escapees are pretty gullible. “So, have you been envisioning any heroic ‘death illusions’ for me?” No, mostly like the one I projected in the Makuta outpost to mimic my own death. Except the ones I’ve got planned right now are much more violent. Just for you! “Oh.” Just kidding. “Well, I’m heading to the gambling table. Meet me there when it’s over.” Good luck with your gambling. Try not to end up selling off your soul by accident. “Nah, don’t worry. I’m good enough at it that I don’t even need luck on my side.” I won’t even try to talk sense into you. It’s not worth the bother. “Yay! You finally figured it out!” That wasn’t a compliment. “Didn’t say it was.” As Emeder reported to the prep room, he started to get a bit nervous. The tournament bracket pitted each of the four contestants against a dangerous Rahi as a qualifier round. Then, the survivors faced off in the semi-finals with a duel of the two remaining contestants to end the day. The guard notified Emeder that the Rahi he would face in the first round were a pack of Gorrelian Hounds. Those just sounded bad. Maybe Imegna was right about him getting in over his head. He began to absentmindedly rub his hands together in a futile attempt to relieve his anxiety. Then a wave of calmness passed through him. There, that should block out your nervousness, Imegna notified him. Thanks. How would I make it without you? You probably wouldn’t. Good thing you don’t have an ego, Emeder sarcastically thought back. I don’t. You’re just as hopeless as Guftivei. Yay! You finally figured it out! …that wasn’t meant to be congratulatory. Didn’t say it was. At that point a horn blare heralded the beginning of the first event. Emeder settled down to wait until it was his turn to enter the arena.

The protagonists have gone on a long journey to reach their current place in this series. Just in case you missed out, their arduous task began here. It's time to put an end to this saga - and it's going to end with the longest Part to date. I hope you're ready for...Lightfall Part 4 - Eclipsed Intro Excerpt from the private log of Toa Helryx, recorded on Daxia 997 years after the Great Cataclysm Last we determined, the Fire Toa vanished after a skirmish with the Light Ravager. His whereabouts are unknown and he is presumed dead by our agents. Interestingly, the team was able to force a retreat from the Ravager. Perhaps they will succeed. We shall see. In the meantime, the survivors have taken some drastic actions in order to advance their cause. It appears the Air Toa volunteered as a test subject for an experiment to create a shadow warrior that could counter the Light Ravager. At first, I was skeptical about this group, but I am gaining respect for them. They understand sacrifice. Regardless, I find their plan reckless. Reports indicate his intrinsic light was partially drained, and the leech was then removed, in the manner that allows the victim to retain their original traits as well as gain shadow powers, but this has the side-effect of causing a highly unstable cognitive state. The most recent Brotherhood prototypes seem to be much more focused on infection of beings that are naturally light-based, but this prototype should grant him shadow powers regardless of his affiliation with the air element. We have been trying to counter the effects of shadow infections for quite some time now and the best we have been able to determine in all this time is that the key lies in sonics. We have yet to revert a victim to sanity while preserving the ability to use elemental shadow, and each effort has represented an extensive investment of resources. However, their plan may be just reckless enough to succeed. The Psionics Toa has an unprecedented control over her element. If we were to leak a small cache of information, perhaps just the fact that the reversion process is catalyzed by sonic energy, she may be able to successfully utilize it. She may revert him and preserve the elemental control over shadow that his body currently would possess. But this is all pointless conjecture, right? It isn’t like we just go spurting out our secrets to the world at large! True…but my most recent conversation with codename Primordial put things in a new light. Oh, light. No pun intended. He was the one to suggest an information feed to the team on the subject of shadow infection reversion processes. I responded with shock. This team is enough of a liability as it is, knowing of our existence and all. What sense was there in giving them further information? It would be begging for a disaster. But I trust codename…why don’t I just use his real name? If my private quarters on Daxia are compromised, everything’s over anyway! No point in using codenames here. Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Divrok. I trust Divrok enough that I had to ask what his reasoning was. After all, he’s been fighting Makuta since the League of Six Kingdoms. Nowadays he is ashamed of the role he played fighting on behalf of the Barraki, but that’s why he’s here: to redeem himself for that and put his Makuta-fighting knowledge to good use now that the Brotherhood really is in the wrong. Divrok looked at me. He said “Helryx, think back to your earliest days as a Toa. You were like most of the modern Toa, thinking that killing could never be justified, that things would work out no matter what, assuming the Great Beings actually knew what in the name of Karzahni they were doing – which they obviously didn’t.” “But I changed.” “Exactly. What makes you think you’re special?” I was silent for a moment. He jumped on the opportunity. “Toa have fought in wars before, Helryx. Toa can be taught to kill if that’s what worries you. Not that it’s a pretty fact, but they can.” “Divrok, you’ve killed Mata Nui knows how many over the millennia. What is this now about you going soft on me?” “Helryx, the only reason I kill in your name after seeing the devastation I wrought in the name of the Barraki is because your Order promises to protect others. It keeps the Matoran and other average citizens from needing to pick up arms and do what we are doing: killing. Killing isn’t a good thing no matter how you slice it Helryx, and I think you know that yourself. But everyone in the Order is here because we agree it is sometimes necessary.” “Fine, I can agree on that. Are you still sure about this, though?” “Helryx, don’t underestimate your own kind. While I was in the League, I saw Toa do things that shocked everyone. No offense, but I think the first requirement for being a Toa is a penchant for insanity. Toa have the potential to surprise all involved parties, themselves included, whenever they show up at the scene of an injustice.” I considered what he said. After some time, I made up my mind and gave the order: Leak the info.

Chapter 35 Northern Continent, 997 years after the Great Cataclysm “I need a straight answer, Imegna. Will he pull through?” I need to concentrate. “That isn’t an answer.” It’s all you’re getting in the way of an answer. Now, once again, I need to concentrate. “I’ve got all the time in the world. To put it bluntly, I’m going to break your concentration quite a bit more by smacking you with these armblades you gave me several years ago if you don’t tell me: will he pull through?” Fine. He will pull through. He has to. He has to because he trusted me to make sure he would. “I know this part already.” I’ve given you my only answers and this conversation is over. If you continue to distract me, I will be forced to digress from my task – which, if you haven’t noticed, your – our – friend’s sanity depends upon – in order to cause an overload of psychic energy in your brain that will put you to sleep. I can guarantee you that you will wake up with the worst headache of your entire life. Trust me on that if nothing else. “You’re so enigmatic about everything! Can’t you just– ” With a thud, Guftivei struck the floor. Just as Imegna had promised, his brain had been overloaded with psychic energy, knocking him unconscious. His prone form seemed to mimic that of Emeder’s on the cot in Imegna’s cave. One thing was very different about Guftivei’s prone form, however. It was not suffering from mutations. As he slept, courtesy of Imegna, Guftivei began to dream. He began to dream about what Emeder did to cause the entire debacle they were in right now. This was what he dreamt of… Chapter 36 Northern Continent, 996/997 years after the Great Cataclysm “So, what do we do?” inquired Guftivei. “Isn’t there anything else?” “I’m working on it!” Imegna exclaimed irately. “I’ve been desperately trying to formulate some form of strategy we could use to make further progress, but the shadow leech is – so far – a dead end. Like I told you before, this one is appears to be a prototype model and it will probably turn any host it attaches to into a raving lunatic, infecting their mind with an absolute excess of shadow energy as it drains their natural light. The Makuta appear to be refining this model so that the impact on cognition will be minimal, but this one is dangerous. Interestingly, it appears that reducing the mental damage makes it less effective against non-light-affiliated targets, but that doesn’t matter to us because this is an earlier model. As I explained last time, it’s advantageous that we have it, but there is little that can be done to utilize it unless we have a host of some sort: some beast of our own that we can control to fight the Ravager.” “I have an idea.” Emeder had decided to speak up. He looked at the other two. Guftivei could see something in Emeder’s eyes that he was unsure of. What was it? Fear, maybe? What did he have to fear in talking to the two people he trusted most? “Great! What is it?” Imegna enthused, forgetting the impatience she had felt prior when Guftivei had been pressuring her. She had temporarily ceased any telepathic activities because she had used up all of her elemental energy reserves for the time being as a result of another bout of long-distance mind-reading and fatigue was starting to set in. Emeder looked into her excited eyes. How could he do this to her? His plan would put so much weight on her shoulders after she had already bore such a burden for the lot of them. With a hesitant sigh, he said a few cryptic words that would be the last intelligible ones he would utter for quite a while. “Look, just let me, uh, you know, let me do my thing. I’ve got a plan. It’s just… Well – you’re not going to like my plan. Not at all.” "What in Karzahni’s name are you implying?” Guftivei responded. Both his as Imegna’s faces possessed expressions of shock and confusion. They had no idea where Emeder was headed with this discussion. Imegna began to absorb elemental energy as rapidly as she could, trying to accumulate enough to read Emeder’s mind. Emeder continued. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for doing this to you- ” “Look, if it seems like such a bad idea, maybe it is. Think about whatever you’ve got planned for just a second,” Imegna urged, trying to stall until she was able to read his mind. “No, I’ve got to go through with this. Look, everything’s going to depend on you, Imegna. That’s why I know this will work. Because I know I can trust you to make this work. Just know this: I know you will pull this off, so I have no fear about this, because you will save me.” Just as he finished saying this, he ran off into Imegna’s cavern. Imegna, now thoroughly disturbed by what Emeder had said, was calling upon every last reserve of elemental energy in the area to charge up just enough to look into Emeder’s mind and determine his plan. No sooner had he passed the cave’s mouth that Imegna screamed “Mata Nui above! Stop him! We can’t let him do it!” Guftivei didn’t pause. The two of them scrambled into the cave to see Emeder smashing the vial with the shadow leech in it…and then reaching out to touch it. Guftivei pounded forward and wrestled Emeder into a restraining grip. “You fool! Thank Mata Nui above we stopped you in time!” he bellowed. Emeder was incapable of moving, trapped by Gutivei’s powerful arms. “We have no idea what that prototype might do to you!” …but Emeder would be victorious. He had known Guftivei for a long time, long enough to know every trick Guftivei could pull. He knew that the grip Guftivei was using could be dislodged if the victim attempted to lever their weight backwards into the person restraining them… Emeder slipped loose for a second - just long enough to grab the shadow leech and allow it to bite him. EMEDEEERRRRRR!!! The instinctively telepathic shout slammed into Guftivei with the physical force of a mauka crashing into him headlong. For a brief instant, Guftivei felt a fraction of the psionic force that Imegna had unleashed long ago, inadvertently shredding the minds of the innocent inhabitants of her village. The overload of psychic energy was too much for his brain and he lost consciousness. He awoke with the worst headache of his life. The splitting pain was so great he temporarily forgot what his friend had just done. Wait…he wasn’t dreaming anymore. He really had woken up once again, with what was once again the worst headache of his life, once again in the same spot in Imegna’s cavern. And once again, the first thing he would take note of upon waking up was an exasperated Imegna trying to resuscitate the mind of a mutated Emeder that was releasing primal, barbaric sounds while strapped down to a cot. Once again. End Part 3 !!! Part 4!!!

Yes, The Sordid Shafts was just written (took a break from working on the sequel; one more chapter and I have part 1 of the sequel done). I just started my full proofread, though. I came across a decent assortment of cringe-inducing typos already, but it's shaping up. One more double-chapter-post and Part 3 of Lightfall will be up in full. Currently checking for any potential plot inconsistencies before posting...As noted above, I might fix the whole siphoning fiasco if I have the time. If I do, I'll give a little credit line to you for aiding in the revision process. Don't worry, I won't blare it out in huge letters and make it all awkward; it'll be discreet but noticeable.As for the macaroni... [Warning: puns inbound on your position.] I'm just getting "pasta" busy part of my summer, so I'll go and get around to "penne"-ng up a pronunciation guide to avoid further confusion from those who want to be sticklers to author-originated pronunciations. By the Great Rotini, I swear those were some of the worst pasta puns of all time!

Always appreciate these. I'm going to number things so that my responsese don't jumble together.1. Acid was meant to be irrelevant. The fact that the origin of some of the attacks was never ascertained was supposed to help signify just how overwhelming the opposition Rynekaad's squad unknowingly blundered into.2. Part of the reason Tignioni enters a rant is becuase he never has expressed the self-disgust as he was feeling by doing this. He just put himself through the paces in the heat of the moment. So, no: there were no earlier hints to these underlying feelings. No need to reread the earlier chapters; you read it as it was written. The outburst was due to the feelings "bottling up" as some people say.3. I didn't go into the sci-fi physics behind what I was meaning with the shockwave thing because it would have broken continuity all up. I was seeing it as using a burst of light that extremely rapidly dissipated into infrared and heated the swirling debris field around it, consequently heating the air around itself. This process was supposed too have taken fractions of a second, causing a massive expansion outward of the air surrounding the Ravager, aka explosion/shockwave. On the surface, though, I can see just how illogical "spontaneous shockwave" seems. And since Bionicle universe physics don't necessarily play by our rules, I suppose an explanation using this many our-universe concepts stands on a bit of shaky ground. That was the reasoning behind it, anyway, just so you know it wasn't totally out of the blue.4. Ah... well, that's true. I was thinking of how I'd given the Light Ravager the ability to incinerate victims with beams of light (as you mentioned) and how that constituted heat (as you mentioned...) and how that was related to elemental control over fire (as you mentioned...*cringe*)... and then I somehow ended up writing something about siphoning off elemental fire from a elemental light being... Not sure how I got there in retrospect. Definitely one of the weakest moments in this story to date. Just as a reader, you wrote it more logically than I managed to. Well, live and learn, right? That's something for me to remember. Hm... maybe I should actually rewrite that little segment to reflect where I was actually trying to go.5. The name. I actually thought about that quite a bit. As someone who has always pronounced "Lewa" as "LEE-wa" and "Vezon" as "Vay-ZHON," I am a proponent of not bothering people about alternate pronounciations of fictitious names. Originally, I was saying "Tig-NEE-oh-NEE," but (even though that is not the Italian way to pronounce a "ng") I got this unshakeable feeling it sounded strangely... Italian. Now, I prefer it pronounced "Tig-NYUN-ee." It also works better with a pronounciation situation that arises in the spin-off as well, so if you want to use my fanonical pronounciation, that'll probably serve you well. But I don't care if you're in front of your monitor reading it "TIJ-nee-OWN-ghee" or "YOR-tun-HEF" (though you might want to talk to a psychologist if you're pronouncing it the second way!).Thanks again. I'm glad that where was only one question (4.) that my only answer was "Well, yeah. That could have been written a lot better." In a maddening marathon, I wrote all 28 pages of the spin-off epic within two weeks. Definitely rereading page by page to avoid things like Q4 arising, as it was obviously written very quickly.

Chapter 33 Northern Continent, 995 years after the Great Cataclysm Guftivei raised the shadow launcher they had found in the Makuta outpost as he ran, trying to line up a shot as his feet pounded the streets and buildings collapsed. Tignioni and Imegna both bellowed warcries as they ran, weapons raised. Emeder sprinted forward, silent. Perhaps the Ravager sensed the shadow weapon Guftivei carried or perhaps it was just chance. Either way, a beam of light shot out and cut diagonally through a skyscraper. It slid off its foundation and into the street smashing into the building across from it. Flaming rubble showered everywhere. For a moment they thought they had been trapped on one side, unable to reach the Light Ravager and stop it, forced to listen to the wails and screams of the dying. Emeder would not let that be so. A massive cyclone formed, enveloping the crashing buildings and consuming them. “Now go get it!” Emeder shouted, forced to hold his position in order to maintain the cyclone and prevent anymore collapses from blocking their path. The scene was nightmarish. The Ravager, pure energy and unaffected by physical matter, was residing inside the center of the cyclone’s vortex. Massive portions of buildings, still flaming, swirled around it. Those that had called Modos home fled screaming or were caught in the cyclone themselves. All the meantime, fatal blasts and rays of light permeated the surroundings. Imegna paused as it occurred to her that the Ravager targeted sentient beings. That meant is searched for intelligence and…the mind: her element. Stopping to concentrate just as Emeder still was, she masked the psychic signatures of everyone in the area. Amazingly, the beams of light simply stopped. In retrospect, the epiphany was obvious. Something made of light would not be able to see using light. It could only “see” minds. The Ravager was not finished, though. It struggled to locate the source of the intervention. After several seconds, it found Imegna’s mind, but couldn’t locate her body’s physical location. A battle begun in Imegna’s head as the Ravager attempted to increase its output of energy into searching for the minds of the others. Tignioni noticed the similarities this form of light energy shared with fire and got an idea. He climbed a heap of rubble just beyond the edge of the cyclone and attempted to absorb elemental fire from the Ravager, and succeeded in siphoning off some. Fire arched through the air as it travelled from the Light Ravager into Tignioni, but this only succeeded in weakening it. Guftvei took advantage of the now blind and weakened state of the Light Ravager. He knelt down and repetitively depressed the trigger on the shadow energy launcher. Bolts of shadow hurtled into the vortex of air, fire, and light. The unnaturally bright light cast by the Light Ravager began to dim. For a few precious moments, the attackers dared to hope that they were on the verge of defeating it. They were mistaken. The Ravager let loose a pulse of light energy that transformed into a shockwave as it exited, hurtling everyone to the ground and breaking their concentration. The cyclone stopped, the psychic masking ended, and the fire siphoning halted. Rather than attack, though, the Light Ravager sped off inland, presumably in the direction of the Rift. At first no one spoke. No one could comprehend anything to say that seemed adequate as they surveyed the destroyed city of Modos. Flaming rubble was all that remained. Finally, Emeder said “I guess it got loose again.” “Yes, but this is still amazing,” Tignioni countered. “We did it.” “What are you talking about?” “Yeah,” added Imegna. “A lot of people still died.” “Exactly,” responded Tignioni. “A lot. Not everyone. There are survivors of a Light Ravager attack this time – and for the first time ever.” Everyone glanced around. It quickly became apparent Tignioni was right. All around, survivors attempted to dig free of the demolished buildings or were returning from beyond the city limits to which they had fled upon Imegna’s warning. Real, legitimate survivors. Not the lucky misses from the Ravager such as Tignioni, Emeder, and Imegna themselves. An actual group of survivors. The Light Ravager could be forced to retreat…and if it could be forced to retreat, maybe, just maybe, it could be eliminated. Chapter 34 Northern Continent, 995 years after the Great Cataclysm They had just finished consulting Tol, the leader of Modos. They had explained to him what had just happened to his town and what the Light Ravager was. “So we’re going to leave now and track it down. We have to stop it,” finished Emeder. “But you can’t leave us!” cried Tol. Our last Toa team was lost long ago and we need someone to keep us safe while we rebuild. We’ll never make it otherwise!” “I’m sorry, but there are situations like this all over our world. Look at us Tol. We Toa are dying out. There aren’t enough of us left to do these jobs anymore,” explained Imegna. “No, it’s fine. I’ll stay.” Everyone turned to Tignioni. Emeder asked “What do you mean?” “I’m done with this. I’ve hunted it for about a thousand years. That’s just too much. Today I saw victory over it for the first time ever, and that is enough for me. The things I have seen in this voyage are too much. The destruction is getting to my head. I’m staying here, where there at least some sort of hope for the future, and I’m saving these people.” “The destruction? This city is even more-” Emeder began. He’s thinking of the destruction of life, not places, Emeder, Imegna clarified telepathically. Trust me, I’m in both of your heads right now. Then she looked towards Tignioni. Still telepathically, she addressed him: The pain I see in your memories is…extreme. Don’t worry. We’ll carry your torch on and destroy it in your name. Stay here. Stay where you’re needed. Tignioni looked around. Then he said his final farewells. “The only reason I can leave this task unfinished is because I know you will not. I know nothing is stopping you from carrying out your task…and after today, I can see nothing can. We defeated it, but I was barely able to contribute anything. I was only able to weaken it, but with those artifacts of shadow warfare from the outpost, you will be able to finish this. Go on and kill that beast.” Finishing with that, he faced Imegna. “Imegna, after having some time to reflect I realized-” Don’t bother. I already know you have forgiven me for what I did to the headhunter, having decided I really was doing what was necessary. Tignioni smiled. “I should have assumed you had figured that out with your mind reading. You sure are a character, finishing all my sentences for me. I’ll-” -never forget you. Likewise. As they all turned their backs on the teammate they were leaving behind, the last thing they saw of him was him shaking his head in amusement at Imegna’s antics. [Tignioni's story will soon be continued! While his place in Lightfall is... mostly... over, his personal tale is far from it. Continued in THE SORDID SHAFTS, coming soon to BZP!]

With excruciating deliberation, I settled for #2. I wanted to vote for #5 as well so badly... but my vote had to go somewhere. #2 won out for telling a story set in '01 that worked with the canon personalities so well while holding an underlying level of knowledge we didn't have in '01 (Vakama chastising himself for endangering Tahu's life with a story). #5 perfectly adapted the original Les Miserables lyrics into a setting where it applied to canon personalities and pulled it off with wondeful execution. The intermittent narration between verses was proper in length each time and really struck home with a pang of sadness when we reflect on Lesovick's self-imposed fate. #2 won for having a full plot where #5 was more of a "supernatural letter" to Lesovick. That really doesn't deserve to be the deciding factor, but I could do anything else to break my tie.

Chapter 31 Offshore from the Northern Continent, 995 years after the Great Cataclysm Revenge. It was all that remained. Everything else was lost to him…but revenge – it hung in the air tantalizingly possible and imminent. In the darkness of the hold he shifted. Had any seen him, they’d have thought him to be a corpse. Yet, he held onto life. Only one thing kept him going…hunger – hunger for revenge. - - - All four of the crew had come to the bow of the ship.“We’re far out from shore now,” Emeder observed. “Where are we actually going?”“Very soon, we will make some sort of decision,” answered Tignioni. “Up until now, we’ve just been putting some distance between us and that fortress.”Suddenly, a shiver ran down the hull of the vessel. It emitted a metallic groan. Guftivei, Emeder, and Tignioni exchanged concerned glances.“What was that? Some sorta… random wave?” pressed Guftivei.“Unlikely, the sea’s calmer than a sleeping ash bear,” Tignioni responded.Imegna had not entered the conversation. Instead, she had been intently staring towards the aft of the ship. She sensed that faint mind again, barely more than a void that needed to be filled by something… As another moaning creak ran along the ship, it finally occurred to her.“This is about to go very wrong very fast! Everyone get ready!”“What do you-”The question answered itself. The metal of the ship’s deck near the stern began to twist and reshape itself. It created a new entrance to the hold below, and a spindly ladder hung into to the depths. Then, the formerly unseen assailant made its appearance. Clambering up the ladder, grievously wounded, was Rynekaad.He was hardly recognizable. The acid had degraded his armor into a horrendous appearance. His mask had malformed into a demented visage. In some areas, the organic parts of his body were visible, all the armor above corroded away. Unable to stand, he crawled up from below on all fours. When he spoke his only words, they almost seemed disembodied.“This time…you fall. Justice…finally…you die.” As these foreboding and somewhat disjointed words were uttered, the four remained rooted to the spot. Rynekaad’s appearance was simply mortifying.The following events happened within a matter of a few seconds. Unable to read the feeble mind of Rynekaad, Imegna had been forced to predict what he would do based on his words and the only thing she had sensed in his mind: a void, a hunger. A void that could only be filled by revenge. Meanwhile, Rynekaad began crushing the ship under his magnetic power, intending to sink it and kill everyone aboard, himself included. Everyone mobilized as the saw the deck deform, but Imegna had already crept around and was standing behind Rynekaad, after having predicted his intentions. No one could stop what they saw next. Imegna kicked Rynekaad in the back, sending him sprawling onto the decks, and then planted the blade of her staff into his neck. With a sputtering gasp, Rynekaad died and the ship ceased to change shape. Imegna removed her weapon from his neck.“Mata Nui above!” Tignioni screamed. “You just killed him!”“It was him or us. Just look around you,” Imegna calmly noted. She gestured around at the grossly misshapen decks and warped panels. There was no doubt. Without Imegna’s intervention they would be dead at this point. However, Tignioni wasn’t done. He felt that even that wasn’t enough to explain the lethal force.“You know what I mean! What about the Toa code? In the state he was in, I can hardly imagine that heavy staff of yours would be unable to put him unconscious. And your psionics – your telepathy! On someone that weak, an idle thought from you could have probably overloaded his mind and knocked him out just as well!”“Or maybe not. Given his ability to survive in that state, maybe he could stay conscious in extreme cases as well. It’s just not worth the risk. Weren’t you there at the battle we just left, anyway? We didn’t actually kill anyone ourselves, but we caused them to enact their suicidal assault. Did you just miss all the dead bodies we passed? Wake up to what’s going on!”Tignioni was livid. “Do you just not care? Just because they had to die in order to stop the Light Ravager it’s suddenly alright? Did losing your village make you insensitive to death?”“Don’t you dare to say that!” Imegna retaliated with sudden fury. “It did just the opposite. That’s why I’m doing this – to trade a few corrupt freelancing fighters’ lives for hundreds if not thousands of innocents that the Ravager will slaughter! I’m trying to save as many lives as possible, Tignioni, not killing for personal ends.”“Just go belowdecks and keep out of my sight while I think about this, this atrocity I just witnessed. And throw that accursed body off this Mata-Nui-forsaken ship! ...and that’s not all! I definitely saw the bodies. It made me sick. It was essentially a roundabout way to violate the code. You-”“OK, that’s enough.” Guftivei interceded. “She did what she had to in order to save us all. Emeder and I have some fatalities on our hands too, even if we don’t like to admit it. We owe our lives to her quick thinking.”Silently, expressionlessly, Imegna did as Tignioni had commanded. Emeder stayed out of everyone’s way, not wanting to get caught in a verbal crossfire. The remainder of the voyage was encumbered by an air of hostility projected by Tignioni that was only prevented from boiling over into a continuation of his earlier tirade by the knowledge that Guftivei was supporting Imegna’s actions.Within a few days, everything would change. The Light Ravager… was about to return. Entr’acte Excerpt from the private log of Toa Helryx, recorded on Daxia 995 years after the Great Cataclysm We’re in an uncomfortable spot. The Light Ravager was a mistake and now it’s causing global problems, even at some our own outposts. Now this team shows up, confuses the matter, and all in all makes my job harder. As if fighting a covert war with the Brotherhood isn’t hard enough. Mata Nui help me. We always expected a team would rise to take down the Ravager and we had been patiently waiting for this to happen. When one did show up, the plan was to drop a few key hints as to how to take it down, give them a little bit of undercover help, and conscript them once they succeeded. It would be perfect. People that would go that far to right wrongs are just the people we could use in the Order. …and now I discover the team is almost entirely Toa, plus one shady Vortixx. What a headache. I may be a Toa, but most Toa these days don’t understand how the world has changed. The code is...restrictive at best. They don’t understand that death is a necessary part of life and that we must be willing to remove certain evil elements from the equation in order to protect those who cannot defend themselves. I don’t need Toa in the Order; I need soldiers. This is not good. Additionally, Axxon and Brutaka decided to go right along with the original plan. We’d never considered the possibility that Toa would take up on this lead. Now we have potentially untrustworthy Toa aware of the Order of Mata Nui. I don’t know what I would have done in their place. Stick with the plan despite the unexpected circumstances or alter it to suit the changes? I just hope these Toa are useful enough that they are worth the logistical nightmare they have caused me. Of course, I’m not sure an untrained squad of Toa with their Xian acquaintance will actually be able to take down the Ravager. If they truly do engage it, the problem may solve itself. If they are all dead, what do I have to worry about? Some might say that is cold; I say it is convenient. On a more positive note, we have successfully eliminated any pertinent threats from the Brotherhood. Even that bizarre incident involving the gelatinous tentacles erupting out of the ground on the Tren Krom Peninsula got sorted out. Turns out part of Tren Krom’s biological signature was being stored in a now-defunct Makuta outpost that had just started to leak its biohazardous components into the surrounding ecosystem. No Brotherhood experiment in progress, just some mutant plants that may or may not be omniscient. I think I’ll vie to believe in the “not omniscient” possibility. Otherwise, I might have trouble getting to sleep at night. In the possibility they are omniscient, it’s not like they could actually cooperate and focus a Tren-Krom-style psychic attack that would allow them to enslave all biomechanicals for their own purposes, right? Wait, hold on. Forget I said anything – there are some things better not known. Considering the hiatus in assassinations, I am temporarily reassigning agent code-named Viper to study the Ravager team. A stealth commando like her should have no problem following the wake of destruction this group seems to leave behind everywhere they go. Meanwhile, I will consult with codename Primordial on this matter to see what his opinion is. I just hope this works out according to plan. It would be a pity to have to assassinate this team if they succeed in their task and then proceed to cause too much trouble by virtue of their knowledge of the Order…but I’ll do what I must. Chapter 32 Northern Continent, 995 years after the Great Cataclysm Emeder frantically scanned the coast for the settlement they were trying to find. The anxiety was palpable as they pushed the heavily damaged vessel to its limits in an attempt to arrive in time. Imegna had located the Light Ravager. Using the information provided by Umbra, she had sifted through the minds of the beings near the probable location of the rift…and she’d found it. The sinister programmed mind of the killing machine was on an inexorable and fairly rapid approach of a settlement that was just downshore on the Northern Continent. They had a chance, right here, right now, to put an end to this. There were no plans for what to do when they found it, but they were not going to let it pass them by again and leave another community devoid of life. “There! Look ahead! I see it. It’s more of a city, though.” Emeder announced. Just on the horizon, buildings could be made out. The civilization they had come across was rather small in size, but relatively advanced. The town was comprised of something more akin to skyscrapers than village huts. “We’re close enough now,” Imegna realized. “I can establish a telepathic connection.” In the town of Modos, everyone heard a voice in their heads. Get out! Escape before it comes. A terrible evil is about to arrive and will destroy anyone it finds. If you value your life, get out! You can’t fight it, the voice claimed. Panic erupted in the streets, for no one understood what the source was, but everyone could hear the words being spoken. The voice began to repeat: Get out! Escape before it comes… Some took heed and fled in terror. Others remained, clutching their heads, trying to remove the foreign voice. As the warped metallic vessel pulled up, its crew leapt up and ran from the docks, screaming about the need to evacuate. Many had left, unwilling to question what they could not comprehend. For any that remained, however, time had run out. A second sun rose in the sky, but this one with malignant intentions rather than life-giving rays. Thus, the razing of Modos began. Just as before, the Light Ravager lashed outwards with beams of light, combing the area and vaporizing everything where it connected. In the streets, everyone ran in terror except some brave souls that had grabbed weapons and attempted to attack it. Every attempt was met with failure. Umbra hadn’t lied when he said it was invulnerable except to shadow. The unsuspecting would-be heroes that stood up against it were all vaporized in their tracks; those that attempted to flee were given the same treatment. Gazing at the carnage from the docks, the foursome had stopped. They were uncertain of what to do, and – above all else – left in awe of the power of the Ravager. None of them had actually seen it destroy an entire city before; Emeder was the closest to having witnessed such an event, but he had been unconscious at the time. “So this is what the end looked like for so many innocent lives,” whispered Tignioni. And that was all it took. With that, they charged into the streets and prepared for destiny to decide the outcome.

Chapter 29 Northern Continent, 995 years after the Great Cataclysm Tignioni cursed his captors’ forethought. There was nothing he could do if anything went wrong due to the elemental-inhibition restraints they had bound him in. The device’s links chained him to a stake that was far too stable to uproot. By now they had to know he had fooled them. If one of them returned…he’d be defenseless against their certain wrath. As if his thoughts had triggered it, the Skakdi that carried all those fearsome range weapons came around the edge of the boulder. Morgoz. The Skakdi began to speak in broken Matoran. “Ya thought ya was being all smart. Ya thought ya was gonna get us all deadified by those scrawny Rahkshi. Only some fool think they gonna cross Morgoz and live. You some fool. Lucky fool you, it’ll all be o’er so fast when this thing blow yer head’a pieces ya won’t know what just made ya dead.” Morgoz raised the barrel of an indescribably massive and frightening weapon. Rather than fire it, however, he found himself being electrocuted. Electricity sparked over Morgoz’s body as he let loose unearthly screams for several seconds. He fell to the ground as the electric surge ended, his armor smoking from the energy. Two Rahkshi rounded the bend. One was a Rahkshi of Chain Lightning. They came to inspect the corpse of the Skakdi. But it wasn’t a corpse just yet. The resilience of a Skakdi is almost inconceivable. As the Rahkshi of Chain Lightning came in close, Morgoz surged back to life and fired the weapon he had been prepared to execute Tignioni with. Projectiles connected with the Rahkshi’s armor and tore right through it. Morgoz spun around to face the other Rahkshi…and found nothing. Morgoz would never find out what killed him, but Tignioni witnessed it. The other Rahkshi had been a Rahkshi of Chameleon. It materialized behind Morgoz and drove its staff into the base of the Skakdi’s skull. Then it turned to face Tignioni. Realizing the irony, Tignioni moaned. His executioner had just been killed, but now his savior was about to slay him. However, the Rahkshi would have the same fate as Morgoz. A flurry of armblades flashed into action behind the Rahkshi. It fell to the ground at the hands of Guftivei. Tignioni had never observed Guftivei fighting in close range before. He watched, wondrous, as Guftivei destroyed what had once been the Rahkshi. “So…I guess you owe me one now,” Guftivei said, relishing in his success. Upon hearing that, Imegna failed miserably in an attempt to suppress an amused smile. “I owe you? I just sat through the entire battle defenselessly hoping that no one showed up and killed me just to give you and your group an entrance. You must be kidding!” Guftivei began “Well-” “I understand you two want to bicker and argue all day long,” Imegna started. “…but if we don’t move, nobody’s owing anyone anything. We’re all going to be dead. The remaining forces are rallying at the top of the rise right now.” “Uh…that sounds great. Now can some get off these restraints?” Tignioni requested. Guftivei came forward and destroyed the restraints. Meanwhile, Imegna scanned the surrounding minds. She found Krazann’s and used his memories to locate where the mercenaries’ boat had been left. She also noticed a faint mind; it almost seemed to be just barely holding on to life. It came from the same direction the boat should be, according to Krazann’s memories. However, it was so faint, it could have been nothing at all. With an idle thought she dismissed it as irrelevant… Chapter 30 Northern Continent, 995 years after the Great Cataclysm The group found the mercenaries’ boat with little difficulty. It was an armored vessel, coated in metal plates. Emeder and Guftivei, familiar with the ways of bounty hunters, explained that they had seen such vessels before. They were frequently used in assaults due to their ability to withstand unprecedented damage from conventional weapons, but it was generally unwise to deploy such craft when you were uncertain of your enemy. One foe with power over iron or magnetism…it could be sunk in seconds. As they stepped aboard, the boat’s combat effectiveness became apparent. A canopy was raised up about three bios over the deck and made exclusively of metal plates. Any attempts at aerial bombardment would be ineffective on such a vehicle. The only obstructions on the deck were the support struts for the canopy, allowing the crew to fire out of the boat and repel boarders. A hatch in the floor led into a belowdecks hold that stored sufficient arms and ammunition for even quite large-scale conflicts. It was essentially a floating fortress. Emeder jumped out of the boat and into the surf. He waded ashore and began to undo the mooring so that they could leave. He had just finished releasing the first two anchor points and was making his way to the third and final one when he heard the Skakdi scream. Krazann was only about fifty bios distant as making a mad dash for the watercraft. That was as far as he would get. Eyes affixed to his goal, he failed to see the Rahkshi flying a short distance behind him. He failed to see it descend and use its power to extract four or five slender, two-bio-long needles of iron from the rocks and suspend them in mid-air. And he failed to see it launch these lethal spikes at his back with invisibly high velocity. The only thing he saw were the metallic shards protruding from his chest after he became impaled by them. Then he fell to the ground, never to see anything again. Emeder could only imagine what damage a Rahkshi of Magnetism could do to their metallic boat. Without hesitation, he sliced his glaive right through the last mooring cable and scrambled aboard. Tignioni set a course and they left the devastated coastline of the cove behind them.