Grey Snow

Legacy 19: The Third Party—Titan of Gold! “Higher honor?” Tren Krom questioned of his creation. The gold skinned creature nodded, “Yes, to serve you.” It grinned when it looked at the Shadow Takanuva, “You see, I know who you are.” “Good, you’re supposed to.” Tren Krom replied simply. “Yes, you once ruled this universe. I am honored.” The gold creature hissed, making a small bow, “Especially since you have chosen me to go by your side.” Tren Krom gave a slight smile, “Well, I can’t simply force everyone to obey me now, can I?” He questioned. “You have the power.” The creature answered. “Power isn’t always enough.” Tren Krom said as he started up the stairs, his gold skinned creation following closely behind. “What else is there?” It asked. He turned around, “Having the ability to sway anyone to your side without a fight. Pacifying any foe and making them your subordinate. Not having to fight. Victory without combat. That’s what else there is. That is you.” “I’m a weapon?” It questioned. Tren Krom shrugged, “If you wish to view yourself as such, then sure. Do you have a problem with that?” “None at all.” It grinned, “As long as I can fight in the end…” “Oh, you’ll fight.” Tren Krom replied, “Once you learn to control your powers, you’ll fight.” “What do you mean?” It asked. “When you learn how to stop swaying through proximity, then you can fight others.” Tren Krom told it as they came into the light of Zakaz, “You see, there will be some occasions when making others your followers won’t cut it. Sometimes you’ll require a kingdom to fall to our control. Swaying the leader won’t do that. Fighting and killing the leader, however, will.” The creature flashed the grin that made it look part Skakdi, “So I can fight rulers and take their kingdoms?” It questioned. He nodded, “Yes. But not here. On the planet.” Tren Krom said, heading towards the shore, where the others were waiting for further orders, with the exception of the Mahri, who were swimming ahead, searching for a way to freedom. The creature looked at the various beings standing before it. It let out a grunt, “Get going!” It ordered. Tren Krom shook his head, “It doesn’t work that way. Recall them before they drown!” He snapped. “Stop.” The creature breathed. The beings, waist-deep in the water, stopped. They all waited further orders. “Come out of the water.” It breathed. The beings returned to shore and waited. “You see? Difficult, isn’t it?” Tren Krom asked. “It is.” It hissed, “I have to be careful about everything I say.” “I know you can master this power.” Tren Krom said, “That is why I created you. That is why I chose you as my partner.” The creature simply nodded, “Ok then, now what?” “We find a way off this island.” Tren Krom replied, “The Mahri are heading for an exit that I revealed to them. They’ll swim to it, and await our arrival on the planet. But for now, we’ll have to make a slower way.” “Where will they wait?” The creature asked. “They won’t.” Tren Krom answered. “If Makuta finds out about me, about your plans, then he’ll butcher our men!” The creature said, “You sent them to their deaths!” Tren Krom realized he had indeed made a mistake. He cursed under his breath, and then looked to the creature, “Ok, I’ll need your powers.” He put his hand on the back of his servant, “I’ll amplify your powers. You must order them to lay low on the Northern Continent!” “Understood.” The creature answered. Power flowed into his golden body, erupting around him. He could feel almost a shell of energy appearing in front of him, amplifying his powers. He sent out a telepathic signal, sending it across the vast ocean towards the five Toa who swam the depths. “It’s done.” The creature said. “Excellent.” Tren Krom replied, removing his hand from his subordinate’s back, “Now, we have to move.” He looked to the beings before him, “I’ll have the power to push through any resistance.” “Do you expect any?” The creature asked. “As far as I know, the Northern Continent is actually home to many resistance members at the moment.” He replied, “And with Makuta somewhat preoccupied outside, they believe that they’re safe. They believe that numbers can help them overwhelm any attacks that come their way, after a small disaster in the Universe Core…” “How do you know all this?” The creature asked. Tren Krom smiled, “I once controlled this entire universe. I have my methods of obtaining information, now that I’m free once more.” He replied simply, “Now, we must head for the Continent. I’ll blast a path open for us, while our warriors fight anyone I don’t get, and you take the minds of others with your powers.” “Understood.” The creature answered. “Now…” Tren Krom said, looking around. He walked towards a small dock on the island. It had been built during the past two years as methods of using the Skakdi and Zakaz. The Order of Mata Nui had constructed it for landing on the island, since the Skakdi were then allied with the mysterious organization. It also helped for the attacks on Zakaz, but now, helped to allow Skakdi to leave the island, if they constructed boats, or stole them. Tren Krom looked around, finding pieces of a broken boat. He pulled the wood out and threw it into the water. He pointed a finger at the wooden fragments, using his powers to telekinetically lift them, and then used other powers to meld the wood together, both regenerating wood to make the pieces longer, and using his powers to burn it together into a sea-worthy craft. He set the large boat into the water, and motioned for the others to come to him. As they began to climb into the boat, he looked back. He noticed that few Skakdi actually remained on the island, that many were actually spread out, fighting for the Makuta. He ignored it and got into the boat himself. He focused his powers, unleashing the Shadow powers of the Toa’s body he inhabited, propelling them faster through the water. The Toa Mahri laid low. Anyone could notice them, recognize them, and then would have to fight them when they realized that they were no longer on the same side. The Toa didn’t want to blow their cover yet, to reveal their allegiance yet. They hid, as ordered. Somehow their golden master had ordered them to remain in hiding, even from Zakaz. They didn’t know how, but that put them even more in awe of the being. “What should we do?” Hewkii questioned, looking out at the massive numbers of troops on the Northern Continent. They were near the northern shore, but yet, there were still so many at this position. It was likely that they were spread over the entirety of the landmass, but even this many was still a small fraction compared to the entirety of the resistance army, as far as they could tell. They would have to fight these potentially thousands of men, nearly one hundred times over. Such an army was too massive for five Toa to defeat. “You want to use gravity?” Jaller questioned. “I would like to, if it wouldn’t reveal us.” Hewkii answered. “Getting too nervous?” Hahli asked, “Got to keep moving?” He nodded, “Yes! We need to obey the original orders! We must get to the planet!” “Well we have new orders now.” Nuparu said, “We have to wait for our master.” “What’s that?” Kongu questioned, pointing out to the sea. They all turned, watching as a boat shot through the water. In the bow they could see a flash of gold. Their master was coming! The Toa all waited anxiously for his arrival. When the boat finally reached the landmass, and the beings on board got off, the Toa almost threw themselves at their golden ruler. They were relieved to see him, to know that they would still have a life to live by simply doing what he told them to. The creature grinned when he saw the Toa. He looked out at the massive forces laying in wait for them beyond. He looked to the Toa again, “You five will fall in with us. Tren Krom here will take the lead and blast them away. You’ll help him with your powers. If anyone swears their allegiance, spare them. They’ll help clear the way. Understood?” The five Toa fell to a knee and bowed their heads, nodding to him in reply. “Excellent.” The gold creature smiled. He began to walk out, Tren Krom before him, the Toa flanking him, and the other beings falling in around them. The army began to take notice of the approaching forces. The sight of a Shadow Takanuva spurred them into action. They began to launch attacks, but the Shadow Takanuva was able to block or deflect each attack with some power each time. Sometimes it was an actual shield, sometimes it was a blast of Shadow, sometimes a blast of something else completely. They noticed five Toa with the Shadow Toa. The Toa were launching attacks into their ranks, signifying themselves as enemies. Then they noticed the golden being. Some rushed to join the fight; some simply attacked their fellows, hoping that the gold creature would be pleased. Soon the army was turning on itself as the golden creature’s powers worked their magic. “How much farther?” The gold creature asked. “We’ll cross the entire Northern Continent.” Tren Krom answered, blasting a group aside with his various powers, all mixed into one, “Now, just keep moving.” He looked to the sky, wondering if Makuta would realize what was happening. “How far south?” The creature asked. “When did I mention the south?” Tren Krom questioned. “I figured we were heading there.” It answered, “I grow smarter all the time. You gave me that ability, remember?” “I guess I did.” Tren Krom replied, “Well then, put that intelligence to use. What is there in the south? Where is it?” “A way out of here.” The creature replied, “A way to the planet. And the farthest south, in either of the Southern Chains. The feet of the robot. We’ll get out through the feet.” “Exactly.” Tren Krom replied, cutting a foe down with a disintegration blast from his left palm, “Now, start sending men up ahead to find a boat for us. We’ll need a large one.” “Understood.” He replied, motioning for various men who would blend in to move out. When they left, it only left the Mahri and the few surviving members of the initial group to protect the golden skinned tyrant. Somehow, as nearly half an hour passed, Tren Krom was able to speed their progress with his powers, and thanks to the help of finding a Kakama wearer, and taking his Kanohi. He managed to use his powers in combination with the mask to speed everyone in the group, allowing them to travel much faster. Fortunately, they avoided the Toa Nuva and anyone else of great power, fighting mostly the endless waves of infantry, taking as many as they could as their own warriors. When they reached the shore, they saw that their scouts had already arrived and procured a few boats for them. Utilizing all of the boats, the men got onboard, and started out, using the Kakama and Tren Krom’s powers to speed them along once more. In another half an hour, they were at the Southern Islands, at the very southern tip. Getting onto the island, the forces made their way towards a cave that had an odd, almost ethereal light emanating from it. This was their way to the planet. The golden creature stalked towards the cave, grinning like a Skakdi. He turned to all of the others, and threw his arms out. “My people! Now is the time when we take command of this planet! We shall become rulers, conquerors! You shall be my warriors, my closest ring of guardians. With your help, this planet shall bow before myself and Tren Krom! You shall all take a seat of power someday, for I shall always remember your sacrifices, your hardships, in the act of protecting me, helping me to survive. Now, let us embrace our destiny!” Cheers erupted from the men, except for Tren Krom. He stood, watching, smiling to himself, knowing that his victory would be at hand soon. He knew that the planet would fall after Makuta and his foe were dealt with. When it was just normal beings again, then he could take command, with the help of his golden subordinate. “Very nice, very touching. Good effort, but it’s too late.” A voice boomed out of nowhere. “Makuta…” Tren Krom hissed. “I found you!” The voice laughed, “I have a moment, a break in the combat. So, imagine my surprise when I felt such an odd disturbance within myself, so much fighting despite having few men actually inside of me at this moment, and nowhere near the combatants, or the combat itself. I found your golden buddy, that unnatural feeling that I feel. I’m going to kill him, and then I’ll deal with the rest of you!” Makuta screamed out. “Run!” The golden being shouted, rushing for the cave, rushing for freedom. His subordinates began to scatter, unsure of where to run. Some ran after him, some ran towards the ocean. Men began to drop from unseen deaths. Chaos reigned around them, around Tren Krom, who was unaffected by Makuta’s powers. He glanced towards the cave, watching the Mahri run in pursuit of their master. As far as Tren Krom knew, he had escaped, at least. “Makuta, are you quite finished?” Tren Krom simply asked. “I wish I could kill you as well.” Makuta hissed. “I know. It just burns you up that I can survive, doesn’t it?” Tren Krom mocked. “I will see you dead, Tren Krom!” Makuta shouted. “I doubt that.” “I will be sure you die. I’ll have every one of my minions hunt you, if need be.” “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have more powers than your minions do. I have more powers than you do, even.” Tren Krom laughed, “So, how do you plan on having minions kill me?” “I’ll find a way.” “Good luck with that.” Tren Krom said, walking towards the cave, “Once I leave, you’ll never find me. And don’t think about trying to step on me. It won’t work.” “I realize that.” Makuta answered. “Good then.” Tren Krom said, vanishing from Makuta’s perspective as he appeared on the harsh desert planet itself. The Toa Mahri wandered around the dunes, having fallen away from the foot the moment Makuta moved. He had taken a slight stumble back when they left, thus putting them farther away from where their master left at. Now it was a race for them to find him, before he would be killed. “He can’t die.” Jaller insisted. “You’re right.” Hahli said, “Nobody can fight him. They’ll be his.” “What if he realizes he doesn’t need us?” Hewkii asked nervously. “He’ll always need us.” Kongu said. “Really?” Nuparu questioned, “He could replace us with many warriors.” “Enough.” Jaller said, gazing out at the vast desert before them, “We have a lot of ground to cover, let’s stop talking and move!”Review

Chapter 2: Break the Limit! The combination attack flew towards Raia, who stood, smiling. He didn’t fear the combined burst of pure Elemental Energy. Was he a fool who thought too much of himself? Or was he confident that he could survive, because he was that powerful? As the second in command of his group, as the bodyguard and top warrior of his masters, he knew he was powerful enough. “I am Raia,” he screamed out, throwing his arms to the side, taking the full brunt of the strike to his chest, “I am the second in command of the Phantasmal Raiders! I am invincible in the eyes of you Toa!” As the attack died down, the Toa were astonished by Raia’s survival. He hadn’t even seemed to have taken any damage. He walked towards them, a smug expression on his face for surviving such an attack without so much as a scratch. “What do we do,” asked Eri. “What can we do? This guy is too much,” muttered Magis. “We pull out for now,” Hoji hated to admit. “But he’ll be a threat,” Rei hissed, “How can we abandon the Matoran to this man? We can’t!” “We must,” Cesare agreed with Hoji, “I could try to find a combination that could hold him off, but what good would it do? We can’t win this fight. We need to regroup and think about how to do this.” “And leave the Matoran to his mercy,” questioned Agri with disgust, “How can we? We have to protect them!” “We can’t as we are now,” said Hoji, “Let’s move!” He lifted the Cyril Buster to his shoulder and started to flee. The others slowly followed him. Their only surviving foe at this point was Raia; the drone species known as the Bashaa were finished. Raia grinned as he watched them flee. He looked at his body, and then shook his head, “I’m drying up,” he muttered to himself, “Might as well report.” Raia walked away, heading in the other direction, towards the sea. He was planning on rejuvenating himself in the Silver Sea and then reporting directly to his commanders in the Phantasmal Raiders. The three leaders would be most interested in the developments on the island that Raia had seen. The Toa returned to the temple, finding Turaga Gorma waiting for them. Magis threw his Topgaler scythe to the side and stormed towards the Turaga of Air. “What did you think you were doing,” shouted Magis, lifting his arm up, “These Crystals did nothing for us! You told us that they would give us power, but we got crushed by the enemy!” “What was this enemy,” asked a curious Gorma, sitting down, ignoring Magis’s complaints. “He said he was of a group known as the ‘Phantasmal Raiders’,” explained Eri, “Have you ever heard of them?” “No,” said Gorma without any thought, “That name is completely new to me.” “He used a squad of grunts, just like Bandiaca would use with her Anaroids,” Cesare explained, “However…these weren’t machines. They were living creatures; a swarm species, or something. Called the Bashaa. What of that name?” “Never heard of it,” Gorma once more said. “They were a sea-dwelling species,” Eri pointed out, “All of them, even Raia, the second in command of the group.” “Sea-dwelling,” questioned Gorma, shaking his head, “I haven’t any ideas to give to you; I’m sorry.” “Now can you tell us about these Crystals,” complained Magis. He still got no answer. “How did you fight him,” asked Gorma. “We tried a Cyril Buster attack,” Agri said, shaking his head, “It wasn’t enough to even scratch him!” “His shell must have been too thick,” Rei put in. “If he had a shell, I’d imagine that,” Gorma nodded. “Can you answer my question, please,” shouted Magis in frustration. “Right, sorry,” apologized Gorma, “The Nova Crystals…they aren’t meant to give you overwhelming, raw power to defeat your enemy with. That wasn’t why I gave them to you all.” “But they are powerful; you said as much earlier,” Hoji said, “Why give them to us if they wouldn’t make a difference in a battle like that?” “Because they can make a difference, if you want them to,” Gorma said, “But only as a last resort, I fear.” “A last resort,” questioned Cesare, “Is it that dangerous? Could it kill us?” “It very well may,” Gorma leaned heavily on his Badge of Office as he rose to his feet. He looked up into the faces of all six members of the Toa Cyril, “I am sorry; I gave them to you in case you would ever need them, and so that you could use the minimal power boost they provided you. I hoped that the boost would be enough to meet any situation. “I never wanted you to come into a situation where you were required to surpass your current limits. I never wanted you to think that you needed the overwhelming and raw powers of the Nova Crystals to defeat an enemy. You have won so many times in the past, sometimes against superior enemies. You have always found a way. I hope you don’t think that the Crystals are the way you must go.” “We have always found a way to win,” Hoji agreed, nodding, looking into the Turaga’s eyes with a burning passion befitting his title, “But this time is different. We used all of our raw power against him. We used tactical attacks against him,” he was referring to Cesare’s Lightning Slash, “we did all we could, and nothing worked. Nothing even scratched him! “As much as I am sure it pains you, we require a greater power to defeat Raia. He is the second in command, so I am sure that the enemy will fall easier after we defeat him. I am sure that the bulk of any forces that these Phantasmal Raiders have can fall to us with greater ease. But right now we need the power, or we are going to lose. For all we know, Raia is out in the streets at this very moment, killing innocent Matoran! And we’re wasting time here discussing this! Please, Turaga Gorma, give us something we can use! Tell us how to use the powers of the Nova Crystals, whether we become lost to their power or not. Please, tell us!” Gorma looked at the floor. The others could tell that he didn’t want to tell them, while knowing that he was going to. He was just drawing it out, fighting it out in his mind if he should or not, despite already knowing that he would tell them because they would need to know. Finally, he looked up and looked them all in their eyes, judging each member of the Toa Cyril in turn. He finally nodded to the group as a whole. “I will tell you how to use the great and unstable power that I have given to you all,” he said with apprehension, “But please…forgive me if it ends up killing you.” Raia walked through the underwater caverns that sat undisturbed in the Dome of Cyril Nui. As he walked around, he noticed Bashaa all around him, going about their duties, whatever they may be, or simply training, or moving around in sheer boredom. There were plenty; enough for a constant, stable supply of subordinates. As Raia reached the end of a tunnel, he found what he was looking for. It was a large bubble-like structure. Air and dryness were inside, sealed against the wet and the cold of the ocean floor. The members of the Phantasmal Raiders could breathe either air or water; they were all amphibious. Most simply preferred air. Raia walked inside, his body drying as he pushed through the bubble. He looked around the dark, dimly lit structure, with the overhanging stones adding an ambiance to the entire base of operations for the Phantasmal Raiders. It was an imposing sight overall as Raia walked through, noticing his three commanders standing and awaiting him up ahead. He stopped and bowed before the three of them. They were all similar, all of the same species. They all wore dark blue, silver, and gray armor, but in different styles and patterns. The first member was Uva, who had silver legs with some blue overlay and blue feet. He had blue armor above his knees, but had silver curved armor as well. He had a silver chest piece over his gray torso, and then had silvery arms down to his elbows, which then became blue. Like all of them, his hands were gray armored. He wore a sleek silver Kanohi mask, and wielded a sharp and somewhat long blade with a dagger hilt. Next was Sagarc, who had silver clawed feet with two claws, and primarily silver legs which were thinner, but had thicker, spiked armor overlaying blue armor above his knees. He had a gray chest with blue overlay. His arms down to his elbows were blue, but had silver overlay. His arms were then thin silver with gray hands. He carried a hooked, heavy sword, and wore a sleek silver Kanohi mask. Finally, there was Gamel. He was the shortest by the look of it. He had fully silver legs, except for the blue overlaying above his knees. He had a small blue piece overlaying his gray chest armor, and had silver down to his elbows. From there to his gray hands was blue armor. He wore a sleek silver Kanohi like the others, and wielded a double ended trident weapon. “What have you to report,” questioned Uva. “The weakness of the Toa of the island,” Raia stated, “Cyril Nui will fall to us with great ease, Masters. I give you my word as your most trusted warrior and second in command.” Raia was once more on the surface of the island. He had been ordered to conquer the island this time; to see to it that Cyril Nui fell to his power. If the Toa couldn’t even scratch him, then how could they stop him from doing as he pleased? They couldn’t. He would win, and Cyril Nui would belong to the Phantasmal Raiders. As he walked through the streets with his squad of Bashaa, no one stopped him. The Matoran fled any direction they could. The sight filled all with fear. “Come out, Toa,” Raia shouted, “Emerge and make my job easier! When you die, you will be at peace! You won’t be as long as you hide from me!” A wall of Fire burned up a handful of Bashaa. Raia glanced towards it, watching as Hoji led Magis, Eri, Rei and Agri towards him. Hoji lowered his hand, “Your end is the only one that will bring peace,” Hoji threatened, standing in line with the others down his sides. “Where’s your sixth,” Raia questioned, “Afraid?” “No,” stated Cesare as he walked out of a street at Raia’s side, “I’m just different; look at my armor. I stand alone against you at this moment.” “What,” questioned Raia, “I don’t get it.” “It’s time,” Hoji said, lifting his left arm. Everyone did the same, “It is time for us to break the limit!” Everyone drew their right hands up to the Nova Crystals on the silver pieces of armor. They all looked at Raia, and saying a silent prayer, shattered the Crystals by snapping them. Massive power erupted from the shattered Nova Crystals, bathing the bodies of the Toa Cyril in their raw and destructive energies. Raia watched the five, and then glanced to watch Cesare, and then back and forth. He stood so he could watch both at once, each out of the corner of an eye. And then, when the energy faded, they all lived. They all stood to oppose him; the destructive powers hadn’t claimed their lives. “Let’s make this quick,” said Hoji, lifting up his new weapon; a curved sword that had appeared when his armor changed. All of the Toa had had their armors changed and warped. They all stood more powerful than ever, each of them with their own changes and new weaponry; though all still wielded their Blade Blaster sidearms without change. Agri was sleeker armored, wielding a small blaster with triple rotating barrel. Magis wore lime and dark green armor with claws along his legs on the fronts and back; with a claw grip weapon in his right hand, and a large blade in his left. Hoji wore dark and light red with orange armor, with new jets on his arms and sleek fins coming off of parts, along with a curved sword. Eri wore dark and light blue armor; more thickly armored than before, with a fin-blade attached to her left arm, trailing back, and a large blade in her right. Rei wore white, dark blue and yellow armor, with thicker armor, a Kanohi with a scanner left eye, and a new rod-like weapon instead of her six daggers. And finally Cesare still retained his shield in silver, but wore new silver claws on his legs, along with a pure white body, and a new Kanohi with a scope on the left eye, and an axe that replaced his Rouze Blade, but retained his Rouze Cards. “Toa Cyril Nova,” Hoji shouted out, lifting his blade, “Let’s go!” The Toa were swift in cutting down the Bashaa as Raia simply stood by and watched. They were quite adept at using their new weapons, and seemed used to their powers, using enhanced speed and strength with seemingly no strain on their bodies. It was as if they had already learned how to do everything. As three or four minutes passed, the last of the Bashaa fell, leaving only Raia to oppose the Toa Cyril Nova. Hoji threw his arm up, snapping his fingers, calling forth his Dragon Missile, which flew to him as usual. “This doesn’t look good,” muttered Raia. He had gotten a feel for their powers, and didn’t like it. He started to flee, to warn his Masters about the new strength of the Toa. Magis attached part of his large blade to the back of the Missile, providing a back support, while Cesare put his axe in the bottom center, providing more support. Hoji and Eri’s swords acted as support for the two ‘arms’ that came off of the Missile, while Agri’s blaster was attached atop it, with Rei’s rod being placed in the top barrel. Hoji lifted the massive weapon in both hands, holding it in the center of his chest. As Raia fled, his team stood at his sides as usual, while Cesare stood before it, and then ducked down, still providing his power. All six screamed it at once, “Fire!” The massive outburst of energy from the six Elemental Powers flew out from the main body of the Dragon Missile as well as from the blaster atop it. They intertwined, smashing into Raia from behind, cracking his impossibly hard shell. “This isn’t possible,” screamed Raia as he stumbled away, still alive, still fleeing towards the sea so he could give his Masters a warning. Cesare ran and leapt up. Small energy wings protruded from his chest shield, allowing him to flip over and land in front of Raia, axe in hand. He lifted the weapon, facing one of the two crescent blades in the face of his foe. “Bad move, fleeing,” Cesare told him. “You won’t kill me,” screamed Raia, rushing with his claws at the ready. “Fire,” screamed Hoji. Even without the axe, he was still firing again. Raia span around in shock. He turned back to flee, but Cesare had leapt back, using the energy wings to float up. He had swiped a card along one tip of his axe. “Kick” His foot glowed with energy. He shouted as he shot down, smashing his powered kick into Raia’s chest as the Cyril Nova Buster blew into him from behind. Raia went down screaming as he died. “Toa Cyril Nova…we are victorious!” Hoji shouted out to them all.“We have used our new powers to slay Raia, the second in command of the Phantasmal Raiders. But this enemy is swift; they have replaced him with one even more powerful…and what? What is this? He claims to be…but…is he…? Next time: “Chapter 3: Forte’s Return!” Here I go.”Review

Legacy 18: Tren Krom’s Mutiny—The Zakaz Experiment! Zakaz was in ruins. After Gali’s expedition force had attacked it one year ago, the island had remained more destroyed than the in-fighting of its inhabitants had ever done. Nothing had been repaired. There was no reason. The Tahtorak and the Skakdi were in constant struggle with each other, with the Skakdi winning, despite their numbers depleting, as they were sent out to the new world. The body of a Shadow Takanuva walked through the ruins, kicking at the pieces of buildings with his foot, or using the butt end of his staff to push some rubble aside, taking a look at what lay around him. He was searching for something specific, after all. Tren Krom, nearly all powerful, still had no idea where what he sought was located. All he knew was that it was on Zakaz, and it should be nearby. Makuta had attempted to stop him multiple times. He hadn’t counted on the fact that his forces would be slaughtered so quickly by the power of Tren Krom. He had no idea that so many powers were lying within Tren Krom’s grip, even in the body of the Shadow Takanuva. He wasn’t restricted to only Shadow, nor was he restricted due to lack of his own, original body. He had many powers that made him probably the most formidable warrior in the Matoran Universe at the moment, if not on the planet the robot stood on as well. If he and Makuta were to fight, he was sure that he could win the battle. No matter how many powers the Makuta species had, Tren Krom had more knowledge of how to use such powers, such tactics, and he had different powers altogether. He was a completely different type of monster than the Makuta ever could be. He glanced around. He heard something nearby, but ignored it for the moment. He crouched down and placed his hands on a large piece of rubble that seemed to fit into the pieces around it a bit too perfectly, too tightly. It was out of place for such chaos. Prying the blade of his staff into the rock, he put his weight into it, lifting the rock out. He could have used his powers, but he wanted to use his muscles. He needed to get used to using them again, after all, after so long, such little experience in fighting with physical blows. He had come face-to-face with two other Shadow Takanuva during his trips. While he was able to take many enemies on both sides of the conflict by surprise with his powers, these two had been sent to kill him. He hadn’t a chance to attack when they reached him. He had been forced to grapple with them, fighting with his muscles. It was an odd experience, compared to usual, but he had won in the end. He had managed to fight them both back, and had murdered them both with his powers. He wished he could have used his staff to run at least one through, but small steps were all he could take at a time. First it was learn to grapple, then learn to fight with his staff alone. No doubt it would come in handy at some point. Finally, he pulled the rock away and peered down into the darkness. He noticed that there were stairs carved into the rock at his side. He leapt into the dark pit and walked down, ignoring whoever was watching him above. He knew that he would likely be followed. He was dangerous, after all. This world spawned those wishing to face dangers, especially in such a day and age as this one was. As he reached the last stair, he flicked his wrist, using a fraction of his powers to light the room. He could see a pit in the center, filled with bubbling liquid. He looked to the far side of the room, noticing a small pond that no doubt led to the ocean. He believed that someone could come in through the sea and into the cavern, if they had known about its position. Tren Krom reached out, sending a small ounce of power into the water. Once he was satisfied that none were following him through the waterways, he turned his attention to the pit, and focused some of his power into it, feeling out the liquid. He nodded solemnly upon scanning it through. He walked to the stairs and headed out of the chamber, up to find those who would suit his needs. Toa Nuparu dodged past a Steltian bruiser. Using the Volitak, Mask of Stealth, he was able to sneak around a lot easier, but still hated having to do it. He knew the importance of the mission, but hated it. They still had no idea why so many warriors were on Stelt, or why they were following a Shadow Takanuva as they were. Usually they would be Makuta’s minions through some means, and would be following the Shadow Takanuva’s orders, but this wasn’t the case this time. This time they trailed him as if he were a foe. They kept their distance, waiting to make a move, waiting to kill him, no doubt. “Learn anything?” Toa Jaller asked as Nuparu rejoined his four peers. The Toa of Earth shook his head, “No, I have no idea what’s happening.” He said, sheathing his Aqua Blaster Blade and shield on his back, with his Cordak Blaster, “The Shadow Takanuva found an underground cavern, though. Nothing followed him down. He paid no heed to them. I don’t even think he knows they’re there.” “That certainly makes this interesting.” Toa Hahli, Toa of Water, said. She stepped forward, glancing out from behind the boulders they hid behind, “Well, what should we do now?” “I could…” The yellow Toa of Stone began. “No, Hewkii.” Jaller said, cutting him off, “No gravity.” “Should we fire?” The green armored Toa Kongu asked, lifting two Cordak Blasters, “We have the power to blow them away.” “We’d reveal ourselves.” Jaller reminded. He sat down against the boulder, looking at his sword in hand. He wondered what they should do, what more experienced Toa would do. They needed to gather intelligence, but how? Nuparu could sneak in, but that would only get them so much. Stealth wasn’t invisibility, after all. He wouldn’t be invisible. Hahli could potentially find a way in with her Kanohi making her imitate something else, some Rahi, but he wasn’t sure what she could do, exactly. It frustrated Jaller to have to make calls like this with so little information, so few clues on what they could do next. “I think we should just disrupt them, and make a move.” Hewkii said simply. Kongu nodded, “I’m with Hewkii.” “Wait, this isn’t a vote.” Jaller interrupted. “I think it should be.” Hahli said, rising to her feet and walking to stand beside Jaller, “After all, we’ve all gone through the same experiences. We all know how hard situations like this can be. I think we should vote, to make it fair.” He knew she was right. Jaller hated to admit that, but he knew it. He knew they would have to put it to a vote. A vote, however, seemed…childish to him. This was a life-or-death situation, as well as an intelligence gathering mission. They had a duty to do, and couldn’t afford mistakes. “Fine.” Jaller finally agreed, “We’ll vote.” He looked to the Toa of Stone, “Ok then, Hewkii’s idea is to just attack and disrupt them. My plan is to sit, wait, and watch until we have more information. Now, Nuparu, would you like to begin?” He questioned. The Toa of Earth nodded, “I’m with Hewkii.” Jaller’s gaze drifted to Kongu, who nodded, “Hewkii.” He went to Hahli next, “Hewkii.” Hewkii smiled and nodded, “Myself, of course.” “And that means I’m outnumbered here.” Jaller sighed, shaking his head, “If Matoro were here…” He muttered, then looked up, ignoring that statement, “Ok, fine then. We’ll use your plan, Hewkii. Everyone just be ready for anything.” They all nodded to him and began to check weapons. When they were fully armed, fully equipped for the battle, they rushed out from their spot. Up ahead was a group of three bruisers, three Skakdi, and a Vortixx. There were small groups scattered around the pit, but this was the closest, the only one in range, the only one who would see the attack coming. No backup would help. Hewkii immediately let loose with his Kanohi, removing the gravity from around all of them, making them float upwards. Before they could even give a cry, Kongu formed a bubble of air around them, cutting off their words. Nuparu leapt forward and swung his sword, sending a shockwave rippling through the air. The shockwave smashed into the bubble, throwing the various warriors aside, smashing them into the ground. Some began to rise, some stayed down for the moment. Jaller noticed that a group was missing. He knew that they weren’t being attacked by that group, since there was no sign of reinforcements for the enemy squad. He wondered what became of them, but ignored it for the moment. Jaller leapt forward, slashing his large sword down on a Skakdi. The Skakdi lifted his arms up, using his claws to catch the blade. He stumbled back with Jaller, struggling to hold off the Toa of Fire. Jaller grinned and pulled back. He span around, jabbing the flat of his sword right into the Skakdi’s face. As the bestial warrior stumbled back, Jaller lunged forward, getting past his defenses. He rammed his sword home, dropping the Skakdi to the ground in a heap of death. Nuparu dodged past a bruiser’s punch. He rolled behind him and flicked a wrist, activating his powers. A fist made of earth came up, smashing into the bruiser, offsetting his footing. Nuparu span around, slashing his sword into his foe’s back, using both a cut and a shockwave to bring the bruiser down, nearly splitting him in half. Hewkii leapt forward, using his spear to drive his bruiser foe back. When the dimwitted bruiser attacked, Hewkii dodged to the side and lashed his chains out, wrapping them around the warrior’s neck. When the shocks brought him to his knees, Hewkii released them and kicked him aside, waiting for another strike. This time, Hewkii leapt into the bruiser’s defenses. By the time he realized what was happening, the spear had found its way into his chest, bringing him down, permanently. Hahli danced gracefully back and forth, evading the attacks of the Skakdi she faced. When he plowed a kick right into her midsection, she grabbed him with her right hand. She drew up her left, protosteel claw, and plunged it into his chest, quickly ending his life. She tore the weapon out and span around, pointing it to Kongu, who was using his powers to keep the last bruiser busy, while the Vortixx watched them, and then started to walk towards the pit. “Stop her!” Jaller shouted. Hewkii and Nuparu rushed after the female Vortixx. When they caught her, she used quick speed to plant two good kicks into their midsections, throwing them to the ground. Both rose to their feet to attack again, but neither got through to her body. While Hahli extended her powers to Kongu, he followed suit, extending his into hers. When the powers collided, a storm erupted from the point of impact, ripping the bruiser’s armor apart, nearly ripping him in half from the concentrated nature of their strike. When his corpse fell, that left only the single Vortixx. As Hewkii used his chain to try to stop her, Nuparu leapt forward, getting past her defenses. He slammed his sword at the ground, using a shockwave to cut it apart, breaking away her footing. When she looked up, a fist found its mark in her face. Nuparu sheathed his sword and drew his shield instead. He ran forward, planting the razor edge of the weapon at her throat as he looked down at her. “You lose.” He said, slitting it. He rose from his task and looked to the others. The enemies were dead, and there were no other enemies in sight for some reason. Something felt wrong. “Let’s check the tunnel.” Jaller said, racing towards the hole in the ground. He lit his sword on fire and started down, using the flames as a method to light the path. As the five Toa descended into the darkness, they began to hear voices up ahead. They recognized one as the voice of Takanuva, but twisted enough to be Shadow Takanuva, but yet, somehow, different altogether. “You have all been chosen for the divine retribution!” The Shadow Takanuva announced, “Please, take your places, if you would.” Jaller watched as the few bruisers, Skakdi, Vortixx, and the slug-like forms of the Piraka were taken to the pit of bubbling liquid. The Shadow Takanuva pointed, which prompted everyone to begin to enter the pool. The Toa Mahri sat, hiding, watching. They were enthralled by whatever was happening, but also unnerved by what this could mean for everything. From what they had heard, Tren Krom took the body of a Shadow Takanuva, and was using it to cause havoc for the Matoran Universe, both for the Makuta and the rebels. Now he was working on his own, doing something else entirely. As the pit sizzled, he waved his arm in the air. A green mist formed from his powers, which he cast into the pit. The waters began to steam even more, and soon, began to recede. A hand came to the lip of the pit, and something began to pull itself out. This thing looked to be made of gold. It was gold skinned, humanoid, with a slightly hunched back, spine, tail, almost like a Skakdi, but with more ‘skin’ and less ‘armor’. The thing had the slight appearance of a Skakdi in the way it maneuvered, but it wasn’t actually a Skakdi. It was something of Tren Krom’s creation, something far more dangerous. The golden skinned creature was larger than Tren Krom. It was nearly ten feet tall, and ready for any fight, actually looking like it would relish one. It laughed and pointed across the room, to where the next group waited to enter into the pit. “Move.” It hissed. The beings began to move without being told anything else. With no specifics, no limits, the creature quickly said, “Stop.” The Mahri could only guess that this creature could enslave others through some form of proximity. They first wondered how this Shadow Takanuva, or Tren Krom, wasn’t possessed by this thing from his proximity. This was certainly interesting, whatever it was that this man created. Tren Krom turned and smiled, “We have uninvited guests.” He said. The golden skinned creature walked towards the stairs, where the Mahri waited. In two strides, it had covered most of the room, and was at the door. It rushed up the stairs, soon finding itself on the tip of a sword in its face. “Take another step and die.” Jaller threatened. “Sword…” The gold being said, grinning maliciously, “Sword!” It looked around at the other Toa in the group, and smiled upon seeing their weapons, “Excellent. You shall serve me well.” “Serve?” Hahli questioned. Before the gold creature could say anything else, the Mahri all felt compelled to drop their weapons, but didn’t, for fear of disrespecting their master. “Kneel.” It hissed. The five Mahri each went to a knee, bowing their heads before the golden skinned creature. It grinned viciously, about to give orders, when it stopped and turned to Tren Krom. The Shadow Takanuva stepped forward, “Ok then, orders…” He began, thinking, shaking his head when he didn’t like one. He spoke up, “Ah, here’s one. Go to the surface. We shall make our empire out there, in this new world, and we shall come up with our plans of attack after that.” The golden skinned creature nodded approvingly, “Yes, sounds good.” He looked over all of his servants, “Go! Find the fastest path and take it!” The groups began to move. The groups of various species all left together, mostly, acting as the drones they were. The Toa all left second, receiving more details, with both of their employers knowing that the Toa would have higher duties to perform, more attention to the mission, and a better chance of completing it, thanks to their powers. Tren Krom watched everyone go. He patted his creation on the back, “Soon, oh, very soon we shall be rulers. You and I, with all bowing before us on this planet, in this universe…” “I am simply honored to be of service.” The creature replied simply. “Honored? Why? Because you serve me?” Tren Krom asked. “To do this higher honor.” The gold creature simply stated.Review

Personally I highly recommend Ryuki. It's a great story about humanity, human greed and desire, really. A plethora of characters keeps it interesting, since they all have their own motives and stories. And Ryuki has like four or five endings, so it's a really interesting season.The final two episodes are beautifully done as well. Just the last four or so are amazing.Decade...I've come to despise Decade, if only because the writing is kind of all over the place and not much is ever explained. I say watch it, but wait on it. Besides, it'll be like eight more months before we get that movie, so you have time.Also, one more thing on Ryuki. If you saw OOO, I believe Ryuki does the greed and desire angle a lot better.

Ah, interesting. I have a ShinkenRed Figurart from Toys R Us, and it's not like that (well, no leg armor, though). Interesting.I recommend W. If you saw Dragon Knight, try Ryuki. I personally recommend Hibiki, if you like character development and stuff.

Legacy 17: Kopaka’s Gamble—Strike the Core! “Are you sure this will work? Can you give me any idea at all at the percentage of success?” Kopaka gazed at the Dark Hunter across the table from him. This Dark Hunter was a powerful one, one who had known no fear as long as Kopaka had led him into battle. This was the first time that this man was questioning him in such a way. He was worried. There was reason to be worried. The plan that Kopaka had formed was an immense gamble. It was going to be a hit or miss attack. Either it would give amazing results during this battle for the entire universe that they knew of, or, it would kill them all, but hopefully give the others enough time to fight on the outside. He knew that some had left the Matoran Universe. Some, like Tahu, had headed for exits to do battle. Other Toa had also departed for the same reasons. They were going to help fight off the forces that Makuta sent to the surface, but also, were going to help those on the ground, like whoever—or whatever—was currently fighting against Makuta. “I have no idea if this will work.” Kopaka told the Dark Hunter, “I can only guess if it will or not. I can’t give you any hard data or statistics.” “You live on that stuff.” Lariska commented, standing beside him. “I know I do, but I have none.” Kopaka told her. “You’re essentially going in blind.” She said. She looked at the scope on his Kanohi, the Akaku, Mask of X-Ray Vision. Kopaka was never blind. His foresight was incredible due to his cold, calm intelligence and mind. His mask helped him all the way, giving him vision where he shouldn’t have it, allowing him to plan for many options that he wouldn’t normally get to. Kopaka doing anything ‘blind’, so to speak, was unheard of. Kopaka just didn’t act that way. It was completely against the fiber of his being. He was someone who would use data to his advantage over anything else. So what was he doing this time? What was he thinking? “I’m hoping this works.” Kopaka admitted, looking at everyone gathered around the table. The walls shook as the battle outside, between Makuta and his foe, continued on. The gravity stabilizers inside of the body that Makuta possessed were enough to hold them in place, but not always. Sometimes they still shook with the blows, as hard as they were. “You’re only hoping?” The Dark Hunter questioned. Kopaka leaned back, looking at the array of faces that were with him. He spoke simply, “If any of you doubt my methods, my leadership, then you would leave. Toa Tahu, the leader of this rebellion, should no longer be in this universe, if the plan is going correctly. He’s probably on the outside, doing what he can out there, as planned. Now listen, you’re stuck with me. I’m the deputy leader of the Toa Nuva, thus I am the deputy leader of this entire rebellion. I am the one in charge of the fight against Makuta, and as such, you have me to obey, or no one. Now, make your choice.” Nobody spoke up. “Good.” Kopaka said, “That means you’re all with me. If any of you are against me, then walk away now. Walk away and die alone without the backup of others to help keep you safe. All we have is security in numbers, remember that!” Lariska looked to Kopaka, and then to the map, placing her finger on a spot, “Here.” She said simply. “What is it?” Kopaka asked, looking at it. “This is a spot we can land our party.” She replied, “It should be large enough.” “What is it?” He questioned. “An open area of sea.” She replied simply. He looked at the map. Indeed, it was just sea. There was no landmass at the location. In the battle for the Matoran Universe, places had been discovered, and parts of the islands had been broken apart. One such location that had been discovered recently was an entrance into Karda Nui, the Universe Core. That was where the Nuva had completed their mission to awaken Mata Nui. That was a very important location for the Great Spirit body. It was Kopaka’s plan to lay waste to it. It might kill a lot of people wishing to be free, but it would help. Attacking such a location, the heart of the body, would cause a lot of damage to Makuta himself. And with being distracted by fighting his foe, the distraction would really get to him. He wouldn’t be able to stop it either. He would be too distracted. This was a suicidal attack, but it would be their best, and potentially, only option for a victory in this war against Makuta. “I met up with some others earlier.” Lariska said, “Part of a group led by Toa Pohatu. He was a Dark Hunter I used to know, a great spy and saboteur. He told me that when the group he was with reached Destral, the Makuta base, he found the ruins of some mysterious chamber. That chamber held inside of it a small device, damaged, but very complex looking. That device, when he repaired it, allowed him to teleport where he pleased. It was a teleporter capable of transporting an entire island to anywhere the user desired.” “So the plan is going to be to use it?” Kopaka questioned. She nodded, “We move Destral into that position, which is clear, as is the island, and then we launch an attack from that island.” Lariska said, “We just have to get word out to the other Nuva and any other leaders.” Kopaka nodded. He walked to the corner of the room, to a series of cages containing bird Rahi. These Rahi were vicious, and were very common now that Makuta took control. Nobody took any notice. They wouldn’t be shot down by any enemies, or anything of the sort. They would be safe, transporting special messages. Kopaka removed a small cylindrical object from a small chest of them. He held them in his palm, infusing them with a mental encoding due to the property of the objects. He placed the small objects into the mouths of the Rahi, sending them off one at a time as he gave them the messages. The Rahi would fly after the other Nuva and any other leaders who were leading their own men. “We have only to wait.” Kopaka said. He turned to look at everyone, “We have to get ready to move out, though. We have to wait at the shore.” He said, pointing to a spot beneath the Southern Continent, “We have to get to the southern edge of the Continent.” He said, “Then we’ll wait. As soon as Destral appears, we head for it. We’ll need guardians for the island. An island appearing out of nowhere is going to be very suspicious. We’ll need guardians to defend our staging area as we flee.” Kopaka looked out before his men, “Any volunteers?” A few Dark Hunters and Order of Mata Nui warriors raised their hands into the air, volunteering for the defensive jobs. Their powers were the best ones to have, using powers with defensive abilities, like elemental powers over Stone or Earth, or any other way to create defenses. They knew that this was their place to shine, and would take it without problem. “The Rahi won’t take long. They’re fast fliers.” Kopaka said, “It would only take an hour for one in Metru Nui to go all the way south. Let’s hope that none of the teams got too far away from this place.” As he and his men began to speak about strategy, and any plans for once they reached the Energy Storms that would be raging inside of the Universe Core, the first of the Rahi returned. Kopaka held his hand out as it opened its beak, dropping the cylinder into his hand. He felt the cylinder warm as it activated. He could hear the voice of Pohatu in his mind, telling him that they were close to Destral and were heading there currently. He had also joined together with Gali and her men, giving them more forces to begin with, and less to track down. Kopaka put the Rahi back into its cage and looked back to the map, putting a finger next to the coast of the Southern Continent. “Pohatu should be around here.” He pointed a bit west, “Destral is here, roughly.” He pointed southeast of the Continent, “The entrance to the Core.” He said, “It won’t take us long. Let’s set out.” He looked to a man at his side, and nodded. The man put his hand over the map. Energy blasted into the table, the map, destroying it so as not to give anyone who came an idea of where they were headed. “Let’s go.” Kopaka said, leading his men out, “Either to victory, or to our deaths.” The island appeared in the distance of the coast. Many men were already standing on the island, signaling to Kopaka’s men on the Continent. Loading into boats quickly created through any means they could, they sailed towards Destral. More and more men began to appear as other teams found their way to the coast, or were already heading out. Kopaka leapt onto the island, nodding to Pohatu, Gali and Lewa. He looked back, recognizing Onua and his men in the boats that came from the eastern edge of the Continent. “Well?” Kopaka asked. “We’re close.” Gali replied, “We have to head south for about ten minutes at a good pace, and we’ll be at the entrance. I can open it wider, if we must.” “We’ll wait for Onua’s group to arrive.” Kopaka replied. He motioned for his group of guardians, sending them off with the others already on Destral who were to do the same job. Those men began to spread out and get ready for battle. Soon, Onua’s men arrived. Onua joined his fellow Nuva, sending his men to the edges of the island for the purposes of guarding the strike force. The Nuva and their army moved south, arriving at the stone arch rising up from the water. The path led into darkness, underground. Lewa walked into it, using his Miru to float down, and then return back up. “There’s a level path down there.” He replied, “We can walk down. There’s a landing that ends before we reach the Energy Storms.” “How long will it take?” Gali asked. “I was going at a faster pace than walking.” Lewa said, “And I dropped down a path that went alongside the walkway. That drop, without my Kanohi, sped me up. If we use your Kakama, Pohatu, then minutes.” “We’ll use it.” He replied. He looked back, signaling the men. They began to split in half, half going towards him, half going towards Lewa. Kopaka spoke to them, “You lot with Pohatu, you’ll be taking the walkway, using his Kakama to speed your way. You lot with Lewa will be dropping down a tunnel, using the Miru to stop before it’s too late. Understood?” Gali spoke, “If any of you can fly on your own, or have a faster method, then get there of your own accord.” She said, “Go first, however.” Around fifty men walked into the tunnel. Some of them flew down the drop; some of them used speed to race down the walkway, and some managed to teleport or vanish down. After they had gone, the rest began down, using the Toa’s methods to head straight down, into a large landing that overlooked the massive storms of power that would destroy them if they so much as touched them. Kopaka and the other Nuva stood before everyone else, gazing out into the vast domed area that they had saved two years ago. They all looked to each other, nostalgia in their eyes. That soon faded as they stepped back, knowing what they all had to do. “Everyone ready?” Kopaka called back. A cheer went up through the ranks of men as they prepared themselves. Anyone who didn’t have some method of attack, such as Lariska, had remained on the surface of the island, ready to defend it. Anyone with any sort of ranged attack or power had ventured down to attack the Core. Power flew in a vast stream. From the Nuva came Ice, Earth, Stone, Air and Water attacks. Attacks of many elements and forms flew from the assembled ranks of Dark Hunters, or Order members and servants, and of anyone else with them. Power sailed through the Energy Storms, ripping apart parts of the Universe Core, ripping apart the heart of the Great Spirit robot. When pressed for details earlier, Kopaka had told others that it was like they were going to induce a massive heart attack. As the dome of the Universe Core was torn apart, it felt as though it were working. They could feel Makuta shaking; they could feel him taking more damage than before. They knew he was being distracted. It was working. Then they heard something happening on Destral. “We have to go back!” Kopaka shouted, “We can’t just stay here and attack! If we lose our way back to the surface, we’ll all die! Then there will be no distractions inside anymore! Everyone, fall back!” The men began to retreat, back towards the surface. Those who could flew up; men ran up, some sped along by the Kakama, some floated up with the Miru. All that mattered was getting topside, and quickly. As the men reached the top, they looked around as they got back onto Destral. A massive army of thousands was fighting against the defenses put up by the rebels. Corpses of both sides were scattered everywhere. The attacking army was made of Rahi, Rahkshi, Visorak and even some Shadow Takanuva. The defenders were powerful in their own rights, but even they couldn’t take down more than around fifteen before being overrun and killed. Somehow, Makuta had kept a large reserve force hidden somewhere, just waiting to attack. “Attack! We must break through!” Kopaka screamed out. The men began to charge, with the Nuva leading the charge, unleashing devastation with their powers. More powers flew from behind them, smashing through the ranks of Makuta’s minions, ripping them apart. Soon, it came down to weapons against weapons, no longer becoming dependant on powers. It became apparent that the Rahkshi were weak, that their Kraata weren’t fully developed. Instead of their powers, they were relying on staffs in close quarters, and using multiple Rahkshi’s powers put together to fight one or two foes. This was a hastily put together army, but a powerful one, none the less. Soon, Kopaka and the other Nuva had punched their way through, but had their backs sealed by more foes. They were in the middle of a sea of faces, of enemies all out to kill them. Pushing themselves back-to-back, the Nuva attacked in all directions, unleashing powers, lashing out with weapons, crushing anything they could, until there was no room around any of them, and within arm’s length was an enemy in all directions, except for each other. “How much longer can we fight?” Onua shouted, unleashing a massive fist of earth, smashing through a sizeable force of men, along with Pohatu’s powers to punch similar holes in other directions. Lewa followed up, sending slicing wind through, hoping not to kill allies in the crossfire. Gali and Kopaka were more limited in their devastation of powers, but effective. The men who fell were swiftly replaced. It was obvious that they all knew who to kill. They knew that the Nuva were the ones needing to die, and also, Makuta knew that he couldn’t toy with them anymore. They had to die. “I don’t think we can keep going!” Lewa shouted, cutting a foe down with his axe. Kopaka ran a Rahkshi through, kicking it off of his sword. He nodded, “I hate to say it…but we’re done here. I’d go Nova, if it didn’t mean killing our own men!” As the Nuva continued to fight for their lives, they got the miracle they prayed for. Lightning erupted from the sky like a massive stream, ripping a circle open around the Nuva, extending wider and wider, blasting through more and more minions of Makuta. As the Nuva got space to move, they looked around, hoping to find their savior. As they looked, the sky was blank. There was no evidence of anything, other than intervention of the divine.Review

Book 1Chapter 1: An Underwater Threat “You have done so much for us in the past,” said Hoji, “But what are these things?” He was of course referring to the new pieces of armor that each of the Toa Cyril wore on their left forearm. Each of these pieces of armor was different in design and style, but each of them was the same in a single regard. Each of them was inset with a crimson crystal, burning with power. They could all feel immeasurable strength and energy within, but weren’t sure of what to do with it, or what to make of it. “Those are a rare find,” Gorma stated, “A very rare find.” “Rare, we get it,” muttered Magis, “Just what do these things do, other than look good?” “Of course you would say that, Magis,” Cesare said, looking at his crystal. As the newest member of the team, and a former enemy of the original five Toa Cyril, even after serving alongside the Toa for one month after the defeat of Bandiaca – the witch – he still didn’t feel like a true member of the team. He felt like only some of them wanted him to be there. He felt out of place with the already established bonds that these other Toa had with each other. “I have a right to complain,” Magis told him. “No one’s saying you don’t,” Eri pointed out. “If you would be quiet, I would tell you what they do,” Gorma said. “Finally!” Magis exclaimed. Gorma shot him a look, so Magis didn’t say anything else. “Those are called ‘Nova Crystals’. They are a very rare find, as I already pointed out. It was only by pure luck that I happened upon them in the market. A sailor sold them, unsure of what they were. I of course paid him as well as I could, above his asking price. It was only fortunate that I purchased them for the right reasons before someone did for the wrong, if they knew what they were or not.” “What do they do,” Rei questioned, “I think that’s what we all want to know.” “They will bolster your power immeasurably,” stated Gorma with pride, “With them, you will never lose a fight. I can almost assure you of that.” “Almost isn’t a certainty,” Agri said. “It’s the best I can do for you,” said Gorma. “Will these give us the power we need to crush Bandiaca for good,” Hoji asked. “I fear that I cannot tell you that,” Gorma said. “It is up to us, is it not,” asked Hoji, “Our own fates are those we craft for ourselves with our own hands, with our own powers. We cannot be told by another. Am I correct?” “Very wise words, Hoji,” said Gorma. “Bandiaca has been quiet as of late,” Agri pointed out, “I wonder what her plots are…” Quietly he wondered if her plots would involve Dai, his old instructor turned warrior for Bandiaca. He wanted to fight Dai again, and finally have a proper end to their duel. But he feared that a proper end could only mean that death awaited one or both of them. He didn’t want to kill Dai, but knew he may have to. “With luck, she’s trying to raise a fighting force,” Eri put in, “Then we have time to crush her before she regains power.” “But we’ve checked her base,” Hoji said, “No signs of her.” “If she’s moved, then it’s not our problem,” Magis said without thinking. “It’s a problem for others! That’s enough to make it our problem,” Agri said, “Because we will have failed in our duty to stop her here.” “I get that, I do,” Magis said, putting his hands out, “But you can’t tell me that we stood too much of a chance of a quick win, can you? We didn’t. Maybe wherever she goes next, the next batch of warriors can end her life; can end her reign.” “It should be us,” Agri said, “We stood against her; we should have ended it.” “You like killing too much, it sounds like,” said Magis, shaking his head, “We may ignore the Toa Code…but you sound like you wanted to kill.” “If it saves others from having to, then I have no problem with it,” Agri admitted. “Guys, look,” Hoji put himself between them, “We have our own jobs to attend to. Let us worry about Bandiaca later and for now just get on with our lives and patrols.” “What’s the point,” even Rei had to point out, “We patrolled before Bandiaca, yes, but there was never anything. Only during her attacks was there a true reason. I may be your second in command, but I don’t see the point, Hoji.” “She will return,” Hoji said matter-of-factly, “That I’m sure of. We must be ready! We must face her if and when she returns!” The Toa looked to each other and walked out, deciding that Hoji was indeed right in what he said. Patrols now would probably help them later on. As the Toa headed out, Gorma left with them to attend to meetings with other Turaga. There was still no clear sign of who would take control of the Isle of Cyril Nui, but he was still hopeful, despite Fides still being ahead of everyone else through some great miracle. But as everyone was departing, screams started to rise up from among the Matoran citizens. The Toa all looked to each other and nodded, running off, certain of Bandiaca’s return. As they arrived in the street where the screams originated from, they didn’t see the usual Anaroids or Batsuroids, but instead they saw a horde of beings in dark and light blue armor. Clawed feet with strong looking legs, with light blue above the knees and blades coming down. They had thickly armored shell-like torsos with some slime dripping down, dark blue armor and spikes covering parts of their arms, with their gauntlet armor being light blue. The right hands held triple bladed claw weapons. Their faces were fixed in a usual position of a screech, fangs bared. “What are these things,” questioned Rei. “Disgusting,” answered Magis bitterly, “I’m not looking forward to striking them.” “They look…from the sea…” Eri trailed off. “The sea,” questioned Hoji, “But what are they?” “They are the Bashaa,” said a new voice. The Toa looked around, searching for the source. The creatures known as Bashaa stayed in partial crouches, waiting to be ordered to strike. Soon the Toa could see a new figure approaching all of them, almost looking like one of these Bashaa creatures. His leg armor was thinner, but he still had clawed feet and blades coming down, though the blades were different. He had the same shell-like torso as they did. His body was completely blue, with bits of other shades of blue and some other minor colors throughout. His right arm had the claw weapon like the Bashaa did, while his left had a gray, smaller claw weapon. He had blades running off of his shoulders, and had a thick head that looked shelled with two crimson red eyes staring out. He didn’t look imposing, but carried himself highly. But of course, after all the fights the Toa had had with Bandiaca’s warriors, they knew that even if an enemy looked imposing, they didn’t always have to be. It could have just been an act they put on to make themselves feel better, or to intimidate the opponent. In this case, the Toa were sure that they were just trying to be intimidated, or something like that. This guy didn’t seem like he would be very hard. Hoji shook his head, “You don’t know who you’re dealing with, do you?” “The Toa Cyril,” he pointed out, “My name is Raia. I am the second in command of my great masters!” He threw his right arm out to his side as if to try to prove a point or something, “None can defeat me! I am undefeated in all battles I have every fought! You haven’t any hopes to defeat me. Abandon any! You cannot win!” “We’ve heard it all before,” Agri told him simply, “Save it for someone who cares.” “Or someone it’s new to,” Eri put in. “You doubt my powers,” Raia was actually shocked, then shook his head, “I will show you all, then!” Hoji threw his right arm forward, snapping his fingers, “The burning heart of passion! Toa Hoji!” Agri brought both arms up, bringing them together and passing both in front of his chest and face in almost a full circle, turning his closed fists up and his blades out to the sides. He brought them to rest by his hips, bending his elbows there, “The overpowering strength of the ground! Toa Agri!” Eri held her right arm out, spinning her weapon around her hand. As she did this, she brought her other arm up, bending it underneath her outstretched right arm, bracing it as she lowered the weapon down, pointing the tip at the enemy forces, “The serene and soothing waves! Toa Eri!” Magis span around, throwing his arms out to the side, using his powers to send some leaves at his feet around his body. He reached his right hand up as he lowered his left, brushing his fingers across the forehead of his Kanohi. He cast his arm sideways after that, “The magnificent gale! Toa Magis!” Rei went next, sending both arms forward and making a circle with them in the air in front of her body, stopping when they reached each other again. A small spark danced between her hands, “The sizzling sensation of lightning! Toa Rei!” Cesare took the hilt of his sword in both hands, swinging it out, looking over the angled blade at Raia, “The frozen justice! Toa Cesare!” “Six Toa now one, determined to destroy the evils plaguing this island! We are the Toa Cyril!” Hoji shouted out, throwing his arm forward and moving it from right to left. Raia shook his head, “Bashaa, do it,” The Bashaa mobilized, all of them racing forward at the Toa Cyril. The Toa all took up arms; all of them using their personal Toa Tools, except for Hoji, who utilized his Blade Blaster in the sword mode. They all ran forward in order to meet the attack head on. They began to cut down the ranks of the enemy Bashaa with swift efficient blows and with great ease. This was no contest; they were extremely weak. Their shell-like bodies couldn’t prevent a single blow. The Toa cleaved straight through. Any claws or parries they attempted were stopped when the Toa sliced their weapons apart on contact. There was nothing that the Bashaa could do, nor could Raia do, if he was as weak as his minions were. “You are good,” Raia muttered as he watched the Toa cleave through his soldiers. Hoji slashed through another one, ending up outside of the Bashaa grunts. He glanced at the nearby Raia and lifted his sword. “You’re mine,” said Hoji, “Come on; let’s do this.” “How good are you,” Raia pondered, “I wonder if you have the skill to move this island.” “What is that supposed to mean,” questioned Hoji, “Some sort of riddle? Joke?” “It means what it sounds like,” Raia said, “I have the power, do you? Do you think you can possibly stand a chance against someone like me?” “See the corpses of your warriors all around,” Hoji spread his left arm out, showing the corpses of the Bashaa off, “They stood no chance, so neither will you.” “Cocky, eh,” Raia smiled grimly, “I like that.” “I’m a professional,” Hoji told him. “Is that supposed to frighten me,” He asked back. “No. It’s supposed to show you why you got outclassed,” Hoji said, switching to blaster mode and lifting the weapon to his shoulder, tapping it against his armor three times, “My turn!” He shot his arm out, opening fire, unleashing multiple shots into Raia before he had time to dodge. Each blow connected; sparks flew from the impacts. None of the wounds darkened Raia’s armor, however. Was his armor really this powerful? Was he this strong? “I already told you, you cannot defeat me,” Raia said, walking towards Hoji. He lifted both arms, showing off his various claws. He ran forward, slashing rapidly, catching Hoji across the chest with each move. Sparks flew from contact every time, and soon, Hoji was overcome by his foe’s strength and was taken down. “Hoji!” cried Agri, running over. He didn’t stop to check Hoji’s body, but instead ran at Raia. He threw a flurry of punches with his iron knuckle weapons, but none of them could even scratch the armor, let alone send many sparks flying. “You’re weak,” Raia pointed out, slashing Agri twice in quick succession, causing sparks to fly both times. Agri stumbled back, and then fell to a knee. He threw his fist out, sending a fist of Earth shooting up, but Raia took the blow and didn’t complain. Cesare cut down three more all around him and then ran out of the group of soldiers, facing Raia on his own now, since Agri’s attack had failed to do the necessary damage. He span his weapon around and hit the hole, opening the blade as he span it back around. He drew three cards and slashed them through the blade of his Rouze Blade. “Lightning” “Slash” As he pulled his sword back, it was covered in Lightning. He ran forward, shouting, and slashed rapidly, but his elongated, overpowered slash was evaded each time as Raia continued to dodge back or block, somehow, with his hands. “You are weak,” he told Cesare. “What?” growled the Toa of Ice. “But in a different weak than my Bashaa were,” He corrected, “They were intentionally weak; I intentionally chose a weak lot just for this mission. Now that I know your strengths from watching fights, I can get serious.” “Does that include our fight right now?” hissed Cesare. “Yes, certainly,” He replied, slamming his knee into Cesare’s head. Cesare stumbled back and looked up; taking two quick slashes, sending sparks flying from each one. His chest shield offered no protection; he felt the pain through the armor, due to the armor smashing into his normal armor. Cesare fell back. Next, as the rest of the Bashaa fell, Magis, Eri and Rei emerged. Without speaking, they all rushed forward, with Eri and Magis combining their powers into a Storm, unleashing it on Raia, but with no effect, while Rei unleashed bolts of Lightning from her hands, to no effect either. “I am too powerful, am I not?” He questioned as he approached them, his words hanging in the air around the six Toa. “He’s too strong,” Magis muttered. “What can we do other than hit him again and again,” Rei asked. “We’ll find a way,” Hoji said, “We always do!” He reached his arm up. Dragon Missile flew down, affixing itself to Hoji’s arm. He lowered the weapon and fired, unleashing the flaming destructive bolt of Fire powers. It smashed into Raia, but didn’t do much damage. “Cyril Buster?” Agri questioned. Hoji nodded, “Everyone! All together,” Hoji shouted. Everyone else moved into position, attaching their weapons to the cannon. The five original members lined up with Hoji at the helm, his arms out, powering the weapon as the other Toa’s powers also flew in from their positions. Cesare kneeled beside the Cyril Buster, throwing his arm out to his side, out to it. “Fire!” The six screamed, unleashing their attack on Raia.“We face an enemy unlike any other. Already we have failed to defeat Raia, who claims to be what ‘Forte’ was to Bandiaca. How do we stop him? Next time: “Chapter 2: Break the Limit!” My turn!”Review

RX; I'm a snob. I only use their subs if possible (granted, I'll be using others for Showa soon). I don't care that some Japanese is left in their subs; I'm used to it. I love it.And I'm planning on Stronger before Kuuga/Agito anyway, along with some other Showa series anyway, so I'll wait.ET; what do you mean? Does he have armor on the kneecaps or something that doesn't stay on?

I remember when I was posting the first book that people were confused. It's not meant to be like the canon (I remember being told that Tarix was champion, not Vastus, and having to explain that this is my version of things). I'm glad you think so highly of it, though I believe the first book is the best of the four, thinking back.

Legacy 16: Scattered—Find the Golden Armor! Gresh walked around the desert, looking at the familiar sights of vast emptiness, now filled with corpses of both warriors he knew as his own men, and those of the invading forces. He walked through the death, looking around for any signs of danger. There were corpses of both sides in the area. That meant that either they killed each other, or something else got to the survivors. If his comrades were the survivors of such a fight, that would mean someone would be waiting for an ambush. Gresh stopped. He span around, throwing a tonfa forward. The spinning blade smashed into one of the reptilian machines known as Rahkshi, offsetting its footing as it unleashed a blast of heat from its eyes. The yellow armored machine stumbled back, the heat vision spraying out in all directions as it stumbled around, trying to train itself on Gresh. Gresh didn’t let up. He leapt forward, throwing his other tonfa into the air, letting it spin around and around as he closed the distance. He threw a fist into each of the Rahkshi’s shoulders, and then came up with a quick knee to the ‘jaw’ of the head. He span around, giving a double fisted slam to the side of the head, dropping the machine into the sand. Gresh looked down at it. The thing that controlled the body was dazed, but the thing wasn’t dead. That would be too easy. A machine like this wouldn’t die as easily. Gresh reached up, taking grip of his tonfa as it fell. He drove the tip into the head, impaling the thing controlling the vile machine. He drew his weapon out and took hold of his other tonfa, forming his shield once more. He walked away from the Rahkshi, heading out farther away from the combat. He was walking. He knew he should be running, but he didn’t want to seem suspicious. If the enemy robot would see, then he might figure out something was happening, and kill him. That wouldn’t be good for Mata Nui. It was better for Gresh to play it safe and use stealth to get past the eyes of the enemy as he would advance farther away, farther towards the final goal of the Golden Armor. Takanuva rolled behind a series of boulders. They only provided him with momentary relief as they were smashed apart with a burst of Shadow energy. He leapt through the rubble, smashing both blades into his foe’s chest. The Shadow Takanuva fell back as Takanuva slashed each way, drawing his blades across his foe’s entire chest, taking him down, keeping him down. Takanuva looked up at the second Shadow Takanuva standing closer to him. A blast of the dark element he possessed erupted through the air, aiming for the Toa of Light’s head. Takanuva span around, dodging the attack. He slammed both of his staffs together and pushed them out forward, unleashing a brilliant eruption of light into his foe’s chest from a distance, using a laser to create a starburst symbol, ripping his foe’s body apart. “Messy, but it had to be done.” He heard someone say. Turning, Takanuva saw another dark version of himself. This one sported a completely different left arm, a mechanical left arm, as well as a blue visor in place of the Kanohi Avohkii. “What is that stuff?” Takanuva hissed, drawing his weapons up into a defensive stance, getting ready for anything. “This?” His doppelganger questioned, looking at his arm, “This is just something of a trophy of this foolish rebellion.” “Trophy?” Takanuva questioned. “From a fool Dark Hunter.” He answered. “Whatever it is, whatever it does, it won’t save you.” Takanuva said, pointing his left staff at his foe, keeping his right weapon drawn back. “We’ll see.” The dark Takanuva answered, lifting his left arm high. The protrusions sent a ray of energy into the air, spinning around his body in swirling shapes. Before Takanuva could launch an attack, a giant Stone Ape erupted from the smoke and energy. “What is this?” Takanuva hissed. He took a massive punch to the face, being thrown back into the sand. He skidded around, finally rolling over onto his knees and feet, plowing them into the ground as he slid. “This is the power of a fool Dark Hunter whom I killed.” The Stone Ape grunted. “Well, I’ll just have to be more careful then.” Takanuva said, rising to his feet. He ran forward, drawing both weapons back. Before he could thrust them and unleash his powers, he took another punch, this time to the chest. He dropped to his knees in the pain. He looked up, but took a fist to the face again, going to his back. He rolled away as a punch smashed into the ground, creating a small crater. Takanuva rolled up, thrusting both weapons forward, unleashing crisscrossing rays of light, sending them forward like a laser net. This attack struck the target, burning his armor, but it by no means did any serious damage. Laughing, the Rahi imitator said, “Do you really think my blows are random? I’m aiming to take out your state of mind! Head shots to disorient you, body shots to wound you. Together, I repeat until you can’t kill me!” “I’ll kill you eventually.” Takanuva hissed, “And besides, why don’t you just right-out kill me?” He hissed. “What fun would that be?” The Rahi laughed. Takanuva leapt forward, ramming both weapons forward, driving them into the chest of his foe. The Stone Ape fell back, reverting into his normal form as a black and gray armored Takanuva. He slammed his right fist into Takanuva’s face, throwing the Toa of Light off of him. The two Toa rolled away from each other. The Shadow Takanuva raced forward, spinning his weapon overhead, charging a cyclone of Shadow above. The normal Takanuva raced forward, drawing his weapons out to his sides. Power flowed through both of them, illuminating both weapons. He leapt forward, utilizing his powers to move at the speed of light, cutting his foe down in one move. The Shadow Takanuva looked back only once, his face in complete shock. His body had been bisected in one move, a move he didn’t even see coming. “I used my speed, combined with light around my weapons, to end you.” Takanuva said, “Speed combined with pure cutting ability? You lose.” The Shadow Takanuva fell in half. His upperbody fell to the sands, while his legs stood for a moment, but soon gave out and fell. Takanuva span around, looking at the remains of his foe, just to be sure he was dead. Seeing that he was, Takanuva ran off, heading towards where the signal in his mind was telling him to go to. Tahu was tired of walking. Because of the Adaptive Armor, he always had help over the past two years in any situation, any environment. If he had thrusters of any sort, he used them for the ease of it, and the convenience of escape from Makuta and his minions. By no means was Tahu lazy. He was just used to having something like thrusters to assist him. He was used to having the extra weight of the Adaptive Armor, period. He had nothing anymore. When the Ignika had reverted him back to his normal Toa Mata form, he had lost the Adaptive Armor for some reason. He had regained his normal sword, but lost potentially his greatest weapon. But that didn’t matter too much, as long as he could survive, that’s what counted. But the Armor would have made survival anywhere easier. It would be difficult on such a planet, with so many enemies around, but he could do it. He had to do it. He was the one to wear the Golden Armor, after all. Slowing, Tahu looked around the caverns he was in. He rushed forward, using a small flame to light his way. He found something in the back of the room, and raced for it. Tahu found a stone that didn’t belong. He pushed it aside with ease, revealing a small inlet in the stone itself. He reached down, removing a piece of armor that looked to be made of pure gold. The armor was like that he wore on his chest or his arms. This had to be the Golden Armor. Tahu pulled the pack off of his back. He had gotten a pack from a supporter of Mata Nui, one of his army. He pushed the piece of Golden Armor into the bag and slung it over his shoulder as he started out. He had to find one more piece, and then meet back with the others. As soon as he left the cavern, he looked east, towards the edge of the Black Spikes. Currently, at the base of the White Quartz, Tahu decided he would have to get closer as it was. Going to the Black Spikes next seemed like a good idea to him. Tahu started out, keeping a slow, methodical pace. His eyes darted around everywhere, searching for any signs of danger. He stopped when he felt a chill go down his spine. Spinning around, Tahu unleashed a small explosion of his Fire powers centralized on one location, turning the sand to glass at impact. The Shadow Takanuva leapt back just in time. He threw his right arm forward, unleashing a cold burst of his powers forward. Tahu activated his Kanohi, feeling the skintight shield come up around his body once again. He rushed through the blast of shadows, spreading his sword of fire out. He leapt forward, slamming a foot into the Shadow Takanuva, knocking him back. He followed up by spinning around and slashing his foe across the chest, taking him down. “Are you after me?” Tahu demanded, his tip at the downed Toa’s throat. “After you? Of course.” Shadow Takanuva hissed, “I am after anyone on the side of Mata Nui! Anyone against Makuta!” “You came after me because I’m your enemy. No other reason?” Tahu asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Shadow Takanuva said, “But you’re only an opponent to me—a target.” Tahu smiled to himself. His foe didn’t know of the Golden Armor at least. That was a good bit of news to learn. Tahu span around, watching as a group of multicolored spider Rahi came closer and closer towards him and his foe. He saw that the group of Visorak were charging their Rhotuka, getting ready for an attack to rain down. Tahu rolled away as the attacks sailed down, killing the Shadow Takanuva in some way. Tahu span around, unleashing a massive burst of heat into the spiders, forcing them to back away from him s he thought of a plan. Tahu drew his right fist back, drawing as much power as he could into it. He threw it forward, sending a fist of fire through the air, smashing into the ground at the same angle. The power threw a wall of sand up, making it into glass right in front of the Visorak as they shot their Rhotuka forward. The spinning attacks struck the glass and bounced right back into the Visorak, killing most of them with their own powers. If any survived, Tahu unleashed a stream of fire into the path, melting down any survivors. Tahu ran from the sight, heading for the Black Spikes. He had to get there fast. He had one piece, he was sure that the others would at least have one piece by this point as well. Gresh span around, cutting a third Rahkshi down. He ducked the swing of a Skakdi’s fist, and impaled the beastly warrior with both tonfa. He leapt back as more and more enemies continued to come ever closer. Between Rahkshi, Skakdi, Visorak and Rahi, he was outnumbered. He had one piece of the Golden Armor. He recognized it as similar to the chest and arm armor that Tahu was wearing. He assumed that meant something. “What now?” Gresh muttered. He had no real attacks to clear out a group. Certavus had taught him nothing of the sort. He supposed he could use a Heaven’s Disaster, but that might not cut it. Shrugging and throwing caution to the wind, Gresh raced forward, spinning both weapons around. He slammed them both into the sand in front of the tightly packed group of his foe’s, unleashing a devastating wave of power into their ranks. The enemy forces went flying back. Some were ripped apart by sheer force, some were mortally wounded, and yet other s were only handicapped. It was a fairly good attack, but not good enough for Gresh. “No one left to stand?” He questioned, walking past all of their bodies, if they could still fight or not, “I should be off.” He said, running towards the south for his second piece. Takanuva, holding both pieces of the Golden Armor that he was to retrieve—a piece of armor like that of Tahu’s chest, as well as a Golden Hau—rushed through the wastes. He had made excellent time and was running towards the meeting place. If he had such ease, he hoped the others had as well. He hoped to end the battle as soon as possible. By the time he reached the spot, he saw no partners, no comrades of any sort. Instead, he saw Nektann, the blue armored Skakdi leader. Nektann turned to face the Toa of Light. He laughed and grinned his evil Skakdi grin as the Toa approached slowly, both staffs in hand and ready. “Well, a Toa.” Nektann hissed, “A nice change of pace from these powerless fools!” “Powerless as they may be, in our way of power, but they are hardly fools. They are hardly powerless in the way of saying, they are amazing warriors.” Takanuva thrust his right weapon forward, “Now, let’s get this over with, Nektann.” “You know me?” “I know your description, and stench.” Takanuva said. “Toa of Light, I know of you as well.” “How much are just my doppelgangers?” Takanuva questioned. “I learned a lot.” Nektann hissed, “Makuta likes us to know our foe.” “Too bad he doesn’t know Mata Nui, then.” Takanuva said. “But I do know you, and at the moment, that’s what counts.” Nektann replied. “We’ll see how long you last.” Takanuva said, racing forward. He slashed his right staff out to the side. His foe parried with a downward strike of his scythe. He quickly span it around, pulling up, opening Takanuva’s right side. Throwing a punch into Takanuva’s side, Nektann stood above the downed Toa. He stomped on his foe’s chest, keeping him pinned to the ground. “You’re about to lose your head.” He laughed, holding his scythe up, admiring the sharpness of the blade. “I think not.” Takanuva hissed, unleashing a burs to flight, blinding and slightly burning Nektann from the close range of his attack. He came to his feet and kicked Nektann, taking him down. He turned to run, to get some distance for an attack. As Takanuva turned around, he saw something flying at him. Something dark gray and hard looking. Iron balls. The attack from Nektann’s eyes smashed into him, taking him to his knees. As he fell, he could see Nektann going through his bags, stealing the Golden Hau, and then running.Review

Legacy 15: To the Last Man—Return of an Old Face! Struggling, Tahu stumbled through the hole in the side of the mountain. It seemed rugged on the inside, but of a different texture than the rock itself was of. He ran his hand across the inside, feeling not stone, but steel. A very thick type of steel. “What is this?” He muttered, proceeding forward. He glanced back, watching as Visorak, Rahi and Rahkshi continued to follow him. Ever since his visit with Tren Krom, Tahu had been seeking out patrols of Makuta’s minions. Apparently he was having trouble on the planet, wherever it was they were, and had been sending these forces out to fight on the ground against the unsuspecting populace below. Tahu had made his way south, following a very large line of troops. His Adaptive Armor had helped him survive and stay undetected, and now, had landed him ahead of the troops, inadvertently, of course. He was running. He needed to stay ahead and out of sight. But if this was their destination, then he had found where he needed to go, wherever it was. “Stop!” He heard a commanding voice boom. He felt compelled to stop for some reason, for fear of something brought forth to him by a good feeling. It wasn’t a threat that was stopping him, but rather it was reverence. “Tahu!” The voice exclaimed as a gray and white armored figure rushed out from ahead, looking the Toa of Fire over, “I’m so happy to see you!” Tahu smiled and clasped the Toa on the shoulder, “Takanuva, I’m so glad to see you!” Takanuva, the Toa of Light, armed with his twin Staffs of Light stood before Tahu. He smiled and laughed in joy, joy despite being in such a dangerous position. Tahu realized it had to be the Avohkii that made him listen to Takanuva when he had been a voice alone. “I’m being followed.” Tahu said, motioning Takanuva forward, “Wherever we are, we have to keep moving! If we stop, we’ll be overrun. Even our combined powers won’t work against that many forces!” “How many?” Takanuva questioned, lifting his weapons, “I could wait for them to get in here, and then bring the cave down.” “Too many.” Tahu said, shaking his head, “But what would happen then?” Takanuva directed over his shoulder, “That’s to the outside, to the planet itself. We’re as far south as we can be. We’re in the feet of the machine.” Tahu nodded, “Then let’s go.” He said, moving past Takanuva. “Where to?” Takanuva questioned, “Do you really think it’s smart to walk into the surface of this planet?” “If Makuta keeps sending minions, then I have to assume that he’s having problems out there.” Tahu said, pointing at the light up ahead, “That means that these people at the least are fighting. They don’t want to be conquered by Makuta. They want freedom! We can help them! And besides, I need to get out there. I need to find what Tren Krom told me to find.” “Tren Krom?” Takanuva shouted, shaking his head, “Ok, you must be crazy. Why would you listen to him?” “He wants to live.” Tahu said, “He wants us to defeat Makuta!” “But him?” Takanuva questioned. “We allied with the Order of Mata Nui.” Tahu said, “And the Dark Hunters. All of the Toa left are allied under our banner. Any people who want to be free are also allied with us. The Bahrag, the Bohrok they control…we have made as many allies as we can since our foe is the universe itself! We need to find more allies! That includes Tren Krom.” Tahu said, “Like it or not, that includes him, and he’s relevant as a result.” “What will whatever he sent you to find do?” Takanuva questioned, deciding not to press for more information. Tahu shrugged, “I’m not entirely sure.” He admitted, “He called it the ‘Golden Armor’. He said that linking with the Ignika would allow me to feel the location of it, and I should find it then.” He looked out again at the planet ahead, “The Ignika is out there. I have to go out there as a result.” “Fine.” Takanuva said. He rushed forward, pulling Tahu towards the light as he heard the enemy forces coming in behind them, “Let’s just hurry! We don’t want to die before we can even begin!” “If we can complete the Golden Armor and I can use it, then we’ll have Makuta defeated.” Tahu said, “We’ll contribute greatly to his defeat.” “Let’s hope.” Takanuva said as the two plunged into the harsh sunlight of a desert planet. They looked up at the giant machine hovering over them, and the slightly smaller machine fighting it a little to the distance. Down farther they could see Rahkshi clashing with Toa-like beings, and even some Toa. “What now?” Takanuva asked. He turned around to look at the hole in the foot of the Makuta robot. He could see the new invasion force beginning to emerge. He thrust both of his weapons forward, slinging a web of his Light powers between the two tips. The web sprang forward, covering the hole as best as it could, slicing anything that touched it apart. It wouldn’t hold for long, but it could take some of the number down. Tahu looked to the smaller machine. He pointed to it with his spinning shield blade, “There.” He said, “I’m sure of it. We have to get there!” “The Ignika?” Takanuva asked. “More than that.” Tahu said, “I don’t know how to explain it…but there’s more up there than just the Ignika.” Takanuva nodded, “Yeah…I feel it too.” He looked as the light web began to fall. He felt terrible at having to leave the battle to those below, but they had more important duties to attend to. Rather than fight the invasion force, they had to try to help in the fight against the main invader and leave the others to do the actual war on the ground. Tahu began to run, and then, leapt up, allowing his jets to carry him towards the smaller machine. Takanuva followed, bending his body with the light spectrum, allowing himself to move at a much faster pace through some manipulation of his powers that he didn’t quite understand himself. The smaller robot was knocked back, but took a step forward and threw a punch, offsetting the Makuta robot. Takanuva glanced back, confused as to why the army left without having any trouble from being shaken moments earlier. Then he assumed it had to be artificial gravity or something like that. As the two approached the robot, they passed combat, but did nothing to help. The combat here was on a smaller scale, but still important in the end. But they had to keep pressing on rather than waste any time at all. Up ahead was a duo fighting together, both clad in green armor. One was utilizing a scythe, and the other a shield. They were slicing down Rahkshi ahead of them while turning around and hacking into nothing, but then, it revealed hidden enemies after the attacks completed their course, to the surprise of the two Toa. Tahu dropped down from his thrusters to the sand. Takanuva appeared normally beside him, rushing towards the feet of the robot. One of the green armored warriors broke off and rushed towards them, apparently concerned as to who they were and what their intentions were. He was the one with the shield. He cut them off, holding his shield in both hands, then split them into twin tonfa. He held the bladed weapons in front of himself, as if ready to fight to protect the giant machine behind him. “Who are you two?” The green warrior hissed. The two Toa noticed that his right eye was black, that he had an eyepatch made of armor over the eyehole, but still carried himself as if he had no disability. “Toa.” Tahu muttered, lifting his shield blade, “I don’t want to have to fight you, whoever you are, but we need to get to that robot!” “Why?” He hissed. Takanuva stepped forward, “Tahu, allow me.” He said, lifting his Staffs, “If you won’t move,” he said to the green warrior, “I’ll make you move.” “Try me.” He hissed. “Stop.” Tahu said, walking between them. He looked to his comrade, “Thanks for your offer, but no, we’ll handle this in a civilized manner.” He looked to the green warrior, “What’s your name?” He asked. At one point, Tahu would have done as Takanuva was about to. He had learned since then, and had grown up quite a bit. He knew to ask first, then act, if the situation allowed it. This one did. “My name is Gresh.” The green warrior said, “A Glatorian, and one of Mata Nui’s loyal followers.” He said. “Mata Nui?” Tahu questioned, looking at the machine, “Is that Mata Nui? Is that why you block our path?” Gresh nodded, “Exactly.” He said. “We’re two of his followers.” Tahu said, “I’m the leader of the team of Toa meant to protect him, awaken him when he was asleep for one thousand years.” Tahu said, “Please, we need to get to him. That is to say, does he have the Kanohi Ignika with him somewhere? We need to get to it for the sake of this war!” “The Ignika?” Gresh asked. He nodded, “Yeah, I think it’s inside of the machine. Why do you require it?” “I believe that it’s on this planet.” Tahu said, “That is, the things we need to win this war. It’s called the Golden Armor. If I can get to the Ignika, it can help me to be able to feel it out. Then I can find it and use it to strike a blow against Makuta.” Gresh listened to his story and paid close attention to him with his single eye. He nodded, “I’ll believe you.” He said. He looked to Takanuva, “You coming too?” He nodded, “I want to protect Tahu. If he’s the one to seek out the Armor, then I’ll need to help protect him.” Gresh looked over at his green armored partner with the scythe. He seemed to be managing, even moving at speeds that Tahu and Takanuva almost couldn’t comprehend, as if he were slithering around the battlefield. He was some sort of monster it seemed. “Vastus can handle himself without me.” Gresh said. He looked back to the two Toa, “Ok, let’s get to the Ignika.” He said, turning and running for the feet of the Mata Nui robot. “How will we get his attention?” Takanuva questioned. The two looked to Takanuva, “Light.” Tahu said. Takanuva nodded, “Understood.” He said as they raced forward. Within the depths of the smaller prototype robot, the Ignika awakened. It pulsated in its golden manner, feeling something approaching, something that it needed. Hours ago Tren Krom had sent it a message. The powerful being had been able to breach the vast distance to reach the Ignika itself, and had given it instructions. The Ignika listened, knowing that since it had its mind back, and having been subservient to Mata Nui, that Mata Nui would want this to happen as Tren Krom wished it. The Ignika felt the presence of a Toa approach. A Toa that Tren Krom had sent some of the energy of to the mask. This being was to receive some help from the Ignika, for the sake of the world of Bara Magna, and the Matoran inside of the other robot. There was sand in abundance around the Ignika. Mata Nui had dissolved his body at this very spot, inadvertently leaving the Ignika its means to accomplish the very act that could save all of their lives. The Ignika rose into the air, sending tendrils of power into the sand around it. The sand drew up around the Ignika, swirling into a storm of power, just as it had when Mata Nui had arrived on the planet around a year and a half earlier. Now and old body was being restored, but one new to being formed out of sand. The gray and gold body came to the ground, clutching a sword in hand, as well as a Midak Skyblaster, as it had been called in the past. A blaster that fired spheres of Light. The Ignika walked towards a small hatch in the side of the room and opened it, looking down at the ground far below. It leapt out, calling on the powers of itself, drawing a storm around itself as it fell, using its own body as materials to call forth the sand below, drawing it up. That sand then began to form around the Ignika, now Toa Ignika, creating a Skyboard out of it. The Ignika landed on its board and flew down at the group of three approaching visitors. One it recognized as Gresh, the warrior Mata Nui fought earlier, the one that had touched the Ignika itself and had nearly been cursed, until Mata Nui stepped in to stop the cursing process. It recognized the other two as allies. It recognized the red one as someone from Karda Nui, the last time the Ignika had its own body. It recognized the other, white and gray figure as another Toa from Karda Nui as well. The Ignika knew these faces. It would have been happy to see familiarity, had its mission not been so dire, had the situation not been so deadly. Flying down at the group, the Ignika began to glow with a golden aura. The red armored Toa pointed up at the Ignika, and flew up with his own jets. The Ignika nodded, and dropped his weapons. He pointed at the Toa, and unleashed a storm of power into him, slamming his body into the sands below. As he screamed, the Glatorian looked up at the Ignika, wanting to attack. The other Toa threw his weapons together and aimed them at the Toa Ignika, getting ready to attack. It was the voice of the red Toa that stopped an attack. They looked at what the Ignika was doing. By instilling the ability to search for the Golden Armor, as Tren Krom had requested, one other requirement had to be met. Tahu stopped panting when it was over in a few moments. His body was now clad in dark red, light red, and orange armor. He no longer wore his Adaptive Armor. He was now the man he had once been around three years ago, and long before then. He was a Toa Mata once more. A weaker Toa, carrying a sword made of his own Fire with an actual pommel attached. He was weak, but he was what he needed to be. The Ignika looked to the Makuta robot. The Makuta was looking at the new Toa, and aiming its fist accordingly. Power flew around the fist, and slammed through the air. The Toa Ignika outmaneuvered it with ease, flying the Skyboard back at the Mata Nui robot. It flew into the place it left from, and collapsed, breaking its own body down and returning its efforts to helping power the Mata Nui prototype robot for the fight. Tahu rose to his knees, gasping. He heard Takanuva talking, but couldn’t make it register. “What…happened?” Gresh questioned as he looked at Tahu. He looked to his hands, “I’m tingling.” “I know. I am too.” Takanuva said, looking at his own hands. “I’m…” Tahu said, swiping his hand over the sand, burning it into glass. He looked at himself in the reflection, gasping. “I’m normal again.” He breathed, “I’m a Mata again!” “You’re weaker now.” Takanuva said. Tahu rose, “I feel so nostalgic.” He said dryly, looking at the Toa of Light, “If only you were still a Matoran now…but enough.” He said, looking around, “I can feel the Golden Armor. Six pieces, on this planet. Not more than three miles in any given direction, I’d say.” “That close?” Takanuva asked. “Destiny, I’m sure of it.” Tahu said. He looked at them, “Now, what’s this about feeling tingly?” Gresh looked around, “Where are they? Point to the closest piece.” Tahu pointed north, “Around the base of those mountains.” He said, directing at the Black Spikes. “I feel it too…” Gresh said. Takanuva nodded, “Yeah, so do I.” Tahu looked at them, and then clasped them on the shoulders, “Then if all three of us were affected, that’s three of us for six pieces of armor. Let’s get moving and meet back here with the Golden Armor.” The other two nodded to him. The three turned and ran in different directions, running for the Golden Armor fragments.Review

Legacy 14: The Baterra Arrive—The Assassins Enter the Fray! Fracta span around, dodging the swing of a Skakdi’s axe. She didn’t know what the creature was, but knew that it was something evil, something that they would justify as evil, anyway. All she knew was it was swinging its axe at her, trying to kill her. That meant she had to kill it first. She drew her weapon into hand and span around, just dodging the blade as it whistled down. She rammed the rod into her foe’s gut, hearing him scream as his mind was assaulted through his body. She drew back and kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him onto his back in the sand. Before he could rise, his mind exploded in pain from Fracta’s mental assault. She crouched down, looking into his eyes. She rammed the flat of her rod weapon into his throat, throwing all the strength and pressure she could into it, while still assaulting his mind. She could have killed him faster, but this thing had managed to literally rip three Sisters in half before she had gotten to him. He deserved this sort of death. And she wanted to see just how resilient these things were. She looked around, trying to find another target. She saw something stealthy, something very odd in the way the sand appeared. She saw one of her Sisters, using her mental powers to bring down one of the brutes. She saw some stealthy slides in the sand, but then, it moved away from the Sister, moving around elsewhere. What was that? The way the sand parted looked almost like that of a giant snake, or something of the sort. It had avoided the Sister for some reason. Why? She saw a Skrall cutting one of the barbarians down. Then, she heard his cry as a blade erupted through his chest, killing him. “Baterra.” She breathed. She saw the stealthy movement going for Kijori, the gaudy looking Glatorian. He slashed his longsword, cutting the tendons of one of the barbarians legs, bringing him screaming to the ground. He span around, ready to plunge his sword back into the skull of his foe, but stopped when he heard the scream come early. Kijori turned around, watching a blade erupt through the man’s chest already. Kijori drew his sword up, waiting for his invisible foe to show himself. “Baterra.” He breathed, having fought them before, during the war against the Holy Spherus Magna Empire. They had sent reprogrammed Baterra into Bara Magna, but Kijori had been successful in defending himself and trashing the machines. These were normal Baterra, though. The machines programmed to murder any armed combatants, to obey only their overarching programming from long ago, from the Core War itself. These Baterra wouldn’t go down as easily. Fracta focused on the spot she knew it would be, and unleashed her powers. The air sizzled with power as she manifested her mental powers into a physical form. The spot where the Baterra was exploded with power and an impact, blowing the machine apart. Kijori looked to her, giving a quick nod. He ducked without even having to look. He span around, bifurcating another barbarian with his longsword, dropping his foe’s sword to the ground, still in his hand, despite being cut in half. “This isn’t good.” Fracta muttered, running. She was in armor, as were the other Sisters. At least they carried no weapons, making them safe from the Baterra. She looked at her twin mental rod weapons. She wondered if they would constitute as weapons to the Baterra. She could abandon them, but she would feel naked without these weapons that had served her ever since joining Bara Magna and leaving the Sisters of the Skrall behind, not of her own free will, of course. She caught up to another Sister. She helped, combining her mental powers with the Sister, blasting a Skakdi barbarian to the ground, melting his brain with their combined powers. “Linking really does wonders.” The Sister mused. Fracta quickly nodded, but spoke about what she needed to, “Can you or the other Sisters us my shattering technique?” She questioned desperately. “Not really…” “Do you think you’re a fast learner?” “Of course!” “Good.” Fracta said, pointing, “Baterra are here. You Sisters are safe.” She pointed to her rods, “I might not be. I don’t have much time, so listen carefully. I want you to focus on your foe, and destroy any Baterra you see as well. You’ll need to shatter them, being machines.” “How?” “Focus on your target, on the subject, and then, let your mind flow as usual. Instead, focus on the area around the target, like a circle around them. The air will sizzle with power as the nanomachines in our blood exert the pressure we need them to in order for our powers to work. Then, focus on the center of the circle, at the target, and the machines will manifest our powers into a slam of energy, if not the shattering technique.” The Sister nodded, “I understand.” “Good.” Fracta said, preventing her from saying any more, “I need you to tell any more Sisters that you find. I’ll also alert them. We all need to be on the watch for the Baterra.” She looked nervously at the combatants, “We can’t let them get to the soldiers.” “I know.” The Sister said, rushing off. Fracta raced off in the other direction. She saw a sand dune explode as it reformed into a Baterra, the insect-like machine assassin. Apparently her rods were considered weapons. Fracta span to face the machine. She blasted it with her mental powers, shattering its body into fragments. She turned quickly on her heel and raced towards a small group of Sisters who were linking their minds together, assaulting the minds of Skakdi. As she spread the word, so did any other Sister who was told. Soon the word was spreading as the Sisters spread out. Hopefully the entire faction would soon know and soon be able to watch out for the Baterra. If the main army fell to these invisible assassins, then all was lost on the ground. Ackar looked around. There was another wave rushing in, but other than that, they had wiped out the current attackers, which consisted of the serpentine machines. “Attack!” Ackar ordered, racing into battle, cutting the first one down. He span around, dodging a blast of chain lightning from another, and then ran it through the head. He felt his armor being smashed. He felt blood running down his arm. He glanced to his side, seeing a blade materialized out of thin air. He dodged back, knowing that his quick movement of impaling the creature’s head was all that saved him from taking that attack to the back of the chest. “Baterra!” He screamed. The Skrall and Glatorian in his presence all knew what that meant. They hadn’t gone over plans, but had a general idea of what to do. If they dropped their weapons, that would mean they wouldn’t be attacked. But then again, they figured that the Baterra knew who the combatants were, having already seen them with the weaponry, thus rending the plan useless. What they could do, however, was storm the enemy line and get behind it, allowing the Baterra to dig into the enemy ranks. That was what they did. They began to run into the serpentine invaders. Confused, they couldn’t attack fast enough. Some who tried were cut down, but mostly, the ones that didn’t attack were left alone. They turned around to take a look, and get ready for another attack, as their giant master’s feet were being rushed. Suddenly, they started to fall in droves. The Baterra were cutting into their ranks with ease. Some of the machines suddenly retaliated, attacking with their powers, destroying as many as they could, but it didn’t work too well. They were successful to an extent, but they fell before they could continue to destroy them. “Now, wall of blades!” Ackar shouted, putting the tip of his sword forward. The soldiers in his command did the same, pointing their swords forward, standing shoulder-to-shoulder. They charged forward, impaling the machines, invisible as they were, before they could change form. As some appeared, the Skrall and Glatorian hacked them to pieces. Ackar could see some newcomers approaching the battle. They were in multi-colored armor in some cases, and all of them looked like Glatorian. They carried different sorts of weapons, and differing helmets or masks on their faces. They unleashed storms of power into the area, destroying unseen machines with their widespread attacks. Ackar fell back and spoke quickly to one of them, one clad in mostly gray armor, “Thank you. Who…what are you?” “Toa.” He replied simply. “Toa? That’s what Mata Nui called himself! You’re his chosen champions!” Ackar exclaimed. “Mata Nui?” The Toa questioned, “You saw him? You knew him?” “Trained him.” Ackar corrected. The Toa smiled, “What’s your name?” He asked Ackar. “Ackar. I’m one of his generals, and his closest friend.” Ackar answered, “And you?” “Toa Krakua, Toa of Sonics.” Krakua answered. He swung his sword down, unleashing a barrage of sound into the approaching machines, “I don’t think these things will be alone much longer.” He said, “Those Rahkshi are starting to wear thin, and Makuta doesn’t have the resources to create such large droves anymore. I think he’ll start sending more variations of his minions soon.” “I need to coordinate a defense.” Ackar said, “What else will we see?” “Spiders, any sort of beast…” Krakua said, “You’ll know them.” He said. He looked back, “More Rahkshi!” He shouted, unleashing more attacks from his sword. Sound tore up the machines as they approached. Ackar ordered his men to stay back and wait, so as not to get caught in the crossfire from Krakua’s attacks. “I’ll handle the invisible machines.” He said, spinning around, destroying two with a quick burst of sound. He looked back, “Take care of the Rahkshi, will you?” He nodded, “Men, let’s go!” He shouted, racing at the Rahkshi ranks. Krakua continued to focus his attention on the invisible Baterra, finding them by using his powers to bend the sound, listening for the mechanical noises they would make as they would move through the desert. Ackar and his men tore into the Rahkshi ranks just as fiercely as Krakua destroyed the Baterra. More Toa joined in on both ends, fighting the Rahkshi and fighting the Baterra. Warriors of two worlds fighting for many more that lay beyond the boundaries of the horizon. Nektann looked around as he walked through a field of corpses. They were of his own men, of Rahkshi, of Skrall, of Toa-like beings. He didn’t know who or what had murdered so many so quickly, but wasn’t looking forward to finding out. He hated, like all Skakdi, the possibility of death without a fight. He had seen reinforcements come in through the path he took to get the planet, as well as others. He had seen some die on their way out, bringing forth that fear of death without fighting. He looked at the sword wounds in his men, as well as everyone else. Many had died from stabs to the back, probably never knowing their danger. He rose and looked back at his group. He motioned for them to stop as he went on ahead, looking at small trails in the sand. Some were footprints of various shapes, various species, by the look of it. Some weren’t, and were indentations, like that of a snake. Whatever it was, something was here. What it was, that was the question. He heard something moving. He rose and saw one of the men in this field was alive. It was one of his men. He raced over towards his dying brother. He helped him to roll onto his back so he could speak properly. He was surprised when he saw Nektann. “I thought I was dead for sure.” He breathed. “You are going to die.” Nektann said, “Your wound is mortal.” “I figured as much.” “What happened? What did this?” Nektann questioned. “I saw another fall.” The Skakdi said, “Something invisible must have done it. He was stabbed from behind. I saw the blade retract, but that was about it. When it hit him, it came out of nowhere. When it retracted, it went nowhere, like it vanished.” “Do you know anything else?” Nektann questioned. “No. It was a machine though, I think. It sounded like gears to me.” He said. Nektann nodded and dropped him into the sand to die. He rose and looked around. He closed his eyes to focus his senses on keeping himself alive. He heard gears. He span around, swinging his scythe down. The blade made contact with a sand dune, which exploded into mechanical parts, not sand. “Shapeshifters as well, eh?” Nektann hissed. He looked up at his battalion of Skakdi, “Watch yourselves!” He shouted. He motioned ahead, “Let’s move! There’s plenty for us to continue to do up ahead!” The Skakdi began to follow him through the field of death, towards the battles that continued to rage beyond. Gresh rolled. He and Vastus fought side-by-side with each other, taking care of droves of enemies at once, using their superior skills to cut them down before they even knew what hit them. Thanks to Certavus, they were faster and stronger than expected, able to cut almost any foe down before they realized what was happening. The machines they fought stood no chance against them. “Gresh, do you hear that?” The snake-like Vastus questioned. Gresh stopped. He closed his only eye, and then nodded, “Yeah. Machines.” He gestured forward, “But we’re fighting plenty of them. Could be one of them.” “No.” Vastus replied. He span around, sweeping his scythe out behind them. He heard it make contact, and then saw the head of a machine fly off, into the sand next to them, “That’s not these serpent things.” He said, “Besides, we’d have heard them by now. This is different.” Gresh looked at the body as it fell, “Could these be…Baterra?” He questioned. “Possibly.” Vastus replied. He leapt forward, clashing his scythe against a staff of a Rahkshi. He span around, and then drove his scythe up, digging the curve into the chin of a serpentine machine, driving through the head to destroy the thing. Gresh slashed the head off of another and then stood beside Vastus, looking around. He saw some of the number downed in the distance, indicating that they were dispatched by the Baterra, or someone foolish enough to be fighting that far ahead. “What now?” Gresh asked, “Do we warn anyone about the Baterra?” “No.” Vastus replied, “We continue to fight.” He said, spinning around, cutting another Baterra down. “Behind us.” Gresh said, listening closely, but hearing nothing, “That will certainly make this more interesting.” Vastus nodded, “Invaders ahead…” “Sins of our own planet behind.” Gresh said. The two Tesara Glatorian continued to cut back and forth, cutting down Rahkshi as they advanced, and cutting down Baterra as they tried to assassinate.Review

Legacy 13: Return of an Old Fiend—The Darkest Dawn! “You have come here, despite my power?” The Shadow Takanuva stood, staring into the darkness. He held his Staff of Light tightly in hand, not caring for the title of the weapon. All he knew was that it served him well, and would continue to serve him as his weapon, elemental affiliation disregarded. “I have come for your power.” Shadow Takanuva corrected. “That is very curious. You came to kill me, or something?” “I came to make an offer.” He corrected once more. “An offer? What sort of offer could you possibly make with me? I am Tren Krom! I need no deals!” “You’ll want this one.” Shadow Takanuva said. “Why would I?” “It can give you one thing that you seek.” “And what is it I seek?” “Freedom.” “Freedom?” Tren Krom laughed, “I don’t care about freedom! As long as I have visitors like you, that’s all that matters.” A crimson tentacle slithered towards his dark feet. The Toa ignored it. “Look, I want a deal!” “You don’t get your way.” Tren Krom said, “Not everyone gets their way.” “The Toa of Fire did.” Shadow Takanuva hissed. The tentacle came up and waved as if an arm in disregard, “That was different.” “How so?” “I don’t like Makuta.” Tren Krom said, “You work for him. You are only here because of a Makuta. By extension, I make no deals with you, even if you are only linked to this Makuta by being on his side in this war.” “War? This is policing.” “You really believe that? No. Policing is using authority to take care of small revolts and keep them in line. Authority that has the just reason for being in power. You have no such reason for being in power. Makuta doesn’t either. You are trying to put down a rebellion, a mob, if you will, that is in the right for wanting to rebel. You are the evil ones here, Shadow Toa.” “I’ll make you pay for saying that!” The Toa screamed, lifting his weapon. Darkness erupted into the darkness. Tren Krom only laughed. “How symbolic.” He said, his tentacle wrapping around his foe’s leg. The small hooks dug into his armor, into his organics, making him scream in agony. It was small, but it was excruciatingly painful. The Toa was lifted upside-down, his leg in the air above him. He cried out and tried to focus his power, but couldn’t. “It is very symbolic that you would use your powers of Shadows to attack me, even though I sit in the darkness, away from the light of the universe around me.” Tren Krom said. “Let me go!” The Toa demanded. “I don’t listen to you.” Tren Krom said, loosening his grip, “What if I dropped you? What if I dropped you on your head?” “I don’t know, what?” “You might die.” Tren Krom said. “I don’t believe that.” “Let’s test it out.” Tren Krom said, releasing him. He cried out when only the hooks held him in place. The tentacle relieved no weight at this point. “Oh, right.” Tren Krom said, “I can’t drop you.” He whipped his Toa captive around, landing him on his back on the ground and pulling the hooks out by angling his tentacle arm away. The Toa’s Kanohi lit up as he focused the powers of the Avohkii. He rose, obviously very mad at Tren Krom for toying with him, for not taking him seriously. He shouted, unleashing a blast of brilliant, burning light into the cave. As soon as the power of Light entered, it dispelled the shadows of the cave, allowing for Takanuva to see Tren Krom for what he was. He appeared like a giant, gelatinous skull with two deep set eyes, sitting vertically and slit. His maw was darkness itself as he laughed and grinned with malice. His tentacles withered everywhere, dripping slime onto his body and onto the floor around him as well. He was the sight of pure terror, and pure insanity. Takanuva almost screamed. “Now, let me tell you something.” Tren Krom told the unstable Toa as the darkness set back in around him, “Those who see me very rarely live. Mostly because their minds snap.” A tentacle found a stick and held it aloft, “Minds are so fragile, after all.” He said, snapping the stick as a show of symbolism, “A mind is like this stick, for instance. It snaps so easily, and can’t be fixed very easily either.” Takanuva shouted and lifted his weapon, unleashing a blast of Shadows from it. Right after that, he focused his Avohkii and unleashed a blast of Light into the cave. He continued the process of switching attacks constantly, hoping to wound Tren Krom and make him take a deal. Tren Krom’s laughter resonated inside of the cave, and around to Takanuva himself. The Shadow Toa took a step back in fear. “Tell me, what do you desire?” Tren Krom questioned, wrapping a tentacle around his foe’s throat, lifting him up. “I want power!” He cried out as he was being choked. “Power? You’ll get none.” Tren Krom said. “I want to serve Master more efficiently!” He cried out. Tren Krom laughed, “You definitely won’t be getting any now!” “I can make a deal! You can live without my Master killing you if you give me power!” Takanuva begged. “I already live without Makuta having power over me.” Tren Krom said, “This entire island is out of his reach. He can only send pawns like you against me. And of course, it doesn’t work too well, not at all.” “I have reinforcements outside.” Shadow Takanuva said, “I’ll call on them!” “Do so.” Tren Krom hissed, “I want multiple minds to probe. I want to know what’s happening currently.” His tentacle probed into Takanuva, but not physically. Rather, an ethereal tentacle seemed to plunge into Takanuva’s mind, his head, and he began to read his prisoners mind. Takanuva screamed in agony at having his mind probed. That, combined with having actually seen Tren Krom would push him over the edge. At this point, he was only a limp doll with life. Tren Krom set the body on the ground, and then began to think. He could feel others approaching. Based on multiple factors, he was certain it was another Shadow Toa, the same Shadow Toa. Another Shadow Takanuva. “I can use you.” He hissed, touching a tentacle to his mentally snapped prisoners forehead. Power flared around the touch. In moments he rose again, this time, his eyes burning crimson with slits of white, in contrast to Tren Krom’s eyes. He stepped outside, looking at the approaching Shadow Takanuva. This Shadow Takanuva had glowing red eyes. Tren Krom smiled, “Makuta, I presume.” “Only a fraction.” The response came, “I can still split my mind, even under attack. I need a small piece of my conscious here to check on you.” “I know the feeling.” Tren Krom admitted, “You have your main conscious in your new main body, while you have a small bit in this body.” He said, gesturing at the Shadow Takanuva, “This fraction of your mind is independent, however, and will only make contact with your main mind if the need is great enough. That’s right, isn’t it?” He nodded, “Yes, it is correct. Just like what you’re doing now, except most of your mind is in that body currently” He said, pointing at the Shadow Takanuva body. Tren Krom smiled, “Smart.” He simply said. “I had to be smart to make this plan work.” Makuta replied. Tren Krom lifted his Staff of Light, “I’ll make short work of you.” He said. “I’d like to see you try.” Makuta hissed. Makuta collapsed, clutching his head, screaming in agony. He fell to the ground, rolling around on his back. Tren Krom smiled at the prospect of making the tyrant scream. “I have my powers. All of them.” Tren Krom said, his eyes burning with power, “But you don’t. As the smaller mind, you have few powers to take with you. Your main body holds most of them. I am the opposite. This borrowed body holds most of my power, while my actual body holds few. Enough to stave off any attack and save me if I should die in this body, however.” He looked up and smiled, “And since I was in a ‘hole in the world’ for so long, my mind is also immune to you. You can’t kill me!” Tren Krom screamed, “You can’t use your universal control to kill me!” He looked at the body that Makuta was currently manipulating. He lowered his Staff of Light on the throat. “This is where you lose this body.” Makuta looked up, eyes burning with hate. He shot his left hand out and gripped the Staff of Light, plunging it into the ground to save himself. “I’m out of options.” Tren Krom mocked. A third eye opened on the forehead of the Avohkii. Despite that not being part of Takanuva’s physiology, Tren Krom forced it into existence with his sheer force of will. The third eye erupted with power, smashing into Makuta. The power evaporated his body, murdering the Shadow Takanuva, as well as the small piece of Makuta Teridax’s mind. Tren Krom smiled. He pulled his Staff of Light up and hooked it on his back as he walked towards the edge of the island. He had a new body. He could go anywhere, do anything. He was going to have some fun. A contingent of Exo-Toa and Rahkshi patrolled the perimeter of Artahka. Artahka was taken by force, a wave of creatures had swarmed over it. The first day of Makuta’s control had been to take care of Artahka. He had focused most of the attack there, forcing Artahka himself to go into hiding. He had sent Rahkshi, Visorak, Rahi and Exo-Toa straight there. They had swarmed over the island like a plague and had destroyed everything in their way. They had easily taken the island with its leader gone, and were staying put, should he return. A Shadow Takanuva entering their ranks wasn’t uncommon. Sometimes they would join and depart anywhere. It wasn’t in their orders to attack one. He lifted his hand, forced the powers of Light through him from his Avohkii, and incinerated rows of men, butchering up to one thousand in one powerful eruption of power. Now he had their attention. Now they were to attack him. He slashed his Staff of Light into a Rahkshi’s head, dropping it. He pulled it out and span around, cleaving the legs off of a Visorak. As a Kane-Ra charged him, he looked right into its eyes. His third eye opened and incinerated the beast. He span around, dodging the blow of a boxing Tarakava. He span around, throwing his fist forward. A bolt of Shadow smashed into the Rahi, ripping it in half. Tren Krom laughed and threw his arms to his sides. He was feeling alive for the first time in a long time. An Exo-Toa approached cautiously. Its eyes were always red, but now, they had a different shade to them. A different feel in general was within them. “Tren Krom.” Makuta hissed, “I give you one chance. Surredner and join me, or die!” “You can’t kill me and you know it.” Tren Krom through Takanuva said. He shrugged, “I gave your man what he wanted. Power. You have no say in killing me. Rather, you should probably punish this man who came to me.” “I sent him.” Makuta hissed, “I was hoping we could have a deal.” “Why didn’t you yourself come?” “You could have found a way into this body.” Makuta said, gesturing around to nature all around him, “I know you could have.” “I could have.” He admitted. “I knew you wouldn’t listen to me anyway.” Makuta said. “Also very true.” Tren Krom said. “Now, your chance. Join me!” Makuta said, “Together we can rule this universe!” “I only want to rule alone.” Tren Krom hissed. “I can find you a place to rule.” Makuta said, trying to get him to join. Tren Krom shook his head, “No deal.” The Exo-Toa exploded as he fired his third eye disintegration beam into the machine. Tren Krom looked around the damage, and threw an arm out behind him as he left. As Rahkshi and others approached him as he fled, they reached the spot where he had left a small object. It was almost invisible, unless you were looking for something. They never saw it. As they stepped in that spot, a massive radius exploded with energy. No actual damage was done, but the physical manifestation of Tren Krom’s power evaporated the enemy forces as soon as they reached that spot. Tren Krom grinned to himself as he walked to the end of the island. He sat in the boat he had found for himself, and started out. He had helped the rebels. Now it was time to do something else entirely. Something for his plans in the long run. Odina was quiet. The Dark Hunters and others who were using the catacombs and tunnels were managing to use guerilla tactics to destroy any invasions that came. It took time, but it was done every time, with few casualties each time. No men had come in ever since this began. They had plenty yet. If at least five more died, then more would be sent for. Until then, the twenty or so that they had were enough. “Did you hear something?” The fire manipulator Dark Hunter asked. The Order member with the kinetic manipulation shrugged. His beastly appearance made him look much more feral than he was, “No, nothing.” They both span around, feeling the aura imposing down upon them. Before either could act with fire or with a kinetic explosion, darkness was upon both of them, smothering them to death. Tren Krom stood in the shadows, his arms out. He was manipulating the shadows into physical elements, wrapping them around the heads of these two and killing them in that manner. As he walked around the tunnels, he was surprised by how few men were able to stave off entire invasions. He needed to put a stop to that. He needed to murder all of these men. He had just attacked Makuta’s forces. Now it was time to get at the rebel forces. His plan hinged on attacking both sides as much as he could. He wanted Makuta to fall, but he had his own plans. The rebels didn’t fall too cleanly into that category. He hated killing rebels, but he had to. He continued into the darkness, looking for more prey.Review

Legacy 12: The Barbarians Strike—Skakdi Attack! Nektann stalked towards the Toa stronghold once more. Now that Helsrok and Taboo were gone, he decided that it was time to check once more and learn about it all. He had only seen a small amount of what was there. Now was the time to learn it all. He peered into a spot in the ground. It was a well, it appeared. As he continued to look down, he saw what it actually was. It was a way out. He looked to the sky and threw his arms up, “Master Makuta! I don’t know where we are, what’s happening, but I am coming!” No answer. Makuta was busy, after all. “I will help you destroy anyone in your way! I’m sure those Toa escaped, so allow me to assist you in the deaths of anyone opposing you on the ground!” Nektann span around, looking back to his group of nearly fifty Skakdi. He motioned for them to come to him. He was sure other Skakdi under other leaders were finding other squads of Makuta’s minions and would find their own ways to fight, if they were loyal enough to live and die for the cause of Makuta. “We’re going out this way?” A Skakdi in white and blue armor questioned. Nektann nodded, “We are going to drop down into those mountains below.” Nektann hissed. “That’s at an angle.” The other Skakdi said, “We don’t know what’s below us.” “Very true.” Nektann admitted, “But we can figure it out.” Two Skakdi in green armor moved forward. They nodded to Nektann, and started to climb down the well, down into a dangling position out of the back of the robot body now controlled by Teridax. As more Skakdi began to climb down, the Air Skakdi released their grips. They unleashed their tandem powers, controlling the air around them, forming a hand out of air to hold everyone as they dropped. They overlooked a massive desert out below and around them. They saw the form that Makuta was using, and saw him fighting against another massive robot, but one of smaller stature, comparatively. As every Skakdi was out, Nektann growled an order to the two Skakdi holding them aloft. They used their powers to begin moving the hand down, heading towards the mountains below. As soon as they hit the ground, they ran. They saw a village up ahead, and rushed in at it, unsure of what it was. They were falling into their primal rage, acting like the barbarians they were. They were going to loot this village, and then see what would happen after that. As soon as they reached it, they saw a handful of what they assumed were Matoran, all of them in black armor. Some of them took up arms, some of them fled. As the Skakdi raced in, ready to murder them, something else came out of the buildings nearby, armed to the teeth with weaponry. They were black and red armored warriors. Some of them were smaller in stature, more like that of a Toa, carrying a sword, a saw blade shield, and two swords, one on each shoulder, as armor. Others were rounder, in thicker armor, carrying more muscle on their body. These were the ones armed to the teeth. They carried a club in one hand, and in the other, sometimes a dagger or a small curved axe. On their belts they carried daggers, short swords, axes, and anything else that would be a useful weapon. They all let out a primal sort of shout and rushed into battle. “Kill them all!” Nektann ordered, lifting his scythe as one of the normal statured warriors approached him. Nektann slashed his scythe out. The warrior dodged back and span around, backhanding Nektann in the side of the face with his shield. The blue armored Skakdi stumbled back and let out a roar. He rushed forward and span around, driving a mule kick back in at his foe. The black armored warrior slashed down, cutting Nektann across the leg. Nektann screamed in pain and withdrew his leg. He turned around and leapt forward, trying to rely on his good leg. He slashed down with his scythe, but the warrior dodged back. “I don’t know who or what you are, but you’re good.” Nektann hissed. “You speak our language?” The warrior questioned, lifting his sword, “I didn’t think you…aliens would understand.” He pointed his sword forward, “You made a bad decision to attack Roxtus! Even with only a few of us here, we’ll butcher the lot of you!” “I don’t know what you are, or who you are, but we will do what we please here!” Nektann roared, “We will lay waste to this place! And then, we’ll go and help our Master’s forces to destroy any opposition out there.” Nektann swept his arm out, towards the combat. He could make out the images of Rahkshi from the distance, and was able to see the fighting unfolding. “We won’t allow you to enter such a battle.” The warrior hissed, “We will cut you down here and now! For our Leader!” “You have orders?” Nektann mused, “You seem more like you’re fighting on your own, with how savage you lot look.” “Same to you.” He replied. Nektann grinned, “We only have a Master through conscription in fear of death.” Nektann hissed, “That is different.” He lunged forward, swiping his scythe out. His foe dodged back and span around, lunging forward as soon as his spin was complete. He snapped his arm forward, just catching Nektann’s armor with the tip of his sword. Nektann immediately returned the attack, swinging his scythe down. The black warrior dodged back, but took a slash across his chest. A red substance oozed out of the wound on the warrior’s chest. He let out a cry of rage and leapt forward, slamming his shield into Nektann’s face, dazing him. Nektann looked back, but only saw the fight as even. His men should have been dominating these savages, but they weren’t. They were being beaten back. Only some were relying on their powers, but were even being cut down after that. Nektann shouted and looked at his foe, who clearly was a normal soldier, based on how the battle was progressing, and based on the ability of the larger warriors. He was angered at having to fight a soldier. Fight and be bested by a lowly, ordinary soldier. Nektann’s eyes burned with power. The warrior didn’t look impressed, or even fazed by such an action occurring. He only grunted and leapt forward, sweeping low, at Nektann’s knees. Nektann hadn’t encountered such a strategy before. Every time he ever saw a fight with a Skakdi, the Skakdi didn’t go for such surgical attacks, but rather, they would go in for brutal, merciless attacks. This was a precise attack, despite how merciless it still was. The warrior slashed him across his knees. Nektann wanted to cry out in pain, but didn’t give the satisfaction as his eyes erupted with power. The energy, as it flew in at the black armored warrior, changed from energy into a solidified attack, appearing like iron balls flying through the air. The warrior had no idea what was happening. The balls smashed into him, leaving deep indentations in his armor wherever they hit him. Nektann could hear snaps inside of his body, as if he were being broken by such power. More of the red substance oozed out of this warrior’s body from most of the impacts. He cried out at some of the blows, such as to where Nektann guessed lungs or a heart was, considering he had the same organs in the same spots, or so Nektann assumed. The lungs and heart just seemed natural at those positions, since they were mostly the same. As soon as it struck where Nektann assumed the heart was, the warrior dropped dead. The impact would have pounded his heart and killed him. Nektann looked around. His legs were wounded, but he could walk. At least he survived. He looked down at the warrior he had just killed, “You are nothing.” He hissed, “You really thought that a lowly soldier like you could take on one of the leaders of the Skakdi? One of Master Makuta’s favored field commanders? You thou—“ Something heavy slammed into Nektann from behind, throwing him around in the air, smashing him into the ground on impact. He rolled over the deceased’s body and came to a slow stop. He sat up, looking at a thicker, rounded black warrior. One of the heavier fighters he had seen earlier, carrying the clubs and all sorts of other weapons. “What are you?” The Skakdi hissed. “We are the Skrall!” The warrior shouted, lifting his club. He leapt forward, slamming it into the ground where Nektann’s head was. Nektann pushed himself aside before impact. The ground cracked at the point where the club struck it. It would have been a sure kill if Nektann hadn’t moved at that moment. “You people really are strong.” Nektann hissed, lifting his scythe. He saw the bodies behind the warrior. He was sure they were killed by this one man. “You aren’t.” He mocked. Nektann screamed out, “We are the Skakdi! We are the strongest of our universe!” “Good for you.” He said, offhandedly, “We are the strongest here. Fastest, strongest, most powerful.” “We actually have powers.” Nektann hissed, his eyes burning with power, “I never saw any of you use any powers.” “Powers? Have none.” The warrior said, “We fight with our muscle alone.” He said, lifting his small axe, “Well, that and our wits, thanks to Mata Nui.” Mata Nui. Those two words cut through Nektann. “What did you just say?” He hissed. “Our Leader. Mata Nui.” The Skrall hissed, motioning to the smaller robot with his head, “He’s going to win us this war. He’s counting on us to use what he’s shown us to destroy any opposition!” Nektann burst into laughter, “So, he lives!” Nektann shouted, “Too bad! He’s going to die here! My Master, Makuta, will slay him. Mata Nui will not survive this.” He lifted his scythe, “And neither will you.” “I am one of the elite. I am Special Corp.!” The Skrall shouted, “I don’t care what you are, what sorts of powers you control, but as Special Corp., I won’t allow you to survive this fight!” “We’ll see.” Nektann hissed, running into battle, ignoring the pain shooting through his legs. He leapt forward, unleashing the assault of iron balls from his eyes. The iron smashed into the Skrall’s armor, but didn’t even faze him. “What? Why aren’t you dead?” Nektann screamed. “I expected something.” The Skrall replied, “And my armor protected me. I also was able to back it with my own force.” He said, “My turn!” He dropped his weapons, and in a flash had a dagger from his belt in each hand. He threw both arms up, letting them fly. Nektann dodged his head to one side, avoiding the dagger. He saw that this warrior only threw one of the two, in an attempt to confuse him. “I’m a faster thinker than you think.” Nektann hissed, “I know that trick.” “Do you?” The Skrall questioned, drawing a second dagger to go with the one in his left hand, “Well, I’ll need something else, then.” “Like what?” Nektann questioned. He threw both this time, and then raced forward, hand on his short sword. He drew it and span around, plunging it under the crook in his arm, attempting to confuse Nektann with his movements as he went in for the kill. Nektann dodged the knives with ease, but didn’t understand his movements with his blade. He was able to dodge, but the blade still cut into his arm. Nektann only tightened his grip on his scythe as a result of the wound and the pain. Nektann slid back and motioned for one of his surviving men to rush to his rescue. The black armored Skakdi slid to a stop beside him and nodded to Nektann, closing his eyes. The ground began to shake as the Skrall span around, lifting his crescent axe off of his belt with his left hand. Before he could make another move, the ground erupted upwards into some sort of mud monster, slamming its hand down into him. He passed right through the hand, but not without problem. It had dazed him from the sheer force, which he assumed Nektann guessed would be fatal. Other than that, the mud clung to his body, slowing him down, and keeping him stuck still. “You won’t win this!” The Skrall shouted, flexing his muscles, attempting to rip himself free. “I wouldn’t do that.” Nektann said, putting the crook of his scythe at the Skrall’s neck, “Now, tell me everything about you people and what defenses you have, and you live.” “I wouldn’t take life over betraying my people.” The Skrall hissed. “Noble.” Nektann said. He removed his scythe and put it to his foe’s shoulder, “What if I remove an arm first? Then will you talk?” “Never.” He hissed. “We’ll see.” Nektann said, lifting it high overhead. He slammed it down with all the force he could, making contact with the armor. His blade stopped. His arm shook. “What?” He hissed. His scythe couldn’t cut the armor through. The Skrall saw his chance. He threw his head back, and snapped it forward, smashing it into Nektann’s head. The brute’s grin was gone upon impact as he hit the ground, hard, his head smashed so hard that a crack appeared in his blue armor. The black armored Skakdi leapt forward, drawing an axe back. He slammed it down with a cry, imbedding it in his foe’s helmet. “Not strong enough.” The Skrall hissed, “Not enough for when I throw myself up to meet the attack. I have little room, but I can exert enough force to negate a lot of yours!” He mocked. “Try that trick again. I dare you.” The black armored Skakdi hissed. “I don’t have to.” The Skrall hissed, smashing his way through the mud with his arms. He reached out, grabbing the Skakdi with his left hand alone, lifting him off the ground by the throat. The Skakdi struggled, kicking around. He gasped for breath, but couldn’t get any. As the Skrall continued to apply more pressure, he dropped the dead weight upon the sound of a snap. “There.” The Skrall growled. He looked to the downed Nektann, and drew another dagger from his belt, “I’m glad we armed ourselves so well before all this happened.” He muttered, flipping it point down as he crouched by Nektann, going in for the throat. Before he could do anything, Nektann looked at him. His eyes blazed with power. The Skrall cursed, but drove the dagger in just the same. Before it could make contact, iron balls smashed into the Skrall’s face, dropping him onto his back, his actual face caved in beneath the shattered remains of the faceplate of his helmet. Nektann rose and surveyed the damage. His body was badly battered, the battle was still unfolding by his Master, and all of his men appeared to be dead, with only a few of the enemy Skrall dead. Nektann cursed and sat down, catching his breath. He only wondered what he could do at this point. How could he heal himself? How could he continue on to do his Master’s will? A small warrior snuck up behind Nektann, dagger in hand. He heard the warrior, or Matoran, or whatever, but made no action to stop it. As the blade was raised, Nektann slammed himself to his feet and span around, reliving the warrior of his arm. The small man cried out and collapsed, holding the stump. “I want you to tell me everything.” Nektann hissed, holding the scythe to his other arm, “Or else.”When darkness seeks out a greater darkness, nothing good can come of it. Next time, Legacy 13: Return of an Old Fiend—The Darkest Dawn!Review

Legacy 11: A Golden Hope—Journey to the West! Tahu looked around cautiously. He had received word from the others of his team, but he couldn’t reply. It was by pure chance that the message had reached him. He had lost his entire unit, he was alone. He was laying as low as possible. Yet the message found him. Was it Makuta, showing him that he always knew where the leader of the rebellion was hiding? Or, was it destiny? Destiny to bring unity to the Nuva once more? No matter what it was, Tahu couldn’t do anything with it. He had a much bigger problem to deal with. He had information to obtain. He had to sacrifice his men, unfortunately. They had all fought three dark versions of Takanuva, leading massive armies of Rahkshi, into battle. Tahu had led his men, and had been able to kill one of the evil Takanuva with a blast of his power of Fire, melting him to his armor, and then, burning him to death from the sensation. However, that was all the luck he had gotten. The Toa were not of Light, but of Shadows. Using those devastating powers, they cut down Tahu’s men pretty quickly. Only a few were able to do any real damage, but that had been enough. The lost numbers weren’t easy to make up for the Takanuva that remained, and soon, one fell thanks to the efforts of one of Tahu’s men in his last move. Tahu had lost every man that day. One Shadow Takanuva remained. It was a game, now. The leaders of the two units remained. Tahu believed that his foe could have gone off to find more men, but he wasn’t sure. For all he knew, he was being hunted like a wild animal. He might have to fight again, one-on-one this time. He would be fine with that. He wouldn’t have men to worry about the lives of. He wouldn’t have to worry about watching multiple foes at once. A clean, one-on-one fight would be fine. Tahu was still using the same armor he had been using during the mission in Karda Nui. His swamp themed armor still served him well. He especially loved his Nynrah Ghost Launcher, capable of manipulating the energy it fired into any shape or form. That, along with his spinning shield/shuriken allowed him to deflect and attack at the same time, using either weapon for either purpose. Tahu stopped his thrusters, ducking around. He was on a fairly small island to the west of the Matoran Universe. This was his goal. This was where his quest for knowledge was leading him. Was it safe, or even sane for him to go there? To be here? He was sure there was an argument for it being insane, but he wouldn’t listen. Information had to be gained, and he only knew of this location to gain what he needed to know. Ever since he had felt Teridax standing and apparently, fighting something large, since it felt like he took blows occasionally, Tahu knew there had to be a way to stop him, or at least, a better way to help stop him. Someone was risking their life on the outside to try to hold him back. It was all the rebels inside of his body could do to slow him down at the very least. Hopefully, with the outside and interior efforts, they would at last win this ongoing, never ending fight that was occurring all around them, enveloping everyone, making no one neutral in this conflict. You either lived for Makuta, or you lived against Makuta. Tahu had seen some Toa surrender their lives, forgoing the thought of Mata Nui. They gave themselves over, and had Shadow Leeches used on them, making them into Toa of Shadows. Tahu had already killed two such Toa on his trip, and he feared how many more could be waiting for him. Teridax had a great plan. Send a Toa against a Toa. And, Tahu knew first hand that Teridax could possess anyone’s body he so chose, as long as they were willing to some degree, or had a weak enough mentality. He was able to be those Toa as they hunted the rebels. He was able to kill his foes with his own, borrowed, two hands, rather than kill them out of nowhere. That was a fatal flaw in Makuta’s plan. His desire to kill as such was going to bring him down. He wasn’t going to be able to resist going after some of the larger pawns, such as Tahu himself, with anything less than a borrowed body. Tahu could use that. He believed that by killing the body fast enough, the shock, even if Teridax returned to claim the universal body, would still kill Teridax. The shock would be all that would be needed. After all, dying would be the same, even if it wasn’t your body. As long as he didn’t pull his mind out fast enough, they would have him, and they would win. But then, that would raise the question of the universe dying within three days. What would they do at that point? That was one thing Tahu was on a quest to find out about. He hoped that the knowledge could also tell him about what they would have to do in such a situation. He ducked behind a boulder as a Rahkshi passed by. He noticed that there were few to no Rahkshi around. And they were only around the edges of the island. That was curious, but he assumed it was smart. Makuta apparently even feared this place, and he had good reason to do so. As the Rahkshi passed Tahu, the Toa Nuva of Fire shot to his feet, swinging his spinning, tri bladed shield weapon forward, relieving the Rahkshi of its head in one swing of the weapon. He rushed past, running in farther towards the heart of the island. One Rahkshi saw him, and attempted to give chase. It was a Rahkshi of Limited Invulnerability, Tahu knew, so it couldn’t do anything other than swing its staff itself. It could only fight like that, so it would have to get close. It couldn’t. It was too fearful to follow him in. Tahu span around, lifting his blaster weapon. He fired it, sending a burst of energy rippling forward. He focused on it, changing it into a fist of energy. It crashed into the Rahkshi, crushing its chest in, destroying it. As it dropped, Tahu continued to run inwards, until he reached a dark cave. He looked back, but could only see Rahkshi watching him. They wouldn’t follow, but knew he had to leave eventually. If he died inside, that was fine by them. If he came out, he was to die by their hand. Tahu took a deep breath, held his spinner up, and set a flame above it, getting ready to use it as a torch. He took his first step inside, and then, another, and another. He was afraid. As the leader of the rebellion, the leader of the Toa Nuva, the one the entire universe almost hinged upon, this was the first time he was truly frightened ever since the rebellion began. He looked around the dank, dark walls as he walked. He stopped, seeing something slithering in the darkness up ahead. He didn’t dare cast his light upon it, lest he look directly at it. That would be very bad. “Who are you?” The voice, like a slither and a crack of dried bone, questioned him. He could hear something slithering around, more tentacles, he supposed. As it got close, he could see the slimy red of it, and all the little hooked blades coming off of it, all of it looking like once it was in something, it would be torn apart. If that caught someone’s leg, their leg would be gone, for instance. Though the hooks were small, Tahu had no doubt they were very sharp and very strong. “I said…who are you?” It hissed, adding a slightly higher inflection to its question this time, making it sound more alien. “I am Toa Tahu Nuva!” He exclaimed into the darkness. Silence. “Toa Nuva.” It said back, lowering its voice. “Father of the rebellion, some call me.” Tahu said, trying to clear things up a bit. “Why have you come here?” The figure demanded. “I need knowledge. I know you have it. And…we need your help, oh great Tren Krom.” “What help could you possibly obtain from me? I’m stuck to this infernal rock!” Tren Krom shouted, “I can be of no help.” “The universe had you ruling it before Mata Nui came to being.” Tahu said, “I have something I must ask. If we were to shake Makuta’s control, or kill him…would you be able to maintain the universe?” “I was in Karda Nui at the time I did it.” Tren Krom said, “I don’t know if I can do it here, in the shoulder of the machine.” “You know we’re in a robot?” Tahu questioned. “I can feel just the same as you, and I have more knowledge.” Tren Krom said. Tahu nodded, “Right, right…but do you think you can control here? Can you even test your power to check?” “My power is mostly in check, because a Great Spirit is alive.” Tren Krom said, “I was designed by the Great Beings to have full power only if there was no Great Spirit.” “So you’re limited right now.” Tahu said. “Exactly.” Tren Krom hissed in reply. “Well, we’ll hope you can take control if we kill Makuta’s mind in another body.” Tahu said, “Are you willing to support the universe if we do so?” “Of course.” Tren Krom said, “I could rule again!” Tahu didn’t correct him. He had a belief that Mata Nui would return, but didn’t voice that belief. And as long as Tren Krom didn’t invade his mind, he would be fine thinking such thoughts. He hoped discussion would keep Tren Krom from prying with his powers. At least there had to be physical contact, Tahu had heard, for him to do as such. “What other knowledge do you desire?” Tren Krom questioned. “How to defeat Makuta.” Tahu said. “Of course.” Tren Krom said. “You’ll tell me?” Tahu asked, dumbfounded that it was this easy. “Of course you would come to me with that question.” Tren Krom corrected, “I don’t know how to stop him.” “Oh…” Tahu said, but he didn’t give up, “Is there any way to weaken him? Slow him down? Anything?” “You were once a Toa Mata, correct?” Tren Krom asked. “I was. I was the leader. I am the Nuva leader, now.” Tahu said. “Excellent.” Tren Krom hissed. “What is it?” Tahu asked. “There is something you could do.” Tren Krom said, “But it is very risky.” “I’ll do anything!” Tahu exclaimed, “If it can defeat Makuta, anything!” “You must leave this world.” Tren Krom said, “I know what planet we’re on. I can feel it.” “What is this place?” Tahu asked. “I don’t know the name anymore. It was once a part of the planet we were on, the ocean planet. It was once called Spherus Magna.” Tren Krom told Tahu, “Individual name? I do not know.” “It’s not important.” Tahu said, “Now, what must I do?” “Venture out into the planet itself. Mata Nui is there with the Ignika, I can feel.” Tren Krom told him, “They will help you at first, with what must be done, then, you must continue on your own. The thing you must do is this. You must find the six pieces of the Golden Armor, and you must wield them as your own power if you wish to do damage to the Makuta.” “Golden Armor?” “I can make the presence known.” Tren Krom said, “I can make you detect the power.” He looked out, allowing Tahu to see his slitted, milky white eyes, “I can make them appear as well, at least, make sure they all appear in the area. I can link with the Ignika to do so.” He hissed. “You would bring them close?” Tahu asked with excitement. “Of course. I want Makuta gone.” Tren Krom said. “That reminds me…how aren’t you dead yet?” Tahu questioned, “I thought he’d have killed you first.” “This entire island is a hole in the world to him.” Tren Krom said, not bothering to explain what that meant, “A psychic was here once, two years ago, when this began. They knew I was one of their best hopes, so I was protected. Also, if Makuta tries to use minions against me instead of himself, he can’t. He knows nothing can reach me without dying.” Tahu nodded in understanding, “Tren Krom…if you want me to damage Makuta to help with his defeat, I need to get out of here.” “The exit is right behind you.” Tren Krom said, matter-of-factly, ignoring the obvious plea in Tahu’s voice for help. “I know that!” Tahu’s voice boomed, “There are too many men outside! Can you help me?” “I can.” Tren Krom hissed, “I don’t know if you’ll like it, but I can.” “How?” Tahu asked. “First, let me give some advice.” Tren Krom said, “You’ll want to head south. Get on your boat, or however you got here, and head all the way south to a door to this planet. You must go south if you want to get out for sure, without falling to your death.” “Understood. I can find it.” Tahu said. “Men are leaving, you can follow them.” Tren Krom confirmed, “Now, I will get you out of here.” “How will you do that?” Tahu asked. “Hold still.” Tren Krom hissed. He looked in fright as a tentacle approached him. He knew how dangerous Tren Krom was, and feared for his life, and his sanity. Even if Tren Krom wanted him alive, he could still go insane from even a touch of the creature’s power. “Teridax isn’t the only one who can link minds to control bodies.” Tren Krom hissed, wrapping the tentacle around Tahu’s leg, pouring his mind into the Toa of Fire’s body. The tentacle released the leg. Tahu, controlled by Tren Krom, walked outside. As Rahkshi saw him, they attacked with whatever powers they had. A shield erupted around the Toa’s body, allowing him to press forward without stopping. He cut down everyone with a single swing of his weapon, no hesitation, no stopping. He had it all planned from the start on who died when. When the Rahkshi around him were lying as scraps, Tahu could control his body again. His mind was once more his. “There, problem solved.” Tren Krom hissed. Despite being in the cave, and not raising his voice, Tahu could hear it as if Tren Krom were still in front of him. “Thank you.” Tahu said softly, walking towards the edge of the island. He had to get to his boat, and he had to move out, fast. He looked back, nodding once more to the cave. He leapt into his boat and started to activate the Kanoka powering and moving the boat. Once it stated to move, he began to look around, keeping a cautious eye everywhere. If Teridax knew he was in a ‘hole in the world’, and guessed it was Tren Krom from where he popped back up at, then it would be very dangerous for him from this point on. Teridax would want him dead. The world shook. Tahu guessed Teridax had other problems, like whoever he was fighting against. Tahu hoped that it was Mata Nui, somehow, and that Teridax would soon fall. No matter what, no matter who defeated Teridax, he had to fall. Now, Tahu had to find this Golden Armor. It could be the only key to defeating him, and saving everyone. He had to hurry.The Skakdi warlord Nektann arrives in Bara Magna, finally entering the fray against beings very similar to his people: the Skrall! Next time, Legacy 12 The Barbarians Strike—Skakdi Attack!Review

Better than the whole of Series 1, not as good as last week.I continue to love the throwbacks (Devil's Foot, Black Peter, probably others).

Chapter 20: Defeat Bandiaca! As the forces of Bandiaca raged unchecked through the streets of Cyril Nui, the Toa Cyril were getting to work. They gathered their weaponry, mounted on their Anverius X3 vehicles – with Cesare riding with Eri – and headed off into the battle. Hoji looked to the sky, watching as Bandiaca and ‘Forte’ set their cloud down, standing atop a rooftop. Bandiaca vanished, leaving ‘Forte’ there, where he started to lead men into battle. Hoji headed that way, deciding his fight was to be with ‘Forte’, for their past duels. This time he would make sure it would end his way. Agri drove through the streets, using his Blade Blaster to fire on as many machines as he could, sliding his vehicle to a stop when he encountered a block of Batsuroids in his way. He dismounted and extended his sword. “I’m ready.” “I sure hope you are.” Dai replied, walking out from behind the Batsuroids. He lifted his black sword up, facing the thin blade at Agri. “Your ‘Onyx Kardas’ will fall today.” Agri said, lifting his sword up into both hands, facing the tip at the tip of his foe’s sword. “Have at me.” Dai prodded. Eri and Cesare stopped firing when they reached a familiar looking swordsman. Mirai stood in their path, alone, without soldiers to back him. Cesare leapt off of the back of the vehicle. Eri disconnected her armor from the vehicle and stepped off, drawing her sword, just like Cesare. “You two…” Mirai said. He looked at Cesare, “This will be good. I’ll eliminate you this time, traitor.” “I’m no traitor. I’m just smart enough to abandon her when my morals come into conflict with her goals.” Cesare said. “I haven’t the morals that you do.” Mirai said, “I won’t abandon Bandiaca.” “What if she threatens to rob you of your mind?” Cesare shot at Mirai. Mirai shook his head, “I’ll kill her myself at that point.” He drew his left arm up and put his hand to the hilt. He drew it with a wide slash of his right arm, sending out a ringing of steel on steel as he drew, “Have at me!” Magis and Rei had since met up and dismounted. Various commanders and machines stood in their way. They looked to each other and nodded. Magis threw his hand out. Rei threw hers out a moment after he generated his Air powers, bringing a cyclone and throwing it forward. Lightning interlaced with it, sending the powerful electrified, spinning torrent of wind forward, crushing most of the resistance right there; using the electricity to hit at the machines. Three commanders with swords rushed forward. Magis ran forward, flipping over their heads and span around, slashing two across their backs. As the third turned to face him, Rei threw a dagger into his back, dropping the uninjured warrior, killing him. She ran forward, rolled under one’s attack while Magis killed the other by slitting his throat, and then she reclaimed her dagger from the corpse. She span around, slashing him across his neck, dropping him quickly. More machines were starting to come into the area. Rei put a dagger into the spots between each finger on both hands, and then looked to Magis, “Deal with the disabled ones; I’ll handle these.” “Destroy them.” Magis told her. “I will.” She replied, throwing her hands out. Lightning danced between the tips of her daggers and lashed out, blowing the squad away. Magis watched for a moment, and then went to his work of destroying the crippled machines. Hoji looked around the building where Bandiaca and ‘Forte’ had landed. He cursed and went out on foot, searching for ‘Forte’ and his squad, but couldn’t find them. He stopped and pressed himself against a wall. He glanced out, thankful to not see corpses as he had seen in some parts of the city. The Matoran were getting smarter and hiding, it seemed. Hoji spied some machines moving ahead. This was the back of the group, no doubt. Hoji walked out and crept forward, extending his sword. He slashed two of them quickly, cutting their heads off. When they dropped, three of them turned towards him. Hoji was swift, bringing up a blast of Fire, burning them through, dropping them as slag. The soldiers all turned to face him, but then slid away, revealing ‘Forte’ approaching the Toa of Fire. The cyborg warrior lifted his sword up, “I finally get to face you again.” He said. Hoji lifted his sword, “This time you won’t break my blade.” “We’ll see.” ‘Forte’ retorted, closing the distance. The tips of their outstretched swords now touched each other. They both waited to see who would make the first move of this duel. Hoji slapped ‘Forte’’s sword down, drew his back, and plunged with a shout. ‘Forte’ dodged back with his jets and flipped around in the air, spinning to get above Hoji, and then cutting his thrusters, dropping him. He shouted and slashed down with what would be enough force for a kill. Hoji shot his arm up, parrying with his blade, thankful it held. He pushed back and flipped his blade back up and the hilt down, making his firearm again. He opened fire, but ‘Forte’’s swordsmanship was good; he blocked everything as he raced in closer. Hoji rolled under his slash and span around, firing at his back. ‘Forte’ span around, parrying with his blade. He slashed it down and ran forward, taking the next shots to his chest, but nothing happened. His armor sparked a bit, but that was it. ‘Forte’ swung his sword in with a wide slash, slashing Hoji across the chest. The Toa of Fire cried out and was thrown into an Anaroid, taking it down. Sparks flew from Hoji’s armor even after the blow connected. His armor had a large black wound across it. Hoji pushed himself up to his feet. He swayed, but drew his sword up and ran forward with a shout. Agri span away from Dai’s slash. He drew his sword in and plunged it forward, but Dai dodged back. Dai slashed down, but Agri dodged to the side, span around, and slashed at Dai’s exposed side. Dai blocked the flat of the sword with the palm of his hand, pushing the blade back with minimal force. He drew his black sword back and plunged it forward, catching Agri in the chest with the tip, leaving a small mark, sending a few sparks out. Agri ran forward and rolled, coming up and pushing himself up with his left hand, throwing a kick out at Dai. Dai blocked with the palm of his hand. Agri finished his rotation to bring his sword up and slashed, catching Dai across the chest, knocking him back; sending sparks flying on impact and leaving a darkened trail. “That was an inventive move.” Dai said. Agri put the tip of his sword forward, “It may not be pure swordsmanship, but I will still use it. I will defeat you today!” “I wouldn’t count on that.” Dai said, holding his sword out in one hand, turning his body into what appeared to be a fencing stance, “You see, there is a day for the student to overcome and surpass the master. Today is not that day for you, Agri.” “When will that day come?” Agri questioned. “Never.” Dai said, “Because, in a battle such as this between student and teacher, it is a life and death struggle.” “You’re going to kill me?” “If you can’t defend yourself, then yes, you will die by my blade; by my hand.” Dai said, answering the question without having to say it. He couldn’t say it. He didn’t want to kill Agri, but if Agri couldn’t defend himself, then he would die by Dai’s hand. Cesare and Eri rolled away from the flaming sword that Mirai was using. He span around, using his arm mounted shield to block Eri’s slash, kicked her and span around, slashing Cesare’s sword into the ground with his own blade. The heat radiated up the Rouze Blade, into Cesare’s hands. Cesare ignored it and twisted his sword to the side, throwing as much momentum as he could into it, and drew it up to the side, freeing it. He slashed it with a high slash, coming down at Mirai’s head. “You’re open.” Mirai said, plunging for the kill blow. The sword came down much faster than it should have, slashing Mirai across the head and chest. He stumbled away, shaking his head, “What was that?” He shouted. Eri crouched behind him, her hand was out. Mirai reached up, touching the wound, feeling that it was wet. He span around to face Eri. “I put some water around the blade. When I used my Water powers, I threw all of my force into it, allowing it to come down faster.” He saw her lower hand, “A trail of water. He pushed, I pulled. Together, the blade came down with twice the speed.” “Creative.” Mirai said begrudgingly. Cesare opened his guard, drawing three Rouze Cards. Mirai kicked Eri when she wasn’t expecting it, span around, and lifted his shield just in time. “Fire” “Blast” “Slash” A compressed blast of Fire shot at Mirai. His shield absorbed the combination attack which became a shot of compressed energy. He threw his arm to the side and raced forward, slashing the Rouze Blade down and punching Cesare in the face, taking him down. “You are good, Cesare, so stop holding back!” Mirai ordered, holding his sword at the downed Toa of Ice, “I know about Recla Nui. I heard your story of how you defeated that Skakdi. I want to see your skill!” “So be it.” He said simply. He kicked Mirai and rolled aside, abandoning his sword by plunging it into the ground. As Mirai rushed him, he leapt back, kicked off of his sword, and used his awkward jump to confuse Mirai, while raising an Ice column to stand on and lift him higher. Mirai slashed the column in half with one slash and turned, watching a wall of Ice appear behind him. He span around, cleaving it in half, only to find another. Cesare dropped behind his column and held his hand out. Ice spikes formed in the wall, shooting out for Mirai. The swordsman rolled aside, letting them carry forward at Cesare. Cesare threw both arms out, reforming the spikes into a single wall. He span around, throwing his hand out, sending the wall sliding across the ground for Mirai. As Mirai cleaved it in half, and the halves crashed into two buildings, Cesare reclaimed his blade. He opened it and slashed three cards. “Lightning” “Kick” “Mach” He raced forward, his foot generating massive amounts of power. He span around, giving a quick spin kick, taking Mirai down with a shout of extreme pain. Mirai smashed into a wall from all of the force, and then remained down. “He’s worthy of life.” Eri said. “We need to kill him.” Cesare said, “You Toa kill your enemies here; I know that.” “Right now, he’s down. We have more important things to do, even if it would only take a moment to kill him.” Eri said. “Fine.” Cesare said, rushing off with her. Agri and Dai were both on the ground after a blast of Bandiaca’s amazing powers. She floated in the air, watching them. She didn’t want to kill either; she needed Dai as a warrior, and she desired to change the Toa Cyril into her slaves. But this couldn’t be helped. “Dai, get up!” Bandiaca screamed down, “Get up and keep him down for me!” Dai glared up at Bandiaca, but held his tongue. He moved in on Agri, only to be repelled by two Blade Blasters firing on him. He saw Magis and Rei closing in on him. Then they could all hear something approaching; more Anverius X3 vehicles. Cesare, Eri, and Hoji had arrived. ‘Forte’ was pursuing, wounded, just like Hoji was. They had ended their battle with similar wounds on each other’s chests. ‘Forte’ leapt atop a building, looking down at them. They were near the shore; the beating of waves could be heard nearby. Bandiaca cursed and lowered herself, deciding to enter the battle herself. Dai got up and ran off to search for survivors and rally the soldiers together. “Everyone, let’s end this.” Hoji said, throwing his arm up, “Dragon Missile!” The weapon flew down into Hoji’s grip. The others drew their weapons up and together, combining their weapons into the Cyril Buster. “Mistress, I will end this.” ‘Forte’ said, rushing down from his rooftop, leaping at the Toa, despite their weapon, charging, trained on his chest. He lifted his blade and shouted, attempting to cleave the weapon in half with his sword. “Fire!” They all shouted, unleashing their combined, intertwining attack. The elemental blast smashed into ‘Forte’, sending him flying a block away, into the ocean. “What?” Bandiaca hissed, throwing her arm out. Power charged around the crystal, getting ready to be unleashed. The Toa span around, lifting the Buster up at her and firing, just as she fired her magical energy attack. The two attacks collided, negating each other. Both fired again in extreme haste, negating each other again. The Toa fired a third time, this time getting faster than Bandiaca, striking her with the attack. She cried out and flew back, flying back into the sky, using her powers to levitate herself. She floated back, brushing her hand over the massive wound on her chest. She doubled over in the air, looking down at them. She was about to speak in triumph, that she could still fight, that she would still conquer the island, and then she doubled over again. “What…what…what is this?” She demanded. She cried out and threw her head back in pain. She gathered dark clouds around herself, and then dark clouds over the island itself. Energy columns shot down, absorbing all of her forces. She was defeated, she knew that. She needed to regroup and plan a new attack. That was her only option. As much as she didn’t want to, she had to pull her forces out. The dark clouds were vanishing, leaving the island and returning to her base. The six Toa stood together, having actually proven that they could defeat Bandiaca. They had leveled her forces. They had defeated her commanders. They had even defeated Bandiaca herself. “Next time, we will take her life.” Hoji said, “Then, and only then, can we be free of the threat that she poses us all.” “Next time, indeed.” Cesare agreed. They all turned around, looking at the island. There was smoke visible, rising up. Fires. There was damage abound, but they had survived, and many Matoran had also survived; few had lost their lives, the Toa figured. The rebuilding process wouldn’t take too long, and then the island would have some normalcy to it again. Then, the next time Bandiaca attacked, the Toa Cyril would repel her forces and take the fight to her. She would never expect that, and then they would end it all. “Let’s go back.” Hoji said, leading the others away, heading towards their vehicles and to the temple. ‘Forte’’s body drifted in the ocean, damaged, unconscious. The body disappeared beneath the waves, with bubbles rising around his body as it was sucked down into the depths.Review

Legacy 10: Cruor’s Final Strike—The Bone Hunters Arrive! As the two massive robots fought overhead, Glatorian and Skrall swarmed around the feet as they saw something emerging. Lizard-like robotic creatures began to emerge from the larger robot, coming out of ports on the feet, as well as ports anywhere else close to the ground. They were in all different colors, as well as wielding staffs of various sorts. “What are those things?” A Skrall shouted. Another lifted his sword, “Whatever they are, for the sake of Leader, we shall destroy them!” Ackar stepped forward, nodding. He drew his sword with its flame design. He looked up and down the sword, and then out to the combat about to come, “Let us do this, just for Mata Nui. Forget our own lives, what matters is Mata Nui. He can’t worry about us. If he does, then he could lose. All that matters is his victory over that other machine. After all…how could any of us hold up against that?” The Skrall around him nodded, realizing that as long as they lived, Mata Nui had to survive this fight. His fight was the one that mattered. By fighting on the ground, there was less to worry about for him during the entire course of the battle. The Skrall raced into battle, hacking and slashing into the machines, cutting them down in single swipes. The machines watched, but the Skrall were stronger and faster than expected, easily able to slice through the opposition with single attacks. The robots fell, but weren’t able to get back up, despite being alive. They moved, but couldn’t rise to fight again. Whatever controlled them was still alive, but the Skrall didn’t know what it was, or where to look. The Skrall hacked and slashed continually, cutting any of the enemies down as they went. Ackar joined the battle, slashing through them with ease as well. Despite his age, he was strong and fast, easily able to help the Skrall, who were younger and stronger than him, to destroy these things. More Glatorian and Skrall soon joined the battle. Ackar could see Glatorian such as Gresh, Kiina, Vastus, Perditus, Calif and many others joining in, using whatever weapons they had to confuse their foes, who were confused by some of their tactics. They soon started to fall in droves as the Bara Magnans joined the battle en masse. No matter how many of these machines there were, not enough were able to enter the fight fast enough. By the time they figured their foes out, figured out how to attack, it was too late. Only some of them, not too far back that they couldn’t see, but not too close to be among the first cut down, could see the full extent of what was happening. Only they got any attacks off. Tornadoes ripped through the Skrall ranks, ripping them apart. Chain lightning blasted some apart, but that was more selective, unlike the winds. Skrall attempted to use their shields, but the lightning ripped them apart. Only a few shields managed to hold up, presumably from shaken attention from the casters of the lightning. Anyone who used powers was instantly cut down to prevent even more disasters from occurring. “We can win this!” Ackar shouted, rallying the men with a call of confidence in their abilities. He was right, they could win. He thoroughly believed in what he said. They were cutting so many of them down, they couldn’t regroup fast enough to counter the Skrall. What worried Ackar was that he and his men were only at one of the two feet. The other foot also had men coming out, but he was sure the men over there would handle the situation just the same. After all, Tarix and his men would be over there to assist in leading the battle. As the battles continued, Ackar looked up. He saw figures leaping out of a spot near the giant robot’s back, landing on some higher mountains behind it within the Black Spikes. They descended towards the battle below, but Ackar couldn’t make them out. Mata Nui looked down at the battles, and then, noticed the figures dropping as well. He ducked under a blow from the larger machine, and using all of his force, drove an elbow into the foe’s chest, knocking him back a step. That step was massive, moving the invasion force away. Some were crushed as they fell from the stumble, and smashed apart on the ground below. Some were even stepped on on impact. Fortunately, he could see the figures in the Black Spikes unharmed. He was sure he knew who they were. They were Toa. Ignika, be ready. Mata Nui said to the golden Kanohi in his chest cavity. The golden mask came to life. It was powering the robot, but began to charge for another purpose entirely. As Mata Nui ducked a swing from Makuta, golden energy erupted from the prototype body. The wave of power washed over the entirety of the combatants, spreading Mata Nui’s influence. Mata Nui was created by the Great Beings. They created him to speak the language of the Matoran, which they also created. They also created him to understand the language of the Spherus Magna inhabitants, since that was their language as well. He could speak with both his own people, and his adoptive people. Now, with the Ignika spreading his will out, anyone could understand either language. Anyone within range, that was. Anyone on the Bara Magna side would be inside of range. Anyone inside of Makuta and near him would be able to understand. Only those farther away, perhaps only on the other side of the planet, couldn’t be affected by the Ignika and Mata Nui’s intertwined wills lashing out. Now, if those Toa were to side with the Bara Magnans, and they should, Mata Nui figured, there would be no communication problems. As soon as Toa saw Ackar or Tarix and their men attacking Rahkshi, they would understand. Destroying their common foes would be a universal enough language for them to understand. Likewise, by watching the Toa destroy Rahkshi, the Bara Magnans would understand as well. As long as they didn’t get out of hand and destroy each other, they would be fine. The last thing Mata Nui needed was his people turning on each other. Their only hope of staving off a Rahkshi invasion, and leaving the fighting to Mata Nui was unity, and only unity. Mata Nui took a punch to the chest, but managed to stand his ground. He pushed back, slamming Makuta as hard as he could, but the superior machine couldn’t move. Something is wrong. What, Ignika? Others are coming. Others? In the small mounds and rock faces behind Mata Nui, some of the Skrall could see others approaching, all of them mounted on Rock Steeds or Sand Stalkers. They all raced into the battle, lifting swords high. There was no mistaking them. Bone Hunters. Ackar cried out a warning, but the cry was too late. Those unsuspecting, as they fought off the mechanical serpentine warriors, were cut down from behind. Only did their cries of pain alert the others to the approaching Bone Hunters, led by Cruor, wielding his wicked, curved knife. He plunged his blade into a Glatorian and knocked him away. He rode into the chaos, lifting his blade high. The machines weren’t sure what to make of the new arrivals, recognizing them as the Matoran of their universe. They made no moves to kill them, as that was against orders. That was their mistake. In the chaos, the Bone Hunters cut anyone down. Glatorian, Skrall, and even the machines. The machines, even with their numbers faltering, didn’t attack the new arrivals. Their orders didn’t allow them to. “Let’s make a plan.” Vires, the Special Corp. Skrall said, pushing his way through to Ackar. He bashed a Bone Hunter in the skull, caving it in and watching the corpse drop. “What sort of plan?” Ackar asked. “We’ll get our men out of here and in the confusion, allow the Bone Hunters to butcher these…things.” The general said. “How do we get out so quickly that we can allow that to happen?” Ackar questioned. “We’ll find a way.” Vires said. He span around, plunging a fist into the face of a machine, crushing it. As it dropped, he lunged forward, smashing the head of another in with his club. He turned back to Ackar, “Just start thinking!” Ackar watched as more and more approached. The machines all lifted their staffs, getting ready for a unified attack for once. Before they could do anything, they were sucked halfway into the sand. Stinger tails plunged into their heads, destroying the things that controlled them. “That’s it!” Ackar said. He raced towards the Skrall and tackled him, taking him down to avoid a swing of a Bone Hunter riding past. “We use the tunnels.” Vires said, realizing it at the same time. Ackar nodded wildly, “Yes! We just get underground! Tunnels are everywhere!” He rose, helping the other general to his feet. He clasped Vires on the shoulder, “Spread the word!” “You too.” Vires said, rushing away and bashing a Bone Hunter in the side, crushing his chest. Ackar nodded, rushing away. He sliced the staff of a machine in half and then drew his sword back, running the head through with his blade. Ackar and Vires raced away, cutting down opposition on both sides and spreading the word of the plan. The Bone Hunters never caught on, and the other creatures didn’t seem intelligent enough to understand in the midst of battle. As the battles continued, Cruor raced into battle. He had no idea what was happening, but the Skrall forces were starting to get allied into closer lines of infantry as they attacked. They were forming wedges as they pushed in, slicing through the mechanical opposition. As he performed the same strategy with his men, forming a wedge and driving in at the enemies of both sides, something happened that he didn’t expect. The Skrall and Glatorian forces suddenly vanished into a puff of sand and dust, diving underground into tunnels dug by their Vorox and Zesk allies. Before Cruor could realize what was happening, the energy attacks that the machines were building up were unleashed, crashing through the ranks of the Bone Hunters, ripping them to shreds. There was no mercy as the machines unleashed their pent up rage from the forces that were harassing them from up until this point. They never realized the true goals of their attacks were actually the Bone Hunters, those whom they didn’t attack for some reason or another. It was savage. Boiling, almost liquid plasma erupted into lines of Bone Hunters, melting them and their steeds. They screamed in absolute agony as they collapsed in death. Lightning blasted through yet others, while powerful winds tore more and more apart, casting bodies into each other to break them against each other. Energy and heat flew from the eyes of others yet, melting and breaking through bodies, killing them in various fashions. The chaotic onslaught took moments, yet felt like at least an hour as Cruor watched his men being butchered with no way to stop it. He was the leader of the Bone Hunters. It was his duty to stop this, to at least help his men, his people, to live, to find victory. He could do nothing. As the attacks fell, the machines ceased any further attacks against the Bone Hunters, the few that remained, anyway. Cruor, two officers who remained close to him, and about seven others were all that remained of the Bone Hunters at this point. “Attack!” Cruor screamed. The Rock Steeds that they all rode raced into battle, crushing some of the machines underfoot while swords and axes found their marks, plunging and ripping machines apart without discretion. As the Bone Hunters crushed the opposition that was faced by Ackar and his men, the other foot had no Bone Hunters. It was all amassed at one point, thus causing the Bone Hunters to all be together, so that their tribe could be wiped out. That wasn’t the plan. The plan was to use numbers and then swarm out. That failed, obviously. “Kill them all!” Cruor screamed, “I will not stand for this!” “What will we do now?” One officer asked, “We aren’t even a dozen anymore!” “We’ll win this battle.” Cruor hissed, “That comes first. After that, while the soldiers are busy here, we’ll go to the villages, and pillage. We’ll find their female Agori, and then…” The two officers chuckled at what was to come. It wasn’t often that they got to go pillage and take women, but it had happened, mostly in the Core War. Most of the time they were just out to murder, and that was only good on its own for so long. As the Bone Hunters continued, they began to notice the figures from the Black Spikes descending into battle. They paid little heed, sincethey were yet to reach the area of the battle. Suddenly, one warrior, clad in blue and white armor, a female, by her body design, was there. She had a sleek helmet on her face, with some parts coming out by the mouth. She carried a lance into battle, with a shield affixed as a handguard. Cruor looked to her, “Glatorian, who are you? I’ve never seen you before.” He pointed at her, “I see no speed armor on you. How did you do that?” “Are you a Matoran?” She demanded, “You’re like none I’ve ever seen.” “Matoran?” Cruor questioned. He lifted his wickedly curved dagger, “I don’t know what that is, but I’m going to kill you just the same.” Her eyes narrowed, “You’re dangerous, I see.” As Cruor raced forward on his steed, she was suddenly gone. He looked around and shouted, cursing in rage and anger that he couldn’t get at her. “Sir!” An officer cried. Cruor span around, only to watch the lance erupt through the back of his officer, slaughtering him. The other officer shouted and raced forward at his dead comrade, only for lightning to erupt from the tip of the lance and rip through his body, electrocuting him to death instead of punching a hole through him, which Cruor was sure she could have done, had she wished. Cruor slowed his steed as he watched. This woman was causing chaos. She was blasting lightning into the mechanical ranks, and then, for fun, it seemed, would turn around and blast her way through the remaining Bone Hunters, who actually decided to attack her instead of take vengeance by killing the machines. Their vengeance was mixed up. They should have been killing the ones responsible for many deaths, not the woman, responsible for few. “Stop this!” Cruor roared. The few Bone Hunters left didn’t hear him. They were suddenly cut down by bolts of lightning from this woman’s hand and lance. There was no hope for any of them. That left only Cruor. With the realization coming down on him that he couldn’t repopulate the entire species of Bone Hunters, he looked to the woman, deciding to kill her, and then retreat to begin finding women for mating. He could at least get some more, and then have them go off and repopulate some more. He raced forward, silently, hoping to catch her by surprise. His cold reaction, instead of a fiery, heated rage should hopefully get him to her. She glanced his way, and then flicked her lance up, pointing the tip at the leader of the Bone Hunters. Lightning punched a hole through Cruor’s chest, killing him, dropping him instantly to the sands. The Bone Hunters were no more.Tahu seeks out a powerful being in the west, believing that this being can help them to win the war. Next time, Legacy 11: A Golden Hope—Journey to the West!Review

Chapter 19: Bonds of Unity “With recent developments, ‘Forte’, you are now going to be leading the force that I shall create for our endgame.” Bandiaca told her right hand warrior as she sat in her throne; he stood beside her. “Naturally.” He said, “There are no others worthy.” “You’re right.” She replied, “None whom I trust as highly as I trust you. Not even Dai and Mirai.” “They will be in the ranks?” ‘Forte’ questioned. She nodded, “Yes. They shall be in your unified ranks.” She replied, “I’ve had M’hou begin development on a grand army of Anaroids and Batsuroids, while getting everyone on our side together that we could. Our grand army shall storm Cyril Nui and conquer it. And then that traitor, Cesare, as well as the other Toa Cyril who survive will fall to my command. We will have an even stronger army, then.” “Where do we go from Cyril Nui?” ‘Forte’ questioned. “Anywhere.” She replied, “But we will hit every island nearby. With our army and my powers, we shall lay waste to all who stand before us. We shall conquer all lands. All islands, all domes, and soon, the entire universe will belong to me!” “All hail Bandiaca!” ‘Forte’ shouted, his voice carrying around the rooms of the cavern. Men in the other rooms began to shout the same, all of them praising Bandiaca, all of them willing to give their lives to her campaign. Cesare sat in the temple, looking around with curiosity at the base of the Toa Cyril. He looked to Agri, who sat opposite of him, watching him. “You haven’t said anything yet.” Agri said. “This is the first you’ve spoken as well.” Cesare said simply. “You’re supposed to talk.” Agri said, “You’re supposed to tell us all about why you joined us. About why you abandoned Bandiaca’s forces.” “I know. Tell you all in turn, see if you all trust me, and then, even though I am a Toa Cyril, my ultimate fate will be decided from there.” Cesare said, “But I have nothing to say.” “Just talk.” Agri growled. “Impatient?” “A little.” “Fine.” Cesare said, “When Eri defeated me in battle, she made me reconsider myself, since we were similar. I listened to her words and took them to heart; saw the similarities in our positions; mine now, hers in the past. After learning more about Bandiaca when she sent out Geki, I…” “Learning more?” Agri questioned, cutting him off. “I learned more about her mind control, or whatever you want to call it.” Cesare clarified. “I’m willing to bet you abandoned Bandiaca because you didn’t want to lose your free will. Is that right?” Agri questioned, “You already knew; you must have learned something pertinent, didn’t you? Were you going to be next? Don’t lie to me, Cesare.” Cesare answered quickly and simply, “Yes; I did learn she had plans to take me.” “You’re admitting it.” Agri said, nodding, “You left because you wanted to be free…” “And because of Eri’s words.” Cesare defended. “But primarily to keep your own mind, correct?” “Yes, but…” Agri rose to his feet, “I’m done here. I’ve learned your story; I’ll send the next Toa in.” He said. As it turned out, it happened to be Eri. “I don’t care about that.” Eri told Cesare in regards to his leaving Bandiaca when she was going to turn on him, “I don’t care that you did it to preserve yourself. I’m not viewing that as a selfish desire to save yourself. I can relate to that; I joined the Dark Hunters for the same reason you joined Bandiaca, and we both left for similar reasons. “No matter what happens, Cesare, I’ll back you.” Eri told him. He smiled to her, “Thank you, Eri. You may be the only one I can fully trust here.” “You can trust Hoji.” “I know. But after my story, I don’t know.” Eri nodded, seeing his point. She rose to send the next Toa in. Rei walked in and sat down, listening to his story. She nodded, “You saved yourself so you could help us, because of Eri.” She said, “But, even if you had never spoken to her, would you have abandoned Bandiaca at this point, regardless?” “Yes.” Cesare answered, “I never wanted to lose my mind.” She nodded, “That’s understandable. But we wouldn’t have accepted you otherwise. I feel that we’re only accepting you because of Eri pushing you to do this.” “I was already at conflict with myself before I learned Bandiaca’s plans.” Cesare said. He then repeated it to Magis, who had the same answer as Rei. “How can we be certain? We have but your word.” Magis said, “And I don’t know if we can trust it.” “I saved you, Magis.” Cesare said. “I know.” He said bitterly. “Look; we have the same goal. To rid this island of the evils plaguing it; specifically, Bandiaca.” Magis and Hoji had the same answer. “But are you only here to rid this island of Bandiaca, or all of the evils?” Hoji questioned. “Right now, Bandiaca and her forces.” “Vengeance?” “I feel I have a duty. They are evil; I am a Toa. It’s clear cut what must happen.” Cesare said to Hoji. “You’re fighting Bandiaca for revenge.” Hoji said, “If you remain here, and something else happens, would you stay and fight?” “What?” “After Bandiaca, would you leave this island to go on your own?” Hoji questioned, “Or will you stay and fight alongside us?” “I’m a Toa Cyril already, aren’t I? I believe that’s your answer.” Cesare told him. Hoji nodded in approval, “But will you stay? Or will you eventually want to set out and train yourself again, as you have done in the past?” “I’ll stay.” Cesare said, “This is the only place for me right now.” “Are you certain?” Hoji questioned. “I am.” Cesare said. Hoji nodded, “My vote is with you, Cesare.” He said, rising, “Please, leave. We need to discuss this as a team, and with Turaga Gorma.” Cesare nodded in understanding. But as he was leaving, Hoji walked to a wall and called his name. When he looked back, Hoji threw him the strange object that he had hidden. Cesare looked at it closely,a nd then looked to Hoji, “What is it?” “I was hoping you might know.” Hoji replied, holding his hand out. Cesare threw it back so Hoji could put it away. Cesare shook his head, “Sorry.” He walked out to leave the Toa and Turaga to council amongst themselves. As he left, the others came in and sealed the door of the temple. Cesare sat down, looking at the waters around him, watching the slow moving liquid. “This is a depressing island if the water won’t even move very fast.” He muttered to himself, wondering what he was getting into as a Toa Cyril; if they would have him. Inside, the Toa and Turaga sat in a circle around a pit of sand that had been uncovered. Turaga Gorma said that it was an important part of this event, and that he had to respect old ceremonies. “I cast my lot with allowing Cesare to join us.” Hoji said. “As do I.” Eri said. She wished she could have spoke first, but it was tradition for the leader to do so. “I have to admit, so do I.” Agri said. Rei nodded, “I’m also with him joining us.” Magis didn’t say anything. Hoji looked to him, “Magis?” He looked at all of them, and then slowly he nodded, “Fine; let him join.” Gorma looked at all of them, and then drew five stones onto the sand. He put a sixth one out, “This is representative of Cesare.” He said, distancing it from the other five, “Those are you five.” “What’s the point of this?” Magis questioned rather impatiently. “Destiny will tell us what to do.” Gorma replied. They sat, watching the sands. Slowly, the Cesare stone fell. “I think that settles it.” Magis said, “He’s not one of us.” “Keep watching.” Gorma said, “It’s not over yet. If you five also fall, then it should mean that you will be one team.” They continued to watch, but the other five never fell. After three minutes of sitting, with Gorma keeping them in line, they saw the Cesare stone begin to slowly roll towards the others. It was a leveled surface; there was no way it could roll. “What is this trickery?” Magis questioned in shock of what they were seeing, but only he worded his shock. “These stones are made from special materials; special properties of melted down Telekinesis Kanohi masks. You see, they respond to the natural order that this circle brings. It is connected to the Three Virtues; the virtue of Destiny. The placement of this pit in response to other markings inside of this temple relate it as Destiny. Destiny and the stones, with their special properties, allows this to happen as you see it.” Gorma explained. They watched as the Cesare stone stopped at the five Toa Cyril Stones, and then, it rose back up, standing tall with the others. “You have to be controlling it!” Magis accused Gorma. “I’m not.” Gorma replied. “Magis, calm down.” Eri said, “Cesare is part of the team. Why are you fighting this?” “I don’t trust him.” Magis said, “I…after fighting him those times, I just can’t trust him. People don’t change.” “You did.” Gorma said. “What?” Eri questioned. “It’s between us.” Magis hissed to Gorma. Gorma ignored him and looked to everyone, “Remember when you all came to me? You all confessed things from your past? Magis told me a lot of his own past, a lot of his own story. He changed from a man who cared only for beauty…” “Nothing’s changed.” Agri put in, looking at the facts as they were presented, as he knew Magis was. “They have.” Gorma said, “He’s become a man in connection with nature.” “Quiet!” Magis snapped. “Those trees he took so many blows to protect? Trees mean a lot to him. When he switched with Kyuu? He protected the trees in the fight, hoping you would figure it out.” “Magis…” Rei started. “None of you ever noticed who I was.” Magis hissed, “You all see me as a man who cares only for myself, a man so vain he can’t stand for anything other than his own beauty. You’re all wrong! You can’t see who I really am, so how can I expect you all to see who Cesare is? I don’t trust him!” “You’re being like we are to you.” Eri told him, “We couldn’t see those attributes to your personality, and I at least apologize, but you’re being blind to Cesare’s changes!” “I’m being realistic. I changed, but say people don’t. I’m contradicting myself, yes.” Magis said, “But I don’t believe that someone like him can change; someone who essentially sold his soul to a powerful conqueror just to become stronger through fighting! He’s not someone we want on our team if he acts like this!” “I acted like that.” Eri said. “You changed!” “So did Cesare.” Eri shot back. “You’re also being a hypocrite.” Agri told Magis, “You changed.” “I know.” “I changed; he can too.” Eri said, “Look, Magis, between you and I, we make up a lot of Cesare and how he’s pertinent to this problem we’re facing about if we let him join us or not. You say people don’t change; you did. You say his reasons won’t let him change; I did, and we had the same reasons, more or less. Look, you already agreed to his joining the team when we dealt with Seijuu. You can’t turn back now, Magis! We need him!” “Eri is right.” Hoji said before Magis could say anything. The Toa of Fire looked into his eyes, “He is to be a part of this team. It seems Destiny has already ordained that. Accept it, Magis. We need you, and we need Cesare. We need you two to get along so we can continue on as a powerful team!” “Fine.” He muttered, unable to argue with Hoji, unable to argue with the facts, as much as he wanted to do so. Gorma walked towards the door, “I shall fetch Cesare, then.” As Gorma left, the others all got to their feet and stood, awaiting him. Magis just sat, looking at the sand circle, lost in his own thoughts. As Gorma returned with Cesare, they greeted him, telling him he was a part of their team, and that he would be accepted. However, Magis remained isolated, finally getting up and actually walking out, seemingly in a childish, silent fit. “Don’t worry about Magis.” Eri said, “He’ll come around and accept it soon enough.” Cesare nodded, “I hope he will. I don’t want to be the reason your team divides.” “Our team.” Hoji said, “You’re a part of our team now.” Magis soon returned and said, “Cesare!” The Toa of Ice turned in time to catch a Blade Blaster which Magis had retrieved from the area next door. Cesare looked to Magis, “Thank you.” He said simply. “If you’re a Toa Cyril, you need the Blade Blaster sidearm.” Magis said simply, walking to join the others. “Thank you for that, Magis.” Eri said. “He’s a part of the team; I had to show that. I may not like it, but I do have to accept it.” Magis replied. Gorma smiled and looked at the six Toa Cyril standing together. He nodded in approval, “Cesare, I know you will be a powerful Toa, a powerful fighting force added to the Toa Cyril. I hope that you all will be able to continue to protect this island, and be able to bring an end to Bandiaca’s attacks.” Explosions rocked the distance. One of the massive spires began to topple, coming down and crushing buildings beneath it. The Toa and Gorma ran outside, looking to the damage. They could see frightened Matoran running through the streets, their screams filling the air. They could see the forms of Anaroids and Batsuroids approaching, attacking everything and everyone. They could see various warriors leading the attacks. Some of them they had seen before; Mirai and Dai. A lot of new faces also filled the ranks. As they ran out, attacking whatever they could with their ranged attacks, they saw a dark cloud; one darker than usual. It drifted towards the island, and then, it was torn apart, revealing two figures wrapped in the blackness of it, standing there, floating in the air, watching over the island. Bandiaca and ‘Forte’. “Toa Cyril! Turaga of the island! Matoran of the island! Listen, and listen well! Cyril Nui is now mine!” She swept her arm out, her crimson crystal on her staff shining out, “Bow before me, and be spared! Oppose me and die!” Her voice carried around the island, carrying a signal of despair for all but the Toa Cyril; it was time to fight.“The time has come for our final battle. This will be it; the six of us Toa Cyril facing Bandiaca and her army. But with Mirai, Dai, ‘Forte’, and Bandiaca herself leading this attack, can we hope to win? We must! Next time: “Chapter 20: Defeat Bandiaca!” My turn!”Review

Legacy 9: Rebellion Part 2—Battle for the Universe! “Odina is secured.” Onua said, nodding to the messenger, “I understand.” The blue armored, lizard-like warrior nodded, and in a flash, was speeding away. He was a fast warrior, a messenger and assassin for the Dark Hunters. He had just come from Odina, from Onua’s former men, with a message for the Toa of Earth about the current situation, which was fine as of yet. The Rahkshi and Visorak had yet to reclaim the Dark Hunter base island of Odina. Onua had hoped that using the catacombs for guerilla warfare would allow the warriors on Odina to remain one step ahead of their foes, and allow them to hopefully find new weapons that they could use to destroy their foes when the time came that they would have to continue to fight. Onua turned around, startled to see a familiar face. He smiled and clasped hands with the orange, gray and yellow armored Toa. “Pohatu!” Onua exclaimed. Pohatu smiled, “Onua, wow…it’s been a while.” “Two years.” A third voice said. They looked to the side, watching Kopaka approach them. He offered a slight smile; uncharacteristic of him, but it had been two years of fighting what was essentially a war for the universe, for all life itself. He had to smile at seeing old faces again like this. “Where have you been?” Pohatu questioned, walking towards him, clasping hands with him as well, “You know you shouldn’t go far without me…” “You really do enjoy the fact that I consider you a friend, don’t you?” Kopaka questioned. “I won’t lie, I do.” Pohatu answered. “Well, as long as you enjoy yourself.” Kopaka said, removing his hand. He moved towards Onua and bumped fists with him. “Where are the others?” Onua asked Kopaka, “Weren’t we all supposed to get together here?” “The message was supposed to get to everyone. It might have not gotten as far as it needed to have.” Kopaka said. “I understand that.” Onua replied, “I hope it did. We need to all be together again.” “We can do some serious damage!” Pohatu agreed, walking towards the two of them, throwing his arms around their shoulders. “You’re right; we could do a lot of damage.” Kopaka said, brushing Pohatu’s arm off, “But that’s not what we’re here to do.” “What are we here to do, then?” Pohatu questioned. “Reunite and get our bearings.” Kopaka said, “Then we’ll go where we’re needed. There are no enemies here, after all.” They were in one of the few safe zones created by the Order’s former psychic who could create ‘holes in the world’ to hide from Makuta’s gaze. They couldn’t stay for long before they had to get moving, and only hoped the other three would soon arrive, if not Takanuva as well. Soon, they saw a blue, rough armored figure approaching. The three were taken aback by the realization that this was Gali that they were seeing. She stepped into the protected area, feeling an odd sensation wash over her body. She brushed it off as she walked towards the others, bumping fists with them as a greeting. “What…happened to your armor?” Pohatu asked. “I could ask you the same.” She replied with a smile, “I changed it to look fierce. I was on Zakaz, after all, one year ago.” Kopaka nodded, “Intimidation tactic…not sure how it would work against Makuta’s minions or Skakdi…” “Well enough.” She told him, patting him on the shoulder. “You haven’t seen any of the others, have you?” He asked her. “Me?” Another voice called. They all looked behind Onua, watching the lime green armored Lewa approaching. He rushed into the safe spot and stopped by them, smiling at all of them, taking them all in, taking in their new armor and weapons, allowing them to take in his. “Lewa!” Pohatu exclaimed, clasping hands with him, “Great to see you again!” “You too.” Lewa said, smiling. He looked to Kopaka, “Isn’t Tahu here yet? Or Takanuva?” “We don’t know if Takanuva was to come.” Kopaka said, “He was harder to track down, on his own and all. We’re hoping Tahu arrives soon so we know where to strike.” “You know, I just want to say something.” Lewa said. “Go ahead. We never stopped you before.” Kopaka said. “We should have…” Pohatu said under his breath, thinking of some of the things that Lewa had said before to them. No one seemed to hear Pohatu, but that was probably for the best. Instead, Lewa spoke his mind to them. “The last time we were together was two years ago, on Metru Nui, right after Makuta took control of our world. I just wanted to say…it’s amazing to see you guys again. It’s amazing that we finally found our ways back to each other, that we’re a true team again. We aren’t leaders of rebels right now…but rather, we are a team.” He put his fist out, waiting for the others to do the same. Everyone gave a smile, one way or another. Public or private. They all relished the fact that for once, they weren’t fighting, they weren’t running. They were standing and speaking to one another. They were a team, that was true. They all put their fists in the middle, clanking them together. For the first time in two years, they were together, and they weren’t going to waste that opportunity. “Should we get to work without Tahu?” Onua asked. Kopaka nodded, “I hate to have to say it…but yeah, let’s start planning.” “You don’t think he’s…” Lewa started. Gali shook her head, “Tahu is strong. No way he died.” “I hope you’re right.” Lewa said. Kopaka looked to all of them, “The plan…” Triglax raced around a boulder, staying out of sight of the moving hordes of Rahkshi. He was a Dark Hunter of small stature with the ability to shapeshift, making him dangerous. But in this form, his normal form, he was vulnerable. He was around a Matoran’s size, covered in black armor. His feet had two claws on them, biting into the ground. His left arm had a thin covering of armor, with silver claws facing towards his back and out just above the elbow. He had a claw instead of a hand on his left, with a weapon that looked like a bayonet with laser sight above his hand. It doubled as a blaster and a blade. His right was different. It was thicker and clearly mechanical. It had bladed, black armor above the elbow with a red spike coming out. It continued down in a mechanical arm, ending without a hand, but rather, a silver thruster-like object. Behind his arm were two bladed objects coming down, sloping slightly down. His head was red, but he wore a blue visor over the top of his head and eyes, all for the purpose of shapeshifting. He looked around, and saw a Shadow Takanuva walking around. The Shadow Takanuva were some of the most dangerous warriors Teridax had. They acted almost as generals. He started to shift around the boulder, hoping to get away, when he tripped over a rock. He cursed softly as the Shadow Toa approached. As he rounded the corner, Triglax leapt at him, plunging the claw and blade into his chest. Takanuva stumbled back and threw the small warrior aside. Triglax slid back and threw his right arm forward. The silver claws erupted out, impaling the ground behind him, keeping him locked into place. Energy built up around the point of his bayonet blade, and it erupted forward, crashing into Takanuva, throwing him back. The blades retracted, allowing Triglax to move forward. He lifted his right arm, pointing the thruster object up. As Takanuva rose and pointed his staff forward, charging it with his power of Shadows, Triglax acted. A burst of power erupted up into the air and started to shift around, as if shuffling a deck of cards it appeared. Finally, the light crashed onto Triglax, and when he emerged, he was a Tahtorak, smashing his tail into the Shadow Toa, casting him aside. The Toa slumped down. He lifted his staff again, opening fire with bursts of Shadow energy. Triglax dodged as he ran. He slid, returning to normal. Again, he lifted his arm high into the air, sending the same energy up. Once more, it shuffled. Names and words flashed by at lightning speed on Triglax’s visor, until he chose one. The light stopped and came down on him, transforming him into a Spiked Stone Ape. He leapt forward, crashing his large fist into Shadow Takanuva, throwing the Toa of Shadows into a boulder, cracking it down the center. Triglax remained perched, waiting for his foe to move. When the Toa pushed himself up, Triglax punched him hard enough to put him back down. “You’re a dangerous one.” Takanuva growled. Light erupted forward from the Avohkii. Triglax, momentarily blinded, stumbled back. Takanuva pushed himself forward, slashing his foe across the chest, dropping him back into his normal form. Takanuva crouched down, looking at the mechanical arm. He took up his staff and slammed it down, severing it at Triglax’s shoulder. Triglax screamed in pain, but put up with it. Takanuva threw his staff hand to hand, and then, sliced his left arm off at the shoulder. His eyes showed his pain, but he never voiced it. He was better than that. He wasn’t going to cry out in this absolute pain. Taking the mechanical arm, he put it at the same spot his larger arm had been. Utilizing the Avohkii’s powers, he used a thin beam of light to meld the mechanical arm into place, making sure that the wires and organics were fusing properly to make it operational. “Let’s see what this does!” Takanuva cried, throwing his arm up. Light erupted upwards and began to shuffle. Instantly, his mind was bombarded with names in such a rapid speed it hurt to attempt to read them. He couldn’t read them. Triglax rose, minus one arm. He plunged his claws back into the ground again from his arm. He lifted it, taking aim, charging the largest blast he could into the blade. He was a Dark Hunter. He could do this. Even without the power that made him who he was, he could do this. He fired, but the Toa was gone, replaced with a small lizard on the ground. It scurried forward, and broke form, returning to normal. Takanuva cried out in frustration. He wasn’t paying enough attention. A blast of power slammed into his chest, throwing him to the ground. Before he could rise, Triglax had his claws and the tip of the blade at his throat. “Move and die.” Triglax hissed, preparing to kill him. He glanced to the arm once, and then decided to take care of it. “What is that visor?” “It can read the names.” Triglax said, knowing that his foe would understand. “I desire it.” Shadow Takanuva said, slamming a blinding burst of light into Triglax’s eyes from the Avohkii. As the Dark Hunter staggered back, he pushed himself up and took two strides forward before impaling Triglax with his staff, killing the Dark Hunter. He tore his Avohkii off his face and tore the visor off of Triglax’s. He put it on, getting a feel for it, and a feel for not having Light to back him up anymore. He threw his arm up and fired the energy off, this time able to read and understand the names, able to make a choice for his transformation. He smiled grimly as he lowered the arm and walked away, preparing to cause more trouble for the rebels. Two Dark Hunters rushed through the foliage of the Southern Continent. One was clad in red and black armor, just piled in weaponry, all of it long ranged. He had a pistol-like weapon with two blades on his left arm, a double Cordak Blaster with energy cannon on his right. He had Nynrah Ghost Launchers on his shoulders, and more energy blasters beside them. He had a silver head with a crimson, glowing optical eye. His name was Helsrok. He was one of the best Dark Hunters. His partner was clad in white and orange armor. He had a white body with orange arms that were jointed in an odd manner. He had very long arms because of this, with white hands. He carried a sword mounted on a strange hilt that seemed to be designed as such for a point. He had illuminating orange pieces of armor on his upper arms and his lower chest for some reason. His legs beside the lower piece were orange, and then white, connected together to become almost like a worm, it appeared, except that he floated. On his back he had some blades mounted, including a large dagger behind each shoulder. He had an orange Kanohi mask on his face, but with an unknown power. He was a Dark Hunter as well, codenamed ‘Taboo’. He was a plasma manipulator. The two stopped and turned to check their pursuer. It was a large, blue armored Skakdi, armed with a crescent scythe. He ducked under a thick tree as Helsrok opened fire with his pistol weapon, just missing his mark. The Skakdi emerged, with more following. They worked in tandem, unleashing a creature of water and wind, unleashing it on the two Dark Hunters. “The Skakdi are pets of the Makuta now.” Taboo hissed. He threw his sword forward. The hilt erupted with power and plasma streamed out of the blade, incinerating the monster before him, “Good thing we’re so heavily armed, though.” “That guy is Nektann.” Helsrok said. “Heard the name.” Taboo answered. “One of the strongest warlords of Zakaz.” Helsrok said, “Be careful.” “Of course.” Taboo replied, opening fire with more plasma bolts. As the energy attacks and the missiles and whatever else Helsrok threw at them flew through the air, more Skakdi unleashed their powers to stop the attacks. Soon, there were too many to even know where to start the attack. “Stop them.” Nektann hissed, “I have something to do.” He said, racing away. The two Dark Hunters didn’t consider what he was doing. They continued their attack, cutting as many Skakdi down as possible. Soon, it was apparent that Nektann wouldn’t return. Then the Dark Hunters heard the sound of a struggle up ahead. Everyone stopped and looked ahead, watching as Nektann came through the foliage, dragging a half dead Toa by the neck. Nektann himself was in serious condition. “Retreat…” He hissed. One questioned him, “But…” “Retreat!” Nektann shouted. The Skakdi began to pull back, fleeing the area. The two Dark Hunters looked to each other and raced towards where Nektann had gone to. They knew of a Toa fortification up ahead, and had been on their way there before the ambush. When they arrived, there were no Toa, other than two corpses, probably from Nektann. There was something else, however. There was a steel hatch in the ground, leading out to what looked like sky, somehow. With the robot standing, of course it would. “What is it?” Taboo questioned. “A way out, I’m sure.” Helsrok replied, “A way to wherever we are.”Cruor and his Bone Hunters arrive to enter the fray, believing that they can win the day in the midst of Rahkshi and Glatorian. Next time, Legacy 10: Cruor’s Final Strike—The Bone Hunters Arrive!Review

I recall that Julie Gardner (I think) says Jack is the Face, while Davies and...another (Barrowman himself, perhaps? Or Moffat? Not sure) won't comment either way.It's probably in The Writer's Tale somewhere, but I'm not bringing that thing out again. Not for one small scrap of information. It'll be online somewhere, though.

I actually have a site that has a breakdown of who subbed what. I just need to get around to it.As it stands, I'm working through Keitai Sokusan 7 (misspelled), so I need to focus on that before I bother going to watch an old Rider series.Also, I'm a sub snob; I'll wait on Nihon for Kuuga/Agito.

I really need to start watching the original series, if I can find someone subbing it.Just Fourze for me right now. When Nihon finishes Kuuga and Agito, I'll watch those.

Legacy 8: Rebellion Part 1—Shadows and Rebels! As Teridax settled down on a new place after his flight through space, everyone inside of him felt the jolt. They all knew what they had to do now. The word had been spread by the resistance groups led by the Toa Nuva. The Nuva weren’t playing with a full deck. They had men hidden all around, some pretending to be slaves, some pretending to be loyal to Makuta, some in hiding in special places created by a former psychic member of the Order of Mata Nui, hiding out, laying low. Now it was time. The Nuva had spread the word. As soon as Teridax stood, they were to launch their attacks. They were to just attack anywhere, do as much damage internally as possible and give whoever was on the outside whatever chances they could to win, or hopefully, be able to survive an encounter with this giant machine that had just landed. Now was the time for revolt on a much larger scale. Soon, every island was enveloping in chaos of revolts, splitting Makuta’s attention, hopefully giving those on the outside a winning chance. Takanuva, clad in white and gray armor, moved around the mountains that were all around him. He wasn’t quite sure where he was anymore. All he knew was that he had been island jumping for quite some time, spreading word of revolt, and gaining knowledge of other Takanuva’s in the universe, in black armor, causing chaos with the element of Shadows. Utilizing such bland armor, Takanuva was able to blend into some of his surroundings with more ease. And being more depressing in color would make him look less like a Toa of Light, less dangerous to Makuta’s minions. That had been a mistake they wouldn’t make again. His lasers had seen to that. Being a Toa of Light, he was able to fully manipulate light. Light was a powerful element, and he could condense it into powerful bursts of laser bolts, burning through any foes that came near him. None stood a chance against it. He stopped as he started his descent. He allowed the slope to do the work for him as he simply dug his twin Staffs of Light into the rocks as he descended. He stopped at the bottom and walked around, noticing something moving up ahead. This island, or landmass, or wherever he was, had yet to be plunged into a full battle of revolt. That was about to change. He realized the being up ahead was like him, but black. He was one of the Shadow Takanuva that people spoke of, no doubt about that. He carried a single Staff of Light, or Dark, or whatever he would be calling it, as well as wearing a gray Avohkii, Mask of Light. This would be his end. Takanuva stayed perfectly still, waiting for his double to get close. When he started to get within arm’s reach of the hidden Takanuva, he whipped around, smashing his weapon down. Takanuva rolled aside and drew both staffs up. The other Takanuva slashed down, forcing the normal Takanuva to cross his weapons to prevent the other blade from crashing into him. “Who are you?” Takanuva hissed. “You.” The other Takanuva laughed. “How?” “Other dimension, Shadow Leech.” He said, matter-of-factly. “Shadow Leech…should have known.” Takanuva hissed, “I overcame one, you know. You can find a way back! You don’t have to do this!” “Oh, but I do!” Shadow Takanuva laughed, slamming a foot hard into Takanuva’s gut, knocking him back. As his staff came down for Takanuva, the Toa of Light rolled aside, lest he be impaled by the Staff of Light. Takanuva rolled back and threw his left hand forward in a half-hazardly manner, throwing a small flash of light in the way of his doppelganger. The light blinded the Shadow Toa for a few moments. Takanuva watched him stumble back into some of the rocks around him. Takanuva rose and crossed his staffs. He raced forward, drawing them out to his sides, pointing the blades out. He brought them up and slammed them down, going for a kill by cutting the throat open. Shadow Takanuva looked up and sent out a blast of Shadow, throwing Takanuva off his balance. The Toa of Light rolled aside and kicked his counterpart in the chest, knocking him back. The Shadow Takanuva stood tall, planting the blunt end of his staff in the ground. He closed his eyes, taking full advantage of his powers. Shadows swirled around him like a cyclone. Takanuva backed away in fear of what this man was about to do, and how powerful and dangerous he truly was. “It’s time for this to end.” He hissed. The shadows began to take form, becoming a large, snaking creature, withering around the Shadow Toa. It had jaws of shadows which came open and snapped shut, and even had slits for eyes in it, creating a living appearance. “Nice performance.” Takanuva mocked. “It can do more than look real.” Shadow Takanuva said. He threw his arm out, pointing his staff forward, “Go!” He shouted. The slithering shadow creature erupted forward, going right in at Takanuva. The Toa of Light lifted and crossed his staffs, creating as much light as he could from them, dispelling the creature on impact, splitting it in all different directions around his body, scattering it everywhere, destroying ground where it struck, and some scattered into the sky. Takanuva raced forward, spinning around. He slashed down, cutting his foe across the chest, leaving a sting of Light in his chest. The Shadow Toa clutched his wound and stumbled back. Takanuva span around, spinning both of his staffs around in his hands, and he plunged them back, impaling his foe with both of the blades, crossing them behind his back to kill the Toa of Shadows. His counterpart slid down the staffs slightly, and gave a cough before he went completely limp, staying down. Takanuva slid his foe off of his staffs and hooked them to his back. He crouched down and removed the darkened Avohkii from the Toa of Shadow’s face, and set it on the ground. He lifted his foot, and crashed it down, smashing the Kanohi into fragments. He started to walk away, but then stopped and looked around, making sure nobody else was around. He didn’t want to walk into a trap. Satisfied that he could sense nobody about, he continued on, looking back once more at the corpse behind him before he left. Rahkshi stalked around Karzahni. The population was enslaved, the statue Matoran were destroyed so their lives would end, and the insane ruler was nowhere to be found. There was really nothing to watch over in Karzahni, but it was still a location that should remain guarded. It was one of the paths to Metru Nui, and as such, was an important area in the longrun. Two beings stalked around in the shadows, simply watching, waiting for their moment. When a Rahkshi spotted them, it lifted its staff and unleashed a blast of plasma. It crashed through the air, like a sort of burning liquid, and smashed into the stone wall near the two beings, giving them a little light. They were both massive, almost like dinosaurs. One was in red armor, one was in blue armor. There were minor differences, but both looked very similar. The blue one looked to the red one and smiled wickedly, “Well, Gahdok, shall we use acid?” The one named Gahdok nodded, “Yes, Cahdok. Let us.” They both looked forward at the swarming Rahkshi coming in at them. They stood close together and cracked their necks forward, opening their mouths wide, unleashing sprays of acid through the air, melting Rahkshi before they could get close. More and more came, attempting to bring the two powerhouses down. The Bahrag continued to melt Rahkshi in their way, destroying each wave in unison. As too many began to get too close, the Bahrag reached out with their powers, first creating illusions of more Rahkshi in their places, stopping the Rahkshi for a few moments. Meanwhile, they strengthened a telepathic signal that was being sent out above. The top of the domes above them cracked and opened. Spheres fell, raining down on the area that was Karzahni, breaking through the roof of stone above them that encaged them in the underground. The Bohrok came to life. The mechanical insectoid creatures came forward, using their powers to break through the ranks of Rahkshi. Soon, however, they were too deep in enemy territory to get to the Queens to protect them. More and more Rahkshi got closer and closer to the Bahrag. Soon, they were all lined up, unleashing powers that would surely slay the two Queens. The two moved closer together. Instantly, the attacks stopped as they struck a shield that had come up around the two invaders. “Symbiosis.” Gahdok said. “Close together, invincible shield.” Her blue armored sister, Cahdok, said. The two unleashed their powers again, this time, over Stone. The walls around them came to life. The stone ripped apart and flew around the Rahkshi, smashing into them, breaking their bodies, smashing them together, and pounding them into the ground. The two Queens were unstoppable now that they were together, now that they had some of their swarms to help fight. The Toa Nuva had awakened them over two years ago to help with the cleaning of the island of Mata Nui for the purpose of Mata Nui’s awakening. When the rebellions started two years ago when Makuta took the universe, the Bahrag decided to fight for their lives, for the universe itself. They were to remain in hiding until the time was right, which was now. Now was their chance to do as much damage as possible. Their goal was Metru Nui, considering the most Bohrok would be accessible in that area, considering they would be in their hives right above the island. Karzahni also allowed them to start calling on Bohrok, but not the number they would later have in Metru Nui. Soon, no Rahkshi stood in their way. They were only scraps lying around on the ground everywhere. No survivors, no damage to the Bahrag, and a few destroyed Bohrok. “We’ll make up for them.” Cahdok said, moving with Gahdok, step for step, towards the exit of Karzahni. “Yes, we shall.” Gahdok agreed as they started towards Metru Nui. Shadow Takanuva moved along the coast of Zakaz. The island had since been reclaimed since it had been lost in the previous year because of an assault by Toa Gali Nuva. She had somehow gotten the Tahtorak involved and they had started to butcher the Skakdi, forcing the Skakdi to become subservient, or die. Some fled, and that was how word really got out. Shadow Takanuva was there to see to it that the Tahtorak were put in their places. So far it was going well, but he knew there were more dangers ahead. The center of the island was a way into the ocean. He gazed down at the waters. They rippled slightly, as if a fish had just come up. “Come out.” He said softly in a very menacing voice. He didn’t have to raise his voice for it to be commanding and full of threat. A being began to emerge. It was like a sea-monster. It was very appropriate for Zakaz, Shadow Takanuva decided. It had a blue and lime green body. It had a blue chest with light green arms down to the elbows, where it became blue again until the wrists, which were lime green. It had silver claws for hands, and bladed fins beneath the wrists. It had sleek blue armor overlaying the lime green of the upper arms. The legs, to the knees, if they could be called that, were lime green. There were thicker lime green and dark green armor by the knee area, which became blue and jointed, almost like a tail of some sort. This ‘tail’ ended in a larger, blue piece of armor. On its back there were two blue bladed wings or fins, or something, doing down its back. It had two blades coming up above that. They were white with crimson stains across them. Their purpose could have been for battering in underwater combat, but he wasn’t sure. The head of this being was probably the worst. It was black and lime green, potentially a Kanohi, but probably not. It was a sleek, insectoid form with a stinger in place of a mouth. It could speak, he was sure, but the stinger made him feel…frightened. It wasn’t from his Shadow Leech experiments, but rather, something else, something deep down inside. He supposed it could have been from his past life, when he was a Toa of Light, but he shrugged, unsure of what it meant. “Who are you?” Shadow Takanuva shouted down. “Ambien.” The being replied in a thick, watery voice. It slithered up onto land on its ‘tail’ and came rushing in at the Toa of Shadows. Takanuva slashed his staff down, sending a bolt of Shadows at his guest. The warrior span around in the air, leaving its tail off the ground. It slammed down and whipped around, whipping the tail out and smashing it into Takanuva’s chest, bringing him to his knees in pain. He looked up, taking a slam from one of the bladed fins to the face. He started to fall back, but Ambien caught him in his clawed hand. He started to crush down, putting cuts into the Avohkii. Soon, Takanuva was lifted into the air by this mighty warrior. Takanuva struggled, but couldn’t get himself freed. “What are you?” Takanuva gasped. Water erupted into his face. Ambien was attempting to drown him on dry land. He stopped just as sudden and punched Takanuva in the gut with his other fist, just to shake him up. “I am of the Order of Mata Nui.” Ambien hissed in his thick, watery voice. He threw Takanuva to the ground with cracking results. Takanuva could no longer rise to defend himself. Ambien looked down at him, and then, plunged his face into Takanuva’s chest, plowing the stinger into his foe’s stomach. Takanuva screamed in pain as the stinger bit into his body. He tried to get up, to move at all, but he couldn’t. The being pulled back, “Now, tell me what I want to know.” Ambien hissed. Takanuva panted, but didn’t speak. Again, he plunged into Takanuva’s chest, but at a different spot this time, making a new hole in Takanuva. The Toa of Shadows screamed in unbridled pain until Ambien pulled out again. “Tell me.” “What do you want to know?” Takanuva screamed. “I want to know where the rest of you are.” He hissed. “I…I don’t know!” Takanuva screamed. The Toa of Shadows wasn’t meant to break, but under such pain, surrendering information was natural. He couldn’t hold it in. He couldn’t hold back from Ambien. “Fine. We have all day to start asking the correct questions.” Ambien hissed without a shred of remorse as he dug in again.Battles inside of Teridax continue with new intensity as all sides fight each other, attempting to butcher each other for their own goals. Next time, Legacy 9: Rebellion Part 2—Battle for the Universe!Review