Act I: Hunger: Victory
“We were supposed to keep quiet during the night,” Gorast grumbled at Antroz, her eyes twitching across the train they were boarding. The moon above cast everything in long, consuming shadows. The very air was invigorating out under the night sky here, it suffused her senses and set her muscles thrumming in a way that threatened to bring a smile to her face. By Mata Nui, could nothing the Night Princess touched just be unpleasant for her?
“We don’t have time to worry about that right now,” Antroz huffed, “we still have control of the narrative, but if Takua gets his head on straight before we get to him we could lose that.” He ducked through the door, “we were still the “good guys” in the war to these people, keeping that status is worth risking Luna’s influence for one night.” Gorast wanted to snap at him, but he was the strategist, she knew she was the bruiser more than anything else, she wouldn’t have any counterpoints he hadn’t thought of.
Instead Gorast threw Mutran a glare, expecting him to be delighted by Antroz’ scolding, but he was hardly paying her any kind of attention. She stepped aside as he boarded the train, the manic glint in his eyes more dangerous than his claws could ever hope to be. Best not to bother him when he was in that kind of mood. She settled for just growling to herself, letting her mind wander to Krika to put a proper edge back into her mood. She felt her body clenching back up and nodded to herself, grinding her teeth as she stepped onto the train.
Antroz took a seat along one of the walls and Mutran took the one across from him, Gorast just leaned back against a wall, crossing her arms over her chest.
Antroz let out an irritated noise, “Gorast, sit down.”
“I am,” she snapped back at him.
“No you’re not, I can hear your teeth from here.” He snapped his fingers and pointed to the spot across from him next to Mutran. Gorast stopped grinding her teeth but didn’t move. “You can pretend to sleep through the ride if you want to avoid being talked to that badly.”
Gorast snarled at him and Antroz’ expression shifted from one of mild irritation to outright annoyance. “What is your problem?”
“She’s spent longer than any of us around Teridax,” Mutran drawled, having come back to the present at some point Gorast hadn’t been paying enough attention to pin down. “You know how much she dotes on him, and Luna gives off such a pleasing variant of his aura.” He chuckled mockingly at Gorast testing the joints on her arms in threat. “She’s worried for her conviction, standing next to Luna must feel like a dream come true,” he inspected his claws, a smug grin across his face, “a Teridax who actually wants to listen to her ramble.” That spark flared in Gorast’s chest again, a purple haze filling her vision.
Gorast and Antroz were in motion in the same moment, Gorast pouncing for Mutran’s mask and Antroz jumping up to wrap an arm around her throat. She gagged and flailed at Mutran, hanging from Antroz’ arm by her neck. The pressure of his arm sent a sickening ache shooting up her neck to her head as she clawed at it, her feet unable to reach the ground thanks to Antroz’ considerable height advantage. Mutran cackled at the display, the mad sparking of his eyes taunting her.
“You!” Antroz pointed at him with his free arm, making Mutran jump slightly in surprise. “Shut it, she’s working herself up enough, we don’t need your help to make this a disaster.” Antroz hauled Gorast back down onto one of the seats, “and you, you’re going to wear yourself out before we even get there. Stop trying to tick yourself off, save it for Takua, he’s plenty infuriating without your help.”
Gorast snapped her teeth at him, “you know better than this, Gorast. He’s just trying to get under your armour cause he’s excited and you made yourself a nice target.” Embarrassment flashed hot through her, smothering out the spark as she stopped clawing at his arms, she did know better than this. Antroz let out a long suffering sigh and let go, setting himself down next to her.
“...I’m not apologizing,” Gorast muttered after a moment. Antroz ran a hand down his mask.
“If you don’t get your act together in the next hour I will throw you from this train and you can wait with Krika and Chirox,” he snipped, “see how you enjoy that. Mutran!” He barked, snapping Mutran’s attention back to them. “Apologize for twisting her up.”
“Sorry,” Mutran blinked, the gleam in his eyes dulling slightly, “I wasn’t really paying attention.” Antroz gestured towards him, throwing Gorast an expectant look. Gorast growled and rolled her eyes.
“...Sorry for trying to tear open your head.” Mutran blinked at her again but nodded. Gorast’s throat began to itch slightly but she ignored it, it would stop in a moment and she had more important things to think about.
Antroz had a point and she hated it, she was better than this. She felt her gut twisting, that moment of hope she’d felt earlier. It had only been a moment, but she’d been so sure that Teridax had come for them, come for her; then the curtain pulled back, and a bit more of her world crumbled around her.
And in the ruins, she’d seen him on a day she’d tried to forget.
She shook her head, she felt abandoned, used up and tossed aside, but she had no proof of it. It was irrational, there were a thousand reasons Teridax might not have saved them, no matter what the others thought. He wouldn’t have just left her there if he had any choice; but knowing that didn’t stop her from feeling like a piece of her had been ripped out, didn’t stop her from thinking back to the contemptuous stare she didn’t want to remember.
Her gaze hardened. Then there was this damn Luna, so soft and welcoming, throwing around her influence like she’d never had to be wary of it before, like she could swoop in and make everything alright again. In so many ways Teridax’ opposite, yet with power that had her playing at being his equal in Gorast’s mind. She hated it, she wanted to hate it so badly, she didn’t need Luna, she didn’t need a new Kraahkan.
Yet there was a piece of her, old and hoarse but almost unbearably loud, that craved it. She pushed down on it, shouting away the doubt it tried to sow in her. She hadn’t been betrayed, he wouldn’t, he’d promised.
The door on the far end of the car opened, drawing Gorast’s glare as she felt Luna’s presence wash through their compartment. Luna’s eyes flashed with surprise as she met Gorast’s stare, but she was able to press through. Gorast leaned back on her seat and made a show of looking over her shoulder out the window behind her.
Luna hesitated for a moment in front of her and Gorast let her eyes flick to her. Luna’s gaze was soft, caught somewhere between curious and concerned.
“What has happened to your neck?” Gorast crooked her eyebrow, one of her hands going up to her throat. Pressing gently she felt around it, she contained a wince as she felt a swollen lump around where Antroz had grabbed her, sending the same throbbing ache up through her head as before. She felt Antroz stiffen slightly next to her.
She silently cursed the Mutagen that had smothered the swamps of Karda Nui for chaining her to physicality again. She hadn’t even noticed that she’d been bruised, forgetting for a moment that she no longer had access to the ability that would allow her to heal something that trivial with hardly a thought.
“I did something foolish,” she growled, “don’t concern yourself.” Luna’s eyes flicked to her brothers then back to her, hard with a question. Gorast narrowed her eyes in return and slowly shook her head. “I jumped, Antroz caught me, we both forgot I have to worry about this.” She gestured back to her throat, the organic components throbbing an angry green between her black armoured plates. “If it had been on purpose, I’d have torn him open like a tin can.”
“Ah,” Luna nodded in understanding, “shall it hamper your ability in the coming battle?”
“What do you take me for?” Gorast scoffed, “I’ve been drowned, immolated and buried alive and I kept fighting. A bruise is nothing.” She narrowed her eyes further and bared her teeth, sending a silent message of her own, she didn’t need Luna’s concern or her help. Luna nodded at her, a strange sort of respect flashing in her eyes as she turned to continue up the train, Vamprah trailing silently in her wake. Gorast jumped slightly at his appearance, the itch in her throat flaring dangerously.
“My offer stands,” Luna shot over her shoulder, “I’ll be only two compartments fore.”
Gorast was only able to contain the itch until the door on the other end of the car closed behind them, then the long forgotten and entirely unpleasant sensation of a coughing fit took her. For a few moments it felt like her throat was attempting to escape through her eye sockets, her claws clasped over her mouth.
When it finished and she steadily got to remember the other two Makuta near her she noticed they’d both reeled back from her. She probably looked a mess, a hideous reminder of the weaknesses they’d once had. She wanted to shout at them, snarl and snap until they knew better than to think her weak, but her throat was already enough of a mess right now. She shook an unpleasant amount of mucus from her hands as she stood. Stalking over to Mutran she hunched over him and pointed to her throat.
“Fix this,” she commanded hoarsely. The look in her eyes must have been vicious if the way Mutran jumped was any indication. His eyes flashed blue as he carefully brought up a hand and pressed it to her throat, she felt her flesh weaving itself back together under her armour and let out a grateful sigh. “Thanks,” she said, moving back to her seat.
“Offer?” Antroz asked, crooking an eyebrow at her.
“She’s still on about hearing about my titles,” Gorast shot back, crossing her arms. Antroz made a disinterested sound and settled back in his seat as Gorast let her mind wander for a few minutes.
Gorast’s expression twitched and she glanced sidelong at Antroz as an idea began to form. They needed to keep control of the narrative; Antroz hadn’t lied about anything yet, just inflated the importance of certain events while downplaying others, but he’d been light on the details. She knew she’d be getting suspicious if someone did that to her.
She felt a grin stretching across her face and shook her head, schooling it into a more grim expression, her brow furrowed and her mouth in a firm line. Antroz was a great strategist but he worked in broad strokes, never specifics. Specifics broke down on contact with the enemy, but they were exactly what they needed now to seal the deal, and if there was one thing she had in abundance it was stories.
If she got to prove herself by spending half the ride or more directly in front of Luna and then walking away without a second glance, that was just a bonus.
She rose and started making her way to the door on the front end of the compartment.
“Where are you going?” Antroz growled as she opened the door.
“To secure the narrative,” she snarled in response, ducking through before he could say anything more.
______
Luna set herself down beside Princess Twilight, across from Captain Frigid Wind, Vamprah stood in the aisle, seemingly content to wait. She gave each of them a firm nod, smiling slightly to herself as she saw the Captain bow deep enough that it nearly wrested him from his seat.
“Rise, good Captain,” Luna chuckled, “we may ride to battle. I would do well to regard you as adviser instead of subordinate on this night, as would you.” Frigid Wind sat straight in his seat again. “Hath there been any developments since the call which summoned us?”
“No, not yet,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “There weren’t many guards in the area to begin with, and we haven’t been able to contact the ones who were.”
“We already thought this,” Frigid began carefully, “but the fact that they didn’t answer probably means they were captured with everyone else.”
“Confirmation of suspicion is useful as new information when one knows little of a situation.” Luna gestured for Vamprah to settle next to Frigid Wind, “sit, noble Makuta, we must be rested when we arrive.”
As Vamprah obeyed she turned to Twilight, “you took rest afore we left as I advised?”
“It was already afternoon when Tempest called me,” Twilight said, rubbing the back of her head nervously, “so it was only a quick nap, but yeah.”
“So long as you are primed it shall be enough,” Luna nodded, “and what of you, Captain?” He blinked in surprise but nodded.
“I had the night shift tonight anyways.” He grinned sardonically, “ready as I’ll ever be to fight a mechanical hulk.” Luna let out a quick chortle at that.
“This Takua is rather different than what you hath been trained for, I will admit.” She allowed herself a moment to let her mood sober, “the surrounding area ist primarily tundra?”
“There is a small group of recently planted conifers nearby,” Frigid said with a nod. “We built the guard station in part to oversee their growth, but yes, beyond that it’s mostly flat ground.”
Luna turned to Twilight, who jumped slightly. Luna cocked her head as the obvious presented itself unexpectedly. This would be Twilight’s first organized campaign, each other time she found herself engrossed in combat it had been chaotic, a matter of ambush or lone stands. It should have been expected that Twilight would feel out of place here, yet Luna found herself taken aback by her own surprise. As the more experienced party, soothing her junior’s troubled thoughts fell to her.
“Peace, Twilight,” she spoke with as comforting a smile as she could muster, “we old warhorses simply prepare for the worst as matter of habit, we leave it to you to guide us along the best.” Twilight nodded, her posture straightening. Luna always marvelled at how quickly Celestia’s protege recovered from moments of self doubt with but the slightest assurance. Her sister and fate had chosen well their champion.
“The terrain doesn’t give us many options for approaching unnoticed,” Twilight started, “which is probably why they picked it; but that’s alright, because the plan was always to try and talk to them first, right?” She glanced to Luna and Frigid Wind, both of whom nodded in response. “Not much point in sneaking around if they already know we’re here.”
Her expression collapsed a little, as if she was shamed something had passed through her mind. “However, it would be best to approach from the side away from the trees and have some of us take a longer path around to reach them while remaining out of sight.” Luna nodded as understanding bloomed behind her eyes. “That way if negotiations break down we’ll have a base of operations already secured, and they’ll be expecting us from the other direction. It won’t be much of a surprise advantage, but it’ll be one.”
“Excellent work, Twilight,” Luna grinned at her, “we’ll make a politician of you yet.” At Twilight’s wince she gave her a firm pat on the back, “I jest, I jest; a method of retreat to better ground is simply good sense. One should ne’er enter a conflict without, whether they be encounters of word or blade.”
They discussed what routes to take from the sparse patch of forest to the town itself for a minute longer, but with as little information as they had it quickly devolved into retreading ground already settled. Luna was rather grateful for the interruption of the compartment door all but slamming open.
Twilight and Frigid both jumped like startled cats, turning to face the door with horns alight. Luna couldn’t help the grin that settled onto her face as she turned to face Gorast, who had grabbed the door on the way back closed and was testing it to ensure she hadn’t broken anything. Luna waved a wing for Frigid Wind to stand down, Twilight having dismissed the magic she’d been gathering once she’d seen who it was. He threw her a cautious glance, to which she simply nodded.
“Lady Gorast of the North, to what do we owe the pleasure?” Luna asked, Gorast standing straighter to attention in response, either content with or resolving to ignore any possible damage to the door.
“It’s… tradition in many places in Mata Nui to share stories before a conflict.” Gorast replied, though she spat the word tradition like a curse, stepping closer until she was standing just in front of Vamprah. “So that everyone knows they can rely on their ally’s skill in battle.”
“Ah,” Luna couldn’t help the way her expression lit up, if Gorast was finally willing to talk with her this was promising to be a momentous occasion indeed. “A grand pastime, it’s been far too long since last I partook.” Lighting her horn she conjured a cushion of adequate size for Gorast to sit upon behind her. “Sit if you art spin us a tale, center stage ist yours.”
“I didn’t realize there’d be this much of an audience,” she grumbled, but sat down nonetheless. “I thought it would just be you, Luna.” Luna waved her off.
“What use is sharing great deeds between just us two? Captain Frigid Wind and Princess Twilight Sparkle can spread them farther than just I.” She clapped her hooves, unable to quite contain her excitement, though the display seemed curious to Gorast. Gorast’s gaze flitted to the other two ponies in the room, who each nodded their assent.
“I suppose,” Gorast sat up straighter, a pride catching in her eyes and the set of her shoulders, “you wanted to hear the stories behind my titles?”
“One in particular has captured my imagination,” Luna spoke eagerly, her wings shivering at her sides. “You claimed yourself Vanquisher of Kalmah of the Six Kingdoms; your other titles describe places or armies, Tren Krom Peninsula, Abomination’s Caravan, Visorak Horde, this names a person. How was it you found yourself against such a formidable foe?” Gorast cocked her head, obviously surprised by just how much Luna had anticipated this discussion.
“The Six Kingdoms,” Gorast began, pride and memory quickly overtaking her surprise, “were a coalition of lands under the control of six Warlords calling themselves the Barraki.” She lifted her arms, the two separating into four so she could more emphatically gesture. “After we Makuta began to stabilize Mata Nui’s ecosystem many beings found they had the power to command the Rahi we created. Most used this ability for simple things, labour, agriculture and the like, but the Barraki saw an opportunity. Gathering armies of our grander Rahi and the savage Zyglak they separately began campaigns of conquest across Mata Nui.
“At first,” Gorast brought up one of her upper arms, her wings buzzing, “we saw no reason to interfere, each of the Barraki was power hungry and territorial; though the Toa were duty-bound to defend their lands against them, we Makuta believed that once they encountered each other they would make war on each other, eventually destroying themselves.”
She clenched the raised hand into a fist, “we were wrong. Instead of turning on one another they allied together, creating a force too great for the Toa and their allies to hold at bay. So, for the first time, they called upon us. Many Makuta answered the call, myself among them. Led by our old leader Miserix we were assigned to different Barraki.
“There was Pridak: the Unifier, a being of savage power who led his forces from the front,” she planted her fists together with a clang, “he had swayed the others to his cause by force of his unwavering resolve and absolute conviction that together they could rule over all. Antroz was given an army of Toa and a small force of Makuta to meet him in open battle on the front lines of the war.”
Drawing her four hands apart they crackled with electricity as her eyes flashed blue and yellow and she held Luna at rapt attention. “Ehlek: the Terror, a beast of rampant hatred; schooled on the failed Zyglak’s fury against the Matoran who had usurped them as custodians of Mata Nui’s functions, and adept in steady wars of attrition, which he used to sow fear and obedience through slaughter. Chirox led a force against him, shoring up defenses in Matoran settlements and cities.
“Takadox: the Whispering Madness, a cowardly mastermind with an army of slaves who sought to rule all from the shadows through a powerful ability of mind control.” Her eyes blazed red, “with a single stare he could dismantle chains of command, counter subterfuge and sow treachery among all but the most steadfast of souls. None were to know who moved against him, though we all had our suspicions and they were ultimately successful.
“Next was Mantax: the Silent, secretive and crafty,” Gorast spread her arms and the darkness answered her call, rising with a quiet growl to shroud itself across her like a cloak. “He waged war in bursts, armies whittled away by his lightning fast hit and run tactics, he severed and raided his enemies’ chains of supply and communications, once a force went quiet, you knew Mantax had struck. Makuta Bitil led a force in safeguarding supply caravans, hoping for the opportunity to engage Mantax in open combat.”
She lowered her arms, the shadows falling back away from her. “Carapar: the Crusher, a ruthless commander who took no prisoners other than the stones of the fortresses he claimed. At the head of an army of siege machines he would claim and hold important ports, passes and halfway forts through sheer strength. Though he was no fool, it was after he feigned surrender to poison the force resisting him that the Toa realized they could no more stop the Barraki than they could prevent the suns from rising. Krika was given a large force of Makuta and Toa together in order to break his stride.”
She chuckled darkly, “but for all our combined might and plans there was one who could guide the Barraki to victory against any odds. Kalmah: the Strategist. Beyond cunning with the power to match he knew the strengths and weaknesses of all his allies by heart, skillfully leveraging each to ensure there was never a misstep in the Barraki’s march to ultimate power.
“Where Carapar, Ehlek and Pridak were powerful but often reckless, leading from the head of their forces and shouting of their triumphs;” Gorast’s posture straightened out to an almost regal profile. “Kalmah was careful and measured, rarely bragging and watching his forces from above, only interfering if he deemed it necessary. He reigned in the tempers and ambitions of those three great Warlords to keep them aimed true, preventing losses that would have crushed their campaign.
“Where Mantax and Takadox were cunning but often fearful, lacking the resolve to take risks that would benefit their cause in the long run; Kalmah was steady and sure, there have been perhaps two others in our history who could match his absolute conviction that he had the skill, power, and Destiny to reign supreme over all.” She pounded her right pair of clenched fists against her chest, “he bolstered their courage, guiding them to victories they would never have dreamed to reach on their own.”
Gorast’s eyes burned with remembered determination. “He was my foe. The warriors of the Vortixx have a saying in my home, leaders are judged by the quality of their enemies, and if that is true then I have every right to be legendary for my clash with Kalmah.
“I was granted a small but elite force of experienced Toa and instructed to wage a guerrilla war against him to cut off his messengers to the other Barraki. The hope was to keep the Barraki from properly coordinating, leaving them vulnerable to counterattack from the other forces.
“At first this proved difficult, as Kalmah had the wherewithal to create secret ways for his heralds to travel, but steadily my Toa and I were able to root them out. We mapped the networks of tunnels he had constructed and captured a few messengers to learn the overland routes they had in reserve. By the end of the campaign season we were ready to begin in earnest.”
She let out a humorless chuckle, “of course, Miserix was furious with my lack of measurable progress. While I had been mapping the region, Carapar had begun knocking on my homeland of Destral’s doors. I promised him results once the next series of campaigns began, and I delivered.
“That second season we were able to force him into a complete blackout, intercepting every messenger he sent not without struggle, but handily. We collapsed his tunnels, hunted down his heralds, and ensured he never heard a whisper of what was happening.”
She snapped her teeth in a sharp grin, “from what I’ve been told it was chaos, without a clear plan each of the Barraki simply did as they saw fit in destructive but ultimately fruitless ways. Miserix and Krika took credit for being the first to properly break through one of Carapar’s sieges, but if Kalmah had still been able to advise him it would have been a much harder won victory.”
Gorast’s savage smile twitched slightly, “of course, Pridak was even more furious with Kalmah than Miserix had been with me. For the first time since the war began, he left the front line to pay Kalmah a visit. Drunk on my early successes I sent a spy into Kalmah’s fortress to report on the meeting; I’d thought Kalmah being clueless about what we’d done would make him look like a traitor trying to save his hide, instead it lit a fury in him unlike any I’ve ever seen.”
She clenched her fists, “most people’s anger burns hot, makes them lash out, Kalmah’s rage burned so cold that Pridak himself was cowed. Kalmah was the sort who wouldn’t tell you he was angry, he didn’t shout, he wouldn’t become reckless or hateful, you would just know; it made my spy flee the moment he felt it, and when we finally met on the battlefield I could hardly move under the weight of his rage.”
Her hands released, “but that was far off; at the time I’d already known Kalmah maintained a calm facade at all times and I took the fact that it had broken even the slightest as another victory.”
Her face became grim, “and in my arrogance I didn’t adjust my plans to take into account what that anger would mean for his own. I had expected him to set his sights on us, try to attack us directly. I had a plan for that. I expected him to give his messengers better protection so they could break through our lines, I had plans for that.
“What I hadn’t expected was the kind of trap he laid for us. He scattered his messengers to the wind, spreading them too far for us to intercept them all if we remained together as we had. I split our parties, spreading us thin in an attempt to capture as many as I could, and in doing so, fell right into his trap.”
She raised a hand as if cupping something delicate, “the next wave of messengers I thought we were ready for them, I’d cast our net wider than it had ever been, a force of two hundred spread out into groups of two. That was when he bolstered his defenses. What I thought would be difficult but manageable skirmishes became a rout across the entire island, my Toa crushed and swept aside by Kalmah’s army.”
She clenched the raised hand and her teeth in the same moment, making a sound like breaking glass. “That was my first taste of casualties. Most of the Toa had the good sense to retreat when they saw the battles were moving against them, but some were injured, and in those cases their partners stayed behind, held the way while they escaped.
“I was young, my head was filled with dreams of heroism and honor.” She waved her hands dismissively as she spoke, but the fire still in her eyes spoke to her continued belief in such ideals. “Toa never killed, none of the messengers we had captured had been killed, merely imprisoned. So when they told me what had happened I thought to propose a trade, Kalmah’s lost messengers for the Toa I was sure he had captured as similar leverage. I was wrong.
“I went to the places the Toa had given cover to their allies, expecting to find Kalmah’s agents ready to make a deal. Instead I found my Toa, their bodies broken, their Kanohi shattered, left for the scavengers in the dirt. Kalmah had crushed them and cast them aside. Fifty Toa gone, without a trace of respect or honor.”
She ground her teeth, “to my shame I wasn’t angry, I didn’t vow vengeance or pledge myself to protect the rest of my subordinates in that moment. I was ashamed that my orders had sent those Toa to such fates, but mostly I was… terrified that it might happen again. That next time, perhaps it would even be me lying there, dead in the mud.”
She stopped for a long moment, tensing and relaxing, her face contorted as she seemed to wrestle with herself. “I wanted to give up, to give command to someone else, anything if it meant I wouldn’t have to see what he had in store for us after that.”
She paused again and took a deep breath, “yet, those Toa that remained looked to the future, not at what this battle had cost them. They looked to me, I had led them to flawless victory last time. To see them, ready to follow me after such a devastating loss, it lit a fire in me; I swore I would never let something like that happen to them again.” She let out a dry chuckle. “They told me not to make promises.”
She shook her head, “I reworked our strategies. We were far stronger together, focused, separated we were easy pickings for Kalmah’s bolstered guard. We became more choosy with our targets. Despite Miserix’ ravings whenever he lost a battle we didn’t need to stop them all, just the ones we were sure held the most strategic importance. We kept in close touch with other forces so we would know when and where pivotal events were happening, figured out how to time when Kalmah’s most important messages would be sent out and began putting the pressure back on him.”
Her smile began to come back, softer this time, fond remembrance sparkling behind her eyes, “for years we worked at our mission, spent long days and nights revelling in our victories and mourning our losses, and changed the course of battles across the world with a few well snatched messengers.”
Gorast spoke at length, describing the harrowing battles she had led against Kalmah during those years. Her movements sweeping and excited she lauded the Toa’s quick thinking, wove tapestries of her own moments of heroism, told of last minute escapes, successful schemes, of Kalmah’s generals slain by her hand in retribution for the fallen Toa, and valiant stands to secure invaluable advantages for her allies on other fronts of the war. In the corner of her eye Luna could see Twilight taking notes, more information on the Toa’s physical capabilities than any of them had been able to pry out of the Makuta before spun into the tale Gorast weaved.
Through it all Gorast’s wide, fanged grin was genuine; the excitement, the nostalgia in her voice and expression plain to see, and it all centered on those Toa, her old allies. The longer she spoke, the more convinced Luna became that beneath the rage and savage posturing, Gorast had been, perhaps still was, a being who cherished Loyalty above all else. “Together we were able to overcome any guard he stationed along his routes, defeat any of the beasts he sent to root us out. In those years the Toa I led became more than subordinates, they were My Toa, we were Hagah, Pactsworn. My Brothers... and Sisters...”
Her smile slipped away, her shoulders trembling with some restrained emotion; Luna caught her gaze, a deep resentment burning from Gorast for a long moment. “I... usually skip that part,” Gorast coughed, her movements becoming more sedate. “After a particularly successful season- Carapar failed another siege, Mantax was pushed out of a region, and Ehlek was forced to narrowly escape capture thanks to the messages we intercepted- Kalmah’s rage was so great that he unleashed every messenger he had. A veritable flood of underlings ran rampant across the island, the chaos was so great that we had trouble managing to capture any of them.
“Those we did all carried the same orders, “hold position.”” Her grin turned vicious again, the mask of savagery slipping back into place. “We had become too annoying to ignore any longer. Kalmah was going to deal with us personally.
“I contacted Miserix with the news, pleading for more forces so that I could march out to meet Kalmah in a proper battle. Miserix refused, where I saw an opportunity to take off the most dangerous head of the beast that was the Six Kingdoms, he saw a chance to declaw them entirely. He gave me a new mission, survive as long as possible, help would come once the other Barraki were dealt with.”
She clicked her tongue, “there was a wisdom in his plan, the other five would still run rampant without Kalmah to direct their efforts and while Kalmah was formidable his true strength was in how effectively he directed the other five. If they had been given orders to stay where they were it presented the greatest opportunity we’d had the entire war to take the fight back to them, to press an offensive where before we’d been running damage control.
“But, as I said, I was young, and I felt I’d already spent too long running and hiding from Kalmah, so I defied him. Luckily I was no fool, I knew I couldn’t defeat Kalmah in open combat. I made a plan and led my Toa in harrying the forces Kalmah sent to find us, whittling down his armies until I was sure Kalmah himself would make his move.
“For all our work, for all our skill and strength, I noticed a pattern begin to emerge.” She snorted, “each time Kalmah’s forces began to close in there was always a weak point, a route of escape we could push through, but each of them took us farther from Kalmah’s fortress. He wasn’t trying to defeat us in these skirmishes, he was herding us into position with our backs against the mountain on the far western side of the island. It was there he would try to crush us.”
Her grin turned sly, “but this time, I believed I had outplayed him. I had known he would try to force us into a corner there, and so I’d sent ahead five of my Toa Hagah, three of Stone and two of Earth, to dig a tunnel through the mountain for us to retreat through when I had first arrived on the island.”
The grin fell, “again, I fell right into his trap. He’d known about the tunnel, and when we tried to escape through it he waited until we were deep within the mountain with no other ways out than through and sent swarms of his forces in after us from both sides, bottling us up inside.
“The battle was long and grueling, I don’t know how familiar you are with fighting underground, but every step is a struggle, and your abilities are restrained for fear of bringing a mountain down on your head. It became a task of endurance, I was sure I could survive, but I could hardly abandon them, and for Toa, a battle of attrition is certain death.” She shook her head, “they are duty bound never to kill, only subdue, only capture, and underground even in that they’re hobbled. The Toa of physical abilities couldn’t properly capture their targets, each one they did was less room to maneuver, the Toa of destructive powers couldn’t unleash their might to properly subdue their opponents without risking being buried in the result. So Kalmah only had to wait and retrieve his fallen, eventually those we subdued would be on their feet again; as his force inside swelled with newly rested and those emboldened by their survival, mine began to tire and panic.”
She took a deep breath, “I gave an order to my Toa of Stone and Earth, seal us off from the rest of the tunnel, to buy me time to convince them to follow a different order. Kalmah had planned his assault based on one fact he thought immutable, a weakness of the Toa that made them contemptible in his eyes. So, to win the day, I needed to convince my Toa to shed that weakness, to strike without mercy or hesitation. If we were to survive, if my Hagah, my… Siblings, were to live, they would need to take life.”
Gorast drew herself tall, her gaze daring them to say something, perhaps berate her for calling on those pledged not to kill to forsake that oath. Luna met her eyes steadily, war was war, as noble and good as the Toa’s oath was, there were myriad reasons Equestria preferred champions to armies, preferred diplomacy to outright battle. The right people in the right place could resolve conflict without a drop of blood spilt, the right words spoken over a table could prevent that conflict from rising in the first place. War was death, the two as inseparable as light and dark. Gorast’s gaze softened slightly, a new respect flickering in her eyes.
Luna did not look to Twilight, but she knew the conflict no doubt rushing through her mind. Twilight had known Equestria’s way her entire life, it had been challenged again and again, but each time Twilight and her friends had been able to prevail. There had been singular deaths in King Sombra and the Storm King, but never had she been forced to mete out oblivion to an army.
Gorast nodded, “they hesitated, but I pressed, I pleaded with them. Kalmah would accept no surrender and we had come too far, fought too hard, to fall then. Our allies were counting on us, if we fell then Kalmah would be able to resume control of the Six Kingdoms’ movements unimpeded. I swore to them I would take responsibility, I wouldn’t abandon them once the fight was over, it would be my orders, they were My Toa, any retribution would fall to me.”
Her breath hitched slightly, “it should have fallen to me. I convinced them, and when Kalmah’s forces broke through our barrier they were met with a force resolved. We pushed through his army, a horde of dead in our wake as we ran, and as we saw sunlight once more he was there waiting for us, Kalmah.
“His wrath pressed down on me like a weight around my neck and a chill in my core. In that moment I was certain that despite our best efforts, despite my Toa Hagah’s sacrifice of their oaths, despite my own faith in them or any strength we may have mustered, that we were going to die at his hand.
“But as I had called to my Toa before, they called to me then, and I felt my resolve return. Our last stand was vicious as we carved our way to Kalmah. A Toa unleashed is a truly awe inspiring sight, none could stand against us for longer than a moment but Kalmah himself.
“Kalmah fought with all the determination of a predator denied its kill and all the skill of a master, it was only by our devotion to one another that none were lost in that fight, many times we were forced to give up on a finishing blow to defend or rescue one of our Siblings from his fury.
“He grabbed me by my throat, thinking it could keep my voice from reaching the others, that if he could keep me from directing them for just a moment he could turn the tide.” She grinned and her eyes swirled with red and black, her voice reverberating deep and metallic, “but I can never be silenced. I loosed a Howl in his face, he reeled for a moment and that was all the opening we needed. We brought to bear every force we had at our disposal and dashed him against the mountainside. Seeing their commander fallen and my Toa unchained his Zyglak ran, and without his will directing them his Rahi calmed. Victorious, the world knew us as Hagah, Vanquishers of Kalmah.”
She chuckled, her arms weaving back together as she clenched her fists, “to this day, no punch I’ve thrown has been quite as satisfying as the one that split Kalmah’s forehead.”
“A rousing tale!” Luna belted, “if that we had good drink to make a toast with for it.”
“Um,” Twilight cleared her throat, “what happened to the Toa?” Gorast’s expression twitched, her lip curling into a snarl.
“No one else accepted my responsibility for their actions, so they were exiled for breaking their oaths.” She scoffed, “it was unfortunate, but I took them in personally and they became my honor guard. All Toa assigned to protect Makuta from that point forwards were known as Hagah.”
“No,” Twilight shook her head, her wings ruffling as she seemed to search for the words. “Where are they now?” Gorast stiffened, her shoulders rising up about her neck.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” she snarled, bitterness straining in her voice.
“You were friends, and more, with them,” Twilight pressed, lost to the idea sparking behind her eyes.
“It doesn’t matter,” Gorast hissed.
“But they could help us n-”
“I said it doesn’t matter!” She rose to her feet, looming over Twilight with her teeth bared. Luna blinked, as much threat as Gorast was pouring into her glare it was soft at the edges, her arms curled on herself slightly in defense instead of ready for attack. “Don’t push me.” Gorast shook her head, her body shuddering again and her breath coming in enraged heaves.
Gorast’s eyes swept to Luna as she pulled away from Twilight, pinning Luna again with a vicious resentment as she murmured, “so I can be angry around you.” She turned and headed for the door she came from, speaking louder, “they’re not dead, and I don’t think I’ll do this again.”
“On the chance that you do,” Luna replied, gathering herself to keep her voice from wobbling with the sympathy she felt swelling in her chest, “I shall await your return nonetheless.” Gorast’s stride did not hitch, her head did not turn, but her hands clenched and her laboured breathing caught as she pushed her way through the door.
“I-” Twilight took a moment to catch her breath, her feathers and mane mussed by how firmly she’d pressed herself to the seat behind her under Gorast’s glare. “I talked faster than I listened, didn’t I?”
“Aye,” Luna nodded; turning to face her. “Twilight, I fear for her.” Twilight cocked her head.
“She’s angry, sure, but I think she’s got enough of a grip to keep her from doing anything stupid.” She said, “and the other Makuta can keep an eye on her.” She grinned a bit sheepishly, “I think.”
“Nay, ‘tis not her disposition that worries me.” Luna glanced over to Vamprah, who had the side of his mask turned placidly towards her, the ever present observation of his mind quiet, unstirred. “She treasured her Siblings, yet she spoke possessively of them. They were hers, not just to command but in essence. She covets Loyalty as an ideal, but her understanding ist… crude, foal’s play to manipulate.”
Vamprah’s head lifted, understanding spreading across his features. “The other Makuta fear betrayal by their leader, Gorast clings to a conviction that it cannot be. If my suspicions are correct, the Toa Hagah betrayed her at some point. I know not how a loyalist such as she shall react should it be revealed that betrayal has come upon her doorstep again. Especially if her devotion to this Teridax is as she imagined that of the Toa Hagah would be to her.”
______
It wasn’t much longer after Gorast left that Twilight stepped off the train into the bitter cold air of the tundra. She nodded to captain Frigid Wind, who greeted the cold with a slight grin and nodded back before moving down the length of the train to unload the other Guards who came with them so they could make their way to the green speck of trees Twilight could see on the horizon.
She felt anxiety clawing at her throat. She had more of an idea of what to expect thanks to Gorast’s impromptu story time, but until she’d seen it there were always ways for the Toa to surprise her and she still knew nothing of these Skakdi. She focused on the feeling of the paper coin tucked into her down feathers and took a deep breath, it would warm once Frigid Wind reached his destination. If worse came to worst they only had to keep whoever they were about to meet talking until he did.
Luna stepped out next to her, standing tall against the cold, her coat and feathers fluffing as she stared grimly out at the fog that blocked out all of what they could see of the town from here.
“It reminds of how Sombra’s foul influence suffused the Crystal Empire,” Luna said, her eyes narrowing as steam from her breath swirled around her snout. “An ill omen.” She turned to Twilight as Vamprah slid out of the train to stand behind her, head low and ready.
“Or them trying to make the environment more suitable for them,” Twilight responded, reeling in her nerves with the security of having Princess Luna with her. “Other than Toa of Ice, I don’t think many of them would like this kind of cold.”
As Luna hummed in consideration Twilight saw the other Makuta stepping off the train. Only Gorast showed any reaction to the cold, hesitating and shivering for a moment before her eyes began to swirl with green and yellow. Antroz and Mutran continued without acknowledging it, Antroz’ head high, wings hanging loose and stride sure with Mutran slouched beside him, hands on his hips and wings folded in close.
“We ready to go?” Antroz asked, stopping next to Twilight at a gentle poke from Mutran.
“If you are,” Twilight responded, noting how Gorast pointedly didn’t look at her. Antroz said something to Mutran in their tongue, Mutran shook his head and said something back.
“We are,” Antroz seemed to settle on, gesturing for Twilight and Luna to take the lead.
The walk there was spent in silence, the plan wasn’t especially complicated, everyone knew where to be. If things went well they could relax, but if they didn’t everyone needed to get as close to Twilight as possible.
A pit began to open up in her stomach, dread making her limbs feel heavier. It was quiet as they approached the fog bank, too quiet, even the soft rustle of the wind seemed muted near it. Twilight glanced around to see if the others noticed; Luna’s expression was stone, but her ears flicked against the air, swivelling on her head. Antroz’ expression had fallen into a placid stare, one of his hands going up to rub at the side of his mask. Vamprah’s expression was the easiest to read, a slight grin hiding his fangs. Gorast and Mutran didn’t seem to have noticed.
Twilight stopped once she began to make out the shadows of the buildings beyond the fog and raised her voice.
“Hello?” She called out into the gloom, her voice seeming smaller than she’d meant it to without the slight echos that normally bolstered sounds. There was a long moment of nothing, Gorast and Vamprah tensing where they stood, ready to react at a moment’s notice. Luna’s eyes scanned the mist and Twilight kept her gaze forwards.
The click of metal on stone broke the silence, coming through clear and reverberating despite the muffling fog almost seeming to reach out towards them. A light appeared in the mist, moving steadily closer as the clicking grew louder. As it neared the edge a shape began to appear behind it, a hunched, bipedal shadow, partially hidden by the flowing shape of a cloak. The light emerged from the fog, cementing itself into the shape of a silvery lantern, held in a black hand by a metal band looping above it.
As the creature’s golden face appeared it stepped out of the fog and another shape formed behind it, easily looming twice its height, staring out at them.
Twilight found herself at a loss for words for a long moment as it looked out over them. It fit Tempest’s description almost to a T, but the reality of it was different. The heavy breathing coming from its skyward turned face and the way it supported itself on the spear in its other hand gave off the impression of something injured, but the keen purple eyes peering out of the bored looking golden mask and the deliberate steadiness with which it moved and held its lantern made her think this thing was trying to project an absolute invulnerability. It didn’t matter if its shoulders heaved with every breath, it didn’t matter if it had to lean on its staff, it was in control.
Somehow, this only made the creature feel more volatile.
“Well,” the creature broke the silence again, the mandibles in its frontward facing face clicking as its voice rang clear, almost shrill and dripping in disdain. “Teridax’ Watch-hounds, I should have figured no one but you could make that much noise.” Antroz didn’t react but Mutran took a step forwards, his brow furrowed with a mixture of confusion and concern.
“What noise?” Antroz cut him off, holding up an arm to keep Mutran behind him, “and how do you know us?”
“I’m not surprised you don’t recognize me, brother,” it spat, taking another step forwards. “Your foolishness didn’t leave behind much for me to salvage, after all.”
“Foolishness?” Antroz pressed, “what are you talking about?”
“Noise?” The creature sneered, “foolishness? Don’t play dumb with me, Antroz, it doesn’t suit you.” Its forward facing eyes widened, the heavy breathing of its upward facing mouth growing faster; Twilight noticed in the corner of her eye that Gorast had gone very still. “Anyone with an Olmak could have felt what you did to get here and everyone with a pulse knows what you did before you left.” A dark chuckle came from it, “luckily for me, I’m the only one left with access to the former.”
“Tridax?” Mutran blurted out, shoving Antroz’ arm aside. “Is that you?” The thing let out another laugh, its eyes flashing between four different colours before it settled back to purple. “What happened to you, brother?”
“Of course it’s you that gets it right, you and Chirox are the ones who taught Teridax how to pull off this little stunt, aren’t you?” He pointed his spear at the golden mask. “Of course, I had to go through a couple extra steps thanks to this fool I ended up attached to.” His eyes flicked to Twilight, who was feeling more than a little lost in the conversation. There was history between the Makuta and this Tridax, far more than she’d been given, leaving her feeling like she was trying to plug a leak with a paper towel. “While you’ve been out here enjoying your reward, I’ve been forced to live off of this mad idiot like some lowly parasite!”
The apelike face began to cackle, a sound that came out more desperate wheeze than laugh. Tridax grimaced and rammed the flat of his spear into its teeth, “shut up! I’m talking!” He pointed his spear out at Twilight, his eyes twitching as he tried to regain the look of disdainful composure he’d been wearing before. “And what’s this, domesticated the locals already?” She decided that was as good a queue as any to enter the conversation.
“Actually,” Twilight started, drawing a grimace from Tridax. “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria,” she drew herself tall under the withering glare Tridax was giving her. “You have kidnapped our citizens and taken one of our towns, I am here to negotiate for their release.”
“Ah,” Tridax’ glare broke with an amused huff, the growing tension in his body starting to fall away, “you’re the one that idiot Tempest won’t shut up about. I should have figured her call had reached someone.”
“Tempest! What have you done with her?” Twilight took a step forwards.
“A high tolerance for Shadow Leeches on that one,” He said, stalking back and forth in front of the looming shadow in the mist, Mutran flinched in the corner of Twilight’s eye. “Is she yours?” He taunted, having a target to mock seeming to calm his nerves back down until he was almost carrying himself with professionalism. “You should be proud to have someone with that kind of willpower serving you.” He turned his back on them as Twilight took another step forwards and Antroz raised his voice.
“Trida-”
“Takua!” Tridax cut off Antroz’ shout, planting his spear in the ground and raising his hand to snap his fingers, “dispose of these traitors!” The hulking shape in the mist lunged.
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Rahkshi/Kraata of Ice Resistance are Red and Yellow, and it's TAKANUVA
9202934
I'm going by Kraata colours, also the Makuta are being intentionally disrespectful by refusing to use his Toa name.
9203029
Oh I see on the Takua thing,*checks Rahkshi and Kraata colors* oh you were right the colors of the Kraata and the Rahkshi are different which doesn't make sense IMHO.
9203063
The Kraata thing is weird, but it's a thing that I made sure to take into account specifically to avoid people trying to get an "Aha! Gotcha!" off of me like you just tried to.
9203071
It's honestly impressive how much you've taken what the lore gives you and expanded upon it.
9204157
Thank you very much! I've always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the way the worldbuilding in Bionicle worked. It showed off how much stuff was in the world without hardly ever showing how it all related to each other; the end result being that it gives you a whole lot to work with and keep track of but not a lot of structure to work within. So over the years I've basically gone Conspiracy Postboard with it trying to tie everything together, which leads to the Aggressive Expansion you see here.
I'm pretty proud of it, to be honest.
9204165
Do you actually have a conspiracy post board? Cause if you do that's pretty sweet
9204350
Hehe, no, sorry, it's all mental.
9204493
Don't worry we're ALL mental here.
9204495
9204493
*Cackles like a madman*