In an abandoned factory in the industrial sector of Gundaru Nui, an old piece of machinery crawled down an isle of workstations. It had no eyes or ears to see or hear with, but it could sense vibrations through the ground, and in its mind it had developed a complete map of the entire building. Since Toa Buna's Mask of Animation had brought it to life, it had come to identify this place as home. Every day, it wandered the old, dusty hallways and chased off the occasional Rahi.
Suddenly, it sensed a foreign presence in the room. This didn't feel like anything it had encountered before. It moved towards the disturbance to investigate. Whatever the intruder was must have detected the machine as well, for it could sense it moving as well.
Eventually the machine reached the intruder. It revved up a pair of rusty buzz saws in an attempt to intimidate the intruder. Instead of turning tail and running, the intruder pushed past. This puzzled the machine. Nothing had ever dismissed it like that before. This time it charged at the intruder, ready to rip it to pieces.
It felt something block its attack. It attacked again, and its saws locked with the intruder's weapon. It struggled to overcome the intruder's strength, but its efforts were in vain.
The machine felt the intruder's weapon begin to hum with energy. For a brief moment, nothing happened, then an explosion. It felt a powerful impact that sent it skidding across the factory floor. It could feel pieces coming off where the impact had hit.
The machine felt a new sensation that it had never felt before: rage. It charged at the intruder, buzz saws prepared to cut the intruder to ribbons. It fell upon the intruder, slashing with its saws, but all of its attacks were parried. It felt another heavy impact, just like the first. It could feel more of its parts coming of, but it held its ground. It felt another impact, and another, and the machine slumped to the ground.
The machine felt a sudden nothingness as its consciousness ceased to exist.
In the dim light of the factory, a Ba'aru stood over the smoking remains of an old machine, bright blue energy still crackling between its claws.
A couple yards away, another Ba'aru materialized. The two exchanged a brief greeting, and then began blasting blue projectiles of energy at the old factory equipment, clearing away the long-unused machines. Another Ba'aru arrived, this one walking through a gigantic hole in one of the factory walls. Without a word, he, too, began to blast the old machinery with energy. Two more Ba'aru appeared next to him, and they joined in the destruction as well. Soon, a large, circular area of the factory floor was completely cleared of machinery.
The five of them stood at the edges of the circle facing inward. Then, they began to gather swirling, green energy between their claws. As the energy began to engulf their claws, they plunged their claws into the factory floor. A glowing green circle shimmered on the floor, hollow at first. Then the floor inside the circle began to glow green as well, the color moving in undulating, wavelike patterns. The Ba'aru stood stock-still; their icy blue eyes now the same shade of green as the portal.
In his fortress, Makuta Vidaraz watched the five Ba'aru with anticipation as the green portal materialized on the ground between them.
"It's about time I sent my sons to the city of Gundaru Nui. I haven't let them out to play for centuries; I think they deserve a little exercise. What do you think, little Kraata?"
He opened a plate in his armor and pulled out two long, slimy creatures. They wriggled and hissed in his hands, trying to escape. He turned around and threw one of them into a nearby pool of energized protodermis. Upon hitting the surface, the Kraata released an agonized screech. It sank into the gel-like liquid, still writhing in pain. For a few seconds, the surface of the protodermis was absolutely still. Then, something red and orange broke the surface and fell to the edge of the pool: an empty suit of reptilian Rahkshi armor.
Vidaraz threw the second Kraata to the floor. After recovering from the shock of hitting the ground, it slithered to the empty armor. It crawled up behind the suit and squeezed itself into a compartment on the back, and the Rahkshi came to life. Its eyes began to glow a deep crimson as it stood up.
Once the Kraata had gotten used to the movements of the Rahkshi, it strode to the center of the glowing circle in the floor. Waves of energy inside the portal began to move towards it. They began to rise from the floor, reaching higher and higher, until they completely engulfed the Rahkshi. There was a flash of green light, and the waves abruptly stopped. Where the Rahkshi had been, there was now only empty air.
Vidaraz smiled to himself and drew two more Kraata from his body.
At the factory, the portal began to churn, as if it were being stirred by an invisible spoon. It spiraled faster and faster, and the spiral began to rise in the center. It formed a swirling cylinder about two bio high. A burst of green light flashed within the column. When the light vanished, a Rahkshi stepped out from the portal circle.
The Rahkshi looked around the factory, taking in the new surroundings. Suddenly its head jerked forward. Red bolts of energy flew from the Rahkshi's eyes and struck a factory machine. The equipment was obliterated in a red-hot fireball. The Rahkshi's faceplates opened up to reaveal the Kraata inside, and it let out an ear-piercing shriek.
Behind it, the energy within the portal began to swirl again.