Bitil walked into the guardhouse with a bundle of parts in his arms, depositing them on the table and then taking a step back. Zaekura sat hunched over the disarmament device, busily working on it while Charla and a Guurahk stood to either side of her. She only looked up for a moment at his arrival.

"She really did a number on this," Zaekura murmured as she picked out a component that had melted. "Then again, I guess it's hard to aim a tidal wave of plasma."

"Will your plan still work?" Charla asked.

Zaekura gave a thumbs-up. "You bet! It's intact enough I can see how it works, and it looks like Bitil found all the parts I need. The modifications should work just fine."

Bitil walked over to the edge of the wall, glancing quickly over the battlefield. The drones' forces continued to dwindle, and were now looking quite sparse indeed, meanwhile the runners were nowhere to be seen. He turned and spotted the archer Rahkshi.

"Viq," he called, "were all the drones that broke formation destroyed?"

Viq gave him an uneasy glance, hissing quietly. Bitil started forward.

"What do you mean you lost sight of one? Where did it go?"

Viq pointed: nearly half a mile out was a large rock formation, and apparently the drone had managed to make its way inside before anyone could stop it.

"…I suppose it would be unwise to pursue it in there," Bitil admitted. "Velika could attack us from any angle."

Viq hissed his apologies, but Bitil shook his head.

"I'll take care of it. You just focus on what's left down there."

He teleported near the base of the formation, checking quickly for any signs of the drone. Bright light shone from his palms, and after building for a few seconds, it was released in a wide burst that pulverized the foundation of the rock, causing the entire formation to come tumbling down in a heap. Bitil turned back towards the battle and reached out with his mind.

Antroz, are you there?

The other Makuta cut down a drone and leapt into the sky, saying, "Bitil? What is it?"

A few of the drones were retreating, but we've managed to stop all of them. I thought perhaps I should warn you to be prepared for Velika's next tactic.

"Retreat? Why would he do that?"

It was certainly curious. All were headed in different directions, but there isn't anything out here for miles around. One of them did manage to make it to an outcropping—maybe he intended to lure some fighters over there so he'd have an advantage.

Antroz floated there for a moment, and then slowly turned in Bitil's direction. "Bitil…what do you know of this outcropping?"

Hm? It's a simple pile of rocks. Well, rubble now. The drone is most certainly buried beneath it.

"You don't have proof?"

Bitil sighed. What is it you're getting at, Antroz?

"Think, Bitil! Velika sent one of his drones directly to that pile of rocks—don't you think there might be a reason for that?"

As the other Makuta turned to consider this, he noticed that the mound of debris was starting to shake. He backed away slowly, saying, "Curses, I'm certainly going to hear about this one later…"

The rocks shifted one by one, and then in unison, they all rose several feet into the air. A large hole in the ground could be seen beneath it all, containing a staircase down into the earth that something was currently climbing. Bitil lobbed a ball of plasma at the opening. One of the levitating rocks suddenly darted forth to intercept the attack, while another made for Bitil; he turned intangible to avoid damage, kicking off the ground as he did, and hung in the air as he got a good look at what was emerging from the hidden stairs. It appeared to be the missing drone, but it was a good bit larger now: its body was encased in a massive shell of black stone, with clawed hands that the machine's cannons just barely peeked out from above, and great spiked shoulder plates that dwarfed the tiny eyes blazing between them. Bitil shuddered. He had never paid a great deal of attention to history, but something about this form struck him as eerily similar to an entity predating all Makuta.

"It can't be…an Element Lord?" he muttered.

Velika's laugh echoed from within the stone carapace. Raising his claws, the Great Being said, "Quite a crude form, but with the power it contains, it is a worthwhile trade! The Rock Lord squandered this wondrous gift we gave him…but I shall make no such mistake."

With a flick of his wrist, several tons of rocks went flying at Bitil. The Makuta remained intangible and passed through them, but emerged from one to see an energy blast mere inches away. There was no time to activate his Dodge powers, so he swerved as best he could, and suffered only a grazing blow that shocked him back into a solid state.

"How is this possible?!" Bitil asked as he dropped to the ground. "You can imbue a body with the power of an Element so easily?"

"Not quite, no," Velika said. "But you see, there is a reason we stationed you here, Bitil, and it was not to keep Antroz and Krika company. It was here, at the edge of the Sea of Liquid Sand, that we created the first Element Lords so very long ago; the laboratory still exists beneath our feet, with all the data necessary to repeat the process, and we thought it prudent to have someone guard it. Modifying the process to work on a purely mechanical being was quite difficult…but then, it was a simple challenge for me."

A massive shadow was suddenly cast over Bitil. He teleported to the side quickly, and only then looked up to process what was going on: a chunk of rock roughly five times his size had abruptly materialized over his head, and if he had not evaded, he would most certainly have been crushed beneath it. The tremors produced by the impact reached all the way back to where the main battle was going on, and several of his forces were turning to take note.

"Yes, a crude solution to a problem orchestrated by crude minds," Velika mused, taking a few slow steps forward. "I think this is quite a fitting end for you and your hideous offspring."

Bitil twitched. "Excuse me? Are you saying you have a problem with my Rahkshi?"

Velika continued walking towards him. "Of course I do. You've perverted our glorious design, turning the simple servants you needed into chaotic little monsters who serve no purpose whatsoever. Heremus decreed we hold our tongues, let you entertain yourself off in isolation, and so we simply sat in disgust from a distance. Yes, while much good will come of this, particular notice is still due the erasure of this particular stain on—"

Bitil slashed his arm out. A blade of light extended from it as he did, cutting a deep gash in Velika's rock armor.

"You offend me, Lord Velika. As I'm sure you can understand, I have no inclination to tolerate insults aimed at my creations!"

Velika had already recovered from the surprise attack, the gap in his hide mending on its own. Bitil leapt forward, lightning crackling around his palms, but Velika darted forward with surprising speed, bashing one of his massive shoulders into Bitil and sending him flying backwards. Another blast was aimed at the fallen Makuta, but he quickly sprang to his feet and activated his Invulnerability, blocking it on his forearm. Velika beat both hands against the ground, and a line of stone crags suddenly reached from him all the way to the edge of the battlefield. Bitil was nowhere to be seen after that. He advanced, but by the time he was halfway to the outpost, Bitil emerged from behind one of the spikes, shooting a powerful laser squarely at the drones' eyes. Unfortunately, it had little effect.

"It seems you don't comprehend, simple Makuta," Velika said, swatting Bitil against the crags. "I have become an embodiment of the Element of Rock, and Rock endures all. It is an unyielding, immovable object that now stands in your path, and you have not a single hope of defeating it."

Bitil squirmed, trying to pry himself free from the monster's hold, but to no avail. Velika raised his other hand and pointed its cannon in Bitil's face. The Makuta looked frightened for a moment, but then smiled. Six arms suddenly wrapped around Velika's, and with a mighty heave, Ramier flipped the Rock elemental over their head and into the ground. Bitil quickly leapt to the Rahkshi Kaita's side as they raised their barrier.

"What was that you were saying, Velika?" he taunted. "Something about being immovable, if I recall?"

Velika got to his feet, feeling light blasts from Bitil peppering his back. He whirled and swung his claw through the air, willing a long rock spike to erupt from the crags in an attempt to spear them, but it shattered against Ramier's shield. With a scoff, Velika pulled his hand in front of himself and created a shield of his own made out of rock. The reprieve from damage lasted only a moment: a surprise blow came from his side, and when he turned to see who it was, he saw no one. That changed soon, as Artil was now rolling in from behind him, and Velika had to pull his shield around to defend against one of the massive Rahkshi's blasts. Bitil and the invisible assailant took advantage of the opening this created.

"Excellent work, all of you!" Bitil shouted. "Come, and let us show our foe that a simple suit of armor is not enough to make us cower!"

Velika turned to face him, shuddering slightly as his shield endured another of Artil's blasts. "You truly are a fool, Bitil. How one of our most ingenious designs for a species could spawn such fools is beyond even my intellect."

He pointed one claw towards Bitil and Ramier. Just as Bitil was about to ask what he was doing, a small stone sphere appeared in the space between the two of them. His eyes shot wide. Ramier saw it as well and deactivated his shield, allowing them both to teleport away—and not a second later, the stone expanded, instantly growing to a size beyond what the shield could have contained. Velika reached out and grabbed the stone, lifting it with ease, and then hurled it in Artil's direction. The projectile was blasted apart just before it made impact.

"Lord Velika!"

Velika looked up, seeing Antroz diving towards him. He flexed his shoulders, and a few dozen fist-sized rocks shot out at Antroz, forcing her to weave through them and bringing her almost directly into a blast from the drone's cannon. With a scowl, Antroz teleported directly in front of Velika's face and thrust her sword at it. Velika ducked, narrowly avoiding the blade, and then willed more stone shrapnel to erupt from his shoulders, knocking Antroz away. He prepared to knock her from the sky, but he felt a strong blow at his ankle that disrupted his balance. A quick survey showed no one there, though Bitil was on his way back with light, plasma, and electrical energy all swirling around him. Artil blasted his shield again. Velika gave a loud groan.

"What's the matter, Velika?" Bitil called, unleashing the violent torrent he had been building up. "Perhaps our might is so great you've already been overwhelmed?"

Velika caught the attack on his shoulder—chunks of stone were blown away, but the damage was undone in seconds. Antroz and Ramier were poised on opposite sides of him, and he felt another attack from his unseen opponent.

"You overestimate yourselves," Velika said as Antroz and Ramier moved in. "This is merely an annoyance."

He threw his arms wide. A thousand stone spikes erupted from his body, pushing away all those within his range and leaving deep puncture wounds in each of them. Artil managed to just narrowly avoid them, for once glad that he was so slow. Antroz, Ramier, and Bitil all soon materialized at his side.

"Are you alright?" Bitil asked Ramier, simultaneously trying to patch the holes in his armor. "If you need to separate, then fall back! We'll hold him here until we can muster reinforcements!"

Ramier began to reply, but then they stopped, staring back at where Velika had stood. Bitil followed his gaze, spotting a Chameleon Rahkshi holding a long chain flying in their direction.

"Chloae? Wasn't she partnered with…"

A laugh came from the erratic crags that now lay before them. The stone slowly peeled away, and Velika's rocky form walked out of it, clutching something in one hand. It was Virban.

"Rahkshi with sapience," Velika said as he examined his captive, "if not intelligence, per se. Your offense is unjustified when the ambitions of your design remain unattained, Bitil."

Velika tightened his grip. Virban screeched horribly, and Bitil took a few running steps before freezing under Velika's gaze. He locked eyes with the Great Being, staring at him for what felt like minutes, before turning back to Virban. The Rahkshi of Courage's breathing was ragged now, but he continued to struggle against his captor's hold. Bitil lowered his arms.

"…Let him go," Bitil said. "I'll take him back to receive medical attention—he won't be a threat to you any longer."

"Hah! This thing was no threat to begin with!"

"Then you've no reason to object?"

Velika stared at him a moment longer, and then chuckled to himself. "Oh, so be it. If this thing truly sparks such sentiment within you, I suppose I shall be gracious and postpone its death until after yours."

He released his grip. Virban fell to the ground, his sword clattering beside him, and groaned as he pushed himself up. Bitil beckoned to him. Virban's eyes narrowed into a glare. What happened next felt strange, Bitil thought, as if time had slowed down around him, yet he also felt it happened all too quickly. Virban's fingers tightened around the hilt of his weapon. Bitil prepared to teleport to his side, but he wasn't fast enough. The Rahkshi sprang upwards and swung his sword at Velika's chest, managing to cut a shallow gash into the rock armor protecting him. A bright flash of light came from one of Velika's cannons. Bitil watched as Virban's body was ripped apart by the energy blast, and in that moment it felt like his essence had also been vaporized, leaving him totally numb.

Velika just laughed. "Thus my point is proved! What stupidity, its only chance thrown away—and for what? It seems foolishness is written into your every gene, Bitil, for it pervades every one of your abominable offspring."

Bitil began to shake. He was beginning to regain feeling, but all he felt was a terrible anger.

"But enough of that diversion. Time to eradicate the rest of you, I think."

Velika waved his hand, and the miniature mountain range he had previously created suddenly burst in a violent explosion. Ramier shielded whoever they could, but several of the Rahkshi just coming to join the fight were blown away by the sudden blast. Velika advanced into the cloud of dust with his cannons armed. Bitil soon came into view, stopping after a few steps and appearing to turn intangible; paying him little mind, Velika shot a blast straight through him and continued walking. Surprisingly, however, Bitil did not react when the blast pierced him. Velika paused mid-step.

"Curious…"

At that moment, something latched onto his back. He spun, trying to grab it, but his shoulders were too large, preventing him from reaching. An immense source of heat soon made itself known, and Velika saw a large ball of magma taking shape above his head. He extended a spike from where he detected contact, but it apparently didn't connect with the attacker, who just smashed the molten sphere down on top of him. The intense heat seeped through the shell of rock, and the systems of the drone within began to suffer.

"Clever," Velika said, "but insufficient."

He created new rock between the magma and his mechanical core, slowly pushing out the damaging substance and keeping the drone safe. It began to cool quickly. Far, far too quickly, in fact. Velika was now registering an intense cold swing, and gradually worked out what the source of it was.

"I recognize these abilities…ah, so it is you, Bitil."

The Makuta leaned forward far enough that Velika could see him, his Faxon glowing brightly. "You're a monster. You yourself said he was no threat, said that you were going to let him go. You didn't have any reason to kill him!"

A loud crack was all he heard in reply. The rock surrounding the drone's arm split open, allowing it to reach up and aim its cannon directly at Bitil. Too stunned to properly evade, Bitil took a bolt in the side and was sent flying away.

"Death is a kindness," Velika said, "to those who did not have reason to be born."

Antroz came flying out of the dust then, coating her sword in plasma as she swung it at the exposed arm. She managed to sever its cannon, but before she could escape, the stone shell reached up, pulling her in as the rock closed and reformed around her, trapping her in a vice-like grip. Velika nodded and a tall pillar of stone appeared in front of him. Rearing back, he smashed Antroz into it with enough force that both the pillar and his construct's arm were obliterated, leaving the Makuta stunned as she rolled out across the sand. Velika's arm regenerated instantly.

"Indeed, death is all that awaits for those arrogant enough to subvert our design, whether in ways great or small. This pitiful struggle is only delaying the inevitable."

Something pierced him. Whatever it was, it managed to cut straight through the rock all the way to the drone. Not wasting any time reacting, Velika swiped his claw, knocking Krika aside and deactivating his Chameleon powers in the process. The Makuta tried to keep his spikes in his foe, but Velika snapped them with a blast from his remaining cannon.

"Rats!" Krika shouted, reeling in what was left of his hand. "Do forgive me if this is a bit out of line, milord, but I find myself growing exceptionally frustrated with entertaining you!"

Velika laughed, but said nothing more. He took a step forward and prepared his next attack.

Back on the wall, Zaekura snatched up a screwdriver and fastened one last bolt into place, using every finger on her other hand to keep the parts aligned well enough that it would fit. When she could tighten it no more, she released her hold and watched it for a moment: every piece remained where she wanted it to be.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. She dropped her tools, grabbed the modified device, and leapt to her feet, rushing over to the edge before Charla could say a single word. "Okay, where is he? I'm ready to let him have it now!"

She scanned the battlefield and frowned. As best she could tell, there were only a few drones left, and the Rahkshi were quickly cleaning them up.

"Excuse me, Lady Zaekura," Charla said, "over that way."

Zaekura turned, stopping as soon as she caught glimpse of Velika's elemental form emerging from the dust. After staring at it for a few seconds, Zaekura rubbed her temple and grumbled, "…Huh…"

Charla asked, "Will the device still work despite his new protection?"

Zaekura glanced at the device and thought for a moment. "Yeah, it should. The problem is, it has a limited range, so either I need to get over there, or—"

"I'll tell the Makuta to lead him this way at once, milady," Charla interrupted.

She closed her eyes, and Zaekura stood and waited for her to relay the message. However, almost immediately, Charla opened her eyes, clamped a hand over her mouth, and took a step back.

"W-What is it?!" Zaekura asked.

"Oh no…" Charla said. "Oh no…"

A strange sound came from the Rahkshi, one Zaekura hadn't heard before. It sounded like a continuous series of soft, very short hisses, interrupted only by Charla taking fast, deep breaths. Zaekura gawked until she finally realized what was going on. Charla was sobbing.

"…Charla?" she said, tentatively reaching out. "What is it?"

Doing her best to think of a composed voice, Charla said, "Virban…is dead. Velika was going to let him go, but he turned and tried to continue fighting. So, he…Velika…"

Zaekura's eyes widened. She turned back towards Velika: more and more Rahkshi were headed towards him, each launching their own attacks but none seeming to do much damage against his rock armor. Krika and Antroz could be seen holding their distance, trying to find an opening. Bitil, on the other hand, was in constant movement, his body crackling with so much lightning he almost looked made out of it, darting about erratically and ramming into Velika over and over and over. He seemed able to keep Velika off-balance, but that was all he could do. The Rahkshi Kaita Za was closing in as well, forming themselves into a living tornado as they did, but Velika had just enough time to launch a boulder at them, temporarily stunning the fusion. Zaekura swallowed hard.

Gently grabbing Charla's shoulder, she said, "I'm sorry, Charla. I know this is hard, but…we still need to finish this fight. Velika's still here, and if we don't get him in range fast…" She bit her lip, unable to finish her sentence. "…I'm sorry…"

Charla gave one short nod. Breathing deeply, she said, "You're right…I apologize, it was just such a shock—"

"Don't apologize! You don't have anything to apologize for."

After taking a few moments more to collect herself, Charla closed her eyes again. A few seconds later, Krika and Antroz could be seen pulling back and gesturing to the Rahkshi to do the same—Bitil was even changing his attack pattern, if only slightly, trying to goad Velika into approaching the outpost.

"Thank you," Zaekura said. "I'll win this in a flash, just wait! Nobody else is going to get hurt!"

Charla just stared forward, nervously watching the battle unfold. To both her and Zaekura's dismay, Velika did not appear to be taking the bait, opting instead to unleash wide ranged attacks on the retreating forces. It didn't seem anyone was taking serious harm, but Zaekura could feel Charla's anxiety radiating off of her unconsciously.

"…I'm heading out there," Zaekura said, making towards the nearest staircase. She only got one step before Charla grabbed her arm.

"You can't!" she said. "There's no way you'll be able to get close enough the way things are! We…we need to find some other way of luring Velika in."

"Unless we can think of something fast, I'm going to have to give it a try. At this point I'm thinking that I'm really the only thing that can get his attention."

Before Charla could think of an alternative, the sound of footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs. They both turned to see five Rahkshi of Sonics headed their way, Natan in the lead with his guitar resting on his shoulder.

"Don't flatter yourself too much, Lady Zaekura," he said as he stepped onto the top level. "I think we've got quite a stage presence too."

He lowered his guitar as the others joined him, each quickly preparing their own instruments without waiting for any reply. Zaekura couldn't help but smirk as she said, "Not entirely sure Velika's a music-lover, guys. Plus, you're probably going to need some powerful speakers to blast through that rock covering his ears."

Natan turned to a Rahkshi holding a standing microphone, saying, "Speakers, eh? What do you think, Rentzen?"

She laughed. "Speakers? Nah, we just gotta hit him with something harder than rock. That's why we stopped to get Desi."

Zaekura then realized another Rahkshi was coming to join them, this one having purple armor and a fairly humanoid form, with her unusually small spines sitting atop her head rather than along her back. She nodded at Zaekura as she approached the microphone, an excited glint in her eye.

"I can't remember all the color-coding," Zaekura whispered to Charla, "what kind of Rahkshi is she?"

Charla didn't even try to answer as the band began to play. An explosion of sound washed over the wall and across the battlefield as they beat an intense onslaught of notes from their instruments, while Desi leaned straight into the microphone and unleashed a vicious Power Scream. Zaekura's first reaction was to stumble back in shock. Once it sank in, however, she grinned broadly.

Every head down below was turning as the music reached out over the combatants. The Makuta and Rahkshi quickly resumed their slow retreat, but Velika only stood there looking annoyed at first. However, after pausing to take a breath, Desi began to scream lyrics at him, with Rentzen echoing her words.

"THEY TOLD ME THAT A GREAT BEING WAS KNOCKING AT OUR DOOR,

BUT YOU'RE A JOKE—YOU'RE NOT AT ALL WHAT I WAS HOPING FOR!

YOU SAY YOU CAME HERE CUZ YOU WANNA PUT US IN OUR PLACE?

WELL WHY DON'T YOU COME OVER HERE AND SAY IT TO MY FACE?"

Velika stared for a moment as Desi paused. Then, he finally began to march forward, apparently taking offense at her unkind words. The others continued to pepper him with shots to keep up the act, and he seemed none the wiser.

"He's coming!" Charla said. "Lady Zaekura, when will he be in range?"

Readying the device, Zaekura said, "Er, hard to say exactly, but I'll work out a guess…"

Velika raised his cannon and prepared to fire, but the Kaita Za swept in and tackled him, whirling him around in place before they retreated. Desi smiled and leaned forward again.

"COME AND TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT YOU SHODDY HUNK OF ROCK!

COME AND PROVE TO ME THAT YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING MORE THAN TALK!

I BET THAT EVEN POINT BLANK YOU'LL MISS ME BY A MILE,

AND I'LL JUST STAND HERE ROLLING BACK AND LAUGHING ALL THE WHILE!"

Velika sent out a storm of stones, forcing his opponents back even further. Bitil hovered above him long enough to spit a glob of acid, and then quickly used his Dodge powers to avoid a claw swipe, backing away to regroup with the others.

"THE MORE I HEAR ABOUT YOU AND YOUR PLANS IT MAKES ME SICK!

SO NOW I'M HERE TO SUM IT UP AND GIVE IT TO YOU QUICK:

WE'RE GONNA STOMP YOU HERE AND THEN IT'S GONNA BE THE TREND,

CUZ WE'RE NOT GONNA STOP UNTIL YOUR REGIME MEETS ITS END!"

Desi let out a long, wordless scream as Velika broke into a run, the other forces scattering out of necessity more than planning. The Great Being hurled a boulder at the outpost—Ramier appeared at the edge of the wall just in time to intercept it. Zaekura adjusted her grip on the device. Turning to Desi and Rentzen, she extended her free hand, and they gladly pushed the mic into it. As Velika raised his hands to unleash another assault, Zaekura stepped out from behind Ramier, glared straight at the Great Being, and shouted, "Enjoy being outsmarted by some lowly Glatorian, you glorified stalagmite!"

She squeezed the device, and it instantly hummed to life. Velika was half-way through swinging his arms when its effects reached his body, and the monster of stone suddenly jolted to a halt.

"Take it out!"

Two of Krika's spikes shot through the monster's skull, crackling with enough electricity to short-circuit the drone within. The rock body collapsed on the sand with a tremendous thud, and after a moment, it crumbled into a loose pile of pebbles, the remaining components of the drone strewn about. As the forces below regrouped to finish off the last few drones, Zaekura tossed the device up and down and admired her work.

"Serves you right, idiot," she said. "Letting go of a jamming device when you're relying on a remote link? How dumb can you be?"

She returned Rentzen's microphone, and then put a hand to her head.

"Though, I guess he'll be prepared for that next time…I'll have to keep working on it. Hey, Charla, do we…"

Charla was still standing at the edge of the wall, staring silently at the remains of Velika's vessel. Zaekura paused a moment, and then slowly approached her.

"…Sorry," she said. "If I'd have finished it sooner, then—"

"No," Charla interrupted, shaking her head. "No, it isn't your fault, Lady Zaekura. Please don't think any of us blame you."

Zaekura fidgeted with the device.

"Virban always wanted to see battle. I suppose I should be glad he got his wish…" Charla tapped her finger. "…But…it's a curious feeling. I can't help but think…he must have known it would happen this way…he should have known that we were working on alternatives, he should have trusted us to win some other way."

"Charla…"

Turning to face Zaekura, she went on, "Was…was his death…pointless? Did he just throw his life away on some stupid mistake—or am I terrible for even considering that? What is…how do I…"

Charla covered her face with her hands. Hesitantly, Zaekura reached out and touched her shoulder.

"…I'm sorry, Charla," was all she could think to say.

With Velika's remote link severed, it did not take long at all for the remaining drones to be defeated. Once that was dealt with, several Rahkshi immediately set about cleaning up the battlefield, seeing what they could salvage, meanwhile Zaekura, Charla, and the Makuta all converged on the hidden entrance Velika had made use of. Descending the staircase, they found an immense underground cavern that housed six chambers, each glowing with vibrant light of different colors. One was filled with fire, another with ice, a third with plant life—the keys to six Elements were stored here, and at the center of it all was a tall terminal currently streaming data across its screen.

"So this is where the Element Lords were made," Krika said. "You were sitting on a real treasure, Bitil."

The other Makuta didn't respond, glancing sullenly around the cave.

"I think this has the potential to be quite useful to our cause. What do you think, Zaekura?"

The Glatorian held her head as she watched the flying information. "Er…I dunno, this is all beyond me. Maybe after taking some time to analyze it…"

"We can address that later," Antroz said. "The battle may be won, but we have no time to waste. We need to decide what we're going to do next."

Zaekura sighed. "Right." She turned to face the others. "So. Either we fight a doomed battle against the Great Beings and see how far we can get before meeting a gruesome end, or we spend the rest of our sorry lives on the run and hope they don't manage to catch us. Discuss."

Before anyone else could say a single word, Bitil stated, "I'm fighting. I don't care what the rest of you decide: I won't rest until I make Velika pay for what he did to Virban."

Charla went to Bitil's side. She seemed about to say something, but no words came.

"Well," Krika said, "in spite of Desi's moving speech, I still think it's a better idea to go on the run. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll simply abandon you all if you agree with Bitil."

Zaekura nodded, and then turned to Antroz. The blind Makuta stood perfectly still for a very long time.

"My priority is keeping Zaekura safe, and so I will go along with whatever decision we arrive at," she began. "However…I would rather we fight. The actions of the Great Beings are reprehensible, and they stubbornly refuse to believe that there could be fault in anything that they do. They treat the people of this world as possessions, mere trinkets they can use as they please, without giving thought to their own needs and wants." She faced Zaekura. "The people deserve to be led by someone who respects them. I want to fight for that."

Zaekura scratched her head. "…Hm. Thing is, I don't really have much justification for what I want to do. It's just that today…coming up with the battle plan, working on that device, being able to actually do something for the first time in forever…it felt pretty good. Like I finally didn't need to hide, and I could actually stretch my legs and…be myself. I want more of that." She shrugged. "Anyway, yeah. I guess I'm gonna fight."

Krika sighed, and then said, "Seems I've been outvoted. Very well, to war it is. We'd best get to work."

Zaekura turned back to the terminal, but Antroz stepped in front of her. "After the events of today, I believe you require rest, Zaekura. We shall get to work on potential plans and then consult you in the morning."

Pausing to think about it, Zaekura suddenly realized just how tired she felt. "Alright. I'll sleep on a couple possibilities too, hopefully we'll be able to put together something good. Night."

"With your permission, milady," Krika said, "I was hoping to get a jump on the game and travel to Civitas Magna. As I said before, if we get the truth of the matter into the conversation before the Great Beings have time to drag your name through too much mud, it could be an indispensable boon."

"Yeah, sure," Zaekura said, trying and failing to stifle a yawn. "That should give us plenty of time to work on a plan of action."

Krika gave a half-hearted bow and took his leave. Bitil and Charla departed without a word, and Zaekura mumbled an extra farewell to Antroz before she too left the cavern. Antroz chose to remain.

This must be the right thing to do, she thought. We cannot continue to follow the Great Beings, that much has been made abundantly clear. And if they will not negotiate peacefully, then we must fight to settle this. This must be the right thing to do…even if it may lead our makers to set even more terrifying plans in motion to counter us.

Antroz faced one of the elemental chambers, the one filled to the brim with jagged rocks.

Though, upon reflection…today's events do give me an idea…


ADDENDUM:

-Sorry for the long wait on this one, I'll try not to drop the ball like that again.

-Also, since the posting of the last chapter, I've started using Twitter for updates on my writing (and what's distracting me from it)! It's ExoPahrak if you're interested.

-On to the story now, I only just remembered that Guurahk would actually be the Rahkshi of Creation, not Panrahk. Only half of the Principle/Rahkshi pairings are properly color-coordinated so sometimes I forget. I think the only scene I messed up on this with is when Gorast uses her Creation powers in The Gargoyle Knight—the energy should be blue, not brown—but I think I'm just going to leave the error in this time since it's probably not a huge deal.

-"Viq" is spelled with a "q" so I can say it's derived from "quiver." "Chloae" is spelled that way so that it resembles "cloak", and she can extend her Chameleon powers to anyone holding onto her chain, which is what Virban has been doing throughout this battle.

-Since I just introduced the Rahkshi of Sonics band (they haven't agreed on a name yet), I felt compelled to involve them in this fight, even if they unfortunately don't all get named here. The names of all five are derived from various people involved in the music of Bionicle: "Natan" from Nathan Furst (composer of the first three movies), "Rentzen" from Christine Lorentzen (Cryoshell), "Tyri" from Tyson Ritter (All-American Rejects), "Briels" from Niels Brinck (Face Me and Gravity Hurts), and "Basaik" from Christian Bastian of AIK (Hero and Caught in a Dream). Very soon after conceptualizing this group, I got the idea of a Power Scream Rahkshi guest starring with them for some more intense songs, and that's how we ended up with Desi, whose name is derived from "decibel"—she possesses and internal focal point for her power and can speak, though only through screaming. However, any of the Rahkshi of Sonics can use their power to turn down her volume (so to speak) if she wants to converse normally. Also her spines are meant to resemble a mohawk. Mohawks are still cool, right?

-Putting Bitil's outpost between Xia and Nynrah would put it right around where Tajun was in the Prime Reality, and upon realizing that I thought I should make use of the Cavern of the Elements in some way. Velika's form is mainly based on what the original Rock Lord looked like, but in making it a bit more monstrous, I think the image ended up taking some inspiration from Yu Yu Hakusho's Toguro. As Zaekura says, the process is too complicated for her to make use of right now, so don't get worried thinking this will heavily tilt the balance in her favor.

-Bitil using a Faxon is turning out to be a bit more troublesome than I was expecting. I'm so glad BS01 has a handy list of Rahi I can peruse, though picking just the right one still takes a while. Still, I'd rather use established Rahi powers, just inventing one for the given situation could feel like cheating. Rahi copied in this Section include the Fader Bull, Catapult Scorpion, Frost Leech, Avohkah, and Air Serpent.

-At some point I need to sit down and determine just what species have tear ducts.

-Civitas Magna is an immense, densely-populated area comprising much of Spherus Magna's southern hemisphere. Most of the planet's citizens live here since it offers a much more agreeable climate than the harshness of Bara Magna, which features only a few cities that almost all serve a very specific purpose in the grand scheme of things. I'm envisioning something like Metru-Nui on a far larger scale, and with the divisions of districts not being tied to Elements.

-That's more or less the opening act of this story, and soon the war will be in full swing. And it only took, what, four months to get here?