Conflict in the Sky

"Lewa Nuva stood at the edge of the lightvine barrier, gazing up at the sky. It had been a day and a half since he and the others had joined the defense of the Av-Matoran village. In that time, they had fought off a score of attacks by dark Matoran, shadow leeches, and one particularly nasty Makuta. Half a dozen Matoran of Light had been lost in the battles, and Pohatu Nuva’s shoulder had required emergency repair. But the village still stood."
— Narrator, Shadows in the Sky

Conflict in the Sky
Battle/Conflict
Conflict	The struggle between the Phantoka Toa and Makuta in the skies of Karda Nui
Combatants	Phantoka Toa Nuva, Av-Matoran, Toa Ignika Phantoka Makuta, Shadow Matoran
Location	Sky Villages, Shadow Leech Hive, Sky of Karda Nui
Result	The Makuta retreat to the Swamp of Secrets

The Conflict in the Sky was a series of battles in the skies of Karda Nui between the Phantoka Toa Nuva and Makuta.

Goals

Toa

• Defend the last of the Sky Villages
• Destroy the Shadow Leech Hive.
• Defeat the Makuta, and save Karda Nui and its Matoran.

Makuta

• Eliminate the Toa and prevent them from destroying the Shadow Leech Hive.
• Defeat the Toa and corrupt the remaining Av-Matoran.

Summary

Siege on the Last Sky Village

While tending to some Lightvine, Pohatu and Photok spotted Radiak flying near the village. The Shadow Matoran insisted he had stolen the plans of the Makuta and escaped. Though he was skeptical, Pohatu flew to meet Radiak, and Photok came along. Pohatu's suspicions were confirmed as Makuta flew behind them, cutting off their escape. The Makuta and Pohatu exchanged shots and Photok was hit by a blast of Shadow, but Chirox managed to catch the Toa with a Shadow Hand and fling him down. Unable to stop his fall, Pohatu crashed into the stalactite of one of the Sky Villages.

Before the Makuta could follow up their victory, Chirox was struck in the shoulder with a blast from Kopaka's Midak Skyblaster. Kopaka and Lewa flew in with Solek and Tanma, warning Chirox not to hurt Pohatu. Antroz and Radiak fell from the sky, crashing into Lewa and Tanma, but the Toa managed to shake them free and blow them away with a gust of Air. Kopaka, meanwhile, found himself and Solek circling Vamprah and Gavla. Rather than fight him directly, Vamprah used his power of Hunger and sapped the Toa of Ice of strength. Kopaka urged Solek to save himself, but the Matoran refused and they were subdued.

With Pohatu, Photok, Kopaka, and Solek out of the fight, the Makuta turned their attention to Lewa, surrounding and circling him. The Makuta told Lewa to surrender, but Lewa summoned a tornado, flinging the Makuta and their Matoran in all directions. While they were scrambling to recover, Lewa and Tanma flew off, as Lewa seemingly resolved to find Tahu, Gali, and Onua and bring them back to save the other two. As they flew, Tanma urged Lewa to go back and fight, but the Toa refused, apprehensive after his experiences with the Infected Kanohi and krana and reiterating that they needed backup. As they flew, Antroz taunted them and attacked them with a vortex of darkness, but Lewa used a cyclone to disperse it and escape.

Antroz, Vamprah, and Chirox took their four captives and brought them to the roof of the cavern. There Antroz bound them with shadow chains that would vanish if he was defeated, causing the prisoners to plummet to their deaths. Vamprah and Chirox flew off to guard against a sneak attack while Antroz watched over the prisoners.

Lewa, however, sneaked past the two Makuta standing guard and smashed into Antroz. They disentangled and Lewa fired his Skyblaster at Pohatu who jolted awake. Lewa then fired on Antroz, breaking his concentration even as Pohatu caught the other captives before they fell. By now Vamprah and Chirox were closing in, but Lewa and Pohatu flew off with Kopaka and the three Av-Matoran in tow. They returned to their village and took shelter there.

Battle in the Shadow Leech Hive

As the Shadow Matoran Kirop was doing a flyover of the village, Kopaka shot him down and took him captive, taking his Keystone and keeping it with another one Solek had given them. When Kirop woke up, the Toa staged a false conversation to make the Matoran think that the Toa had learned the location of the Shadow Leech Hive and were launching an attack. Alarmed, Kirop broke free and hurried to the hive to warn Mutran, even as the Toa Nuva and three Av-Matoran - Photok, Solek, and Tanma secretly followed him at a safe distance.

While following the Matoran, Toa Ignika joined the team and killed a flying Rahi which was approaching the group. Though they did not know the identity of the newcomer, the Toa were amazed by the Ignika's capabilities and welcomed him.

The team soon arrived at the entrance of the hive and broke through the entrance. Kopaka and Solek remained behind to fight Mutran, while Lewa, Pohatu, the Matoran, and Toa Ignika journeyed into the hive to destroy the Shadow Leeches. However, they were not aware of the fact that Mutran had cast the Toa, Matoran, and the Ignika into an illusion, preventing them from seeing the vats and seemingly leading them deep into the hive. They had traveled some distance when another illusion tricked them into thinking the Toa Ignika was a monster, which the Toa and Matoran proceeded to attack. Confused and angered at the abrupt betrayal, the Ignika sped up the life rates of the Toa and Matoran. It was only then Lewa and Pohatu realized that the monster they had been seeing was an illusion. Pohatu ended the Ignika's assault by making the ground beneath him erupt and pinning the Ignika to the wall. It was then that he recognized the Kanohi Ignika.

Mutran, meanwhile, had knocked Solek unconscious. Kopaka readied his counterattack, but the power of Fear washed over him and Mutran subdued him. But as the Makuta was tampering with Kopaka's mind and gloating about his victory, Solek stirred. When Mutran fired a shadow blast to end the Toa's life, Solek ran to Kopaka and reflected the attack using a shield of Light. Before the Makuta or Matoran could react, Kopaka sprang up and battered the Makuta with hail and ice, telling him that he had faked his defeat. When Mutran tried to counterattack, Kopaka buried him under a mass of ice and snow.

However, Kopaka's victory did not last for long. Antroz, Chirox, and Vamprah arrived and subdued Kopaka and Solek, then took out the other Toa, Matoran, and the Ignika. They then held the Matoran captive and chained the Toa and Ignika onto the wall. When the Toa awoke, Antroz and Mutran warned the Toa that if they tried to escape, a telepathic message would cause Vamprah and Chirox to kill the Matoran. Pohatu thought fast, and as Mutran was about to use a Shadow Leech on Lewa, he used his Kanohi Kakama to speed up his molecules and vibrated through his chains. He quickly rescued the other Toa, Matoran and the Ignika, who vibrated through the hive and escaped. They then destroyed the Shadow Leech Hive, sending the Makuta and Mutran's equipment plummeting.

Battle in the Sky

The Makuta regrouped at Antroz's Cavern. Mutran immediately demanded a swift and brutal retaliation, but Antroz urged restraint, letting the Toa and grow overconfident. As they were talking, Makuta Icarax arrived, following Antroz's summons via Vican. The Makuta realized the identity of the Toa Ignika and while Antroz resolved to lead Mutran, Chirox, and Vamprah in an attack on the Toa, Icarax would go after the Ignika.

The five Makuta, Antroz, Vamprah, Chirox, Mutran, and Icarax, then launched a full attack on the remaining Av-Matoran village, bypassing the protective Lightvines using their combined powers of Shadow. They quickly stormed into a shelter where they thought the Toa Nuva and Matoran were only to find it evacuated. It was then that Vamprah noticed a Shadow Matoran tied up in Lightvines in a nearby village. It was then that they realized that the Toa and the Av-Matoran colony were not in a village at all: they were actually at the Makuta's field base retrieving the third Keystone.

The Makuta vaulted into the sky, but as they neared their base, the Toa attacked them from the ceiling. Pohatu hurled stalactites down, nearly impaling Mutran. Antroz fired heat vision at Pohatu which was deflected by Kopaka's ice shield and bounced back to Antroz, slicing his shoulder armor. Chirox, meanwhile, had almost reached Pohatu, but Lewa swooped in and fired his Skyblaster at Kirop. When the Shadow Matoran fell off, Chirox hesitated, letting Pohatu bring a stalactite down like a club and sending Chirox plunging down to the swamp.

Two Av-Matoran saw the fight and tried to join in, but Icarax caught them in a cyclone and hurled it to the cavern wall. Lewa sent a counter-cyclone, but Icarax cut his power off, sending the Matoran into an uncontrolled descent. Kopaka and Solek hurried to save them, but Mutran sent a power scream into their minds, driving them back. When Antroz flew in with Fragmentation power crackling. Pohatu hurled his stalactite at Antroz, knocking him off-course. Pohatu and Photok zoomed in and flew in tight circles, striking Antroz with thousands of blows in a matter of second. Amused as Icarax was at the sight, he didn't want the Toa to think they could win. He activated his Gravity powers and sent Pohatu, Photok, and Antroz all plummeting. However, the pair slowed their descent by aiming for a small stalactite which they split in half with their fall.

The Ignika had been watching, fascinated by the ebb and flow of battle, but now he realized he should do something. Flying over to Icarax, he struck the Makuta with the flat of his blade which bounced off harmlessly. Icarax immediately recognized the mask, and as Icarax swung his blade again, the Makuta changed his density to let the blade pass through, then hardened it to strike Icarax hard. Icarax fell off his Skyboard, barely holding on. But when Icarax reached to grab the mask, Toa Ignika's rage flared and he retaliated with the power of Life, devolving Icarax into a physical being. The agony was excruciating, and Icarax screamed.

With Icarax's power broken, Pohatu flew up to join Kopaka in his fight with Chirox. Lewa, meanwhile, was using his natural skill at flying to keep Vamprah at bay along with the Av-Matoran who were peppering the Makuta with light bolts. Seeing Icarax defeated, Chirox and Vamprah overwhelmed, and Antroz hurling downward, Mutran drew on every ounce of darkness at his disposal and unleashed it in a single blast, sending everyone flying. Mutran almost fell, but Vican arrived and caught him. Mutran ordered Vican to tell the other Phantoka Makuta to retreat into the swamp where they would kill regroup and attack the Mistika Toa. Before Mutran can follow after them, he is surrounded by the Toa. Mutran tells them where the other Makuta have gone, and the Toa resolve to descend after them.

Aftermath

After creating his blast of Shadow, Mutran ordered Vican to tell the other Makuta to retreat to the Swamp in order to meet up with the others. Mutran was then interrogated by the Toa as to where the other Makuta had gone, and the Toa then proceeded to the swamp below to meet up with Tahu, Gali, and Onua.

Appearances

Books	Comics
Novels BIONICLE Legends 9: Shadows in the Sky Guides BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe	Ignition BIONICLE Ignition 12: Realm of Fear BIONICLE Ignition 12.5