Bordakh

The Bordakh were the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. model assigned to Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh., the academic and spiritual district of Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. given over to the schools, the canals, and the protodermis purification works that fed the rest of the city. Like every other VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. line they had been designed by the Onu-MatoranOnu-MatoranEarth-wielding Matoran of the deep who adapted to darkness and built the Matoran Universe's defensive cavalry. engineer NuparuNuparuAn Onu-Matoran engineer from Metru Nui who built the Boxor and rose to become a Toa of Earth despite no warrior destiny. and built en masse by the Po-MatoranPo-MatoranThe Stone-element Matoran of Po-Metru and Po-Koro, carvers and quarry workers, the most athletic of the Matoran types and the population behind the Kohlii and Akilini circuits. fabricators, and like the KeerakhKeerakhThe Vahki model assigned to Ko-Metru, the Keerakh enforced silence in the Knowledge Towers and subdued lawbreakers with staffs that scrambled a Matoran's sense of time and place. of Ko-MetruKo-MetruKo-Metru was Metru Nui's frozen intellectual quarter, home to the scholarly Ko-Matoran race. and the NuurakhNuurakhThe Vahki model assigned to Ta-Metru, the Nuurakh were the fastest of the order-force lines and used Staffs of Command to push a single overriding directive into the mind of any Matoran they struck. of Ta-MetruTa-MetruThe fire district where Ta-Matoran perfected their craft and powered Metru Nui's industry for thousands of years., each model was tuned to the temperament of its district. Where a KeerakhKeerakhThe Vahki model assigned to Ko-Metru, the Keerakh enforced silence in the Knowledge Towers and subdued lawbreakers with staffs that scrambled a Matoran's sense of time and place. deduced and a NuurakhNuurakhThe Vahki model assigned to Ta-Metru, the Nuurakh were the fastest of the order-force lines and used Staffs of Command to push a single overriding directive into the mind of any Matoran they struck. ambushed, the Bordakh did neither. The Bordakh preferred to extend the pursuit, and at the end of it to recruit the witnesses.

Role in Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh.#

Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. was the academic and spiritual heart of Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive., the district in which the schools were sited, in which the properties of protodermis were studied, and in which the Great TempleGreat TempleThe Great Temple is a structure situated in Ga-Metru, Metru Nui, associated with the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. It formerly fell under the influence of Teridax, though it currently holds no such power. stood as the second most important landmark on the whole island after the Coliseum. Its civic life was organised around teaching and around the purification of protodermis, which was processed in Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. and then distributed to the other districts for use. Enforcement of order in such an environment meant something different than it did in the foundries of Ta-MetruTa-MetruThe fire district where Ta-Matoran perfected their craft and powered Metru Nui's industry for thousands of years. or the silent Knowledge Towers of Ko-MetruKo-MetruKo-Metru was Metru Nui's frozen intellectual quarter, home to the scholarly Ko-Matoran race.. It meant a presence that could move along the canal banks without disrupting the lectures inside the school buildings, that could enter the Great TempleGreat TempleThe Great Temple is a structure situated in Ga-Metru, Metru Nui, associated with the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. It formerly fell under the influence of Teridax, though it currently holds no such power. courtyards without trampling the rituals of the priests, and that could chase a lawbreaker who took to the water.

The Bordakh provided that presence. Squads patrolled the canals, the school precincts, and the long approach to the Great TempleGreat TempleThe Great Temple is a structure situated in Ga-Metru, Metru Nui, associated with the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. It formerly fell under the influence of Teridax, though it currently holds no such power., posted at the chute stations that linked Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. to the other districts and along the canal bridges where casual traffic between schools concentrated. A Bordakh gliding along a canal walkway was as familiar a sight to the Ga-MatoranGa-MatoranThe Water-element Matoran of Ga-Metru and Ga-Koro, exclusively female, who taught the schools of Metru Nui and crewed the boats and bridges of the Mata Nui coast. students as the Ga-MatoranGa-MatoranThe Water-element Matoran of Ga-Metru and Ga-Koro, exclusively female, who taught the schools of Metru Nui and crewed the boats and bridges of the Mata Nui coast. teachers themselves.

The model's profile matched its surroundings. Where a KeerakhKeerakhThe Vahki model assigned to Ko-Metru, the Keerakh enforced silence in the Knowledge Towers and subdued lawbreakers with staffs that scrambled a Matoran's sense of time and place. might appear as a reflection in an ice crystal and a NuurakhNuurakhThe Vahki model assigned to Ta-Metru, the Nuurakh were the fastest of the order-force lines and used Staffs of Command to push a single overriding directive into the mind of any Matoran they struck. stood deliberately visible on a forge gantry, a Bordakh moved openly along a Ga-MetruMetruIn the Matoran language a metru was a single district of Metru Nui; the city was divided into six such districts, one for each element, and the term covered both the place and the elemental community that lived in it. canal but did not always close the distance immediately. It allowed the target to keep walking, then closed at a moment of its own choosing.

The aquatic exception#

The most distinctive mechanical feature of the Bordakh was structural rather than tactical: of all six VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. lines, the Bordakh was the only model engineered to function underwater. The other models, built for the foundries, the Archives, the Knowledge Towers, the chute network, and the carving yards, had no requirement to operate in deep water, and their actuators had not been sealed against it. The Bordakh, built for a district stitched together by canals, had been.

The distinction was operational rather than ornamental. Ga-MetruMetruIn the Matoran language a metru was a single district of Metru Nui; the city was divided into six such districts, one for each element, and the term covered both the place and the elemental community that lived in it.'s purification canals carried protodermis through the district at depth, and the chute system above the canals could not cover the canal floor itself. A MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. who could reach the canal water and submerge was effectively out of reach of a KeerakhKeerakhThe Vahki model assigned to Ko-Metru, the Keerakh enforced silence in the Knowledge Towers and subdued lawbreakers with staffs that scrambled a Matoran's sense of time and place. or a NuurakhNuurakhThe Vahki model assigned to Ta-Metru, the Nuurakh were the fastest of the order-force lines and used Staffs of Command to push a single overriding directive into the mind of any Matoran they struck. and could move along the canal floor for considerable distances without surfacing. The Bordakh closed that gap. A submerged target in a Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. canal was still inside the Bordakh's operational envelope.

The model nevertheless preferred to avoid the water when a chase could be kept above the surface. Underwater pursuit was slower than surface pursuit, the staff effects were harder to apply through deep protodermis, and the model's tactical preference, which was to extend the chase and savour it, did not transfer well to environments in which the target's movement was constrained to the canal's geometry. NokamaNokamaNokama served as Toa Metru of Water, endured the Hordika mutation, and led Ga-Koro and later Ga-Metru as Turaga through three eras. exploited the preference directly during the Great Disk retrieval, slipping past the Bordakh patrols outside VhisolaVhisolaVhisola was a Ga-Matoran student of Nokama, one of the six finders of a Great Disk, whose research deduced the location of the Morbuzakh King Root.'s home and outside the Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. school by going through the protodermis canals beneath the patrol routes rather than across the streets above. The Bordakh, posted to the streets, did not follow her into the water unless the pursuit had already escalated.

Staffs of Loyalty#

The Bordakh's standard armament was the Staff of Loyalty, a two-pronged shock staff that operated not by injuring the target and not by directing the target, but by converting the target. A MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. struck by the staff was transformed into a wholehearted believer in order, willing to identify any lawbreakers the target knew of and willing to lead the Bordakh directly to them, even if the lawbreakers in question were the target's own friends or allies.

The conversion was complete enough to override existing loyalties. In one widely circulated demonstration, a Bordakh struck the Ga-MatoranGa-MatoranThe Water-element Matoran of Ga-Metru and Ga-Koro, exclusively female, who taught the schools of Metru Nui and crewed the boats and bridges of the Mata Nui coast. MarkaMarkaMarka was a Ga-Matoran originally of Metru Nui who reported Nidhiki's pursuit of Vhisola, survived a tentacled Rahi attack at sea, and rose to lead the Shipwrights of Ga-Koro after the Bohrok-Kal crisis. with a Staff of Loyalty inside a Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. entranceway, and MarkaMarkaMarka was a Ga-Matoran originally of Metru Nui who reported Nidhiki's pursuit of Vhisola, survived a tentacled Rahi attack at sea, and rose to lead the Shipwrights of Ga-Koro after the Bohrok-Kal crisis., abruptly turned, walked back out of the district as a willing servant of the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. and used her own knowledge of her friends' movements to lure them into the open where additional Bordakh were waiting. The same effect was applied to NokamaNokamaNokama served as Toa Metru of Water, endured the Hordika mutation, and led Ga-Koro and later Ga-Metru as Turaga through three eras. during the Toa MetruMetruIn the Matoran language a metru was a single district of Metru Nui; the city was divided into six such districts, one for each element, and the term covered both the place and the elemental community that lived in it.'s flight from the impostor Turaga DumeTuraga DumeThe Turaga of Metru Nui for sixteen thousand years, a former Toa of Fire who saved Lhikan's life and was abducted and impersonated by Teridax.. VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years., NokamaNokamaNokama served as Toa Metru of Water, endured the Hordika mutation, and led Ga-Koro and later Ga-Metru as Turaga through three eras., and MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran. had escaped capture in the Coliseum and fled to Ga-MetruMetruIn the Matoran language a metru was a single district of Metru Nui; the city was divided into six such districts, one for each element, and the term covered both the place and the elemental community that lived in it.. A Bordakh squad caught up to them on the roof of a Ga-MetruMetruIn the Matoran language a metru was a single district of Metru Nui; the city was divided into six such districts, one for each element, and the term covered both the place and the elemental community that lived in it. tower, and NokamaNokamaNokama served as Toa Metru of Water, endured the Hordika mutation, and led Ga-Koro and later Ga-Metru as Turaga through three eras. was struck by a Staff of Loyalty. She immediately turned on her own teammates and pushed VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years. over the tower's edge, and only the discovery that his Kanoka launcher could function as a flying mechanism saved him from the fall. NokamaNokamaNokama served as Toa Metru of Water, endured the Hordika mutation, and led Ga-Koro and later Ga-Metru as Turaga through three eras., still under the staff's effect, then attempted to attack MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran. and was herself knocked over the edge, where the fall and VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years.'s rescue together broke the staff's grip on her mind.

The same staff was issued to the specialist combiner unit KraahuKraahuThe specialist Vahki combiner formed from Zadakh, Keerakh, and Bordakh components, the Kraahu carried knowledge centres throughout its body, could split apart to fight six directions at once, and as a single unit could spray a cloud of stun gas., the larger VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. formed by combining Bordakh, KeerakhKeerakhThe Vahki model assigned to Ko-Metru, the Keerakh enforced silence in the Knowledge Towers and subdued lawbreakers with staffs that scrambled a Matoran's sense of time and place., and ZadakhZadakhThe Vahki model assigned to Po-Metru, the Zadakh were the strongest of the order-force lines and carried Staffs of Suggestion that left any Matoran they struck willing to follow orders from almost anyone. components and called in when a single squad could not contain a disturbance. KraahuKraahuThe specialist Vahki combiner formed from Zadakh, Keerakh, and Bordakh components, the Kraahu carried knowledge centres throughout its body, could split apart to fight six directions at once, and as a single unit could spray a cloud of stun gas.'s variant of the staff carried the same converting effect, scaled to the larger unit's reach.

The chase the Bordakh wanted#

The Bordakh's documented field actions consistently emphasise the model's preference for an extended pursuit rather than an immediate capture. The Bordakh loved to delay the chase, finding the prolonging of the pursuit itself part of the satisfaction of order enforcement, and the squad on the Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. tower that struck NokamaNokamaNokama served as Toa Metru of Water, endured the Hordika mutation, and led Ga-Koro and later Ga-Metru as Turaga through three eras. had let the three Toa run a considerable distance before closing. The Bordakh that pursued MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran. through a Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. chute network during the same period chose to stay in the chute behind him rather than predict his exit point, and were caught out when a section of the chute ahead of MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran. had already been destroyed by VorzakhVorzakhThe Vahki model assigned to Le-Metru, the Vorzakh patrolled the chute network and transportation hubs of the air district and carried Staffs of Erasing that wiped a Matoran's higher cognitive functions and left the victim a walking shambler. and MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran. used his Aero SlicersAero SlicersThe Toa Tools wielded by Toa Metru Matau, capable of channeling Air, serving as melee blades, and catching wind to permit limited gliding flight. to hook a chute ring and stop himself in time. The Bordakh, committed to the pursuit, could not stop, flew out of the broken chute, and crashed to the ground beyond.

The same trait recurred in NokamaNokamaNokama served as Toa Metru of Water, endured the Hordika mutation, and led Ga-Koro and later Ga-Metru as Turaga through three eras.'s earlier Great Disk reconnaissance. A Bordakh patrol watched VhisolaVhisolaVhisola was a Ga-Matoran student of Nokama, one of the six finders of a Great Disk, whose research deduced the location of the Morbuzakh King Root.'s home and a Bordakh patrol watched the Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. school, but neither patrol pursued NokamaNokamaNokama served as Toa Metru of Water, endured the Hordika mutation, and led Ga-Koro and later Ga-Metru as Turaga through three eras. into the canal water that ran beside both buildings. The Bordakh preferred the chase that stayed on land, and NokamaNokamaNokama served as Toa Metru of Water, endured the Hordika mutation, and led Ga-Koro and later Ga-Metru as Turaga through three eras., who knew Ga-MetruMetruIn the Matoran language a metru was a single district of Metru Nui; the city was divided into six such districts, one for each element, and the term covered both the place and the elemental community that lived in it. well, used that preference to slip both patrols and recover the information that led the Toa to the Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. Great Disk at the Great TempleGreat TempleThe Great Temple is a structure situated in Ga-Metru, Metru Nui, associated with the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh. It formerly fell under the influence of Teridax, though it currently holds no such power..

Cataclysm and end of service#

The Bordakh's operational life ended with the rest of the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. corps when TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna., at that point still posing as TuragaTuragaFormer Toa who fulfilled their destiny and transformed into leaders. Turaga wield Noble Kanohi masks and weakened elemental powers, guiding their communities. DumeDumeDume is a Turaga of Fire and the former ruler of Metru Nui, distinguished by his red and black coloring and the Noble Kanohi Kiril, the Mask of Regeneration. As a member of the Turaga of Metru Nui, he wields a Staff of Office and commands a weakened mastery of Fire. He later resides on the reformed Spherus Magna., absorbed the city's entire power grid through the Coliseum array to amplify his own strength. Most of the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. units present in their hives were destroyed by the surge, and the Bordakh hives in Ga-MetruMetruIn the Matoran language a metru was a single district of Metru Nui; the city was divided into six such districts, one for each element, and the term covered both the place and the elemental community that lived in it. were not spared. Ga-MetruMetruIn the Matoran language a metru was a single district of Metru Nui; the city was divided into six such districts, one for each element, and the term covered both the place and the elemental community that lived in it. itself was devastated in the same event, with the district's canal network broken and its school buildings collapsed, and the Bordakh garrisons posted across the district went down with the city around them.

The handful of survivors emerged with their programming rewritten. The original non-lethal directive was replaced with the post-surge variant common to every surviving VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. model: order was now to be maintained by leaving nothing alive. Their staffs no longer converted; they destroyed. In that altered state the remaining Bordakh persisted through the early evacuation period until the VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. invasion of Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. reached the city, at which point the spider RahiRahiThe Rahi were the biomechanical wildlife of the Matoran Universe, built largely by the Brotherhood of Makuta, ranging from background fauna to engineered war beasts. destroyed them along with the rest of the surviving VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. population. No Bordakh unit was confirmed to have outlived the invasion. The model had been the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. line that could chase a target into a canal and follow it under the water, and the line whose staff could turn a fleeing MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body.'s closest friends into the witnesses who led the squad to the door.