The Lhikan: Vahki Transport of the Toa Metru

The Lhikan was a Vahki TransportThe Vahki TransportThe multi-legged cargo vehicle built by the Vahki of Metru Nui and used by the Toa Metru to escape the city across the Silver Sea after the Great Cataclysm. named by 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. of the Toa MetruToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety. in honour of the fallen Toa MangaiToa MangaiThe defenders of Metru Nui before the Toa Metru arrived, a team that fell to betrayal and relentless war. LhikanLhikanToa of Fire, leader of the Toa Mangai, and the last Toa of Metru Nui, who surrendered his Toa Power to create the Toa Metru and died defending Vakama., the Toa of FireToa of FireThe Elemental protectors of the Matoran, most often rising from Ta-Matoran to command the power of fire. who had given up his Toa power to create the team and had been killed by TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. as the Great CataclysmThe Great CataclysmThe day Makuta Teridax put the Great Spirit to sleep, the Great Spirit Robot fell from the sky, Metru Nui flooded, and Voya Nui tore loose from the Southern Continent. struck. The team used the old transport to carry six MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. sealed in Matoran SpheresMatoran SpheresThe silver hibernation pods used by Teridax, posing as Turaga Dume, to capture, store, and transport the entire Matoran population of Metru Nui during the Great Cataclysm. out of the broken city, through the sea tunnels, and to the island that would later be called Mata Nui. It was the first of two craft to bear the Toa's name; the second, the Lhikan II, carried the team back. (BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui; BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear; BIONICLE Adventures 7: Web of the Visorak)

Discovery and conversion#

The transport was an outdated model of VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. equipment. The Toa Metru and the freed Turaga Lhikan were fleeing the Vahki when they locked themselves in a room, only to be attacked by Lohrak. Once they had beaten the Rahi, they escaped in a Vahki Transport, with 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. at the controls. (BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui; BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)

Vahki Transports walked on pairs of insect-like legs rather than wheels, so the ride was bumpy, and they were powered by Kanoka disks of speed. The team drove it across the city to the ColiseumThe ColiseumCentral tower of Metru Nui, serving as government seat, akilini arena and, during Teridax's masquerade, the place from which the city's Matoran were rounded up into spheres., where they found the Matoran missing. (BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

Late arrival at the Coliseum and the sphere recovery#

At the Coliseum the Toa confronted the figure they had known as 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., who revealed himself as TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. and began draining the city's power. The Matoran of Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. had already been sealed in Matoran SpheresMatoran SpheresThe silver hibernation pods used by Teridax, posing as Turaga Dume, to capture, store, and transport the entire Matoran population of Metru Nui during the Great Cataclysm.. (BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui; BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)

Beneath the Coliseum, the Toa and Lhikan found hundreds of spheres. They could only take six, which they strapped to the transport before heading for Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh.. (BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui; BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)

The drive to Ga-Metru and the bridge#

On a bridge in Ga-Metru, a squad of Vahki moved to stop them. Matau steered the transport over the edge and into the water, and the Vahki walked away, sure the craft had sunk. (BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui; BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)

It had not. The transport was never built for the sea, but the six spheres strapped to it kept it afloat, and the motion of its legs worked as paddles, if not quickly or gracefully. (BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui; BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear)

The Silver Sea crossing and the Toa Seal#

Teridax, now far stronger after absorbing Nivawk, NidhikiNidhikiOnce a guardian of Metru Nui, Nidhiki traded his Toa honor for Dark Hunter gold and paid the price. and KrekkaKrekkaA brutish but ineffective Dark Hunter with no powers or masks, Krekka was outmatched from his first moments in Metru Nui., came after the transport across the Silver SeaThe Silver SeaThe vast body of unrefined liquid Protodermis surrounding Metru Nui inside the Great Barrier dome of the Matoran Universe.. In the fight that followed, Lhikan died saving Vakama, and the six Toa combined their powers to seal Teridax at the Great BarrierThe Great BarrierThe enormous underground dome of rock and solid Protodermis that enclosed Metru Nui and the Silver Sea, sealed Teridax into a cliff face, and was finally cracked open during the Great Cataclysm.. (BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui; BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)

As they left the broken city behind, Vakama went below and christened the craft the Lhikan. Once through the Great Barrier, the team first turned left, but they ran into scalding water and Matau swung the craft round the other way. (BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear)

The encounter with MavrahMavrahA Metru Nui Archivist who fled his city rather than let Turaga Dume cull his pet sea Rahi, drowned in a feeding frenzy a thousand years before the Great Cataclysm, and was rediscovered alive aboard the Red Star.#

In the tunnels, a squad of 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. attacked the Toa and briefly enslaved Matau. After beating them, the team ran into hostile sea Rahi and then MavrahMavrahA Metru Nui Archivist who fled his city rather than let Turaga Dume cull his pet sea Rahi, drowned in a feeding frenzy a thousand years before the Great Cataclysm, and was rediscovered alive aboard the Red Star., a former ArchivistArchivistA Matoran keeper of records and relics, the Archivist held one of Metru Nui's deadliest jobs. who had fled the city with sea Rahi and the prototype Vahki called KralhiKralhiThe first attempt at automated law enforcement in Metru Nui, the Kralhi were ordered destroyed for draining their captives into uselessness, and some later served the exiled Archivist Mavrah beyond the silver sea.. Thinking Turaga Dume had sent the Toa to drag him back, Mavrah had the Kralhi capture them, and the Kralhi took the Lhikan and hid it. (BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear)

Vakama slipped away and found the craft, only to discover that one sphere, the one holding AhkmouAhkmouA Po-Matoran carver of Metru Nui, one of the six Great Disk holders, who betrayed his fellow Matoran to the Dark Hunters, served Makuta Teridax, and became a false Turaga during Teridax's reign., had gone missing in the struggle. In the battle that followed, Mavrah set his Rahi on the Toa. OnewaOnewaOnewa served as Toa Metru of Stone, led Po-Koro through the Dark Time, and constructed the Metru Nui statue honoring the fallen Toa Mahri Matoro. was knocked into the water and WhenuaWhenuaToa Metru of Earth and later Turaga of Onu-Koro, formerly an Onu-Metru archivist whose career in the Archives shaped his role across the rescue of Metru Nui and the long residency on Mata Nui. dived in to save him. Shaken by Onewa's words, Mavrah tried to call off the fight, but he was knocked into the sea. (BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear)

Arrival at Mata Nui and the rebuild#

The Lhikan reached the island battered by the crossing. It was too large and awkward to take back through the tunnels beneath the island, so it was left behind, and it was later melted down for use in building the villages. (BIONICLE Adventures 7: Web of the Visorak; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

For the return trip, Vakama searched the tunnels for supplies and found one of Teridax's lairs, full of Vahki parts including pieces of Vahki Transports. From these, held afloat by roots of the KarzahniThe Karzahni PlantThe sentient prototype of the Morbuzakh, created by Teridax and abandoned in the labyrinth beneath Mata Nui after it proved too willful to control. plant, the team built the Lhikan II. A storm wrecked it on the shore of Le-MetruLe-MetruThe teal district where Le-Matoran managed everything that moved through Metru Nui, from chutes to airships. as they reached the city, though the Toa survived. (BIONICLE Adventures 7: Web of the Visorak)

Significance#

As a Vahki Transport, the Lhikan was nothing special, one of many used by the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. to haul large Rahi and other cargo around Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive.. What mattered was what it carried: six MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. in Matoran SpheresMatoran SpheresThe silver hibernation pods used by Teridax, posing as Turaga Dume, to capture, store, and transport the entire Matoran population of Metru Nui during the Great Cataclysm., the first of the city's people the Toa Metru brought to safety. (BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

Vakama gave it the name of a Toa the team had not been able to save, on the craft that carried the Matoran they had. When the team built a second craft for the return voyage, the name went with it. (BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear; BIONICLE Adventures 7: Web of the Visorak)