Zadakh

The Zadakh 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 Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it., the stone-carving 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 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. sculptors, the Sculpture FieldsSculpture FieldsThe Sculpture Fields were the open Po-Metru courtyards where Po-Matoran carvers worked statues too large for any building, hid one of the Great Disks, and gave Onewa his first confrontation with Ahkmou's betrayal. where the largest carvings stood, and the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. assembly works that built every other VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. line in 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 were 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. at the request of TuragaTuragaFormer Toa who fulfilled their destiny and transformed into leaders. Turaga wield Noble Kanohi masks and weakened elemental powers, guiding their communities. 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. and built 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., 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 Zadakh did neither. The Zadakh were the strongest of the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. lines, were fearless to the point of recklessness, and were always eager to walk straight into the fight.

Role in Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it.#

Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it. was the stone-carving 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., the 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. whose civic life was organised around the working of stone and the assembly of every machine the rest of the city depended on. 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. sculptors carved the Sculpture FieldsSculpture FieldsThe Sculpture Fields were the open Po-Metru courtyards where Po-Matoran carvers worked statues too large for any building, hid one of the Great Disks, and gave Onewa his first confrontation with Ahkmou's betrayal. and the giant statues that stood across the district, the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. assembly works at the northern tip of the 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. produced every VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. line for distribution to every other district, and the long carving yards between the workshops carried a constant traffic of carts, half-finished blocks of protodermis, and finished work being moved out for installation. Enforcement of order in such an environment meant something different than it did in the silent Knowledge TowersKnowledge TowerThe crystalline spires of Ko-Metru that housed memory crystals, sheltered the district's Scholars, and stored much of the city's accumulated knowledge. of Ko-MetruKo-MetruKo-Metru was Metru Nui's frozen intellectual quarter, home to the scholarly Ko-Matoran race. or the canal-cooled academic blocks of Ga-MetruGa-MetruGa-Metru is a district of Metru Nui, home to the Ga-Matoran and the Bordakh.. It meant the ability to settle a brawl between rival carving crews, the ability to subdue a MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. the size of a 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. labourer in a contest of strength, and the willingness to walk into a fight rather than wait the fight out.

The Zadakh provided that enforcement. Squads patrolled the Sculpture FieldsSculpture FieldsThe Sculpture Fields were the open Po-Metru courtyards where Po-Matoran carvers worked statues too large for any building, hid one of the Great Disks, and gave Onewa his first confrontation with Ahkmou's betrayal., the assembly works at the 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 northern tip, and the open carving yards where the largest pieces were moved between workshops. A Zadakh standing at the edge of a sculpture yard was a familiar sight to 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. labourers, and the official animated short for the model dramatised exactly that environment: a 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. wearing a PakariPakariThe Mask of Strength amplifies physical power and never stops working, giving its wearer a constant edge. ran across a bridge in Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it., an explosion went up behind him, and a Zadakh squad walked out of the smoke with the slogan that might makes right appearing alongside them.

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. waited in ambush above a forge floor, a Zadakh walked toward the disturbance in plain view, fully expecting to settle it at the disturbance's own location and at whatever cost in noise the settlement required.

The recklessness directive#

The most distinctive feature of the Zadakh was tactical rather than mechanical, although it rested on a mechanical foundation. Each Zadakh was the physically strongest of the six VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. lines. The model had been built heavier and more powerful than any of its sister lines, and the directive that governed its behaviour was tuned to that strength. The Zadakh did not avoid fights. The Zadakh did not call for support. The Zadakh did not lie in wait for an intercept point. The Zadakh walked into the fight, settled it through direct contact, and left the disturbance behind them.

The directive shaded into recklessness in practice. Zadakh squads were known to engage targets that another VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. line would have shadowed, to commit to a fight at a disadvantage rather than withdraw, and to press an engagement past the point at which any of the other VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. lines would have reassessed. The fearlessness was a feature rather than a bug; the Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it. labour force was physically capable enough that any visible hesitation from a patrolling Zadakh would have invited a test of the model's authority, and the Zadakh was built specifically not to give that opening.

The directive carried a known weakness. The same fearlessness that made the Zadakh effective against a single target made the model exploitable by a target who understood the directive in advance. A Zadakh squad that had committed to a charge could be steered into terrain the squad would not otherwise have chosen, because the directive did not permit the squad to abandon the charge once started. 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 had recently come into the power of her KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe. of Mind Control, used the weakness directly during 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.'s flight through Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it.: she steered the bulk of the patrolling Zadakh squad off a cliff edge that the patrol had not seen coming, and the KikanaloKikanaloBionicle's most underestimated Rahi: intelligent herd creatures whose stampedes terrified even Dark Hunters on Metru Nui. herd that the ToaToa (2001)Biomechanical heroes bonded to elemental powers and masks. Not born, but chosen and transformed. had befriended took the rest of the squad apart with a sonic roar.

Staffs of Suggestion#

The Zadakh's standard armament was the Staff of Suggestion, a two-pronged shock staff that operated not by injuring the target and not by directing the target, but by softening 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 left in a very suggestible state, willing to follow orders from almost anyone who happened to give the next instruction. The staff did not deliver a command of its own. It opened the target to commands from whatever source supplied the next command, which in practice was usually the deploying Zadakh squad but could equally have been any MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body., TuragaTuragaFormer Toa who fulfilled their destiny and transformed into leaders. Turaga wield Noble Kanohi masks and weakened elemental powers, guiding their communities., or other party present at the moment of compliance.

The mechanism gave the staff a particular character among the six VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. staffs. 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. Staff of Command planted a single directive that the target would follow until the directive wore off. A BordakhBordakhThe Vahki model assigned to Ga-Metru, the Bordakh patrolled the canals and schools of the academic district and carried Staffs of Loyalty that turned any Matoran they struck into a willing informant against their own friends. Staff of Loyalty converted the target into a wholehearted servant of order. The Zadakh's staff did neither; it left the target as an instrument that the next available voice could play. In a Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it. carving yard, where the next available voice was almost always a Zadakh, the distinction was academic. In any environment where the Zadakh's targets might be exposed to other influences before the squad could move them to custody, the same property became a weakness.

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 Zadakh, 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 BordakhBordakhThe Vahki model assigned to Ga-Metru, the Bordakh patrolled the canals and schools of the academic district and carried Staffs of Loyalty that turned any Matoran they struck into a willing informant against their own friends. 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 suggestibility effect, scaled to the larger unit's reach.

The Po-Metru patrol and the cliff#

The Zadakh's most documented field action against 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. came during the period after the impostor TuragaTuragaFormer Toa who fulfilled their destiny and transformed into leaders. Turaga wield Noble Kanohi masks and weakened elemental powers, guiding their communities. 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.'s mass-arrest order, when 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 fled into Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it. and made common cause with a KikanaloKikanaloBionicle's most underestimated Rahi: intelligent herd creatures whose stampedes terrified even Dark Hunters on Metru Nui. herd. A large patrol of Zadakh moved against the three through the open carving country between the Sculpture FieldsSculpture FieldsThe Sculpture Fields were the open Po-Metru courtyards where Po-Matoran carvers worked statues too large for any building, hid one of the Great Disks, and gave Onewa his first confrontation with Ahkmou's betrayal.. The Zadakh outnumbered the ToaToa (2001)Biomechanical heroes bonded to elemental powers and masks. Not born, but chosen and transformed. substantially and had the physical advantage that the model was built for, and a direct engagement on the patrol's terms would have ended the ToaToa (2001)Biomechanical heroes bonded to elemental powers and masks. Not born, but chosen and transformed.' flight.

The engagement did not happen on the patrol's terms. 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. outlined the plan, and the ToaToa (2001)Biomechanical heroes bonded to elemental powers and masks. Not born, but chosen and transformed. split the patrol's attention between 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 newly active mask power and the KikanaloKikanaloBionicle's most underestimated Rahi: intelligent herd creatures whose stampedes terrified even Dark Hunters on Metru Nui. herd's sonic capability. 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 Mask of Mind Control reached far enough into the patrol's leading ranks to steer the bulk of the squad straight off a cliff edge; the patrol's recklessness directive did the rest, since none of the affected Zadakh broke off the charge in time to see the cliff coming. The remainder of the squad, still on the approach behind the leading ranks, was destroyed by a KikanaloKikanaloBionicle's most underestimated Rahi: intelligent herd creatures whose stampedes terrified even Dark Hunters on Metru Nui. sonic roar. The ToaToa (2001)Biomechanical heroes bonded to elemental powers and masks. Not born, but chosen and transformed. then entered a tunnel leading to the ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface. below the district, and the KikanaloKikanaloBionicle's most underestimated Rahi: intelligent herd creatures whose stampedes terrified even Dark Hunters on Metru Nui. herd destroyed the entrance behind them to deny the route to any VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. reinforcement.

The sequence was characteristic of the kind of opposition the Zadakh could mount and the kind that could be turned against the line. They had not been outfought directly. They had been steered.

Cataclysm and end of service#

The Zadakh'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. 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., absorbed the city's entire power grid through the Coliseum array to amplify his own strength. The grid surge that resulted either destroyed or reprogrammed the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. in their hives, and the Zadakh hives at the northern tip of Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it. were no exception. Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it. itself was the least damaged of the six districts in the same event, and the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. population later used the district as a shelter while the rest of the city was being repaired, but the Zadakh hives went down with the grid that powered them regardless of the district's structural survival.

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 softened; they destroyed. A Zadakh detachment that later attempted to reach the Coliseum to eliminate 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. hordes encountered a group of BoggarakBoggarakA Visorak subspecies specializing in deception and illusion, Boggarak served as Roodaka's personal guard during the Metru Nui invasion. en route and was quickly destroyed by the RhotukaRhotukaRhotuka were wheels of pure energy generated by living beings, shaped by the user''s nature, and launched through natural or artificial launchers.-using 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., and the remaining Zadakh were destroyed 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 when 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 in full. No Zadakh 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 walked into the fight rather than wait the fight out, and the line whose staff could turn a MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. into an instrument the next nearby voice could play.