Makuta Elicras waited patiently as his lieuntant, Acarax, scouted the area. Elicras was one of the few "Lord-Inheritors", a select group of Makuta within their Brotherhood chosen to be the closest warriors under the Ascendant Lord, supreme ruler of the Brotherhood. Teridax, Antroz, Icarax, and Elicras himself had all held the title. As such, Teridax as current Ascendant, and tasked him with a simple mission. Take a force of warriors to some new, uncharted realm, and colonize it for resources that the Brotherhood could use. The Plan was nearing completion, according to Teridax, and this land would supply them as needed, with anything the brotherhood desired. There where supposed to be "Agori" here, that would make perfect slaves.
Elicras, being the loyal servant of Teridax that he was, took his 4 brothers and sister Makuta, and 1 Toa of Shadow, along with a troop of Rahkshi to colonize it. When he found himself in a forest, and no sign of his target, a group of organic, Matoran-like beings, Elicras at first thought he was fooled. He knew he was fooled when Teridax closed the gate behind him, trapping his forces here.
Elicras was tall, even for a Makuta, reaching Teridax's shoulders when he was in his titan form. He had deep, maroon colored armor, and black and grey highlights to it, as well as deep purple eyes. His Mask of Power, the Kanohi Avasa, or Mask of Hunger, allowed him to feast off the moral light within a victim. It was shaped like the face of a bat, a popular motive among the Brotherhood, after Makuta Chirox had revered to Mutran as a "Slime-sucking, Back stabbing Bat", which, ironically became a popular form for their armor.
He stood above the others of his group, wings folded back, as he scanned the skies patiently. He knew Acarax could not be dead, for he would've sensed, and he was not captured, as capturing Makuta was harder then petting a Doom Viper. When said Viper was already ticked.
One of his Custodians, a Makuta High Scientist, approached. Sirix was his left hand, if Acarax was his right, and a strong, if manipulative, scientist and studier of the occult. The Custodian was somewhat shorter then he, his armor dark blue and grey, with his Kanohi mask of repulsion, shaped like a skull, a staff of dark energies in his claw. Draped over his shoulders, was a cape of sorts worn usually by a Turaga. He had the typical pair of wings of a Makuta, which could've doubled as blades.
He leaned in close to Elicras' side, whispering to him, beyond the ear shot of their comrades.
"Acarax has not returned. This does not bond well." He whispered in a slithering voice.
That was probably a lie. It meant a promotion for Sirix, and one less annoyance in his path to the top.
"Patience Sirix. He will return shortly." Elicras said in his usual rough, savage voice. Even without meaning to, Elicras could make most beings bow to his will.
As if on cue, Acarax himself arrived. Much less armored then the other Makuta, he preferred to be light, fast, and memorable in a fight. His body was thin, brown in color, with 2, long, blade like claws, designed like whips, so he peel his enemies to pieces, slowly and deliberately. He landed in the middle of the group, snarling and cursing.
"Acarax, report." Ordered Elicras. He had grown used to Acarax's short temper and bouts of rage. It was why he failed at being a scientist, often killing his creations before they have a chance.
"I see no "Agori" here, or anything from our universe." He snarled.
"So Makuta left us in a world without life forms? That is hard to believe, considering conditions are right in this environment." Said Sirix, spreading his arms around to show the whole forest and it's buzzing insects.
"I did not say that." Snarled Acarax. "There are these strange Equine beasts, apparently civilized, and, from what I've seen, the dominate race here, akin to Matoran in the home realm."
"Bring me one, so I may...examine it.." Said Sirix with a hissing chuckle.
"Now now. We have no time for this. We must get a feel for this race, and it's goals, and decide our coarse of action. Acarax, Avox, I need you to shadow form your way around their cities, and find information. Look for everything, culture, food, battles, and other things of worth."
"What...of...us?" Rasped Makuta Neruga. An experiment long ago, when he was organic, on his lung and organic tissue, left him needing breathing tubes and various apparatus to breath. However, it worked. He was immune to diseases and rot, and could channel said powers himself.
"The rest will stay here, and establish a base front in one of the caves." Said Elicras, pointing to Sirix, Neruga, and their Toa servant.
"A regular hold Makuta lair, eh?" Said the Toa, Schatten. The Toa was once one of Plasma, and his team and fought against the Makuta on the island of Krin Nui. This resulted in 4 dying, 1 falling to the oceans, and the last betraying them mid battle to side with the Makuta. Selling his soul for survival, Schatten indeed became a feared Champion of the Brotherhood, and went as far as using a Makuta aligned-mask, a Mask of Scavenging, instead of his old mask.
His armor was mostly black and grey, with some of his joints being orange. Behind his mask glowed 2 smoldering orange eyes. He was a feared warrior, even by the Makuta, and had gained a nick name across the Matoran universe, as the Toa-Pariah.
"Watch your tongue, servant," snarled Acarax, rubbing his claws together. "or else you can join the rest of your 'Brothers'."
Schatten snorted at the Makuta, as Neruga stepped in between them. He had grown use to having to break the 2 up when they started their grapples. They had learned quick Acarax was one of the few not scared of Schatten, and was no afraid to draw blood with his whip-like, blade-like claws.
"If you two are quite down with your nonsense, we shall continue." Said Sirix. "You have tasked you ought to be doing. I suggest we do them."
Acarax and Avox nodded, and flew off, toward the east. As their troops began their steady march under the setting sun, Sirix turned to Elicras.
"Either way this goes, we shall find some..interesting subjects to view. Either in battle, or in the experimentation chambers." He whispered.
"Yes. Either way, this society will embrace the order we bring to chaos, whether they like it or not." Said Elicras.
Celestia shuddered to herself as she stood, getting that sort of feeling she never liked. It was the same one she had with Sombra, Tirec, and all other sorts of nasty, putrid, shadowy beasts. It was what she called the buzz, a sort of telepathic warning system she seemed to have developed. And this was a particularly strong shock to the system. She was on her way to her throne room, right outside the massive, cathedra-like building of gold and white pearl
Luna was at her side immediately, seemingly from the shadows themselves, which, considering Celestia's nerves, helped manage to scare the Solar Goddess almost of out of her skin.
"Did you sense that too, sister?" Asked Luna, fear gripping her voice.
"Yes." Said Celestia sternly. "And I fear we have not one shadowy being to deal with this day, but several."
Both their eyes turned to one direction, and, while in their palace, the two knew where this shadow was permeating from. The Everfree forest.
