The Iron Knight

Yeah, I figured that, but I felt that it explained Vastus' current personality well enough that I couldn't bring myself to take it out. I'm 90% sure that it'll be eliminated in the final version. I didn't want it to be heart-wrenching, or anything. It was meant to be original, not uber-exciting. How so? I'm all for suggestions. I am. (Jungle Tribe comment above) It's about the Fire and Ice tribes. And longer doesn't necessarily mean better. I'd rather have a short, fun read than a long, dragged-out, boring one. Battles are a guilty pleasure. =P I can understand the Jungle Tribe-Bone Hunter deal, but everything Fire-Ice Tribe is tied together. Fire loses, then attacks again. (Cheap plot needs more tune-up) Makes sense to me.

Sorry for taking so long. (I suck at reviewing stuff. =P) I liked it. The characters were portrayed well, though I'm not too big on "Gelu the Bandit" (but if Shine says it's okay...). Sahmad still has the same issue as before, however. I'd imagine that he would kill Surel, or leave him to die, but that's just me. Oh, well, good luck to you! =)

I just pull the helmet up ever-so-slightly. I find that it looks better than doing nothing, considering my imagination sucks. :P

Cause and Effect by Iro (The Iron Knight) The Northern Frost Certavus ducked as his enemy's sword sliced through where his head was a second ago. The fire tribe was trying to capture the strange silvery liquid that would change or destroy whatever touched it, something that happened multiple times in the past. They never held onto it for very long; the ice army wouldn't allow it. He, Surel, and Gelu had decided to scout for fire troops. After only an hour, they ran into three of the fire tribe warriors, and a fight ensued. To Certavus' left, Surel was battling it out with a young, but skilled, warrior named Malum. To his right, Gelu was parrying Perditus' blows with his Slicer. Certavus pressed on as the leader of the infiltry backed up a bit. The Ice Tribe fighter jumped back, dodging another blow, and charged forward, and responded with a vicious blow from his sword, stunning the warrior. An axe flew across the battlefield, striking Perditus in the shoulder, and damaging his armor. Glancing in the direction from where the weapon came from, Surel saw another Ice Tribe fighter, the infamous Strakk. Now with an advantage, the four warriors managed to drive their enemies away, the leader falling before Surel's mace. "Not bad," Gelu muttered. "No," Surel responded, "not bad at all...." Strakk went over to the dead infiltry leader. He checked the corpse thourghly, and when he finished, he simply shrugged, saying, "These fire types never have anything good on them. Makes me wonder why I bothered with this whole war ordeal." Certavus chimed in, "You know you would have the Element Lord to deal with if you refused. He never takes 'no' for an answer." "Yeah.... Right. Anyway, I have business in Iconox, so don't expect me to come and save your hides again." "What business?" Surel inquired. "An Agori, Metus, owes me a cache of arms for a... favor I did for him." Gelu laughed, "We know you, Strakk. You don't do favors." Strakk frowned. "Looks like I did you one a few minutes ago." Certavus interrupted. "They'll be back. With greater numbers, too. Be prepared. Gelu, get some more warriors to keep watch, and Surel-" "I have business to attend to, as well," Surel said. "I need to meet with an old 'friend'. Don't worry; I'll be back in time. I wouldn't miss this for... all those energies we're fighting for," he joked. Jungle Tribe Outpost in Bara Magna Region Vastus looked upon his ranks. They were all tall, lean, green-armored fighters, each quick as a serpent. He smiled. These were his brothers in arms, and he would lead them to victory. As one of the Jungle Lord's field commanders, Vastus made sure that all of his men were in tip-top condition, and considering that this was war, they needed to be. A warrior approached him, saying, "We're ready. Most ice warriors have temporarily departed. We can take the Northern Frost during the night, and we'll have the spring by dawn." "Excellent. Prepare the troops; we attack soon." "Yes, sir. I'll alert them." With a salute, the warrior departed. Fire Tribe Outpost in Bara Magna Region Perditus glanced at his damaged armor. He was hurt, although not badly. Malum already was sparring with another warrior, getting ready for their next attack. The patrol leader, however, had been killed by one of the opposing warriors. The Agori Crotesius appeared. "Hey, what happened with the patrol leader?" he asked. "Dead," was the response. "Got hit by a mace to the chest. Guess his heart couldn't take the impact." "Oh." After a moment or two, he continued. "Well, I think you'll want to look at this," Crotesius gestured toward a tan-colored vehicle. Mounted on each side were twin cannons, and attached to the cockpit was a scope. "Thornatus," he said. "V9, to be specific. This cost us quite a bit, and we never got any use from it." "Let me guess, you want me to put it to good use. Right?" "Long as you don't trash it, yeah," Crostesius replied. Perditus looked at the vehicle, then at Crotesius, then back at the vehicle once more. He chuckled, "All right. I'm in." Bara Magna Region, near Northern Frost Vastus led his men to the post just outside of the Northern Frost. They were ready to face anything, from ice warriors to the Element Lord of Ice himself, or so they thought. What they couldn't predict was that a band of riders was watching them from the shadows. One of the younger riders, Fero, looked at the group of warriors racing through the night. He didn't know why this band of thieves bothered to attack fighters such as these, but rumor said that those who questioned the raiders' motives would not live to regret it. The six riders were all mounted on raptor-like animals, each with a tail tipped with a stinger, razor-sharp teeth, and a keen sense of smell. The leader of the group raised his blade, and the animals charged. Vastus heard a cry from behind. He turned around to see black armored riders on reptillian animals tearing through the ranks of his men. Taken by surprise, the warriors didn't stand a chance. Vastus' heart told him to stand and fight, to die here like an honorable warrior, but his mind told him to flee, to survive, to live to see another day. His mind won the arguement, and the jungle tribe fighter turned away from his group, and fled to a safe spot. Fero turned to one of his partners, and asked, "That one is escaping. Should I go after him?" "No," came the reply. "Let him live. Let him feel guilt at the sound of his partner's screams. Let him be the one who tells the tale of his own fear, and how the Bone Hunters defeated even the mightiest of warriors." Fortress of the Great Beings Surel walked up to the giant fortress. He'd been here once before, at the war's beginning. The true rulers of Bara Magna, the Great Beings, had given him one of their creations, the Iron Wolves, to train, but Surel had never felt the need to unleash them upon the ice tribe's enemies. That was about to change. "State your business," a voice boomed from the fortress. "It's Surel. I'm here to pick up my wolves," the warrior said. "You have a use for them?" "This war needs to end. Maybe these animals will teach the other tribes to back off." There was a long pause before the voice responded. "You are right. This war does need to end. We have tried to resolve this dispute peacefully, but perhaps your suggestion of violence is a solution we have not taken into account." After another pause, the voice spoke again. "Farewell, Surel." Surel felt dizzy as the world around him became blurry and a sensation like none he had felt before came over him. The next moment, he was in the Northern Frost, surrounded by at least two hundred Iron Wolves. He began marching towards his post, Iron Wolves behind him. Certavus saw Surel coming toward him... followed by a great number of half-mechanical wolves. "What is this?" he asked. "A solution." Certavus glanced at one of the wolves. It growled at the stranger, until Surel calmed it. After a few moments Certavus said, "I almost feel sorry for those who have come to attack us." Northern Frost Ackar and his crew marched up toward the Northern Frost. They were going to attack early since the other tribes were counting on one of the others to attack and weaken the Ice Tribe. Malum and about four dozen other warriors were behind him, all ready to take on any opponent. Perditus approached him. "I need to go back." "Why?" asked Ackar. "I need to pick something up. It'll give us quite an advantage." Ackar thought about it for a second. Perditus was no coward; he would never turn his back on a fight. "Fine. But be quick." Peridtus nodded and ran back. After a few hours of marching, one of the warriors cried out, claiming he had seen an ice tribe warrior up ahead. When the troop reached the spot, no one was there. A sweep around the area confirmed Ackar's doubts. This warrior was just excited, maybe a little bit too much. "The fire tribe is coming!" A scout ran up towards the warriors, reporting that he had seen the red-armored warriors approaching the spring. Gelu, Surel, Certavus, and many others readied their weapons, and waited until they saw the first spot of crimson to appear. Two warriors went down immediately, but by what cause was unknown. Surel checked on one of the fallen, and picked up a silver sphere. He showed it to one of the warriors, "Does this mean anything to you?" "No," the fighter said. "I've never seen anythi-" Both he and Surel fell, as a tan-colored vehicle piloted by a fire tribe warrior appeared. The fire army was right behind, and a massive battle erupted. Certavus was fighting two warriors at once, and Gelu battled it out with Malum. Elsewhere, three ice tribe fighters ambushed twice as many fire warriors, and they went down. Perditus steered his craft around, not seeing the fallen Surel on the ground. The Thornatus sped over Surel's leg, producing a crunching sound. He fired four shots at the same number of ice warriors. Two were knocked out; the other two were caught on the Thornatus' blades. Surel tried to limp away from the fight, but his leg was too damaged to allow such an act. He fell to the floor face-first. He turned over and tried to let out a howl. That was enough for the Iron Wolves. They ran into the fight, the pack leaders taking down five opposing fighters. One wolf tackled Ackar, though a blast of flame from his weapon knocked it off. Two wolves stayed back, however, and dragged their injured master away from the battle. Two Fire Agori ran out of the battle, towards the spring. They were instructed to tap into the substance and put some in a vial. When they reached the spring, one made the fatal mistake of trying to touch the substance, and consequently disintegrated. The other shuddered, and started to work. An Iconox Inn "What do you mean you don't have the cache?!" Strakk grabbed a chair and hurled it above Metus' head. "You owe me a debt, and now you can't pay it?" Strakk grabbed his axe, and stalked toward Metus. "How unfortuna-" The world suddenly felt different. Strakk ran outside to see what was going on. His jaw dropped. "What the..?" Wall of Stars, facing Spherus Magna The Great Beings' worries were becoming reality. Spherus Magna, the Great Sphere, was splitting apart. The silvery substance, known to the Great Beings as Energized Protodermis, had leaked into the planet's core. It was a sight to see, the giant planet split into three pieces. The sensation the inhabitants felt cannot be described in words. It was so unreal; no one could have forseen this, or have predicted this. A great number of Agori and soldiers were stranded on the largest portion, Bara Magna. The Great Beings sent a synthezoid named Mata Nui to complete a mission of some sort, but it has since crash-landed on the watery piece known as Aqua Magna. The residents of Bara Magna have since developed a social system, but all are struggling to just survive in this desert wasteland. And as for the Great Beings? No one knows what happened to them. It is unknown if they are alive or dead. And that is something the residents of Bara Magna care not to find out. --- Yeah, it's not perfect, but then again, what is? It's rather short, but it's better than me dragging it out. Gah, the paragraphs aren't indented. Blame the forums, not me. :-/ Word Count: 1,924 (excluding title and captions) EDIT: I stupidly forgot to include this in the description: This is not finalized, so keep that in mind when reviewing, please.

Don't get ahead of yourself there, Ikk. No set is without flaws. I'd say that the flaws on these sets are so minuscule that they can be overlooked by... everyone. :P Unfortunately, Gelu suffers from an issue that many 2009 sets suffer (the best ones all have this problem, IMO). His helmet, when pushed down all the way on his head, covers more than than half of his eyes. That bugs me, so now I gotta' try to perfect all the helmets' positions. :-/ Ah, well, it's a quick fix, anyway.

Personally, I like Tarix more than Kiina. Kiina's got a custom torso, yes, but it's awkwardly tiny compared to her limbs. And I'd say bland is better than flawed. Oh, I'm basing this on the overall look of a set, not its build ('cuz they've all got an Inika torso, for the most part) or how "good" its parts are. Don't get me wrong, though, I like Kiina, but Tarix is a better set, in my opinion.

I did. The one in the winter had trans-neon green eyes, while the repackaged one has trans-yellow. Not a big difference, but the trans-yellow eyes were only released in one set prior to this.

-_- The world's intelligence has gone down the crapper, it seems. So I'm gonna' hope this whole rumor is a load of bull, then. :P

No Matoran Universe. If Teridax wants to attack Bara Magna, that's fine, but I want to stay on Bara Magna. Unless... we're going to be skipping back and forth. Like winter 2010 will focus on some really important goings on in the MU, and then the summer snaps back to Bara Magna. If that were the case, I guess I'd be fine with that.

I don't like inaccuracies. In the book, the Vorox broke his stinger off of a boulder (which shattered), and here he broke it off of Click. Wonder which is canon... Oh, and I thought it was funny when Metus pulled out his blade. "I got my stinger too, fool." :P They should've made the two a bit more distinguishable.

Lol, I know they're not gonna' give me all masks (They're not gonna' give me anything, 'cuz I never win at these things), but I'd like at least one of those. I guess that since I don't really play with my sets, I can like Baranus V7 better. 'Cuz that think looks sick on display with the Cendox V1 and Kaxium V3. That also explains why Cendox V1's blades piss me off, since the thing won't stay still, it always falls to one side.

I'd choose lackluster over just plain flawed. :P Doesn't really matter at this point, anyway, as I already got both.

I think the Baranus V7 is superior to the Cendox V1. Those front blades annoy me too much. The Baranus V7's got a decent driver, the Spikit is pretty awesome overall, and the chariot... has no annoying flopping blades, and is very sturdy. It's definately not better than, say, the Thornatus V9 or Skopio XV-1, but it beats the hell out of the Cendox V1. As for the Kaxium V3, those gaps are an eyesore, so it's on par with the Baranus V7 (not that Baranus V7's an eyesore)...

Hey, I've a question for those who entered BZP's prototype giveaway: If you were to win, what pieces do you hope to recieve? If I won (which would be extremely unlikely), I'd like this, this, this, and the one one the left. And, you're only allowed to enter your name once, right? If that's not the case, I think I screwed myself over. >_< Looks like I'm good. I hope I'm not the only guy out there who obediently entered only once. :P Also, after playing around with the Cendox V1 for a bit, I gotta' say that it's a bit overrated. Those front blades are too loose, and move around too much. The launcher just hangs there, not adding to the "playability", as well. It's a great set, but I think that people are going after this as opposed to the superior Baranus V7.

C) None of the above. Just 'cuz you didn't see it doesn't mean it's an exclusive. It was probably out of stock. In fact, I bought my Baranus V7 at Toys 'R' Us, so I should know.

I'd like to see an exact replica of the movie Kraakhan. And maybe fists with fingers that can move, but they can still hold stuff.

No, they don't, but they have quite a bit. If you can't find a piece (or if it's overpriced), put it on your Wanted List. You can also check their catalog. Simply find the set the piece is in, and click on its part number. It'll usually show what stores have it in stock. As for your comment, the only BIONICLE parts that aren't in the BIONICLE section are the sockets, and the "Toa Hordika necks", which are in "Technic, Connecters", and "Technic, Liftarms", respectively. The grey used from 2004 onward is labeled as light/dark bluish grey, whereas the grey before that is simply light/dark grey. I don't really get your second question. Maybe you can rephrase it?

I agree with Rayg. Sahmad hates everyone for making him an outcast an shunning him and his tribe. I doubt he would go through the trouble to help someone else out. The violence is a tad over-the-top for a kid's story, too. I have not, however, read any other entries, so I really don't know how it'll stack up against the competition....

Could you, please? I've seen your reviews of Stronius and Mata Nui, and they were excellent, so I'd like to see something more in-depth than the BZP one.

You should get either Thornatus V9 or Toa Mata Nui. Frankly, as cool as the Glatorian Legends are, the vehicles are more interesting. Although, I only have the Baranus V7 built, so I can't speak for them all.

Or, what if gave Tuma elemental rock powers? The Ignika does have a tendency to screw with the good guys.

Why Matau? It's not his fault he got a crappy portrayal. *glances at Miramax* :P

Kiina (or her voice actor) seriously needs to take a chill pill. The rest are good, however. And on Berix: Maybe he was in such shock about the traitor that his voice got a high pitch... At least I hope that's the case.

1) I, for one, am very excited. I want to see Metus, but I've got a feeling we'll only see the Vorox fight. 2) Yeah, they're new, but so are a lot of other bands (Cavo, Since October, Pop Evil, for example), and those bands are extremely talented. I'm also aware that they're a band for a toy line, but it's like they're trying too hard to make their music for BIONICLE. One thing (the only thing, in actuality) I like about them is that they've made some killer instrumentals. "Creeping in My Soul" and "Gravity Hurts" are good examples of when the instrumentals flow very well with the CGI, but then the vocals come in and kill the song. 3) I know you're not talkin' to me specifically, but I thought I'd throw in my opinion....

All right, after listening to "Bye Bye, Babylon" again, my opinion's changed. The song is better than horrible, but worse than decent.... I don't think the band sucks, but the songs they've put out just repulse me (maybe if they tried instrumentals only..?).