The Legend of the Bionicle-2002
For centuries, they have slept. Silent. Hidden. Waiting to hatch. Dreaming dreams of chaos. Now the sleepers have awakened at last. One
by one, they leave their chambers, driven by an instinct they cannot explain. They wield ancient power, its source a mystery. Like a storm, they sweep all aside.
By the thousands they advance, an unstoppable swarm. They are the Bohrok. Their time has come.
-from the "Swarm" minicomic, available in Bohrok sets during 2002
The Bohrok Awake
As the Toa returned to the surface of Mata Nui after vanquishing Makuta, they heard sounds coming from above- mysterious sounds of destruction. Trees were falling, rocks were melting, and rivers were boiling. The island of Mata Nui faced a time of chaos.
The Toa hurried to Ta-Koro, and found it under attack. Strange insectlike beings, wielding elemental powers like those of the Toa, were trying to destroy the lava flows. When Lewa attacked, a blast of ice knocked him out of the air. Onua and Pohatu were almost crushed by a rockslide. Finally, Lewa and Gali drove the creatures away by combining their powers to summon a thunderstorm.
Turaga Vakama revealed to the Toa that these attackers were known as Bohrok. Six types of them were loose all over the island, along with six swarms of smaller scouts called Bohrok Va. They were driven on their mission of destruction by creatures called krana, which the Bohrok carried beneath their faceplates. In order to defeat the Bohrok, the Toa would have to collect one of each of the eight breeds of krana from each swarm. But they must take care not to wear a krana, as these creatures could steal the mind.
Search for the Krana
With Ta-Koro secure for the moment, the Toa returned to their own villages to gather krana from the Bohrok. They would have no trouble finding them. The swamp Bohrok called Lehvak attacked Po-Koro and Le-Koro almost immediately. Pohatu and his villagers drove the Lehvak away, but things went differently in the treetop village of Le-Koro. When Lewa arrived, Turaga Matau and most of the Le-Koronan had been captured, their masks replaced with krana which subjected them to the will of the swarms. The villagers, controlled by the Bohrok, tricked Lewa and attached a krana to the Toa's face as well.
Elsewhere on the island, the struggle was not going well for the Toa. A huge army of Tahnok invaded Po-Wahi, melting through mountains on their way to Po-Koro. Pohatu and Gali devised a trap for the fiery swarm. They had Onua dig a tunnel from a canyon to the ocean, and Kopaka block the canyon end with ice. When the Tahnok marched through the canyon, Pohatu kicked a boulder through the ice wall. Seawater poured in, stunning the Tahnok. Gali then dived into the water to take as many krana as she could. But the Tahnok boiled the water and climbed out by melting handholds in the canyon wall. Surprised by the resourcefulness of their foes, the Toa left quickly, and the Tahnok swarm marched on.
When the Tahnok arrived at Po-Koro, Hafu made a daring expedition outside the village. He knocked over his sculptures that had lined the path, blocking the gate of the village. Hafu, left outside, was rescued by Pohatu and Hewkii. The Tahnok, not happy with laying a long siege, eventually moved on.
Meanwhile, a swarm of Gahlok, the Bohrok of water, proved themselves even slyer and more resourceful than the Tahnok. They flooded the underground village of Onu-Koro, driving the panicking villagers into the tunnels. While in hiding, a mining engineer named Nuparu found a Gahlok that had lost its krana. He realized that the Bohrok were completely mechanical creatures, driven by the intelligent krana. He also realized that he could use Bohrok components to construct a powerful vehicle capable of fighting back. With a Matoran driver seated in front, the odd-looking machine could shoot forward two long arms and deal a heavy punch to any Bohrok foolish enough to get in the way. Nuparu named his creation the Boxor, and used it to drive the Gahlok from Onu-Koro.
Meanwhile, the Toa had become worried over Lewa's disappearance. Onua traveled to the Le-Wahi jungle in search of him. He recovered Lewa's mask from a group of Lehvak Va, and knew that his brother Toa was in danger. Soon afterward, he came across Lewa. But with his mind controlled by a krana, the Toa of Air threatened to attack Onua. But the Toa of Earth did not give up. He managed to knock Lewa over, jarring the parasite attached to his face. Though Lewa's body was still controlled, his mind was free. Onua encouraged Lewa, shared his Toa energies, and enabled Lewa to overcome the krana's hold and tear it from himself.
Onua and Lewa then hurried to a meeting of the Toa. The full set of krana had been collected, and the Toa were ready to unlock the secret of defeating the Bohrok swarms. Furthermore, Kopaka had tracked a Bohrok Va to a gaping hole in the ground. Hundreds of Bohrok were swarming up the sides of the hole from some secret underground lair. The Toa realized it would be necessary to descend and challenge the Bohrok in their nest.
Into the Nest
The six heroes of Mata Nui had a more difficult task ahead of them than they realized. Climbing down the hole, they found themselves in an unnaturally smooth tunnel. Tahu climbed down through a hatch to investigate a nest of sleeping Bohrok. Suddenly, a heavy stone slab slammed across the tunnel between Tahu and the others. Onua and Pohatu were unable to break through it. Worse, a flood of molten lava appeared behind the Toa, slowly moving down the tunnel toward them. Caught between the slab and the lava, the heroes of Mata Nui faced a fiery extinction.
Kopaka used his ice power to hold back the lava while Pohatu and Onua tried once more to destroy the slab. But their combined powers could not even scratch it. Lewa then realized it was impossible for any stone to withstand the might of these two Toa. The slab, therefore, could not be real. It was a craftily placed illusion. As soon as Lewa refused to believe in the slab, it disappeared, and he was able to walk right through it.
The other four followed Lewa, and soon found themselves in another cavern. Suddenly, a wall exploded, and Tahu appeared. The Fire Toa explained that he had been in a nest of Bohrok when they began to hatch. He had heated the air in the cavern until the nest exploded under the pressure. Now the Bohrok had fled for the moment. But Tahu's blast had weakened the cavern floor, and it gave way beneath the Toa's feet. Using their masks of levitation, they arrived safely at the bottom, in a large round chamber. Kopaka noticed carvings on the floor matching the shapes of the krana, which the Toa had brought with them. When the krana were placed on the carvings, a rockslide revealed six huge doors in the chamber wall.
Back on the Surface
Meanwhile, the Bohrok were still on the loose on Mata Nui, and the Matoran still needed to defend their villages. The Boxor vehicles helped repulse a Lehvak attack on Ta-Koro. Jaller and Takua then brought some of the Boxor to Le-Wahi, but the massive machines did not work well in the thick jungle undergrowth and muddy swamps. Even though the Lehvak had been replaced by slow-moving Nuhvok, a direct attack to free Le-Koro was impossible. Nevertheless, a plan was devised, with the aid of Kongu and Tamaru, who had escaped the strike on their village.
The two Le-Matoran leaped and swung through the treetops, making plenty of noise and shouting at the Nuhvok. Soon, a whole swarm was in pursuit, along with the Le-Matoran controlled by krana. Kongu and Tamaru lead the pursuers into a clearing. Turaga Matau directed the swarm to attack. The Bohrok prepared to replace the masks of the last two survivors of Le-Koro. But they had been lead into a trap. The Le-Matoran fell into holes in the ground, where Onu-Matoran removed their krana. From other holes, a host of Boxor emerged and cornered the Nuhvok. Nuparu's creation won a great victory over the swarm and freed the inhabitants of Le-Koro from the control of the Bohrok.
Jaller, Takua, and the Boxor squad next traveled to Ga-Koro. Soon after they arrived, a strange sight was seen: the entire population of Po-Koro, traveling by boat! Turaga Onewa and the Matoran had fled their damaged village and were seeking peace and safety in Ga-Koro.
The inhabitants of Po-Koro were welcomed, but peace and safety they did not find. Not long afterward, a squad of Pahrak arrived on the beach. Nokama sent Macku, Kotu, and Hahli to take apart the bridge connecting the floating village to the land. Before they had nearly finished, the Pahrak used their control over stone to shatter the barricade at the entrance to the bridge. Boulders flew through the air, a large one headed directly for Macku. Hewkii dashed out and deflected the boulder onto the bridge, saving Macku and also cutting off the Pahrak's access to the village.
But the Pahrak did not give up so easily. The cliff overlooking Ga-Koro had been carved into a huge shrine of Gali's mask. The Pahrak shattered the carving and sent the stone falling into the bay to form a bridge to the village. As the swarm charged into Ga-Koro, they were met by the squad of Boxor. But the Pahrak simply detached one end of a bridge the Boxor were crossing, and the heavy vehicles sank beneath the waves. Divers rescued the Onu-Matoran drivers, but Nuparu's creations were lost at the bottom of Lake Naho.
On the good side, the Pahrak had cut themselves off from the rest of the village by destroying the bridge. The Matoran were again safe for the moment. The moment would not last long. Pahrak Va appeared, bringing the swarm replacement krana. Unfortunately for the beseiged, these were Krana Vu, which granted the ability of flight. Three Pahrak flew across the last gap and landed in the final refuge of Ga-Koro.
Transformation
Deep beneath the earth, the Toa marched through the six doorways and discovered suits of Exo-Toa armor. These powerful suits included claw arms and devastating rocket blast launchers. Putting on the armor, the Toa found that their passages led to a central chamber. Here, they rediscovered their comrades- and two monstrous beings. The Bahrag queens, Cahdok and Gahdok, controlled the Bohrok swarms from their deep lair. To them, the Toa were intruders and obstacles that needed to be removed.
But the Bahrag had never faced anything like these armored Toa. Using the rocket blasts, the heroes of Mata Nui drove the queens of the Bohrok to the center of the chamber and surrounded them. "Strike now, Toa!" shouted Tahu. "For your villages and your people!" As one, the Toa pointed their blast launchers and fired. But this time, the blasts stopped in midair, as if they had hit an invisible shield. "Fools!" whispered Cahdok. "By bringing us together, you increase our power! Now all that does not belong will be removed- beginning with you!" A few minutes later, Kopaka was buried in rubble, Gali was trapped by waves of heat, and Lewa had been frozen. Worse, Onua and Pohatu were fighting illusory enemies, oblivious to their comrades' danger.
Tahu, not about to be defeated so easily, turned his flame sword on Gahdok. She responded by hurling a barrage of boulders. Though the Mask of Shielding stopped the flood of rocks, the strain was almost too great for Tahu to bear. Gali called out to Onua and Pohatu, managing to break through the illusion and show them the Toa's true peril. Pohatu created a huge boulder, tossed it high into the air, and let it fall onto the Bahrag. Though the sisters were able to shield themselves, it stopped their attacks and allowed the Toa to rescue Gali, Kopaka, and Lewa.
Regrouped and ready, the Toa faced the Bahrag once again. "All of you- shed your armor!" Tahu called out. "It hinders our elemental powers, and they are our only hope." The Toa surrounded the queens of the Bohrok, and turned the full force of their powers upon them. Overwhelmed by the combined blasts, the Bahrag could not fight back. Suddenly, the six elemental energies merged together, forming a protodermis cage around the Bahrag and sealing them away from the world. But before the Toa could realize what had happened, they felt the floor sinking beneath them.
The Toa fell down narrow cylindrical tubes into chambers of energized protodermis. When they emerged from this powerful substance, they could hardly recognize themselves. Their bodies had been transformed and fitted with armor. Their Toa tools had taken new forms. Their masks had changed shape, and now had the ability to share their powers with those nearby. And the Toa had received greater elemental powers and better control over them. They had been completely changed, and Tahu chose them a new name: Toa Nuva.
Up above, the capture of the Bahrag had brought the swarm to a halt. Cut off from the queens, the krana had lost all sense of their purpose. Once freed from the krana, the Bohrok would take instructions from anyone. The Matoran immediately set them to work repairing the damage they had done to the villages. With the threat ended, and with renewed, stronger protectors, the island of Mata Nui could look forward to a time of peace.