The Hagah Rebellion incited by Teridax’s team led by Toa Norik caused lasting consequences for several members of every Hagah team employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta. The Makuta knew that word of their betrayal would soon spread and most of the other Hagah teams would uprise in a similar revolt, so they mobilized to strike at them first.
Most Hagah teams were still at their Makuta’s assigned territories, and would have ample time to be warned and escape into hiding before it was too late unless their Makuta was on-site with them. But those stationed on Destral, however, would be drawn into an all-out war with the majority of the Brotherhood and its deadliest warriors. The likes of Drasil’s more noble Toa Hagah were skilled for certain, but not the best, as they were selected with the intention to eliminate them when the time came. Miserix’s Toa Hagah, then, were the Brotherhood’s highest priority threat.
Knowing this, Cuurini made herself even more of a primary target for the Makuta to focus on, in order to buy time for the others to escape and warn the rest of the universe. She shed her inhibitions as a Toa abiding by the Code, giving the Makuta full reason to fear a Toa of Iron until she was far too large of a threat to be ignored. Not only was she the oldest and most experienced out of the team, but Cuurini was also the only one aside from Narama who could consistently break the Makuta’s armor and force them back while they got their breaches repaired. Add to that her immunity to mental assaults, the ability to reinforce anything to durability levels rivaling protosteel (either her weapons or protective walls of Iron), and a Rhotuka that forcefully propelled the Makuta and her teammates away from each other, and Cuurini was the ultimate obstacle to the Brotherhood and the main line of defense alongside the other 2 leaders of the team.
Verbatis helped Cuurini in buying time for the others to escape by distracting the Makuta with several Weha clones of himself until time came for Cuurini to tell the original to flee as well. He could also freeze the attacking Makuta with his Stasis Rhotuka, but only so many at a time and until they figured out they could use the Kraata Power of Stasis Field on their kin to cancel out the effects.
Kilaoi was the one providing the actual escape routes, using his Olmak to open portals to separate locations behind the line of cover. Though he, Cuurini, and Verbatis ordered otherwise, their team did not immediately flee and rather fought alongside them as long as they could before it was certain they could do no more to help the situation. Kilaoi at least fortified them with his Peak Performance Rhotuka in the meantime to ensure they could dodge any fatal attacks.
Overall, the leading trio’s efforts were mostly successful, but not without 4 unfortunate events taking place until the conflict was over:
As the Toa Hagah would quickly learn, the power of Aiyesaac’s Horizon Spear served as inspiration for Chirox in his creation of the Visorak breeds, perfecting the Kahgarak until it too could properly open gateways to the Field of Shadows via its shadowy Rhotuka. It was unleashed during the Hagah Rebellion, and Aiyesaac found his own power being used against he and his brothers and sisters in an attempt to banish them all forever. Thankfully Cuurini was able to rend the Kahgarak’s armor and slay it before it could do too much damage, but not before it managed to hit Aiyesaac with its spinner and banish him as he had banished monsters himself.
Vodan’s knack for fighting like he had a death wish got the better of him, and he was seriously wounded by the Makuta and forced to finally let his team rush to his aid. Cuurini entrusted Akullore with taking care of the wounded Vodan, as she knew Akullore would take the responsibility seriously. Ashla, one who held an especially soft spot for her brother of Shadow, wanted to take the responsibility on herself, but knew that two Toa of Light and Shadow in hiding together would certainly draw attention and endanger them both, even with disguises. So she watched anxiously as Akullore carried his brother through the portal to safety.
Most detrimental to the last Toa remaining was Kilaoi’s Olmak getting struck by a Makuta’s blast while he was teleporting one of the last escaping members of the team to safety, and the damage mid-use caused the Dimensional Gates to collapse around the Toa of Fire and transwarp him to parts unknown to anyone present.
And finally, after Cuurini was left as the last Toa standing with 2 Makuta successfully killed by her and several incapacitated now, she was in time overwhelmed by the remaining members of the Brotherhood and slain. She could take solace in her final moments knowing she didn’t go down without a hard fight, she’d allowed the majority of her team to get out safely, and she had prevented at least two monsters from ever hurting anyone ever again. Cuurini fell to her knees, succumbed to her many wounds, and died a true hero.
As for the others, their fates are as follows:
Verbatis
The Toa of Sonics and former deputy returned to a faded form of his original armor colors, reworking his damaged shield into a compact and arm-mounted Rhotuka Launcher. He managed to warn a few other Toa and Matoran of the Brotherhood’s betrayal before it was universally known with the Great Cataclysm, but unfortunately he was hunted down in his years as a fugitive. Another attempt to confuse the Makuta with his clones ultimately failed, and the true Verbatis was killed.
Kilaoi
Rather than perishing in the collapsing Dimensional Gate or being simply displaced elsewhere in the Matoran Universe, Kilaoi found himself relocated to another realm entirely- an alternate universe mirroring his own, but in a far more nightmarish way.
Here, the Matoran Universe was quite literally on fire, burning in the dead remains of Mata Nui who’d cataclysmically crash landed on Bota Magna after Jovan’s team failed to use the Ignika in time. The damages to Metru Nui following the Matoran Civil War caused system wide failures over a prolonged period of Great Disruption, until the near-delirious Mata Nui strayed far off course and plummeted to the jungle moon’s surface.
The impact was mostly absorbed and spared most of the inhabitants inside the Matoran Universe, but the system-wide failures caused any exit hatches on the GSR to lock and jam, preventing escape to the moon outside, which was half razed by the impact anyway. Here, the trapped inhabitants now struggle and war with each other for survival on what little resources and territory they can maintain, factions splintering off to the various corners of their Burning Sanctuary.
Kilaoi, stranded here with his damaged Olmak not fit for reliable use, found himself fighting to survive with the few allies he could scrounge up in this post-apocalyptic universe. He ended up discarding his silver armor for burnt copper-hued armor to better blend in with the burned cityscapes, so as not to stick out to bandits and raiders while scavenging for supplies. Kilaoi also claimed a working Turbo Cycle to use for traversing the ruined city of Metru Nui, which he has armed with weaponry and named the Omega Maximum, and scavenged copies of his former Kanohi Kualsi and secondary Crast from the ruins.
After many trialsome years and with the help of his new team, Kilaoi was able to get his Olmak repaired and hatched a successful plan to escape back to his home dimension, along with his new allies.
Sorin, Kadishni, and Nia
Following their escape of Destral, Sorin stuck together with Kadishni and Nia in hiding, keeping watch over his sisters and retaining his Hagah armor and toolset to better protect them. Kadishni only went along with the two after they basically dragged her out of the chaos on Destral, as she by no means wished to leave her brothers and sisters covering their escape behind. She continued to struggle with feelings of regret, anxiety, and misplaced guilt over their separation from the others. Nia was already the most heartbroken at the reported demise of Miserix, and felt the most betrayed by the Brotherhood’s treachery under Teridax’s leadership. She likewise was left sulking in a similar manner to Kadishni but instead over the betrayal of the Makuta. Sorin was there to help both his sisters through the darkest times.
Nia’s loyalty to Miserix, however, never once died out, and upon hearing the rumors of his survival, Sorin was unfortunately unable to keep Nia from soon running off on her own to find him despite being warned by her brother and sister not to. With Nia gone, Kadishni drew even closer to Sorin to make sure she didn’t lose him to, and he vowed never to leave her side. They forged an inseparable bond that helped Kadishni regain her confidence, and the hope that they would find their sister. She eventually had her armor repainted with purple and gunmetal, in honor of the legendary first Toa of Thunder- Voriki.
As for Nia, her departure would unfortunately bring her right into the hands of Teridax’s underlings, and she was brought captive before him and corrupted into a Shadow Toa and agent of the Brotherhood.
Sorin and Kadishni were finally reunited with their sister, but under unfavorable circumstances. When they joined the fight during the Destiny War, they found Nia twisted and among the ranks of their enemy. A hard-fought emotional battle took place until they finally managed to subdue Nia, and later carried her out of the abandoned GSR to find someone to help regain their lost sister.
Thewn
Thewn went into hiding after the Hagah Purge in total isolation, discarding her metallic Hagah armor and appearing from the shadows only when absolutely necessary. She made no attempt to contact the other survivors and they likewise never heard from her again, outside of rumors of a mysterious Toa that vaguely matched her description. No one knows where Thewn went, with the exception of the Makuta that did finally track her down and ‘put a mystery to rest’. The realization of her demise was one the remaining survivors had to come to grips with over time, only wishing their sister would have reached out to them before it was too late and regretting they hadn’t done more to reach out to her while she was still alive.
Muru
Upon going into self-exile after escaping the Hagah Rebellion on Destral, Muru became a wanderer of the MU’s deserts with more rugged armor, eventually stumbling upon the ancient first Toa of Stone, Dinjar, and a blind female Toa of Earth from Kualus’ former pre-Hagah team named Tiel, hiding out in their own secluded oasis. Together, they and Muru served as living myths that helped guide lost ones out of the harsh dunes, until they evacuated to Spherus Magna following Teridax’s defeat. Forcing himself to face what he feared most, Muru sought out to learn once and for all who, if any, from his old team survived.
Aiyesaac
Stuck in the lightless void with all sorts of monstrosities he himself had banished here, and with his Horizon Spear unable to open an “exit portal” from inside the Field of Shadows, Aiyesaac was again forced to fend off vile beasts in order to survive. Over the years other victims would find themselves stranded in this nightmarish zone as the Visorak horde continued to plague Metru Nui and beyond, among them an unfortunate Matoran named Vega.
Aiyesaac, wearing patched up armor and wielding the makeshift Void Scythe in place of his since damaged Spear, came across Vega and took the Matoran under his wing to protect her. He also gave her his Rhotuka Launching Shield for self defense, which allowed her to channel her own spinner that happened to grant its target Night Vision. But it soon became evident that she would need even more than that to survive the horrors that continued to take residence in this realm, and so Aiyesaac created another Toa Stone.
As it turned out, Vega was one of the many Time-Slip Av-Matoran disguised unbeknownst to her, and she became a Toa of Light. A discarded Visorak pincer she scavenged transformed into her Light Cleaver Sword, which although she couldn’t use to properly channel her Light element in the Field of Shadows, still was able to serve as a better offensive tool. And with she and Aiyesaac working together, they successfully slipped through a Kahgarak’s Rhotuka portal as it was summoning the Zivon, weighing the beast down with gravitational force before it could harm them.
Ashla
Ashla’s innate sense of caution was finally given justification with the Brotherhood’s betrayal, and upon escaping she committed to disguising as a Ce-Toa as her toolkit invoked the idea of the Psionics element. She even went and got different armor and a secondary Matatu, forged in the shape of her original Kakama to go alongside the prior mask and using her control over Light to absorb the glow of her Matatu when it was in use. She swapped between the 2 masks using a new Toa Suva she registered with in another village, seeing as the one on Destral had been destroyed by the Makuta and replaced with a new one for their corrupted Toa servants.
After finally emigrating to Spherus Magna, Ashla was given the relief of knowing she no longer needed to hide what she truly was, proudly showing her “true colors” as a Toa of Light.
Myrlauf
Myrlauf was the last to leave Cuurini behind after Verbatis, honorably volunteering himself to make a last stand with her on Destral against the traitorous Brotherhood. When Cuurini took on more and more injuries she demanded Myrlauf to flee while he still could, and he covered his escape with an overgrowth of vines surrounding him. Since none of the other Toa Hagah were there to see this, it was feared that like Cuurini he never made it out alive. However, Myrlauf in fact turned up years later on the jungle region that was once the Bota Magna moon, as a Turaga in isolation.
According to him, he had seen far too much war in his lifetime, and with the tragedy that befell his team reminding him of a tragedy in the past, he no longer had the heart to carry on as a Toa. He wishes not to speak about how it is he wound up on Bota Magna, but is hopeful that this new generation of heroes will remain successful in the occupation he himself could not.
Nalkhi
While in hiding following the Hagah Purge, Nalkhi found himself in trouble with the Dark Hunters seeking more “prized Toa” for their master, who’d since developed a twisted hobby of keeping Toa of high value in captivity on twisted display. A number of Toa from even other Hagah teams had already fallen victim to this fate, and Nalkhi was sure to fetch a high reward from The Shadowed One as a former member of the very first Hagah Team AND a sporting legend. When top agents finally subdued and brought him to Odina successfully, The Shadowed One had Nalkhi’s copper armor polished up to ensure the Toa would be in “mint condition,” and then instructed Sentrakh to place him in a convincing illusion of Nalkhi achieving another Akilini victory. This led to Nalkhi performing one of his signature victory dances before getting frozen in the Stasis Tube mid-celebration.
(Yes he is hitting the griddy)
Here Nalkhi would remain with the numerous other Toa in The Shadowed One’s collection, until being freed years later during the Toa of Spherus Magna’s raid on the Dark Hunters’ new base. Nalkhi has since dedicated himself to ensuring the sport of Akilini lives on, teaching Matoran and Toa alike the art of the Kanoka Disk.
Akullore
Akullore continued to watch over the brother entrusted to his care for some time, Vodan still recovering from his injuries and regaining his strength with Akullore’s help. It seems Cuurini suspected that Akullore was the best choice as caretaker for the other loner of the team over Ashla, as the Toa of Ice was more willing to give Vodan the “tough love” treatment by not tolerating his loner tendencies, sternly ensuring he took proper care of himself and accepted Akullore’s help and direction during his recovery process. The two began to form a mutual bond after all their time fighting together, and though Vodan was of few words he truly did respect and appreciate his brother, a fact Akullore could tell. Over time, the metallic sheen of the Toa of Ice’s armor and mechanical arm faded as well.
Unfortunately, despite Akullore’s warnings not to over-exert or recklessly injure himself, Vodan still put his life at risk for his brother’s sake, saving Akullore from a fatal accident caused by a Dark Hunter attack…
Narama
Unfortunately, all the charisma in the world couldn’t stop the Makuta’s aggression against he and his team during the Hagah Rebellion, and upon escaping Narama went into solitary isolation as he knew Toa of his element were considered one of the biggest threats to the Brotherhood alongside Toa of Iron. He found himself losing his sense of humor in the face of the following Iron Genocide, hearing report after report of his kin being viciously and methodically hunted down and killed. Eventually, Narama too would find himself in the sights of the Iron Killing Squad, and determined not to go down without a fight he managed to magnetically tear Makuta Balox in half and crush his Mask of Undeath, before being slain by the unsettling and magnetically-resistant Makuta Ferocaitl.
Vonu
Vonu barely escaped Destral with his life during the Hagah Rebellion, fleeing far away from the Brotherhood’s central areas of influence. His once nonstop nature was replaced by crippling fear of what he’d witnessed and what dangers lay ahead of him as a fugitive, so he sacrificed his brimming Toa Power to become a reclusive Turaga, telling any Matoran and Toa who managed to recognize him as the hero of old that those days were behind him now, and that he is but an old soul just seeking a quiet and peaceful life away from the adversity.
Anlyan
After escaping the jaws of death once again during the Hagah Rebellion, Anlyan went on the run with the intention to stay constantly on the move. However, around the time he made a stop back at his desert home region for supplies, the Great Cataclysm shook the Southern Continent and caused the central landmass to skyrocket through its dome and to the ocean surface of Aqua Magna, stranding Anlyan on the island of Voya Nui. With no safe way off the island now, all the Toa could do was sit tight in his desert cave and pray the Makuta couldn’t follow him here. He would occasionally interact with the Voyatoran stranded there with him, but still concealed his identity as a Toa for safety and passed himself off as a masked member of Pridak’s species. But then after a couple years, the nightmares began…
Each night consistently for about a week, Anlyan was plagued by dreams of a Makuta finally tracking him down, and would quickly arise from sleep in a panic just before she killed him in his terrible visions. Anlyan was nearly driven mad from paranoia overtime, until finally he made the mistake of leaving his cave in the middle of the night to try and find whatever was causing these nightmares and slay it, stumbling around in the dark until he was out in the open for his tormentor to catch him for real.
As it turned out, the Brotherhood had found more of Miserix’s old documentation on his Hagah, reading up on their history to learn of locations from their pasts they might return to. And after learning where Anlyan came from and traveling up the waterfall to Voya Nui on the surface, Makuta Moryte scanned the island for his mind to get closer to his exact location, plaguing him with nightmares via telepathy until she successfully drew him out of his hiding place and killed him in the dark of night.
Vodan
Vodan’s appreciation for all Akullore had done for him manifested in the greatest display of brotherly love, putting himself in a position that would cost him his life in order to save Akullore from losing his. Akullore fully drove off the hunters who caused the accident that fatally wounded his brother and immediately rushed to Vodan’s side, frantically panicking over his brother while questioning why he would do such a thing. But Vodan’s time was running out, and before his mask could kick in he begged Akullore to help fulfill one final wish for his sake: to seek out Miserix, find their master and confirm if the rumors of his survival were true. With a heavy heart, Akullore swore to carry out the request, and ventured on a perilous journey with the undead husk of his brother, now motivated by a still strongly burning will that fueled his corpse with Shadow energy holding it together.
Vodan’s husk would shamble alongside Akullore, resting in a pile of broken armor when not active and defending itself and his brother viciously with shadowy weapons when provoked. It would mutter in Vodan’s voice the name “Miserix” if it heard a disturbance, and harshly reply with “Not Miserix” before attacking a threat. Akullore continued the journey while repressing his sorrow, occasionally speaking to Vodan’s husk both to pretend he was still there and in the faintest hope that a part of his brother could still hear him.
After many, many years following his death, Vodan would be reunited with his master as Akullore carried what remained of him onto Spherus Magna, on the verge of breaking down emotionally as Vodan’s remaining willpower shared a final exchange with Miserix through an echoed and hollow voice. He asked if he was a good soldier, if he’d done his duty to satisfaction, and Miserix with a low and respectful voice reassured him one last time that he had. With a tinge of sorrow and guilt breaking through his voice, Miserix told Vodan he was relieved of duty, and that he could finally rest. The husk surprised his brother with a final word of thanks, a “final protocol” imprinted into the Mask of Undeath by Vodan before passing, and Akullore came the closest any MU-inhabitant would ever get to weeping as Vodan went silent for good.
The surviving members of Miserix’s Toa Hagah already on Spherus Magna would gather together, and mourn the loss of one last brother.
And that concludes my lore for the first Toa Hagah team as depicted in the Kardan Universe. To those that read it all, I thank you for your time.