Helryx (Broken Order)

Helryx is the founder of the Alignment in the the Broken Order Universe.

History (Prime Reality)
Main article: Helryx

In the Prime Reality, Helryx was one of the four Archcommanders, or the leaders of the Hand of Artakha that included Kragator. However, this Kragator (like the Kragators of most alternate universes) wasn't obsessed with leaving a lasting legacy.

Following a certain Great Being’s tampering with the Matoran Universe, Kragator and Toa Helryx both played a large hand in the Hand’s dissolution; Helryx because of the damage the undisciplined agents caused, Kragator because of the lack of a central command structure. With the help of Sheriem and Koram, the other two Archcommanders, the organization was disbanded. When Helryx lay out her plans to reform the Hand into the Order of Mata Nui, Kragator highly supported the idea and became a strategic officer in the organization. Helryx went on to lead the Order of Mata Nui, head the attack on the Brotherhood of Makuta, and rally resistance against Teridax in the Reign of Shadows.

The Time Before Time
In the early days of the Matoran Universe, Helryx was one of the four Archcommanders in the Hand of Artakha. However, following a certain Great Being’s tampering with the Matoran Universe, Kragator and Toa Helryx both played a large hand in the Hand’s dissolution; Helryx because of the damage the undisciplined agents caused, Kragator because of the lack of a central command structure. With the help of Sheriem and Koram, the other two Archcommanders, the organization was disbanded.

Several months later, a secret meeting was held at Keetongu Isle in the Southern Islands to discuss a means of reconstructing the Hand into a more effective structure. Helryx advocated the formation of a secret organization to maintain order in the universe. Kragator, however, sensed an opportunity. He suggested a visible organization and a heavy hand to keep the universe in check. The debate waged for months, the sides polarized between Helryx and Kragator with Kragator emerging as the more dominant of the two.

Finally, Helryx called a meeting with Kragator to announce the formation of the Order of Mata Nui where the two argued, even fighting physically until they were broken up by Sheriem. They each returned to their bases on the island where Helryx issued the call for all agents of the Hand to return under the banner of the Order of Mata Nui. When Kragator heard of this, he launched a full-scale attack on the base of Helryx and her followers and sent soldiers to kill the messengers of Helryx. Helryx escaped, but the rest of her followers didn’t. When the Hand agents did return, Kragator was waiting for them. Unopposed, he declared the formation of the Kritor Alliance. He selected the island of Bythrain as their base and absorbed the native people into the organization.

Cold War Rises
Helryx narrowly escaped from the island and was sent humiliated into exile. When the Kritor Alliance moved to Bythrain and rose rapidly in international prestige and world influence, Helryx had no choice but to flee underground, lest the Kritor bounty on her head lead to her discovery.

Some time passed until a major incident that very quickly spiraled into a world crisis occurred on the Tren Krom Peninsula. The Brotherhood of Makuta had been testing new Rahi there for some time, much to the dismay of the natives. Frustrated at the Makuta “raping” of their land, the natives appealed to the only organization that could stop them at the time, the rising Kritor Alliance. King Kragator issued an ultimatum to the Makuta, ordering them to leave the peninsula. The Makuta refused and the Kritor Alliance sent troops to defend the natives.

With arguably the two most powerful organizations of the time preparing for war, a group of Turaga and other leaders convened, negotiating a peace between the two organizations. The Makuta and the Kritors agreed to the treaty and each backed down. (Ironically, the resulting power struggle would not only guarantee conflict down the road, but it would ensure any resulting war would be far more devastating.)

Helryx was aware of all of this as it happened, but she recognized the emerging rivalry as it began to take root. The Brotherhood of Makuta and the Kritor Empire were both drawn into a cold war against each other, building up weapons and raising troops in the event of war between them. If they had not been the two world powers at the time, they quickly soon became such.

Helryx, perhaps the one most aware of the importance of the universe’s work to Mata Nui, knew that if war, even cold war, were to occur between the Brotherhood and the Alliance, work would eventually grind to a halt and Mata Nui would suffer a Great Disruption. Realizing the urgency of stopping this, she began gathering followers to her cause.

The Alignment
Drawing off her initial plans for the Order of Mata Nui—a secret, underground organization—Helryx began to organize her rising following into a small, tight-knit agency. Based on the principle of the downfall of the two world superpowers, the Alignment began lashing out where it could, causing guerilla damage to supply shipments and anything that could possibly hurt them. Unfortunately, the Alignment was so small and the superpowers were so large that the attacks made no difference. But Helryx persevered, and so did her followers.

Worth noting is that Helryx named the Alignment such in the hopes she could unite all races in the service of Mata Nui.

As the universe realized the dangers of letting the organizations grow more and more in power, the Alignment continued netting new recruits. Alignment strikes became more common and more effective. Both organizations started to take note, although due to the hasty nature of the strikes and the secretive nature of the Alignment, nobody knew its leader, although Kragator could guess.

At one point when the League of Six Kingdoms rose, Helryx nearly reached out and formed a pact with them in the interest of overthrowing the two powers; however, before she could do so, the Makuta and Kritors unofficially united to strike down the Six Kingdoms and the Kritors doomed the “Barraki” to their infamous prison, the Pit. So while that fell through, Helryx kept her eyes open following this for more opportunities to align her interests with those of other rising powers to the downfall of the powers.

Worth noting is that Helryx forbade the recruitment of Toa as she felt they had their own destinies to pursue. However, as tensions rose, more and more Toa sacrificed their power to raise new Toa for the coming struggle—later seen as an act of cowardice, but it still helped the Matoran after the war.

The Kritor/Makuta War
War at last broke when the Kritor Alliance violated the international Treaty of Gera Nui, a treaty pertaining to the handling of aliens and beings from other worlds. Without further ado, mobilization on both escalated, and if Kragator’s intention of war was not clear enough already, all doubts were confirmed when Kritor troops stormed Artakha. In retaliation, Makuta forces claimed Stelt and Xia. Kragator, meanwhile, had just completed his seizure of Karzahni to which the Makuta claimed Daxia and Zarnor. Kritor forces claimed Keetongu Island and Artidax, formally declaring the formation of the Kritor Empire on Artidax. The Brotherhood of Makuta recruited Varim, meanwhile, and reformed under the Makuta League, declaring post-war immunity to all races that joined them against the Kritors. At one point the Makuta attempted an invasion of Zakaz, but this was unsuccessful for mysterious reasons.

During this bizarre, lightning interplay of events, the Alignment was unable to stop attacks before they happened, but war still increased the rate of Alignment recruitment and the doors were opened to Toa recruits—most notably the Toa Uniran.

Strikes were continually carried out by the Alignment from their secret underground base in Zakaz, and when the Makuta attempted an invasion of Zakaz, the Alignment had secretly aided in the island’s defense. Helryx spent most of her time planning assaults; however, when Kelrik and Zefrim approached her with a request to get Kelrik’s teammate, Arrin from the Dark Hunters, Helryx saw this as fitting into her plans to forming an alliance with the Dark Hunters. This they did, and Arrin was permitted to be the “Dark Hunter agent” in the Alignment.

It was around this time that the Makuta League and the Kritor Empire met for the first time on the island of Nynrah. Although the Makuta initially held the upper hand, Kragator activated his Mask of No Powers and removed access to powers in the vicinity, preventing Makuta from using their sizeable arsenal of power. With this, the two powers were at a standstill, fighting each other to the point of exhaustion, but refusing to back down.

All at once, the Alignment/Dark Hunter forces swept down from the north and scattered the Kritor and Makuta forces. The Alignment stepped onto the world stage for the first time as a serious contender and the Dark Hunters were thrilled as well.

Following this point, the Kritor Empire fell into decline as its emperor’s mental state collapsed and the League claimed victory after victory against the crippled empire. However, the Shadowed One met with Helryx for the first time in the Alignment’s secret base. He then left and, due to his dissatisfaction with the Alignment’s lack of action after the Battle of Nynrah as well as what he saw as poverty conditions the organization was acting out of, called back his agents and betrayed the Alignment for the Makuta League, offering them all the Alignment’s secrets.

With the Kritor Empire apparently dead, the Makuta League’s hands were now free for the first time to respond to the Alignment’s strikes and the lesser organization took a heavy toll. Zakaz was struck hard by the Makuta for the second time, but this time the Makuta knew of the Alignment’s presence and drove them out of their underground base. Herlyx led the survivors to Nynrah by way of Odina where she raided the fortress for all the supplies lost in the Makuta attack and struck down the Shadowed One. Helryx and the Alignment left Odina right as Kritor warships arrived.

Kragator had indeed emerged from his mental breakdown and was as strong as ever. Kritor forces struck out, claiming several lands in the Periphery Bodies back and launching blockades of what we know to be the arms, legs, and head of the Great Spirit Robot beginning in Bythrain, Artakha, Karzahni, Artidax, and Keetongu Island. He then offered the Makuta a month’s truce, something they accepted.

During this truce, Kragator sent a letter to the Alignment, offering to meet with the unknown leader, though he had correctly guessed the leader’s identity. When Kragator and Helryx met on Nynrah for the first time since the formation of the Kritors, they discussed the death of Koram and the exile of Sheriem, as well as Kragator’s plans to conquer everything and truly live forever through his legacy. When all was said and done, Helryx realized nothing would stop Emperor Kragator.

The truce was unintentionally broken, and the Kritors launched five militaries from behind their blockades on five paths ending in the Siege of Destral. Although the Makuta had successfully recruited the Bahrag and the Bohrok forces and prepared their Rahkshi and Rahi hordes, the Kritors caught sight of the Bahrag before they were meant to and Kragator, realizing the danger of stalling any longer, launched a three-pronged assault on Destral. Kragator activated his Mask of No Powers preventing Makuta from teleporting out and began. Between hailfire from the circling warships, the attack of the Atrak, and the vengeance of Kritor High Commander, Tobduk, Destral fell soon and all Makuta, Bahrag, and anything else within the fortress were slain. Kragator was then crowned “Great Spirit” by his High Commanders in Destral’s Convocation Chamber.

While all this was going on, Helryx had taken advantage of the absence of Kritors on Bythrain to secretly invade the city capital. When the Kritor emperor and those Kritors who weren’t affirming the Empire’s rule in formerly Makuta lands returned from the siege, Alignment forces took them by surprise, sweeping out of their hiding spots and storming the capital. Caught offguard, the Kritor forces were helpless against the guerilla onslaught. In the chaos, Kragator was slain by Ervik, a Toa Uniran whom he had recruited as his aide, but who had been informed of the Alignment’s impending victory by Arrin and Kelrik who had arrived. When Kragator fell, the empire so closely dependent on him dissolved as well.

Alignment as a World Power
With both the Makuta League and Kritor Empire in shambles, the Alignment emerged as the top power in international affairs. While nowhere near as strong as the Makuta League or Kritor Empire in their prime, it was still quite influential and respected in events to come. Moreover, countless beings flocked to the Alignment because it was the most powerful organization of the time, causing the agency to balloon.

Recognizing the toll the war had taken on Mata Nui’s health, Helryx began working to restore the order lost in the war and get nanotech functioning again as servants of Mata Nui. However, this proved far more difficult than she had hoped and an order once broken is broken forever.

First of all, Kragator’s conquest of the entire universe had proven inspiring for many. Taken with the idea of becoming the next “Great Spirit” or the “next great Kragator,” many individuals throughout the universe took arms and rallied small clans or forces to follow them. A derogatory word, “faux-Barraki” was applied to them and the wave of Kragator hysteria didn’t die quickly.

Secondly, while the Kritor Empire had destroyed the inhabitants of Destral, its five fleets had only temporarily crippled Stelt, Xia, Daxia, and Zarnor. The six species of these islands as well as the Varim picked themselves up and reformed under the name “Reformed Makuta League,” or “RML” as it soon became called. Although they lacked the appetite for world conquest the Makuta held, due to the prominence of these species in the universe economy, it was already a world power. Despite numerous requests of Helryx and the Alignment for it to disband, the species had found in the war that they worked quite well together and fared far better together than apart. As such, the first “Nation-State” was formed, although it can more accurately be called a “Genus-State” due to the fact the seven species were all related.

The notion of a Nation-State had first been predicted by Pravat in ancient times, but the idea of like species joining forces soon became quite popular. Helryx herself saw to the formation of the Matoran Order where all Matoran, Toa, and Turaga converged on Metru Nui, Artakha, and Karzahni for strength in numbers should another such war erupt. And although these were all of the same race, it was considered another Nation-State.

The third crisis would prove deadly to Helryx.

Following Kragator’s triumph, a cult known as the Archcomin Following formed for the sake of worshiping the former Archcommanders. Furthermore, they saw an Archcommander as the rightful ruler of the universe. Driven by their worship of the Archcommanders, they swept up and stole as many artifacts and properties belonging to former Archcommanders as they could. This included Kritor properties such as the Pit.

The Following felt an Archcommander had to rule the world; however, although Helryx was the most influential individual at the time, her diplomatic nature and her efforts to make everything as it was and serving Mata Nui led them to think Helryx would not claim world rule as she should. As such, they freed Sheriem from the Pit and supplied him with the tools, including themselves, to forge an empire.

Too many years in the Pit had done damage to Sheriem’s mind, and when he reformed the Archcomin Following into the Secret Empire. As Kragator had been the one to doom him to the Pit, Sheriem desired to prove himself better than his former peer, a path that would indeed require world domination, to the glee of his Following. However, because the Alignment stood in every way, so Sheriem sent Vriin to assassinate Helryx.

Now, as it was a year after the end of the Kritor/Makuta War, Helryx had arranged for a cremation ceremony of Kragator in Metru Nui, a festival to signal the beginning of a new era not marked by cold war as it had for most of recorded history. During the ceremony, as Helryx lit the pyre, Vriin arrived and assassinated Helryx. Vriin was teleported away and Zefrim was the first to arrive at Helryx’s side. Helryx informed Zefrim that Sheriem would be no mere faux-Barraki and that his end would be far harder to attain. She then died and Zefrim respectfully threw her body into the pyre. Ironically, she was cremated alongside Kragator.

Legacy
Helryx is remembered most for her legacy and her drive to see the universe return to the will of Mata Nui—even when most had abandoned their faith in Mata Nui following Kragator’s claim on the title “Great Spirit.” She was looked to as the most pure-hearted individual in the universe during the Alignment’s run, despite the fact she would sacrifice people at times to achieve Mata Nui’s end; however, her reputation began failing when the Alignment failed to protect people against the faux-Barraki. Kritor revisionists, however, dismantled her reputation altogether, depicting her as Kragator’s true nemesis all along and the one who tricked the Makuta League into fighting the Kritor Empire for revenge and who urged the faux-Barraki on in their terror efforts when that failed (as the Makuta became Kritors in its rebirth).

Abilities and Traits
Early in her career and because of her position as Archcommander, Helryx bore one of four distinctive shield/swords; however, not long after the creation of the Order of Mata Nui, this was abandoned for a spiked mace and a shield. As a Toa of Water, she could create tidal waves and water blasts. She had honed her control over water to exceed that of an ordinary Toa of Water. She also wore a Mask of Psychometry, which allowed her to learn the past of an object by touching it.

Appearances

 * Destiny’s Way
 * Of Visitations and Revisitations (mentioned)
 * Wake
 * Beyond the Known (mentioned)