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This article was written by ToaFairon. Please do not add to it without the writer's permission.
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| Combat Masters' League | |
|---|---|
 The original League, pre-war
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| Group | |
| Base |
Hava Infina, Infina Magna(formerly)
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| Leader |
The Combat Masters' Council (formerly)
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| Group |
Dissolved; succeeded by the Arcturan Law Enforcement Organisation
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| Allies | |
| Enemies | |
- "Though there may be millions of skilled warriors in our universe, there are only several thousand who are skilled enough to live up to the skill levels the League requires. Of those thousands, perhaps a hundred have not just the skill, but also the level of honour the League expects. Out of those hundred, only 50 actually have what it takes to become part of the League, let alone become a Combat Master. For it takes a Warrior so much more than just skill to become part of the League."
- ―Hendrax on the Combat Masters' League.
The Combat Masters' League, otherwise known as The League, was an elite organization of Combat Masters dedicated to preserving the stability of the universe and protecting the safety of universal inhabitants.
History[]
Early Years[]
In the aftermath of the First Great Infinus War, Kronos determined that a neutral peacekeeping organisation was required in order for Infinian society to function properly. It was also determined by the Infinus of Infinity that an organisation was needed in order to safeguard the stability of the universe.
The first Combat Masters were Nihiltidax (then still called Titanus), Electrax and Acidius, and it was agreed that they would train three Toa, one each; Hendrax, Filius and Acritus respectively. When the three Toa graduated from their Combat exam, Kronos ordered for the six to found the Combat Masters' League.
The initial vision of the Combat Masters' League was that of an organization dedicated purely to peacekeeping and preservation of law and order, but the organization extended and grew as it took on new tasks, including a lawmaking branch and a Combat Masters' Council to preside over the organization's most important decisions. The base of operations of the group was agreed to become Hava Infina, though this led to fierce criticism from Infinians who did not hail from that city.
From then onwards, it quickly expanded to assist the Order of the Infinus in daily politics, becoming an unofficial part of the executive branch of the Order of the Infinus and one of the most powerful political organizations on Infina Magna. The growing powers and vested interests of the League led to a group of sceptics criticizing the organization's lack of government regulation and its organizational independence from the government, leading many to fear that the group may be plotting a takeover at some point.
Second Great Infinus War[]
When, at some point, the Combat Master Titanus formulated a plan to take hold of the Key to Infinity and make the Combat Masters' League the ruling organization of the universe, his ideas were met with mixed reactions by the Council, whose members were split on whether or not it was ethical for the organization to do so. Titanus believed that taking hold of the Key to Infinity would help them reshape the universe into one where the elements would coexist in perfect balance, allowing for the prevention of the universe to fall into anarchy and chaos.
Filius was a vocal critic of Titanus' plan, and he believed that it would not lead the world into prosperity, but into "chaos and war". When a vote was held, the votes came out as a tie, with Titanus, Velnax and Sol in favour, while Acritus, Filius and Electrax voted against the motion. Hendrax, unconvinced by either side, ordered the council session closed and would later come back on the issue.
As a result, Titanus attempted to persuade the Toa of Light to acceding to his plan and agreeing to go on. When Filius heard this, he stepped in and called Titanus a "scheming traitor" to the Order, and a fight between the two Combat Masters nearly broke out as a result. When Titanus nearly corrupted Filius into Darkness, Hendrax called on the dark Infinus to stop, and said he was not willing to vote for a plan if it was to be executed in the same violent fashion in which Titanus had acted against Filius.
The next Council session was marred by the fight that had taken place between two of its most prominent members, and, when Hendrax announced his refusal of the plan, Titanus, Velnax and Sol walked out in anger.
When the Council caught word of the three executing their plan under the League's banner either way, they were called to turn up at the next Council session in the Combat Masters' Palace. When the three turned up, they started demanding the other members of the Council to reconsider the plan or consider themselves done with. Filius sternly reminded Titanus that the council vote was over, but Titanus, questioning it, revealed he had built up a support base of beings that were angry at the League's powers.
In the ensuing battle, much of the Palace was destroyed or lost, and the remains of the Combat Masters' Council were forced to regroup elsewhere, before fleeing Hava Infina altogether.
Not long afterwards, Titanus and his forces were revealed to have built a support base in cities outside of Hava Infina, and declared war on the capital of the Infinian state on the basis of Hava Infina having too much power over the political system, with the remaining cities being virtually unseen and unheard of.
Eventually, the Combat Masters' League were able to convince the local population of Hava Infina that they, in fact, were not the instigators of the war. After a rousing speech by Filius, the capital's population turned over to support the League in their crusade against Titanus and his Coalition of Independent Infinians.
Taking city after city, the Combat Masters' League became the elite fighting force of the Order of the Infinus' Army, spearheading important offensives on all fronts. During the gruesome Battle of Hava Dersa, the Infinus of Light, Sol, finally betrayed Titanus in reaction to the latter nearly killing Filius. The three fought valiantly, but Titanus' sheer power forced the other two to go back into hiding.
In the final stages of the war, during the Battle for the Sacred Citadel, the leadership of the Combat Masters' Council, including Sol, travelled to the Sacred Citadel in order to confront Titanus himself and end his schemes. A strike team, consisting of Hendrax, Filius and Sol was sent to the upper levels of the Citadel when Acritus and his forces could no longer advance any further. Acritus and Electrax remained on the ground level in order to oversee the situation and fighting between their forces and Titanus'.
Once reaching the Mirror Chamber of the Sacred Citadel, the strike team discovered an enormous device that Acidius had used to manufacture the massive numbers of Undead for the Independent League's armies. When Filius confronted Acidius, Velnax and Titanus, he declared that "the war was over" and that their efforts were a lost cause. Titanus, however, declared that the war had "only just begun", before teleporting the three into a dark pocket dimension.
Inside this pocket dimension, the three warriors were confronted by a 1000 Undead soldiers which they, after a long and tedious battle, finally managed to defeat. The three then were sent back out of the pocket dimension back into the Chamber.
Although defeating the Undead, the three were tired when they had to still fight Velnax, Titanus and Acidius, and the resulting confrontation was a long and harsh one.
Hendrax and Filius proceeded to try and take out Acidius, but before they could, Velnax interrupted and attacked the two Combat Masters. In the long battle that ensued, Acidius attempted to launch the machine to spawn another thousand Undead soldiers once again. Before he could, though, Sol intervened, firing a blast of Light at the machine. In the ensuing malfunction, the machine's inner structure backfired on itself and exploded, shrouding the room in both Darkness and Light energies that violently erupted. When the smoke and rubble had cleared, nothing remained of Acidius' body. At the foot of the Citadel, no new "Impure" Undead appeared, giving Acritus and his armies the chance to slowly break through the onslaught of dark creatures preventing them from entering the Citadel.
Titanus, angered at the betrayal of his apprentice and intensely angered at Acidius' death, took care of Sol. In the ensuing heavy confrontation, Titanus managed to overpower Sol considerably, nearly killing his former apprentice. The dark Infinus then grabbed Sol by his neck and, utilising his Darkness powers, slowly started to corrupt the Infinus of Light from the inside-out. Before the process was finished, Sol fired a blast of Light in the face of the dark Infinus, forcing him to take a step back.
Angered, the Infinus of Darkness proceeded to use the Key to Infinity's powers, hurling Sol out of the room in the process, into the abyss. The Infinus of Light was never to be seen again afterwards.
With the Infinus of Light killed, and their own powers depleted by the incredibly heavy confrontation that came before, Hendrax and Filius saw no other way but to surrender themselves to the two Infinus. The two were also forced to announce their surrender to the armies below, which they did hesitantly. Acritus and his forces, then, were ordered to retreat from the Citadel as far as they could possibly go.
Now totally alone, the two Toa were confronted by Velnax and Titanus, the latter of whom announced his intentions to open the Mirror of Infinity and gain ever more power. Despite Filius' warnings of the great danger of opening the Mirror, Titanus ensued to do so either way, announcing that he intended to warn the first Infinus, the Creator, of the incoming dangers.
Once the Mirror opened, an intensely bright light filled the entire room. Once it dissipated, the first Infinus calmly walked into the room, still tired from having been awakened amid his meditative sleep. The Infinus of Infinity then punished Titanus, declaring that Titanus had the Infinus of Darkness had disobeyed his orders of keeping peace in the universe. The dark Infinus was stripped of a body, and the remnants of his soul were banished to the Realm of Nothingness. Velnax, too, was banished to the Realm of Nothingness, despite his attempts to protest.
Kronos then punished Filius for his warmongering language and for having the League stray so far form its original goals, and named Hendrax the first and only Grandmaster of the League. Afterwards, the forger of the universe ordered Hendrax and Filius to start a migration from Infina Magna into the Realm of Light, while leaving Electrax to remain on the planet itself.
Post-War[]
In the aftermath of the war, the Combat Masters' League shrank considerably, while its final members helped the Great Migration from Infina Magna into the rest of the universe. The portal to Infina Magna was closed, and the planet disappeared from the map as a result. The remainder of the League then took refuge in Dracia, from where Hendrax restarted its operations.
After a while, realising they did not want to remain all in the same place, Acritus and Filius agreed to seek out new lands to restart the Combat Masters' League as a means of preserving the stability of the universe. They chose Arcturus Magna, though keeping the League's primary headquarters stationed at Dracia.
When Dracia fell as a result of the return of Darkness in the form of Zirix, Filius and Acritus agreed to disband the League.
The legacy of the League goes on in the Arcturan Law Enforcement Organization, which states that one of its main goals is to "ensure stability on Arcturus Magna and, by extension, the universe".
Organization[]
The Combat Masters' League was called by its members "an organization of equals", and operated primarily with each Combat Master equal to the other. It did, however, have a Combat Masters' Council to manage the most pressing issues confronting the League.
As a law enforcement organization on Infina Magna, the League's primary responsibilities were to ensure the Combat Masters remained peacekeepers only, and did not exercise any military authority. Although it was nominally independent from the Order of the Infinus, the League and the Council always took into account important decisions that the Order made, and also offered advice to the Order whenever it was desired.
The League's status as the Order's "unofficial armed wing" led to fierce criticism from pro-democratic forces within Infinian society, who called the presence of the League "a stain on the democratic nature of Infinian society".
When the League reformed after the Second Great Infinus War, it became more of a secretive organization, with its primary members being Hendrax, Filius and Acritus. The organization was used as a means of communication between the three, and to train new Combat Masters.
Principles[]
The Combat Masters' League operated according to a set of core principles which it considered integral to its own functioning and operation within certain societies. These core principles were:
- Honour;
- The Combat Masters' League shall uphold itself as an honourful organisation of warriors dedicated to universal stability. Under no exceptions can the League or any member thereof commit acts of treason, dishonesty, betrayal or otherwise dishonourable nature.
- Peace;
- Despite the League's nature as an order of warriors, the League is dedicated to keeping and preserving the peace and stability of the universe.
- Equality;
- The Combat Masters' League believes every species to be equal in their powers and opportunities to uphold stability and peace in the universe.
Code[]
Both the pre-War and post-War Leagues operated under a very strict Combat Masters' Code, by which all apprentices were to be trained and all Combat Masters were to adhere. The Code stated:
- It is forbidden for a Combat Master to kill without reason;
- He or she may, however, kill during life-threatening situations where any other methods of incapacitation have proven insufficient.
- The Combat Masters' League is established on the orders of Kronos as an organisation that is dedicated to preserving universal peace and protecting the stability of the core foundations of the universe;
- Two Combat Masters that are members of the League may not take part in combat with one another unless both parties have agreed to a duel;
- A Combat Master shall take part in duels according to the principles of honour. That is, they shall not cheat or use other unfair ways to gain an advantage over their opponents;
- Any members of the League shall tell the truth, and the truth only. Deceivers will be expelled as soon as they have been revealed;
- Only Combat Masters that are part of the League may introduce new members to the League. Non-League Combat Masters are barred from doing so;
- Every Combat Master operates in accordance with their own personal jurisdiction, and can decide themselves whether a decision is to be declared rightful or not. In pressing matters, the Council has the final say;
- Only Combat Masters may organise an official Combat Exam sanctioned by the League. Warriors who are not Combat Masters cannot organise an officially sanctioned Combat Exam to become a full Combat Master;
- Duels may take place anywhere, as long as the duel does not interfere with the general order or threaten to disrupt the general order;
- The League obeys the laws and regulations of whatever society it operates in, as long as these laws do not go against the core principles of the League or the state tries to suppress the League;
- League members may join resistance movements if these resistance movements are in line with the principles the League stands for.
- The Combat Masters' League is not a political organisation and will never be. Any Combat Master who is intent on using the League as the "sword and shield" of political organisations is betraying the League and is to be expelled immediately;
- Despite this, the League may become upholders of the law should a legitimate government ask for the League to uphold said law;
- The League, however, is forbidden to uphold unlawful rulers and governments that rule through executions and suppression.
Known Members[]
- Hendrax (formerly; founding member; disappeared)
- Electrax (formerly; founding member)
- Filius (formerly; founding member)
- Nihiltidax/Titanus (formerly; founding member; deserted)
- Acritus (formerly; founding member)
- Velnax (formerly; founding member; deserted)
- Acidius (formerly; founding member; deserted; deceased)
- Sol (formerly; deceased)
- Zirix (formerly; disappeared)
- Fyxan (formerly)
- Lev (formerly)
Trivia[]
- The Combat Masters' League was in part inspired by the Jedi Order in Star Wars.
Appearances[]
- Dark Future (mentioned only)
- City of Gold (mentioned only)