Chapter 6: Maskirovka

Maskirovka is the sixth chapter of The Mazkertis Paradox. In this chapter:


 * Caiaphus and Ricochet have their first encounter with Mazkertis.
 * Kakamu arrives at the meeting of the dignitaries on Saskana and leaves with Nadle to find and recruit Zev Raregroove to their cause.
 * Captain Eurobeat shows Strika that HYDRA has betrayed her.
 * Groups of HYDRA (Figlio, Eos, Hassan, Lalli Cain, and a footsoldier), Great Beings (TPK, Black Phantom, Straxus, and IG-88), and Knights of the Keruvim (Axalara, Perseus, Coro, Spotter, and Moe) allied forces to go Shinar-Karana to retrieve the Keruvim to use against Mazkertis. Predictably, the groups turn on each other and a mighty battle ensues.
 * Mazkertis attempts to recruit Drepp to his cause, but fails. Instead, Raziel approaches the wizard and pledges to serve him in order to prevent F-Klak's dark future from ever coming to fruition.
 * President James Howard is killed by an unknown assassin on his home planet of Malchior IV.

Summary
On Day 1, Caiaphus and Ricochet carry the carcass of the mutated scorpion that had terrorized Max-Eli's village across the surface of Neo Z'traa, hoping that their victory against the creature will be a step towards establishing a base of operations for the Reformed Second Brotherhood of Makuta on the planet. Suddenly, a portal opens nearby that Mazkertis emerges from, seeking to drain the life forces of more creatures to regenerate himself. As the two Makuta hide behind the carcass, Mazkertis examines it, but leaves when he realizes that it is dead.

Meanwhile, on Saskana, Blackout, D-Klak, Klak, Lalli Cain, Malygos, Nadle, Rokubungi Gendo, and Ynot continue to discuss the Mazkertis situation aboard the Divine Providence, with each party putting forward their own ideas regarding how to approach the situation. Eventually, Kakamu arrives, explaining that he was kidnapped by Dukamu and an alternate version of Monarch, a figure from his past, for an as-of-yet unknown reason. Kakamu tells Klak that, despite the mystery, he will leave Dukamu until Mazkertis has been dealt with first. Klak informs Kakamu that the group has decided that the latter will be leaving with Nadle to find an old friend - the only other person who knows Mazkertis like Klak and D-Klak do.

On the balcony of one of Saskana's hotels below, Captain Eurobeat ponders recent events. After the Battle of Saskana, Baron von Budberg had provided free accommodation to Captain Eurobeat, the Full Frontal Fighting Force, Strika, and Niflheim in return for protecting the city from Mazkertis during the battle. When Captain Eurobeat briefed Nif on the situation, Nif was astonished and decided to leave to "get a feel for things". As Strika emerges from the hotel, Eurobeat informs her that HYDRA, the organization that Figlio di Armechio had swayed her into, was responsible for freeing Mazkertis from his prison, conjuring a television set with footage of Mazkertis's release to prove his claim. Enraged, Strika renounces her membership of HYDRA.

The following morning, the individuals that had assembled on Saskana split up and set off on their respective quests. Figlio, Lalli Cain, Axalara, Moe, Perseus, Spotter, and Coro all leave aboard the HYDRA spaceship that Turel had brought to Saskana (known as The Manticore), while the Zodiark follows behind, with TPK agreeing to join them in his own ship later. This group heads to Shinar-Karana to retrieve the Keruvim in order to use it against Mazkertis. Once all three ships have touched down on the planet, TPK joins the group, accompanied by Black Phantom, Eos, Hassan, IG-88, and Straxus (while Turel stays behind at TPK's ship). However, as soon as they find the Keruvim, TPK and his allies turn on the others. In the resulting battle between the parties, Straxus kills Hassan, Moe destroys IG-88, and when Axalara blows Straxus off a walkway to his apparent doom, one of Straxus's grenades destroys the platform beneath TPK's feet, sending the Great Being similarly falling to his death. Meanwhile, Lalli Cain reveals that his true identity is Ezekiel Carter, a Knight of the Keruvim; in response, Figlio reveals that it was he who freed Mazkertis from his imprisonment in order to distract all the major powers of the universe from HYDRA's machinations and growing power - a revelation which shocks Eos and causes him to turn against Figlio, preventing him from seizing the Keruvim.

Eventually, Figlio retreats to The Manticore, piloted by Turel, which promptly jumps to hyperspace. After assuring the gathered Knights of the Keruvim that he has renounced HYDRA, Eos leaves aboard the Zodiark. The Knights decide to transport the Keruvim to a more secure location, deeming it too risky to use against Mazkertis. Coro elects that he will take Black Phantom to Mordor as his prisoner and inform the Great Beings of TPK's fate. Using his technopathy to control TPK's ship, Coro and the Knights leave Shinar-Karana battered but alive.

On Day 4, Mazkertis summons Drepp, a depressed former supervigilante with the power to control electromagnetic energy, to a stormy world to recruit him to his cause. However, Drepp is disturbed by Mazkertis's bloodlust and his intentions to rewrite history and decides to attack him instead. After a short battle leaves them both injured, Drepp retreats through a portal. Mazkertis is then approached by Raziel, who offers to join him in his quest to erase Klak from history, having witnessed firsthand the devastation that Klak's doppleganger causes in the future.

Meanwhile, on Malchior IV, President James Howard is enjoying a vacation with his wife when an unidentified sniper shoots him in the heart, killing him instantly. The assassin imprints Senator Alan Skedaddle's fingerprints on the murder weapon so that the authorities will suspect Skedaddle of assassinating Howard over Project NSA and his own presidential ambitions. After neatly leaving the murder weapon directly across from the scene of the crime, the assassin slips away into the night, unseen.

Characters

 * Axalara
 * Black Phantom
 * Blackout
 * Caiaphus
 * Captain Eurobeat
 * Coro
 * D-Klak
 * Drepp
 * Eos
 * Figlio di Armechio
 * Hassan (Dominion service)
 * President James Howard
 * IG-88
 * Kakamu
 * Klak
 * Lalli Cain (Ezekiel Carter)
 * Malygos
 * Mazkertis
 * Moe
 * Nadle
 * Niflheim
 * Perseus
 * Raziel
 * Ricochet
 * Rokubungi Gendo
 * Spotter
 * Straxus
 * Strika
 * TPK
 * Ynot

Trivia

 * The term Maskirovka refers to the Russian military doctrine of deception that developed from the start of the 20th century. The title is meant to reflect the deception tactics employed by various characters, such as Black Phantom, Figlio di Armechio, Lalli Cain, and the mysterious assassin, within the chapter.