March of the Machine shook the multiverse and almost brought it to its knees at the feet of Elesh Norn. Through the valiant effort of many heroes the invasion was stopped. March of the Machine: Aftermath dives into the impact of the invasion after the dust has settled. March of the Machine: Aftermath – Available April 12th – is available for preorder today at https://www.boarshatgaming.com/. If you want to read the full story chapter from Wizards of the Coast you can check it out here. Below we have summarized the important story highlights of the official chapter: March of the Machine: The Aftermath | She Who Breaks The World below.
Lost Sparks
Nissa, Teferi, Koth, and Karn have all lost their sparks following the events of the Phyrexian invasion. Of the heroes we know of, only Chandra and Ajani still have their sparks. Chandra planeswalks away from Zhalfir to track down where Ajani went. Nissa struggles to come to grips with no longer having a spark and for all of the atrocities she committed while she was compleated.
Blue Light
Nissa sees a blue light hovering in the air and she reaches out to touch it. The light tears open a portal and a large ravenous beast steps through. Nissa struggles to fight off the beast in her weakened state. Teferi, Karn, and Koth show up and the beast runs away. Teferi confirms that this beast is not from Zhalfir. The blue light grows into a portal large enough for even Karn to walk through.
Beast Attacks the Village
The beast begins attacking the village and Nissa leads it away on her own. Using what little power she still has drains her and she falls to the ground. From out of nowhere Chandra shows up to protect Nissa. Their fight against the Beast has them eventually cornered into a small hole. Chandra tries to comfort Nissa by reminding her she is still powerful, even without her Spark, and apologizes for having left earlier. Nissa grabs onto Chandra’s hand, closes her eyes, and drowns out all her doubts until she can finally communicate with the plane of Zhalfir.
Heating Things Up
Nissa figures out what the beast is and where it came from. She comes up with a plan to fill the storm beast with enough energy to return it to its incorporeal form. This process should regress the creature back into a storm. Nissa channels the leylines of Zhalfir into Chandra to power her up. Chandra lets out an enormous blast of fire, akin to their combo when fighting the Eldrazi Titans. The Beast inhales the fire and dissipates into a storm cloud moving across the night sky.
Relationship Blooms
Nissa and Chandra finally confess their feelings for each other.
“Like fire needs oxygen . . .” Nissa asks her final question. “You have room for someone who can’t planeswalk?”
“Yes. I’ll make it. I will falter, I will be tempted, but I will make it. Fire’s going to burn, no matter what you do, but you can shape it if you try. And I want to try. For you.
Nissa thinks for a moment. Finally, she nods. “I can handle that.”She leans over and places her hand on Chandra’s neck, pulling the pyromancer toward her. Their eyes meet one last time before closing, and Nissa pulls Chandra into a kiss.
Nissa & Chandra
Leap of Faith
The couple go back to the portal where the beast initially arrived. They decide to venture into the portal not knowing where it leads. Wherever it goes, they trust each other to face the upcoming challenges head on. They both step through the portal to brave their next adventure, as comrades and now partners.
