Redemption of the Dark kind
Chapter 1: Remembrance and rebirth.
Hello readers, this is my sequel to my first Fanfiction, Into the Darkness. It is in the Avatar movie section, like this story is also, and continues on from where the story left, with Alex dead and his three friends triumphing over him, while Norstith initiates his next plans.
This is the second part of a trilogy, and unlike the first one, which may have seemed slightly rushed and vague at times due to its longer time-span, this story and the last of the trilogy shall be within a smaller time frame, and be more detailed, as the supporting back story has been established.
And for god's sake, I need feedback to be able to please the readers, so I can make adjustments to my storytelling if needed!
PS: I don't own Avatar, Avatar the last Airbender, Transformers, Predator or any other trademarked franchises that are mentioned in these stories. [If I did, I'd be burning some 100 dollar bills right about now.]
"Non-English language"
"English"
"Electronic/messaging"
Thoughts
4 months has passed now since the death of the UIP president, and of the former war hero Alex. He died in combat against his former friends, after they hunted him down to install justice upon him for his wrong deeds, despite his claims that he did it to serve true justice.
And to this day, the decision and acts made by both him and them still haunt those who witnessed them. The legacy he left behind was almost unrivalled.
But some legacies are left to be picked up by others who are willing to claim it as their own.
Omaticaya tribe, Pandora, Alpha Centuari system
6th July, 2899
Today was a day of celebration for the Omaticaya people. One of their most prestigious members had returned to the clan on leave from a tour of duty in the interstellar war raging among the stars. And with her, came two of her companions and allies who aided her in those times.
Sru'sky laughed in joy as her father twirled her, the dance causing every fibre in her body to become warmer. She relished these rare moments with her family in her home, and because of their rarity, she cherished them all the more, never once taking them for granted.
Outside the group of dancers, Firi'sry watched with motherly pride as her daughter enjoyed her time with her father. She would only be here for another four days, but she seemed determined to enjoy every bit of it. Off to her side, Firi'sry heard Trion shift uncomfortably on the ground, his bulk shaking the tree beneath him. Even though his silver body was only 15 feet tall, one and a half times taller than an average Na'vi, he was still a gargantuan being here. Sensing his unease, Firi'sry asked him in Na'vi: "You seem nervous Trion, what is wrong?"
Trion's silver helmeted head snapped to face her, and he replied: "I wish to take part in the dancing, but my size is somewhat, limiting." He then gazed longingly at Sru'sky, a small smile on his facial plating as she laughed in joy while she danced her heart away. Firi'sry noticed this, and with a small gasp realized that Trion may have some feelings for her daughter.
Such a relationship could never work between them on a scale like mates have. There may be stories of different people joining in love, but surely the line is drawn somewhere?
Firi'sry probed Trion about this matter: "Trion, do you have any love in your life at all? You seem to never express any more passionate emotions?"
Trion was reluctant to answer this, and said only part of his mind: "I have not yet had any romantic relationships with anyone. I have not found the time or the courage to do so. But I have seen someone, and she is consistently on my mind when it wanders freely."
Firi'sry's smile grew as she saw Trion's blue optics flick towards Sru'sky quickly, before returning back. Had she looked over at Sru'sky, she would have seen her stealing glances at the silver mech as she danced with H'nuptec.
It seemed her daughter had an admirer. One who had already proven himself as a brave and courageous soul, even if he was in a vastly different vessel to hers.
On Trion's other side, Quirinth had been sitting unnoticed, staring off into the fire in front of her, remembering past times with Sru'sky, Trion and him.
Not being able to put it off any longer, she got up and headed out, her mandibles forced shut in an effort to bottle up the emotions inside her. As she left, Trion and Firi'sry noticed her leaving, and decided to watch where she went form afar.
Quirinth wandered down the spiralling interior branches, and headed off towards an alcove in one corner of hometree's base. By the time Firi'sry and Trion decided to follow, Sru'sky and H'nuptec had joined them, and tagged along with them in seeing where the young predator was headed off to.
As they followed, they found Quirinth inside the boneyard, where the dead were buried. They saw her stop over a grave, and simply stand there motionless. They approached, knowing full well she would hear them coming. As they stopped beside her, she broke down in tears before a long, rocky covered grave. The rock had been placed over the grave, as a way of helping preserve the body inside. Unseen beneath it lay a suit of armour, with a black and red trimmed body colour, scratches, burns and a shiny, transparent black flight helmet. Underneath it, a scarred human male rested forever. Alex lay undisturbed in his grave, the armour helping minimize the decomposition of his body. If one examined him, he would look like he had died five days ago, not five months. Unlike the other Na'vi in the grave, whose bodies were retaken by Eywa by this time, Alex's body was placed to last as a testament to his self proclaimed outcast stature, as he himself said he never felt he would be a part of Eywa. And like his legacy, his body would last for a long time.
His broken helmet lay on top of the grave, a new one covering his head now beneath the stone.
Quirinth knelt before the grave, sobbing softly as the memories of that day came back. How she had become enraged at the madness he had slipped into, and had brutally stabbed him in the shoulder and broke his control helmet to trap him in an inescapable, brutal, undeserved death. She still remembered what he had called them as they fled the collapsing building, leaving him to die.
YOU MONSTERS!
Above her weeping friend, Sru'sky stared at the grave, and was also brought to tears that he was not here to celebrate being off duty with them, and was never able to experience a longer, more fulfilling life. He did not have to die so young, and Sru'sky knew she had had a hand in ending her own brother's life. What saddened her most was that on top of calling them monsters, he had also verbally disowned her and her family in front of her, and then proceeded to attack them all.
It was Trion who spoke: "He didn't deserve what he got, he said he had joined a group of people who convinced him to do monstrous acts in the name of justice. Alex was long gone by the time we had to end him. He called us monsters as we left him to die, and I guess he was right. In ending a monster, we did a monstrous act to do it."
Firi'sry sadly commented: "He disowned his family, he claimed he never felt to be a part of this clan. I do not know where we went wrong."
H'nuptec had long learned of his mistake of favouritism for Sru'sky, and said: "He made those choices, but I pushed him away from us by preferring Sru'sky over him at times. I am what started his demise."
Qurinth spluttered out as she calmed herself, a reassuring hand on each shoulder by Sru'sky and Trion helping her: "At least now, he is at peace. He won't harm anyone, and he won't be harmed by anyone, ever again."
It was later that night when all of the five settled down. All five went to sleep with memories of the times with Alex, the beginning, all the way to his change in image to the Dark Hunter.
Teranthos Nebula, Emancipator's research laboratory.
The subject opened his eyes slowly, accustoming his body to the fluid surrounding him. The oxygen rich fluid was breathable, as he had been living in it for 3 months now. He had woken up two days ago, and during that time he had seen blurred shapes from beyond his glass tube, gesturing to him at times and talking in blurred voices.
Outside, the blue and grey Leg'hrul commanded the Kro'nogri scientist to awaken the subject, as enough time for physical development had passed. Now the true testing of the subject's nature could begin.
Inside the tube, Alex began to feel sleepy, as an anaesthetic and tranquilizer was applied into the fluid. By the time he was unconscious, the tube had begun to drain.
3 hours later
The subject awoke to the scent of crisp, sterilized air. He opened his eyes, adjusting them to the harsh glare of the laboratory lighting. As he glanced around, he saw equipment and machinery, which he recognized as such for some reason, despite having lived in a tube all his life.
"I see you are finally awake."
The voice shocked him, and he turned to face the source of it. He saw a Blue and grey avian, bipedal creature, about 7 feet tall. He looked slightly aged for his race, probably near middle aged. His eyes were a pair of golden irises, similar to that of another person deep in his memories.
The person, a Leg'hrul as he now remembered, spoke again: "Do you know who I am?"
The subject thought for a few moments, before the name came to him: "N-Nortstith."
Norstith smiled, realizing there was hope for success. He continued with the testing: "How do you remember me?"
"Y-You trained me once, in combat skills, to complete missions for the group you worked for. Was it the Initial nights, no! It was the Knight Initiative! I remember everything now! The war, the missions, my childhood!"
Norstith now knew that he had succeeded, and asked one final question: "And who are you?"
"I am Alex, the Dark Hunter."
Norstith smiled with glee, and rushed forwards to embrace his creation and former son-figure. He had done it! He cried for joy as he embraced the man, a true confirmation that it was not a dream. He backed away, and handed Alex a set of basic, casual clothing he had often worn:
"Get dressed, we have much to discuss."
Later, Norstith had led Alex to his apartment. As they entered, he gestured to a table a two chairs in front a large window, viewing out into space, with a great view of the surrounding Terranthos Nebula. As Alex sat down, he became aware that he felt rather weak still from awakening from the bed a few minutes earlier. It was when both were sitting that Norstith talked again:
"Words can't describe how much of a joy it is to see you again. After what happened all that time ago, I thought you were not going come back."
"That's my first question. Where am I! What is the date?"
"There is no other way to say this. It has been five months since your stand on Iegris, which sadly, did not end favourably in your respects. Ever since then, I've worked almost endlessly to rebuild you, to bring you back."
"Bring me back? From where?"
"You don't remember anything, do you? That day when you faced your former allies on Iegris, you died when the building you were standing on collapsed to the ground."
As the realization settled in, Alex remembered that day, how he was trapped on that collapsing building, left to die by his former companions. However, the shock of surviving such an event caused Alex to question the truth, which made him even more eager for answers.
"How is it I'm alive now?"
"A breakthrough in psionics and data storage. Do you remember that checkup I put you through right before your two months training period ended?"
"Who would forget having needles shoved in all sorts of places, and being placed in all sorts of strange scanners, and being put to sleep for a long period to do an internal examination."
"Well, while you were unconscious, I installed a data transmitter into your brain, one which remained inactive until signalled. Unbeknownst to you, I had scout drones monitoring your stand on Iegris, waiting to see if you needed assistance. When they saw you about to die, they activated a secret communication hyperwave, which activated the device right before you impacted the ground."
"That was when I blacked out before getting crushed! What's this got to do with it?"
"That device downloaded your entire mind, memories, skills and desires, and emptied your brain of anything. That is why you blacked out. It then transmitted this huge data load to my vessel, about 300 light years away at the time. It uploaded the data into a large storage device I had carried with me aboard. That device harboured your mind and perhaps equivalent of the soul, for about five months."
Norstith took out a small device from his robes, and set it on the table. It was about a foot long, and half a foot wide in a cylindrical shape. Alex looked at it, appalled that he had had to effectively inhabit such a small object for five months:
"You mean I was stuck in that thing for months at a time!"
"You had to be. You needed a safe haven until your new body was ready. That took four months to get up the standard where your mind could be safely transferred into the body. We used your DNA structure, and also altered some of the skin and muscles to fit the identity of yourself when you died."
Alex took this moment to examine himself. On the reflective surface of the table, he saw the familiar long scar on his left cheek, running from chin to below the ear. He also had some reddened skin, looking as if the burns on his left shoulder and arm he sustained had scarred and healed. The attention to detail was impressive, even the scar left by Quirinth's plasma blade was there, visible as a large, healed section of his right shoulder, with a crevice of missing skin showing where her blade had stabbed and slashed his shoulder apart.
"Most impressive. But why keep the scars?"
"To ensure you keep your identity as you left it. I presumed you would reserve those scars as a symbol of pride, as you did in your previous body. And was I right?"
"Again, you know unlike any other person."
"As I expected. I also took the liberty of, enhancing your physical abilities also, with the use of equipment and technology now permanently a part of your body."
"What do you mean?"
"I best start with the most noticeable parts for you. Feel your arms and legs thoroughly, and you will see they are not normal calcium bones."
As he felt his limbs, he indeed felt a difference in structure beneath the skin. It was much more solid, and in some areas more spiky.
"What is under here?"
"Mechanical limbs. Your hands, feet, legs and arms' bone structures and muscles have been replaced with stronger, faster, more durable efficient robotic limbs, customized for your body."
"WHAT! That's a tad drastic thing to do without my say so!"
"Well tell me, do they feel very different from your old limbs?"
"No, not really."
"And can you still feel things with your sense of touch."
Alex felt the table, and his clothing, and said: "Yes, but they seem sharper than before. I can make out more details than before, it feels great."
"In that case, I'll say no harm done. I can now safely tell you what else I took the liberty of adjusting on you. I added electronic audio systems to your ears, giving you much greater hearing abilities. The same applies to your eyesight, which I had biologically altered to improve slightly from a slightly deteriorated condition. Your sense of smell had been slightly enhanced biologically, whilst your sense of taste has been left unaltered. Your lungs have been artificially braced and strengthened, and your digestive tract has been artificially altered to maintain a healthy diet, no matter what you eat. Excess of inappropriate food amounts or types will result in either regurgitation, or excessive lavatory usage."
Alex almost threw up into his mouth a bit at the last statement, wishing his master had left that bit quiet. He breathed in a bit, and asked:
"But all of these electronic devices inside me? Surely they need a power source?"
"That they did. And to show you, I'm just going to open you up."
Norstith leaned over the table, and pressed a series of points on Alex's abdomen. Immediately, to Alex's mild horror, his skin opened like a set of double doors. Inside it, a bulky, circular device rested in the exact centre of his chest. Beside it, a smaller device rested alongside, silently working on its unknown task.
Norstith explained: "The larger device is a miniature fusion reactor. It is a duetrium-duetrium reactor. The duetrium can be extracted from any water you drink, although some periods of lesser power consuming activity may be necessary to maintain the reactor. Beside it is the fully automated blood pump. It pumps blood around your still organic body, and does not have a beating rhythm, just a steady flow which can be varied in rate. In a sense, you no longer have a heartbeat effectively. Go ahead, try to find a pulse on yourself."
Norstith looked on in amusement as Alex felt his neck, not bothering with his wrists, as they were no longer organic, just mimicries of his old limbs. Indeed, he found no detectable pulse. It was then that Alex looked up at Norstith, and asked:
"You still haven't told me where we are."
Norstith leaned forwards and activated a holographic display on the table. Immediately, an image flared to life, showing a 3D image of the Emancipator. As both examined it, they saw the long, cigar shaped body, with wing like structures jutting out from the sides of the ship's main hull. At the back, a massive array of engines rested, while the front was a reinforced hull section, with enough armour to ram an enemy ship safely. What truly stood apart was the size of the vessel. It measured 12 kilometres long from front to rear, and 3.5 kilometres at its widest section. Norstith then gestured to the image:
"This is the space dreadnought Emancipator. It was one of a class of ships the Kro'nogri and Leg'hrul empires had worked together to manufacture. However, this ship was half completed when the program of ships was cancelled, due to lack of interest in massive warships, as the military favoured many smaller ships. This half completed vessel was bought by the KI to act as a base of operations, able to hold its entire fleet inside it. We named it the Emancipator, to give it a name suitable of our organization's goals, to install freedom throughout the galaxy by any means necessary."
"I must admit, I am in awe at such a vessel. So we are on board this vessel? This is where you live?"
"Yes, this is where we shall both live, and where I shall train you in skills I was unwilling to show you until you fully proved yourself. Now that you have, and have tasted death, you will no longer fear death, and you will be able to utilize these skills to their full extent, without fear of your mortal being."
"So you brought me back for that purpose. To continue the quest I set myself upon."
"Indeed, you proved yourself willing to die for our cause. Because of that, and you reputation, I see no reason as to not make you privy to knowledge that can grant you unfathomable powers. Are you up to the challenge?"
Alex thought for a moment, the temptation of using such power for his noble purpose like a drug to his mind, and easily swayed his decision:
"Bring it on."
12:00am, Emancipator's time.
Norstith had long finished discussing final preparations for Alex's new training, and had bid him farewell as the boy retired to his new quarters. Proudly, Norstith remembered the fact that he had found the perfect candidate to be his successor. Devoted, loyal, merciless and cunning.
However, that did not necessarily mean making backup options was unnecessary.
As Norstith entered a second laboratory, deep in the bowels of the ship, where living beings seldom went. It was marked on the ship's maps as a fuel storage room. Inside though, two objects dominated the room.
Inside the tube, the fingers of the specimens twitched ever so slightly.
Norstith contemplated these creations of his. These two are so different to Alex. They are new individuals, connected to Alex in their significance to my plans. I will awaken them and train them in secret elsewhere soon, so they will never meet Alex. Only when the time is right should they meet. And should Alex fail somehow, all of my hopes will lie with them.
I pray that never must come. Having two pupils shall be interesting, but having all three is the best path to success.
In his new quarters, Alex dreamt of the day of his death, reliving the nightmare. He saw Quirinth standing over him, ready to plunge her blade into his shoulder. Suddenly, the scene blurred slightly and became darker, as Quirinth was stabbed through the chest from behind by a dark figure. As she fell to the floor, Alex saw the figure gesture to Sru'sky and Trion a few metres away, and he saw them begin to scream in pain as some invisible torture trick affected them, brought on by the dark figure staring at them.
The figure turned, stepping over Quirinth's bloody and also screaming corpse. It stood over Alex, offering him a hand up. As he took it, he saw the figure's face. A perfect match of his own, from the hair colour to the scars, to the red irises of the eyes.
The figure smiled as it listened to the screams of pain.
Alex too, smirked in his sleep, otherwise motionless beneath his bed covers. To him, the nightmare had now morphed into a pleasant dream of revenge.
Earth, Solaris system. 1200 light years from Sol and Alpha Centuari.
The sun was setting over a now peaceful cityscape. The thatched roofing of the buildings gave a repetitive pattern to the city rooftops. Overhead, the occasional massive stone viaducts loomed, stretching on for miles and intersecting at different areas of the city. Along it, Trams were pushed by men, aided by their unique abilities of manipulating the Earth.
Indeed, in the city, there was a feeling of peacemaking, particularly in the upper wealth areas of the city, where some very important individuals were currently meeting to discuss proper trade agreements between this world's three nations.
Inside the Earth Kingdom Council chamber, Zuko, an 18 year old man with a large scar over his left eye, had been struggling with settling an agreement with the Earth Kingdom officials. Needless to say, relations between their nation and the Fire nation were healing, but were still tense. Off to one side of the chamber, his companions to the meeting were struggling to follow, remain interested, or in one case, stay awake.
16 year old Katara elbowed her brother, 17 year old Sokka, to wake him up, as his snoring was becoming slightly too loud. On his other side, Suki shook her head amusedly as he jerked awake. On Katara's other side, 14 year old Aang had been struggling to remain focused, but his girlfriend's action on her brother had caused him to laugh, which he just managed to keep suppressed to a mild snorting. On he other hand, 14 year old Toph had made no effort the whole time to make it seem she was interested, and was now more interested in the dirt under her fingernails.
Katara and Sokka were siblings, both sharing the same blue eyes and brown hair. They had lost their mother, Kya, in a fire nation raid on their home in the Southern Water Tribe when Katara was 4 and Sokka was 6. They had come searching for the reported waterbender, who their mother claimed was herself to protect Katara. She died to save her daughter. 4 years later, their father , Hakoda, went off with other tribe warriors to fight the fire nation in the Earth Kingdom.
When Katara and Sokka were 14 and 16 respectively, they found Aang, the Avatar and the last Airbender, frozen in an iceberg while canoe fishing. It turned out he had run away with his flying bison, Appa, before the Air nomad massacre, as he did not want to be taken from his master and mentor, Gyatso. He got caught in a storm, and went into the avatar state to freeze himself, where he stayed for 100 years.
Seeing that their fates were now intertwined, the two accompanied Aang up to the North Pole to find a waterbending teacher. Along the way, Zuko pursued them, set on capturing the Avatar to regain his honour, and let his father accept him again for speaking out of turn in a war meeting. Upon arrival at the North Pole, the three managed to repel a massive siege by the Fire Navy there, in which Admiral Zhao was killed by Aang in the Avatar state.
Later, they would search the Earth Kingdom for an Earthbending teacher, where they found Toph, an impressively gifted blind earthbender. She was misunderstood by her parents, and after attempting to convince them to accept her as not weak due to her blindness, she ultimately ran away with Aang and the gang. After this, their next big journey step was losing Appa, where they trekked through a desert and to Ba Sing Seh, in order to locate him eventually, also exposing a coup led by Fire princess Azula, and eventually a re-emerged Zuko. Aang was killed in the attack, but was healed while escaping on Appa by Katara's extraordinary healing abilities.
They spent the next few months hiding within the fire nation. Until the solar eclipse, where a failed attack on the Fire nation capital took place. The attack had been found out by Azula, and Firelord Ozai had taken refuge. After the attack, Zuko had set to join the group of the Avatar, eventually earning the rust of each person by accompanying them on various excursions.
It was during Sozin's comet that the war ended, when Zuko and Katara jointly defeated Azula, and Aang defeated Ozai by stripping him of his firebending.
Ever since then, they had worked ceaselessly to restore order and peace to the world in any way they could, staving small rebellions and resolving issues and making agreements.
Unfortunately, peace arranging meant sitting through boring political and trade meetings such as this one. Even worse was that the day went by with little actual progress, even after 5 hours of talks. However, it was worth it all, in order to promote peace and order among this society.
Little was it known that their world would play a part in a war much bigger that the one they just escaped from.
This is xisinj64, reporting live that I'm back! ****ing school is keeping me busy, and I have this story properly set up for a much more in depth look at the story. Yes I brought in Avatar the last airbender, which I had been intending since the start of this trilogy. Please leave comments and give helpful advice on my storytelling style.
Just a comment on something I noticed about Avatar the Last Airbender: Waterbenders can heal wounds by using water and unique abilities granted at birth. This is akin to what homeopathic medicine is CLAIMED to do. However, as anyone who knows about homeopathic medicine knows, it's a load of bull**** that water heals. Personally, I'd rather have 20 needles stuck into me than take up constant bathing.
Yours faithfully, brigadier sir xisinj64 [deceased]
PS, AUUGH! [falls over dead]