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Act I: Dying Dreams


Chapter 1: Nights of Discomfort

Date: 6:42 PM, September 1st, 2174

Location: Tree of Souls, Pandora, Alpha Centuari A System

The journey to the Eye of Eywa was one that humbled her every time she spoke with the Great Mother.

Emotions of thousands of beings roared through her like a great storm; the glee of nantang, the arrogance of toruk, the hunger of palulukan, the calm of pa'li, the joy of the people. She could feel all of it. And through it all, she could feel Eywa's warm embrace, gently holding her close, not allowing her to fall into the whirlpool of emotions and life that threatened to overwhelm even her controlled spirit.

Slowly, she began to search for the answers for the questions that burned within her mind, thoughts that she wished she had never thought of scalding her soul.

Reaching out for the presence of her grand-son, carefully looking for that familiar, quivering spirit amongst the multitudes of Eywa's children. As though personally intervening in her search, she could almost feel the roar as thousands of connected spirits passed through the Eye before settling upon Tsu'tey, the Great Mother patiently guiding her exactly where she had wanted to go.

The spirit of her fiery grand-son was not, however, what she was precisely searching for. She focused instead upon her Great Mother herself, and what she felt when she gazed upon him.

Love, of course. She loved all of her children.

Pride, of course. He was the epitome of perfection in a young Na'vi, someone all young warriors could look up to.

Satisfaction. Her heart thudded to a stop before lurching into motion once more, sadness and despair nearly overwhelming her.

No...

She felt the Great Mother's gaze moving on, away from her, the slightest tinge of confusion drifting through the link before the mighty goddess resumed her diligent duties in maintaining the balance of all life upon her surface.

Slowly detaching herself from the tree, she slowly made her way down to where two beings she counted as friends awaited her.

Peyral, the greatest hunter of the Omaticaya, and second only to Jake'sully in terms of warrior prowess, swiftly ascended the natural steps and gently aided her in moving down them.

I did not notice how my body shakes. She mused thoughtlessly, slowly becoming aware of the trembling in her arms and the way her body swayed on unsteady legs. Even her tail had seemingly lost all life, dragging along the ground behind her. I must have been connected for a great span of time, though it felt like mere moments.

Max'patel waited patiently, waving for his own warrior-guards to remain at the top of the bowl sheltering the great tree.

"What did you discover, honored Tsahik?" he asked politely in his accented Na'vi.

She allowed her body to settle comfortably into a sitting position, Peyral copying her, her eyes carefully watching Mo'at as though she feared that she would fall over at any moment.

I am not yet that old. She thought with a tinge of amusement, "It.. it is as I feared." all traces of humor vanished from her mind as she spoke, "The Great Mother is content, even satisfied with Tsu'tey's actions and plans. It may even be possible that she is influencing him, still desiring that the sky people be removed from here."

Peyral hissed softly, glancing almost unconsciously at the small, circular scar on her left arm, "Madness. Even the boldest of our warriors who fought have no desire to combat those machines of war again, how does the Great Mother not see that?"

"Because she still aches from the pains of the digging machines of the sky people, and does not believe in their promises." Mo'at sighed, closing her tired eyes.

There was a long moment of silence before Max spoke, "You did say that Tsu'tey wanted to renew the kind of hit and run war that Jake originally planned. Maybe Eywa decided that she screwed up, and that Jake had the right of it, and wants to renew combat in that manner."

"Stupid." Peyral shook her head, "I scouted out the sky people's home last week, they have many of their kunsips now, and another of the massive ones that our weapons cannot harm. They would pursue and slay any who tried to fight them that way. Perhaps if we had had the heart to do so at once after the prior battle, that may have been possible. But now?" Another firm shake of her head, "Only death would await any who tried."

Mo'at snapped a soft glare at her, "You did so, even though none are supposed to venture near that place?"

"What better way to prevent Tsu'tey and any of the morons who follow him from doing the same?" the younger woman countered, "Best to know the best places to watch the sky people from, so that I know where they might try to."

She acknowledged the hunter's point with a small nod, but allowed the glare linger a moment longer. Only when Peyral sheepishly bowed her head did she allow her own to droop slightly as her mind continued to slowly process the knowledge.

Max was the first to speak, some great time later. "We are going to have to do something. If he tries to attack Tartarus or Hell's Gate, there is going to be another war, one that the people have no chance of winning."

This drew a hiss from Peyral, "The young fool is as stubborn as an Angtisk. He no longer heeds the wisdom of his elders, relying upon his own counsel, and the counsel of those who agree with him already. To stop him, there will be bloodshed."

She felt a tide of both rage and fear roar through her, "Do not speak of such things!"

Both of her friends jumped and stared at her, startled, and she continued, "I will not see fighting amongst my own family, my own clan! Not while I am still Tsahik."

"Civil War." the tawtute toktor murmured quietly, "All war is terrible, but the battles against family and friends are by far and away the worst, something even we sky people avoid at all costs."

The warrior sighed and shook her head, beads clinking lightly, "I have no desire to aim my bow at Tsu'tey, honored Tsahik, but in the end.. we must realize that that is what this may come to, if he cannot be stopped by words."

Her mind's eye showed her an image of her grandson, an arrow embedded within his heart, face a snarl of rage, her daughter weeping, throwing aside her bow. A grim Peyral leading the elder warriors against their youthful kin, their own friends, brother slaying sister, and friend slaying friend.

Never. She swore to herself, Never shall I let it come to that. But how to stop it? How do we convince those who will not be convinced?

The silence between the three deepened once more, all bearing frowns across their faces. Eventually, Max rose.

"I have to head back, there is an early meeting of the leaders of the sky people tomorrow and I have to attend. Have John contact me if you think of something that I can help with. May Eywa watch over your passage home."

The two Na'vi women gave their own traditional goodbyes, watching him ascend to the waiting machine, its strange 'engines' roaring into motion even as he climbed into its metal embrace.

Waiting until the flying machine was out of sight, Mo'at rose and began to make her way to the Pa'li patiently awaiting their return.

Mounting was not as easy as it would have been several years ago. Still, making the bond and beginning the slow ride back to the kelutral was simple enough, the simple calm of her mount doing much to ease her mind. Peyral followed on her own mount beside her, bow handing loosely from one of her hands.

She smiled slightly at the sight. Peyral had been taking her duties as Jake's 'second' very seriously ever since Neytiri had been wounded, supplanting the other woman in the hunting teams. She also took her duty as Mo'at's 'guard' seriously when she called upon her to do so. Then again, after losing her mate in the great battle four years prior, there was precious little that she did not take seriously.

"The odds of any animal hunting us so near the great tree is small, my young friend." she smiled wider as the younger woman looked slightly abashed.

"Apologies, Tsahik. I am merely on edge after our conversation.." she let her voice drift off.

There is more to it than that. "And what else troubles you?"

Pey'ral seemed to hesitate, "Max'patel asked me to not tell you, as he feared that it would worry you."

"You have already caused me some worry by saying so, what is some more?"

"I apologize Tsahik." Another hesitation.

Part of her felt sorry for the middle-aged warrior. She was a being of action, of motion. She did not like being put on the spot in conversation outside of her expertise. And without Unil to prod her into speaking her mind...

"He.. he mentioned that a group of Lonataya approached the sky people's home several days ago, and that they were slain just before they drifted over their homes themselves. He fears that it was more than the wind that carried them so far south." The words seemed to tumble out of her, as if she feared that she would not be able to continue if she stopped.

"Grim news indeed." She sighed, beads clinking as she shook her head sadly., "But it is merely more atop the pile that already lies upon my shoulders. It may be that Eywa sent them, or perhaps it merely was the wind. I fear that we shall know the truth all too soon."

"You believe that nantang and palulkan will strike at the sky people once more?" Peyral asked, a slight tone of worry in her voice.

"If the Lonataya were sent by the Great Mother, and if she does indeed send Tsu'tey dreams of inspiration, then they may once more prowl."

The warrior sighed as their Pa'li began to navigate the long slope down from the great mountain, slowly heading for the jungle at its base.

"Perhaps you should attend a meeting with the leader of the sky people? Warn her of what may be happening?" Pey'ral suggested eventually.

"No.. Max'patel will speak with her and carry warnings of his own, there is no... no..." she frowned slowly, mind beginning to move faster. "How did I not see it? There may yet be something that can be used to dissuade the youths in our clan."

The ears of her younger companion perked upwards slightly, though she patiently remained silent.

"Pey'ral, when we return, I must speak with the Olo'eyktan. If he agrees with me, and I do believe that my daughter's mate shall, we will be in need of your warriors with the swiftest ikran. One tsahik may not convince Tsu'tey, but perhaps the wisdom of many might dissuade his followers."

"You mean to call a meeting, of all nearby Tsahik?" Pey'ral sounded stunned. There were, of course, great meetings of many clans, though they were focused upon trade and friendly competition. To have a meeting of the tsahik alone was nearly unheard of, it appeared in the ancient songs only once: Just before the first time of great sorrow, before the first Toruk'makto.

"I do." she nodded slowly, plans slowly forming with her mind.


Date: 8:12 PM, September 2nd, 2170

Location: Hell's Gate, Pandora, Alpha Centauri A System

"So, yet more bad news huh?" Norm asked with a sigh.

Max's voice came over the radio in response, "Yeah. Looks like Eywa is definitely encouraging Tsu'tey, probably the other young warriors as well."

"If she's doing it with them, she's probably doing it all over the place." His mind continued along the unhappy trail of thoughts, not liking at all where he was ending up.

So much for the idea of talking with other clans.

"We don't know that for sure," Max's voice betrayed the fact that he seemed just as sure of that as he did, "We might still get somewhere talking with some of the other clans."

"Assuming Thomes approves." he pointed out, his spirits already sinking.

Didn't we have enough fighting already?

Apparently Eywa and Tsu'tey hadn't. The latter he could excuse, sort of. The kid hadn't ever actually fought before, and probably didn't fully realize just how horrible it was. After all, like Jake had told him before they had gone to fight Quaritch, 'It's one thing to hear about a battle Norm, it's another thing to actually fight in one.'

But the former.. how could Eywa be failing to see what would happen if combat broke out again?

"I'll see you when I get back, should be just a few hours." Max signed off, voice breaking him from his thoughts.

Nodding to himself, he turned off the radio, stood, and began to pace. Back and forth across the lab, his mind whirling as he thought.

Thomes will probably approve the attempt to talk with other clans, she's not eager for a second round of open combat. Max will be the one sent to talk with them, probably with Katrina, the three of us are the only ones who speak Na'vi here, and he's the head of the 'Department'. He paused in the center of the room, frowning. There has to be something that I can do to help.

He had not been of much use to his friends and allies before. He had fought in the first battle, all those years ago, and gotten his Avatar killed doing it. Then he had become nearly catatonic for a year after watching several of his friends die to various local creatures, both large and small. Some of it.. had been fairly horrific. Then he had been of little use to everyone when humanity had returned, only his mediocre skills as a healer coming into play at the end, when everything was finished.

"I'm sick of being the useless geek in the corner, only able to off advice and patch up everyone's wounds." he muttered, nervously glancing around to make sure there was not anyone around to hear him talking to himself.

Smooth Norm, real smooth. Great start. He scowled at himself, resuming his pacing.

He tried to work his mind around the problem. The piece of paper that labeled him a Doctor of Xenobiology, with hundreds of hours of prep time before he had even been allowed to leave Earth, had to be good for something.

Well, if both Max and Katrina are gone, you're the only left who speaks Na'vi, which means that if something comes up with the Omaticaya, you'll be the one sent to help. Maybe some of the elders have ideas about what we can do?

It wasn't much of a plan, he knew. Relying upon others to have the idea and then help them out was not exactly what he had been hoping for, but he couldn't think of anything else that he could realistically do at the moment.

With a sigh he flicked the room's lights off, headed into the hallway, and began to make his way to the former link-chamber turned bunk-room.

They had ended up turning the link beds into actual beds, making sure that all of the equipment was offline and locking them in their exterior position, as well as adding a few creature comforts inside the pods. It still was not exactly as good as a real bed, but since the dormitories were still totally overgrown, it was their only real option besides the cold floor.

Most of the other members of the 'Science Department' were there, already getting ready to sleep.

He snorted a bit at that. He, Max, and Katrina were the only real scientists, everyone else were volunteers, chosen because of their intelligence or desire to study. And of the three, Katrina spent at least half of her time with her Samson as a pilot, leaving her as a part-timer at best. None of the others had any actual lab experience, outside of half-forgotten schooling back on Earth, and it was always a challenge to make sure that their good-intentioned efforts didn't break something or set a project back.

"All right kids, everyone get to sleep, we need to be up early to check over the farm." Good God, did I just say that? I sounded like Grace!

To his continuing amusement, everyone quickly began to bid each other goodnight, close the screens around their 'beds', and change for bed.

So weird. The idea that people would be treating him of all people as their boss was something that he doubted he would ever get used to.

Shaking his head, he headed to his own small 'room' and closed the screen behind him, quickly changing into the loose clothes that made sleeping in the link-bed much more tolerable.

Yawning, he set his alarm for the early morning, opened his link-bed, and crawled in, the form-fitting foam easily accommodating his body.

And the vampire retreats to his coffin. He laughed quietly to himself as he closed the top of the lid, making sure that his pillow was secure and that the blanket was all the way in. With another yawn, he closed his eyes and settled into sleep, half-made plans about the future waiting until the morning to be brought once more to the forefront of his mind.


Date: 7:19 AM, September 3rd, 2170

Location: Mining Site 02, Pandora, Alpha Centauri A System

"Jesus Christ." Parker stared at the corpses.

The inky-black skin of the viper wolves was coated in their dark blood, the bright pink of organs visible through the gaping holes that the heavy-weight AMP cannon had blown through their flesh. There must have been a dozen of them, blood seeping into a wide pool around the bodies of the pack. The stench of it was horrendous, and the faint odor of death was something that he had forlornly wished to never smell again.

"When did they try to get in?" he turned to his companion, the Hauptmann frowning at the bodies, his AMP suit immobile behind him.

"Just this morning, around dawn." Wolfgang Prochnow murmured, glancing back at the road. "They must have slipped in along the road, made their way along the road towards the mine. Avoided the perimeter defenses. Schweine."

"We were lucky." Kozlov rumbled, glancing aside as his own security teams carefully made sure that all of the creatures were indeed, dead. "Had you not decided to come early to meet with me, they would have slipped in without our notice. Four years of peace has made us complacent."

He really wanted to hold his face in his hand, but the bulky exopack prevented it. He settled for muttering again, "Jesus Christ."

The three men watched the Third Company veterans perform their grizzly task, Parker occasionally glancing at the road leading away from the mining site.

"We are going to have to resume full patrols along the road." Kozlov rumbled finally.

"Wirklich?" the Austrian snapped sarcastically, "With what men, mein freund?"

He grimaced. Prochnow and Kozlov had not gotten along since they had met, and neither did their men. The, comparatively, green men of the new Second Company resented the arrogant attitude held by Kozlov and his veterans, and had wasted no time in locking horns with them whenever possible. In turn, the Russians disliked the fact that Thomes kept them in position at the defenses around Site 02, letting the Austrians man the defenses around Site 01. They had wanted to defend the closer site, where their comrades had died, but Thomes had shot them down, saying she wanted their best fighters stationed where they were needed most: at the more vulnerable site. That, of course, stroked the Russian's egos while inciting Prochnow, and thus, the war of sarcasm and insults continued and escalated, to the point where the football matches between the two companies was more akin to war than it was to sports. The last time they had played, a dozen players had ended up in the hospital after a brawl had broken out near halftime.

Hastening to intervene even as Kozlov's broad face darkened with anger, he spoke quickly, "I'll talk to the Colonel when I get back. He and I will go over it with Thomes, but I would guess that it would be his airborne that get the job."

Like a pair of rabid dogs, the two soldiers nodded and backed down, eying each other warily.

He sighed, Theodas really needs to pound some sense into them. He knew it was on the recently arrived Colonel's list of things to do, but he doubted it would happen, not with this apparent escalation.

"I've got to head back, just for today though, Prochnow, mind running your AMP suits as escorts for the trucks? Form them up in convoys to save yourself some manpower." he both asked and advised. While Thomes might be the overall commander, and Theodas the ranking military officer, when it came to the safety of the mining operations both tended to defer to him and Kozlov.

The Austrian Hauptmann grunted and nodded in acquiescence.

Slightly relieved, Parker made his way back to the Samson that had flown him to the site. Clambering in, he waved to the pilot to let him know to take off.

Settling in as the helicopter rose from the ground, he shook his head and muttered some more as he glanced at the soldiers even now moving the animal's corpses out of the way.

This shit again. Have to ask Patel about how long it takes the local critters to reproduce and grow, see if this pack just moved in or if it's the next generation. He shuddered as another thought hit him, Hell, we are lucky that it was only viper-wolves, if it had been a Thanator, one AMP suit alone has a hard time trying to take one of those creatures, it might have killed Prochnow and run rampant in the mine site!

He let out another groan and gently banged his head against the bulkhead, trying to ignore the slowly developing migraine.

By the time they landed on the uplifted platform at Tartarus, the pain in his skull was in full swing, and he muttered some choice epithets under his breath as he made his way into the Ops-Center. It took him a minute to realize that the curses had been mixed English, German, and Russian. Snorting at himself, he made his way to his office. I may not be able to speak them, but four years with soldiers and I can damn well curse in them.

Wasting no time, he settled into his desk and brought up his mail screen, firing a request off to Theodas to meet with him, and another, longer one, to Thomes telling her what had happened.

He had barely had time to glance outside and debate getting breakfast, his stomach churning a bit at the thought of food, before his computer chimed with an incoming message.

Blinking, he opened it. It was from Theodas, the Colonel simply stating that he was on his way immediately.

Closing the window, he frowned as it immediately chimed once more.

This one was from Thomes, requesting that he set up a call-conference in his office as soon as Theodas arrived.

Well, at least she isn't here in person. He mused to himself as he established the link to the Dream. It had been quite a while since the awkward, hung-over morning, but he still had a hard time seeing her without remembering how warm her body had been next to his.

Of course, it would be nicer if she didn't cut every conversation short and stopped leaving me out of the loop. His mind grumbled. That was both irritating and comforting. He hated being cut-off and left out of the information loop, he was the Administrator of the base for Christ's sake!, but it was strangely comforting to know that she seemed to feel as awkward around him as he did around her.

The American Colonel strode rapidly through the Ops-Center a few minutes later, making sure to lock the door and darken the windows as he entered Parker's office. He nodded a slight thanks at that little nicety.

"Morning Administrator, shame that it isn't a good one." Brian Theodas spoke easily. A young man for his rank, he couldn't have been much more different from the late Oberst Weigand had he tried. Weigand had always had an air of authority around him, the quintessential 'old-man' of the base, and had always done his best to live up to that image, comporting himself with dignity.

Theodas, on the other hand, was more of a hands-on leader, his management style more akin to Miles Quaritch's. He led from the front, personally extorting his men to dare to be better than him, working his ass off to hold every on-base military record that he could. While his air men and women adored him for those traits, and he had the respect of the both the German and Austrian companies, the more reserved and battered Russians seemed to merely tolerate him. And the pitifully small group that was all that was left from their combat engineers typically ignored him entirely.

"You can say that. Viper Wolf attack, a smart one too." he finished establishing a link to the Dream before launching into a report on what had happened.

Thomes waited until he was finished before her voice carried over the speakers, "This is extremely troubling. It could be a prelude to increased attacks on our mining sites, and Dr. Patel just finished informing me that it is possible that the native's goddess is behind the increased level of militarism in their youths."

The Colonel grunted at that. Like most of the men and women who had not been involved in the chaos that was the battle, he had a hard time accepting that 'Eywa' was actually a physical being, capable of controlling nearly all life upon the world. After all, they hadn't personally witnessed the insane fanaticism with which both the animals and the natives had hurled themselves into gunfire.

"I asked Prochnow to have his AMPs patrol the roads for today, and for him to convoy the trucks." he informed the two of them.

"Good move," Theodas nodded, "That should work until we come up with something better. We don't really have the troops for full-on patrolling though, not with our current deployments."

"You'll have to use your First Company." Thomes replied after taking a moment, "I want two Scorpions with four Samsons on patrol during the daylight."

"That's a third of my reserve force," the Colonel warned, "I could cut back on the patrols between here and Hell's Gate and provide double that number while keeping our reserves solid."

"No." her tone was absolute, "The Fourth Company can't guard both Hell's Gate and its mining site alone, we'll simply have to live with a minimized reserve force."

Theodas considered that for a brief moment before nodding, "Yes ma'am, I'll brief my people and get the first patrol up by noon."

"Two native attacks in less than a week." he muttered, shaking his head. "If it's all right with you Maria, I'm going to run my people through defensive drills again."

"Do it. Theodas, make sure that all of your people are training up to standard as well, make that doubly sure for Kozlov and Werner, their companies are the most isolated." Their commander commanded, "I will return to the surface tomorrow, we'll hold a full meeting of the senior staff at thirteen-hundred to go over our plans."

She cut the link, and the two men swiftly got to work.


Next up is Chapter 2: Wars of Words

I continue to beg thee, as a humble author, please review!

Review Responses:

Paranoidschizo91: they're kind of like a floating jelly-fish, freaking huge, and deadly as hell. They let their tentacles drift under them, sting whatever they connect with, then drag it up to their mouths. The sting itself is lethal to humans.