Dark Hunter's resolution.
Chapter 14: Free flight, Eywa's realm
25th September 2901
Alpha Centuari, Pandora, Kahtra'ya clan.
"Oh look, Aru'san's having some fun." Noted Azula, her tone amused and unconcerned. The others looked up to see the draconian AI flying off at speed, with a verbally incoherently protesting Alex on her back.
They saw Firi'sry run past them, sprinting back to the village, eyes trained on the beast as it flew out of sight over the cliff edge, towards the sea rock stacks. As Se'rie glided over, she yelled: "Hang tight guys, I've got this!"
Sensing the situation was being handled, Sha'krii turned to the others, saying: "As long as they can control Aru'san, we'll be fine."
"Actually I think the tribe would be very interested to see her. They ride dangerous creatures in flight don't they?" Suggested Xale. Norstith brooded momentarily, his metal feather running under his chin.
Sighing, Azula said: "Xale, I saw the creatures they fly as mounts. Compared to Aru'san, they are like mere sparrows."
"ARU'SAN! TURN AROUND AND LAND NOW!" Screamed Alex, his voice penetrating the rush of the thicker Pandoran air rushing past his face. Bobbing up and down as Aru'san flapped, Alex saw her incline her head to face his own a bit, before she said with some form of humour: "I am testing my flight capabilities. I can't land until I have checked them all. Beginning combat flight patterns."
In a snap roll, Aru'san rolled onto her back, and dove straight down, corkscrewing into level flight once more, flying just a few metres above the waves. On her back, his metal fingers/claws digging into her synthetic back scales and armour, Alex didn't know whether to enjoy this or berate Aru'san. After all, he failed to say to not test until he authorized it for today.
Flying at speeds of roughly 150 miles an hour, Aru'san dipped and banked between the rocky stacks out at the coastal sea. As they flew, Alex clambered to a sitting position, his eyes stinging a bit from the sea spray barrelling into his eyes. Donning his helmet relieved him of that pain.
His on board scanners and radar, despite being hampered slightly by the magnetic fields keeping the unstable stacks and few floating islands, detected a larger, hot body mass taking off towards them higher up. Turning to look up, Alex saw a familiar sight. High above, he saw Firi'sry astride her Mountain Banshee, looking down at him and Aru'san with fear and awe.
Alex was not surprised that her Ikran was here, for there was no other natural way for her to get to this clan. Standing up unsteadily, Alex yelled through his helmet's vocabulator: "Aru'san! Continue testing, but follow my commands here and in future! Do not stray too far!"
Firing up his chest reactor's higher levels, Alex deployed his in built armour turbofan system, and deployed his dark matter wings like a Leg'hrul's. Decreasing his weight with his small antigrav drive, Alex roared directly upwards at high speed, eager to be away from the sea at all costs.
Firi'sry saw an armoured figure fly up to meet her, and with a mild roar, he came into a gentle glide, his own figure slightly upright, alongside her Ikran as she and her flew. Calming her Ikran from the strange figure, she saw that Alex was flying without any other assistance, with great black membrane like wings extended outwards for lift.
"I apologize, Aru'san is a bit unruly when it comes to testing her hardware! I should have known better than to allow her to think more emotionally than other AIs I've worked with." Alex yelled, his synthesized voice puncturing the light wind rush between his armoured form and Firi'sry and her Ikran.
"It is your creation?" She asked. Nodding, Alex looked down at the draconic AI, weaving in between the rocks still, saying: "Not entirely, but yes. What do you think? Her skin is not natural, but grows like any other skin, scales, whatever, and she's also got some powerful secrets hidden away inside of her."
"It is a she?" Asked Firi'sry, looking quizzically at the beast in the rock stacks below. Gunning his turbofan, Alex swooped over to Firi'sry's other side, about to say something, before another voice interrupted:
"That was my idea! She seemed to develop a feminine persona!" Turning his head, Alex looked through his helmet to see Se'rie, panting slightly, had caught up to them. Suppressing a laugh, Alex yelled to Firi'sry: "About what I said before Aru'san took off, this is Se'rie! She is Norstith's niece! And she can explain the rest!"
Flicking Se'rie a quick gesture saying it was her job now, Alex ungraciously flip in mid air before pelting down to catch up with Aru'san. Feathers bristling with annoyance, Se'rie met Firi'sry's gaze, saying: "So."
"Well, what did he wish for you to explain?" Asked Alex's adoptive mother. Se'rie saw no reason not to deny her the truth, as a lie might get her attacked by her flying mount, who she thought was taking hungry glances at her. Se'rie meekly asked: "Can I get on with you before we do this talk?"
As Alex swooped down, he got a call from Sha'krii: "Alex. Get Aru'san under control, and meet with us. We just got told by Ole'tycan M'sutna that the Tsa'hik is ready to receive you, Firi'sry and Norstith if all three wish to comply."
Before Alex responded, just as he drew behind Aru'san, La'kias radioed in: "We also received some interesting news when we searched UIP databases. A UIP spy shuttle landed just 20 kilometres away from the clan, 1 hour before we were cleared to orbit. It came from Earth."
Thinking for a moment, Alex asked: "Any suggestions, possible reasons?" This time, a call came in from Jarothes, aboard the Dawnbreaker:
"I can't explain it. Perhaps the UIP are tracking our movements? It is understandable, for security reasons. But only we know of Bal'toro's data stash in his grave."
"So they might just be watching us? Well, we aren't doing anything illegal, the tribe agreed to it, and if anyone is harmed, it will be me or Norstith. As long as we play it cool, wherever they are, not that it's important, I think the UIP trackers will leave us alone. In the meantime I'll get us back together for the push on Eywa."
Cutting the link, Alex flew in over Aru'san, grabbing a hold of her back, his metal fingers gripping tight on the metallic armour and grey scales. Establishing a comms link to Aru'san, Alex said: "Aru'san, the link to Eywa is ready to receive our selected members. We need to head back, fly up to Se'rie and Firi'sry, gently!"
Complying, Aru'san rose, her wingbeats rising on the dense air, boosting slightly with her lessened weight and small fusion thrusters.
"And so, we're still together to this day, about 16 UIP months ago. He's taught me how to fight and such, because I needed a career after the Alliance quarantine ruined my career chances."
Sitting atop her Ikran, Firi'sry looked at the female Leg'hrul, admitting she was Alex's love interest. Firi'sry shook her head in disbelief, admitting: "It seems both my children have found love outside their own species."
Se'rie briefly remembered back to how Alex's stepsister and the mech on Ki'ristalis were apparently involved. She said: "If I might say, his choice of alien is less, exotic, than your daughter's. It probably isn't as easy for them to share themselves with the other."
Firi'sry sensed something hidden in Se'rie's words, and coyly asked: "How serious is this?" Se'rie's feathers seemed to erupt from her face and neck, and she admitted: "Well, we trust each other as much as two people can, I'll just leave it at that."
Getting the message, Firi'sry blushed a bit, her dots glowing on her body slightly. Below her, her Ikran seemed to screech a bit in agreement, as it banked to head back towards the cliffs and village more. Changing the subject, Firi'sry asked: "What was it you said you did before Alex and you met?"
"Well, I worked in a market, as you could call it, but art was my passion. Painting, drawing, they helped me focus on something during the quarantine." Gazing out at the double sunset, and the mass of Polythemus and the Keletari moon hanging overhead, Se'rie said: "I'll have to paint that when I get a chance."
"SE'RIE! FIRI'SRY! WE HAVE TO GO, THE TSA'HIK HAS THE SITE READY!" Looking up, Firi'sry ducked slightly as Aru'san's massive form swooped in alongside her much smaller Ikran. Alex was astride the creature's back, sitting calmly on the hard synthetic scales and metal armour.
Turning her head, Aru'san's electronic voice emitted from her open mouth: "Your creature mount appears intimidated by my appearance. I do not intend to cause it distress." Firi'sry heard some emotion in the voice, but looked back as Se'rie said: "Hey Alex! Why don't you show your mother what I've been teaching you? And no flight packs, that's cheating!"
Sighing, Alex's helmeted head nodded, and he yelled to Firi'sry while telling Aru'san over connection to head back: "Firi'sry, I may have Aru'san now, but I don't need a creature or a flight pack to fly now! How's this for a rite of passage flight!"
Jumping off of Aru'san, Se'rie dove alongside a falling Alex, while Firi'sry watched on, worried for his safety, but unsure of what he was doing exactly. As he fell, Firi'sry saw the same black wings unfold, similar to a Leg'hrul's but slightly bigger, with a similar tail also, but no feathers. What she didn't see was an on board antigrav pack reduce his weight to roughly 10 kilograms.
Unfolding what he called his 'Dark Bird suit', Alex spread his wings, and with the aid of virtually unlimited power from his reactor, his arms pumped vigorously as he beat his dark wings, keeping up alongside a more graceful Se'rie. Beside him, Se'rie let out what seemed like a joyous caw, and began to dive, folding her wings in slightly as she sped up. Giving chase, Alex followed, him too streamlining his form.
Diving into the rock stacks jutting from the coastal reaches, Se'rie made Alex chase her, weaving in and out of the stacks, rapidly changing her course to try and throw him off. Undeterred, he never lost sight of her, his only shortfall being his limited smoothness of his winged flight.
Overhead, Firi'sry flew on her Ikran, seeing the female Leg'hrul and her adoptive son meander between the rock stacks. Looking on, Aru'san noted aloud: "It appears that Se'rie is testing Alex's flight capabilities compared to her own. This is commonplace in the ritual for readiness to become mates, that I think she is trying to lead Alex into outside his knowledge."
Reeling in surprise, Firi'sry Ikran screeched slightly through their link, while the female Na'vi steeled herself. Trying not to laugh, as she knew Alex was not in danger, she wondered if he knew, or if Aru'san was wrong.
Alex chased Se'rie still, beating the air vigorously. Though his limbs were mechanical, the motion behind them transferring to his torso caused his body to heat up, and by now his blood rate was higher than normal. It was now he reminded himself that he would likely be unable to do this with organic limbs. Although, he did still curse Se'rie and her race's enhanced heart endurance and faster heart rates.
Ahead of him, Se'rie suddenly seemed to halt in mid air, turning 180 degrees, her talons outstretched to face him. Not finding himself enough time to stop, Alex ploughed into Se'rie in mid air, throwing them both off, and sending them spiralling down to the more open section of coastal water.
"What was that for!" Screamed Se'rie. Alex looked back, Se'rie grasped firmly in his arms, and asked: "ME? You stopped in front of me too quickly for me to stop! What were you doing!"
Se'rie grasped his body with her wing talons and leg talons, the armoured covers clinking as they hit his metal legs. With a suggestive look on her face, Se'rie yelled: "I'm testing my mate!"
It took Alex a second, as he saw their joint downwards spiral, and the position he and Se'rie found themselves in. Seeing the water, the cold, uninviting water, coming to meet them heads first, Alex immediately reeled back, saying: "NOT NOW! YOU COULD GIVE ME A WARNING!"
Shoving Se'rie away, yelling: "PULL UP!", Alex opened his dark wings, while Se'rie flared her own wings as wide as they could go. Pulling up, Se'rie saw herself clear the water by a good 10 feet or so. Hearing a yell behind her, Se'rie saw a helmet and some dark wings disappear into the water with a big splash, though smaller for the lesser gravity and some fortunate braking.
"ALEX!" Screamed Se'rie. Fretting, Se'rie flew over to where the water was still white from the splash, frantically searching for a sign of his black armour. He armour would not allow air to escape, as it was sealed in. But she didn't even know if he could swim in it.
Little did Se'rie know that there were underwater currents between the stacks, where the water was channelled with the receding and incoming waves.
Surfacing at last, Alex saw that he had drifted 10 metres from the splash zone, and he saw a nearby rock stack that he had surfaced next to. Grasping the edge, he pulled himself up, the metal talons digging into the rock. Hearing a gasp and a flutter of feathers nearby, Alex knew that Se'rie had found him.
"Alex! Are you alright!" Se'rie asked, her wings talons gripping his arms with fierce hold. Nodding, Alex retracted his helmet visor and top, looking back at the water he had just taken a dip in, despite being bone dry himself: "I'm fine. Just a little shocked from the dip is all."
Settling herself more stably on the rocky outcropping by him, the rock stack overhanging them, Se'rie cupped his face, saying with relief: "I thought I lost you. All because I tried to get you to do that stupid fall without me saying."
Taking her wing talons in his metal hand, Alex reinforced: "Se'rie. I just plunged into a tidal current bay, but I'm fine. It wasn't stupid, you tried to get me to do something that I could never get the courage to do any time soon. I would never have been able to ask you to do that with me."
Looking into his red eyes, Se'rie asked sadly: "So you aren't willing to be more with me after all?" Seeing her eyes just begin to shine with tears, Alex pulled her into a hug, the sea spray mixing into his brown hair and her feathers, adding a strange smell on top of Se'rie's wildflower scent and Alex's sweaty metal smell.
"Se'rie. I said I would never be able to do it, because I wasn't sure if I was able to be everything that you deserve as a mate. You deserve so much. But, you chose me in this. And, I failed." Alex said, his tone regretful. Trying to lighten the mood, Se'rie said: "Hey, it's alright. You were doing great, until you realized what I was doing with you. I should have told you." She nuzzled his cheek with her beak at that comment.
Laughing a bit, Alex gave her a quick kiss on the beak, before standing up and saying: "We need to go. Eywa's waiting, and I don't want to be around here still 7 hours from now. I've already faced one of my two fears today, I don't need the second."
"You're afraid of a dreadnought?" Asked Se'rie. Alex looked at her, and said: "No, I'm afraid of Kal'sik. And I like to expect he's aboard any dreadnought. That pessimism helps me be relieved in most cases."
"Have a nice swim?" Asked Ja'hail jokingly, having just pieced his armour back on from sunbathing on the cliff top.
Se'rie and Alex had just landed on the cliff edge, the latter's armour still dripping wet a bit. As they landed, they saw Sha'krii headed over with Kirth, La'kias and Norstith in tow. Coming up to them, Sha'krii said: "You heard the news then? They're ready to do the procedure. They said they'll start it up, asking for help in making it usable for those two who can do it."
They all looked at Alex and Norstith, who shifted a bit on their feet. Kirth then said: "There is one small matter concerning our behaviour. I must insist that we refrain from violent confrontation under the watch they have us under."
Seeing their confused looks, La'kias told them: "The UIP are monitoring us, from a ground or orbital place we don't know, the local magnetic flux fields are too strong to pick out the signals. Of course we expected this, it is nothing to fear, just be careful."
"Typical, they can't help but spy on us when we're doing nothing wrong. Intruding pests some of the UIP are." Ja'hail commented in an annoyed tone.
Looking up, Alex saw a familiar Ikran and rider headed for a location about a half mile away, and noted: "Firi'sry's already headed to the site. We'll be there soon. I guess most of us will hang back with the shuttle and Aru'san, back in the clearing, until we're done?"
"That would be best." Said Kirth. In agreement, Sha'krii said conclusively: "We have to succeed. This could be our final victory, the last one of the war. Keep in contact with Jarothes and Krith, get any information on Bal'toro out of them to make your search easier."
4 hours until scheduled Dreadnought arrival in Alpha Centuari system.
"I suggest you go first. Eywa will react more positively first to a race her associated kind are familiar with." Suggested Norstith, as the 4 Na'vi warriors led them into a ravine like cave of sorts, the top open to sunlight, but enclosed like a massive cathedral like cavern. With him, Alex, Sha'krii and Se'rie walked, the former asking: "Getting nervous Norstith?"
"Interfacing mentally with a supposed planetwide deity level organism? No reason for me to be afraid." Said Norstith, the sarcasm apparent in his voice. Ignoring their banter, Sha'krii reminded them: "Remember what to do, connect in, find the information, and get out."
Se'rie asked now: "Any more information about Bal'toro we can use to help narrow down the search?"
Calling in, Jarothes spoke over the commlink: "Bal'toro Inimara, killed on 14th November 2900 in his apartment by nano-assassins injected into his drink. Pre-mortem occupation: signals analyser for the UIP central intelligence bureau. Birthplace, Kahtra'ya clan, Pandora, Alpha Centuari."
Krith Lovisk was heard in the background: "The UIP haven't detected our transmissions, but they're position of a nearby security scout is 2 miles away. They're watching the NKI members still out in the open."
Cutting the commlink, Alex, Norstith, Se'rie and Sha'krii gazed about in wonder at the sight that beheld them.
The 4 warriors led them to another willow tree site, the tree itself still glowing a delicate purplish-pink colour, and the roots spreading outwards like the swirls of a whirlpool towards the walls of the circular chasm section. Around them, the walls glowed with some blue illuminated tree roots, the bioluminescent plants glowing on the walls of the darker cavern, despite the few sunbeams penetrating the overcast foliage ceiling roughly 30 metres above them.
In front of them, Tsa'hik Rae'arlan sat there, his queue already linked to the tree roots, eyes closed, his body rigid as he concentrated. Beside him, Firi'sry was sat and ready, watching the approaching aliens expectantly, her eyes flickering slightly more towards Alex, then to Norstith.
Reaching them, Tsa'hik turned to face them, his queue still linked, but himself now looking at them, though his voice seemed lighter now, more distant: "Eywa speaks. She is willing to offer help, but you must be able to pass through her eye to reach that which you seek within her."
Firi'sry then elaborated: "You will be judged as she would any of her people, but you must be able to communicate with her first. I trust you have a way?"
Looking at Norstith, or his neural interface panel on the back of his neck where his mind was originally transferred through, and then feeling the still usable neural implants in his spine, Alex said: "We'll find out. If we can't, we'll be fine."
"Sit, calm your mind and body before you begin." Tsa'hik Rae'arlan spoke once more, gesturing to the ground a few feet from him. Looking back at the other two, Norstith said: "Se'rie, Sha'krii, keep watch, if anything goes wrong and you can help, do it. If we get into trouble, pull us out."
"Okay Uncle." Responded Se'rie, almost breathless in anticipation. Sha'krii curtly nodded, and grasped Norstith's metal talons in gratitude: "You are doing the NKI a great service here today Norstith, as are you Alex. If this works, the war may well be over. Good luck."
"And with you on the throne, as long as Lo'rath accepts your right to rule, let's hope the war stays over." Said Alex, sitting down in a cross legged position with Norstith. Firi'sry asked: "How do you suggest you can interact with Eywa."
Norstith said: "We don't posses queues, but we know of how electrical signals are effectively what make up the 'information' transfer in her structure. Much like a giant brain. If we can uplink our neural networks to link with her own, we can enter her mind, not completely though. If we are pulled away, we will have our minds intact."
Abruptly, Alex grabbed Norstith by the neck, his metal fingers prodding at the panels concealed beneath the dark matter skin. He spoke as he engaged the open port function: "That's you ready. As long as a connection establishes there, you can sync up with Eywa. Now uh, for me."
Turning around, Firi'sry saw Alex pull off his torso armour entirely, revealing the extent of the damage his torso had taken. Worn on his sides like packs were two canisters of compressed dark matter, but it was the scars that drew her looks. His arms attached to the metal limbs just below the shoulder, so his grafted scars from bodies past were still there. His back and sides bore mild scarring, and as she glimpsed his front chest, she saw the slight bulge of the fusion reactor and blood pump in place of his heart.
Alex's metal fingers reached up to the top of his scarred spinal area, finding a section that he had been installed with for his first body mind transfer to his second body. Pressing the skin, a small electrical port opened, the skin folding away easily in two panels. The port was similar to Norstith's and served the same purpose.
Off to the side, Se'rie's feathers ruffled a bit from seeing Alex's bare torso. As much as the scars were tragic in some cases, she found he wore many of them well, with the obvious exception of the Varya implants. The only reason he kept them was out of a reminder of what was at stake should the NKI fail, and because it seemed to catalyse his dark matter abilities.
Seeing her lower ranking comrade's state, Shak'rii smirked a bit, saying: "Something is attractive to you?" Stifling a cough of embarrassment, and ignoring Sha'krii's entertained chuckle, Se'rie saw Tsa'hik Rae'arlan tell the two to lie on their backs.
Lying down, Alex muttered aloud: "Well, at least now I'll see what all the fuss was about when I was younger and in the clan."
Smiling, Firi'sry was adamant that Alex would finally experience something he had missed out on from the Omaticaya days of his youth: "Eywa is beautiful, you will see her."
"Remember that really I only want to see one person within her though." Alex said.
Tsa'hik Rae'arlan spoke one final time: "If you link up, you will be a part of Eywa. Your mind, your soul, will help you perceive the All mother's world as something familiar, but you can perceive it as each other would. But, there is another thing. While anyone explores Eywa's realm, she and her realm shall explore your mind, to add to herself and her realm. These explorations will appear at the front of your mind, but in your quest, it is best to pay them little serious heed."
"Also, you must not stray too far. Like the distance an Ikran flies, your mind can only travel so far. Eywa is the planet, and you can only explore so much from here. Good luck,"
"Ah, Ah, Ah. Something's crawling up my back." Alex spoke, trying to remain calm. Shifting his gaze slightly, Norstith saw some glowing vines, hair like, snaking their way from the ground, over Alex's back. Engaging his touch sensors, Norstith knew then that he was getting the exact same treatment. Firi'sry linked up to Eywa, saying to them: "The All mother is connecting with you. Remain calm."
Feeling the tickling, Alex felt the vines beginning to concentrate at his neck more and more, into a much more solid form. Alongside and beneath him, the vines punctured into a single mass, and gradually snaked their way into both Alex's and Norstith's open neural interface ports. Finally, with the connection of the conductive vines and the ports, it began.
Shaking briefly, Alex gasped as the vines linked up to his neck port, feeling his vision flashing as he saw the tree flashing slightly also. Beside him, Norstith was calmer, though equally disturbed.
Off to the side, Sha'krii laid a reassuring hand on Se'rie's shoulder, squeezing firmly as both Alex and Norstith were linked in. Alex's mild spasm caused Se'rie to lean forwards in worry, but the moments later with Sha'krii's firm grasp told the story.
Turning to one of the warriors, Se'rie asked: "Please. If you can tell us if they are in, can you? Please."
Gauging the worry on the Leg'hrul's face, the closest warrior knelt down, connecting his queue to the ground roots for 10 seconds, closing his eyes. Finally, standing up, the warrior said in Na'vi, translated by Se'rie's and Sha'krii's autotranslators: "Yes. They are in there, I sensed the Omaticaya visitor, the Tsa'hik, and two new presences, not Na'vi."
Sighing, Sha'krii said more to herself: "Let fate be kind, let them find the information."
Gazing around, Firi'sry saw Tsa'hik Rae'arlan nodding in confirmation. He saw them too.
They were stood in a place much like the cavern they linked to the tree in, though here, the bioluminescent light from the plants was less harsh, warmer, and the walls were made of smooth rock, like rocks smoothed by the sea. The ceiling was not covered by plant life, and a light, warm and inviting, its source not seen in the sky, bathed the willow tree in daylight.
Standing by the willow tree, its bioluminescent colours somewhat diminished among the realm's brighter colours, stood two shapes. One was human, his body now completely healed, no scars, no metal limbs, but his form was covered in what appeared to be an over garb, flowing from his shoulders down to his knees, with a black and red lined colour to it.
Beside him, but looking around equally as amazed and unnerved was a Leg'hrul, this one also completely healed, no longer bound by a metal body as a long term temporary solution. His feathers were not a dull grey and dark azure, but now shone with more radiance, more preened and neat than they ever had been. His bushy neck feathers and head crest rose proudly.
Approaching them, Firi'sry reached out with her mind to them, her voice like an echo on the wind now: "Alex. Norstith. You are in."
Turning to face them, Alex was wearing a look of triumph and fear, and in his fear, Firi'sry reached out into his mind, her emotions signalling safety as long as she was by their side. As she delved into his upper mind, her surroundings changed slightly, her mind now more perceiving the realm of Eywa as her son did to make it familiar.
Around her, the chasm hall transformed into a more angled cliff area, the walls smoothed by some force, and cliffs and walls rising like towers of a city over them. Parts of the walls and towers glowed in strips, like circuits, and soon became visible as a sort of massive hall, like a military base, or at least the data library of one. Without her knowledge, it was a mixture of the Liberator's halls and the Solaris base facilities.
As she reached into Norstith's mind, Firi'sry's surroundings altered once more, this time making the chasm appear as a snowy city street, which beyond Firi'sry's knowledge was a mix of the Leg'hrul capital city on Vae'rakin, and the Peragoth colony streets.
Pulling out, Firi'sry's voice whispered once again, echoing with Tsa'hik Rae'arlan's: "Eywa has allowed you to pass through."
Finally, chapter 14 done.
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In any event, please review or avidly read my stories if they interest you.