It was extremely quiet and the smell of smoke filled the air. The usual blue sky was a dull and lifeless dark grey and the forest was dead. There were no animals to be seen, not even the small creatures which dwelled on the forest floor or the trees. Tak had a feeling that something was very wrong. It was hot and he was sweating a lot. He continued to walk through the deserted forest, only able to hear his footsteps. His vision was limited by the smoke and every step he took slowly revealed what was around him. An extremely foul smell suddenly hit him but he couldn't see anything. He continued and saw what looked like a blue figure on the ground. He stopped and stared at it, then around him in suspicion. Something definitely wasn't right. Walking closer to the blue figure revealed more of them. He was finally close enough to identify what were dead Na'vi covering the ground. Their bodies had been disfigured in some way and were covered in blood and dirt. As he walked through this tomb of the mutilated he filled with anger, hatred and rage. There were adults and children, even babies, with gunshots, cuts, dismembered limbs, severed heads, bodies burnt to the crisp and some exposing internal organs. Tak spotted a child who was facing down and for some reason decided to kneel down, turn him over and look at his face. When he saw the boy he felt a pulse of anger run through his body. He was holding the dead body of Tsanten in his arms. He was going to find who was responsible for this massacre and make them suffer. Unable to do anything else, he slowly lowered his dead friend to lie on the ground. He got back up and walked around. As he asked to himself what the fuck had happened here, he found another body but this time he feared he knew who it was. An adult with their braids tied in a bunch. He went to the body, kneeled down again and turned it to face him. It was Zetey looking right at him with lifeless eyes open, blood from her mouth and multiple gunshots. Tak closed his eyes and turned away. He gripped tight of her body with his hands and arms drenched in blood as he tried to keep his composure but it was too much. He looked up at the grey sky and yelled at the top of his lungs, letting out the immense anger that filled him. It began to rain heavily with thunder roaring down. Tak looked at his friend one more time, her eyes were gold and beautiful but it only fed his hunger for revenge. Holding her, he looked at the sky again. A jolt of lightning crackled powerfully and blinded him. That's when he woke up in his bed, his heart racing and his face and back covered in sweat. He took deep breaths to try and calm down. Maybe his drug habit had transferred his hallucinations into nightmares. Wiping his face, he tried to go back to sleep.

Tak was about to go fishing with Zetey one afternoon when Tsuwokan unexpectedly interrupted and told he had to come with him. Tak didn't want to go, nor did he know what this was about but Tsuwokan never took him away so it must've been important. He went to Zetey to explain this unfortunate incident.

"Sorry but I can't hang out with you today, something came up and I have to go... like, now... so yeah..."

"Is something wrong?"

"No no, nothing really, I just need to, uh... just go help out with something... I think. I'll try to finish as soon as possible and I'll come right back, I promise."

Zetey was disappointed but she let it go, it's not like this was going to happen all the time. With a smile she nodded a goodbye and went on her own. Tak knew where to find her if he was to return. Tsuwokan began walking out of the village and Tak followed. They made their way through the forest which looked the same from any direction if you didn't know your way around and in this case Tak didn't know where they were going.

"So what the fuck is it that's so important that you had to drag me away from my awesome fishing trip?"

"Uhh, you still speak words I do not understand."

Tak closed his eyes and sighed. It was like a face palm without putting face to palm. "What are we doing?"

"He wants to speak to you."

"Who?"

"He..."

It took a while for Tak to figure out who this was but eventually he got it "Oh him, right."

They eventually arrived at the place which Tak recognized, the many huts which were setup around a central open space deep in the forest. There was smoke coming from the fire place with some of the clan members gathered around. As the two entered the village they were looked upon and the leaser approached them. With a nod to greet them, he walked with them to the fire.

"My brothers, would you like to join us?"

Tsuwokan wasn't interested so he declined the offer but Tak was starving, his stomach had been grumbling since he had woken up in the tent. He nodded and went to sit down with the others. Roasting over the fire were human limbs, the skin slowly melting away as the flesh underneath cooked. The leader handed him a forearm with the hand still intact. The fingers were charred and the skin was moist with blood and juices which oozed out. Tak took his meal by the stick which was stabbed through the bottom and spun it around while looking at it. It was just like the giant slabs of meat which roasted in the kebab stores back on earth, but not as appetising. Still, it was better than nothing so without hesitation he bit into the arm and ate away. He was so hungry that he disregarded the taste and ate like a savage beast that had just killed its prey and was feasting like there was no tomorrow, and in doing so the savage beast within him was slowly coming out. He devoured the arm of its meat and dropped the bone on the ground. He saw that no one else was helping themselves to what remained so he took half a leg and began eating. The Na'vi leader was impressed and smiled.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" asked Tak as he ate.

"I thought I was a good leader, but it seems that there is someone better than me. You know the skypeople better than any of us, after all you are one of them. I want you to lead the attack on them. We have the stuff and we have prepared ourselves, now we are waiting for your word."

"It does not work like that."

"Why?"

"If you attack now then you will be starting a war you cannot finish, you will also be putting others in danger, others who are not part of your clan. Attacking first is more than enough of an excuse for them to kill you all so you must be patient. Wait for them to strike first, then your revenge will seem understandable. It is a risk we must take."

"What if that does not work?"

"It will work."

Days past and nothing happened. Tak would wake up every morning hoping the team would receive a report of Na'vi murders but the mercs didn't step out of line. He was also still regularly having horrid dreams which he would always wake up from early in the morning which was just before he would get enough sleep but just after there was enough time for him to get enough rest. When this happened he would feel tired during the day, unable to fully concentrate on what he had to do. Daily life was becoming a drag and he wanted it to end but everyday he would grind his way through. Getting into his Avatar was now the easy part of the day since he would feel refreshed and was ready to get out and do stuff. All those days running through the forest with Zetey were showing through as he could now keep up with her a lot easier. He was also getting to know the place very well and at the same time getting up and close with a lot of the plants and animals. Every day was like a field trip with the greatest teacher any student could ask for who would let them go anywhere and see, even touch, anything they wanted to. Dr. Eileen had also been spending time with Tsuwokan, picking up where they had last stopped with the English lessons. She couldn't tell if he was enjoying their time together but one thing was for sure, he was a good student, patient and always willing to learn. Even though he never smiled or showed signs of having fun, he was determined and never gave up and that's why he was her favourite student ever since day one. Tak was practicing his scales and sweep picking one night when Dr. Eileen had some exciting news for him.

"Watcha doin there guitar master?"

"Uuh... not much."

"So, I just talked with Dr. Augustine, and since we're the only ones out here she wants me to do some field work for her and I was wondering if you would like to come along." she said sounding very cheerful.

"What is it?"

"We're going to follow the river past the FEBA base which will take us to a direhorse grazing site. Grace wants me to do a population count and record some stuff, I guess she's concerned because the wildlife in that area hasn't been checked on in a while. It's a hot spot for those assholes to go hunting in."

"Nice."

"Yeah and you know what, it's actually near where the Tipikaya are so if we're lucky we might meet a few of them. Well I've never actually got to know them so they may not be so friendly, I mean we don't want a repeat of what...happened to you and..."

It went silent for a bit until Dr. Eileen thought of something to say.

"Well anyway it would be great if you came along, it's always safer to go with someone rather than yourself."

"...when?"

"Oh, could be anytime, even tomorrow."

"...alright."

"Great! Then we'll go tomorrow."

Morning finally came and Dr. Eileen got up to get ready. Even before her breakfast which included a coffee she was fully awake and couldn't wait to get out there. She went over to Tak and woke him up as well although it was a bit early. He ignored her the first few times until she ripped off his bed blanket and got right in his ear to tell him "WAKE UP". By the time he was ready to go everyone had also woken up and the links were running. Tak went to his which was next to his desk and lied down. When he woke up he could still taste yesterday's meal in his mouth. The meaty taste and some of the muscle fibres still stuck in between his teeth. He removed them with his fingers and spat it out. After packing their backpacks the two of them headed off and on the way Dr. Eileen talked about the direhorses of the area they were going to. They decided to stick to the side which was opposite the base as they didn't want to attract any attention from the mercs as they walked past. Although they couldn't be harmed as members of the AVTR program, there was always the possibility that they would be "mistaken for one of them". They reached the FEBA base and luckily their side still retained the rich forest. As they walked past it Tak examined it. He had never seen it from this side of the river and couldn't help but to think how misplaced it looked, it was as if it was just dropped from above. They continued their way when they could hear the sound of engines roaring towards them. They hid behind some plants and watched from cover as the sound got louder. Three Gators came roaring down the river loaded with armed men. Dr. Eileen didn't like the looks of this. She began to lose her composure.

"What the fuck are they doing here?" she said in an aggressive tone.

"Hopefully not what I'm thinking."

"Fucking heartless bastards... I don't feel like going anymore."

"What, so you just want to go back?"

"What's the point? They're probably all dead!"

"You don't know that, let's just go see for ourselves."

They both agreed to continue ahead. Dr. Eileen dreaded that her direhorses had been massacred and were now lying dead in a field of blood. For the rest of the walk she was silent. When they reached the field there were no direhorses in sight. Dr. Eileen's heart sank but she decided to search the area just to be sure. Tak went into the growth of trees to find a few licking nectar out of pitcher plants. He observed them as they enjoyed the sweet golden syrup, seeming fine with his presence. One looked at him for a while resuming its business. Dr. Eileen found Tak with the direhorses and was relieved that they were unharmed.

"Oh, thank god they're ok. I was really worried they'd been killed."

"I guess they were just staying out of the sun, it's pretty hot today."

"Yeah, well then more of them are probably doing the same. We should look around here. I'll just add these guys to the count."

She took out her clipboard and put them on the count and proceeded to write down some points. They looked healthy and showed no signs of tawtute inflicted injuries. After recording enough information the two moved on in search for more direhorses. They moved deeper into the forest and found a large group of them resting within a field of beautiful plants. They were surrounded by flowers and larger plants with all their lush and vibrant colours, standing out in a background composed of many shades of green and brown. Beams of light would shoot through pockets in the canopy and light up patches on the ground. Tak was overwhelmed by how beautiful and peaceful this place was. One plant which got Tak's attention was the Chalice, a very large pitcher plant which has a pink opening and lid with a purple tube. The sweet smell of its nectar was strong and irresistible to some creatures which would be drawn to it and fall into the opening, unable to get out and slowly be digested by the enzymes in the nectar. Dr. Eileen counted the direhorses while Tak went around checking their outside for injuries, then both went around measuring them and distinguishing whether they were males or females. By looking for certain characteristics they could also tell which were foals and which were adults. After their job was done they sat down amongst the direhorses and relaxed, looking at the natural beauty that surrounded them. They began discussing the habitat and eventually got to talking about the Pa'li's love for the nectar.

"It's really sweet, trust me you'll love it" she said, and so Tak dipped his finger in a pitcher plants and licked the nectar. It was beautiful and he couldn't resist but to try more. Soon his mouth and fingers were covered in the stuff and a nearby horse smelt the scent off his face and began licking him.

"Hey stop! Bad horse! Get away, stop licking me!"

"Ahahahahaha! He likes you."

It was always nice to get out of the lab and immerse themselves into Pandora but after all they were here to do a job, not to mention for head scientist Dr. Augustine, so they didn't spend too much time sitting down. They decided to travel across the grass field and follow the river which would lead them into the Tipikaya's hunting grounds. It was amazing how much the landscape changed during their journey. From the FEBA to here, the ground would steadily elevate into small hills with some rocks and eventually become tall cliffs covered in moss and vines. In the distance Tak could see a green valley with rocky cliffs sticking out and looking up in the sky were colonies of floating mountains. The blue sky with some clouds added the finishing touch for what was the perfect shot. Too bad he didn't bring the camera because this was priceless. As he took in the amazing view a small smile was forming on his face. Dr. Eileen caught him in one of his rare moments where he was actually happy.

"You like this place?"

"I love it."

"It's amazing isn't it? Some people just don't know what they're missing out on... My love for this world will never end."

"Yeah, and I guess mine's just getting started."

"Sure is, there's so much more."

"Like the floating mountains up there?"

"Yep, those truly are magnificent. Maybe one day you'll get to go up there and see for yourself just how amazing they are, not to mention the view you get."

They entered the forest again and searched for more Pa'li but none were in sight. The growth of plants was quite thick and they were doubting whether the horses would come this far but still they searched the area. With the numbers they had counted Dr. Augustine would be disappointed so they continued their search.

"So far we've got 28, I really was hoping to find more because this place is so perfect for the Pa'li. Some of them must've migrated to somewhere else."

"Yeah, or maybe those dickheads scared them away."

"It's such a shame. God I hate those assholes, I want to punch them in their fucking faces. Especially that guy that wanted to fight you in the cafeteria, remember?"

"Ofcourse, what's his name?"

"Terry, Rolfe Terry. I know because he once accompanied me and some other Avatars. We were doing some field work when some Tetrapterons woke up from the branches above. He and his gang killed them all because he said they became hostile. I'll never forget that son of a bitch."

They were aimlessly walking around and came to a wall of vines and roots. Thinking it was another dead end they decided to turn back when Dr. Eileen heard a faint sound.

"You hear that?"

"...Yeah, sounds like someone's crying."

They broke their way through only to find a horrific site, a group of Na'vi had been killed. This was no accident or natural death, this was a massacre and the bullet holes in the bodies said so. Dr. Eileen looked in horror and shock as tears slowly built up but she was unable to say anything. Her heart was pounding and she was trembling. In the middle of it all was a young Na'vi girl crying as she held in her arms another dead girl. Her tears fell onto her dead friend and mixed with the blood. Dr. Eileen felt immense agony but Tak only felt anger, the type of anger which drives you over the edge and makes you want to kill, and with that he knew who to kill. All he had to do to be exact was to find out who was on the three boats that passed him along the river. Unable to do anything he decided to return with Dr. Eileen. He held her by the shoulders and gently pulled her away.

"There's nothing we can do now, let's just go back."

When they woke up in the shacks Dr. Eileen's emotionless face soon turned into one of anger and sadness. Her crying was unexplainable to the others but it wasn't a good sign. Dr. Brent comforted her while asking what happened but once she had calmed down she ignored his question and went straight to her desk to try and establish a video conversation with Colonel Hilton. He appeared on her screen and despite how she felt, her anger was too much and she didn't know what to say.

"Dr. are you alright? Is something wrong?"

"You're goddamn fucking right something's wrong. What did they do this time? Tell me! Tell right fucking now!"

"If you don't calm down then I'm just going to end this, it's your call."

She took a few deep breaths and regained her composure before continuing.

"...I just got back from doing some field work and what I saw was definitely no accident. A whole group of Na'vi shot dead and you're telling me to calm down, I'll calm down after you tell me what your reasons for that were!"

"I never gave any orders for such actions! Do not be so quick to start pointing fingers!"

"Bullshit Hilton! Your pets won't make a move unless you order them to, I know because I saw three boats loaded with men returning to the FEBA base as I was heading there so don't bullshit me!"

Colonel Hilton put his face in his hands as his day had just got a lot shittier. When it seemed like it was going to be just another average day someone accuses him of ordering a massacre on the natives which he knows absolutely nothing about. He wasn't going to deal with this over a video conversation because that always resulted in a never ending argument.

"...I'm sending a pilot to pick you up. You and anyone else who was with you comes."

And with that he ended the conversation.

The sun was setting and the sky filled with orange. As Dr. Eileen watched Alpha Centuri A sink into the horizon the sickening feeling she felt when she saw the horror earlier in the day returned as she couldn't get it off her mind. For the whole trip the both of them were silent. When they landed at Hell's Gate they went to the Colonel's office in the control tower to see the Colonel sitting at his desk with Sergeant Terry standing in front of the desk, they wondered why he was here.

"Finally, you're here. Now we can begin discussing this matter. So Dr. why don't you begin with what happened?"

"Why is he here?"

"Well Sergeant Terry here was one of the few who went up the river. I've brought him here as I would like to hear both sides of the story."

Dr. Eileen frowned then slowly snarled at him as her breathing got heavier.

"You...you motherfucker, you motherfucker! You motherfucker! I'll fucking kill you, I'll fucking kill you you son of a bitch!" she yelled as she had lost all control of her emotions and lunged at him, throwing a punch and striking him in the face. She grabbed onto him and hit him as hard as she could while he tried to defend himself. Tak just stood and watched, he wasn't going to do shit to stop this, so Colonel Hilton had to jump from behind his desk and restrain her. He held on to her tight and she eventually calmed down and dropped to the floor crying. Security came rushing in and she was taken to the holding cell. Hilton sat back down while Terry wiped the blood from his nose.

"Next time don't hesitate to restrain your colleagues, now where were we... tell me exactly what happened."

"Well, me and doc were on our way to do some field work s asked by Dr. Augustine, and as we were walking along the river we heard boats approaching so we hid behind some plants and-"

"Why did you do that?"

"...because these retards are too fucking stupid to tell as apart from the natives, we probably would've been shot at."

"Go on."

"...We see three boats loaded with armed men heading back to base, and knowing you people have a history of killing the wildlife for fun, we thought the direhorses we were meant to observe might have been killed."

"And you're certain that they were armed?"

"Yeah, I'm certain."

"Ok, continue."

"So we get to the site and we find the direhorses unharmed, and after we finish there we decide to go to another place. We enter the forest and hear a faint sound of someone crying. We get closer to the sound, and we see a group of Na'vi all shot dead."

"...Is that all?...Alright, sergeant, care to explain what happened? There's no doubt that you were there, I have confirmed reports that three boats were taken and you were on one of them."

"Yeah, we took three gators up there."

"What were you doing there?"

"The motors had just been fixed so we decided to take em' for a run."

"And why were there so many of you?"

"They got to be able to function with a full load."

"...Go on."

"So we continue up and see a group of them, a uh, hunting party perhaps. They were armed so we got ready to bring the pain."

"...Did you shoot first?"

"No sir, we were engaged. We were sitting ducks out there so we had to return fire."

"Why didn't you just retreat?"

"Well sir, you can't turn those boats around in an instance."

Hilton did his best to take everything into consideration to make it fair as possible. He was having difficulty believing Terry's story but the lack of evidence wasn't enough to punish him. He sighed and rubbed his face as he was getting tired.

"...Alright sergeant, I've heard enough. I'll be further discussing this another time but for now you're dismissed."

Terry gave Tak a smirk before leaving. Tak could've killed him with his bare hands on the spot but he didn't react. He remained where he was stood.

"I understand how you must feel about this, but I've done my best to listen to both sides and there's nothing more I can do. I'm sorry, but in the end my job is to keep people safe, and if that means dismissing the death of a few natives for the sake of not starting a war then so be it. If I could discuss some sort of deal or treaty with them I would, I really would."

Now Tak gave Hilton a smirk.

"It's too late, the 11th hour's passed."

Tak and Dr. Eileen returned early the next morning after a night at Hell's Gate and as soon as they got there Tak sat down on his bed. Alan came, wanting to know what had happened but Tak wasn't going to talk with the others gathered so Alan asked the others to leave.

"Hey what happened? Did they find who did it?"

"...We do this now, and you're coming with me."

"...Ok, ok."

"Get some casual clothes, a hat and the security pass. Meet me outside."

He went to his link and into his Avatar. The others thought it was just his introvert way of dealing with the situation, escaping for a few hours of alone time, but he had other plans. Alan explained to them that it was protocol for all non military personal to be escorted at all times. Tak found Tsuwokan at hometree and without explaining told him that it was going to happen. Without gathering his two best warriors he followed Tak out and they got weapons from the secret stash. With the 50 cal. Hydra in his hands, the grenade launcher around his shoulder, his pockets filled with grenades and his war mask on they moved out. On their way Tak explained things to tsuwokan and once they reached their secret allies and explained to them that now was time for war, a small army was quickly formed. The explosives were loaded onto direhorses and they moved out. This was a lot for Alan to take in as he hadn't been introduced to Tak's new friends. They all stopped before entering the open. Alan got changed into his casual clothes.

"Go in and do your best to disable the turrets and open the gate if possible. Just try to figure it out and once you do, stay there. Keep your head down and don't attract attention. No eye contact, and keep your hat down."

"What if I can't?"

"I'll open it myself."

Alan understood what to do. He made his way to the control room. With every step inside the building his heart pounded as he did his best to not crumble under the intense pressure. Although there was hardly anyone walking the corridors it felt like everywhere eyes watched him. Meanwhile Tak was preparing the explosives, opening the packs of explosives and stuffing a grenade into the packs then setting the timer to eight seconds. As he explained the plan the warriors gathered.

"When I give the sign you will place these around the place, I will tell you where. Once you do you pull this out. After you pull it out you do not have much time before it explodes, so run as far away as you can. We will kill all the skypeople first then place these around the place. You saw my friend, do not attack him."

And so they waited for Alan to do his part who was now entering the control room. There weren't many people and a few looked at him they weren't concerned. He sat down at an unused computer and looked at the security pass, entered the name and the password. It took a while but the account was still active. He proceeded to figuring out how to disable the defence system. He had actually done a little bit of this sort of stuff back on earth when he was part of a number of missions which required infiltrating bases and shutting down the defences but this was trickier. The war party waited patiently, watching the turrets scan the open, then suddenly they stopped and the gate opened. They charged in and killed anyone they saw. Soon the base was on alert and all military personnel were outside, outnumbered and unable to put up a good fight. Tak blew open the entrance to the main building with the grenade launcher and the Pandoran air poured in. The people inside panicked and were running around so Alan took this opportunity to blend in and make his escape. Tak saw him run out the other gate but no one else followed so he had decided to bring the place down with the people inside, it would save time and ammo. There wasn't much to take cover behind and some of the Na'vi had suffered wounds but kept fighting. Tak went to another exit and waited for it to open. As soon as it did, mercs came out and he wasted them with the uranium tipped rounds which shredded them to pieces. The rounds went through a whole squad and they fell like dominos in the doorway. Once the fighting stopped he signalled for the explosives and they were soon brought out. As he waited he looked around to see slain bodies around the base with arrows sticking out and severed limbs and heads. Some had been gutted with entrails left hanging out. Whether they were armed or not, they were to all die. Tak was handed an explosive which he detonated and threw into the main entrance. He ran to the middle of the base and watched as it exploded and from inside, the whole building collapsed. Glass from the control tower exploded and smoke and dust blew out. Tak then told others to take out the hanger and the medical centre. The explosives were placed on the fuel tanks and the explosion was the largest and loudest any Na'vi had witnessed. The medical centre was last to go, but there was still work to do. Tak got a group to help him push the boats onto land. They pushed them into the base and once they were lined up, Tak dumped an explosive on them. The same was done with the SWANs and with a final explosion it was finally over. After years of bloodshed the FEBA had finally been taken back, and justice for all who had suffered. Tak held his gun high and his war party yelled in victory. The atmosphere was one like never before, it felt like they're voices moved the skies above them and echoed throughout Pandora, letting the skypeople know their time was coming to an end. Alan got chills down his spine. He got changed and they all left and returned to their separate homes. When Tak awoke he laid in the link and took in what he had just accomplished. A major victory indeed, but what this would lead to he didn't know. As Alan came through the door Dr. Isaac rushed to him.

"Oh thank god you're ok. I was so worried."

"I'm ok, I'm fine."

"It was getting late and then we heard explosions in the distance. What happened?"

"I don't know but we heard them to."

"I'm just glad you're safe."

With no one watching they shared a kiss and held each other for a while.

That night it was Dr. Eileen who had been quiet. She had barely talked for the whole day and had been drinking heavily to try and get rid of the horrific images in her head. With a bottle of whiskey she stumbled to the bath room and fell next to the toilet. She leaned over the seat and closed her eyes. The images of the dead Na'vi shot dead and covered in blood made her sick to her stomach and she threw up. It was late and it had been a long day. Dr. Dale and Brent decided to go to sleep. Dr. Isaac then sat down on Alan's lap and they hugged. Seeing Dr. Eileen look like absolute shit was unsettling and she didn't like it. She was used to seeing a happy, bright and enthusiastic woman with a never ending smile, not a depressed drunk who tried to drink her problems away. With all this going on, Tak just sat at his desk thinking of the victory he shared with his brothers and sisters.