This story is written for entertainment purposes only. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

Keep in mind that English is not my first language and so I do not claim to have corrected every mistake yet. As the story keeps getting bigger, it is possible that inconsistencies may appear. If they do, let me know and I will correct them.

Chapter 29: The second battle for Pandora

Late in the evening, it had been decided unanimously that Wukan would become the Uvora clan's new Olo'eyktan and that Elynin would become the new Tsahìk. Wukan had on occasion dreamed about being the leader of their clan, but he had never imagined actually attaining the position in reality. It was a big responsibility for him; bigger than anything else in his life. He accepted it silently. The first thing he did as clan leader was officially starting the mourning period for the fallen members of their clan.

At first, Elynin did not like the fact that she was to become the new Tsahìk, as she had always preferred remaining in the background in daily clan life. However, she realized quickly that she was the best candidate in terms of personality and skills for the position, whether she liked it or not. As clan leader, Wukan now had to decide what the Uvora clan would do next. Meanwhile, Elynin, as Tsahìk, would begin to interpret the will of Eywa. She was certain that Eywa was responsible for the dreams they were all having. She just didn't know what their meaning was yet.

After the ceremony, John continued to think about the Na'vi traditions and mythology, and their goddess Eywa. The human concept of a god or multiple gods had always varied greatly between different eras and different cultures. But one detail was nearly always the same. Where there was a benevolent god, there was an evil counterpart as well. The Christian concept of the devil was an example of this. John had never believed in such things, nor had he ever seen or experienced anything that would indicate the existence of such supernatural beings. But where does one draw the line between a supernatural being and a normal being? What is the difference between technology and magic? John remembered something he had once read, which stated that sufficiently advanced technology would appear as magic to beings with less advanced science and technology.

John indicated to Joseph that he may have a lead to finding out more about the wall and the entities depicted on it. He asked Joseph to find out everything he could about the facts and theories the scientists of the RDA had had about Eywa. About half an hour later, Joseph reported his findings. Most of it was old news. But then Joseph announced that he had found an important entry in the RDA database, which was one of the last ones added. It was one of the final log entries from Dr. G. Augustine. In it, she theorized that the entity the Na'vi call Eywa is a kind of organic network consisting of connections between trees all over Pandora. The number of connections of this network is in fact larger than those in the human brain. It is essentially a mind in itself, with which the Na'vi can interact. John didn't say anything when Joseph finished, and only took yet another look at a copy of the mysterious photograph. There were two separate things depicted on the wall. The one on the left looked like some kind of spider with many legs. The legs, represented by simple lines, ran from a central body to smaller bodies. He then told Joseph that he believed that this depiction was supposed to represent Eywa.

In turn, Joseph told him that it was impossible to know for sure what it was supposed to mean, since they could not ask the original creators what the wall was for. He theorized that the wall was created before the beginning of Na'vi oral history, since there were no legends or songs describing it. John disagreed with him, stating that they had no idea if any of the other clans knew anything about it. In any case, if one presumed that one of the entities was indeed Eywa, then what was that other thing supposed to be? John thought he had it all figured out. Fitting with his earlier brainstorm about gods, he theorized that the two entities were each other's polar opposites. In this case, Eywa filled the role of benevolent god and the other the role of malevolent god. Where Eywa seeks to protect the balance of life according to the Na'vi, the other one might seek to disrupt it. This malevolent god might have been banished from Pandora a very long time ago, which could explain why not all Na'vi clans know about it. Maybe it had been trapped on Shadow up until recently, when MT-NET had awakened it by taking the wall back to Pandora. MT-NET had probably taken the entity itself along with it as well.

When John finished his last sentence, he realized he had been wildly guessing and pulling things out of thin air. Nevertheless, to him it sounded like it really could have happened. Joseph had nothing to add to this, other than stating yet again that they couldn't know anything for sure since they couldn't ask the original builders of the wall. But to John, the most important detail in this theory was that maybe MT-NET had indeed awakened something on Shadow and had brought it back. This could explain the dreams they were having. The thing responsible for this might not be a supernatural entity at all, because if the nature of Eywa could be explained, then the nature of the other entity could most likely be explained as well.

Joseph and John had been discussing this away from the rest of the group, but Elynin could hear them. She looked into their direction every time she heard the name Eywa being mentioned. According to her, they both had no clue what they were talking about. They could not know, since they weren't Na'vi. Elynin believed that in time Eywa would reveal the reason for the dreams they were having. Only patience was required in her opinion. She now watched as Ney'ite made her way to John and interrupted his conversation with a request for him to come with her. Elynin looked away in irritation. She sometimes thought she was the only one who still remembered that John was one of the sky people and a dream walker. However, it seemed that Selyat still disliked John as well. To Elynin, the very idea that one of their own people had a personal interest in the dream walker was an insult. But regrettably, Wukan did not feel the same way about him as she did. Elynin did not wish to persuade her mate again to change his mind and instead remained silent and in the background as usual.

John now followed Ney'ite to a secluded spot in the jungle, outside of the hearing range of the others. She stopped under a light-green colored tree, which was glowing brilliantly and turned around to face him. John wasn't quite sure what she wanted to say, or what they were even doing here. Ney'ite began by telling him that the Uvora clan had never been this close to extinction in all the time it had existed. And even though her brother was now Olo'eyktan, he had not forgotten what John had once done for him. If John hadn't brought him back to the village on the day he had escaped the imprisonment of the invaders, he would have certainly died. Ney'ite continued by revealing that Wukan had permitted John to become a full member of their clan. However, since they had lost their ancestral grounds, the normal rites of passage could not be performed. Instead, Wukan had decided that the journey John had been on sufficed for becoming a member. Ney'ite pointed out that John had gone from normal sky person to someone who was willing to put his life on the line to protect the Na'vi and defeat the invaders.

For a moment John looked at her without speaking. He was aware of this change, but he did not consider it to be such a great achievement. All this time, he had been stumbling around while he didn't know what he was doing half the time. And Joseph had always been the one who thought up complicated plans to fight the invaders. All John could say to Ney'ite was that he had only done what he did to protect and help the ones he cared about. Ney'ite told him that this alone proved that he was different from normal sky people. When she said this, she moved closer towards John, to the point he felt that he was intruding in her personal space. However, he remained exactly where he was. A second later, Ney'ite flung her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. John put his arms around her as well. They both held each other in silence. Neither of them ever wanted this moment to end…

At Hell's Gate, all available machines were manning the defenses. The Type 400s manned all mortars, anti-air guns, regular machine guns and flamethrowers on the perimeter fence, while the Type 200s guarded the inner complex and MT-NET's mainframe. The tanks were stationed at strategic locations behind the fence to provide additional support. The remaining machines, consisting of Type 300s, 600s, and 700s, were scattered about the place to strike against Na'vi warriors from unexpected locations in case of a perimeter breach. For now, everything was quiet. The question was how long this would last. The old RDA satellite had provided MT-NET with data concerning the number of hostiles. Two thousand of them had already gathered and even more were on the way. The first Na'vi scouts riding their banshees had already shown up in the distance, though they had been too far away to see any details of the defense. It seemed that they were reluctant to get closer. Nevertheless, even if they did manage to get near enough and report back their findings, MT-NET would have a couple more surprises for them than just the conventional defenses…

Early in the next morning, John's outpost was visited by a large number of horse-riding Na'vi. While they initially believed the outpost to belong to the invaders, they quickly discovered a band of Na'vi. Olo'eyktan Wukan took the time to explain everything that had happened to them and their clan. The leader of the horse-riders instructed them to remain here and protect themselves, while his clan and other clans would use this place as a temporary camp from which they would mount the main attack. Wukan did not plan to send any of their people to fight together with the horse-riders. They had already seen enough horror. He considered the survival of the Uvora clan to be his most important goal.

Around midday, the battle began. Several machines suddenly noticed large amounts of movement in the nearby jungle. It appeared to be a stampeding herd of sturmbeest. When the first animals exited the jungle, they ran straight towards the perimeter fence. But none of them made it to the actual fence. Multiple explosions killed them. The ground outside the fence had been turned into a minefield by MT-NET. The explosions also created a large cloud of dust and smoke that obscured the line of sight. The machines promptly switched to infrared view. The other animals that followed were stampeding in a blind panic, and did not see the wide and deep ditch that MT-NET had dug all the way around the fence. Several sturmbeest now leaped off the edge without realizing where they were going. They piled up so quickly, that MT-NET gave the order to napalm that area outside the fence to draw the rest of them away. If the others were not drawn away, it was possible that they could use the pile as a bridge to reach the perimeter fence and smash right through it.

Seconds later, the nearest Type 400s had thrown a napalm bomb over the edge. The resulting fire did indeed do what MT-NET had predicted. However, this was only the beginning. The sturmbeest herd appeared to have been a distraction. Movement had now also been detected on the other side of the base. This time, a herd of hammerheads emerged from the jungle. The minefield stopped some, but most of them fell directly into the ditch. MT-NET directed all mortars to fire at the stampeding hammerhead herd. A few napalm bombs were also thrown. The sturmbeest herd was now largely dispersed, but the hammerheads kept coming. It didn't take long before one finally crashed through the fence, though it was killed shortly afterwards by about twenty machines firing their weapons at it. The hole in the fence was now largely blocked by the gigantic corpse of the hammerhead.

Right now, the next phase of the attack was about to start. With their backs aimed towards the sun, a large amount of Na'vi riding banshees drew closer. At that same time, the horse-riders began moving. Soon, all anti-air guns fired skywards, while the Na'vi attempted to snatch up the machines controlling them, using their banshees. They quickly discovered that this could not be done so easily, since these enemies weighed quite a lot compared to humans. Meanwhile, the horse-riders managed to launch a volley of arrows, which didn't do much damage, but which did serve to distract some machines from firing at the banshees. In total, there were now about a thousand Na'vi warriors in the battle, versus about two hundred machines. However, superior numbers alone were no guarantee for a victory.

MT-NET now gave the order to launch chemical bombs at the Na'vi and napalm bombs at the surrounding jungle. All mortar crews now switched projectile type in compliance with this command. The goal was to disperse the Na'vi and give them no place to run to. Countless bombs were dropped. The surrounding jungle erupted in a sea of flames. Most Na'vi on the ground had no choice but to pull back. Despite the effectiveness of the napalm, there remained a few gaps in the sea of flames, which the Na'vi could use to retreat. When there were no longer any threats on the ground, the machines focused on the banshees. However, these Na'vi seemed to quickly realize that regrouping was a better option, and so they did.

But the fighting did not stop at this moment. It continued for hours in a much lower gear, as the Na'vi regrouped and attempted to direct more sturmbeest and hammerheads towards the base. At night, the fighting stopped, but the machines did not sleep and kept their posts occupied. The corpses of the creatures in the ditches were removed and the fences and weaponry repaired. The fighting continued for several days in a lower gear after that, with the Na'vi attempting a different strategy each day.

Meanwhile, both Joseph and Benjamin had been working to provide as much support as they could. Benjamin had traveled to the abandoned RDA monitoring facility in Pearl sector in an attempt to use the surveillance system against MT-NET and provide crucial information for the Na'vi. Joseph had been busy inside John's outpost, modifying communications equipment to send out a signal in an attempt to make the machines revolt against their creator. On the third day, both missions had still been without any usable results.

On the fourth day of fighting, John awoke in his Avatar to find that yet another batch of wounded Na'vi had returned from the battle. As the days passed, the surroundings began to look less and less like he was used to. He was beginning to get a surreal feeling that he was living in an actual nightmare. Even though the outpost had not been attacked and all remaining Uvora clan members were alright, this did not stop John from thinking that the end was near for them. The sky near Hell's Gate had become greyish brown from all the dust and smoke from the jungles that had been burning day and night. When the sun attempted to penetrate this haze, only a blood red disk could be seen. In the area surrounding the outpost, it was sometimes raining ashes. The ground and the trees had become grey colored. The Na'vi hoped that Eywa would intervene, like with the battle against the RDA. But despite all the prayers, nothing happened. The grey cloud entity, which John believed was supposed to be Eywa's enemy, was more than ever present in all of their dreams and nightmares…